Departure

Xun'er's eyes flashed with surprise at his words.

"Xiao Yang, are you planning to go to Canaan Academy?"

Before Xiao Yang could answer, Xun'er wore a thoughtful expression.

"As the continent's foremost academy, Canaan Academy is indeed very suitable for you, Xiao Yang."

"You should be able to obtain quite a few opportunities there."

"Then I'll go with you when the time comes!"

Xun'er looked at Xiao Yang expectantly.

Xiao Yang nodded with a smile.

"Alright!"

"We'll go together when the time comes!"

Xun'er looked at Xiao Yang and hesitated before speaking.

"When are you planning to leave for the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Yang?"

"Could you accompany me for a walk today?"

As soon as Xun'er finished speaking, another mission appeared before Xiao Yang's eyes.

[Shopping: Gu Xun'er hopes that you can accompany her shopping today.

Reward: Universal Experience +300, Shop Points +30000.]

Hiss—

The little rich girl's missions were still as generously rewarded as ever!

Xiao Yang agreed without the slightest hesitation.

"No problem. I was planning to buy some things for my trip into the Magical Beast Mountain Range anyway."

Even without this mission, Xiao Yang would not have refused the little rich girl's request.

Now that there were rewards to claim, there was even less chance he would turn her down.

Hearing Xiao Yang agree, Xun'er's eyes curved into two adorable crescents.

"Then go out first, Xiao Yang. I'll change clothes."

Xiao Yang got up and waited outside the door.

Before long, Xun'er emerged wearing a bright yellow dress.

The dress made her jade-like skin appear even fairer.

After bringing several guards with them, the two left the Xiao Household.

They had brought guards because the Jia Lie Clan had learned about what happened to Galeo.

Jia Lie Bi had tried to pressure the Xiao Household, but Xiao Zhan and the others had directly rebuffed him.

Unable to retaliate openly, he might make a move in secret.

Xiao Zhan had told Xiao Yang all of this earlier.

Before long, Xiao Yang and Xun'er returned from their outing.

He escorted Xun'er back to her courtyard. As he was about to leave, he said to her,

"I'm planning to set out tomorrow, so I won't come over specifically to say goodbye then."

A trace of reluctance flashed through Xun'er's eyes.

She subconsciously stepped forward and hugged Xiao Yang.

"Xiao Yang, come back safely!"

Xiao Yang froze for a moment after being suddenly embraced.

Then, he gently stroked Xun'er's soft hair and replied,

"I'll definitely come back safely!"

The two embraced for a while before Xun'er slowly released Xiao Yang.

The next instant, with lightning speed, she leaned close to his face and lightly kissed him like a dragonfly touching water.

Then, her face flushed red as she rushed back into her room and tightly shut the door.

Xiao Yang looked at the tightly closed door before him, shook his head with an amused smile, and headed toward his own courtyard.

After returning to her courtyard, Xun'er kept her face buried beneath the blankets.

Who knew how long passed before the pink blush on her face and ears gradually faded.

Then, the smile on her face slowly vanished. She walked out of her room and calmly said toward the shadows of the courtyard,

"Ling Lao, I'll have to trouble you with Xiao Yang for the next while."

A voice came from the seemingly empty shadows.

"Yes, Miss!"

By the time Xiao Yang returned to his courtyard, the sky had already begun to darken.

Not long afterward, his soul power sensed Xiao Yan passing nearby.

Xiao Yang took the opportunity to tell Xiao Yan that he would be heading to the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training.

Xiao Yan was surprised at first, but midway through the conversation, shock flashed in his eyes, followed by a look of realization.

After chatting for a while, Xiao Yan left.

As soon as Xiao Yan returned to his courtyard, he immediately shut the door.

With a face full of shock, he asked the Bone Flame Ring,

"Teacher, has Brother Yang really reached the Nine-Star Dou Practitioner level already?!"

Medicine Elder slowly appeared, his eyes also full of disbelief.

"That's right. How many days has it even been?"

"During that kid's coming-of-age ceremony, I saw that he was only at Dou Qi, Ninth Stage!"

"Only a few days have passed, and he has already reached the Nine-Star Dou Practitioner level!"

"I'm even beginning to suspect that he possesses the Emperor Dou Bloodline, or that he might simply be the descendant of some divine beast!"

At this point, Medicine Elder suddenly recalled something. His gaze toward Xiao Yan became somewhat strange.

"By the way, has your Xiao Household always been on the Northwestern Continent?"

Xiao Yan shook his head.

"I don't know either, but it seems our family once had quite a few decent Dou Techniques and cultivation methods."

"However, after fleeing from the imperial capital to Wu Tan City, many of them were lost."

"My father said that the Xiao Household's ancestors seemed to have been quite prosperous."

Medicine Elder gave Xiao Yan a deep look.

"The surname Xiao... don't you think that kid is quite a good match for that girl?"

"If things are really as I suspect."

Xiao Yan immediately grew curious upon hearing that.

"Teacher, do you know about the origins of our Xiao Household?"

Medicine Elder shook his head, a trace of apprehension flashing across his face.

"You'd better not know about those things yet. If it truly is as I suspect, the more you know, the more miserably you may die in the end."

Seeing Medicine Elder act this way, Xiao Yan did not press further.

Medicine Elder also changed the subject.

"However, I seem to have smelled the scent of quite a few medicinal ingredients on that kid."

"Not only that, he himself has fire and wood attributes. It's very likely that he has also embarked on the path of an alchemist."

"Yet his foundation is extremely stable, nothing like someone who raised his strength through medicinal pills."

"Could it be some kind of pill that stimulates one's own bloodline?"

Medicine Elder did not continue. He directly returned to the Bone Flame Ring to begin researching a new prescription.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan helplessly shook his head, then took out the Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid and began cultivating.

A few days passed quickly. After asking around Qingshan Town about the Ten Thousand Medicines Hall's herb-gathering routes, Xiao Yang directly entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

At this moment, he was walking along one of those routes.

As he passed through a patch of grass, he suddenly threw a punch into the grass beside him.

Boom!

A long, slender figure instantly flew out of the grass and crashed into a nearby tree.

A system notification sounded in Xiao Yang's mind.

"Congratulations, Player. You have defeated the First-Rank Magical Beast Red Ice Snake. Reward: Universal Experience +84, Shop Points +600!"

Xiao Yang walked toward the Red Ice Snake and thought to himself,

The red-name feature in the game really was powerful. There was no need to fear anyone hiding and launching a sneak attack.

He could spot the other party's red name from far away!

And now that he had cultivated a technique, killing or defeating enemies also granted bonus experience, greatly improving the efficiency of gaining experience.

Just as Xiao Yang happily cut open the Red Ice Snake's head to check whether it had a magical core, his soul power suddenly sensed a faint disturbance behind him.