Chapter 150: A Turn of Events

Receiving Xu Wen's reply, Budong's eyelids lifted slightly. The temperature around him plummeted instantly, and the aura of a nine-star dark magus erupted without reservation! It filled the cabin in a split second!

"I believe you might need to re-evaluate your situation."

His tone was icy. As he uttered these words, the formidable pressure belonging to a grand magus bore down with full force upon the one human and two beasts sitting quietly in the room. The air stagnated instantly!

"Wuu!"

Under the shroud of this mighty coercion, Little Tiger and Little Black felt as though mountains weighing tens of thousands of catties were pressing upon their bodies. They collapsed to the floor together, trembling violently and whimpering toward Xu Wen.

It was no wonder Budong was provoked by Xu Wen. To Xu Wen, breath-concealing pills were extremely ordinary elixirs that could be refined at any time. Moreover, because Budong had reached the nine-star realm and disdained using deceptive elixirs, he had returned everything in his spatial ring to Xu Wen.

He had assumed this simple request wouldn't be refused, yet he never expected Xu Wen to be so unappreciative!

Fearing that Xu Wen might rely on elixirs in the future to become reckless and devoid of respect for superiors, he couldn't help but use this opportunity to teach the young man a small, temporary lesson!

Yet... facing Budong's oppressive aura, Xu Wen sank deeply into his seat, not even lifting his eyelids once.

He directly recalled his two contractual beasts, which had suffered miserably, and said indifferently:

"Senior, you'd better put away these boring tricks... My subordinate is a dark magus; I understand the restorative pill's effects on dark maguses better than anyone else! To you, I am the only alchemist who can help you rapidly ascend to the nine-star peak without any negative side effects. You... dare not kill me!"

His tone was resolute. Budong frowned secretly, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve with unperturbed composure:

"Young man... sometimes, blind confidence is not necessarily a good thing."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior, but my juniors confidence has always been built on a solid foundation! You will not kill me, and you dare not kill me, because I am your one-and-only secret weapon... If you kill me, you are destroying your own great wall. No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like a fool."

"Destroying... my own great wall?"

Budong paused, a look of cold disdain instantly crossing his face.

"You are the first of the younger generation who dares to speak to me in this tone." As a nine-star powerhouse, even if the other party were a member of the Dark Empire's royal family, they would still be required to use honorifics.

"Thank you for the compliment... Hmph..."

Just as those words left his mouth, Xu Wen abruptly felt the weight on his shoulders increase manifold. His forward-leaning body plummeted heavily! His blood surged chaotically, and even breathing became difficult.

Fortunately, Xu Wen was sitting cross-legged. Had he been standing, this single blow would have forced him to his knees, or perhaps even shattered his kneecaps.

Budong still stood expressionlessly in the shadows, his eyes radiating a piercing, murderous intent!

He refused to believe that a teenager in his teens could temper his mental fortitude to such an extent that even when faced with a choice between life and death, he would remain unmoved without revealing his true nature!

Pity... he had failed once again.

Under Budong's gaze, Xu Wen—his face flushed red and his body paralyzed by the pressure—revealed a trace of mildly mocking and disdainful smiling. With great difficulty, he slowly extended a hand and gestured vaguely at his arm and neck:

"No matter how skilled an alchemist is... once injured, cough cough, they will definitely be unable to focus on refining medicine for a short time... Even if we disembark, hoo... firing up the cauldron again will take at least a few months... Never mind, if you wish to continue, you can try breaking my arm or snapping my neck." At this point, the corners of his mouth twitched in a trembling, semi-mocking grimace, leaking a trace of undisguised, cold laughter.

How could he not know in his heart that Budong was trying to use this opportunity to force him into submission!

What a pity!

Xu Wen was not a three-year-old child; would he simply bow his head and become a willing beast of burden just because of a casual threat?

This was his first official meeting with Budong, as well as their first clash. He might as well use the opportunity to show his hand and proactively seize his own momentum.

Seven 'restorative pills' were useless to the current Budong; what was useful was himself.

This point!

Budong must understand! And believe firmly!

Sure enough.

The moment his voice fell, the weight and pressure pressing upon Xu Wen vanished into thin air.

The sensation of profound relief, the feeling of transitioning from hell to heaven, allowed Xu Wen to realize instantly: he had won!

"Haha... As expected of the disciple of Qingyun Academy's chief fire mage, your nerve is truly extraordinary. What just happened was purely a joke. How about this: as long as you provide me with two bottles of disguise pills that lower mental cultivation, I will help you solve a problem."

As a nine-star dark magus, this was the first time Budong had felt such a headache dealing with a teenager. However, Budong was no pushover and immediately played his trump card.

Hearing this, Xu Wen smiled bitterly inside!

He knew that while he had won one round, Budong had instantly clawed back another.

The trouble he referred to naturally pointed to that utterly vexing little demoness, 'Qiong Bi'.

Hesitating for a long time, Xu Wen ultimately chose not to continue confronting Budong... Sighing in resignation, he retrieved a small porcelain bottle from his spatial ring, toyed with it briefly, and tossed it into the shadows:

"Remember your promise."

"Consider yourself sensible."

Xu Wen's prompt action and resigned expression of helplessness finally brought Budong a sense of achievement. He smiled faintly and then vanished from the room into thin air.

Minutes after Budong left, Xu Wen felt as though he had just been fished out of water; his inner garments were thoroughly soaked.

A surge of blazing elemental energy circulated through his entire body, restoring his dryness.

Composing his mind, Xu Wen stared fixedly at the spot where Budong had vanished and fell into deep contemplation once again!

Everything that needed to be argued and stated had already been expressed. Although the breath-concealing pills were ultimately handed over 'for free', his objective had more or less been achieved.

What puzzled him, however, was... why would Budong suddenly need breath-concealing pills?

For a nine-star powerhouse to use breath-concealing pills was definitely no ordinary matter. Xu Wen finally stepped out of his secluded room and ascended to the deck.

He wanted to investigate clearly whether the Blood Alliance's Royal Mercenary Corps had caught up!

The moment he stepped onto the deck, the tense, sword-drawing atmosphere of armed readiness immediately let Xu Wen know that things were indeed highly unusual.

After asking a crew member, he finally learned the predicament facing the Fish Arrow Mercenary Group and all passengers aboard.

Ordinary merchant ships and civilian vessels had been completely unseen for over a month?

The Three Great Pirate Fleets?

Xu Wen felt as though a certain spot deep in his heart had been touched... Instinctively, images of ocean-related magical beasts and other past experiences from his gaming days surfaced in his mind.

At that moment, Budong's voice echoed in his ear, abruptly pulling him out of his daze:

"Get back to your cabin and stay there. With me around, you won't suffer any mishaps."

Heard on the surface, these words sounded like caring advice, but they actually carried a hint of warning. Their underlying meaning was a caution: even if they encountered pirate fleets or formidable enemies, his vigilance toward him would not slacken in the least.

"Old crafty fox."

Xu Wen cursed inwardly. Just now, he had indeed entertained the thought of slipping away amidst the chaos.

With the Black Wind Eagle, the world was vast enough for him to go anywhere! As for the mental imprint Budong had secretly placed upon him, he also had ways to erase it within a short time.

It seemed he could only sit tight and wait for the pirate fleet to strike... Xu Wen stopped dwelling deeply on the total disappearance of maritime merchant ships, turned around, and returned to the main hall, where he met Old Xie and Wang Xiaoshuai.

Over this month of arduous cultivation, the two of them had also made slight progress!

Lacking the restorative pill, Old Xie simply maintained his demonic state. Although his cultivation was doomed to remain at the first tier of the eight-star realm, the dark aura surrounding his exterior had grown much denser and more restrained.

Wang Xiaoshuai's gaze appeared even more piercing!

A lock of falling black hair happened to conceal his slave brand, and the once-ghastly mark had faded and blurred significantly thanks to the elixirs Xu Wen had brewed during his free time.

As soon as Xu Wen arrived, the silver dragons darting and leaping about the hall instantly converged!

Radiant and spirited, they looked toward Xu Wen... "Master!"

Inside the towering ship, everyone knew Wang Xiaoshuai's status as a slave and naturally regarded Xu Wen as his master; Wang Xiaoshuai also seemed to tacitly accept this narrative.

Nodding, Xu Wen raised a hand to halt any further formalities from Wang Xiaoshuai and Old Xie, walking naturally up to the two of them.

"During these past few days, has that little ghost given you any trouble?"

"Old Xie says she seems to be breaking through to the seven-star realm, planning to settle scores with Master before disembarking." Wang Xiaoshuai looked at Xu Wen with unmistakable worry.

Little Bi's mental manipulation magic had already perfectly integrated and sublimated with charm arts. Its potency was so immense that even experts at the seven-star level couldn't help falling victim to her, let alone considering that she had a nine-star master backing her up.

"I'm fine. As long as you guys are unharmed, I'm relieved," Xu Wen replied.

Naturally, he wouldn't recount his earlier meeting with Budong to Old Xie and the other man. A nine-star powerhouse's pride needed to be preserved; should the latter fly into a rage out of humiliation and trip him up, his future days would become difficult.

"I came over today because there is something I'd like to discuss with you both."

Xu Wen gazed at the two of them, whose expressions tightened slightly as they lowered their voices:

"Master, please give your orders."

Before his voice fully faded, Xu Wen dropped a bombshell of a statement:

"I intend to study necromancy."

"..."

Old Xie and Wang Xiaoshuai were dumbfounded.

The former was dumbfounded because he already knew of Xu Wen's proficiency in necromancy. Given his understanding and mastery of death magic, what was this talk of... studying?

The latter, however, was truly dumbfounded!

Studying forbidden necromancy?

This was an evil profession not tolerated anywhere on the Soul Continent outside of the Dark Empire.

Given Xu Wen's current age and cultivation, continuing along the path of fire magic would surely lead him to become a nine-star grand magus in the future, perhaps even surpassing his mentor, 'Halman'.

To turn back at a time like this and study a necromancy spell that everyone despised and loathed??

You must be joking!

Of course... Wang Xiaoshuai also understood his own status.

He was merely a slave and must never speak to his master with the thoughts running through his head.

Moreover, he could guess the reason why Xu Wen wanted to study necromancy... Walking through the Dark Empire as a necromancer was indeed much safer and more concealed than acting as a fire mage. But still!

There seemed to be no necessity for this... Studying two entirely distinct schools of magic and mastering two different elemental attributes would not only increase the difficulty of cultivating both professions, but also drastically slow down the progression of his cultivation speed, potentially even causing unpredictable consequences for his future.

Wang Xiaoshuai and Old Xie chose to remain silent in unison, gazing at Xu Wen with their own complex thoughts.

At that moment, the hull of the ship violently shuddered!

Simultaneously, all three felt the ship beneath their feet begin to list severely, followed by a series of terrifying fracturing sounds and shrieks!

(To be continued)