Black Iron Piece

Seeing his father, Xiao Zhan, holding off two Great Dou Masters alone, Xiao Yan gradually grew anxious. With Xiao Zhan's strength, he could cope for a short while, but in a prolonged battle, his Dou Qi would sooner or later run dry. After all, it was two against one, with no advantage whatsoever.

"Why haven't the two elders the Xiao Clan planted in ambush made their move yet? Did they fall asleep?" Xiao Yan looked toward both sides of the street, sweating anxiously.

"Haha! Xiao Zhan, this day next year will be the anniversary of your death! Your Xiao Clan is finished!" Seeing Xiao Zhan gradually struggling to cope, Jia Lie Bi felt smug and increased the intensity of his attacks once more.

"Hmph! You're celebrating too soon!" Xiao Zhan sneered, then shouted, "Two elders, make your move!"

Two figures suddenly appeared from either side of the street and attacked Jia Lie Bi and Jia Lie Nu from behind. Xiao Zhan let out a long howl and swiftly mobilized the Dou Qi within his body, channeling it into his fists as he struck at Jia Lie Nu and Jia Lie Bi.

The situation suddenly reversed. The encirclers had been encircled instead, and Jia Lie Bi and Jia Lie Nu were horrified. Yet Xiao Zhan's sudden burst of powerful attacks forced them to defend with all their strength, leaving them no room to protect themselves from the attacks behind them.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three violent explosions rang out. The full-force attacks of the five Great Dou Masters finally caused the surrounding houses to collapse with a roar. The resulting shockwave sent Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er, who were watching from afar, flying backward together once more. In that instant, Xiao Yan hurriedly pulled Xun'er in front of him, and his body slammed directly into a wall, cracking it apart.

"Damn it! We were this far away and still got caught in the crossfire." Xiao Yan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke helplessly.

"Xiao Yan-gege, are you all right?" Xun'er hurriedly helped Xiao Yan up and asked worriedly.

"Hehe, your brother here has thick skin and tough bones. I'm perfectly fine." Xiao Yan moved his aching back, which had been hurt by the impact.

"You're still saying you're fine! You're bleeding." Xun'er said heartbrokenly.

"What does a little injury like this amount to? Right, hurry and see how Father and the others are doing." Xiao Yan wiped the blood from his mouth and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Haha! We're fine! Thanks entirely to Yan'er, we were able to seriously injure those two old fellows, Jia Lie Bi and Jia Lie Nu. They'll probably need a long time to recover." Xiao Zhan came over to Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er with the two elders, speaking with a smile.

"You didn't manage to keep them there for good?" Xiao Yan asked.

"How could it be that easy? Jia Lie Nu counterattacked desperately and let Jia Lie Bi escape with his son. If a Great Dou Master disregards his life, we can't afford to be careless either. Still, the three of us struck him together, so his injuries are severe. He likely won't be able to pose much of a threat in the future." Xiao Zhan's mouth twitched. Achieving this much was already quite good. As for keeping them there for good, how could that be so easy?

"Hehe, clan conflicts don't necessarily require killing the other side. If we insist on delivering the killing blow, the price we'd pay when the enemy fights back desperately would be enormous. Things are different now. The Jia Lie Clan's two most powerful figures have been seriously injured, so our Xiao Clan can rapidly grow stronger during this period and eventually swallow up the Jia Lie Clan entirely." The Second Elder explained with a smile.

"That's right, Yan'er. Clan struggles aren't all about force; economics are important too." Xiao Zhan smiled and patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder, clearly in an excellent mood today. Then he shouted toward the street, "All of your losses today will be borne entirely by my Xiao Clan! The Xiao Clan will send people to assess everyone's losses and compensate you at full value."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhan's words, a large number of merchants and mercenaries immediately poured into the street and stepped forward to offer their thanks. Even if the Xiao Clan had refused to compensate them, there was nothing they could have done. After all, the Jia Lie Clan had made a move as well, so why should the Xiao Clan bear all the compensation?

Just then, a fat man trotted over to Xiao Yan and respectfully handed him the magic core and Black Iron Piece he had bought. He also returned both the gold coins Xiao Yan had given him and the gold coins Jia Lie Bi had given him.

"What's this?" Xiao Yan looked at the fat man before him, somewhat puzzled by his actions.

"Hehe, consider this magic core and Black Iron Piece a gift to Young Master Xiao Yan. As for these gold coins, they belonged to you in the first place, Young Master. I wouldn't dare accept that bag of gold coins from Young Master Jia Lie Ao, so let's just consider them winnings from Young Master Xiao Yan's match." The fat merchant explained with a beaming smile.

"Hehe, take these six hundred-plus gold coins. How can one buy something without paying? As for the gold Jia Lie Ao gave you, I'll take it, because even if I gave it to you, you wouldn't dare accept it." Xiao Yan said with a faint smile.

"Thank you for understanding, Young Master Xiao Yan." The merchant left with the gold coins, his face full of smiles.

The moment Xiao Yan returned to the clan, he impatiently parted from Xun'er and the elders, then quickly slipped into his small room and shut the door.

After placing the herbs he had bought on the table, he picked up the Black Iron Piece and asked Medicine Elder, "Teacher, what is this?"

Xiao Yan had naturally guessed what it was, but he was not entirely certain. What if it was not the Sucking Palm?

Medicine Elder casually took the iron piece and said with a smile, "There seems to be a Dou Technique stored within it. However, the person who made this iron piece may have been an alchemist, so only those with sufficiently strong soul perception can sense it."

"A Dou Technique? What Dou Technique?" Xiao Yan hurriedly asked. He very much wanted to obtain the Sucking Palm, because it could not only work together with the Cloud-Discharging Palm he had created, but was also very similar to a signature technique used by a hero he greatly admired. That hero had looked incredibly cool when using it.

"It's a low-tier Xuan-class Dou Technique: Sucking Palm!" Seeing Xiao Yan's anxious expression, Medicine Elder said with a smile.

"Sucking Palm: Once mastered, it can draw in a thousand-pound boulder. When facing an enemy, its violent suction can forcibly tear the blood from a person's body!"

"It really is the Sucking Palm. Now I can properly study this Dou Technique again." Xiao Yan's thoughts ran wild.

Seeing Xiao Yan's excited expression, Medicine Elder smiled and said, "Are you planning to combine the Sucking Palm with your Cloud-Discharging Palm? If so, then the Sucking Palm truly suits you very well."

"Hehe, so Teacher already knew what I was thinking!" Xiao Yan said with a smile.

Medicine Elder casually tossed the Black Iron Piece to Xiao Yan and said helplessly, "Study it slowly yourself! I still need to refine the Foundation-Building Elixir. Sigh! Such an old bag of bones, yet I still have to do this hard labor!"

Ignoring Medicine Elder's complaints, Xiao Yan picked up the Black Iron Piece and sank his soul perception into it, beginning to slowly study the Dou Technique. At the same time, he curled his palm into a claw, circulating his Dou Qi through the acupoints and meridians required for the Sucking Palm.

Xiao Yan raised his right hand toward the door, curling his palm into a claw and circulating his Dou Qi through the Sucking Palm's acupoints and meridians. Very soon, a suction force emerged from his palm, and the door creaked open. A smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth as he chuckled. "Teacher, keep yourself busy. I'll go play around in the courtyard."

Seeing Xiao Yan go off to study a Dou Technique again, Medicine Elder shook his head helplessly. This disciple of his loved researching Dou Techniques. He truly had no idea what new tricks Xiao Yan would come up with using the Sucking Palm.

Xiao Yan walked out of the room, gently closed the door, and entered the spacious courtyard. There was a weapon rack in the courtyard, filled with all kinds of weapons.

What man did not have a dream of becoming a martial arts hero? When Xiao Yan was ten, he had begged his father to forge him a full set of weapons: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks, everything included. At first, Xiao Yan had been extremely interested in these weapons. But after losing his talent, he no longer had the heart to play with them. He merely left them outside unattended, exposed to wind and rain, until they were covered in rust.

Xiao Yan crossed his hands, curled both palms into claws, and aimed at a large saber on the weapon rack. Then he shouted a martial arts move he had buried in his heart for a long time.

"Dragon-Grasping Hand!"

Both hands used the Sucking Palm at the same time, generating a powerful suction force directly from his palms. Yet the large saber did not fly into his hands as Xiao Yan had intended.

With a bang, the weapon rack was directly pulled over by the suction force from Xiao Yan's palms, and the weapons scattered all over the ground.

Hearing the noise inside, Medicine Elder shook his head helplessly. Fortunately, he was a professional alchemist. Otherwise, that sound alone would likely have caused his refining to fail. But when he heard Xiao Yan call out the name of the Dou Technique, an amused smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Dragon-Grasping Hand? If those people found out, wouldn't they skin you alive! Luckily, this is a remote place like the Jia Ma Empire. If this were the Central Plains..."

Xiao Yan guiltily glanced toward the room. Seeing no movement at all, he finally relaxed. At that moment, he had no idea how much trouble that name would cause. He gently set the weapon rack upright, picked a large saber from the scattered weapons, and placed it in the middle of the courtyard. The saber was forged from fine steel, four feet long and weighing roughly forty to fifty pounds.

He stretched out his right hand, curled his palm, and once again used the Dragon-Grasping Hand, as Xiao Yan had renamed it, on the saber. The saber instantly seemed to be tugged by a rope and was forcibly seized by Xiao Yan's Dragon-Grasping Hand.

Looking at the saber in his hand, Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction. This Dou Technique was quite convenient for retrieving objects from afar, but it could only move in a straight line and could not curve. That was a problem. After rolling his eyes, he gently released the hand holding the saber. The blade did not fall to the ground, but hovered in the air, bobbing up and down.

"For now, I'd better practice first. One day, I'll be able to wield a saber from afar just like Xiao Feng." Xiao Yan murmured softly.