A Family of Hopeless Romantics, Except for the Evil Little Junior Brother-Chapter 148: I’m Really Not an Evil Cultivator

“Plop!!”

Just as Li Xuanxiao was rubbing his temples, a dark figure suddenly dropped into the cauldron where he was burning trash.

He heard the sound clearly.

It was just that, after crafting the Heaven-Deceiving Talisman, he was utterly spent. Creating such a high-level talisman severely drained his energy—even though it brought great benefits to his cultivation, the process was incredibly taxing.

The moment the figure fell into the cauldron, the true fire inside flared up violently, erupting into even greater intensity.

The sudden outburst startled Li Xuanxiao.

That looked like… a person?

He hurried to withdraw the true fire.

But strangely, the flames grew even wilder, as if they had just been fed some extremely high-grade fuel.

Then came a deafening BOOM—!!!

In a blink, the flames surged to a whole new level of ferocity.

The sudden change caught Li Xuanxiao completely off guard.

Before he could react, a shockwave of fire knocked him back like a kite with its string cut, sending him flying seven or eight zhang before he crashed hard to the ground.

“Aaaaghh…”

A pained cry echoed from within the cauldron.

It really was a person!

Li Xuanxiao’s expression changed.

Already physically and spiritually drained from crafting the talisman, the world spun around him.

“Don’t panic, I’ll save you.”

He flew into action, ready to kick over the cauldron.

Inside, the Happy Young Man let out another agonized wail.

He had just been hit by Liu Qiushui’s palm—a blow that nearly obliterated his soul.

Now, falling into a cauldron full of true fire, he was nearly burned to ashes again.

Thankfully, the cauldron wasn't sealed or warded.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the edge of the cauldron and prepared to climb out.

That’s when—WHAM!—a kick landed square on his side.

(ｏﾟﾛﾟ)┌┛Σ(ﾉ´ω`)ﾉ

One kick—and he was knocked right back into the flames.

Happy Young Man’s thoughts: I knew it! Someone’s out to get me!

Li Xuanxiao, who had only meant to flip the cauldron: (⊙o⊙)…

Realizing the situation, he quickly reached out to tip the cauldron over—but his head swam, and he felt like he was about to pass out.

Meanwhile, the Happy Young Man was still scrambling to get out.

The cauldron wasn’t hard to escape from, really—he was just injured from Liu Qiushui’s blow, and this was only his clone.

He had just leapt out, about to breathe a sigh of relief and extinguish the flames on him...

When suddenly, a massive shadow loomed over him.

Wait… no!

He turned to see the entire cauldron tipping toward him, coming down over his head like a trap.

“THUD—!!”

Even Li Xuanxiao, usually calm, panicked and fumbled in a flurry of arms and legs.

“Stop squirming already!”

If either of them had just paused for half a second, the Happy Young Man would have escaped.

“Stop squirming?”

Happy Young Man was frantic.

So shameless! He was clearly trying to refine him alive!

Was I already in this guy’s scheme the moment I entered Central State!?

At that thought, he pulled out a Soul Nail—and stabbed it into his Heavenly Gate acupoint.

He would tap into his soul power. No more holding back.

Sinking his breath into his Dantian, he stomped hard.

Then—an unbelievable sight.

A towering, illusory figure appeared behind him—like a god descending from the heavens.

Smaller in scale, sure, but the aura was unmistakable.

The once blazing-hot true fire in the cauldron suddenly lost its ferocity, as if suppressed by some great power. The heat plummeted instantly.

Then—he pointed forward and shouted:

“Break!!”

At the same time, the Manifestation behind him mimicked the gesture—also pointing forward.

A terrifying energy blast burst forth from that single finger, smashing into the obstacle before him.

Outside the cauldron—

Having downed a Vitality Pill and Replenishment Pill, Li Xuanxiao felt his strength returning.

He prepared to unleash his full power and shatter the cauldron. After all, it wasn’t anything precious.

Lives mattered more. novelbuddy.cσ๓

“Great Mercy Fist!!”

This was a fist technique derived from his body-tempering cultivation method, Great Mercy Body Art.

Golden Buddha light surged around him as he threw a punch.

“RUMBLE…”

At that moment, the cauldron burst apart.

And from within, a teenage figure emerged.

“You think this lousy cauldron could trap me!?”

The young man shouted in fury.

Li Xuanxiao’s face changed—he tried to stop his punch…

Too late.

“Puh~”

His fist smashed directly into the young man’s head.

Li Xuanxiao: ………

I swear I didn’t mean it. You believe me, right?

“Master, the thunder here is so loud, my head’s pounding,” said a young female cultivator flying over Thundercloud Island with an elder.

“That’s because your cultivation isn’t deep enough,” the elder said calmly. “Once you reach the Tribulation Stage, the tests you face will be far worse. I brought you here today to give you a taste.”

These two were master and disciple from the Heavenly Dao Alliance, one of the five great sects.

“Master, look! Someone’s refining pills down there!” the girl pointed to a figure working below.

The elder frowned. “This is a natural thunderstorm zone. Refining pills here is extremely risky. Could it be some kind of special pill?”

Just as he was wondering, a boy leapt out of the cauldron.

But then, the alchemist promptly kicked him back in.

Next, the boy tried climbing out again—and the alchemist flipped the cauldron over him.

Finally, the boy broke out of the cauldron—and got punched in the face.

The elder’s expression turned dark.

“Using people for pill refining... an evil cultivator.”

Li Xuanxiao was about to break down.

The Happy Young Man was crafted from one-fourth of the Happy Elder’s soul—a being with a unique constitution.

Earlier, when the elder attempted a forbidden divination, the link between them was severed.

Then Liu Qiushui gravely injured the clone.

Then the clone got struck by lightning twice in the storm.

Then he was nearly refined by true fire.

And finally—punched in the face by Li Xuanxiao.

What remained… was something that looked like a baby.

Heaven knows, he wasn’t trying to refine a person into a pill!

He jumped in himself! Not his fault!

Li Xuanxiao wanted nothing more than to bash his own head against a wall. He’d just been dragged into this—out of nowhere.

This karma… this cause and effect… it came out of the sky, impossible to dodge.

What now? What had this guy become?

Before he could make sense of the baby-thing in front of him, an angry voice roared from behind.

“Demon! Evil Cultivator! DIE!!”