Xiao Yan's Doubts

Behind the Xiao Clan, a waterfall plunged like a dragon.

Its roar shook the air, deafening.

A lean figure stood bare-chested on a black rock beneath the falls. His legs were bent slightly, his stance steady, as he let the torrent crash down on his young shoulders with the force of ten thousand catties.

The boy gritted his teeth. His body trembled under the immense pressure, and his skin had already been beaten bright red, yet his dark eyes burned with an unyielding flame.

It was Xiao Yan.

Ever since he had taken Yao Lao as his master, this grueling training had become part of his daily routine.

"Boy, calm your heart and steady your breath."

"Guide your Dou Qi through your whole body. Feel the force of the impact and disperse it instead of resisting it head-on."

Yao Lao's old, steady voice rang softly in his mind.

At his words, Xiao Yan immediately focused. Following Yao Lao's instructions, he guided the faint strand of Dou Qi he had just cultivated through his meridians.

Just as he was concentrating, fragments of conversation drifted up from the path below, carried on the mountain breeze.

"Have you heard? The Miteer Auction House is making a huge splash this time!"

"Come on, who hasn't? They say they're auctioning some treasure related to Heavenly Flames. The whole of Wutan City is buzzing about it!"

"Heavenly Flames? For real? Those are the stuff of legends..."

"Who cares if it's true? It's got nothing to do with us. But I heard a lot of powerful outsiders have come to town, and even the City Lord's Mansion has tightened security. Best not to go looking for trouble these days."

The voices gradually faded into the distance.

Beneath the waterfall, Xiao Yan's mind stirred.

Heavenly Flames!

Those two words could not have been more familiar to him.

His master had told him that refining a Heavenly Flame was the most important step toward washing away his disgrace, making those who had once looked down on him pay, and becoming a true powerhouse!

But his master had also said that Heavenly Flames were divine treasures of heaven and earth, rare enough that ordinary people might never see one in their entire lives.

How could a strange treasure related to Heavenly Flames suddenly appear in little Wutan City?

During a break in his training, Xiao Yan stepped out from beneath the waterfall and wiped the water from his body with a towel. Unable to hold back, he asked in his mind,

"Master, did you hear them? They said something about Heavenly Flames..."

Yao Lao's ethereal soul slowly emerged from the ring.

He stroked his beard, his tone dismissive.

"I heard."

"It's probably just the Miteer Chamber of Commerce making a flashy gimmick."

"Heavenly Flames are exceedingly rare. If they really had a lead, why would they make a big announcement in a little place like Wutan City? The real news about a Heavenly Flame would only invite a death sentence. People would hide it, not advertise it."

Yao Lao's voice carried the calm of someone who had seen through the ways of the world.

He had once been one of the continent's top alchemists and had seen countless rare treasures. He was long accustomed to chambers of commerce making exaggerated claims to drum up business.

Xiao Yan nodded, finding his master's reasoning sound.

Still, he was curious.

"But I heard them say this time's announcement was different. Apparently, that strange treasure can sense the general location of a Heavenly Flame, and it gives off an extremely cold aura."

He repeated the few scraps of conversation he had heard.

The instant he finished speaking,

the ancient ring on Xiao Yan's hand suddenly trembled without warning!

A chill flashed out from within it.

"Hmm?"

For the first time, a note of surprise crept into Yao Lao's usually placid voice.

"Boy, what did you just say?"

"It gives off... an extremely cold aura?"

Caught off guard by his master's reaction, Xiao Yan blinked, then answered honestly. "Yes. That's what those people down the mountain said."

The ring sank into a long silence.

It lasted so long that Xiao Yan began to feel uneasy.

At last,

Yao Lao's voice rang out again, grave in the extreme. Each word landed on Xiao Yan's heart like a cold stone.

"Boy."

"Stop training. Now."

"Get dressed and go near the Miteer Auction House."

"Remember, don't approach it, and don't go inside. Just find somewhere to wait on the street outside."

"Go!"

The final word carried an urgency that brooked no argument.

Xiao Yan's heart tightened.

He had never seen his master take anything so seriously.

Daring not to delay, he quickly pulled on his clothes and raced down the back mountain path toward the center of Wutan City, swift as a leopard.

Outside the Miteer Auction House, the streets were packed and noisy.

The broad avenue was jammed with people.

Countless gazes converged on the resplendent building, filled with curiosity, greed, and awe.

Xiao Yan found an inconspicuous corner and blended into the crowd, his eyes fixed on the enormous auction house.

"Master, I'm here," he murmured in his mind.

"Stay where you are."

Yao Lao's voice had turned unusually stern.

"Conceal your presence completely. Look like an ordinary passerby, and keep your eyes on the building."

The next moment,

Xiao Yan felt as if the ancient ring on his finger had turned into ten-thousand-year-old ice.

An indescribably vast and powerful soul force silently poured from the ring. Like an invisible net, it swept over the clamorous crowd, pierced the thick walls, and slowly probed toward the deepest part of the auction house.

The soul force was pure to an extreme, and its passage went unnoticed.

But Xiao Yan could clearly feel the strain it placed on his master.

He even felt as though his own soul were being tugged along with it, leaving him with a faint, sharp ache.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Just as Xiao Yan felt he could no longer stand,

a choked gasp burst from within the ring, filled with utter disbelief and shock!

"This... how is this possible?!"

For the first time, Yao Lao's voice lost the composure and calm of a powerhouse.

It was full of bewilderment, and a trace of... horror he himself had yet to recognize!

"Master? What is it?" Xiao Yan asked nervously.

"Don't speak!" Yao Lao snapped.

The soul force he had sent out seemed to have locked onto a target deep within the auction house.

It did not probe any farther. From its distant position, it carefully sensed something again and again.

Xiao Yan had no idea what his master had seen.

He only knew that the temperature of the ring on his finger was changing in a strange way.

At times, it was so cold it seemed as though it might freeze the bones in his finger solid.

At others, it grew warm—a feverish heat unlike anything he had ever felt, tinged with a hint of something wild.

Two utterly opposite sensations alternated wildly within the little ring!

"No... no..."

"This aura..."

Yao Lao's muttering echoed in Xiao Yan's mind, full of confusion.

"It has the icy source of Bone Spirit Cold Flame... yes, this soul-deep chill is unmistakable. I could never mistake it!"

"But..."

"Why is it mixed with the heat of such a low-grade, impure Beast Flame?!"

"How could two completely opposite attributes be twisted together like this?!"

"This isn't a Heavenly Flame! It absolutely isn't the real thing!"

"It's like... like a crude counterfeit, made by forcing mud and broken stones to imitate a divine sculpture!"

"But..."

"Who?!"

"Who on earth?!"

"Who could imitate my Bone Spirit Cold Flame to such an extent?! They've even stolen a trace of its essential divine resonance!"

Boom—!

An unprecedented sense of crisis erupted from the depths of Yao Lao's soul, crashing over him like a tsunami!

It was the sheer terror of knowing that his most precious secret had been spied on from the darkness, dissected, and even copied!

He was certain that whoever had made this "counterfeit" had come into contact with Bone Spirit Cold Flame—and had understood it deeply!

That unsettled him more than any powerful enemy could!

"Go!"

A shout laden with immense gravity exploded in Xiao Yan's mind!

The vast soul force withdrew into the ring like a receding tide.

Within the ring, Yao Lao's soul form shuddered violently, more translucent than ever, as if it might disperse at any moment.

He looked at the boy outside, who still wore a bewildered expression, and spoke with an urgency and sternness unlike anything before.

"Boy!"

"Leave at once! The farther you stay from this mess, the better!"

"Until the auction is over, you are absolutely forbidden to come within a hundred zhang of the Miteer Auction House!"

Shaken by the unprecedented tone in his master's voice, Xiao Yan froze.

He could even hear a trace of... wariness in it!

What kind of person could make his master, who had once been a Dou Venerate, feel wary?

How could someone like that be in this little city of Wutan?

Daring not to ask a single question, Xiao Yan immediately turned around, pushed his way through the crowd, and vanished down the street.

Inside the ring.

Yao Lao's ethereal figure stared fixedly in the direction of the Miteer Auction House. For a long time, he said nothing.

He sank into thought.

Who was it?

Friend or foe?

How had the other party learned the secret of Bone Spirit Cold Flame? Could they be the ones who had hunted him down all those years ago?

No.

Those people were overbearing in their methods. If it had been them, they would have simply seized it by force. They would never have pulled a stunt like this auction.

Then there was only one possibility.

In Wutan City—or perhaps in the Jia Ma Empire—there was a mysterious figure he knew nothing about, someone who possessed some unknown means.

This person could peer into the essence of Heavenly Flames.

This person could create a counterfeit indistinguishable from the real thing.

This person had turned Heavenly Flames into a business!

Yao Lao's heart sank.

He had laid out Xiao Yan's path to growth, clear and precise.

But the appearance of this mysterious figure was like a meteor crashing out of nowhere onto a chessboard, shattering all his plans in an instant and adding a terrifying unknown he could not even begin to predict.

A mysterious figure we... cannot afford to provoke!