Xiao Yan Was Gravely Injured (Please Bookmark, Please Recommend)

At dawn, the rising sun slowly climbed into the sky, its gentle rays dispelling the darkness.

Within the Thousand-Mountain Forest, towering mountains rose from the earth like heaven-cleaving swords. Grand and majestic, they carried an ancient wilderness aura as they stood between heaven and earth, perilous and impossible to scale.

Fine trees filled the mountains, clouds and rosy mists drifted about, and spiritual energy permeated the air, making it seem like an earthly paradise.

"Great Desolate Heaven-Imprisoning Finger, First Finger: Imprison Heaven and Earth!"

In a valley, Xiao Meng's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened. He roared inwardly, stepped forward, and pointed down through the air.

Yuan energy gathered, and a pitch-black giant finger roughly ten meters long tore through the sky. Like a towering pillar crashing down from above, it carried a peculiar aura of desolation.

Bang!

The giant finger slammed down, shaking the earth. Everything in its path was wiped away.

When the dust settled, a massive pit dozens of meters long remained in the ground.

"This first finger, Imprison Heaven and Earth, is comparable to a mid-tier Profound-ranked Dou Technique. With my current strength, it's still difficult to unleash all of its power. But if I use it with all my strength, it should be enough to kill an ordinary Dou Master." Xiao Meng glanced over the devastated valley, satisfied with the destruction he had caused.

Then, he looked up at the blazing sun rising in the distance and murmured, "In just over half a month, I've mastered the first finger of the Great Desolate Heaven-Imprisoning Finger. The yuan energy in my body has also increased several times over. It's about time to prepare to condense my second yuan core."

"The Purple Fire Star Pill is a third-tier medicinal pill. If I want to use it to condense a second yuan core, I'll need at least two pills. Yet I only prepared enough ingredients for two or three batches. So if I want to successfully refine at least two Purple Fire Star Pills, I'll have to improve my alchemy first."

"But I don't have ingredients for any other third-tier medicinal pills, so I can only refine some second-tier pills to improve my proficiency."

Having made up his mind, Xiao Meng sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes to restore his strength first.

Finally, he made his way to a cave with practiced ease and began his great undertaking in alchemy.

Xiao Clan.

"Damn it, Jia Lie Bi, you old bastard! I, Xiao Zhan, am not finished with you!" In the main hall, Xiao Zhan roared with a livid face, smashing his fist onto the table. Even the table made of red ironwood cracked apart.

Today, the Xiao Clan and the Gale Clan had clashed fiercely, and the Gale Clan's target had actually been Xiao Yan.

Recently, with Xiao Yan's help, the Xiao Clan's marketplace had gradually returned to normal. This prompted the Gale Clan to investigate the Xiao Clan from every angle, seeking to discover who was assisting them.

Xiao Yan's identity as an alchemist had been tightly guarded by the Xiao Clan. Aside from several elders, no one else knew. Yet Xiao Yan had ultimately drawn the attention of Liu Xi's master. After all, alchemists often possessed certain similar traits.

The Gale Clan had only half believed it at first. Xiao Yan had once been a famously useless good-for-nothing, after all. But Liu Xi's master was a third-tier alchemist, and his words carried considerable authority. Coupled with Xiao Meng's precedent, they suspected that Xiao Yan might also have been hiding his true abilities.

Thus, the Gale Clan adopted the mindset of killing a thousand by mistake rather than letting one escape. They intended to kill Xiao Yan at any cost, even if it meant going to war with the Xiao Clan.

Moreover, they now had a third-tier alchemist on their side. One had to know that having the support of third-tier medicinal pills and lacking such support were worlds apart.

Therefore, the Gale Clan no longer feared going to war with the Xiao Clan.

"Now that Little Yan has been gravely injured, our Xiao Clan marketplace will lack medicinal pills for some time. The little vitality it only just recovered will probably drain away again. And those major clients have likely been unable to sit still for quite a while. They've probably been contacting the Gale Clan in secret. If this continues, our Xiao Clan marketplace will never recover." The First Elder's face burned with fury.

"Since they shamelessly attacked Little Yan, why don't we return tooth for tooth? I'll lead some people and kill that alchemist from the Gale Clan!" The Fourth Elder's eyes gleamed fiercely, killing intent surging around him.

"Putting aside the fact that Jia Lie Bi would heavily protect him, that old fellow is a Grand Dou Master himself. How could it be so easy to kill him?" The Second Elder sighed.

"Unless Meng'er takes action. Then that old bastard will certainly die." The Ninth Elder's eyes lit up, and he abruptly turned to look at Xiao Zhan. The others quickly followed his gaze.

Their meaning was obvious. They all wanted Xiao Meng to kill Liu Xi's master.

Xiao Zhan said helplessly, "Third Brother has disappeared somewhere these past few days. I can't find him at all. Besides, he said he wouldn't interfere in this matter. You all know that."

"Clan Leader, Meng'er said back then that he would not interfere if the Gale Clan and Little Yan were competing fairly. But today, the Gale Clan used such despicable methods against Little Yan. Would Meng'er really stand by and do nothing?" the Eighth Elder said.

Xiao Zhan sighed. "That may be true, but Jia Lie Ao was the one who injured Fourth Brother. So even if Third Brother wanted to intervene, with Yan'er's personality, he would never allow Third Brother to step in. You should all understand that."

The elders fell silent. They naturally knew what kind of person Xiao Yan was. He seemed gentle and harmless on the surface, but the ruthlessness in his bones was stronger than anyone else's. He also held grudges even more fiercely than Xiao Meng.

It was only because his cultivation had declined over the past three years that he had appeared somewhat despondent.

More importantly, the boy was also terribly prideful. If Jia Lie Bi had injured him today, he would certainly have let Xiao Meng kill Jia Lie Bi for him. But Jia Lie Ao was different.

Having been injured by someone nearly of his own generation, Xiao Yan would definitely wash away the humiliation himself.

Sure enough, before passing out, he had not forgotten to tell Xiao Zhan not to let them kill Jia Lie Ao.

"But you needn't worry too much. The sky won't fall. At worst, our Xiao Clan's business will be sluggish for a while. That's hardly a serious matter. As for those fence-sitters, this is the perfect chance to clean them out," Xiao Zhan said coldly.

The First Elder nodded. "The Clan Leader is right. Not to mention that Meng'er is here, with Little Yan's talent in alchemy alone, the rise of our Xiao Clan is only a matter of time. We can grit our teeth and get through this minor difficulty."

"That's right. Even if everyone leaves the marketplace, even if the marketplace itself is gone, we can simply open another one," the other elders echoed.

After discussing the matter, Xiao Zhan stood and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go check on Xiao Mei first."

"Let's go take a look as well!" the elders rose and said.

"Jia Lie Ao, if Brother Xiao Yan didn't want to kill you personally, I would tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Outside Xiao Yan's room, Xiao Xun'er was overflowing with killing intent, like a little tyrannosaur ready to erupt at any moment.

"Cousin Xiao Ning, since you're here, come out. Why are you hiding there?" Xiao Xun'er suddenly looked toward the corner of a nearby building and said coldly.

The moment her words fell, a young man wrapped in white bandages and covered in wounds stepped out from behind the corner. His expression was somewhat awkward, but there was even more lingering fear in his eyes.

"How are Xiao Mei's injuries?" Seeing Xiao Ning covered in bandages, Xiao Xun'er's expression immediately softened.

If Xiao Ning and the others had not fought with all their strength today, Xiao Yan might have died at Jia Lie Ao's hands. In the end, Xiao Mei had even disregarded her own safety to block a fatal blow for Xiao Yan. Xiao Xun'er was deeply grateful.

"I came to speak with you about Xiao Mei."

Xiao Ning sighed. Perhaps in this world, only Xiao Yan could make this peerless woman treat someone with such tenderness.

"When I went to see Xiao Mei earlier, I discovered that her injuries were recovering at an unbelievable speed. I also found a newly written prescription in her room. I have no idea who left it behind. I can't determine whether the prescription is genuine, and I don't know whether we should gather the herbs according to it. The Clan Leader and the others are holding a clan meeting, and you've seen far more than we have, so I could only come to ask for your opinion." As he spoke, Xiao Ning took a prescription from his robes and handed it to Xiao Xun'er.

Xiao Xun'er's expression turned serious. She swiftly took the prescription from Xiao Ning, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"This person secretly chose to help Xiao Mei, which means he is most likely not from the Xiao Clan, yet bears goodwill toward it. However, anyone who can come and go freely within the Xiao Clan without being discovered must be an expert. His strength must also surpass Ling Ying's, otherwise he could never escape Ling Ying's notice."

"Not from the Xiao Clan, yet friendly toward it, and highly skilled as well. It seems he must be the person behind Brother Xiao Yan."

Thinking of this, Xiao Xun'er abruptly raised her head and looked at Xiao Yan's door, as though she wished to see clearly what was inside. She was one hundred percent certain that the person behind Xiao Yan was currently within that room.

"Cousin Xiao Ning, just follow this prescription and gather medicine for Xiao Mei. Nothing will happen," Xiao Xun'er said with a smile, suppressing the urge to rush in and take a look.

"No matter who you are, if you dare do anything to hurt Brother Xiao Yan, I, Xiao Xun'er, will make you pay the price." After Xiao Ning left, Xiao Xun'er continued staring fixedly at the two doors.

Inside the room.

"Sigh! I was away from your side for only a short while, and you turned yourself into this state. You really know how to cause trouble." Seeing Xiao Yan submerged in the wooden tub, his injuries severe beyond belief, Yao Lao's face twitched several times.

"Teacher, I'm only at the eighth stage of Dou Qi. Facing a six-star Dou Practitioner, surviving was already not bad," Xiao Yan said with an unfocused gaze and a bitter smile.

"You survived, so now you intend to torment me? With injuries this severe, these old bones of mine will be worked to death," Yao Lao said irritably.

"By the way, wasn't Jia Lie Ao only a four-star Dou Practitioner the last time we saw him? How did he suddenly become a six-star Dou Practitioner? Even if he ate third-tier medicinal pills like meals every day, he couldn't improve that quickly." Yao Lao asked in a deep voice.

Xiao Yan said weakly, "His true cultivation was indeed at the four-star Dou Practitioner level. But at the time, he took a red pill. I don't know what kind of medicinal pill it was. Once he swallowed it, his cultivation shot up to six-star Dou Practitioner."

"Red, capable of raising cultivation by two stars in a short time... Could it have been the Red Phosphorus Pill?" Yao Lao frowned.

"Teacher, what kind of medicinal pill is this Red Phosphorus Pill?" Xiao Yan asked.

"This is a medicinal pill I accidentally created back then. Once your injuries have healed, I'll explain it to you slowly." Yao Lao's expression darkened, suffused with hatred.