Qingshan Town

Early morning, just as the sky began to brighten.

Xiao Ling opened his eyes. A rare trace of tenderness flashed through them; after his observation throughout the night, the icy energy within Xun'er had only just begun to slowly recede.

To set his mind at ease, he had even attached a wisp of his soul power to that icy energy, allowing it to enter Xun'er's body.

Within his vision, a layer of icy energy coated every meridian and bone in Xun'er's body, perfectly resisting the burning of the Heavenly Flame within her and providing a buffer period. Seeing this, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

The tenderness in his eyes earlier was also because the moment his soul power swept through, he had seen the young girl completely exposed.

So... he naturally had to take responsibility...

With various thoughts flashing through his mind, Xiao Ling rose, faced the rising sun, and walked out of the Xiao Clan.

On the other side, atop a giant boulder behind the Xiao Clan, Xiao Zhan and the three elders watched the white-clad youth walking away. They exchanged glances, each seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

Ever since Xiao Ling had revealed his Da Dou Shi level combat power and crushed Wu Ming, they had known clearly that they were no longer qualified to protect this youth, as his strength was already no weaker than their own.

They reckoned that if that girl Xiao Yu hadn't encountered danger, this youth would never have exposed his true strength, just as he had claimed to them on the surface that he was merely a nine-star Dou Zhe.

Xiao Zhan shook his head and looked at the Third Elder beside him.

"Xiao Ting, follow him carefully. With your strength as a three-star Da Dou Shi, you can help Ling'er resolve some minor troubles. Try your best not to let him discover you."

"Understood, Clan Head."

The Third Elder cupped his hands and departed.

Inside the room, Xun'er lay on the bed, only her small head visible. Her face was flushed with shyness, and she kept murmuring someone's name.

Through her Heavenly Flame, she had sensed that person's soul power enter her body, probe around, and then depart only after being reassured.

As a girl, being seen completely by a member of the opposite sex using soul power—even if the other party was worried about her—was...

"Hoo~"

Xun'er took a deep breath, her long eyelashes fluttering gently. She opened her bright, intelligent eyes, looked toward the door, and whispered softly.

"Elder Ling, has... has Brother Xiao Ling left?"

"Replying to the Young Miss, Young Master Xiao Ling has just left."

"Oh~"

Xun'er responded, then immediately began to worry about his safety. Her beautiful, bright eyes flickered, looking quite lovely, and her tone carried a hint of bashfulness.

"Elder Ling, I must trouble you to make a trip. With Uncle Xiao Zhan and the others here, I will be fine."

Upon hearing this, a response came from a shadow outside the door.

"Since the Young Miss has spoken, this old servant shall make the trip. However, Young Miss, please try not to go out. This old servant fears that the fellow named Wu Ming might target those around Young Master Xiao Ling."

"Mm, I know, Elder Ling, please go quickly." Xun'er urged.

"Sigh... these old bones of mine really can't keep up with you young people... This old servant is off."

Ling Ying looked at the room with affection, his entire figure turning into a shadow that vanished as the sunlight hit it.

On the other side, Xiao Ling had just walked out of Wutan City. He gazed at the wide road ahead, which led directly to the entrance of the main Magic Beast Mountain Range.

He was no stranger to this, as he had entered the outer perimeter of the Magic Beast Mountain Range from here last time, but he did not intend to enter from here this time.

After all, he planned to visit that cave in the outer perimeter of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, so he intended to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range from the other side, via Qingshan Town, to hunt for treasure.

Thinking this, Xiao Ling headed toward a small path on the other side, while a voice reached the ears of an old man under the city gate.

"Sorry to trouble you with this trip, Third Elder. I intend to go on this training journey alone."

Hearing this, the Third Elder, who had just been about to take a step, froze. He watched the white-clad youth walking away, sighed, and turned back toward the Xiao Clan.

Along the way, Xiao Ling traveled leisurely, not rushing his journey. To him, the only value that cave might hold was the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

Everything else was just gold coins.

As for why it was gold coins, that was entirely because Xiao Ling had another identity.

He was an Alchemist, a second-grade Alchemist at that, and he was about to advance to a third-grade Alchemist.

Therefore, what he lacked most right now was money.

This was also why he had pocketed all two hundred thousand gold coins he had won, not leaving a single one for Xiao Zhan and the others; he was currently so broke he was rattling, with only two hundred thousand and five hundred coins to his name.

And that identity as a second-grade Alchemist was something he had only achieved by throwing five million gold coins at it...

If he hadn't gone out to "hunt wild game" and earn some extra cash over the past four years, he truly wouldn't have been able to support it.

Sometimes he really envied his "Brother Yan," having an alchemy master like Yao Lao to teach him. If he had such a master to guide him, he reckoned he would have already become a fourth-grade Alchemist by now.

He wouldn't be in this awkward position, neither here nor there.

Walking along the bright, sunny path, Xiao Ling lifted a face that still held a trace of youth and offered a bitter smile as he glanced at the flowers and plants lining the road.

He paused, his gaze lingering on a stalk of Blade Grass pinned down by a rock, yet still stubbornly trying to break through the soil, and his eyes narrowed slightly as if something had been ignited within his heart.

However, when he tried to probe deeper, he found no clear answer, so he helplessly gave up on the thought and continued on his way.

Just like that, Xiao Ling walked from early morning until the afternoon, when he finally saw a small town built against the mountains at the edge of his vision.

A gleam of light appeared in his eyes.

"The famous saying from my past life truly didn't deceive me: reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles."

Although he hadn't experienced any life-or-death battles or practiced cultivation along the way.

He could clearly feel his own changes, the most intuitive manifestation being the circulation of his Dou Qi, which was much smoother than before.

This was a small, pleasant surprise for him; it was better than nothing at all.

Looking at Qingshan Town in the distance, Xiao Ling smiled slightly, stepped off a bluestone, and with a series of flashes, left a long shadow trailing in mid-air that refused to dissipate for quite some time.

This caused Ling Ying, who was hiding in a certain shadow, to reveal a look of astonishment on his old face, which was as smooth as a baby's.

In the distance, after landing, Xiao Ling walked slowly toward Qingshan Town, ignoring the mercenaries who passed by him with smiles and cast strange looks his way.

While his youthful face remained impassive, his heart was filled with excitement; could it be that someone was about to provoke him?

"Come on... hurry up and provoke him..."

That way, he could collect enough lifespan.

After all, he had less than ten years of lifespan left—nine years and ten months, to be exact—otherwise, he wouldn't have come to the Magic Beast Mountain Range so soon.

However, his inner plea went unanswered, which made Xiao Ling narrow his eyes slightly, feeling helpless; it seemed he didn't possess the protagonist's "trouble-attracting" aura after all.

In reality, he was just clutching at straws; those mercenaries were merely boisterous, not stupid. Anyone could figure out with their eyes closed that a family capable of letting a youth out to train alone couldn't possibly be weak.

In other words, could the strength of that youth be anything less than formidable?

As mercenaries who lived with their heads on the line, if they lacked even that bit of discernment, they would have long since been gnawed down to the bone by magic beasts.

As for those who provoked others at every turn, they were either complete novices or brainless idiots, and their final fates were always miserable.

Seeing no monsters to fight, Xiao Ling had no choice but to head toward Qingshan Town.