Chapter 10: Assassination Attempt

Pace Zorn sold five Hundred Herbs Elixir and received nine hundred and twenty-five taels of patterned silver. With the money in hand, he went back to stocking up on ingredients, buying one set for Hundred Herbs Elixir and one set for Energy-Blood Elixir. The Energy-Blood Elixir ingredients were cheaper, costing only two hundred and eighty taels of patterned silver. Its main materials were Ironhide Wild Bull Meat (a first-tier Low Grade Demon Beast) and Low-Grade Tiger Demon Meat (a first-tier Medium Grade Demon Beast). Even so, Energy-Blood Elixir still sold for less than Hundred Herbs Elixir. Once he fired up the furnace and refined pills, he ended up with eight Hundred Herbs Elixir (superior quality) and ten Energy-Blood Elixir (superior quality). Pace gave all the Hundred Herbs Elixir away to family, to his grandfather, to his uncle and Lilith, to his other uncle and Flora, and to the rest of the relatives. Wade Juggins and the others were delighted to receive Pace's Hundred Herbs Elixir. As for the Energy-Blood Elixir, he sold every last one. That brought in one thousand and five hundred taels of patterned silver, which he immediately poured back into buying more alchemy ingredients. For his third purchase of Hundred Herbs Elixir materials, he chose superior ingredients this time. Each set cost five hundred taels, and he bought three sets in total. On his third batch of Hundred Herbs Elixir, Pace finally refined Premium Hundred Herbs Elixir. Across three furnaces' worth, he obtained seven Premium Hundred Herbs Elixir and twenty-three Superior Hundred Herbs Elixir. To produce premium Spirit Elixir, the first requirement was a perfect yield, ten out of ten. Pace kept the seven Premium Hundred Herbs Elixir for himself. He sold all the Superior Hundred Herbs Elixir for silver, then used it to buy even better ingredients. That morning, he shut himself inside his bedroom. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he took out a Premium Hundred Herbs Elixir and swallowed it. The moment it settled in his stomach, he circulated the Codex of Cosmic Truth Cultivation Technique and began to refine it. In less than the time it took to finish half a cup of tea, the pill's medicinal power was completely refined. It produced nearly a hundred strands of True Energy, roughly equivalent to half a month of absorbing Primordial Energy and refining it into True Energy. His meridians had not fully grown in yet, so his absorption rate was limited, and he could not spend all day cultivating either. Yet when those near-hundred strands of True Energy entered his Primal Sea, it barely amounted to anything. His Primal Sea was simply too vast, almost boundless, stretching beyond a hundred thousand zhang. Hundred Herbs Elixir was, after all, a Low Grade Spirit Elixir. It contained little Primordial Energy to begin with. And the Turth Art refined True Energy to an extreme purity, which meant the final amount became even smaller. A Primal Sea Realm cultivator ought to be taking Medium Grade Spirit Elixir. In under half an hour, Pace refined all five Premium Hundred Herbs Elixir. It was the equivalent of cultivating for two and a half months. Days passed one after another. Aside from refining pills and using Spirit Elixir to raise his cultivation, Pace also used the panel to become a Rune Master and an Artifact Refiner with ease. Skills never went to waste. He might need them one day, and they barely cost any proficiency points anyway. When word spread that Pace had become a Rune Master and an Artifact Refiner, the entire city was shaken again. What kind of monster could casually become the three professions everyone dreamed of, alchemist, Rune Master, and Artifact Refiner, and not even be two years old? The news reached the Southern Marquisate. The matriarch of the Southern Marquisate could not quite keep her composure, yet she stubbornly insisted the Juggins family was putting on a show, manufacturing hype for Pace so they could crawl back to the Southern Marquisate. She disdained to send anyone to verify it. Among the servants of the Southern Marquisate, whispers spread in private. With talent like Pace's, he might be brought back soon. Delia, the senior maid who had come as part of the bridal entourage, was frantic. Ever since the rumor that Pace had become an alchemist, she had bribed informants inside Juggins Mansion, watching his every move. From what those informants reported, Pace was far too, far too gifted. It was as if a sage had been reborn. Once again, Delia urged Gemma Scurr to have Pace erased. Her young lady, along with the Scurr family of Green State and Mount Salvation behind her, had thrown everything into supporting Parker Zorn to fight for the heir position in the Southern Marquisate and become the next Marquis of Southguard. After paying such a price, how could they allow someone else to reap the rewards in the end? This time, Gemma said nothing. Her gaze lowered. Her pale fingers rolled Prayer Beads one by one, and her lips murmured scripture, serene and merciful, holy as a painted bodhisattva. Pace was two years and four months old, yet he already stood about as tall as a five-year-old boy. Hands clasped behind his back like a miniature grown man, he strolled through the bustling Soaked Street. Easton Casson followed close behind, along with two guard. Soaked Street was a stretch of stalls where people sold herbs and spirit grasses. Many cultivators found good materials in the wild and refused to sell them cheaply to the herb shops, so they came here to set up a stall instead. Pace enjoyed wandering Soaked Street, hunting for quality Spirit Herb. It had become a pastime. Without warning, more than a dozen vicious martial men, dressed like common townsfolk, drew their blades and charged at Pace and his entourage. They did not waste a single word. The strongest among them went straight for Pace. In an instant, the two guard were hacked down on the spot. Easton barely managed to hold off the first wave from several attackers. As for Pace, no one stood in front of him at all. A blade and a sword were about to cleave and stab into him when a golden glow suddenly rippled across his skin, forming a protective barrier. It was a spell carried by the Codex of Cosmic Truth: Primordial Aura of Protection! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! The weapons struck as if they had hit the hardest diamond. Worse for the attackers, an unseen force diverted their trajectories, bleeding off their power so they could not fully commit to the blow. They could not break the Primordial Aura of Protection. To avoid drawing attention, Pace immediately activated a Golden Bell Ward, then snapped a Divine Movement Talisman to life. With steel still raining down around him, he darted toward the crowded throng and slipped into it. He was small. In a packed crowd, he weaved through bodies like a fish through reeds, far faster than the men trying to kill him. It was easy to shake them. With his true strength, he could have turned around and slaughtered them. But doing so in public would have exposed that he possessed Primal Sea Realm cultivation. In the blink of an eye, he escaped Soaked Street. When the attackers chased out after him, there was not a trace of him left. "Boss, that little brat vanished. What do we do?" a one-eyed martial man asked, panic edging his voice. The leader made the call without hesitation. "Withdraw!" They sheathed their weapons and hurried toward a nearby city gate. Pace ran all the way back to Juggins Mansion in one breath. Only then did he finally slow, chest heaving. Anger burned on his small face. "Who sent people to kill me?" "I'm this little. I haven't even had the chance to make enemies. Unless it's hatred I was born with." "It has to be the Southern Marquisate!!!" During the ambush, he had seen it clearly. The strongest of them had targeted him from the start. This had been an assassination, aimed at him alone. After catching his breath, he went straight to find Wade Juggins. When Wade learned Pace had been attacked, fury erupted. He immediately ordered the mansion's security tightened, then dispatched people to Soaked Street. By the time Juggins Mansion's men arrived, the attackers were long gone. They did manage to send the two gravely wounded guard to a clinic in time, though. With no other choice, Wade reported the matter to the authorities. Southern Marquisate, Roc Court. Delia approached Gemma Scurr, dropped to her knees, and bowed her head. "The attempt to deliver that wretch has failed. I beg Young Lady to punish me." "Did you clean it up?" Gemma asked calmly. Delia replied, "This servant arranged it in advance. I sent a Demon Beast that had already been tamed to lead several common Demon Beast in an ambush outside the city. I just received word. That group has been killed to the last, and most of the bodies were eaten." "They were bandits who drifted from place to place committing crimes. They wouldn't leave behind anything extra." Gemma gave a soft, indifferent "Mm." "Young Lady, I underestimated him and that's why it failed. Next time I'll send a Third Realm Refining Realm expert. I guarantee success!" Delia said. Gemma shook her head slightly. "If one strike fails, we cannot strike again. Not only will the enemy be on guard and the next attempt may still fail, we'll also leave traces that invite suspicion." "Your husband is narrow-minded and cares too much about face. If he finds out someone tried to assassinate his child, it could cause trouble." "But…" Delia blurted, unable to hide her anxiety. Gemma's tone left no room for argument. "This ends here for the moment. We'll revisit it after he turns three and his Spiritual Root is measured." "Yes, Young Lady," Delia said, forced to comply. Gemma added coolly, "Your punishment is to recite the Demon-Overcoming True Sutra ten times." Delia's whole body trembled. Her face went paper-white, yet she still knocked her head to the floor in gratitude. "Thank you, Young Lady, for granting punishment." The Demon-Overcoming True Sutra was no ordinary Buddhist scripture. While reciting it, illusions surged without end, as if one had fallen into the deepest hell, suffering countless tribulations. The pain was unbearable, and nightmares followed afterward. There were benefits, of course, but almost no one wished to experience it a second time. The authorities solved the case by the next day. The reply Wade received was that the culprits were roaming bandits called the Black Fiend Gang. They believed Pace, being an alchemist, must have been wealthy. They thought he had no protection and tried to catch him off guard, killing him to rob him. However, the Black Fiend Gang had met karmic retribution. They had been slaughtered by a group of Demon Beast, and most of their bodies had been eaten. Wade saw the corpses himself, the marks of gnawing obvious. He also inspected the spot where the Demon Beast had attacked. In the end, he could only accept the conclusion. Back at Juggins Mansion, Wade summoned Luna Juggins and explained everything. When he finished, he sighed. "Parker Zorn's second wife is called Gemma Scurr. Her background is terrifying. Pace is too outstanding. Maybe that woman has grown wary." Luna's expression shifted. Anxiety and dread welled up in her eyes. "From here on, keep Pace from going out, and make him keep a lower profile," Wade warned. "I understand," Luna said. After leaving Wade, Luna's worry did not ease. She made a silent vow. Starting today, she would cultivate with everything she had. She would become strong enough to protect her son, Pace Zorn.