I Want Them All!

Was this the strength of a true powerhouse? Merely a soul body, yet already so terrifying!

Xiao Yan's dark eyes flickered slightly. Yao Lao was only casually releasing his pressure now. If he deliberately targeted him, then even if Xiao Yan's strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Dou Zhe, he would still be unable to withstand a single move.

Raising his head to look around, Yao Lao revealed a faint, kindly smile toward two directions.

He actually discovered me? Ling Ying, hidden amid the mountains and wilderness, furrowed his brow in shock.

He cultivated dark-attributed Dou Qi, and his concealment abilities were exceptionally strong. Yet a casual glance had seen through his hidden whereabouts.

Elsewhere, Qin Yueyao, realizing she had been discovered, frowned. Yao Lao possessed truly formidable strength!

For all these years, this old gentleman had never revealed himself. Now that she thought about it, he must have been recovering from his injuries. To receive guidance from such a powerhouse was an opportunity for Yan'er.

Qin Yueyao nodded slightly, and the watery blue Dou Qi wings behind her vanished as she left the Xiao Clan's rear mountain.

After Xiao Yan improved her constitution and she obtained a high-grade Earth-tier cultivation method, Qin Yueyao's strength had advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years.

It was only because she rarely appeared in public that few people knew of it.

After both of them had left, Yao Lao crossed his legs atop a bluestone, shaking his head as he asked somewhat impatiently, "Little fellow, are you going to learn or not?"

"Of course I'll learn. Why wouldn't I? Otherwise, wouldn't you have absorbed my Dou Qi for all these years for nothing?" Xiao Yan no longer hesitated and nodded.

"Hehe, then if you're willing, acknowledge me as your master." Yao Lao looked Xiao Yan over several times, and a strange smile of a scheme having succeeded swiftly appeared on his face.

"I still have to acknowledge a master?" Xiao Yan's dark eyes widened slightly. He was already such a genius, yet he still had to observe all these tedious formalities...

"Nonsense. You think I'll teach you everything I know without you acknowledging me as your master? Keep dreaming." Yao Lao rolled his eyes. His old-fashioned nature far exceeded Xiao Yan's expectations.

Xiao Yan helplessly pursed his lips and formally acknowledged Yao Lao as his master.

Only after seeing that Xiao Yan had completed every courtesy did Yao Lao nod in satisfaction.

"Hehe, Teacher, since I'm already your disciple, give me a high-grade Heaven-tier cultivation method." Xiao Yan casually sat on the grass and held out his hand with a grin.

"Bullshit! Do you think high-grade Heaven-tier cultivation methods are wild potatoes growing on the ground? How can you even bring yourself to ask?" Yao Lao's face twitched as he scolded him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Xiao Yan felt rather depressed. As one of the only two paths on the Dou Qi Continent capable of breaking through to the Dou Emperor realm, the Flame Mantra still received the same terrible reviews as always.

There was nothing wrong with the quality of the Flame Mantra itself. It merely lacked a suitable practitioner.

It was like a person's two legs—not whichever one was longer, the better.

Seeing Xiao Yan's thoroughly dejected little face, Yao Lao's cloudy old eyes suddenly brimmed with scheming intent.

"I don't have a Heaven-tier cultivation method, but I do have a cultivation method even stranger than a Heaven-tier one."

Staring quietly at Xiao Yan, a complicated expression flashed across Yao Lao's face. "Do you have feelings for that girl named Xun'er?"

"Uh?" Startled by Yao Lao's wildly abrupt question, Xiao Yan opened his mouth. "Teacher, we're discussing serious cultivation matters right now. Why are you bringing this up?"

"You have a fiancée betrothed to you since childhood, and every night you rotate between the rooms of three different girls." Yao Lao counted on his fingers. "As your teacher, I naturally need to clarify what you, this little lecher, are thinking."

Thinking of what Xiao Yan had done over the past few years, Yao Lao could not help but smile bitterly. This disciple truly was a genius, just a bit too lustful.

Still, that was not much of a flaw for a future powerhouse. It was simply that one of the girls was especially unusual.

The bitter smile on Xiao Yan's face stiffened slightly. One had to find wives early, and over the years, he had often helped those three girls develop with methods to nurture their meridians.

Otherwise, with their talent, they absolutely could not have attained their current level of strength.

Seeing Xiao Yan remain silent for a long while, Yao Lao said solemnly, "The Xiao Clan is weak now, while your fiancée's family has hardly shown itself. I heard that she has already entered the Misty Cloud Sect. I'm afraid it is only a matter of time before they come to annul the engagement."

"I suggest that you dissolve the engagement with her as soon as possible, and keep your distance from the little girls other than Xun'er. Focus on accepting my guidance."

Yao Lao's expression gradually turned grave. Smacking his lips, he said somewhat puzzledly, "That girl Xun'er has a rather terrifying background. I don't know how, with that background, she came to be involved with your tiny clan.

"But that still cannot bridge the gulf between you. The difference in your status is simply too great. Even if that girl likes you, the people behind her will never agree—especially when you already have a wife!"

"If you follow my guidance, then in the future, you may very well be able to rely on that little girl. That could save you at least twenty years of struggle." Yao Lao revealed a teasing smile.

Rely on a rich woman and become a live-in son-in-law? Xiao Yan's eyes widened slightly as he spat out the blade of grass hanging from his mouth. "After saying all that, Teacher, you want me to choose that cultivation method stranger than a Heaven-tier one, don't you?"

"Hehe..." Yao Lao rubbed his dry old face and gave an embarrassed laugh. "I admit I was trying to persuade you a little. But whether from my perspective or yours, I very much hope you will cultivate it."

"You know that I am merely in a soul state now, right?" Yao Lao spread his hands and asked.

Xiao Yan nodded.

"By normal reasoning, someone in my state should be considered dead. However, because my soul strength is much greater than that of ordinary people, I have survived in this strange, grotesque manner..." Yao Lao smiled self-mockingly, with a trace of bitterness in his smile.

"I do not like this illusory existence. There are still some things that I must personally accomplish, so I need to escape this soul state. The cultivation method I spoke of, once cultivated to a certain level, possesses the miraculous ability to revive the dead."

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before saying, "I will cultivate the method. But as for the matter of annulling the engagement that Teacher mentioned, forget it."

"Xiao Yan may not be a good man, but neither am I someone who betrays trust and righteousness. Others may say that the Xiao Clan seeking to annul the engagement is simply knowing our own limits, knowing that we cannot aspire to the Nalan Clan, now one of the three great clans of the Jia Ma Empire.

"But the truth cannot be concealed forever. In the future, the people of the Jia Ma Empire will surely learn that I, Xiao Yan, acknowledged a powerhouse as my master in my early years. If I agreed to annul the engagement today, then how would I be any different from the Nalan Clan that Teacher says might one day annul it because of their powerful background?"

Yao Lao was slightly stunned. "Then what do you intend to do?"

"I want them all!" Xiao Yan clenched his fists.