Honest with Each Other

Honest with Each Other

"Is there a chance..."

Xiao Yan fell silent for a while, unable to speak.

"This isn't a choice you can make lightly."

Yao Lao comforted him, "There's no rush over the next few days anyway. You've been wound too tight lately. Take these few days to relax and rest. Once you've thought it through, tell me."

"No matter what you choose in the end, you'll still be my disciple."

Yao Lao naturally understood as well. Though Xiao Yan had gone through several years of tempering and his mind had long since surpassed those of his peers, at the end of the day, he was still only a young man who had just turned fifteen.

This concerned the road ahead and his future. Giving him a little more time to consider was only right.

That night, Xiao Yan closed the door to his room, then crossed the small path and headed toward the Guest Room Courtyard in the southeastern corner of the Xiao Clan.

Only, just as he had stepped out, Xiao Zhan arrived.

"Father? Why are you here?"

Xiao Yan could not help but pause when he saw Xiao Zhan, then asked.

"Hehe, it's nothing especially important. I just wanted to come see you."

As he spoke, Xiao Zhan stepped forward and gently patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder, saying, "Yan'er, you've worked hard this past year and more."

Xiao Yan was first slightly stunned, then shook his head with a faint smile.

"Father, what are you saying?"

Xiao Yan said, "I was only fighting to restore my own pride, and I didn't want Father to lose face because of me, that's all."

"Sigh... you've suffered, child."

Xiao Zhan sighed. He was clearly his father, yet he had been unable to help his own child in even the slightest way.

"It wasn't really hard work, Father."

"Mm."

Xiao Zhan nodded slightly, and no longer said any more useless promises.

Saying something was never as useful as doing something.

"Right, there will be an honored guest arriving tomorrow. When you meet tomorrow, don't forget your manners."

"An honored guest? Who?"

Xiao Yan asked subconsciously.

"In any case, you'll know tomorrow."

Xiao Zhan's tone was gentle. At the same time, he could not help sighing inwardly. Though a child was bound to have someone he loved, and in the future, he would inevitably do foolish things for her... in the end, he still had to settle down and build a life. It would be better to make sure he had a small family first.

Now that the child's talent had returned, the illness in Xiao Zhan's heart could be considered cured as well. In the future, the sky would be high and the sea wide; he would let him gallop freely on his own.

After that, father and son did not chat for long before Xiao Zhan left.

Xiao Yan did not pay much attention to why Father had suddenly mentioned this matter to him at the last moment. He thought it was merely a connection made by the previous generation.

Compared to that, Xiao Yan still felt it would be better to go talk to Wan Guniang.

Before he knew it, Miss Wan had already been in the Xiao Clan for a year, and without realizing it, he had developed the habit of going to ask her whenever anything came up.

As for the reason... perhaps it was simply because she understood more than he did.

But then again, didn't Teacher understand even more? Why go far when what he needed was close at hand...?

Xiao Yan was too lazy to think about the question. Following the small path, he quickly headed for the Guest Room Courtyard.

Inside the guest room, Yao Wan paused her cultivation for the time being and instead lit the wisp of green flame in her hand.

"As expected, it still won't work..."

Just as she sighed, a familiar knock came from outside the door.

While calling for him to come in, Yao Wan put on her bamboo hat.

"Wan Guniang, you're not asleep yet?"

Pushing open the door, Xiao Yan saw the same bamboo hat hiding her face and gave a dry laugh as he spoke.

"If I were asleep, could I still answer you?"

Yao Wan shook her head, merely taking Xiao Yan's words as a bad joke.

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Yan noticed a green flame burning quietly at Yao Wan's fingertip.

That's the Life Spirit Flame Teacher mentioned...?

"Not cultivating and not sleeping in the middle of the night. Why did you come looking for me?"

Yao Wan tossed a medicinal seed into the rising firelight of the Life Spirit Flame. An extremely dense aura of life burst forth, transforming into soft branches that grew out from within the flame.

"This is..."

Even though Xiao Yan had long ago heard about the wondrous relationship between the Life Spirit Flame and medicinal ingredients, seeing it with his own eyes was indeed vastly different from hearing rumors.

"...The Life Spirit Flame, ranked fifth on the Strange Fire Ranking."

Yao Wan explained, "...Though, come to think of it, before I broke through, you should have already learned about it from Yao Lao, right? That saves me the trouble of showing off in front of you and wasting my breath."

"What? Do you want to say something to me?"

Yao Wan gently pinched the Life Spirit Flame, and the green flame slowly vanished without a trace in her palm.

"Fifth on the Strange Fire Ranking... A rare treasure coveted by the whole world is appearing in front of me like some napa cabbage. What else can I say?"

At most, Xiao Yan only grumbled inwardly about how the alchemists he met were more frightening than the last. Fine, Teacher was an old monster of unknown former realm who possessed the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, but how could even Wan Guniang, a Dou Wang, have the Life Spirit Flame, which was even more frightening than Teacher's Bone Spirit Cold Flame...

"What? Jealous?"

There was a faint smile in Yao Wan's tone.

"If I said I wasn't jealous, I'd definitely be lying... I'm so jealous I could die."

Xiao Yan plopped down on the table facing the guest room door.

"If you want a strange flame, then go find one yourself. In any case, you'll definitely go looking for strange flames in the future."

Yao Wan said.

"But what if what I want isn't just one strange flame, Wan Guniang?"

Xiao Yan slowly turned his head and asked softly.

"...You wouldn't happen to be cultivating some especially strange cultivation method, would you?"

Yao Wan's thoughts stirred, but she could not directly expose it, so she could only pretend to be unruffled and ask casually.

"..."

Xiao Yan suddenly fell silent. Yao Wan subconsciously raised her head. "Why did you go quiet? Did I really guess right?"

"Pretty much—what Wan Guniang said is more or less right."

Xiao Yan irritably scratched his hair and said.

"Huh?"

"Teacher, about the Flame Mantra, should I tell Wan Guniang..."

Xiao Yan could only split his attention and speak with Yao Lao first.

Inside the Storage Ring, Yao Lao frowned tightly. To be honest, he personally found it very distasteful to develop this sort of relationship where another person knew everything about him, especially when he had already suffered a tremendous loss in this regard once before.

But after pondering for a moment, Yao Lao eventually sighed.

"Forget it. This girl is too intelligent. It won't be easy for you to hide it from her. Since that's the case, you might as well be honest. In addition... regarding the matter of whether you can cultivate the Flame Mantra, I'm afraid you'll also have to give her some benefits."

Since Teacher had said so, Xiao Yan naturally would not conceal it from Wan Guniang. He then told Yao Wan about the Flame Mantra.

"Oh... so that's how it is."

Yao Wan gently nodded her beautiful head before saying, "You're torn over whether or not to cultivate the Flame Mantra?"