Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Hope Is Dashed Again

The Jiang Family!

Within the main hall of the Jiang Family estate, the atmosphere was still heavy.

A suffocating pressure lingered, refusing to dissipate.

No one dared to speak, afraid that a single word might cause the situation to spiral out of control.

The problem the Jiang Family faced was incredibly serious.

No one had expected Ling Xuan to do such a thing before he left—he had taken every last elixir from the Jiang Family.

He didn’t leave a single one behind.

It was an act of extreme, ruthless cruelty.

"Everyone, please, think of something."

In his anxiety, Jiang Men was the first to speak.

His voice was urgent and trembling.

This was truly a critical moment that would decide the life or death of the Jiang Family.

"Each of you, use your connections and help the Jiang Family find an alchemist as quickly as possible. It would be best if we could have one in place by tomorrow," he said.

His eyes flickered toward the Patriarch, Jiang Han, from time to time.

Jiang Han’s face was currently shifting between shades of green and red, a clear sign of the turmoil within him.

No one knew what the Patriarch was plotting.

So Jiang Men took charge and hastily rallied the clansmen.

Immediately, every clansman stated their position.

"Second Brother, although my network is extensive, I really don’t know any alchemists."

"Oh, right, the only alchemist I know is the one from the Bai Family, but since they work for the Bai Family, there’s no way they’d come to our Jiang Family."

One by one, the clansmen spoke up, but the final result was quite embarrassing.

Not only did no one know an alchemist, but they didn’t even have a single lead on one.

After a long silence from his seat as Patriarch, Jiang Han finally took a deep breath, suppressing the anger and resentment in his heart before speaking.

"Jiang Tian, take some men to Hanwu City at once and search for any leads on an alchemist."

A clansman immediately stood up.

"Patriarch, should I leave right now?" Jiang Tian asked.

Jiang Han nodded. "Go now. The sooner, the better."

Jiang Tian quickly left with a few clansmen to gather information.

Then, Jiang Han turned to Jiang Men again.

"Jiang Men, the Ximen Family poached our alchemist. Go and see if you can poach theirs. We can’t just sit here and wait to die."

The Jiang Family had reached its most dangerous point.

Jiang Han was already burning with anxiety, more desperate than anyone else.

He had to worry about his clansmen, his wife, and his son.

The weight of every single person seemed to press down on his shoulders.

Jiang Men understood and also left in a hurry.

The family meeting continued.

It went from morning until noon. No one ate lunch; they all remained in the main hall. Eventually, some clansmen prepared food and brought it to them there.

The meeting still went on.

By the afternoon, Jiang Men was the first to return.

"Well?"

All eyes turned to Jiang Men. He had gone to poach the Ximen Family’s alchemist, Master Chen.

And now he was back.

But seeing Jiang Men’s ugly, almost ashen expression, they knew the results were likely not good.

Still, Jiang Han asked at the first opportunity.

Jiang Men clenched his fists in anger.

He roared, "That bastard! That Chen Ran is too despicable!"

"It would have been one thing if he’d just refused, but he actually humiliated me! That son of a bitch."

One could only imagine what kind of treatment Jiang Men had received.

The Ximen Family’s alchemist, Chen Ran, hadn’t just given him attitude—he had rejected him and even insulted him.

"Damn it!"

Furious, Jiang Han slammed his palm down on his chair.

Everyone fell silent once more.

The expression on every face was grim.

Although everyone wracked their brains, it was no use. No one could get in touch with a single alchemist.

Then, a clansman suddenly spoke up.

Slightly excited, he said, "Patriarch, has everyone forgotten about two people?"

In an instant, all eyes were fixed on the speaker.

Right now, any little piece of good news would be enough to lift the Jiang Family’s spirits.

"Speak!" everyone urged.

The clansman said, "Didn’t we pick two talented clansmen to follow Ling Xuan and learn alchemy?"

"They’ve been studying for two years now. They must know some alchemy, right?"

At that moment, everyone’s spirits lifted.

Jiang Han was overjoyed.

"Quick, bring Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling to the main hall."

A clansman quickly went to find Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling.

The two of them were the clansmen the Jiang Family had previously sent to study Alchemy Skill under Ling Xuan.

Two years had passed, and everyone had forgotten about them.

After all, the Jiang Family had always had Ling Xuan. Now that he was gone, only those two remained.

Soon, a young man and woman walked in.

"Greetings, Patriarch. Greetings, Clan Uncles."

Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling appeared, immediately bowing to greet everyone.

The two of them were from the younger generation, and most of the people present were their elders.

Jiang Han waved his hand.

"I have a question for you."

"Do you know how to perform alchemy?"

He didn’t waste any words, getting straight to the point.

There was no more time to dawdle.

The sooner they knew the answer, the better.

As soon as he spoke, every clansman turned to look at Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling, the two who had been following Ling Xuan.

At that, Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling glanced at each other, at a loss.

Only then did they look back at Jiang Han.

Jiang Xuan gave a bitter smile. "Patriarch, you may not be aware, but while we were with Mr. Ling, he never taught us anything."

"He just criticized and berated us. We were lucky to have survived; how could we possibly know alchemy?"

Jiang Ling’s face was also ashen with despair.

"It’s true. Mr. Ling treated us like servants, always either hitting or cursing us. Most of the clansmen probably knew about it."

"But we knew how important Mr. Ling was to the Jiang Family, so we didn’t feel it was our place to speak up."

What?

Hearing this, the crowd was instantly choked with anger.

So Ling Xuan hadn’t taught the two of them anything at all.

Many of the clansmen even felt deeply ashamed.

Ling Xuan had berated Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling, even daring to do so in front of the Patriarch, Jiang Han himself. If he treated them that way, it went without saying that he looked down on the other clansmen completely.

Jiang Men hurriedly pressed, "You didn’t learn anything at all?"

"Not even how to refine the lowest-quality elixirs?"

Jiang Xuan’s smile became even more bitter.

"Whenever Mr. Ling was performing alchemy, he would kick us out."

"He wouldn’t even let us watch."

BANG!

The loud noise instantly plunged the hall into silence. Many didn’t even dare to breathe.

Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ling, especially, were like children who had done something wrong, not daring to lift their heads.

"That bastard Ling Xuan... He truly deserves to die."

"I was too lenient with him in the past."

Only now did Jiang Han suddenly recall all of Ling Xuan’s many faults.

Every single one was so infuriating, but he hadn’t paid them any mind before because neither side had broken the facade of civility.

His son, Jiang Chen, had even mentioned before that Ling Xuan had a poor character.

And he had even made excuses for Ling Xuan.

Now, it seemed he had been terribly, terribly wrong.

The Jiang Family’s only hope was completely gone.

Jiang Han waved his hand dismissively.

"Alright, you may go," he said weakly, slumping into his chair, his face pale and bloodless.

He looked as though he had suffered a grave injury.

It was clear that this whole affair had dealt him a massive blow.

Now, the only remaining hope was the news that Jiang Tian and the others were gathering outside the estate.