The gazes around them became stranger, and some people even started whispering among themselves.
Ning Shewo had been in this field his entire life, and he valued his dignity quite a lot, so he quickly dragged Meng Chao to a corner.
Meng Chao was rather embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Elder Ning. In truth, I’m a very humble and reserved person. I don’t like to be in the limelight at all. Why don’t you pretend as if you don’t know me?”
“No, of course not, my young friend, that’s not what I meant. I’m just curious. Didn’t your master tell you these things?” Ning Shewo could not understand it no matter how much he thought about it.
“This is my greatest secret. I originally did not intend to say anything even at the pain of death, but I’m an honest person, and I’m really not good at lying. In truth, I don’t have a master, but I got to know a very mysterious senior in the deep web. He has given me pointers casually, so I don’t even know whether I have the right to call him my master.”
Meng Chao stopped talking for a while before adding, “His name is Old Fire Relayer.”
“Old Fire Relayer?” The Ning family grandfather-granddaughter pair looked at each other. “I’ve never heard of him in the field before. Who is he?”
“I don’t know. He’s a very elusive and mysterious person.” Meng Chao dug into his memories seriously. “Based on what I gathered from his words, he’s a very strong person, to the point of being domineering. But he’s also very noble.
“He has already freed himself from low-class tastes, and he’s only thinking about contributing to society. He’s a man with great wisdom, great foresight, and can see into the future. He’s also a man full of charm. Without everyone’s knowledge, he’s already subjugating, affecting, and saving everyone!”
The Ning family grandfather and granddaughter pair said, “Is he?”
“Be confident. Say ‘That’s right’ instead of ‘Is he?’,” Meng Chao said. “By the way, I’ve told Old Fire Relayer about your injury, Elder Ning. The old man only thought about it for three seconds before he casually told me to gather two ingredients. One of them is the juice from the roots of a One Hundred Years’ Heart Corrosion Weed, and the other is the wings of the Bloody Queen Hornet. I don’t know what he meant, but may you will, Elder Ning?”
Ning Shewo thought about it for a while before he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. He was so shocked that his hair stood up on end.
“One Hundred Years’ Heart Corrosion Weed and Bloody Queen Hornet are both incredibly poisonous ingredients. The properties of their poison are also very close to that of the Purple-crowned Halys Viper’s poison. He’s suggesting that I fight poison with poison!
“Fighting poison with poison… Why have I never thought of this before?
“It’s logical. The more I think about it, the more logical it sounds. I’ve already tried all treatment methods aside from fighting poison with poison. This is the only way now!”
Ning Shewo was in a daze. Sometimes, he mumbled to himself, and at other times, he made calculations with his fingers. A few times, he laughed soundlessly, and his facial muscles trembled. His expression was extremely strange.
Ning Xueshi was terrified just by watching him. “Grandpa…”
“It’s fine, Xueshi. I’m fine. I have a cure for my illness now. Our young friend here isn’t lying. This Old Fire Relayer is seriously an amazing person. He didn’t even see me, and in just three seconds, with just some casual guidance, he managed to come up with a cure for the chronic illness that has bothered me for a long time! He’s amazing!” Ning Shewo was absolutely impressed.
At the same time, a notification popped up in Meng Chao’s field of vision.
[Through your guidance, elite citizen Ning Shewo has gained a whole new understanding of toxicology. Increased contribution points by 43.]
“Elite monsters” were just amazing. He couldn’t get enough of them.
Meng Chao gulped. “Elder Ning, you have to be careful when it comes to fighting poison with poison. The Old Fire Relayer might have mentioned these two ingredients, but he did not mention the proportions needed and the method required. You might also need all sorts of supplementary ingredients. You must think about this carefully.”
“It’s fine. With this senior’s level, it’s already amazing that he’s willing to provide me with guidance. What right do I have to bother him when it comes to these minor details? I have some knowledge regarding pharmacology myself, so it’s only natural that I will have to carefully figure out the treatment plan with my specialist team.”
Ning Shewo sighed. “After Dragon City transmigrated to this place, we have an endless supply of amazing people among us. Truly, there is always someone who is better than you are! My young friend, regardless of how much I can recover in the end, these two ingredients will still help me by a large degree. I don’t know how I should convey my thanks to Old Fire Relayer!”
“It’s fine. Old Fire Relayer is someone who is not after fame and wealth. Even if you don’t pay him a single cent, he won’t be bothered by it. But if you give him a duplex in Dragon City No.1, he’d take it as well. He’s just someone who treats money as if it’s nothing. He’s very carefree.”
Meng Chao thought about things for a moment. “By the way, I’ve asked Old Fire Relayer about the other methods of the Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse. He doesn’t mind revealing them to the public, so I’ll show them to you now.”
Before Ning Shewo could react to it, Meng Chao picked up two chopsticks and started his demonstration in the air.
In truth, his movements were far from perfect, and he did not understand the profound scientific reasons behind each action. He was just copying them, and his movements even ended up as a grotesque mess.
However, even if the future harvesting skill Meng Chao showed was seriously distorted, when an elite such as Ning Shewo saw it, the enlightenment he gained was so great that it was as if lightning had struck during the night.
“This is…”
Ning Shewo covered his chest. His face turned pale, and he took two huge steps backward.
[Through your guidance, elite citizen Ning Shewo gained a whole new understanding toward the first method of the Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse. Increased contribution points by 32.]
[Through your guidance, elite citizen Ning Shewo gained a whole new understanding toward the third method of the Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse. Increased contribution points by 49.]
[Through your guidance…]
Meng Chao gained a whole bucket of contribution points from the “elite monster”.
“Grandpa!”
When Ning Xueshi saw that her grandpa looked as if he was about to have a heart attack, she quickly went forward to support him.
She could not see the ingenuity behind Meng Chao’s actions. All she saw was that this average high school student had picked up two greasy chopsticks and casually waved them in the air, and it ended up putting her grandpa in this state. She was so anxious that she almost cried.
“I’m fine, Xue Shi. You don’t understand just how great this is…” Ning Shewo’s lips were white, but his eyes were full of life. He solemnly said, “My young friend, did Old Fire Relayer really ask you to teach me the upgraded Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse? What does he want me to do?
Meng Chao shook his head. “It’s the same thing as before. Old Fire Relayer said that martial arts, harvesting skills, and spirit energy technology are all the culmination of Dragon Citizens’ in the workforce wisdom. It should be something that is by the people and for the people.
“That’s why he will never hold back on imparting his skills. He just hopes that your hands and eyes will recover and that you can learn a brand new Seven Dissection Methods Performed in Reverse. Then, you can harvest even more resources and create a better future with all Dragon Citizens.”
Ning Shewo looked as if he was struck by lightning. His lips quivered for a long time before he sighed and said, “The senior’s elegance is like a towering mountain, and his magnanimity is as endless as the sea. I’m impressed. I, no, this junior is completely impressed!”
Ning Xueshi looked back and forth between Meng Chao and her grandfather a few times. In the end, she decided to be impressed as well.
“Only a matchless person like Old Fire Relayer could cultivate a unique… and eccentric boy like Meng Chao!”
The young lady of the Ning family had a lot of complicated feelings in her chest.
“My young friend, sit here with Xueshi for a moment. I’ll go and greet a few of my friends in the circle. Later, I’ll introduce them to you.”
After saying that, Ning Shewo dragged his granddaughter to the side and said softly, “Now, you believe in my words, right? Meng Chao is a person worthy of befriending. At the very least, he’s much more reliable than that Liao Feijun. I’ll be going off to socialize in a moment. Help me serve Meng Chao properly. Don’t be rude to him, understand?”
“Understood, Grandpa.” Then, Ning Xueshi seemed to have thought of something. Her cheeks burned, and she said shyly, “But he’s still in high school. He’s younger than me by three years!”
Ning Shewo went. “Hmm?”
Ning Xueshi returned with a, “What?”
And Meng Chao looked over. “Huh?”
At another corner of the trade fair was Liao Feijun, and he had just finished drinking a cup of blood red wine.
He licked his lips and stared at Meng Chao as well as Ning Xueshi while they chatted with each other. After a while, he looked away.
“Huh? Isn’t that Meng Chao?” the technical director of Prosperous Resource Recovery Company Gu Ming cried out. “How could that brat have the right to come here?”
Liao Feijun’s gaze turned cold. “You know him?”
“Even if I turn into ashes, I’d still be able to recognize him. Young Master Jun, I came to you today to talk about that brat. He’s the one who humiliated us. You have to help us make a decision here!”
Gu Ming appeared to be near tears when he told Liao Feijun all about the conflict the night before yesterday and the crystalized neurosphere. Of course, he dramaticized it a lot, and finished by saying pitifully, “I’ve been learning from Poisonous Hands Liao Santong for a long time, and everyone in the circle knows that I am Mr. Liao’s student.
“But this brat is acting with conceit just because Ghostly Hands Ning Shewo is supporting him. He’s not showing any respect to Mr. Liao at all. Young Master Jun, we can’t just bear with this humiliation!”
Liao Feijun pursed his lips in slight disgust.
Gu Ming had just learned how to harvest for two years under his grandfather and his skills were only average, but he constantly caused trouble and embarrassed them. Liao Feijun could hardly be bothered caring about his affairs.
However, his grandfather Poisonous Hands Liao Santong and Ghostly Hands Ning Shewo had learned under the same master. Over the past few decades, Liao Santong had always lost in terms of skills to his senior brother, and they had even argued and fought for monster materials. The grudge between them ran long and deep.
Lately, however, Ning Shewo’s nerves were damaged, and he seemed about ready to step out of the harvesting circle. This was the chance for Liao Feijun’s grandfather to rise above him.
His grandfather had long since hinted to him that he should look for a chance to provoke Ning Shewo and force him to lose his composure so that he could publicly compete against him. Then, Poisonous Hands would defeat Ghostly Hands by a landslide, and all the gloominess he felt over the past few decades could be swept away.
This was a chance.
Liao Feijun thought about it and said faintly, “Gu Ming, you fell into his trap. The old bat was poisoned by a snake, and most of his skills are gone. Forget about staying in Thunderbolt, he might have to retire from the harvesting circle soon. Why are you afraid of a nearly dead tiger?”
“What?”
Since Gu Ming was a low-level harvester, it was the first time he heard this insider information. He was stunned for a long time, and he could not help but say angrily, “Damn it, if I knew that the old bat is already crippled, Mr. Hu and I wouldn’t have shown mercy to that brat!”
Liao Feijun smiled. “The old bat has been searching for a successor all over the city. Since that brat can tell the difference between an etherealized neurosphere and a crystalized neurosphere, he must have some degree of talent. The old bat is delighted to see such talent and is itching to harvest again. That’s why he supported the brat. It was a very simple matter, but you ended up terrifying yourself and now things have become complicated.”
Gu Ming was embarrassed and angry. “I was wondering about it. He’s just a poor boy living in a public renting house, so how did he end up getting to know White-haried Ghostly Hands?”
Liao Feijun let out a bark of laughter. “It’s no wonder why his school uniform is so tattered. So, he’s living in a public renting house? The old bat is really a shadow of his past now. He has been searching a long time for his successor, and he ended up finding someone like this? But it’s no wonder. Everyone is able to tell that the old bat is trash right now. Those with some connections and talent in the circle would not want to be his successor.”
The two people across from them continued to chat happily. Meng Chao said something, and Ning Xueshi listened to him attentively.
When the girl lowered her head, she looked so charming that Liao Feijun felt incredibly jealous.
He asked Gu Ming to bring two glasses of red wine over. “Come, no matter what, my grandfather is that old bat’s junior brother. If the boy is seriously the old bat’s disciple, then he’s my martial uncle. I’ll go over and greet my ‘junior martial uncle’ now.”