Three-Star Dou Zhe! Attending the Trade Fair!

A day later.

In the courtyard Ye Yan had rented.

"Xiao Yan, we've got trouble!"

Ye Jingheng rushed in from outside in a flurry, shouting, "All of Sacred Pill City is saying that President Xuan Yi may take someone named 'Han Li' as her disciple!"

"So what?"

Ye Yan was puzzled.

What trouble had his honest, not particularly quick-witted older brother gotten himself into now?

Couldn't he guess that he was Han Li?

"Xiao Yan, how can you still be so calm? This means you have a rival, perhaps even a powerful one."

Ye Jingheng looked deeply worried.

"Isn't that perfect? Someone else can draw away some of the attention."

Hearing that, Ye Yan confirmed that Ye Jingheng truly had not considered that possibility. He did not intend to say much more, merely lowered his head to browse through the alchemy book Xuan Yi had given him and replied leisurely.

"What's perfect about it? What if this person takes away your chance to become President Xuan Yi's disciple?"

"Then it means I haven't reached that level yet and still need to learn."

Ye Yan calmly said as he turned a page.

"You... you..."

Ye Jingheng pointed at Ye Yan, speechless. If the family's genius himself said so, what else could he say?

Could he force their genius to reveal his information and compete with that blasted Han Li?

"Forget it. As long as you know what you're doing."

Ye Jingheng truly had no way to deal with this, so he could only leave.

Watching Ye Jingheng's departing back, Ye Yan wore a faint smile.

Ye Jingheng did not know what was going on yet. Ye Yan was rather looking forward to seeing his expression once he learned the truth.

<Shocking! The family genius fails to become a disciple and loses heart, only to discover that Han Li is one of their own!>

To find out what happened next, stay tuned!

Over the next few days.

Ye Yan tried refining several other first-tier medicinal pills himself.

After being taught by Xuan Yi, he had become very familiar with most first-tier pills.

Whether they were first-tier healing pills, Fire Condensing Pills that assisted fire-attribute Battle Qi cultivators, or Qi Nourishing Powder used to recuperate after battle and restore Battle Qi, he could already refine them all.

Only their quality still needed improvement.

But that was merely a matter of time.

Within the courtyard.

Ye Yan sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed as he circulated the Battle Qi in his body through a full cycle.

The energy in the room began pouring into his body. Vast energy surfaced across his body in a faint crimson glow.

At his dantian, the Dou Qi vortex above the furnace cauldron also began spinning madly, refining and absorbing that energy.

Then, with a soft sound, the barrier within his body loosened. Ye Yan's Battle Qi instantly surged, and his meridians became somewhat broader than before.

However, his foundation was too solid, so the effect was extremely slight.

Then Ye Yan felt a trace of pleasant freshness spread through his body!

Gentle energy made his face appear even more refined and jade-like.

After a while, Ye Yan suddenly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam, almost tangible, shot out from his dark pupils.

"I've finally broken through to Three-Star Dou Zhe!"

Letting out a long breath, Ye Yan rose and put away the pills he had refined earlier.

Just now, after exhausting himself refining pills, he had found the opportunity to break through to Three-Star Dou Zhe while cultivating to recover his Battle Qi.

After finishing up, Ye Yan left the room.

Ye Jingheng was already waiting outside. When he saw Ye Yan emerge, he hurriedly said,

"Xiao Yan, the family has sent word. The Cao Family and our Ye Family have joined forces and found the Black Fire Sect's base."

"What's the situation?" Ye Yan turned to look at Ye Jingheng.

"I heard they ran into some trouble. Also, Soul Hall has been making quite a commotion in the north, drawing President Tian Leizi over there."

"The Black Fire Sect has set up some traps, so they still need time to investigate!"

Ye Jingheng said helplessly.

In his opinion, Tian Leizi might as well wipe out the Black Fire Sect the day he arrived in Ye City.

Would they still need to investigate whether the Black Fire Sect belonged to Soul Hall afterward?

If the Pill Tower said it was, then it was!

Little did he know that Tian Leizi had originally thought the same way.

But after learning from Xuan Kongzi that quite a few eyes were watching the Pill Region, he knew he could not act rashly.

As one of the Pill Tower's giants, he had to follow certain rules. He was a giant, not some ancestor!

Moreover, after discussing how to deal with the Black Fire Sect with Xuan Yi and Xuan Kongzi,

and considering the conflict between Ye Yan and the Black Fire Sect, they naturally intended to wait and see.

If Ye Yan could settle it personally, that would naturally be best!

With them around, the Black Fire Sect could not possibly stir up any waves anyway.

"By the way, Xiao Yan, there will be an Alchemist Trade Fair in Sacred Pill City's Outer Domain tomorrow. Should we go take a look?"

Ye Jingheng suddenly remembered something and asked Ye Yan.

"An auction?"

Ye Yan pondered for a moment before asking, "Have you heard of anything good there?"

Xiao Yan had once obtained a copper plate from an old man in Sacred Pill City, which contained Spirit Nourishing Dust and the Nameless Mantra.

Although it was still far from that time, he could go and join in the fun.

"I heard it's mostly medicinal ingredients and such. But those things are useless to us right now, so we can only look at other items."

"I know."

Ye Yan nodded.

At his age, he had never attended an auction before.

What puzzled him was which appearance he should use to attend it.

He already had two identities outside.

One was Ye Yan of the Ye Family, his own appearance.

The other was the now-famous Han Li of Sacred Pill City, with that plain and ordinary face.

The Alchemist Trade Fairs in Sacred Pill City were also divided into different grades.

The largest and highest-grade one was the Alchemist Trade Fair located at the border between the Outer Domain and the Inner Domain.

It was also the one Xiao Yan participated in during the Pill Gathering in the original story.

The trade fair Ye Yan and the others were attending was held in several major trading districts within the Outer Domain, but it still counted as mid-tier!

Thus, before the vast building, carriages and people flowed endlessly, while countless people wearing alchemist robes entered and exited the trade fair's gates.

They could even see quite a few Dou Zong-level experts coming and going.

Ye Jingheng had also changed into an alchemist robe, with a fifth-tier alchemist badge hanging on his chest.

Since it was an Alchemist Trade Fair, naturally only alchemists could enter.

"Why did you change into this appearance?"

Ye Jingheng looked at the handsome youth before him in surprise.

Based on his understanding of Ye Yan, he should never have appeared using this face.

"Stop asking questions. Call me Ye Yanzu now!" Ye Yan said solemnly and seriously.

Most of the people at this trade fair were high-tier alchemists.

And most high-tier alchemists were handsome men and beautiful women. Even those who were not did not look too bad.

Therefore, if he wore a plain face instead, he would attract even more attention.

Though he had only come this time to find a Battle Technique suitable for cultivation, as well as some naturally born flames that could nourish his furnace cauldron and Life Fire Seed.

"Then I'll be Ye Tai." Ye Jingheng replied.

"Let's go!"

Ye Yan had Ye Jingheng walk ahead while he followed behind him. Passing through the stern-faced guards, they entered the spacious gates.

Beyond the gates was a broad, cool passageway. Ye Yan and Ye Jingheng followed it inward.

Once they passed through the passageway, a boiling wave of noise suddenly entered Ye Yan's ears.

Standing at the passageway entrance, Ye Yan swept his gaze around and saw an enormous hall before him.

Inside the hall stood numerous neatly arranged stone platforms, much like market stalls.

Some vendors sat cross-legged behind the platforms, looking relaxed as they watched the incoming crowd and continually called out.

"Hey, brother, I've got some good stuff here. Want to take a look?"

As Ye Yan and Ye Jingheng walked along, they heard many vendors calling out to them.

Ye Yan lowered his gaze toward the stone platforms, but most of the goods were ordinary fifth- and sixth-tier medicinal herbs, completely useless to him now.

"I asked around already. The first floor is filled with Dou Kings and Dou Emperors setting up their own stalls and selling their own goods."

"To go up to the second floor, you need to be a fifth-tier alchemist. That's where the auction is held."

Ignoring the calls around them, Ye Jingheng looked toward the private rooms on the second floor and explained it to Ye Yan.

"There's another floor above that, but you need to be a sixth- or seventh-tier alchemist to enter."

"That's enough."

Ye Yan slowly nodded. "At our current level, the second floor is enough."

"Let's browse around here first and see if there's anything good."

With that, Ye Yan took the lead, walking through the hall with great interest as his gaze swept back and forth across the stalls.

This was his first time attending such a trade fair. Moreover, Xiao Yan and the others had found all sorts of treasures at various trade fairs in the original story, so he was quite interested.

However, with his knowledge and the information he had read in the book, everything at those stalls seemed rather good after the vendors explained them.

But with a little thought, he knew that if they truly were good items, would these people really bring them out to sell?

After nearly being tricked into buying some junk, Ye Yan gave up on the idea of finding overlooked treasures.

Looking at the crowded hall, Ye Yan sighed.

"Without a personal teacher by my side, it's impossible to find overlooked treasures."

At that moment, he truly envied Xiao Yan. In the northwest of the Dou Qi Continent, Xiao Yan had Yao Chen to help him, and when he first arrived in the Pill Region, Sky Fire Venerable had pointed out the copper plate for him.