Excited Xiao Yan: Did I really have the potential to become an alchemist?

Xiao Zhan froze, then immediately caught on. He said "good" three times in a row to show his welcome.

Aoba Pa, Ya Fei, and the others present also understood.

Xiao Yu hadn't said much, but what he'd revealed had given them plenty to think about.

First!

He had a teacher!

Second, Xiao Yu's tremendous transformation over the past year was inseparable from his teacher!

Finally, everyone gradually understood.

It wasn't that Xiao Yu had exceptional talent. He was just lucky enough to have met a good teacher.

For a moment, many people looked at him with envy and curiosity.

Their probing gazes roamed over Xiao Yu.

And that was exactly what Xiao Yu wanted!

Sometimes, having too many outstanding disciples in a clan wasn't necessarily a good thing.

After all, the strong were strong because they had grown powerful!

But over the long years, how many geniuses had met untimely ends because of all sorts of accidents?

Especially for Xiao Yu, who had read all kinds of novels—his mind was clear as a mirror. At a time like this, rather than showing off how talented he was and claiming that all his breakthroughs had come from his own cultivation,

it was better to let slip that he owed everything he had achieved to his teacher.

At the very least, if anyone harbored ill intentions toward him, they'd have to think twice about whether they could afford to provoke the teacher behind him.

As for who his teacher was, Xiao Yu had already planned that out.

Can't be helped. I'm bound to the More Children More Blessings System. For now, I can only keep a low profile and develop step by step. As he walked down from the stage, Xiao Yu sighed inwardly.

After the ceremony, the Xiao Clan held a banquet.

Xiao Yu only showed his face briefly. After greeting his father, he left.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I just wanted to go see Xiao Fan. He's much cuter than you." Beside Xiao Yu, Xun'er sensed the gazes on her. She looked away and said coolly.

Xiao Yu rubbed his nose.

Xiao Fan was my son, and he looked like me. If he was cute, didn't that mean I was cute too?

Tsk, tsk... What a woman, saying one thing and meaning another!

At the banquet.

Ya Fei made a round of the hall and found Xiao Zhan. When she learned that Xiao Yu had gone home to spend time with his wife and child, a trace of disappointment flickered across her face.

Afraid Ya Fei might misunderstand, Xiao Zhan explained that Xiao Yu had been like this for some time.

The Mittel Family held a lofty position in the Imperial Capital and had plenty of money. If the Xiao Clan ever wanted to return to the Imperial Capital, they might need to rely on the Mittel Family's connections.

So Xiao Zhan made a point of saying a few more words.

After all, the woman before him was the one in charge of the Miteer Auction House in Wutan City!

Ya Fei smiled, chatted briefly about Xiao Yu, then made an excuse to leave.

Back at the auction house, she had only just sat down when she saw a little head peek out.

"Xue Li, come here." Ya Fei leaned back in her chair and beckoned.

Xue Li gave a small smile and walked behind her, massaging her shoulders.

After a while, she couldn't help asking, "Miss, did anything interesting happen today?"

Xue Li was low in status and hadn't been allowed to attend the Xiao Clan's ceremony.

Knowing what her maid was curious about, Ya Fei told her about Xiao Yu.

Xue Li let out a cheerful cry.

"Too bad. I'd wanted to talk with him and see if I could recruit him, but he ran off," Ya Fei sighed.

Xue Li echoed, "Ran off?"

"Mm. He didn't even stay for the banquet. He went home to spend time with his wife and child," Ya Fei added.

Xue Li's eyes lit up slightly. "Wow, Young Master Yu treats his family so well. If only I could marry him."

In the world of Dou Qi, strength was everything, and women often had very low status unless they were powerful themselves.

Otherwise, most women were destined to become tools for political marriages between clans.

Xiao Yu's wife, Li Qian, came from a family with little standing in Wutan City.

Yet Xiao Yu had skipped the banquet just to spend time with his wife and child. A man like that was rare.

It also showed just how much Xiao Yu doted on his wife.

Ya Fei understood her little maid's envy. To be honest, she felt a little sour herself.

Xiao Yu had just said that she was the beauty everyone in Wutan City knew.

Yet when he'd had such a good chance to spend time with her, he hadn't even cherished it!

"Hmph, men are all sweet-talkers!" Ya Fei muttered.

Xue Li rose onto her tiptoes and secretly poked her head around Ya Fei to get a look at her expression.

She'd been at her young miss's side for so long, but this was the first time she'd heard her say something like that.

At dusk.

Xiao Yan strode into the courtyard where Xiao Yu lived, loudly challenging him to a spar. The reason was that Xiao Yu had stolen his thunder that day.

In truth, Xiao Yan was only joking.

To his surprise, Xiao Yu agreed. The two slung their arms over each other's shoulders and headed toward the back mountain.

"Xiao Yu, you don't have a fever, do you?" Xiao Yan reached out to touch his younger brother's forehead, looking puzzled.

Xiao Yu knocked his hand away, lay down on the grass, and said seriously, "Brother, there's something I need to tell you."

That was right.

He was preparing to tell Xiao Yan about Yao Lao.

Luckily, his third brother was Xiao Yan. If it had been another third brother, Xiao Yu really wouldn't have dared to say anything.

He'd have worried about being poisoned and silenced.

The smile vanished from Xiao Yan's face, and he grew serious. "Does it have something to do with your strength disappearing, then suddenly soaring?"

Xiao Yu nodded slightly.

The next second.

Xiao Yan turned and walked away without the slightest hesitation.

"Brother, where are you going?" Seeing this, Xiao Yu propped himself up on his hands, confused.

Xiao Yan stopped and turned around with a smile. "I don't know whether I talk in my sleep. Some things are better known by just one person."

Xiao Yu could only laugh helplessly, touched inside. He trusted Xiao Yan. Back when he'd been unable to break through the third stage of Dou Zhi Li,

he had told Xiao Yan about his Dou Qi mysteriously disappearing.

Yet all these years, their father, Xiao Zhan, had never found out.

And that was all because Xiao Yu had asked him to keep it secret!

Xiao Yan had never told anyone. He'd just quietly read books, hoping to find a way to solve the problem.

That had also been part of the reason he'd gone to Jia Nan Academy earlier.

"Brother, I trust you." Xiao Yu gestured for Xiao Yan to come back.

Xiao Yan waved his hand without saying a word and turned to leave.

There was no helping it.

Xiao Yu had no choice but to say, "Brother, if you leave, you might never have the chance to become an alchemist!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Yan stopped in the distance.

The next second.

Xiao Yu's vision blurred. A figure sat down beside him.

"Little brother, since you're so sincere about telling me, it'd be impolite to refuse any longer." Xiao Yan lifted his chin and gazed at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, putting on an air of reluctant generosity.

Xiao Yu's mouth twitched. He almost laughed.

Just then, Xiao Yan glanced at him from the corner of his eye and said coolly, "You don't want to spar with me, do you?"

"Brother, cut it out. I know how badly you want to become an alchemist." Xiao Yu saw right through his act.

Xiao Yan immediately put on a smile. "Do I really have the potential to become an alchemist?"

A trace of nervousness hid in the way he looked at Xiao Yu.

As the saying went, sitting in a well and gazing at the sky.

In Wutan City, Xiao Yan could hear stories about alchemists from other people.

But only after he'd traveled beyond the city did he realize how little he'd known.

Any alchemist, whether entering or leaving a city or visiting certain places, could enjoy special privileges.

Even powerful Dou Zhe weren't necessarily granted such privileges.

That was why Xiao Yan often wrote to Xiao Yu in the letters he sent home, saying how wonderful it would be if he could become an alchemist one day.

Wherever he went, that identity drew more attention than being a Dou Zhe!