Library Pavilion

Gu Xun'er paced back and forth in her room, recalling her subordinates' reports and beginning to re-evaluate Xiao Yan.

"Miss, Xiao Yan is refining medicine in the Jia Ma Empire, and he's using a very new method."

"In the early days Xiao Yan relied on the Xiao Yan Xiao Family as his foundation. He didn't ask for any reward for refining medicine; he just asked the Xiao Family for whatever he needed."

"Later, Xiao Yan tied himself to the Imperial Family and broke through to the Fifth Grade Alchemist in just a few years. Then he quickly broke through to the Sixth Grade Alchemist. All the forces in the Jia Ma Empire flocked to him."

"Xiao Yan continues to practice alchemy without asking for any reward. If he needs anything, he just tells the Snake People Clan, Misty Cloud Sect, Jia Ma Imperial Family, and Mittel Family, and these forces will do their best to find it."

"Even the Mu Lan Empire reached a certain understanding with the Jia Ma Empire, and the relationship between the two sides quickly eased."

"This may be related to Xiao Yan's extremely high success rate in alchemy. So far, whenever Xiao Yan has tried to refine medicine, his success rate has always been over 50%."

"Moreover, Xiao Yan's alchemy speed is extremely fast. Many powerful forces behind him spend months or even a year collecting rare Medicinal Herbs, but Xiao Yan can provide them with the Pills they want in just ten days."

Gu Xun'er sighed softly, and finally murmured, "So, you really have become the only Alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire, creating new rules with your will..."

The day after Xiao Yan arrived at the Jia Nan Academy, Hu Gan announced the new rules for this year's Inner Courtyard Competition—

Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, Qing Lin, Gu Xun'er, and Hu Jia are guaranteed a spot in the top five. The rest of the team can challenge them at will after the top 45 are determined. If they are lucky enough to win, they can take their place.

As for the top five, there is no specific ranking.

When the new regulations were announced, many students who had signed up for the Inner Courtyard Competition expressed their understanding, because Hu Gan also posted the ages and cultivation levels of these five individuals.

Even the weakest one, Qing Lin, is at the peak of the Nine-star Dou Grandmaster, and he's only fourteen years old. This talent sounds outrageous, so they wouldn't object if he went straight into the Inner Courtyard.

It was precisely because of this that Xiao Yan was forced to miss a single match, and of the others, only Qing Lin was challenged by a hothead named Wu Hao.

Although Wu Hao was a few stars lower than Qing Lin and his Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills were not as good as Qing Lin's, he was experienced in combat and decisive and ruthless. It took him dozens of moves to finally be defeated.

Seeing this, Bai Shan seemed to want to challenge Qing Lin as well, but he gave up the idea after noticing Xiao Yan's kind gaze.

The Inner Courtyard Competition ended uneventfully, with the top five remaining the same five students who had been directly admitted to the university, leaving the ordinary students feeling quite emotional.

According to the academy's rules, within seven days after the selection competition ends, the top fifty students in the selection competition need to prepare to enter the Inner Courtyard, while the top five can choose when to enter the academy's Library Pavilion.

All five were in good condition, so they chose to go directly to the Library Pavilion after the match.

Led by Hu Gan, the five entered a spacious and bright room. The room was filled with bookshelves, each filled with all kinds of antique books, making the room smell of books.

However, Hu Gan did not linger in the room. He went straight to a wall and patted it a few times.

A rumbling sound rang out, and when the sound subsided, the wall had disappeared, replaced by a dark passage.

After half an hour in the passage, the group finally arrived at their destination—a pavilion nestled among three cliffs.

Hu Gan clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the Library Pavilion and shouted, "The top five in this year's Inner Academy Selection Tournament have been determined. According to the rules, I have brought them here. Please open the door, Elders!"

As Hu Gan finished speaking, two gray-robed figures suddenly appeared sitting cross-legged at the entrance of the Library Pavilion.

However, the two of them remained motionless, as if they were dead.

Xiao Yan was speechless. These two had been in seclusion for years trying to break through to the Dou Zun, and it was as if they had regressed. They didn't even react when the Fallen Heart Flame erupted.

The group waited patiently for another ten minutes or so before the two figures finally made a move, sweeping their gazes over everyone with their calm, unwavering eyes.

However, upon seeing Xiao Yan, one of them couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Heavenly Flames?"

The gray-robed man scrutinized Xiao Yan again, his gaze growing increasingly puzzled. "May I ask your name, young friend?"

"This junior is Xiao Yan, seventeen years old this year, One-Star Dou Wang, Sixth Grade Alchemist."

"..." ×2

The two gray-robed men were clearly unaccustomed to such a scene; both were speechless with shock. After a long while, one of them finally spoke and asked:

"Your flames seem to be Heavenly Flames, but they are somewhat like the Green Lotus Core Flame, and somewhat like the Sea Heart Flame. I wonder why?"

"Oh, this is the Green Lotus Core Flame that I found in an underwater volcano," Xiao Yan said seriously.

"..." ×7

This time, not only the gray-robed man, but also Hu Gan and the other four couldn't hold back anymore, especially Gu Xun'er, who instantly threw away all her changed opinion of Xiao Yan and was absolutely certain that he was just a bastard who talked nonsense.

Xiao Yan wasn't saying this to be funny; he was deliberately concealing his ability to Fusion Heavenly Flame. Otherwise... were you plotting against the Fallen Heart Flame of the Jia Nan Academy?

After all, if the Fallen Heart Flame were to erupt and attempt to destroy Jia Nan Academy, it would be a great achievement for a student to rush up and refine the Heavenly Flames; but for an outsider to covet the very foundation of the Jia Nan Academy, that would be Great Enemy life and death.

The two gray-robed men hesitated for a long time, but in the end they still couldn't think of the Exotic Flame Fusion. They could only sigh and say, "The Dou Qi Continent is full of wonders."

Then, one of them grabbed Qing Lin and pulled out more than ten Snake Magical Beasts, saying, "I'll return them to you after you leave the Library Pavilion."

Qing Lin pouted, but didn't say anything after Xiao Yan patted her head.

"The top five this year are among the best in the entire history of the Jia Nan Academy." The gray-robed man nodded to Hu Gan, clearly quite satisfied.

Seeing this, Hu Gan breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "In that case, please open the Space Lock, elders!"

"This Space Lock is a barrier that only Dou Zun expert can set up. This Space Lock was left by a senior from the academy hundreds of years ago. If the two elders inside don't open it with special methods, even a Dou Zong powerhouse can't get in," Hu Gan explained with a smile.

Xiao Yan naturally thought of Zi Yan. There were quite a few Medicinal Herbs in the Library Pavilion, and he wondered if Zi Yan had ever sneaked in.

The two gray-robed men paid no attention to what the others were thinking. They simply slowly formed several hand seals and finally opened an invisible portal on the Space Lock.

"Go in! You have one hour to choose what you want, but you can only take one item out of the Library Pavilion."

"Don't be too ambitious. Everything is protected by an energy layer. If you can't open it, you can't take out what's inside. Every year, many people enter the Library Pavilion and leave empty-handed."