"Ice Arrow Rain!!"
With a wave of her hand, Ye Lanyu effortlessly cast a rather advanced area-of-effect spell. As its name implied, it was an upgraded version of Ice Arrow.
"Mother of mercy, how did I forget about this little auntie...?"
Those people regretted it now. They began to feel utterly foolish—how could they have forgotten Ye Lanyu? Not only was she a youthful beauty of boundless charm, she was also an absolutely violent expert. Her ice magic had made no one knew how many people suffer.
Among the academy's so-called rankings of experts, this little auntie stood near the very top. Ordinary people dared not offend her, while those young masters were like ants before her—she could toy with them however she pleased.
"I told you to leave quickly, but you insisted on getting hurt before you understood. People, honestly!" Ye Lang shook his head and sighed, then headed for the Alchemy Academy with his classmates.
As usual, Ye Lanyu parted ways with Ye Lang at the edge of the Alchemy Academy and went to her own Magic Academy. As had been mentioned before, the Alchemy Academy was safe.
After similar incidents happened several times, even the dumbest people understood that if they wanted to bully Ye Lang while Tiger Girl was absent, they first had to get past Ye Lanyu. Some people had even carefully investigated who stood behind Ye Lanyu, and they could confirm that there was at least the Seventh Princess—Ye Lang's "fiancée."
Thus, they all gave up, at least on using violence. They could only think of underhanded ways to mess with him. Yet they seemed to have overlooked Ye Lang himself, as though without the others, Ye Lang was simply a dish on the table.
Over the following years, Ye Lang's "low profile" made many people forget he even existed. Those who had once envied him gradually grew up and matured, no longer harboring thoughts of bullying him.
Time passed slowly, yet in the blink of an eye, five years had gone by. Over those five years—neither short nor long—Ye Lang had basically mastered this world's alchemy. At the same time, he developed his own distinctive form of alchemy, combining Chinese medicine from the Martial Arts Treasury with Pill Refining and more.
Yet before outsiders, he remained a perfectly ordinary alchemist, progressing alongside his classmates, neither especially ahead nor especially behind.
For that very reason, he became more and more ordinary, drawing less and less attention. He seemed to enjoy such a life as well—practicing martial arts every day, studying alchemy, and occasionally going on a spending spree. He could not have been more carefree.
Of course, it was impossible for no one to notice him at all. He often did things that drew people's attention, and the most frequent of them was squandering money—squandering money like a god.
Today, someone had once again come looking for him because of one of his extravagant spending sprees. At that moment, he was playing the piano and singing a little tune...
"Dear, are you well now? Where are you, what are you thinking? Why is there a faint sorrow upon that innocent face? Tonight, I want to tell you—look at me, years from now..."
"Thirteen, are you thinking about Taiya again?" the visitor asked Ye Lang.
"No. When was I thinking about her? I was just singing casually." Ye Lang shook his head in denial.
Five years had passed. They had originally thought Tiger Girl would return within two or three years, yet even after five years, there was still no news. The only thing they could confirm was that Tiger Girl had safely returned home, to where her people lived.
According to the Anna Mercenary Group's report, once Tiger Girl entered the Tiger Tribe, she was swiftly welcomed away by a group of Tiger Clan warriors, who then escorted the mercenary group out of their territory.
Naturally, the Anna Mercenary Group only left after confirming that Tiger Girl was safe, and Tiger Girl herself had nodded in confirmation.
During those five years, Ye Lang had also asked people to deliver letters to Tiger Girl. However, the only reply he received was a verbal message saying that Tiger Girl wanted him to wait for her for a few years. She had some matters to deal with, and in the end, she reminded him to take good care of himself.
"Stop pretending. Other than when you think of Taiya, when would you ever sing or play the piano? Normally, even if someone held a knife to your throat, you would be too lazy to play for a moment." The visitor bluntly exposed Ye Lang's lie.
"Cough, cough. The weather is rather nice today. Seventh Brother, what did you come to see me about?" Ye Lang put away the piano. Well, put it away—having a Space Ring made that as easy as turning one's hand over.
Seventh Brother was Ye Lang's cousin, the Ye Clan's Seventh Young Master. He was now a high-ranking imperial official, managing certain affairs. Ye Lang did not know exactly what they were, though it seemed to be something like the Empire's military factories.
"Right, I nearly forgot the serious matter. Did you buy Mount Aras?" Seventh Brother asked somewhat anxiously.
"Mount Aras? I don't remember. What about it?" Ye Lang's answer left Seventh Brother speechless, though it was also within his expectations. He had long known this brat would not remember.
"I knew you wouldn't know! Hurry up and look through your properties. See whether Mount Aras is under your name." Seventh Brother urged him.
"Oh, I'll look..." Ye Lang pulled out a huge pile of things from his ring. There were all sorts of documents on top—land deeds, merchant guild share certificates, and so on. They were all the fruits of his years of squandering, giving him no one knew how many properties. Whether he had lost money or made money in the process, no one knew.
Seeing this scene, Seventh Brother could only sigh. How was this Thirteen so miraculous? He was clearly squandering money, yet his assets kept increasing. And who knew when something important would suddenly turn up under his name, just like today.
Mount Aras had originally been a barren mountain in a remote location, a place no one cared about. Therefore, the mountain itself was not worth much.
However, the Empire's survey department had recently discovered that Mount Aras contained extremely rich strategic mineral deposits. They began negotiating with the mountain's owner, only to discover that the original owner had sold it long ago—and at an outrageously high price, at that.
Naturally, the original owner was now beating his breast and stamping his feet, crying out in regret. His so-called high price was not even one hair from nine oxen compared to those mineral deposits.
The Empire naturally did not care whether the original owner regretted it or not. They merely asked whom he had sold it to. His answer was that he did not know. It had happened several years ago, and the transaction had gone through a middleman, who could no longer be found.
Thus, the Empire began to have a headache. They used every possible method to search, yet found nothing. They even offered an enormous reward for the mountain's owner to come forward, but still no one appeared.
Normally, after a mountain like this changed hands, the new owner would register it with the Empire, lest they lose the documents someday and need replacements issued.
But this new owner had never appeared or registered it, leaving them with no way to investigate.
Someone just said this chapter was missing. Sweat—I posted it in another volume and didn't notice. Please forgive me!!
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