Chapter 49 My Name Is Chu Tianchen

At this moment, the Sixth Prince, Xiao Fan, was standing right outside the grand entrance of the Pill Hall, blazing with fury!

On the ground beside Xiao Fan lay the corpse of a practitioner in the Tongyuan Realm. His dantian had been completely shattered, and he was thoroughly and irrevocably dead.

Chu Tianchen glanced briefly at the corpse. Indeed, the dantian had ruptured due to the ingestion of a potent medicinal pill, and the grade of that pill was at the very least of the fourth tier.

However, how could Mu Ran, a senior fourth-tier alchemist, possibly commit such a low-level mistake? It was blatantly obvious that Xiao Fan was deliberately stirring up trouble.

It seemed that everyone wanted to seize the lucrative prize that was the Pill Hall.

Although the Sixth Prince, Xiao Fan, was a dwarf, among the nine sons and seven daughters of the Human Emperor, his talent ranked near the very top. At merely twenty-two years of age, his cultivation had already reached the fourth stage of the Tianwu Realm.

He was also a formidable contender for the future throne of the Great Qian Dynasty.

That was precisely why he wanted to get his hands on the lucrative territory of the Sea of Clouds Pill Hall.

Not only that, even the current Sea of Clouds Academy had already been infiltrated by various major factions, long since ceasing to be a pure sanctuary dedicated to nurturing geniuses.

The Sixth Prince had come to study at the Sea of Clouds Academy when he was only thirteen years old, and the Xiao Faction that he single-handedly founded possessed the strongest might among the eight major factions within the academy.

Many instructors in both the inner and outer courts were members of his faction.

It was rumored that his mother hailed from the greater world.

Coming here today to make a scene at the Pill Hall, one could only wonder what wind had brought him the news.

Had this been twenty years ago, the Pill Hall would have belonged entirely to the Sea of Clouds Academy. Even if the Human Emperor himself had arrived to cause trouble, he would have had to think twice and weigh the consequences.

Before long, Mu Ran walked down the stairs with heavy footsteps.

"Mu Ran, you've finally decided to show your face!"

"You certainly put on quite the airs these days. It is truly difficult just to catch a glimpse of you," Xiao Fan said coldly.

The aura of the fourth stage of the Tianwu Realm emanated slightly from him, exerting heavy pressure upon Mu Ran.

The two Tianwu Realm guards beside Mu Ran immediately moved to step forward, but a single glance from him stopped them in their tracks.

"Your medicinal pill took a man's life. This Pan Xiong had followed me for seven years, and we were as close as brothers."

"If you fail to give me a satisfactory explanation today, then even with the Sea of Clouds Academy standing behind you, I will tear this Pill Hall to the ground," Xiao Fan continued to bark.

Mu Ran bent down and inspected the corpse.

"It is indeed a ruptured meridian caused by ingesting a fourth-tier Dragon Bone Pill," Mu Ran stated calmly.

"Since you admit it, let's talk about how this is going to be settled," Xiao Fan sneered.

"Sixth Prince, although I sold this pill to you, I had no idea it was meant for him to consume."

"His cultivation is based on ice-attribute techniques, whereas the Dragon Bone Pill is a substance of extreme yang. Even without prior severe injuries, given his cultivation in the Tongyuan Realm, it would already be difficult for him to control, let alone in a state of severe injury."

Mu Ran spoke up.

"Mu Ran, you never mentioned any of this to me when I purchased the pill."

"What exactly are you implying now?" Xiao Fan demanded with a dark and gloomy expression.

"This is common knowledge. Sixth Prince, you are also a martial artist; you should be well aware of such things," Mu Ran replied as he stood up.

Hearing this, Xiao Fan's expression gradually grew increasingly sinister.

"Are you suggesting that this is my fault?"

"Mu Ran, I daresay your time as the master of this Pill Hall has come to an end," Xiao Fan declared.

In the next instant, Xiao Fan's fourth-stage Tianwu Realm aura erupted abruptly, directly pressing down upon Mu Ran in full view of the crowd.

Though Mu Ran was a senior fourth-tier alchemist, his cultivation realm was not particularly high, resting merely at the early stage of the Tongshen Realm. Facing an expert at the fourth stage of the Tianwu Realm, he was naturally no match.

In a mere fraction of a second, his face turned deathly pale.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

Suddenly, the sound of applause echoed from within the crowd.

Following that, Chu Tianchen was seen slowly walking forward.

Upon seeing Chu Tianchen appear, the tight tension on Mu Ran's face instantly eased somewhat.

Although he was the master of the Pill Hall and a fourth-tier alchemist, as things stood currently, the Yunmeng Ze Valley, the newly established Mansion of the Suppressing State General, and now the Sixth Prince were all eyeing the place like tigers eyeing their prey.

Even the current Sea of Clouds Academy, apart from annually extracting resources from the Pill Hall, practically never managed any of its affairs.

Gradually, they had ceased to offer protection to the Pill Hall as well.

Of course, this was primarily because the Sea of Clouds Academy of today had already fallen apart at the seams. Everyone harbored their own hidden agendas, and even the academy dean was racking his brains to build a faction that belonged purely to himself. With every single person looking out solely for their own interests, who on earth would still care about the academy?

"This man died a truly miserable death. First, his meridians and dantian were shattered by external force, and then the organs within his body were pulverized by a force of extreme yang."

Standing before the corpse, Chu Tianchen analyzed methodically.

"Who are you?" Xiao Fan asked with a frown, glaring at Chu Tianchen who had suddenly barged in.

"He was killed by a fourth-tier Dragon Bone Pill, what extreme yang force are you talking about?" the Sixth Prince retorted immediately.

Hearing this, Chu Tianchen couldn't help but chuckle.

"The person who killed him indeed possessed rather clever methods and should have read records regarding assassinations using the Dragon Bone Pill."

"That is why he used a force of extreme yang to mimic a death by the Dragon Bone Pill."

"However, this person's mastery over the extreme yang technique was still insufficient, managing only to replicate its outward appearance."

"The Dragon Bone Pill is a medicinal pill containing nine types of fire-attribute medicinal ingredients. When an ice-attribute martial artist is already severely injured, he cannot force the medicinal potency out of his body, and can only let it ravage whatever part of his internal system it pleases."

"However, because the medicinal potency of the pill is overwhelmingly fierce—especially the fourth-tier Dragon Bone Pill—it would liquefy all the internal organs of someone in the Tongyuan Realm into bloody sludge."

As he spoke, Chu Tianchen suddenly produced a dagger from his sleeve and sliced the corpse open right then and there.

This sudden turn of events startled even the Sixth Prince, Xiao Fan, causing him to involuntarily take a few steps back.

Following that, Mu Ran walked over as well. Upon gazing at the deformed organs within the corpse, sudden realization dawned upon him, and a smile gradually surfaced on his face.

"He truly did not die from the Dragon Bone Pill."

"Young Master Tianchen, how did you manage to discern that?" Mu Ran asked with a smile.

However, Xiao Fan's expression had turned dark and gloomy to the absolute extreme.

"If my eyes do not deceive me, the power cultivated by the Sixth Prince is none other than the fire-attribute extreme yang force, and furthermore, the Sixth Prince should also possess a certain degree of alchemical talent."

"Just now, the Sixth Prince claimed that this man was as close as a brother to you, yet you were truly able to bring yourself to strike him down."

"Just what kind of deep-seated hatred do you harbor against Master Mu Ran to use such a method to frame him?"

Chu Tianchen continued.

Boom!

Xiao Fan's fourth-stage Tianwu Realm aura instantly burst forth, the killing intent in his eyes glaringly sharp.

The very next instant, he thrust his palm forward toward Chu Tianchen.

Right at that moment, Mu Ran flicked his wrist, and the two Tianwu Realm guards behind him bolted forward instantaneously, directly shielding Chu Tianchen and repelling the Sixth Prince several paces back with a simultaneous palm strike.

Seeing this, the two Tianwu Realm guards flanking the Sixth Prince immediately stepped forward.

"Audacious! How dare you make a move against the Sixth Prince? You're courting death!" one of them shouted angrily.

"Xiao Fan, I know precisely what you came here for—nothing more than setting your sights on the Pill Hall."

"To tell you the truth, from now on, the Pill Hall will be under my jurisdiction. In the future, if you have any grievances, come directly at me; there is no need to bother Master Mu Ran ever again."

"Oh, by the way, I am that very same member of the Chu family whose ancestral estate your father had confiscated just recently."

"My name is Chu Tianchen!"

Chu Tianchen slowly stepped forward, his gaze burning like torches, revealing a trace of chilling killing intent as he spoke.