The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 1580: Chapter 1678: The Hidden Worries of the Aristocratic Family

The Long Family owns several mansions in Tang Capital, all properties of the Long Family. Whenever people of the Long Family come to Tang Capital for business or leisure, they stay in these mansions.

This time, with the alchemical families and the Pill Alliance holding alchemy competitions, the Long Family, as the head of the alchemy families, naturally attracted many prestigious guests.

As the Family Head, Dragon Haotian was already in Tang Capital.

When Fang Lin suggested meeting with Dragon Haotian, the Long siblings didn’t think too much and led Fang Lin to one of the Long Family’s mansions.

As for Cheng Jinhai, he received a Message Transmitting Jade Slip from Fang Lin.

This delighted Cheng Jinhai. He had been hesitating whether to ask Fang Lin for a Jade Slip or to inquire about where Fang Lin would stay in Tang Capital. His plan was to visit Fang Lin later and take the opportunity to give him the Dragon Patterned Iron Leaf.

Unexpectedly, Fang Lin took the initiative to give him a Message Transmitting Jade Slip, which eased many of Cheng Jinhai’s concerns.

Becoming cunning with age, Cheng Jinhai understood what Fang Lin’s gesture of giving the Jade Slip meant. It was a signal to Cheng Jinhai that Fang Lin had set his sights on the Dragon Patterned Iron Leaf and would notify him when to hand it over.

As for Wu Zhen, naturally, no one paid him any mind, and he left dejectedly with his two clan brothers.

Fang Lin followed the Long siblings, and of course, there was much casual conversation along the way.

However, given Fang Lin’s current status, the Long siblings’ interactions with Fang Lin became more restrained and less casual.

Especially Long Zhixin, who conversed less with Fang Lin, seemingly with some reservations.

As for the other Descendants of the Long Family, they would occasionally sneak glances at Fang Lin. They had already met Fang Lin when he became the Hall Master and had specifically visited the Long Family Ancestral Mansion. Thus, many in the Long Family recognized Fang Lin.

But now Fang Lin was different from before; although he no longer held any Hall Master title and had severed ties with the Pill Alliance, his current status was still something people revered.

Especially with the Sky Swallowing Palace behind him, an entity feared by all factions across the Nine Countries, these descendants naturally had a sense of dread towards Fang Lin.

“For this competition between the alchemical families and the Pill Alliance, you’re planning to participate, aren’t you?” Fang Lin glanced at Long Zhixin and initiated the conversation.

Long Zhixin nodded slightly, remaining silent.

Fang Lin looked around casually and asked, “Besides you, who else will there be?”

In a quiet voice, Long Zhixin replied, “Apart from me, there’s also my cousin sister Long Cai’er in the Long Family. As for which elders will participate, I am not sure.”

Fang Lin frowned: “So, out of the five young Pill Refiners, your Long Family occupies two spots? Don’t the other alchemical families have any outstanding young talents to bring forward?”

Long Zhixin stated, “It seems Wu Qiong from the Wu Family will also take a spot, and there will likely be someone from the Gongsun Family.”

“So it seems the alchemical families haven’t yet decided on their candidates,” Fang Lin shook his head.

Long Zhixin remained silent.

Long Zhiming added, “Right now, although it appears that the alchemical families have significant clout, in reality, each family has its own hidden agenda. On the surface, they are all very respectful towards our Long Family, but what goes on behind closed doors is anyone’s guess. In this competition with the Pill Alliance, the other alchemical families are all watching us, expecting the Long Family to take the lead, so they can reap the benefits without effort. Things are not that cheap.”

Fang Lin was keenly aware that despite the Pill Alliance families being in the spotlight and putting the Pill Alliance in a rather difficult position, as if the birth of a new colossal entity in the world of Alchemy Tao was imminent,

in reality, the Pill Alliance families might face an even more severe and fatal issue—people’s hearts.

The disunity of people’s hearts was an almost unsolvable problem for the Pill Alliance families.

Because the Pill Alliance families were formed by different prominent families, each with its own calculations and goals, achieving unity and concerted effort was an almost impossible task.

Outsiders might not know, but as talented members of the Long Family, the Long siblings were well aware that there was no shortage of scheming and calculations among the Pill Alliance families, especially towards the Long Family. As the head of the Pill Alliance families, the Long Family was watched by countless pairs of eyes. Those families showed superficial respect and followed the Long Family’s lead, but probably all of them were thinking about how they could bite off a piece of the Long Family’s flesh for themselves.

Each family was an interest group, solely focusing on their own benefits. The Long Family might be powerful, but it was also incapable of truly uniting these Pill Alliance families.

It was the same with the upcoming Alchemy Tao competition. Many Pill Alliance families intended to provide minimal effort, allowing the Long Family to compete against the Pill Alliance alone. Whether the other families cheered from behind or reaped the rewards without effort, they all sought to preserve their strength instead of being the first to stick their necks out.

By contrast, although the Pill Alliance was declining, it had become quite cohesive under the several reforms by the East Pole Heaven King. The remaining and returning Pill Refiners of the Pill Alliance were determined to exhaust all their efforts to revitalize the Alliance, with little to no personal schemes of their own.

Therefore, it was hard to say who would be superior between the Pill Alliance and the Pill Alliance families.

“Is your cousin that amazing?” Fang Lin asked.

Long Zhixin hummed a response, “My cousin is five years older than me and also a Master of Pill, stronger than I am.”

Fang Lin was surprised. He was familiar with Long Zhixin’s talent in Alchemy Tao, which he considered exceptional. He had seen many Alchemy Tao prodigies in his life, yet only a few had caught Fang Lin’s eye.

Long Zhixin was one, Su Xiaotong was another, and Zhong Wuwei was a third; Dugu Nian, in comparison to these three, was slightly less talented in Alchemy Tao.

A person who Long Zhixin admitted was better than him probably indeed had real skill.

“Talent-wise, Zhixin is still slightly superior to cousin Cai’er,” said Long Zhiming.

Fang Lin nodded, his expression revealing nothing, leaving others completely clueless about what he was thinking.

The Tang Capital was bustling, even more so than usual, with people everywhere. To say it was packed shoulder to shoulder was no exaggeration.

Due to their remarkable presence, many people would come up and greet the Long siblings upon seeing them, whereas Fang Lin went unrecognized.

After finally arriving at the entrance of the Long Family Mansion, they found a large crowd had congregated outside, blocking the entrance securely.

The Long siblings felt somewhat helpless as this had been occurring for several days, with many people waiting to visit Dragon Haotian every day.

However, as the Family Head of the Long Family, he wasn’t someone easily accessible, yet those people were very patient. If they didn’t get to see him today, they would simply return the next day, and as the numbers grew, it had resulted in this situation.

“This is even livelier than the streets,” Fang Lin commented with a laugh.

ps: Here’s the third update, I’ll continue writing. Don’t forget to vote, everyone.

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