Killing in Return

At that moment, Xiao Yan was still refining pills, completely unaware of the incoming attack!

Han Xian guided the combined force of the others into Xiao Yan's cauldron, intending to disrupt the soul power within.

But after entering Xiao Yan's cauldron, the feedback from his soul perception was nothing like what Han Xian had imagined. The soul power inside Xiao Yan's cauldron was already sparse and scattered, just like that of a beginner.

The punch he had been building up for so long had lost its target entirely, leaving Han Xian briefly bewildered. Yet the situation was developing exactly according to the script he had envisioned.

"Ah! Oh no!" Xiao Yan cried out as well. His cauldron began to tremble, then exploded with a bang before anyone could react!

The commentator outside the arena voiced his regret. "Looks like Senior Xiao Yan was still affected, but there's still a chance... Huh? Why is there so much smoke from that cauldron explosion?!"

Indeed, when those two had blown up their cauldrons earlier, they had merely ended up looking a little grimy. But Xiao Yan's was no mere cloud of dust. Gray smoke shot into the sky and filled the entire venue in an instant, shrouding the testing grounds so thoroughly that no one could see a single figure!

Calling it the detonation of a smoke bomb would not have been an exaggeration!

And in truth, it really was a smoke bomb specially made by Xiao Yan!

Having noticed Han Xian and the others' strange behavior long ago, how could Xiao Yan have truly been refining pills? He had merely poured in Dou Qi to raise the flames, then used the chance while adding ingredients to hide the smoke pills he had developed for killing people—ptui! For punishing evil and eliminating wickedness—inside his cauldron. He wanted to see what sort of gift Han Xian had prepared for him!

So, when he sensed someone using soul power to invade his cauldron, although he was surprised by how Han Xian had managed it, Xiao Yan still took the initiative to blow up the cauldron at once!

Then, under the cover of the blinding fog, Xiao Yan rushed toward Han Xian's position. He had not created all this smoke for fun!

The formation around Han Xian was broken the moment Xiao Yan's cauldron exploded. As the one leading it, Han Xian was struck by a wave of dizziness. While he was still wondering why the cauldron had suddenly exploded when he had not injured Xiao Yan, a voice rang out beside his ear:

"So this is Senior Han's grand gift. If this junior doesn't return the favor, wouldn't that make me rude?"

Han Xian was startled. He was not skilled in combat and had not reacted at all before Xiao Yan had already slipped close to him.

"You—"

Xiao Yan's fist slammed into his face, forcibly punching Han Xian's words back down his throat. What followed could barely be called a fight—it was simply a one-sided beating!

Han Xian was only a Four-Star Dou Master to begin with, and even that level had been reached only after consuming quite a few pills. With how unstable his Dou Qi was, he was not even in the same league as battle-hardened Xiao Yan.

Not to mention that he had already been left dizzy by the backlash, and Xiao Yan had ambushed him to seize the initiative. He had not the slightest ability to resist!

As the smoke gradually dispersed, the people within the testing grounds returned to everyone's sight. However, they quickly noticed that someone was lying on the ground.

"It's Han Xian! He passed out?"

"Senior Han Xian!"

The test participants hurried over and surrounded Han Xian's fallen body. Even the elder presiding over the test came over.

"What happened?"

Faced with the elder's question, the few people around Han Xian hesitated, looking from Han Xian to the elder without knowing what to say.

Xiao Yan spoke calmly.

"Elder, Senior Han Xian probably encountered a problem while refining pills. He suffered a backlash and fainted."

The faces of everyone around them twitched. And you have the nerve to say that? Never mind his other injuries—what kind of alchemy backlash leaves such a clear fist mark on someone's face?

The elder was not blind either. But after giving the unruffled Xiao Yan a deep look, he neither confirmed nor denied it. He had someone take Han Xian away for treatment and said nothing further about the fist mark on Han Xian's face.

In fact, when that strange smoke had risen earlier, the elder had swept the entire venue with his soul power. He had naturally seen Xiao Yan's actions, but he had also noticed Han Xian's suspicious behavior. Combined with the inexplicable cauldron explosions beforehand and the strange expressions on everyone's faces, he had already guessed seven or eight parts of the truth.

But with age came wisdom. Han Xian had his family backing him, while Xiao Yan was also a student valued by Fire Elder of the Alchemy Department. The elder could not be bothered to involve himself in that mess. Han Xian was not dead, so let it be considered an alchemy backlash.

Seeing the elder's indifferent attitude toward Han Xian, the others hesitated as well. Outsiders might not know, but how could they not? They had accepted Han Xian's benefits to deal with Xiao Yan, and now Han Xian had been beaten unconscious. Who else could have done it but Xiao Yan?

Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised too. He had not expected the elder to take this attitude. After all, there was no concrete evidence that Han Xian had plotted against him. If everyone present stubbornly insisted that they knew nothing, the matter could still become troublesome.

But now, it had naturally saved him quite a bit of trouble.

He quickly adjusted his mood. Since Han Xian, the leader, had already left the field, there should no longer be a problem. Still, just to be safe...

"Hold on, Seniors."

The two people Xiao Yan stopped were the same two whose cauldrons had exploded before his. Startled by his call, they looked at Xiao Yan warily.

"W-what do you want?"

Xiao Yan smiled as he "reminded" them.

"Your cauldrons exploded earlier too, Seniors. You both don't look to be in very good condition. How about withdrawing from the test?"

Hearing Xiao Yan tell them to leave, the two were naturally unwilling. The rewards for passing this test were substantial, not something they could casually give up.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan's expression turned cold, and his tone became a little more serious.

"You'd both be better off withdrawing from the test. Otherwise, I'm afraid you might end up like Senior Han and get hurt!"

Feeling Xiao Yan's undisguised threat, the two did not dare say anything more. Han Xian, the strongest among them, had been knocked unconscious without even making a sound. How could they compare? If Xiao Yan used the same trick again, they did not think they would fare any better than Han Xian.

They secretly glanced at the elder behind them, only to find that he had no intention of intervening. They could only leave in disgrace.

Xiao Yan swept his gaze over the others. They all lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. Two particularly timid ones even withdrew from the test on their own, terrified that Xiao Yan would use the same method against them.

In the blink of an eye, only three people remained in the test. Xiao Yan felt there should be no more problems now, so he returned to his position. Only then did he finally relax and prepare to focus on refining pills properly.

By the time Xiao Yan handed his successfully refined pill to the elder for inspection, he was the only person left in the arena. The final two who had remained were perhaps too distracted to focus at all.

The sounds of medicinal ingredients crackling and bursting in Xiao Yan's flames were perfectly normal, yet they left the two of them on edge. They repeatedly made mistakes with the flames in their cauldrons and ultimately failed to refine any pills...

After announcing that Xiao Yan had passed the test, the elder let out a long sigh. Only one student from the Alchemy Department had passed the End-of-Term Test this year. That was a result he could hardly explain away.

Of course, that had nothing to do with Xiao Yan. Since these people had joined forces to harm him, he naturally had no sympathy for them. The fact that he was not gloating was already generous enough.

The spectators did not understand what had happened. They only saw that a single person had passed the test, and with Lu Mu's utterly shameless commentary added to the mix, Xiao Yan was immediately enthusiastically surrounded by the crowd after leaving the arena.

That day, Xiao Yan spent quite a long time trying to get away from them.