If it were an ordinary person, before kneeling and swearing an oath, there would always be some hesitation—weighing the pros and cons, worrying about face, deliberating over every possible gain and loss.
But this old man Fei was decisive. He dropped to his knees without a second thought.
After bowing, he didn't do what most people would—stand up and say a few pleasantries, or express regret, or frustration, or humiliation.
Not old man Fei. None of that. He simply thickened his face, grinned, and shuffled over: "Young Master, from now on, old Fei here is your man. You wouldn't let your own people suffer a loss, would you?"
As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together, his expression about as slimy as it could get, eyes gleaming with a roguish glint, making the whole thing look absurdly comical.
This time, it was Jiang Chen who was left speechless. He had expected the old man to waver for a while, deliberate, maybe even fly into a rage and refuse.
Instead, the old man was this decisive about it.
With that, Jiang Chen couldn't even put on airs even if he'd wanted to.
"Old Fei, you really won't regret this?" Jiang Chen asked with a faint smile.
"Regret what? Old Fei here has lived long enough to never learn what regret means. If anything, I think if I had refused, now *that* would be something to regret."
"Oh? You're that confident in me?" Jiang Chen had figured the old man was acting on impulse. Was there something more to it?
"Heh heh." Old Fei beamed with pride. "Young Master, this old man hasn't lived all these years for nothing. Look at you—how long has it been since you arrived in the Royal Capital? In no time at all, you've rallied three of the Four Great Dojos to back you up, and at the risk of offending the Dragon Tooth Guard, no less. Old Fei here has his reasons for seeking you out, but do you think Qianlan Southern Palace and Duobao Dojo also have business with you?"
"All right, say they all have reasons. That still proves you're no ordinary person. To have all three Great Dojos wrapped around your finger in such a short time—someone who can do that? If they have no secrets worth mentioning, you couldn't beat it out of old Fei."
At this point, old Fei grinned slyly: "Young Master, what do you think of this old man's comprehension?"
"Pretty good. You've got the wits and the decisiveness. Old man, here's the formula for the Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill. Take it." Jiang Chen casually fished out a formula sheet and tossed it over.
Seeing Jiang Chen fling the formula over like a piece of garbage, old Fei's first thought was that he must be joking.
The Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill—an ancient formula! Even if there were a powerful figure backing Jiang Chen, there was no way he'd hand it over to old Fei this easily, was there?
Surely there would be all sorts of demands and conditions, and he'd have to be thoroughly broken in and subdued before the formula would be produced?
Old Fei unfolded the sheet on impulse. One look and his expression froze. His hands trembled involuntarily, and a jolt ran through his entire body as if he'd been struck by lightning.
"This... this is actually the Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill formula?!" Old Fei cried out.
He wasn't an outsider to alchemy. While he had never seen the formula for the Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill firsthand, he had heard enough about it and had studied enough of its pharmacological principles.
If it were a fake formula, any expert could spot the flaws at a glance.
And if it were genuine, an expert could also tell the real thing from a forgery.
This formula, though hastily written, contained materials, refining techniques, and trade secrets that were all perfectly sound. Only a true master could have written something like this.
"What? You think I'd use a fake formula to brush you off?"
Old Fei's next move left Jiang Chen stunned.
The old man's legs buckled and he dropped to his knees again—thud, thud, thud—three sharp kowtows in succession.
"Old man, didn't you just do this? What's this for?"
"Heh heh, that last bow was forced by circumstance. This one comes from the bottom of my heart. Young Master, from this day forward, if you tell old Fei to go east, I'll never go west. If you tell me to kill someone, I'll never just set a fire!"
"Forget it. You're getting on in years and you've got some standing out there. 'Young Master' is a bit much for you. Just call me Jiang Shao from now on, or Chen Shao. Drop the 'Young Master'—people will start thinking I've got some huge background or something."
"Chen Shao, if your background isn't huge, then there's nobody in the whole Tiangui Kingdom with a big background!" old Fei cackled, immediately switching his address to match.
The old man was finding Jiang Chen increasingly impossible to figure out.
Jiang Chen appeared to be from the Eastern Kingdom, but even a fool could see that he was nothing like his surface identity suggested.
A young man who could casually produce an ancient formula like the Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill—how could he possibly have a small background?
At this moment, old Fei's heart was actually churning with emotion. He had seen plenty of impressive young men in his day, but handing out ancient formulas like street trinkets? This was a first.
Setting everything else aside, Jiang Chen's sheer composure alone put every young man in the Tiangui Kingdom to shame by several leagues.
"Heh heh, old Fei, you really are sharp. If I had knelt just a little slower, if I hadn't been so resolute, maybe Chen Shao wouldn't have trusted me so much, and he wouldn't have been so generous as to hand over the Wash Dust Plain Heart Pill formula. This time I've really hit the jackpot! Hmm hmm, with Chen Shao's background, he's got to have even more good stuff on him. I need to stick close to Chen Shao's side—maybe there'll be even bigger surprises down the road. Damn it, all I did back in the Treasure Tree Sect was offend one elder, and they banished me to this mundane kingdom for decades. Hmph hmph, but follow Chen Shao, and maybe one day I'll march right back into the Treasure Tree Sect with my head held high!"
Don't be fooled by old Fei's iron-fisted authority in Qingyang Palace—he had a bitter past. The truth was, he had offended a powerful figure in the Treasure Tree Sect and couldn't survive there anymore, so he had fled to the Tiangui Kingdom to become the Sect Master of a mundane dojo. Given his talent, it was a deeply humbling step down.