"Old Icicle, I'll ******* you!"
Jia Xing Tian crawled out of the pit in a miserable state, mud still clinging to his tattered gray robe.
He pointed at Hai Bodong, who was leisurely descending in the distance, his beard trembling with fury:
"Despicable! You're too despicable!"
"Why didn't you tell me about something like this earlier?!"
"What did I do?"
Hai Bodong flicked at the nonexistent dust on his ice-blue robe with a bent finger.
A barely concealed amusement was suppressed beneath his deliberately calm tone:
"Didn't you say yourself that you wanted to guide the younger generation?"
"Could it be that the dignified Imperial Family Guardian of Jia Ma can't even guide a junior?"
Jia Xing Tian's old face turned bright red, and he was just about to flare up:
"You..."
Then he saw Xiao Yan looking at him with a faintly amused smile.
The anger on his face immediately vanished, and he awkwardly began straightening his ragged robes.
His expression returned to calmness:
"Master Xiao is not only peerless in alchemy, but also unmatched in combat strength!"
"This old man is impressed!"
He had to maintain his bearing before a master. He could not let Xiao Yan think him crude:
Damn it, Hai Bodong!
I'll deal with you later!
The surrounding crowd had long since frozen in place!
The elegant folding fan Liu Ling had been waving in his hand.
Had been unconsciously snapped in two by his tightening grip!
Even when the splintered wood cut across his skin, he did not notice:
A Dou Emperor had lost to a Dou Wang?
And been completely crushed!?
Those words were all perfectly ordinary. Why was it that when put together.
He could not understand them at all?
Yao Yue's small mouth hung open, while the sachet she had been stroking had long since fallen to the ground:
How was that possible!!
That was Grandpa Jia Xing Tian!
One of the strongest experts in the Jia Ma Empire.
Yet he had been defeated just like that by someone around her own age?
Faced with a Dou Emperor's salute, Xiao Yan naturally did not put on airs.
After returning the salute, he walked straight toward Xiao Yi Xian.
He ignored the stunned and bewildered gazes around him.
The girl's moon-white dress fluttered gently in the night breeze, while her long black hair spilled down like a waterfall.
Xiao Yan stepped forward and gently took her hand in front of everyone:
"Let's go."
"Master, this way, please!"
Nalan Jie hurriedly stepped forward to lead the way. When his Dou Qi wings unfolded, they stirred up a light breeze.
With the poison completely purged, he could now freely wield the cultivation of a Dou Wang!
His body was merely still somewhat weak.
There was nothing to be done about that. Xiao Yan had exerted himself without holding back at all.
After their figures disappeared from the scene, the crowd finally came back to their senses.
They bowed in farewell toward Xiao Yan:
Nalan Family, underground treasure vault:
A hundred zhang underground, the heavy black iron doors were engraved with intricate formation patterns.
Nalan Jie stepped forward and pressed his hand against the palm-shaped mark at the center of the stone door!
Dou Wang-level spiritual energy poured in:
"Crack! Crack!"
The massive, heavy doors began to shift.
As the doors slowly opened, waves of medicinal fragrance washed over them:
"Seven Illusions Azure Spirit Saliva, Dragon Blood Ganoderma, Nine Netherworld Grass."
With a light tap of his fingertip, Xiao Yan sent one precious medicinal ingredient after another flying into his Storage Ring.
After taking several more medicinal ingredients he needed, he prepared to leave.
Yet just as he took a step, his soul perception suddenly caught a trace of strange fluctuations.
He stopped:
"That is..."
Xiao Yan's gaze shifted toward the crystal cover at the deepest part of the treasure vault.
A fragment of jade lay quietly within, its surface flowing with faint fluorescent light.
Seeing this, Nalan Jie softly explained:
"This jade fragment was obtained by my ancestor from some ruins."
"Though it appears ordinary, it is indestructible."
"Unfortunately, despite studying it for many years, we have never been able to uncover its mysteries."
Xiao Yan nodded and raised his hand, pressing it against the crystal cover.
His Spiritual Power surged into the jade fragment like a tidal wave!
Buzz!
In an instant, his soul gave a slight tremble!
A golden scroll unfurled within his mind.
Golden light flared brightly!
He seemed to see countless runes flowing before his eyes.
Every one of them contained a profound and mysterious intent.
If this was a cultivation method, then its difficulty of cultivation was extraordinarily high!
"This is..."
A voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
There was a rare trace of surprise in Old Yao's ordinarily calm tone:
"This seems to be a soul cultivation method?"
"To think that even a remote place like the Jia Ma Empire possesses a soul cultivation method."
"However, this method is somewhat peculiar. It does not seem like an ordinary soul cultivation technique!"
"It instead resembles the methods of the Soul Hall somewhat."
"Could it be a soul attack technique?!"
Xiao Yan's heart trembled:
He had long reached the Spirit Realm Soul, yet he had never found a suitable soul cultivation method to practice.
Still, he was not in a hurry. After all, once he reached the Central Continent in the future.
Soul cultivation methods might be rare, but if he wanted one, he could still obtain one easily.
But soul-related attack techniques were not so easy to acquire!
"Master?"
Seeing Xiao Yan remain silent for so long, Nalan Jie asked cautiously.
Xiao Yan withdrew his hand, his eyes gleaming:
"I want this jade fragment."
He paused:
"In exchange, I can refine a Sixth-grade Pill for the Nalan Family."
"A Sixth-grade Pill?!"
Nalan Jie nearly bit his tongue and quickly waved his hands:
"Master, you must be joking. This jade fragment is useless in our possession anyway."
"Please, take it as you please!"
Yet Xiao Yan gently shook his head. He had merely helped Nalan Jie purge his poison.
But he had taken six medicinal ingredients at once.
Honestly, merely detoxifying him was not worth such a price.
Most likely, Nalan Jie had done so because of his status as a Sixth-grade Alchemist.
As well as his boundless future potential, hoping to form a friendship with him.
Only because of all those factors had he been given such generous compensation.
Even so, he had already chosen his reward just now.
If he suddenly went back on his word and added another item, he had to offer something in exchange!
Otherwise, it would violate his principles.
Seeing Nalan Jie's determined refusal, he likely wanted Xiao Yan to owe him a favor.
But favors were far more valuable than alchemy.
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Yan retrieved a white jade porcelain bottle from his Storage Ring.
He casually tossed it to Nalan Jie:
"This Sixth-grade Pill will help you break through to the Dou Emperor realm."
"Consider it the exchange for this jade fragment."
Nalan Jie caught the bottle Xiao Yan had thrown over in stunned disbelief.
The excitement in his eyes was impossible to conceal:
Even his hands trembled slightly!
With his talent, his chances of breaking through to the Dou Emperor realm had been far too small!
Yet today, he had merely exchanged a useless jade fragment.
For such an opportunity!
Nalan Jie did not lose his composure and hurriedly expressed his gratitude:
"Thank you, Master!"
The inner district of Jia Ma Holy City was brightly illuminated.
Xiao Yan brought Xiao Yi Xian to the largest inn in the city.
After settling the girl in, he entered his room alone and sat cross-legged on the bed:
The jade fragment floated above his palm as Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes.
When his Spiritual Power entered it once more, that cultivation method unfolded in his mind like a painted scroll.
Every rune seemed to come alive, turning into streams of light that entered his sea of consciousness.
"Buzz!"
His soul gave a soft tremble.
If an ordinary person had such an enormous amount of information directly forced into their mind.
Passing out on the spot would have been the least of their problems!
Yet in Xiao Yan's eyes, these incomparably complex runes.
Seemed to reveal their very essence before him, as though pointing directly toward truth.
Though he did not recognize a single one of them, he easily grasped their true meaning.
His spiritual platform was utterly clear, while strands of strange energy from the outside world slowly flowed in...
Before you continue