Conversation

Xiao Yan took out the Spirit Sealing Barrier Breaking Pill and swallowed it in one gulp. At the same time, he took out the Green Lotus Platform and sat on it.

These past few days, Xiao Yan has been firing cannons every day, making the fire attribute energy in the World Energy exceptionally rich. Now, after being tempered by the Green Lotus Platform, it finally transforms into streams of pure Dou Qi, continuously injecting into the Dou Qi Crystal that now only has a single spike.

When this last spike retracts into its Dou Qi Crystal, that will be the moment Xiao Yan breaks through to the Dou Wang...

"Hu Gan, we've known each other for so many years, can you lend me that Dou Ling Pill again so I can study it? I've never seen a Dou Ling Pill with Pill Pattern before!" Elder Huo from the Jia Nan Academy was pestering Hu Gan as usual.

"Go somewhere cool and stay there!" Hu Gan said impatiently. "I've already informed Xiao Yan. He said he'll participate in this Inner Courtyard Competition. You can ask him for it yourself later."

"Ahem, I am an elder of the Alchemy Department of the Jia Nan Academy, how could I possibly ask a student for it?"

"Then how dare you ask me for it!"

After another round of arguing, Hu Gan finally lent the Dou Ling Pill to Elder Huo —for no other reason than that Hu Gan needed to gather the Medicinal Herbs for the Sect Breaking Pill, and Elder Huo was in charge of the Alchemy Department.

"Hmm, this fluctuation?" Hu Gan's expression hardened, and in the blink of an eye, he flew to the outskirts of Heping Town, where he spotted a Fifth Grade Magical Beast and the three people on its back.

"You've broken through to the Dou Wang now?" Hu Gan stared at Xiao Yan as if he'd seen a ghost. "How about I give you a backdoor and directly guarantee you first place? Those students can't handle this kind of blow."

"And what about the other two?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile.

Reminded by Xiao Yan, Hu Gan then noticed that the two people next to him were a Seven-star Dou Spirit and a Nine-star Dou Grandmaster, and the Nine-star Dou Grandmaster's aura was extremely solid, as if he could break through at any time.

Hu Gan felt a headache coming on. He was initially quite happy that his granddaughter had broken through to become one of only two Dou Ling in this generation by taking drugs, but now he realized that Dou Ling wasn't worth much at all.

"Actually, the top five don't get anything good. How about I just recommend you to the Inner Courtyard? You have the ability." Hu Gan was in a dilemma.

"That won't do. As a dignified Dou Wang, wouldn't it be too much of a shame if I couldn't give those Dou Shi and Da Dou Shi a good beating?"

Xiao Yan's face clearly showed his refusal, and Hu Gan couldn't force him. He could only think about how to improve the competition format.

Unlike the Jia Ma Royal Family, Jia Nan Academy does not have a special place for Magical Beast to live. Xiao Lan can only enter the back mountain of the Jia Nan Academy.

Fortunately, Xiao Lan is a flying Magical Beast among Fifth Grade Magical Beast, and its speed is among the best in its class, so there is no need to worry about its safety.

Xiao Yan, carrying a stunningly beautiful girl in each arm, used his Dou Qi Transformation Wings to slowly fly to the dormitory assigned by Hu Gan, without using Flying Dou Technique, leaving the students and teachers who had run away because of the Fifth Grade Magical Beast speechless.

"You sure know how to stir up trouble."

As soon as Xiao Yan landed, Gu Xun'er came looking for him. This area seemed to be a dormitory building that the academy had specially prepared for the Xiao Family.

Gu Xun'er watched as Xiao Yi Xian gave Xiao Yan a severe beating and then took away the blushing Qing Lin before she spoke, "After I really became an Alchemist, I realized that the life of Alchemist doesn't seem so wonderful."

"Let me make this clear first, the Green Fate Fruit is non-refundable!" Xiao Yan immediately became alert.

"..."(_)

Gu Xun'er's delicate face immediately fell. She had originally wanted to learn from Xiao Yan and ask him how he refined medicine, but now she lost all interest. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do such a thing."

"You're just unaware of your good fortune, which is why you think the life of Alchemist isn't so great. If you prepared three sets of Medicinal Herbs, promised payment, and asked an Alchemist to refine pills for you, and then he failed, and you had to force a smile to comfort him, you wouldn't think that way."

"..." Gu Xun'er was speechless for a moment, and after a moment of silence she said, "But it has always been like this. Alchemy is a talent that only a very small number of people can possess."

"It has always been this way, so is it right?" Xiao Yan's gaze suddenly became extremely profound, as if a sage had possessed him:

"Those who cannot afford the payment, if they have the Yao Tian, will absolutely not allow the price of the Pills to be lowered even a little; they will only demand more."

Gu Xun'er seemed to have found a kindred spirit and added:

"Even if someone is willing to lower the price, they will be ostracized and suppressed. They will say that you have tarnished the holiness of Alchemist; they will slander you for your poor alchemy skills and that the Pills you make are ineffective; they may even secretly hire people to sabotage your business and use all sorts of underhanded means."

Xiao Yan looked at Gu Xun'er. Her resentful tone and melancholy expression were just like something he had personally experienced.

That so-called "someone" is probably not you, is it?

Xiao Yan continued, "Even if you can persevere under immense pressure, you will still expend more energy than others, gain less, and have fewer resources to improve, so you will naturally fall behind."

"If you regret it and want to go back to the high price, your original customers will never buy it. They will only accuse you of 'finally showing your true colors'."

Gu Xun'er nodded indignantly at first, then her face flushed red, and she turned her head away, trying to cover up her mistake, saying, "It wasn't me, it was someone else!"

"Oh right, there are people." Xiao Yan indicated that he would take it seriously.

"Then... do you have any good solutions?" Gu Xun'er asked, blinking her eyes.

"The solution..." Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before speaking, "The reason why Alchemist can be so unscrupulous is because they are irreplaceable and have mastered techniques that others cannot."

"If you can master techniques that ordinary Alchemist cannot master, for example, there is not a single Sixth Grade Alchemist in the Jia Nan Academy right now, and I happen to be a Sixth Grade Alchemist, then naturally no one can exclude me, and I can do whatever I want."

"..." Gu Xun'er was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about ordinary Alchemist?"

"If you've already considered yourself an ordinary Alchemist, then you shouldn't be thinking about these things; if you really want to change all of this, you can't stop at being an ordinary Alchemist."

Xiao Yan paused, stared at Gu Xun'er, and asked, "Are you an ordinary Alchemist?"

"..." Gu Xun'er was at a loss for words, feeling that Xiao Yan 'Xiao Yan gaze was somewhat piercing and she dared not meet his eyes.

"I'm leaving now. I feel like I learned a lot from our conversation today."

Gu Xun'er fled back to her room. After calming down, she instinctively began to have some doubts about Xiao Yan —could someone as mercenary as him really have such profound awareness?

So Gu Xun'er summoned a few of her subordinates and asked, "Go and investigate Xiao Yan's alchemy practices over the years, such as how many Medicinal Herbs he has consumed and what rewards he has demanded."

"Yes, Miss!"