Xiao Yan

Xiao Yan

Just as Xiao Bai was thinking, a streak of cyan lightning suddenly cut through the darkness.

"Yi Wood Positive Thunder!"

At that moment, after the blood in Xiao Bai's body had been continuously evaporated by the Bing Fire Yang Thunder, what remained was filled with a faint silvery-white glow.

When all the blood in his body seemed to have been tempered, the Yi Wood Positive Thunder in his liver began to move.

After the tempered blood flowed through his liver, it was stimulated by Yi Wood Qi, and fresh blood kept appearing. This newly formed blood was the same as the tempered blood, bright red with a trace of silver.

As the blood in his body continued to increase, Xiao Bai's shriveled figure gradually filled out again.

Only then did his consciousness finally feel a sense of control over his body. The familiar pain surged back once more, making him instinctively suck in a cold breath.

Looking inward at his body and watching the red-and-silver blood flowing quietly through his veins, Xiao Bai did not know what had happened, but he could make a guess.

He formed seals with both hands, preparing to begin refining the Bing Fire Yang Thunder in his heart.

However, once he started refining it, Xiao Bai discovered that it was extremely difficult, nothing like the smooth process of refining the Yi Wood Positive Thunder last time.

Every wisp of the Bing Fire Yang Thunder's origin that entered his meridians made him feel as though he were being cut to pieces by a thousand blades. It caused tremendous damage to his meridians, and the refining process was extraordinarily slow.

Xiao Bai could only mobilize the Yi Wood Positive Thunder in his liver to repair the damage behind it. He did not dare let the Yi Wood Positive Thunder come into direct contact with the Bing Fire Yang Thunder.

Among the five elements, wood fed fire. Once it merged with the Bing Fire Positive Thunder, it would only fuel its arrogance, making it even harder to refine.

Several hours passed, and Xiao Bai had only refined the tiniest bit of Bing Fire Yang Thunder. Compared to the entire Thunder Seed, it amounted to almost nothing.

By his estimate, he would need at least half a year to completely refine the Bing Fire Yang Thunder in his heart. That meant the pain he was currently enduring would continue for at least half a year.

Forcing himself to endure the waves of intense pain coming from his heart, he struggled to stand. Looking at the gray-white strands of hair hanging down before his chest and his two slightly shriveled hands, a low, hoarse laugh echoed through the cave.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

"A little wind and frost. Nothing more!"

He lightly straightened the somewhat loose white robe on his body, then staggered out of the cave.

Outside the cave, it was already deep night. The moonlight was bright, as if draping the earth in a layer of pure white gauze. A cool night breeze blew over, making Xiao Bai's spirit improve slightly, and he slowly walked down the mountain.

Sweat kept dripping from his cheeks along the way. After every short distance, Xiao Bai had to stop and take a few breaths, waiting for the pain in his body to ease a little before continuing down the mountain.

The road down the mountain, which usually took him only a short while to finish, seemed especially long today.

Stopping and starting, he arrived at the lakeside where he had washed his face last time. The Xiao Clan's orderly courtyards were already in sight, and not far away stood a pavilion. Xiao Bai slowly walked toward it.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed slightly, and he turned to look at a large tree several zhang away.

"Who's there?"

Xiao Bai's soul was powerful, and ever since he had cultivated the Heavenly Heart Induction Chapter, his spiritual perception had become even sharper. Just now, he had sensed a gaze spying on him.

He did not bother sensing who it was. Anyone sneaking around at this hour was definitely no good person, and he was not afraid of hurting them, so he directly mixed Soul Strength into that shout.

The sound was not loud, but to the person behind the tree, it was like a crack of thunder beside his ear, shaking him until his head spun.

Behind the tree, Xiao Yan could not help rubbing his ears. He had been unable to sleep in the middle of the night because of his cultivation, so he had thought of taking a walk by the lake. Unexpectedly, he had seen a white-clothed figure slowly coming down from the mountain.

It scared him so badly that he thought he had run into a ghost in the middle of the night. The area was open, and he did not dare run outright, so he had no choice but to find a large tree to hide behind, praying inwardly that this white-clothed ghost would not see him.

When the white-clothed figure drew closer, Xiao Yan cautiously poked his head out to look.

The night was too dark for him to see the person's features clearly. He only saw that the figure had gray-white hair and a bloodless face, which looked snow-white beneath the moonlight, while their movements were slow and sluggish.

He knew everyone in the clan, but after thinking through every member of the Xiao Clan, he had no impression of anyone with this appearance. That made him feel even more that this was not a person.

Only when that person turned his head and looked over, then gave a soft shout, did he feel it. The shout clearly did not seem loud, yet beside his ear, it was like exploding thunder.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan's Soul Strength was decent. Otherwise, with his cultivation at the third stage of Dou Qi, he would have fainted long ago.

"You're... Bai... Bai Ge?" Xiao Yan asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Xiao Yan?" After hearing the voice, Xiao Bai could not help saying, "Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? What are you doing sneaking around here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd take a walk by the lake. I didn't expect to see a white-clothed figure coming down from the mountain, and I thought I'd run into..." Xiao Yan stopped abruptly at this point, then rubbed his nose somewhat awkwardly and walked out from behind the tree.

"What? Thought you'd met a ghost in the middle of the night?" After learning it was this guy, Xiao Bai ignored him and continued walking slowly toward the pavilion.

"Hehe..." Xiao Yan let out a dry laugh. Seeing Xiao Bai's movements, he also headed toward the pavilion.

After drawing closer and seeing Xiao Bai's appearance, Xiao Yan cried out in alarm, "Bai Ge, what happened to you...?"

Yao Lao, inside the ring, was also extremely shocked at this moment. How had this youth, who made him so wary, turned himself into such a state? Moreover, his body occasionally leaked a trace of a supremely firm and yang aura, giving even his Soul Body a burning sensation.

"What are you shouting for? There was a little accident in my cultivation, that's all!" Xiao Bai glanced at him, then walked straight into the pavilion. After sitting down on a stone stool, he could not help exhaling a breath of Turbid Qi.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan thought Xiao Bai had used some method to break through to Dou Zhe and ended up like this. For a moment, his eyes revealed a sense of sympathy born from shared misfortune.

Xiao Yan had once thought Xiao Bai was hypocritical and had looked down on everything he did.

In the Xiao Clan, Xiao Bai had always appeared courteous and refined, speaking to everyone with a smile, like a spring breeze. He was deeply liked by the older generation of the Xiao Clan.

Whenever someone of the same age in the Xiao Clan was being beaten by their parents, the opening line was always:

"Look at Xiao Bai, blah blah blah..."

"If you had even one-tenth of Xiao Bai's ability, I, your father—or mother—would blah blah blah..."

This made Xiao Bai seem as if he had some irreconcilable feud with everyone his age in the Xiao Clan, especially the boys his age; none of them would go play with him.

Whenever they ran into him, they glared at him with all sorts of hostility. If they had been able to beat him, this guy would have been stuffed into a sack long ago.

The girls his age, on the other hand, had quite a good impression of Xiao Bai. He had a good bearing, a fine appearance, and excellent talent—anyone would like him at first sight. If he had not treated only Xun Er differently, he would have been drowned in swarms of admirers long ago.

And what about him, Xiao Yan?

A genius of the Xiao Clan, the king of the children—toward the common enemy of the little followers under him, he had both old grudges and new, and disliked Xiao Bai in every possible way.

And that gang of children could never sit still either, often turning the Xiao Clan upside down. Whenever there was a problem, Xiao Yan was dragged out, because he was their ringleader. So in the mouths of those children's parents, Xiao Yan became:

"He's a genius, the hope of the Xiao Clan's rise, and you? Blah blah blah."

"His father is the Clan Head, and you? Blah blah blah."

This made Xiao Yan's reputation among those Xiao Clan members rather poor. They believed he was the one who had led their children astray, making him take the blame for all sorts of things. If not for the title of genius propping him up, the Xiao Clan would probably have been boiling with "public resentment" long ago.

Until his cultivation fell, and the people who usually surrounded him gradually distanced themselves. Now some clansmen had plenty to say, letting him get a proper taste of how fickle people were and how cold the world could be.

Now, in the entire Xiao Clan, apart from his father, only Xiao Bai still treated him the same as always when they met. Whatever his attitude had been before, it remained the same now. When Xiao Yan had been proud, Xiao Bai had not drawn close; after he fell on hard times, Xiao Bai did not distance himself either.

This made him feel somewhat guilty about having once gone to trouble Xiao Bai. Only after his own fall did he learn that this feeling was not pleasant at all, so his impression of Xiao Bai grew better and better, and even the way he addressed him changed along with it.