Chapter Thirteen: A Reputation in Tatters

  Xiao Fan soaked in the small lake for three whole hours, during which he had been enduring the burning of the true fire that surged out from within his body, and could be said to be worse off than dead.

  However, Xiao Fan endured it silently, not making a sound, although his lips were already bitten and bleeding, he still managed to hold on and remained clear-headed, which made Bai Yu Wu Gui Lao Bai nod in secret admiration.

  Three hours later, Xiao Fan's true fire had completely disappeared, and the impurities in his body had been refined to perfection. He had returned to his original state, reversing the order of heaven and earth, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Tempering Body realm.

  Although the boundary was upgraded, Xiao Fan's physical body had been tempered to perfection, but he had lost a lot of weight and his skin was dark and charred as if it had been burned, with dry and cracked lips still bearing blood stains.

  In the small lake, countless fish were poisoned to death by the toxins discharged from Xiao Fan's body. The water of that large lake seemed to have turned black, and even Xiao Fan himself could feel a wave of stench coming over.

  Looking far away, all that can be seen on the surface of the lake is black water and white fish floating with their bellies up.

  Xiao Fan's body used to indulge in food, drink and pleasure, with many times more impurities inside than ordinary people. This time, all of them were refined at once, it can be said that the whole person was renewed, completing a transformation process.

  Xiao Fan, although he had the strength of a tempered body at its peak, his blood and energy were severely depleted after being burned by the true fire, his eyes sunken, his entire person weak and powerless, lying in the water unable to move.

  Lao Bai chuckled and with a slight lift of his paw, an invisible wave flashed through the air. Xiao Fan was lifted by an unseen force from the water and flew to Lao Bai's side on the lake shore. It was truly magical, and at this moment, Lao Bai really looked like a turtle immortal.

  Xiao Fan stood on the ground, feeling a wave of dizziness and weakness all over his body. His footsteps stumbled, and he almost fell to the ground, but managed to grab onto a chair and sit down just in time.

  "Hey kiddo, how's it going?" Old White chuckled as he looked at Xiao Fan.

  Xiao Fan supported his head with one hand, his voice weak, and said: "I'm suffering to death, my whole body is weak, as if I'm going to die. Old Bai, quickly go find me a piece of clothing to wear, or else when people see me like this, my reputation will be ruined."

  "Haha, you little scoundrel still has a reputation?" Old White seemed to have heard something unbelievable, his green bean-sized eyes wide with surprise as he stared at Xiao Fan.

  Xiao Fan rolled his eyes: "You, an old turtle who's been around for thousands of years, aren't afraid of losing face. I'm still young and fear being embarrassed." Everyone has a sense of shame in their recklessness. Xiao Fan felt uneasy all over when Old White stared at him like that, wanting to go back and change into some clothes, but his whole body was weak, he couldn't even stand steadily, let alone walk back.

  "Haha, Xiao Xiao, you're severely depleted of blood and qi right now. You'd better eat something to replenish it quickly, otherwise, even if you've reached the peak of Tempering Body, you'll still starve to death." Lao Bai said with a gloating smile.

  Xiao Fan looked at the table and saw that there were still countless dishes of wine and food left, so he didn't say anything else and directly picked up a chicken leg with his hand and started gnawing on it.

  As expected, Xiao Fan's body was indeed lacking in blood and energy. What he needed most now was to eat more to replenish his blood and energy. After eating a chicken leg, Xiao Fan felt as if a warm current had flowed through his body, and he regained some strength instantly.

  "It's really useful." Xiao Fan exclaimed, and with a wave of his hands, he swept the wine and dishes off the table.

  At this time, if someone stood far away and looked, they would see an unbelievable scene. There was a person with no clothes on his body, not even a single hair on his head or eyebrows, looking like a young monk. However, this monk was currently using both hands to devour the food and wine on the table.

  After Xiao Fan swept away all the wine and dishes on the table, Xiao Fan did not feel a bit full, but instead felt even hungrier. He just recovered a lot of strength and no longer had the feeling of being unable to stand still like before.

  "I'm so hungry..." Xiao Fan shouted, looked around and found no one, then quickly covered his little brother with his hands, bent down and ran wildly.

  "Hey, isn't this young master..."

  "The young master actually didn't wear clothes..."

  "What's this young master playing at again?"

  Although Xiao Fan tried to avoid roads with people on them, he was still seen by some pedestrians; those pedestrians stared blankly at the second young master of the Xiao family, who was running naked, and couldn't understand what their great second young master was doing today...

  Xiao Er Shao's news of running naked in the mansion spread quickly, and in a short moment, the current master of the Xiao family, the steward Fu Bo, heard the report from his subordinate that the handsome and majestic Xiao Er Shao was now running around with his head exposed, naked and sprinting wildly in the mansion. The old man blew on his white beard, widened his eyes, and was taken aback...

  The Xiao family's control over their servants was not very strict, and these servants liked to gather together to chat when they had nothing to do. As a result, within less than three hours, the rumor that Xiao Erlang had shaved off all his hair and then ran naked in the mansion spread out, and it spread further and further until even people outside the mansion heard about it.

  "I heard that Xiao Erlang is running around naked in the city master's mansion, I heard that his butt is white and tender..."

  "Xiao Er Shao is truly a god among our peers, and when he's bored, he actually plays with himself..."

  "Hmph, I heard that Xiao Er Shao's little brother is three feet long... What, don't believe me? This is personally spread from the City Master's residence..."

  ……

  In less than three days, the news of Xiao Er Shao running naked in the mansion spread throughout Xuan Shan City, with numerous versions emerging, each one more exaggerated than the last, like a flood sweeping through the city, so that almost everyone from the aristocratic families to the common people knew about Xiao Er Shao's glorious deeds.

  Xiao Er didn't know that he had become famous again, and this time his fame even surpassed any of the previous times.

  At this moment, Xiao Er Shao had already returned to his room to change his clothes, then covering his stomach, he rushed frantically to the kitchen.

  "Hurry up, bring all the food over to me, Young Master Ben! I want meat dishes, I'm going to eat meat!"

  Xiao Er had not yet arrived, but a loud roar had already echoed throughout the entire city master's mansion; he was really starving and it was too unbearable.

  The chef in the kitchen saw Er Ye arriving and immediately brought out all the dishes to serve him.

  "This is too little, not enough for me to stuff my teeth with. Hurry up and continue cooking, use the fastest speed to cook more." Although there were tens of pounds of meat in front of Xiao Erlang, enough to fill the bellies of a dozen big men, Xiao Erlang still felt it was too little.

  "Ah..."

  The servants in the kitchen were shocked and stared at Xiao Erlang with their eyes wide open.

  "Go quickly, did you hear that?" Xiao Er Shao's both hands moved simultaneously, sweeping away the meat dishes in front of him, while shouting at the servant who was standing there in a daze.

  "Yes, yes, yes." Then, the chefs got busy and brought plate after plate of meat dishes to Xiao Erlang.

  Xiao Er Shao was like a bottomless pit, plate after plate of meat dishes on the table entered his stomach, but he still felt hungry.

  Xiao Er's transformation into a starving madman spread like wildfire, and when it reached Butler Fu's ears, he finally sensed that something was amiss. He hastily rushed towards the kitchen.

  When Fu Bo arrived in the kitchen, he saw Xiao Erlao standing there with a bald head and no eyebrows, holding a huge goose leg in his right hand and a bear's paw in his left hand, gnawing away crazily, with oil dripping from his mouth. Next to Xiao Erlao on the ground was a pile of bones that looked like a small mountain.

  "...This..." Even Fu Bo, the steward of the City Lord's Manor, who possessed a stronger temperament than ordinary people, was also stunned at this moment.

  "Second Master, what's wrong with you?" Fu Bo asked anxiously.

  Xiao Fan's mouth didn't stop, mumbling unclearly: "Nothing, just hungry, let me eat my fill first." After finishing speaking, he no longer paid attention to Fu Bo and continued eating wildly.

  Fu Bo's eyes gleamed with a faint blue light as he scanned Xiao Fan, the old steward of the city lord's mansion, who was usually low-key and didn't show off his skills. However, he had an extremely high level of cultivation. After Fu Bo used his internal energy to examine Xiao Fan's body, he discovered that Xiao Fan's blood and qi were extremely vigorous, like a fierce tiger, and his entire being was surging with energy, clearly having reached the peak of the Tempering Body realm. But how could this be? How did this second young master suddenly reach the peak of the Tempering Body realm in one step?

  "Second Young Master, how did you suddenly reach the pinnacle of Quan Ti?"

  Xiao Fan said while eating, "I just ate a Tempering Body Pill and accidentally leveled up. Now I'm starving to death, hurry up and let me eat more, otherwise I'll die of hunger."

  "Tempering Body Dan, so that's how it is." Fu Bo, as the steward of the City Master's Mansion, had extremely high cultivation and extraordinary insight. He naturally wouldn't be unfamiliar with the existence of Tempering Body Dan, and finally understood why Xiao Fan would eat so much meat but still not feel full.

  "Congratulations, young master! Your cultivation has reached the peak of Tempering Body Realm. If Master knew about it, he would definitely be very happy." After understanding the whole story, Fu Bo was overjoyed and a smile appeared on his face.

  "The old slave doesn't know how the young master got the Tempering Body Dan, but the young master rashly took the Tempering Body Dan and must have suffered greatly. It's a bit reckless." Fu Bo continued: "Fortunately, the young master is fine, otherwise, if something happened because he couldn't withstand the medicinal power of the Tempering Body Dan, this old slave would be guilty of a grave offense."

  Fu Bo secretly congratulated himself, fortunately, Xiao Er's luck was great and he didn't die from taking the Tempering Body Pill. It was really good luck. Is this what they mean by "good people die young, while villains live for a thousand years"?

  "Fu Bo, do you also know about the Tempering Body Pill? Is there a way to neutralize its medicinal effects?" As soon as he mentioned the Tempering Body Pill, Xiao Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he slowed down his eating speed, turning his head to ask Fu Bo.

  Fu Bo said, "Of course, the Tempering Body Pill is only a first-grade pill, and it's the lowest grade among all pills. However, taking it rashly will bring great suffering, which ordinary people can't withstand. To neutralize the medicinal properties of the Tempering Body Pill is simple - just mix some medicine for a medicinal bath. Unfortunately, Young Master didn't tell me, otherwise I would have helped him prepare a bucket of medicine, and he could have easily absorbed the pill's effects without burning off his hair and eyebrows."

  Xiao Fan was stunned, he didn't expect that the suffering he endured after taking the Tempering Body Pill was all in vain. This really proved an old saying: Lack of culture is the most terrifying thing.

  "It's really impulsive to death!" Xiao Er Shao sighed and regretted, indeed suffering a big loss, enduring so much pain for nothing.