Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

Upon hearing Zhao Rong agree to the contest, the master immediately said, ”Good. Since you’ve agreed to the challenge, let’s start with the first event…”

Zhao Rong glared at him. ”The first event? What is it? Spit it out already!”

The master chuckled, snapped his fingers at a nearby disciple, and ordered, ”Drag out the man who owes me money and refuses to pay.”

At his command, several disciples dragged a man who had been beaten half to death from the Bone-Setting Hall.

When Zhao Rong saw the blood-soaked man before him, he immediately turned to the master and demanded, ”You’re a doctor! Forget about not saving the dying and aiding the injured—why are you beating people?”

The master laughed cruelly. ”This brat owes me money and won’t pay. If I don’t beat him, are you going to pay it for him?”

”How much does he owe you?” Zhao Rong replied coldly. ”I’ll pay it for him.”

The master gritted his teeth, looking Zhao Rong up and down. ”He owes me nine thousand… Can a brat like you afford that much?”

After speaking, the master sized up Zhao Rong, thinking to himself, This kid looks so grimy. He’s clearly a pauper. Forget nine thousand yuan; he’d probably have trouble coughing up even a hundred.

However, before the master could finish his thought, Zhao Rong pulled ninety thousand yuan from his Magic Ring and threw it in the man’s face. ”Damn it! He just owes you nine thousand? And you beat him into this state for that? Here’s ninety thousand! Let him go, now!”

As the master scrambled to pick up the money, he stared at Zhao Rong in astonishment. ”I didn’t expect a kid like you to be so rich… But if I let him go, how will we compete in medical skills?”

Zhao Rong glanced at the man on the ground and then back at the master. ”Are you proposing a contest to see which of us can revive him faster?”

The master shook his head. ”This man is already beyond saving. Forget about you or me; not even a god descending from the heavens could save him. What we need to do now is see who can alleviate his suffering the most.” With that, the master squatted, touched the injured man’s forehead, and said, ”I’ll go first. I guarantee I can make him feel more comfortable.”

As he spoke, the master began using his bone-setting techniques to relieve the man’s pain. Miraculously, after the master’s treatment, the man on the ground, whose face had been twisted in agony, actually managed a faint smile.

Seeing the man smile, the master stood up and looked at Zhao Rong with contempt. ”Kid, I’ve managed to ease his pain a little. Now it’s your turn. If you can also make him more comfortable, you win.”

Zhao Rong looked at the man on the ground and then said to the master, ”If I save his life, does that count as a win?”

Hearing this, the master roared with laughter. ”My god! If you can actually save him, forget you winning—I’ll call you ’Grandpa’ right here on the spot and even lick your toes!”

The master glanced from Zhao Rong to the severely injured man on the ground. This naive kid is just daydreaming. To think he can save someone this critically ill… it’s pure fantasy.

Zhao Rong looked at the man, then took a pressure cooker and the Yi Fire from his Magic Ring. As he worked, he comforted the injured man, ”As an Alchemist, saving the dying and aiding the injured is our duty. Don’t be afraid. I will concoct a Life-Returning Elixir and bring you back.”

With that, Zhao Rong took out a Tianchi Jade Orchid, a bottle of Tianchi Water, a stalk of Divine Grass, one-twentieth of a Demon Crystal’s powder, and an okra from his Magic Ring. After tossing the ingredients into the pressure cooker, he immediately began refining.

When the master saw Zhao Rong start concocting an elixir right in front of him, he scoffed, ”Young man, are you some kind of street quack? In this world, I only believe in science. I’ve never believed in any Art of Alchemy, much less Alchemy itself. It’s all a scam!”

The disciples standing behind the master also began to whisper and mock Zhao Rong.

”If this guy can actually revive the man on the ground, I’ll eat a fly,” one said.

Another disciple boasted, ”Forget a fly, I’d eat a spider!”

But before they could finish, Zhao Rong had completed the refinement. He pulled a yellowish-brown Elixir from the pressure cooker and remarked, ”Refining a Life-Returning Elixir usually feels quite exhausting. How come it was so easy today?”

Lili, standing beside him, analyzed the situation. ”Brother Zhao Rong, when you made Life-Returning Elixirs before, you didn’t have a Tianchi Jade Orchid, Tianchi Water, or a Level 40 Demon Crystal. Now that you have these powerful ingredients, it’s naturally much easier.”

Yu Lan gave Zhao Rong a thumbs-up. ”Brother Zhao Rong, this just proves that as an Alchemist, your techniques are becoming more exquisite and your rank is getting higher!”

Xuelian, however, looked at Zhao Rong with a speculative gaze. ”Brother Zhao Rong, did you buy an alchemy manual from Taobao? Is that why your skills have improved so drastically?”

Hearing Xuelian’s wild imagination, Zhao Rong stumbled and nearly dropped the Life-Returning Elixir. ”Everyone knows Taobao has everything,” he said awkwardly, ”but I don’t think they sell secret Demon Refining manuals like this.”

With that, he placed the Life-Returning Elixir into the injured man’s mouth and gave him a drink of mineral water.

As soon as the man swallowed the elixir, a miracle occurred. He first choked, then burped, and then let out a loud fart. Next, his eyes fluttered open, and he sat bolt upright. He looked at Zhao Rong, then touched his now-healed wounds, feeling the near-death sensation completely vanish.

”I thought I was a goner for sure!” he said excitedly. ”I never imagined I’d actually be alive… Is this real? I’ve been reborn! Thank the heavens, thank the earth, and thank you, young man! You’ve given me a new life!”

The man then shot to his feet, glared at the master and his disciples, and roared angrily, ”You villains, just you wait! I’m going back to gather my men, and I’ll bring them here to flatten your Bone-Setting Hall!” With that, the fully healed man ran off.

When the master and his disciples saw that Zhao Rong had effortlessly revived a man on the brink of death—and that the man was now able to run and jump vigorously—they were completely dumbfounded.

The master knelt before Zhao Rong. Fulfilling his end of the bargain, he licked Zhao Rong’s toes and choked out, ”Grandpa Zhao Rong, you’re just too incredible! I can’t possibly compete with your medical skills…”

As for the master’s disciples, they were forced to make good on their boasts. Those who had wagered on flies began eating them, those who had wagered on spiders began eating spiders, and others began drinking filthy gutter water. They were all utterly conquered by Zhao Rong’s superb skills.

Seeing the master so miserably defeated, the three beauties and the assistant burst out laughing. ”Weren’t you all acting so tough just now?” they taunted. ”Weren’t you looking down on our Brother Zhao Rong? Why are you all so cowardly now?”

Lili jeered at the master, ”Master, do Brother Zhao Rong’s toes taste particularly delicious? If you like them, I can let you come over every night to wash them for him.”

Yu Lan looked at the disciples eating flies and sneered, ”Hey handsome, do flies taste good? Are they packed with protein and nutrients? You should eat them more often!”

Xuelian turned to the disciple eating a spider. ”You know, spiders are said to have nine lives. Plus, their bellies are full of little baby spiders. When you swallow the big one, all the little ones will crawl out and start weaving a web in your stomach. As the web gets bigger, your stomach will get smaller, until eventually, it’s filled completely with spiderwebs. Then, you’ll die in agony…”

Hearing Xuelian’s words, the disciple who ate the spider was so terrified that he collapsed on the ground, dead from fright.

At this, the master stood up and glared at Zhao Rong indignantly. ”Young man, don’t think you’ve won just because your medical skills are superior! Now we begin the second event, and in this, you are no match for me! Do you believe that with my Mantis Fist, I can defeat you, inflict internal injuries, and leave you without a proper grave?”

Hearing that the master wanted to fight him, Zhao Rong found it amusing. ”To be honest, I don’t have much confidence in my medical skills. But when it comes to my Martial Arts, I’m extremely confident. You should think carefully about whether you really want to do this.”

The master took a step forward, performed a front flip followed by a back flip, and then struck a Mantis Fist pose. ”Although I am a bone-setting master,” he said arrogantly, ”I once defeated the Foshan Shadowless Kick in Guangdong. In the Northeast, I defeated the Black Sand Palm. In the Western Regions, I beat the Western Region Flying Kick. I can say that I have yet to meet anyone whose Martial Arts are superior to mine! Young man, if you don’t want to die, surrender now. Maybe I’ll even leave you with an intact corpse.”

Finishing his speech, the master roared with laughter.

But before he could finish, Zhao Rong grabbed the disciple who had just been eating flies, pulled him in front, and shouted, ”Mysterious Rank Advanced Martial Technique, the Fist that Strikes Across Mountains!”

With a loud cry, Zhao Rong’s fist landed heavily on the disciple’s stomach.