Chapter 126

After seeing Ya Fei off, Xiao Yuan composed himself and returned to his bedroom. He instructed a maid not to disturb him, then took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to cultivate.

He needs to deal with the Brand Poison in his body first.

As he entered a meditative state, Xiao Yuan's mind settled down in his lower abdomen. With a slight movement of his mind, a wisp of black and white flame was spewed out from his Spirit Absorption and rose gently in his dantian.

With his mind focused on the constantly churning black and white flames, after a long time, under Xiao Yuan's control, the black and white flames suddenly surged and the temperature rose sharply. As the temperature increased, a faint black mist slowly condensed at the center of the flames.

"What a ferocious Brand Poison! Not only can it withstand the terrifying temperature of the Heavenly Flames, but it can also silently merge into it. If one is not alert beforehand, it would be difficult to detect. No wonder it is a deadly poison that even Dou Huang expert fears."

Staring at the black mist, Xiao Yuan murmured to himself.

Removing the poison from Nalan Jie actually had another benefit: the Brand Poison had been lurking in Nalan Jie's body for quite some time, and while it was eroding his body, it would occasionally devour some of his Dou Qi. Over time, it had accumulated a lot of Dou Qi.

This was naturally extremely unpleasant for Nalan Jie, but for Xiao Yuan, who had introduced the Brand Poison into his own body, it was a windfall! If he weren't worried that Nalan Jie would notice something was wrong, and if he weren't concerned that the Brand Poison would accumulate too much in his body and become difficult to manage, or even lead to a disastrous outcome, Xiao Yuan would have even considered transferring all the Brand Poison from Nalan Jie's body directly into his own. Perhaps he could use this opportunity to refine the Dou Qi within and advance his cultivation level once again.

However, in the current process of detoxification, the Brand Poison fused with the Heavenly Flames is ultimately only a small part. The amount of Dou Qi contained within it may indeed be a lot for an ordinary Da Dou Shi, but for Xiao Yuan, who has five Qi Mansion, it can only be considered as accelerating his cultivation speed.

"It would be a shame to purify it now. It would be better to concentrate and condense it, and then use it to launch a sneak attack on a troublesome enemy in the future."

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yuan's lips curled into a sinister smile. Then, with a slight thought, the black and white flames enveloping the black mist began to fluctuate as if boiling, and their temperature became increasingly terrifying.

In fact, the reason why the Brand Poison was able to merge into the Heavenly Flames was because when Xiao Yuan was expelling the poison from Nalan Jie, he was afraid of accidentally burning him to ashes, so he only turned the temperature of the Heavenly Flames to a relatively mild level. Even so, Nalan Jie was in so much pain that his body couldn't help but tremble slightly even though he tried his best to control it.

However, once inside his body, Xiao Yuan naturally wouldn't allow the Heavenly Flames, which he had already devoured and refined for a long time, to harm him. So he heated up the Heavenly Flames, feeling rather unrestrained. Soon, the temperature of the Heavenly Flames reached a level that would make even Dou Wang expert change his expression drastically.

As the temperature of the black and white flames rapidly increased, the wisps of black mist began to ripple. Then, Xiao Yuan's soul power, imbued with a touch of spirituality, surged forth, transforming the Heavenly Flames into a black and white flame tornado, enveloping the black mist. While separating Nalan Jie's Dou Qi within the Brand Poison, he controlled the Heavenly Flames, suppressing the Brand Poison and gradually allowing it to take shape.

A moment later, under the control of the high temperature Xiao Yuan, the volume of the black mist slowly shrank. After a while, the black mist gradually coalesced and condensed, turning into a deep black bead that shimmered with a cold, eerie light. It was clear at a glance that it was definitely a deadly poison!

Outside the black and white flame tornado, a fairly powerful Dou Qi transformed into a ring of light blue energy, which looked quite strange.

However, Xiao Yuan was not particularly surprised by this, since it was far inferior to the energy within Hai Bodong's body.

Fortunately, this opportunity with the Yao Lao gave Xiao Yuan better control over his soul power, so after all this, his soul power was still abundant.

So, Xiao Yuan struck while the iron was hot, changing his hand seals and circulating his Dou Qi. As he did so, the inner circle of the flame tornado shrank smaller and smaller, eventually transforming into a thin film of black and white flames, which sealed the Brand Poison within. Meanwhile, the outer circle of flames directly enveloped the ring-shaped light blue energy band, gradually refining and condensing it into pure energy before sending it into his meridians.

Time flowed slowly through this cultivation. When Xiao Yuan finished his cultivation, the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the wooden window, filling the entire room. The room was mostly warm-toned with orange and yellow, which made people feel much more relaxed.

"Hoo!" After letting out a soft breath, Xiao Yuan jumped off the bed, feeling the abundant Dou Qi within his body, and said thoughtfully, "Within a month, I will definitely be able to advance to the Three-Star Dou Grandmaster."

It's almost time; it's time to change into something appropriate and attend the banquet at the Nalan Residence.

The thought flashed through Xiao Yuan's mind, and he immediately summoned a maid. With her help, he tidied himself up from head to toe before leisurely leaving his house and heading towards the gate of the Nalan Residence diagonally opposite.

Since it was a banquet, Xiao Yuan, who loves white clothes, still chose a white dress with gold thread, a fitted dress with a light luxury style. A White Jade Hairpin was inserted in her headdress, and her long black hair fell over her shoulders and back, with two strands of fine hair falling on both sides of her forehead. She was noble but not vulgar, with an extraordinary temperament.

Many of the passersby were also there to attend the banquet. They were initially curious about the change of owners at the Xiao Residence, but were now quite surprised to see such an extraordinary young nobleman emerge from the mansion.

His unparalleled handsome appearance and extraordinary temperament were unmatched, even by members of the Imperial Family and scions of prominent clans in the Imperial Capital.

Xiao Yuan ignored the strange looks from these people and calmly entered the Nalan Residence.

The guards at the gate seemed to have been instructed beforehand. When Xiao Yuan entered the Nalan Residence, they not only did not stop or question him, but bowed respectfully, as if they were seeing their own young master.

The sky had already darkened, but the Nalan Residence was still brightly lit, with clansmen moving about in the courtyards, much like a morning market.

He casually dismissed the maid who was about to lead the way, and Xiao Yuan followed the route from yesterday with ease, arriving at the main hall.

Inside the spacious hall, bursts of noise and laughter, mixed with some musical notes, could be heard. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that quite a few people were already seated there, chatting and laughing with each other.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Yuan spotted Ya Fei wearing a red fitted cheongsam and a snow-white fox fur shawl, which added to her elegance and nobility. Her beautiful and charming curves and mature charm attracted the attention of many men in the hall.

Perhaps because of their intimate contact the night before, Ya Fei keenly noticed Xiao Yuan's gaze, looked over immediately, and then revealed a sweet smile before getting up and walking straight over.

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan also showed a gentle smile and took three steps at a time to enter the hall.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, you've finally arrived."

Ya Fei blinked, smiled playfully, and took Xiao Yuan's arm.

"I'm sorry to have kept Sister Ya Fei waiting. I was cultivating for a while."

Xiao Yuan smiled apologetically, patted the back of Ya Fei's soft little hand that was wrapped around his arm, and said softly.

"Hehe, the Great Elder is here too, but he has already gone to catch up with Nalan Old Master. Please come with me."

Upon hearing this, Ya Fei smiled indifferently, then pulled Xiao Yuan back to his seat and sat down together.

She naturally wouldn't hold such a trivial matter against Xiao Yuan.

Previously, many people in the hall had their eyes on Ya Fei. Now, seeing Xiao Yuan and Ya Fei so intimate, some were heartbroken, some were shocked, and some were already sizing up Xiao Yuan's identity.

But they couldn't discern anything. They only felt that this man had a handsome appearance and an extraordinary demeanor, but his strength seemed so weak that they couldn't detect any Dou Qi within him. Could it be that his strength far surpassed theirs, which was why they couldn't sense him? What kind of strength would he possess? Could such a young man be a Da Dou Shi? Impossible, right?

"Reminiscing? I doubt it."

Xiao Yuan smiled thoughtfully and said.

"Heh, looks like you guessed it too. But what can we do? The Nalan Family doesn't cherish you, so why shouldn't our Mittel Family treat you like a treasure?"

Upon hearing this, Ya Fei smiled and said, her beautiful eyes narrowing into two crescent moons, clearly quite happy.

"Haha, I'm truly flattered."

Xiao Yuan grinned upon hearing this and said with a smile.

In a corner of the hall, Nalan Yanran watched Xiao Yuan chatting and laughing with Ya Fei. She pouted slightly, then glanced coldly at the guy trying to get close to her, frowned, and said with some annoyance, "I'm not interested in you. Don't bother me anymore."

After saying that, Nalan Yanran quickly walked towards Xiao Yuan and Ya Fei, then Nalan Yanran and said, "Young Master Xiao has finally arrived. You are the star of this banquet!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces immediately showed doubt. This kid was actually the protagonist of this banquet? Looking at Nalan Yanran, who was wearing the wide-sleeved moon-white robe that only Misty Cloud Sect disciples could wear, Xiao Yuan's smile faded a bit. How could Nalan Yanran become so tactless? She had to come and get in the way when he and Ya Fei were having a pleasant conversation.

"Hey Xiao Yan, we've arrived!"

As a soft, sweet voice rang out, two figures entered the hall one after the other.

???

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan and Ya Fei both looked towards the door in surprise, where they saw a beautiful young woman who appeared to be about the same age as Xiao Yan.

She wore a purple dress with silver patterns. Her exquisite features, influenced by her Imperial Family family background, exuded an innate noble air. A purple sash tied around her slender waist accentuated her delicate figure.

Interestingly, her watery eyes sparkled with Gu Ling smile, which somewhat ruined her originally noble royal demeanor, making her seem more like a playful young lady from an ordinary wealthy family.

Beside him stood Xiao Yan, dressed in a black robe of an alchemist.

"Brother, Sister Ya Fei."

Xiao Yan greeted her with a hint of helplessness, completely ignoring Nalan Yanran who was standing to the side.

"Huh? Sister Ya Fei, you two know each other?"

The pretty young girl blinked and asked in confusion.

"This is the Imperial Family Little Princess." Ya Fei turned her head and introduced her to Xiao Yuan, then smiled and went to greet her. "Yes, I didn't expect the Little Princess to come with her brother Xiao Yan."

Upon hearing this, the Little Princess looked at Xiao Yuan and asked with a hint of curiosity, "And who is this?"

"Hehe, I am Xiao Yuan, Ya Fei's fiancé, and Xiao Yan's Third Brother."

Xiao Yuan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Oh, so you're the one Sister Ya Fei can't forget? You are indeed very handsome! Oh, and you look a lot like Xiao Yan!"

A continuous stream of words came out of the Little Princess's mouth, leaving Xiao Yuan and the other two speechless.

"Hey, Xiao Yan did really well in the Alchemist Guild's internal test this time, even better than me. As his older brother, are you even better than him?"

The Little Princess then asked curiously, "What?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan cast an inquiring glance at Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan shrugged innocently, looking utterly helpless.

He didn't want to come either, but the Little Princess had been pulling and tugging at him the whole way, and hadn't given him a hard time, acting like a little sister. He couldn't very well refuse her, and besides, coming to the Nalan Residence might not be a bad thing. It would be a good opportunity to show the people of the Nalan Residence that none of the members of his Xiao Clan were mediocre!

"Hehe, I don't know how to make medicine. If we're talking about medicine making, Xiao Yan could be my teacher. I'm just better at fighting."

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan knew that Xiao Yan didn't actually like such noisy occasions. His visit to the Nalan Residence was probably also an opportunity to support him, since the Mittel Family was there and there was no reason for his younger brother Xiao Yan not to be there.

"Oh, what level are you? How skilled are you? Why don't you show me what you've got?"

The Little Princess asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan frowned and was about to speak when Xiao Yuan spoke first, saying, "Hehe, Little Princess, why don't you try to guess?"

"Oh, Little Princess, today is a banquet at the Nalan Residence."

Seeing this, Ya Fei quickly reminded her.

"Oh, right, we'll talk about it later! Sister Nalan, it's been a long time!"

The Little Princess nodded upon hearing this, and then quickly walked towards Nalan Yanran, who had been left standing aside for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Nalan Yanran gave a somewhat forced smile and said, "Yes, it's been a long time!"

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yan exchanged a glance, both seeing the smile in each other's eyes.