Mysterious Purchase

The black-robed man held a medicinal herb, an orchid. Specks of light glimmered around it like stars in the night sky, exquisitely beautiful. A Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid! This herb had nearly vanished from the world. Even Yao Lao had only seen it, never obtained it. Its effect was simple—it directly enhanced soul power.

Soul power was the foundation upon which any Alchemist relied to survive. To Xiao Yan, this Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid held an even greater significance—it could restore Yao Lao's strength. Back then, while fleeing Soul Hall's pursuit, Yao Lao's soul had escaped, but it had still suffered considerable damage. Although he had been able to manifest by absorbing Xiao Yan's Dou Qi, and had recovered somewhat after absorbing the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame, he was still far from his peak.

But if Xiao Yan obtained this treasure, comparable to a peak Sixth-Grade Pill, Yao Lao's return to the peak of his soul strength would no longer be a dream.

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. "I need it. Name your price!" He abandoned all pretenses. He would not give this herb the chance to slip away before his eyes.

"You tell me. What price can you offer?" The black-robed man sounded somewhat anxious, frequently looking back as though worried about something.

"Five Sixth-Grade Pills?"

The black-robed man was startled by Xiao Yan's offer, then immediately nodded, as if afraid Xiao Yan would regret it. He added, "I have one more condition. There's a puppet here that you must take, and you can't tell anyone that I gave it to you. How about it?"

Xiao Yan found this strange, not for any other reason than because the man's asking price was far too low. Though the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid's effects were comparable to a top-grade Sixth-Grade Pill, this was a treasure that directly enhanced soul power! Pills that increased Dou Qi were as common as dirt, but Xiao Yan had never seen one that enhanced soul power, even though he was already a fifth-grade Alchemist and had Yao Lao, a grandmaster of alchemy, by his side. Xiao Yan had even been prepared to offer more than ten Sixth-Grade Pills.

Xiao Yan looked at the black-robed man. Now, there was only one possibility—the puppet the man mentioned was problematic! Otherwise, he would not have so readily handed over such a precious Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid.

Seeing Xiao Yan's doubts, the black-robed man immediately explained, "This puppet has reached the Dou Emperor level. As long as you replenish its energy in time, it's equivalent to a Dou Emperor expert. I'm giving it to you for free—you definitely won't lose out!"

Though Xiao Yan had many doubts, the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid was simply too precious for him to pass up. He nodded and gave the black-robed man five Sixth-Grade Pills. The man impatiently handed over the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid, then gave Xiao Yan a Storage Ring. The moment he took the pills, he vanished into the crowd.

Xiao Yan knew that this fellow must have seen his earlier transaction and decided to sell his things to him. After all, only an Alchemist could hand over pills so readily, and the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid was something no Alchemist could possibly ignore.

After examining it, Xiao Yan knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid. Therefore, the problem could only lie with the puppet the black-robed man had forcibly included. But the Small Market was crowded and full of prying eyes, so Xiao Yan could not take the puppet out and inspect it on the spot. He could only envelop the Storage Ring with the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame and wait until they left the Small Market to investigate further.

When Xiao Yan returned to find Yang Lingyan and the other two, they had also mostly finished browsing. Their faces were filled with excitement, clearly having gained something in the Small Market. At Xiao Yan's signal, the three did not linger and flew away directly. As for those who wanted to follow them, Xiao Yan found them too troublesome and refused. Chu Qun and the other man now obeyed Xiao Yan's every word, doing whatever Xiao Yan told them to do.

After flying some distance, Xiao Yan and the others found a secluded cave. With a light touch on his Storage Ring, Xiao Yan released a man. Though the man's aura was intact, his eyes were lifeless and he did not breathe. He was merely a puppet. Xiao Yan sensed the puppet's aura—it was genuinely a Dou Emperor expert. Chu Qun and the other man were also shocked; they had not expected Xiao Yan to find such a treasure.

Xiao Yan injected Dou Qi into the puppet, but it did not react at all. He froze briefly, then increased his output. Only after nearly twenty percent of his Dou Qi had been poured into it did the puppet abruptly rise to its feet. Standing before Xiao Yan, it followed his soul power's command and threw a punch at the cave wall, cracking it open at once.

Xiao Yan nodded. It truly was a fine assistant. But upon probing further, he discovered something wrong. Deep within the puppet was an inconspicuous aura. Moreover, Xiao Yan tried to remove it, only to find that ordinary methods could not do so. This was likely why the black-robed man had been so eager to sell it to him.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly as crimson flames flashed in his hand. Yet what he had not expected was that the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame, which he normally controlled completely, suddenly surged toward the puppet as though beyond his control.

The puppet's entire body began to burn. The terrifying heat even caused the cave walls to start melting.

Xiao Yan felt the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame's most important ability—the power to burn away evil thoughts—being pushed to its limit. He could even hear faint wails coming from the burning puppet. The entire puppet blazed fiercely, and Xiao Yan frowned slightly. If the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame was burning it like this, what exactly was this thing?

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the mark had indeed disappeared. The Dou Emperor puppet, however, had also been completely burned away by the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame. Xiao Yan felt that the backlash from the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame had almost vanished. In the past, no matter how he burned away others' evil thoughts, some backlash would always affect him. Now, there was almost none.

Yang Lingyan asked, "Xiao Yan, isn't your Heavenly Flame too terrifying?"

Chu Qun and Yang Lingyan were both prodigies of the Northwest Region, so they had long recognized the Heavenly Flame on Xiao Yan. They simply had never imagined it possessed such terrifying destructive power, enough to burn an entire Dou Emperor puppet to nothing.

Xiao Yan shook his head. "There was something wrong with that thing."

As he spoke, he told Chu Qun and the other man about the puppet's origins. After hearing it, they too found it rather strange.

Chu Qun comforted him. "Don't dwell on it. That thing's origins must be extraordinary, but your Heavenly Flame has burned it all clean anyway. We can just leave. Who would know it was ever in our hands?"

Xiao Yan could only comfort himself with that thought. After all, he had genuinely obtained the benefit of the Star Spirit Soul-Nurturing Orchid.

The three then departed at once. This was not a place where they should remain for long.

About half an hour after Xiao Yan and the others left, six people flew swiftly to the area and searched the cave where the three had stayed.

If Yang Lingyan or Chu Qun had been there, they would certainly have recognized the leader of this group—the second most important figure of the Mystic Pattern Sect's expedition.

The Mystic Pattern Sect's genius second only to Lu Zhi—Lu Mingzhe!