Yao Lao Appears

Xiao Clan, rear mountain.

Xiao Yan stared angrily at the ring floating in midair before him—or rather, at the aged, translucent figure drifting above the ring!

"It was you, you old bastard, who stole the Dou Qi I cultivated over the past three years and made me suffer all that ridicule and humiliation?" Xiao Yan demanded coldly.

"Hehe, little fellow, haven't these three years taught you patience and tempered your mind?" Yao Lao said with a smile.

Xiao Yan's mouth twitched at Yao Lao's words. What, was he supposed to thank him for it?

Xiao Yan suddenly remembered something and looked up. "Are you saying my talent didn't disappear, but was being absorbed by you all along? And now I can continue cultivating?"

Yao Lao smiled without confirming or denying it. "Naturally. Now that I've awakened, so long as nothing unexpected happens, I'll only absorb your Dou Qi with your permission!"

Xiao Yan sneered. "I will never let you absorb my Dou Qi again!"

Yao Lao did not dwell on the matter. Instead, he tempted Xiao Yan, saying, "Little fellow, do you want to become strong? Do you want the respect of others? Do you want to reclaim the glory that belongs to you?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yan immediately said warily, "What are you trying to do? Let me tell you, I won't believe a single word you say!"

"Oh? Is that so? But I seem to recall that you have only one year left before your coming-of-age ceremony, don't you? One year—do you think your talent can raise you to the seventh stage of Dou Qi within a year? Besides, there's your Three Year Pact with that girl. That little girl's talent is no worse than yours, is it? Do you think you can surpass her in three years?" Yao Lao smiled like an old fox.

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and cursed, "You old bastard! If it weren't for you, would I have been humiliated by her like that? Would I still be stuck at the third stage of Dou Qi?"

After venting his fury, Xiao Yan gradually calmed down. He looked at Yao Lao and sneered. "Don't tell me it's impossible to raise my Dou Qi within a year. My younger brother, Xiao Yu, rose from a one-star Dou Zhe to a four-star Dou Zhe in a single year. If he can do it, so can I!"

Who would have thought that Yao Lao would say mysteriously, "Heh, of course I observed your younger brother Xiao Yu as well. Both your souls are exceptionally powerful. Back then, I hesitated between the two of you, but in the end, I chose you. Can you guess why?"

Xiao Yan glanced at Yao Lao and curled his lip. "Why?"

Yao Lao gave a strange laugh. "Because your talent is better, of course! Think about it—how could someone less talented than you increase their strength by three stars of Dou Zhe in a single year?"

Xiao Yan frowned slightly. "Are you saying Xiao Yu has been hiding his true abilities? That he may actually have cultivated for two or three years?"

Only then did Yao Lao look at Xiao Yan with an approving expression. After stroking his beard, he spoke again. "Do you still think you can raise your Dou Qi by four stages in one year?"

Xiao Yan fell silent. He truly had not considered that possibility. After a moment of silence, he looked at Yao Lao. "Seeing how confident you are, I assume you have a way?"

Yao Lao proudly raised his head. "Naturally!"

"What way?" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up as he asked eagerly.

"I can't tell you what it is yet!" Yao Lao said, shaking his head.

Xiao Yan looked at Yao Lao with a dark expression, suppressing the fury in his heart as he asked, "Fine. What conditions do you want before you'll tell me?"

After looking Xiao Yan up and down, Yao Lao said, "It's not impossible for me to tell you, but you must take me as your master!"

"Take you as my master? Master of what?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion.

Yao Lao's originally somewhat hunched figure straightened slightly, and his tone carried a trace of pride. "An Alchemist, of course!"

Xiao Yan froze, then looked Yao Lao over and laughed mockingly. "You? An Alchemist? What Alchemist could be as down-and-out as you?"

At Xiao Yan's words, a trace of embarrassment surfaced on Yao Lao's face. Deep in his eyes flashed pain and regret, though Xiao Yan failed to notice it.

"That's right. I am an Alchemist!" The confidence in Yao Lao's voice made even the initially skeptical Xiao Yan somewhat unsure.

Xiao Yan licked his lips and asked with a smile, "Then may I ask what grade of Alchemist you used to be?"

After all, while Alchemists were rare on the Dou Qi Continent, they were still divided into different ranks according to their grading system. Pill King Gu He was a Sixth Grade Alchemist, known as the foremost figure in the Jia Ma Empire's alchemy world!

"I don't remember what grade I was. But are you going to learn or not?" Yao Lao asked impatiently.

"I'll learn! Of course I'll learn!" Xiao Yan nodded his little head hurriedly.

"Fine, then take me as your master!" Yao Lao sat cross-legged atop a bluish stone, grinning wickedly at Xiao Yan.

"Here?" Xiao Yan asked in surprise.

"Where else? Urgent matters call for flexibility. Hurry up, hurry up!" Yao Lao urged.

Only then did Xiao Yan properly perform the ceremony of taking a master. Once he saw that all the formalities had been completed, Yao Lao beamed and said, "Good, good, good! My name is Yao Lao. As for my origins, I won't tell you for now, lest it distract you. And as for my strength, you only need to know that Pill King Gu He is nothing more than a fart in my eyes!"

Hearing Yao Lao's nearly arrogant words, Xiao Yan almost could not stop himself from taking back the ceremony he had just performed. After rolling his eyes, he said, "Old man, you're way too good at boasting, aren't you? Pill King Gu He is a Sixth Grade Alchemist!"

Smack!

Yao Lao slapped Xiao Yan on the head and said angrily, "Now that you've taken me as your master, call me Teacher! Call me old man again and see if I don't beat you! No respect at all!"

Xiao Yan held his head and said nothing.

Yao Lao ignored Xiao Yan's aggrieved gaze and continued, "The first step to becoming an Alchemist is learning a fire-attribute Dou Qi cultivation technique. Only then can you possess the fire Dou Qi needed to support alchemy!"

"A fire-attribute cultivation technique? Don't tell me Teacher plans to give me a Heaven-tier cultivation technique?" Xiao Yan chuckled and held out his hand to Yao Lao.

Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Yao Lao was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes widened. He raised his hand to hit him again, but Xiao Yan nimbly dodged away.

Yao Lao laughed and scolded, "Do you think Heaven-tier cultivation techniques grow like cabbages?"

However, Yao Lao immediately added, "I don't have a Heaven-tier cultivation technique, but I do have one that is even stranger than a Heaven-tier cultivation technique. Do you want to learn it?"

At once, Xiao Yan became interested. Something even stranger than a Heaven-tier cultivation technique? He swallowed and asked with blazing eyes, "What cultivation technique is it?"

"Low-grade Yellow-tier," Yao Lao whispered secretly into Xiao Yan's ear.

"Old man, you're messing with me!"

Xiao Yan's roar immediately echoed through the rear mountain.

Once Xiao Yan had calmed down, Yao Lao finally began telling him about this low-grade Yellow Rank cultivation method, the Fen Jue!

In the end, Yao Lao decided to wait until Xiao Yan became a Dou Zhe before teaching him the Fen Jue!

Xiao Yan looked at Yao Lao and asked, "Then how will Teacher help me reach the seventh stage of Dou Qi within a year?"

"By refining medicine, of course!" Yao Lao's expression suddenly changed. "Damn it, my flame is gone!"

"What?" Xiao Yan froze.

Yao Lao quickly regained his composure and said, "Forget it. Gone is gone. Go help me prepare some things—I'm going to refine Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid!"

Xiao Yan hurriedly nodded. "Alright. What materials do you need?"

"Three intact Purple Leaf Orchid Grass stalks—the older, the better—two Bone Washing Flowers, and a Wood-element First-level Magic Core!" After saying this, Yao Lao slipped back into the ring.

"Damn, those things together will probably cost over a thousand Gold Coins, won't they? You're trying to bankrupt me!" Xiao Yan cursed.

"Hehe, that's none of my concern. Come find me once the materials are ready. Remember, don't let anyone know I exist—not even the people closest to you!" Yao Lao's voice came from within the ring.