This Son Must Not Be Allowed to Live!

Over the next three days, Xiao Yan practically stayed by the medicine cauldron all day. Whenever his Dou Qi was exhausted, he would sink into cultivation to recover it.

In those brief three days, thanks to his alchemy practice, Xiao Yan's control over the Heavenly Flames improved considerably.

At the very least, when refining Blood Coagulation Powder, his success rate in extracting medicinal essence had reached one hundred percent, and its purity had even stabilized above ninety-five percent.

Such talent left Old Yao endlessly amazed.

Besides that, amid the constant depletion and replenishment of his Dou Qi, Xiao Yan's cultivation had improved somewhat as well. He was another step closer to becoming a four-star Dou Zhe.

Watching Xiao Yan emerge from his cultivation state, Old Yao stroked his beard and said with a faint smile,

"To become a true First-Rank Alchemist, the most basic requirement is to refine a properly formed medicinal pill. At your current level, you can give it a try. I originally thought a few hundred medicinal herbs would be enough for you, but you've given me quite a surprise."

"Hmm... does that mean I should make another trip to the Auction House and buy some herbs for first-rank pills?"

Xiao Yan nodded and looked toward Old Yao.

"Yes, but there's no money left on your card. Buying those herbs and that medicine cauldron last time already drained it completely. Fortunately, over the past few days, I've refined fifty bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid from the herbs you bought. Selling them for over a million gold coins won't be difficult."

At this point, Old Yao frowned and added,

"Besides, it's time to deliver that Qi Gathering Powder to them. I don't want to owe anyone a favor. I hate that sort of thing most..."

Xiao Yan asked curiously,

"Teacher, could it be that you owed someone a favor before?"

Old Yao fell into thought at those words. After a long while, he slowly said,

"That was probably a very, very long time ago. I don't remember it too clearly. In any case, I don't like owing others favors. Oh, and Jia Lie Bi from the Jia Lie Clan—we promised to refine pills for him last time, so we need to make a trip there as well."

"Alright."

Xiao Yan nodded, circled out of the Xiao Family residence through the Back Mountain, changed into the attire of a burly black-robed man, and headed for the Jia Lie Clan.

Four days had passed.

It had been four days since that mysterious alchemist had left.

Who knew when he would see that senior again?

On the second day after that senior left, the Miter Auction House had begun selling a spirit liquid comparable to a second-rank medicinal pill. It was said to help those at the Dou Qi stage cultivate faster.

So that so-called Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid had most likely been that senior's work!

Jia Lie Bi sat alone in the clan's council hall, his brows tightly furrowed.

Not long ago, when his son Jia Lie Ao went to the Xiao Family marketplace, he had provoked that young genius of the Xiao Family. That mere brat who had only just advanced to the Dou Zhe level had actually killed three two-star Dou Zhes, one three-star Dou Zhe, and one four-star Dou Zhe all by himself!

Even Jia Lie Ao had been left with a psychological shadow because of that incident. He had no heart for cultivation at all now. If that shadow could not be dispelled, Jia Lie Ao's future achievements would likely be extremely limited.

What was more, no one had even seen Xiao Yan use any Dou Technique!

It was truly strange!

Generally speaking, if one could fight above one's level, it was either because their Dou Technique was formidable, they possessed some special means, or the disparity in their cultivation techniques was so great that both the quality and quantity of their Dou Qi differed enormously. Only then could one fight above one's level.

Yet Xiao Yan had used neither Dou Techniques nor any special method. With nothing but a fairly decent longsword, he had been able to kill opponents above his level. This indicated that Xiao Yan's cultivation technique was likely a mid-level Mystic Tier technique, perhaps even a high-level one!

However, as far as he knew, the Xiao Family's highest-level cultivation technique was merely the mid-level Mystic Tier Mad Lion Furious Qi.

But Xiao Yan's Dou Qi seemed to be fire-attributed.

Since when did the Xiao Family possess a mid-level Mystic Tier fire-attributed cultivation technique?

No matter what, this boy's talent meant he could very likely become a Dou Wang-level expert in the future. By then, whether the Jia Lie Clan could even leave Wutan City alive would be a question!

Therefore, this son must not be allowed to live!

"Clan Head Jia Lie seems to be troubled."

The aged voice carried a hint of faint amusement.

"Senior?!" Upon hearing that familiar voice he had been longing for, Jia Lie Bi's face filled with delight. "Wonderful, you've come! Now I can finally set my mind at ease."

"Last time, when I asked what pill you wanted refined, you said you wished to consider it. Have you considered it now?"

Old Yao's voice rang out calmly.

"Senior, this junior wishes to ask you to refine a few bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid for my disappointing son!"

Jia Lie Bi had originally wanted to ask Old Yao to refine some pills suitable for increasing his own strength, but Jia Lie Ao's recent behavior had forced him to choose Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid instead.

Of course, he knew that the Miter Auction House could not possibly sell only five bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. There would definitely be more in the future.

However, several tens of thousands of gold coins could only buy a single bottle of spirit liquid. Even as the Jia Lie Clan's head, he could not squander the clan's funds so recklessly.

Thus, he could only ask this senior to refine some Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.

"Hmm, that can be done. These are three bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. Their selling price will more than cover the total value of the batch of medicinal herbs I previously took from you."

Without much hesitation, Old Yao directly took out three jade bottles and handed them to Jia Lie Bi.

"This old man still has matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."

With that, Xiao Yan pushed open the door and departed.

"Senior, please wait!"

Jia Lie Bi had wanted to further strengthen his relationship with the mysterious senior alchemist. Yet when he chased out the door, he discovered that the courtyard was completely empty.

"With such ghostly, elusive methods, he is likely at least a Dou Ling, isn't he?"

Jia Lie Bi's expression changed. He shook his head somewhat dejectedly.

It seemed he could only wait for next time.

"Damn, giving away more than a hundred thousand gold coins with a wave of my hand really hurts!"

As he walked toward the Miter Auction House, Xiao Yan said painfully.

"As far as I know, the Jia Lie Clan and your Xiao Family have never gotten along. You even told me before that you beat up his son. Hehe, do you think I'm the kind of person who helps the enemy?"

Old Yao let out a strange laugh and teased him.

"Hm?"

Only then did Xiao Yan come to his senses. He immediately inspected his Storage Ring and discovered that not a single one of the fifty bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid was missing.

"What I gave him just now was merely spirit liquid refined from leftover scraps of medicinal herbs. It naturally has some effect, but it definitely cannot compare to these. The cost of all three bottles combined was less than a thousand gold coins. What is there to feel bad about?"

Old Yao said with a beaming smile.

"Teacher, I always thought I was already quite underhanded. I never expected you to be even worse than me!"

Xiao Yan shook his head and said with a mixture of laughter and tears.

"You little bastard, is that any way to speak of your teacher?"

Old Yao laughed as he scolded him.