Seeing that Instructor Ruo Lin had readily agreed without asking his reasons, Xiao Yao nodded in satisfaction.
Xiao Yao sensed the growing crowd around them with his soul perception. Sensing that even a Da Dou Shi was rapidly approaching, he said to Instructor Ruo Lin:
"Instructor Ruo Lin, I'm terribly sorry for causing such a commotion. Sorry to trouble you, but could you cover this up afterward?"
Hearing that, even Instructor Ruo Lin, whose temperament had always been as gentle as water, couldn't help rolling her eyes at Xiao Yao.
She was just about to say something when Xiao Yao tossed her a gold deposit card and said, "Instructor Ruo Lin, this is compensation for damaging your weapon."
Then Xiao Yao's figure slipped into the darkness and vanished.
Ruo Lin raised a jade hand and caught the thin gold deposit card between her fingers, shaking her head somewhat helplessly:
"That guy... I really don't know what to say about him."
"As for this gold deposit card, I'll hold on to it for now and return it to him later."
Ruo Lin was an academy instructor, in charge of recruiting students away from the academy this time. She could still claim reimbursement from the academy for certain necessary losses.
She really didn't need a student to compensate her for her losses.
But when Instructor Ruo Lin thought of having to deal with the people drawn by the battle, she couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead and sighing, a little troubled.
Elsewhere, Xiao Yao moved through the darkness, his ears twitching slightly as he listened to the sounds around him.
A moment later, Xiao Yao learned that it wasn't just the battle between him and Ruo Lin that had attracted so many people.
After all, no matter how great the disturbances from a battle between two Da Dou Shi were, they couldn't possibly shake all of Wutan City.
The real reason was the Blazing Sun Explosive Flame he had unleashed.
Just then, several figures swept past him, discussing it in excited voices.
"What a huge commotion! That light must have lit up the whole sky, right?"
"It wasn't quite that exaggerated. At least the people in most of Wutan City could see it."
"Haha, I wonder what kind of experts were fighting to cause such a huge commotion."
As they chattered, the group quickly followed the crowd toward Jia Nan Academy's reception office.
Watching their excited expressions, Xiao Yao's mouth twitched slightly. Luckily, it hadn't been a battle between any high-level experts.
Otherwise, with how excited these people were, if they actually got close, the aftermath of the battle alone could have ensured they never came back.
Would these guys even throw away their lives just to watch the excitement?
Xiao Yao felt somewhat reflective. At the same time, he was also very surprised that the Dou Technique he had modified had such an effect.
When he had tested it, it had still been daytime, so the effect hadn't been as obvious.
But at night, the effect had shown itself.
Just looking at the people it had attracted in Wutan City was enough to tell how powerful the effect was.
The next day, news spread that caused a sensation throughout Wutan City: a mysterious expert had attacked Jia Nan Academy's reception office at night.
Fortunately, Instructor Ruo Lin, the instructor leading Jia Nan Academy's group, had managed to resolve the crisis in the end.
However, Instructor Ruo Lin stated that the details were not suitable for disclosure to outsiders and that the academy would handle the attack itself.
For a time, opinions varied.
Everyone was shocked. Who would dare attack Jia Nan Academy's reception office? Their nerve was far too great.
Jia Nan Academy was a superpower that even the whole Jia Ma Empire could not afford to provoke. Was the attacker not afraid of Jia Nan Academy's retaliation?
Everyone speculated about the attacker's identity.
Some also speculated about how the academy would handle it, wondering whether it would send a Dou Huang expert to demand an explanation from the Jia Ma Empire.
Although the news of the attack on Jia Nan Academy's reception office caused a sensation, it did not affect the academy's recruitment examination. If anything, those coming to take the examination were even more eager.
After all, the vast majority of people had not witnessed the battle firsthand.
Instead, the news they heard was that Jia Nan Academy's Instructor Ruo Lin had dealt with the crisis.
And the might displayed by that expert the previous night had been enough to turn night into day. The expert's strength was likely considerable.
Even so, an instructor from Jia Nan Academy had found a way to deal with the situation, showing the academy's strength.
The stronger Jia Nan Academy appeared, the more everyone flocked to it like ducks.
The outside world buzzed with all manner of speculation, but in the Xiao Clan, Xiao Yao sat cross-legged on a mountaintop, enjoying the comfort of the sunlight on his body.
Xiao Yi Xian brought Xun'er to the mountaintop to find Xiao Yao. As soon as Xun'er saw him, she said with a smile:
"Brother Xiao Yao did something big and caused a sensation throughout Wutan City, yet he's hiding here enjoying the peace and quiet."
Hearing Xun'er's voice, pleasant and melodious as a clear mountain spring, Xiao Yao slowly opened his eyes, his gaze brilliant with light.
The next instant, the light receded, and a smile appeared on Xiao Yao's face.
"I had no choice. If I'd gone straight to the recruitment square and revealed my true talent, I'm afraid the sensation it caused wouldn't have been confined to Wutan City."
Xiao Yao didn't mind revealing his talent, but he wanted to do so at Jia Nan Academy, after leaving Wutan City.
As for the Jia Ma Empire, he still wanted to keep as low a profile as possible.
The reason Instructor Ruo Lin had guessed at—that a tree standing above the forest would surely be battered by the wind—was one possibility.
But Xiao Yao knew the original story, and he was even more wary of the Soul Hall Protector lurking in the shadows.
The original story had never mentioned exactly when the Soul Hall Protector learned of the Xiao Clan's existence.
All he knew was that the Protector had actually struck at the Xiao Clan after Xiao Yan went up to the Misty Cloud Sect and successfully fulfilled the Three-Year Agreement.
While Xiao Yan had yet to return to the Xiao Clan, the Protector had seized the opportunity when the Misty Cloud Sect's first elder led people to make trouble there, personally striking and abducting Xiao Zhan in one fell swoop.
That was how the Soul Hall had first struck at the Xiao Clan in the original story.
That meant the Soul Hall Protector might not have known of the Xiao Clan's existence before then.
From this, Xiao Yao could surmise that the Soul Hall Protector likely learned of the Xiao Clan only after Xiao Yan truly began to make a name for himself, or even after Yun Shan learned of Xiao Yan.
In other words, under ordinary circumstances, even if Xiao Yan became famous throughout the Jia Ma Empire because of the Three-Year Agreement, the Soul Hall Protector would not learn of him unless word reached the true upper echelons, those at Yun Shan's level.
After all, the Soul Hall Protector's actual contact was Yun Shan. The Soul Hall's infiltration of the Misty Cloud Sect might not have been extensive and might even have been close to nonexistent.
But if Xiao Yao revealed his talent, being a sixteen-year-old Da Dou Shi would certainly be enough to cause a sensation throughout the Jia Ma Empire. It might even attract Yun Shan's attention.
With that in mind, Xiao Yao had decided to conceal his talent while in the Jia Ma Empire.
Even so, Xiao Yao knew that the addition of a butterfly like himself would certainly cause a tremendous butterfly effect.
The Soul Hall Protector might discover the Xiao Clan's existence even earlier.
After Xiao Yao went to Jia Nan Academy, he had to increase his strength as quickly as possible.
Xiao Yao had even considered building up a force in Jia Nan City and then moving the entire Xiao Clan there to evade the threat of the Soul Hall.