After leaving her family, Nalan Yanran set off for Wutan City.
Along the way, she kept thinking about one question.
How could a little place like Wutan City, where that fellow Xiao Yan lived, have a Dou Zong-level expert?
What on earth were her father and grandfather talking about?
Nalan Yanran's first reaction was disbelief. She simply didn't buy it.
A Dou Zong expert, unseen in the Jia Ma Empire for so many years, had somehow appeared in a remote little place like Wutan City.
So Nalan Yanran murmured to herself,
"Fine. I'll go see for myself whether Wutan City really has a Dou Zong expert, just like Father and Grandfather said!"
"But the news from a while back about a Fifth-grade Pill appearing at the Miteer Auction House in Wutan City is true. Even my teacher was stirred by it."
"Could something have happened in Wutan City recently?"
The last time Nalan Yanran had gone to Wutan City to break off her engagement, no such influential figure—one who could cause a sensation throughout the Jia Ma Empire—had appeared there.
In the Xiao Clan of Wutan City,
Yao Chen was at the back mountain, urging Xiao Yan to train and improve his Dou Qi.
At Xiao Yan's current rate of cultivation, he was still some distance away from advancing to Dou Zhe.
Still, Xiao Yan worked hard, cultivating day and night without ever slacking off for even a second.
"Teacher, with my current strength, if I faced an opponent at the same level, I should be able to beat them without much trouble, right?" Xiao Yan asked, looking at Yao Chen.
After all, he had been practicing the Dou Techniques Yao Chen gave him lately, and he felt quite confident.
Yao Chen replied, "You're satisfied with this little bit of progress? I'll say it again: you really have no ambition."
"Heh heh, what ambition do I need in front of you, Teacher? No matter how hard I try to catch up, I'll still be nowhere near your Dou Zun strength," Xiao Yan said.
But he didn't know that
Yao Chen had already reached the Dou Sheng level.
If he told him, Xiao Yan's jaw would probably drop in shock.
A day later, Nalan Yanran arrived in Wutan City and met Ya Fei at the Miteer Auction House, the woman her grandfather had mentioned.
She was a captivating woman dressed in a red qipao.
She was also the chief auctioneer of the Miteer Auction House.
Ya Fei recognized Nalan Yanran. As the Nalan Family's heaven-blessed prodigy and the future successor of the Misty Cloud Sect,
her name was famous throughout the Jia Ma Empire.
And that was before the commotion and gossip caused by her going to the Xiao Clan to break off her engagement with Xiao Yan some time ago.
Since Ya Fei lived in Wutan City too, she naturally knew about it.
"Sister Ya Fei, I heard from my grandfather that a Dou Zong-level expert recently appeared in Wutan City. Was it the Alchemist who sold the Fifth-grade Pill last time?" Nalan Yanran asked.
Ya Fei looked at her and replied, "That's right, Miss Nalan. Your grandfather and father were both there at the time. Mr. Yao walked through the air, which was indeed a sign of a Dou Zong expert."
How could Nalan Yanran not know that?
Her teacher, Yun Yun, was a Dou Emperor expert and still needed Qi Wings to fly through the sky.
To walk through the air without relying on Qi Wings was the clearest proof of having reached the Dou Zong realm.
At that moment, Ya Fei looked at Nalan Yanran and understood why Nalan Jie had sent her to Wutan City.
The Nalan Family wielded great influence in the Jia Ma Empire.
But to a Dou Zong expert, it was nothing.
Nalan Yanran, however, represented more than just the Nalan Family. More importantly, she was Yun Yun's personal disciple and the Misty Cloud Sect Leader's successor.
After all, the Misty Cloud Sect had stood in the Jia Ma Empire for many years.
It was an enormous sect with numerous experts and disciples, including its leader, Yun Yun, a Dou Emperor.
In front of a Dou Zong expert, at least the Misty Cloud Sect carried far more weight than the Nalan Family.
It was obvious that the Nalan Family wanted to curry favor with this Dou Zong expert.
But then again, who wouldn't try to curry favor with and make a good impression on a Dou Zong expert?
They couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip by, no matter what it took.
Their future standing in the Jia Ma Empire depended on whether it could suddenly rise.
With a Dou Zong expert's protection, Nalan Jie wouldn't even have to take the entire Misty Cloud Sect seriously.
Nalan Yanran looked at Ya Fei and said,
"Sister Ya Fei, could I trouble you to arrange a meeting with Mr. Yao? I'd like to see him."
Ya Fei nodded. "All right. I'll do my best to arrange it, but if Mr. Yao doesn't want to meet you, there's nothing I can do."
"After all, you know that Mr. Yao isn't just a Fifth-grade Alchemist. He's also a Dou Zong-level expert."
"Although our Miteer Family has some influence and a voice in the Jia Ma Empire, we still wouldn't dare act rashly in front of a Dou Zong."
Ya Fei was being perfectly frank.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't just the Miteer Family that wouldn't dare act rashly in front of a Dou Zong expert.
Even the Imperial Family of the Jia Ma Empire and its guardian, Jia Xing Tian, were no different.
That was a Dou Zong expert, not just anyone!
At the back mountain, Yao Chen watched Xiao Yan train for the entire day.
By evening, a new task appeared before Yao Chen.
[Current task: Sell one Sixth-Grade Pill.] [Task reward: One Orange Treasure Chest.] [Accept the task? Please choose.]
To Yao Chen, making a Sixth-Grade Pill was still as easy as rolling a ball of mud between his hands.
Even Pill King Gu He, the Jia Ma Empire's foremost Alchemist, would face considerable risks trying to refine a Sixth-Grade Pill.
But to Yao Chen, it was effortless—a mere flick of the wrist.
He searched through his memories and decided to refine a Sect-Breaking Pill.
The problem was that the required medicinal ingredients wouldn't be easy to find.
If he couldn't find the ingredients for a Sect-Breaking Pill, it seemed he would have to settle for refining another Sixth-Grade Pill instead.
An hour later, Yao Chen went to the Miteer Auction House.
He planned to ask Ya Fei to help him find some medicinal ingredients.
When Ya Fei heard the names of the ingredients he needed, her expression turned to shock.
These ingredients were far rarer than those used for the Fifth-grade Pill last time.
Ya Fei was astonished. She had only asked casually, never expecting Yao Chen to explain.
Yao Chen said, "I plan to refine a Sixth-Grade Pill. Please do your best to find these ingredients for me."
"What! A Sixth-Grade Pill?" Ya Fei froze on the spot.
She hadn't expected Mr. Yao to be capable of refining Sixth-Grade Pills.
Ya Fei was utterly shaken. Whether it was his status as a Dou Zong or his skill as a Sixth-grade Alchemist, everything about him left her deeply astonished.
He was far beyond anything she had imagined!
She had thought Mr. Yao was, at most, a Fifth-grade Alchemist. She'd never imagined he had reached the Sixth Grade—and was a Dou Zong expert as well!