After the three of them met up, they set out for the market.
The market was different from an ordinary marketplace.
If the marketplace belonged to common merchants, then the market was a mercenary's paradise.
Magic Cores from hunting magical beasts, healing pills, and even all manner of bizarre objects found by chance were sold there.
The medium-sized market they had come to was managed by the Xiao Clan.
Xiao Clan guards kept order there.
However, once they arrived, Xun'er was no longer as excited as before. She simply followed quietly at Xiao Yuan's side.
That was only natural.
Even on the Dou Qi Continent, where people schemed against one another and the strong ruled, a girl was still a girl. How could she possibly like swords and spears?
Silks and satins, rouge and powder—those were far more suited to Xun'er.
As for Xiao Yan, ever since entering the market, he had been like a husky let off its leash.
He looked over the stalls on the left, then the ones on the right. In just a moment, he had vanished into the sea of people.
Little did he know that after Xiao Yan left, the corners of Xun'er's lips never stopped curling upward.
As long as she could stay with Xiao Yuan, even a dragon's pool or a tiger's den would be a place she'd gladly go.
However, their time alone was soon interrupted by some fool who didn't know what was good for him.
"Oh? Isn't this Miss Xun'er? Heh, I never thought I'd run into you here. What a coincidence."
The moment the hearty voice rang out, Xiao Yuan and Xun'er both furrowed their brows and looked ahead.
A crowd was streaming down the broad avenue before them.
At its center, a lavishly dressed young man was surrounded like the moon among stars.
He was around twenty and quite handsome, though his complexion was rather pale. His eyes burned as he fixed them on the graceful young woman standing not far away.
His gaze was filled with undisguised, greedy desire.
"Miss Xun'er!"
The young man walked straight toward Xun'er, putting on the airs of a dashing young gentleman.
As he tried to pass Xiao Yuan and brush shoulders with him, Xiao Yuan expressionlessly reached out, grabbed him by the collar, stopped him in his tracks, and tossed him back.
"Young master!"
Seeing their young master thrown back, his attendants hurriedly scrambled to catch him.
With their help, the young man finally managed to steady himself. Then he glared at Xiao Yuan.
"Xiao Yuan, you little punk! You again!"
At that, Xiao Yuan turned to him as if only just noticing him, then put on a look of sudden realization.
"Well, well. I thought some stray cat or dog had come to harass my Xun'er. Turns out it's the young master of the Jialie Family, who didn't reach One-Star Dou Zhe until he was twenty-one. Why aren't you staying home and enjoying yourself with women? What brings you to the Xiao Clan Market to drop your pants and grind a millstone, making a fool of yourself in circles?
"Then again, playing with women all day must've left your kidneys drained. Just look at that complexion of yours. Tsk, tsk, tsk... You should eat something nourishing while you still can. Your days are numbered~"
Hearing him, Xun'er couldn't hold back and covered her mouth with a laugh.
His tongue was as sharp as ever, always finding the sorest spot to poke.
Especially when it came to this young master of the Jialie Clan, Jialie Ao, whose family stood alongside the Xiao Clan as one of Wutan City's three great clans.
Whenever he ran into Xun'er, he'd put on the same lecherous look.
And every time, Xiao Yuan would mock him, calling him a cultivation wastrel one moment and a kidney-deficient lecher the next.
Then Jialie Ao would lose his temper like a brainless fool and get beaten up by Xiao Yuan.
At some point, he'd become one of the rare pleasures in Xiao Yuan's life: whenever he was bored, he could just beat him up.
"You little punk, say that again if you've got the guts!"
"Heh, it's bad enough that you're kidney-deficient. Are you hard of hearing, too? Fine, I'll say it again. You're a good-for-nothing who didn't reach One-Star Dou Zhe until twenty-one, and you still dare harass my Xun'er? Trying to rob the cradle, are you?"
"What's it to you, you bastard? What's it got to do with you if I want to spend time with Miss Xun'er? I like her, all right?!"
Jialie Ao gritted his teeth and argued back.
He didn't even notice that Xun'er's brows had furrowed again as he said it.
Her dislike of Jialie Ao had just risen another notch.
"Heh, what gives a twenty-one-year-old kidney-deficient Dou Zhe the right to like her? Can't you tell what Xun'er and I are to each other?"
As he spoke, Xiao Yuan put an arm around Xun'er's shoulders, acting intimate. Xun'er's cheeks flushed, and she looked bashful, as if welcoming his embrace. The sight left everyone around them slack-jawed.
Jialie Ao was even more furious.
Did he have to keep bringing up that he was a twenty-one-year-old Dou Zhe?!
And he wasn't kidney-deficient at all!!
Xiao Yuan had nearly driven him mad with rage.
He was just about to curse him out when something occurred to him. He sneered.
"Heh, are you saying that you and Miss Xun'er are a couple, Xiao Yuan? But I heard that yesterday you got engaged to Nalan Yanran of the Nalan Family in Jia Ma Holy City. Are you trying to have it both ways? Aren't you afraid the Nalan Family will unleash their fury on the Xiao Clan?!"
"So what? I'm just enjoying the blessings of having two beautiful women. And as for Nalan Yanran, why don't you ask her if she'd dare get angry?"
Anyone else might have hesitated when asked that.
But Xiao Yuan?
Sorry, he'd been thick-skinned from birth. He could shamelessly say things like that without batting an eye.
But, well...
Will Xun'er get jealous? She probably will, right? This little girl's practically a walking jar of vinegar...
Sure enough, the next second, someone pinched the soft flesh at Xiao Yuan's waist.
The grip was neither light nor heavy—enough to leave him baffled, but not hurt his brain.
There was no need to guess. Xun'er was annoyed.
As for Jialie Ao, his face had turned ghastly. Xiao Yuan had also left him with nothing to say.
When it came to sharp tongues, he couldn't hold a candle to Xiao Yuan.
What was more, the market was crowded, and when people noticed the commotion, they all turned to look.
After all, that was the young master of the Jialie Family, a notorious womanizer known for being fickle and faithless. He was quite the celebrity in Wutan City, on par with Xiao Yan's reputation as a good-for-nothing.
With so many people watching, Jialie Ao's expression defied description.
Rage surged through him, and he roared at Xiao Yuan.
"You little punk, I challenge you to a duel! If you're still a man, then fight me!"
The moment he said that, the whole scene fell silent.
The Xiao Clan guards who had blended into the crowd to prevent trouble exchanged glances.
They'd heard plenty about Young Master Xiao Yuan lately. Supposedly, he'd reached the Da Dou Shi realm at just fourteen and had even stood toe-to-toe with an elder of the Misty Cloud Sect.
And Jialie Ao, at twenty-one, was only a One-Star Dou Zhe. Yet he'd challenged Xiao Yuan to a fight?
Was he crazy?
Even Xun'er looked at Jialie Ao as if he were an idiot. Xiao Yuan simply laughed, as though he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life.
"Seriously, do you even know what level I'm at?"
This wasn't just going out without his brain. He'd shoved his entire head between a woman's legs.
[ Ding, congratulations! You have obtained one third-grade Spirit Awakening Pill. ]
It seemed even Dog System agreed with him.