Xiao Zhan: My Son Xiao Yan Is a Second-Rank Alchemist! (Two Chapters—Four Thousand Words)

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Just then, a voice from afar interrupted Xiao Yan's thoughts. "Young Clan Leader, Miss Xun'er, the Clan Leader requests that you both come to the Council Hall."

A servant ran over from a distance and spoke respectfully.

"Got it. Go on ahead."

Xiao Yan nodded.

Hearing this, the servant bowed, then turned and went to notify the others.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er exchanged a glance. Though they did not know why Xiao Zhan had summoned them, they each returned to their rooms, washed away their exhaustion and sweat, changed into clean clothes, and headed together to the Council Hall.

The moment they entered the Council Hall, they heard an angry voice. "Damn the Galie Clan! Are they really trying to perish together with our Xiao Clan?"

It was the Third Steward, formerly the Third Elder, speaking. His face was grim as he shouted in anger.

He was referring to the events of the past few days.

After Galie Bi returned to the Galie Clan, he naturally could not swallow this insult.

His son had been crippled by Xiao Yan, yet he had not even dared demand an explanation. How could he still have the face to continue managing the Galie Clan?

Thus, Galie Bi swiftly devised a plan to deal with the Xiao Clan. His response had come quickly.

He had sent people to invite a First-Rank Alchemist named Liu Xi from another city.

As for medicinal ingredients, the Mittel Auction House had already halted all transactions with the Galie Clan. Ya Fei's cut had been clean and decisive, making it impossible for the Galie Clan to purchase sufficient ingredients within Wutan City.

Galie Bi had sent an elder with manpower and gold coins to a nearby city, where they found a medicinal ingredient supplier and signed a long-term supply contract.

Although transportation costs had increased and the price of ingredients was nearly thirty percent higher than before, Galie Bi did not care. He wanted to crush the Xiao Clan. Even if he bled as well, as long as the Xiao Clan bled more than he did, he would win.

Liu Xi had refined a healing medicine called Spring-Rejuvenation Powder.

This medicine had no rank and was among the lowest-grade healing medicines, but its effects were several times stronger than the ordinary healing medicine sold in the Xiao Clan Marketplace.

When applied to a wound, it stopped bleeding quickly and hastened recovery. A wound that would normally heal in three days could scab over in one day with Spring-Rejuvenation Powder.

In terms of price, Spring-Rejuvenation Powder sold for three hundred gold coins per bottle. It cost less than a hundred gold coins more than the ordinary healing medicine in the Xiao Clan Marketplace, yet its effects were several times better. Its value for money far surpassed the Xiao Clan's product.

With this Spring-Rejuvenation Powder, the Galie Clan had snatched away many of the Xiao Clan's suppliers, marketplace merchants, and customers.

Those merchants who had stocked goods from the Xiao Clan Marketplace for years had switched to the Galie Clan one after another after seeing Spring-Rejuvenation Powder. The reason was simple: for the same money, Galie Clan goods sold faster and earned higher profits. Why stubbornly cling to the Xiao Clan?

Naturally, Xiao Zhan could not sit and wait for death in the face of Galie Bi's retaliation.

He sought out Gu Ni and asked him to refine a batch of healing medicine to wage a price war against the Galie Clan.

Gu Ni was, after all, part of the Miter Auction House. Although the Miter Auction House and the Xiao Clan had formed a partnership, he could not set aside the auction house's affairs and spend all day refining medicine for the Xiao Clan.

The time he could spare each day was limited, and so was the amount of healing medicine he could refine. Although its effects were somewhat stronger than Liu Xi's Spring-Rejuvenation Powder, production could not keep up, and the price could not be lowered either.

The Galie Clan had taken nearly thirty percent of the Xiao Clan Marketplace's profits.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er entered the hall.

All clan members of considerable standing were seated there, their grim expressions revealing the fury in their hearts.

When they saw Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er arrive, the crowd's gloomy expressions did not ease, but their eyes gained a measure of respect.

On the far left side of the hall, three or four meters away from the main seat, two seats had been left vacant for them.

"Yan'er, Xun'er, you're here. Hurry and sit."

Xiao Zhan sat in the main seat. Seeing the two arrive, his originally grim expression softened slightly, and he forced out a smile.

After Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er took their seats, the discussion that had paused resumed. This time, the First Steward spoke.

"Alas, what can we do? Galie Bi is determined to perish with us. He is willing to ignore the losses and fight the Xiao Clan to the end.

"Even if we wanted to kill that First-Rank Alchemist, two Great Dou Masters protect him.

"And I heard that the First-Rank Alchemist's master is a Fourth-Grade Alchemist of immense strength.

"Even if we fought through countless obstacles and killed him, that Fourth-Grade Alchemist would retaliate against us."

The First Steward shook his head. He was furious too, but fury was the most useless emotion. He suppressed the anger in his heart.

"What if we could also hire a First-Rank Alchemist? Wouldn't that let us contend with them?"

Someone in the hall whispered.

Xiao Zhan shook his head helplessly.

There were very few Alchemists in Wutan City. How could it be easy to invite those arrogant people? No one knew what kind of luck the Galie Lineage had stumbled upon this time to actually secure an Alchemist's aid.

"Have Master Gu Ni refine another batch of healing medicine for the Xiao Clan first. We'll weather this wave, then think of another solution."

Xiao Zhan spoke slowly.

The others nodded and were about to agree—

"Father, I do have a way to get through this trouble."

Xiao Yan's voice rang out from the left side of the hall. It was not loud, but every word was crystal clear.

Everyone's gazes turned toward Xiao Yan. Those looks held doubt, curiosity, expectation, and a trace of uncertainty.

The three stewards also turned their gazes toward Xiao Yan. Although they had been stripped of their elder positions, they had remained in the Xiao Clan for decades. Their roots were in the Xiao Clan. If the Xiao Clan were crushed by the Galie Clan, they would not even have a place to be buried.

"Young Clan Leader, do you truly have a solution?"

The Third Steward's face showed doubt as he asked.

"Could it be that your teacher left some means behind for you?"

The First Steward's mind worked the fastest. He immediately recalled what Xiao Yan had said in the Council Hall a few days ago.

That Dou Zong expert who walked through the air, that mysterious teacher who could casually produce a Seventh-Rank Pill.

If Xiao Yan's teacher had truly left him some means, then not only dealing with the Galie Clan—even turning all of Wutan City upside down would not be a problem.

"To deal with the Galie Clan, why would I need to use the means left behind by my teacher?"

Xiao Yan shook his head and spoke calmly.

He said nothing further. Raising his hand, he took something from his Storage Ring.

In the blink of an eye, the enormous conference table was covered with neatly arranged small jade bottles, without a single gap left between them.

The jade bottles were lined up in rows, forty bottles in each row. They were aligned perfectly in every direction and evenly spaced, like an army awaiting inspection.

Under the candlelight of the Council Hall, the bottles gleamed with a warm luster. Their stoppers were sealed tightly, locking the medicinal fragrance inside without allowing even a trace to escape.

Looking at the countless small jade bottles that had appeared out of thin air, everyone in the hall—including Xiao Xun'er, who sat beside Xiao Yan—sharply drew a breath at the sheer quantity of pills.

"There are one thousand two hundred and eighty-three bottles of healing medicine here. It is called Blood-Coagulating Powder, a healing pill I refined. It may not be the finest of the finest in quality, but it is far better than the Spring-Rejuvenation Powder refined by that First-Rank Alchemist of the Galie Clan."

Xiao Yan withdrew his hand and spoke with a calm expression.

In an instant, everyone in the previously silent hall stared fixedly at the thousand-odd jade bottles on the table, their eyes burning with fervor. Almost no one present had ever seen pills on such a massive scale with their own eyes.

"Yan'er, you're saying that you refined these pills?"

Xiao Zhan had caught the words "I refined" in Xiao Yan's statement and asked in shock.

"Yes, I did."

Xiao Yan nodded.

"Young Clan Leader, could it be that you are already an Alchemist?"

The First Steward wore an incredulous expression as he asked, his voice carrying a hint of reverence.

"That is correct. I am already a Second-Rank Alchemist."

Xiao Yan nodded again. There was no need to conceal this matter at all. In Wutan City, no one could threaten him.

Gasp!

A wave of sharp intakes of breath sounded throughout the hall.

Everyone was so stunned by Xiao Yan's words that they froze in place, unable to recover for a long while.

Xiao Zhan was the same. Only one thought remained in his mind: My son, Xiao Yan, is a Second-Rank Alchemist.

One had to know that Alchemists were incomparably precious.

Take Liu Xi, the First-Rank Alchemist they had just mentioned. Without Liu Xi's help, the Galie Clan could never have forced the Xiao Clan into such a state.

Yet that Alchemist was only First-Rank, while Xiao Yan was Second-Rank.

Within Wutan City, the only person worthy of being called a Second-Rank Alchemist was Gu Ni.

Gu Ni had spent decades reaching the Second-Rank, yet how old was Xiao Yan now? Fifteen!

Pill King Gu He, the youngest Sixth-Rank Alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire and a guest elder of the Misty Cloud Sect.

At what age had he become a Second-Rank Alchemist?

Xiao Zhan did not know the exact age, but he knew that Gu He was called a "genius Alchemist" and was a legend in the Jia Ma Empire's alchemy world.

Yet even Gu He might not have reached the Second-Rank at the age of fifteen.

"Ha ha ha! Heaven blesses my Xiao Clan! Heaven truly blesses my Xiao Clan!"

Xiao Zhan came back to his senses and laughed several times. The gloom on his face instantly cleared as he spoke excitedly.

After the three stewards recovered, alongside their shock, a trace of relief rose in their hearts.

They had lived in the Xiao Clan for decades. They had seen the Xiao Clan rise and fall, and they had also seen Xiao Yan rise and fall.

They had grievances with Xiao Yan—not minor grievances, but major ones.

They had tried to strip Xiao Yan of his position as Young Clan Leader, withheld his cultivation resources, humiliated him at clan assemblies, and made him lose face before guests.

Xiao Yan's punishment for them had been to remove their elder positions and demote them to stewards.

At the time, that punishment had seemed neither too harsh nor too light. It was harsh in that their lives, faces, and homes remained; it was light in that elders who had lorded over the Xiao Clan for decades had become stewards overnight. That kind of gap was not something ordinary people could bear.

But now, it seemed Xiao Yan had still shown mercy.

If he had truly harbored resentment over those past grievances, then with his current strength and status, he would not need to act personally.

All he needed was to casually say at some occasion, "When I think about what the three elders did to me back then, I still feel rather uncomfortable," and the other members of the Xiao Clan would act on his behalf.

Those people would compete to tie up the three stewards and deliver them before Xiao Yan, all to earn his favor.

In a corner of the hall, Xiao Yu came back to her senses with a bitter smile on her face.

She had returned to the Xiao Clan from Canaan Academy only a few days ago, yet she had already heard that her younger brother, Xiao Ning, had been expelled from the Xiao Clan's main branch.

She had gone to find her grandfather and asked him to explain the full sequence of events.

The First Elder had told her everything that had happened, without concealing anything or embellishing anything.

He told her what Xiao Ning had done and said to Xiao Yan over the past three years.

After hearing it, Xiao Yu remained silent for a long time. She wanted to see Xiao Yan and seek an explanation for her younger brother.

The First Elder stopped her and told her one thing: "If you go now, you'll only make things worse."

She did not believe him.

She felt that she was Xiao Ning's older sister and a member of the Xiao Clan. She had both the standing and the right to seek Xiao Yan out and demand an explanation.

She had planned to find Xiao Yan today. She had already rehearsed her words in her heart, considering what to say, what to ask, and how to fight for a chance for Xiao Ning to return without angering Xiao Yan.

But at this moment, as she looked at the one thousand two hundred and eighty-three bottles of Blood-Coagulating Powder on the table, at Xiao Yan's calm face, and listened to the gasps in the hall and Xiao Zhan's laughter, she suddenly felt ridiculous.

A Second-Rank Alchemist. A fifteen-year-old Second-Rank Alchemist.

Xiao Ning had mocked such a person for three years.

What right did she still have to seek Xiao Yan and demand an explanation? What could she use to demand one?

The commotion in the Council Hall gradually subsided, and everyone sat down one after another.

Xiao Zhan sat in the main seat, the smile on his face not yet fully faded. He looked around, and his gaze finally settled on Xiao Yan, his eyes filled with gratification and pride.

Several elders exchanged glances. The dark clouds that had hung over the Xiao Clan because of the Galie Clan's suppression seemed to have dispersed by more than half.

With Xiao Yan, a Second-Rank Alchemist, overseeing matters, everyone present felt much more at ease about dealing with the Galie Clan's retaliation.

Xiao Yan rose to his feet and explained his conditions to Xiao Zhan and the elders present.

His voice was not loud, but every word could be heard clearly in the quiet hall: the profits from refining pills would be split evenly between the Xiao Clan and Xiao Yan.

As soon as those words were spoken, several elders exchanged looks, surprise appearing on their faces.

They all knew the rules for hiring an Alchemist to refine pills.

To ask an Alchemist to act, the person seeking pills had to provide the medicinal ingredients themselves. Whether the refinement succeeded or failed, the Alchemist bore no consequences.

If the refinement succeeded, all remaining ingredients belonged to the Alchemist. As for payment, the usual split was eighty-twenty—the Alchemist took eighty percent, while the person seeking the pills took twenty percent.

If it involved an unusual pill formula, such as the Sixth-Grade Pill Seal-Breaking Pill that could break seals, the person seeking the pill not only had to provide the ingredients but also the formula, along with separate payment.

A Second-Rank Alchemist offering a fifty-fifty split—if such a price were mentioned in any shop in Wutan City, people would think it was madness.

Xiao Zhan opened his mouth, intending to say something.

He understood the principle of keeping accounts clear even between brothers, but this division of profits was clearly Xiao Yan favoring the Xiao Clan.

He looked at Xiao Yan's expression. In the end, he did not refuse, merely nodding heavily and committing this favor to heart.

The rest of the matter naturally fell into place.

Xiao Yan wrote down the formula for Blood-Coagulating Powder and the list of ingredients needed for refinement on the spot. Xiao Zhan immediately sent people to retrieve them from the storehouse.

With this Second-Rank Alchemist personally refining them, Blood-Coagulating Powder would soon be supplied to the Xiao Clan's shops in batches.