Medicine Elder, You Wouldn't Want Fairy Qing...

"Medicine Elder—"

"I respect you as a venerable and esteemed senior, which is why I didn't want to sour things between us!"

"But if you keep pretending not to understand when you know perfectly well what's going on..."

"Then we won't have much left to discuss between us..."

Xiao Yan held the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, wreathed in black miasma, and smiled faintly. His words were thick with menace.

And the very instant the Ten Thousand Soul Banner appeared—

The system's prompt rang out.

[Ding—]

[Host, nicely done!]

[Congratulations, host! With your domineering presence and the supreme villainous treasure, the "Ten Thousand Soul Banner," in hand, you've thoroughly frightened Yao Chen, this spirit!]

[Yao Chen, the strongest cheat-granny of this world's chosen protagonist, "Xiao Yan," is now gripped by overwhelming fear. His mind nearly slipped out of his control!]

[Obtained 300 Super Villain Points!]

Oh?

So that could earn him Super Villain Points too?

Not bad, not bad.

Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel pleased. He'd just effortlessly earned back the points he'd spent on the lottery.

He sensed that Medicine Elder, hidden inside the Mystic Ring, still hadn't shown himself.

Xiao Yan could only shake his head inwardly. The old man sure knew how to keep his nerve.

But—

As someone who'd read the original story cover to cover and now held the upper hand, he had plenty of ways to keep the old man in line.

So—

Xiao Yan continued to "kick him while he was down." "Stop pretending you don't understand, Medicine Elder!"

"You wouldn't want to end up scattered into nothingness, unable to take your revenge with your own hands, while your treacherous disciple Han Feng roams free, would you?"

"What's more—"

"You probably wouldn't want anything to happen to Fairy Qing or Xuan Yi..."

Before he could finish—

Suddenly!

Whoosh—

A flash of mystic light burst from the ring, coalescing into a hazy figure before Xiao Yan.

White hair and a gray robe, a lean, refined face, and a faintly transcendent air between his brows. Even as nothing more than a spirit, he couldn't hide the bearing of the powerful man he'd once been.

So this was Medicine Elder?

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the spirit before him.

He had to admit, the old man had quite the air about him. No wonder he'd once been the renowned Venerable Yao.

However—

Before Xiao Yan could think any further—

Medicine Elder's remnant soul, which had darted out of the ring, reacted with astonishing speed!

The instant he appeared, his whole body turned into a streak of light and shot toward the corner of the room, putting several yards between himself and Xiao Yan!

At the same time—

Boom!

A mass of pale-white flame surged from Medicine Elder's palm, instantly forming a barrier of fire to shield him.

Bone Spirit Cold Flame!

A Heavenly Flame that mingled scorching heat with bitter cold, ranked eleventh on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!

Medicine Elder controlled the flame with one hand and formed a seal with the other, warily staring at Xiao Yan—

More precisely, at the black-miasma-wreathed Ten Thousand Soul Banner in Xiao Yan's hand.

What was that thing?!

Medicine Elder's pupils contracted slightly.

As a spirit, he was especially sensitive to this sort of sinister, chilling aura.

The black banner simply hung there, yet wisps of black mist drifted from it, making even his Dou Zun-level spirit feel a shiver of dread.

As though—

That thing was his natural enemy, his bane!

"This..."

A tempest of shock surged through Medicine Elder's heart.

He'd lived for over a hundred years and roamed the continent for much of that time. He'd seen more treasures than he could count, yet never anything so strange!

Just a trace of its aura filled him with the terror of having his soul scattered!

It was as if a single shake of that black banner would suck his spirit inside, where he'd never be reborn!

"This kid... just who is he?!"

Medicine Elder stared fixedly at Xiao Yan, stunned to the core.

He clearly remembered waking up by chance inside the Mystic Ring three years ago and discovering that the gifted young man named Xiao Yan had remarkable talent. He'd secretly watched the boy's character while covertly absorbing his Dou Qi to restore his own spirit.

For the past three years, every move Xiao Yan made had been right under his nose!

He'd watched with his own eyes as the once-gifted boy's cultivation declined because of the Dou Qi Medicine Elder had secretly absorbed, sending him plummeting from the clouds to the depths and turning him into a laughingstock throughout Wutan City.

He'd watched Xiao Yan get mocked during the day, then hide beneath his covers at night, biting back tears.

He'd watched the boy try to give up time and again, only to pick himself up each time and stubbornly keep cultivating.

He could say for certain...

In those three years, Xiao Yan had never once left the Xiao Family, never cultivated some absurdly evil technique, and never met any "expert"!

But—

What was happening today?!

How had he gone from three segments of Dou Qi that morning to Dou Wang in an instant?

The Xiao Family was still just an ordinary little clan, with no remarkable foundation. How had they suddenly come up with a bizarre treasure that could terrify even him, Venerable Yao?

"Impossible..."

"This is absolutely impossible..."

Medicine Elder cried out inwardly, his wariness growing ever more pronounced.

He instinctively took another half-step back. Bone Spirit Cold Flame blazed brighter in his palm, shielding him completely.

As a spirit, he understood his current predicament all too well.

If he still had his physical body, his former strength at Peak Dou Zun would mean he had little reason to be so wary.

But now, he was nothing more than a fragile spirit. By using every means at his disposal and wielding Bone Spirit Cold Flame, he might be able to handle a Dou Wang or even a Dou Emperor. But that "black banner" in Xiao Yan's hand seemed to be the bane of spirits!

Somehow—

Medicine Elder had a feeling that the slightest misstep would leave him scattered into nothingness!

"This kid..."

Medicine Elder fixed his gaze on Xiao Yan. Along with his shock came a hint of scrutiny and confusion.

He examined the young man standing before him.

Fifteen or sixteen years old, with a handsome, refined face and eyes that were strangely calm, even touched with amusement.

That look was nothing like what one would expect from a youth raised in a remote little city.

Instead, it was—

The look of a hunter who'd foreseen everything and had the situation firmly in hand!

He was clearly nothing like the Xiao Yan Medicine Elder had known for the past three years.

What alarmed Medicine Elder even more was that this kid actually knew who he was!

Venerable Yao, Han Feng, Fairy Qing, Xuan Yi...

Any one of those names was someone an ordinary boy from this little city of Wutan shouldn't have known!

"How does he know all this?"

"Or is he some powerful figure?"

Or—had someone taken over Xiao Yan's body?!

Countless thoughts flashed through Medicine Elder's mind, and the more he thought, the more alarmed he became.

He stared intently at Xiao Yan, trying to discern something from his expression.

However—

Xiao Yan simply stood where he was, holding the black Ten Thousand Soul Banner. A faint smile played on his lips, but he neither spoke nor moved.

His calm, mysterious bearing left Medicine Elder feeling even less sure of himself.

The atmosphere in the room grew so tense that it seemed to freeze.

After a long silence—

Medicine Elder finally couldn't hold back. His voice was low and hoarse, thick with wariness and apprehension:

"Since you know my identity and my past, Yao Chen, then you should know what kind of temper I have!"

"Today—"

"If you don't give me a proper explanation of who you are..."

"Then don't blame me, Yao Chen, for staking my life and fighting you to the death!"