In the Black-Corner Region

Black-Corner Region, Maple City, Medicine Emperor Hall.

Everything in the Black-Corner Region was ruled by strength, and even a Dou Emperor could only lord over a single fixed area. The true power brokers were universally individuals who had advanced to the Dou Zong realm.

However, there was one exception: the Pill Emperor Han Feng. Not only did he command the entirety of Maple City, but he also had quite a few powerful Dou Emperors and Dou Kings under his banner. This was entirely due to his alchemy, which was peerless throughout the Black-Corner Region. Few people knew that the renowned Pill Emperor Han Feng was actually the prime disciple of the continent's number one alchemist, Yao Chen.

At this moment, in the very core of the Medicine Emperor Hall, Han Feng sat quietly in meditative cultivation. In his palm was a ball of azure flame, and strangely, what emanated from the flame was not dry heat, but the aura of the vast ocean.

Amidst the silence, an abrupt voice sounded: "Han Feng."

The moment Han Feng heard these words, his smooth and seamless meditative posture instantly broke. Han Feng instinctively replied: "Master?"

Yet the moment the words left his mouth, Han Feng's dazed gaze turned vicious, and his eyes swept across the entire grand hall.

A black-robed figure stood quietly at the entrance of the grand hall, and a jade talisman flashed and shattered in Han Feng's hand. Xiao Yan's merciless voice rang out: "Is the Medicine Emperor looking for them?"

Six bodies resembling dead dogs were thrown in front of Han Feng by Xiao Yan. Han Feng's pupils constricted, and Dou Qi began to surge all over his body.

The defense he had set up—consisting of one Dou Emperor and five Dou Kings—had actually been uprooted by someone silently and without a sound, and the person before him gave him an extreme sense of crisis.

"Who are you? No one in the Black-Corner Region doesn't know the name of Han Feng. If you have business, we can talk it over."

Yet Xiao Yan walked straight toward the door, and a soul body appeared.

The instant Han Feng saw the soul body, his face turned ashen: "Old... Yao Chen, you actually didn't die?"

Yao Lao quietly stared at Han Feng, his eyes filled with an unspeakable disappointment and a rage that was about to overflow.

Xiao Yan leaned against the exterior of the Medicine Emperor Hall's doors, and Yao Lao had instructed him to give Yao Lao some time. Xiao Yan took out a jade slip from his Storage Ring, upon which was the Heavenly Snake Mansion's intelligence: "The Saintess has emerged; be sure to capture the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill to present to the Saintess Qing Lin."

This was an auction Xiao Yan had attended when he first entered the Black-Corner Region. The auction had been quite spectacular, featuring not only the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame fragmented map and Earth-tier movement Dou Techniques, but even the tier 7 Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill refined by Han Feng. After several factions including the Heavenly Snake Mansion and the Blood Sect engaged in a dog-eat-dog struggle, several items including the jade slip were all bagged by Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan had come here to help Yao Lao eradicate Han Feng.

Looking at the jade slip, Xiao Yan felt a slight headache. When he had left the mercenary corp back then, he had encountered the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame, so seeing this intelligence at this very moment made him worry about his eldest and second brothers, as well as that former maid, Qing Lin.

It seems that once matters at Jia Nan Academy are settled, I must go take a look at the Heavenly Snake Mansion. Xiao Yan muttered to himself.

A moment later, Yao Lao walked out of the hall with a complicated expression, tossing a Storage Ring to Xiao Yan.

"Teacher?" Xiao Yan called out tentatively.

"Inside the Storage Ring is the fifteenth-ranked Sea Heart Flame and a vast fortune. Let's go, to Jia Nan Academy."

Seeing Yao Lao's current state, Xiao Yan knew he should give Yao Lao some time. A pair of wings manifested, and he sped away in the direction of Jia Nan Academy.

"Xun'er, you still aren't planning to enter the Inner Academy this year? Just how long have you been waiting!" said a blue-robed woman with a look of exasperated disappointment. If Xiao Yan were here at this moment, he would recognize this person as Ruo Lin, the Jia Nan Academy instructor who had once gone to Wutan City to recruit students.

The young girl in front of Ruo Lin was dressed in a light cyan skirt, with a blue silk ribbon tied around her waist that outlined an impossibly slender waist, exceedingly alluring. Behind the young girl, three thousand strands of dark hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her peerless appearance was enough to make any confident woman feel ashamed. At this moment, however, a trace of apology hung on the young girl's exquisite face, and she said softly: "Instructor Ruo Lin, I'm sorry. If he can't make it, I still won't participate this year."

The blue-robed woman said bitterly: "I truly don't know what kind of bewitching soup that scoundrel of a boy fed you, you wench. So many geniuses pursue you, and you don't even spare them a glance. You've waited for him for so long, yet you still aren't hurrying over."

Xiao Xun'er grabbed Ruo Lin's arm and acted coquettishly: "He must have been held up by matters. Instructor Ruo Lin can rest assured, Brother Xiao Yan will definitely arrive this year!"

"Fine, I've already submitted your name. Get some rest early; whenever I bring up that kid, it makes me angry."

As soon as Ruo Lin left, a trace of yearning also surfaced on Xiao Xun'er's face. Although she had long since learned from Ling Ying that Xiao Yan had advanced to a Dou Emperor and wreaked absolute havoc in the Misty Cloud Sect, the closer she got to meeting him, the more she missed him.

"Xun'er." A voice that Xiao Xun'er had longed for countless times rang out.

Xiao Xun'er looked toward her doorway in pleasant surprise, and that black-robed figure was precisely the Xiao Yan she yearned for day and night.

"Brother Xiao Yan!"

Xiao Xun'er lunged directly into Xiao Yan's embrace, fully experiencing the scent that belonged uniquely to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan turned his arms around to embrace Xiao Xun'er, looking at the peerless face in his arms. Compared to two years ago, a trace of youthful greenness had vanished from Xiao Xun'er's face, and she had grown increasingly mature and breathtakingly beautiful.

Xiao Yan wrapped his arms around Xun'er's slender waist, feeling the fresh fragrance emanating from her dark hair.

After the two maintained this posture for nearly three minutes, Xiao Xun'er felt her body temperature slowly rising. She pulled Xiao Yan to a mountain peak and said to him: "Brother Xiao Yan, this is where Xun'er cultivates. Look at that stone."

Xiao Yan saw the stroke-by-stroke marks on the stone, which were clearly man-made.

Xiao Xun'er feigned anger and said: "These, you see, were all carved by Xun'er while you hadn't arrived yet. I add one stroke for every day that passes." Then she smiled charmingly and teased playfully: "Instructor Ruo Lin probably holds quite a bit of resentment toward Brother Xiao Yan, so I'll probably get scolded tomorrow."

"There's no help for it. I was in a state of slumber for the greater part of these past two years."

Under Xiao Xun'er's inquiries, Xiao Yan recounted his experiences of the past two years and more to Xiao Xun'er in complete detail. Upon finally learning that Xiao Yan was already a Dou Emperor, Xiao Xun'er bantered: "Brother Xiao Yan is already a Dou Emperor; I'm afraid you're the only student in Jia Nan Academy who is about to graduate without ever attending a single class at the academy."

Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yan sat on the edge of the cliff, and Xiao Xun'er leaned against Xiao Yan's shoulder to listen to him recount his tortuous experiences.

Suddenly, Xiao Yan took out a jade box from his Storage Ring and handed it to Xun'er, saying: "Consider this a gift for Xun'er."

Xiao Xun'er opened the jade box, and what met her eyes was a pill revolving with golden light. Two small golden dragons floated on the surface of the pill, and close listening even revealed faint sounds of dragon roars.

"This is?" Xiao Xun'er asked with curiosity.

"A tier 7 pill, the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill. It can enable one to be reborn from destruction, and it will play a role when you need to break through bottlenecks in the future."

Xiao Xun'er smiled radiantly and happily accepted it.

"Then Xun'er also has a gift for Brother Xiao Yan. Close your eyes first."

Xiao Yan immediately closed his eyes. Xun'er looked at Xiao Yan, and her peerless face could not help but become dyed with a trace of a blush.

With his eyes closed, Xiao Yan felt Xiao Xun'er slowly draw close to him. Then, a coolness brushed against his lips, and a delicate sensation was transmitted over. Before Xiao Yan could experience it carefully, he already heard the sound of Xiao Xun'er running off into the distance.

Xiao Yan smiled softly: "This wench, I still have something I haven't told her yet."