Xiao Ran looked at the many treasures before him, but didn't leave his handprint on the iron block with the eagerness the old man had expected.
Instead, he simply sat down, calmly nodded, and wore an expression that said, "So that's how it is."
Seeing this, the old man looked at Xiao Ran with surprise and carried his wine over to him.
"What is it? Don't tell me you lack confidence."
Xiao Ran smiled, picked up his wine cup, and drained it.
"Excellent wine."
After praising the wine, Xiao Ran held up his empty cup and looked the old man up and down. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Your mastery of the arts is impressive, but you're not much of a storyteller."
The old man was taken aback. He looked at Xiao Ran, clearly surprised.
Xiao Ran said nothing. Instead, with a flick of his hand, he sent a sheet of spirit paper flying.
The paper burned up in midair in an instant, turning into a rolling gust of yin wind that enveloped the iron stone.
The seemingly ordinary stone absorbed the entire gust of yin wind in the blink of an eye.
The baleful yin energy carried by that sheet of spirit paper could have corroded several holes even in gold, let alone iron.
Yet it didn't leave so much as a mark on the stone.
Seeing this, Xiao Ran smiled. "If I slapped it, I'd probably be drained completely too."
The old man's intentions had been exposed, but instead of getting angry, he looked delighted. Turning around, he sat down in front of Xiao Ran. "Wonderful! It's been so many years. I thought the arts outside had died out, with no successors left. At last, someone who knows what he's doing has come along."
As he spoke, the