Preparing to Depart! Ye Yan's Name Exposed!

Just as Ye Yan was heading toward the Pill Tower.

Xuan Yi and the other two had already sensed it.

Even his newly broken-through realm had not escaped their notice.

"Break through to Dou Shi?"

Tian Leizi was dumbfounded.

"Isn't that kid only ten years old?"

"Not yet. There are still a few days until he turns ten," Xuan Yi corrected him.

"At this rate, in two years, Bai Ying probably won't even be able to see Ye Yan's shadow."

Xuan Kongzi could not help but sigh.

"No!"

Tian Leizi suddenly shouted.

Startling Xuan Yi and Xuan Kongzi into turning toward him in confusion.

Then Tian Leizi glared furiously.

"We have to find Black Nether! Otherwise, if he learns that Han Li from Sacred Pill City is the Ye Family genius, there could be trouble!"

"Enough. We couldn't kill him even after a year. He has probably already officially joined Soul Hall."

Xuan Kongzi sounded helpless.

Xuan Yi nodded as well and glanced at Tian Leizi.

After all these years, his hot-tempered and careless nature was still impossible to change!

As the three of them continued talking for a while,

Ye Yan had already arrived outside the doors of the Pill Tower's top-floor hall.

Before Ye Yan could knock, the doors to the hall opened. Once he entered, they closed automatically behind him.

Before Ye Yan could cup his hands in greeting,

Tian Leizi flashed to his side, intending to assess his basic condition.

But the moment he placed a hand on Ye Yan's shoulder, Xuan Yi shoved him aside.

"You broke through to Dou Shi?" Xuan Yi asked softly.

People were creatures drawn to beauty. That was true enough.

Every time she saw the aged faces of Xuan Kongzi and Tian Leizi, then looked at Ye Yan's face, she felt her mood brighten.

"Teacher Xuan Yi, I just broke through."

Over the past year, Ye Yan had changed how he addressed her.

Xuan Yi had initially hesitated somewhat, but Ye Yan insisted, so she let him call her that.

After Ye Yan began addressing her this way, Xuan Yi treated him even more like a disciple.

"Your aura is stable, and your foundation is even more solid. It seems your breakthrough came naturally."

After giving him a brief look-over, Xuan Yi nodded in satisfaction.

"It's thanks to Teacher's help over the past year," Ye Yan replied.

Over the past year, with Xuan Yi's assistance,

he had not only become capable of refining second-tier medicinal pills, but had also cultivated Blazing Flame Force to the mastery stage.

Every punch and kick contained powerful force. The instant that force entered an opponent's body, it would erupt with fierce burning damage.

Ye Jingheng had even taken him to train in the Magical Beast Forest within Sacred Pill City's territory.

He had also gained some practical understanding of how to use Flowing Cloud Steps and Blazing Flame Force.

Of course, most importantly, his tenth draw would be available in just a few days.

He was already growing impatient.

[Name]: Ye Yan

[Realm]: One-Star Dou Shi

[Traits]: "Your Exotic Fire is Fake" "Battle Sense Awakening" "Qi Gathering Acceleration" "Battle Qi Solidification" "Meridian Slight Expansion" "Physique Slight Enhancement" "Meridian Stabilization" "Husband Aura" "Eat My Cauldron"

[Technique]: Heaven-Burning Furnace Fire Art

[Battle Skills]: Flowing Cloud Steps (Mastery); Blazing Flame Force (Mastery)

"What are you thinking about? You look so happy!"

Xuan Yi knocked Ye Yan on the head.

"Hehe, nothing!"

Ye Yan scratched his head and smiled.

"I was just thinking that now that I've broken through to Dou Shi, I can travel outside. I'm a little excited!"

"You..." Xuan Yi stopped herself before finishing.

"Don't worry, Teacher. I've already decided where I want to travel."

Ye Yan understood Xuan Yi's concerns and explained.

"But you're only ten years old. Tian Leizi still hasn't rooted out Black Nether, and if your identity is discovered while you're traveling..."

There was a trace of worry in Xuan Yi's voice.

Ye Yan felt somewhat moved.

Although, at the beginning, Xuan Yi might have had other motives for guiding him, along with the influence of his [Husband Aura],

after a year,

with Ye Yan harboring no ill intentions and Xuan Yi having a good temperament, their relationship had long become closer than that of ordinary master and disciple.

But this journey was necessary. The opportunities in the Jia Ma Empire, and that youth who had shouted, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river"—

he wanted to see them both.

Ye Yan gave Xuan Kongzi a meaningful look.

Xuan Kongzi understood. He coughed a few times and stepped forward to offer some persuasion.

He also supported Ye Yan's decision to travel outside.

After Ye Yan and the others had settled the arrangements for his departure,

Ye Yan left the Pill Tower hall.

He still needed to prepare medicinal ingredients for future pill refinement during this time.

Along the way, Ye Yan, still wearing that plain and ordinary face, occasionally chatted with a few female alchemists.

There was no helping it. Even if he tried his hardest to conceal his appearance, [Husband Aura] did not rely on looks.

Combined with his current reputation in Sacred Pill City, receiving favor from some women was simply commonplace.

Northwest Region of the Central Plains, Dead Soul Mountain Range.

In an extremely secluded place, a gaunt man dressed in black robes stared blankly at the barren, lifeless mountain range.

Cough! Cough!

The gaunt man suddenly coughed several times. When he spread open his palm, black blood stained it.

"Sect Master!"

Behind the gaunt man stood a burly, scar-faced man with sinister eyes.

"Qin Mo, it's time to change what you call me. Call me Protector Ming."

The gaunt man was Black Nether. He had to cough several times after saying even a single sentence.

He had been besieged by experts summoned by the Pill Tower. If he had not paid an enormous price, he would have died long ago.

"Yes, Protector Ming!" The scar-faced man remained just as respectful.

"Have you found any trace of that Ye Family genius?"

Black flames flickered in Black Nether's eyes as he turned and stared fixedly at Qin Mo.

"Reporting to Protector Ming! Since the Black Fire Sect was destroyed, we no longer have informants near the Ye Family."

"However, after officially joining Soul Hall during this period, we have inferred from limited information that the Ye Family genius has already left the Ye Family and gone elsewhere."

"Sacred Pill City?" Black Nether asked solemnly.

When members of the Five Great Families left their clans, Sacred Pill City was usually their first destination.

But they could not obtain any important intelligence within Sacred Pill City.

"There is a high chance he went to Sacred Pill City!" Qin Mo replied.

"Do everything possible to find him. The Ye Family's Heavenly Flames have already drawn the attention of Soul Hall's higher-ups. They have only refrained from acting because of that possible Battle Saint expert, as well as Tian Leizi!"

A cold glint flashed through Black Nether's eyes, and his voice was as frigid as ice.

"But if that Battle Saint or Battle Sovereign expert continues to stay hidden, Soul Hall will make its move before long!"

"When that happens, I'll make him watch the Ye Family fall with his own eyes, then make him accompany my Black Fire Sect in death."

The killing intent in Black Nether's voice made cold sweat break out across Qin Mo's back.

After a year of hiding and fleeing, Black Nether's resentment had only grown. Whenever he thought about how the Black Fire Sect had been destroyed because of an unverified "rumor,"

he hated the Ye Family to the bone.

Especially since the Ye Family disciples had not concealed it. That information had clearly been spread decisively by the Ye Family genius at the time.

Just as Black Nether was giving Qin Mo instructions,

"Hehehe!"

A strange laugh reached their ears.

"Protector Ming, Protector Mo, you're both here. I have some good news. Do you want to hear it?"

Black Nether and Qin Mo turned to look.

An old man entirely wrapped in black robes had appeared, not a single inch of skin exposed.

"Protector Jue, speak plainly if you have something to say!"

"Hehehe!"

Protector Jue laughed inexplicably before saying, "By searching the soul of a Ye Family disciple, we finally found information about that Ye Family genius. Unfortunately, the information is incomplete!"

Seeing the two stare at him intently, Protector Jue stopped teasing them.

"The genius hidden by the Ye Family is called Ye Yan. His cultivation is unknown, and his appearance is unknown. We only know that he is quite handsome."

"Ye Yan! Ye Yan..."

Black Nether's eyes beneath his black robes turned bloodshot, as though he wanted to swallow Ye Yan whole and tear him apart.

"What a fine Ye Yan!"

"You had better pray I never find you!"

P.S.:

Brothers, we're about to head to the Jia Ma Empire and show off!