Song Qing

When Xiao Yan woke up, his mood had already recovered. He no longer dwelled on anything, and after getting dressed, he headed to the Pill Tower as usual.

There were no eighth-tier elders lecturing today. Instead, several seventh-tier elders were teaching different subjects, so Xiao Yan's cohort split up accordingly. Xiao Yan chose a lecture called Basics of Drug Properties and Strengths.

"...Generally speaking, the medicinal ingredients used in prescriptions are those with simple properties. However, medicinal herbs grown under normal conditions may undergo subtle changes in their properties depending on factors such as their growing environment. This is something alchemists must pay attention to. Take this Pure Snow Leafless Fruit in my hand as an example..."

After the lecture ended, Xiao Yan and the others stayed behind to ask a few more questions. Compared to the questions asked by senior brothers and sisters who had been in the Pill Tower for years, Xiao Yan's questions were quite elementary, but the elder still guided him with a pleasant expression.

After respectfully bidding farewell to the elder, Xiao Yan was about to return to his residence when a girl stopped him outside the lecture hall.

"Xiao Yan, this is bad! We got beaten up!"

The girl was panicking, but Xiao Yan remained utterly calm. Only one question filled his mind: Who are you? Who is "we"? And who exactly are "they"?

Of course, it would not be accurate to say that Xiao Yan did not recognize the girl at all. He could vaguely remember that she was a disciple from the same cohort, but as for her name, Xiao Yan truly had no idea.

As for her anxious expression, Xiao Yan ignored it entirely. What a joke. This was the Pill Tower. If something really happened, would it ever be his turn to lend a hand?

"Don't panic. Explain what happened first. Who beat whom?"

Xiao Yan quietly dodged the hand reaching for his arm and asked calmly. The girl was stunned when she heard his question, apparently not expecting Xiao Yan to ask questions rather than immediately follow her. Only then did she begin explaining haltingly.

From the girl's description, Xiao Yan roughly understood what had happened.

After another elder's lecture ended, a group of them encountered a little girl in red on their way out. Perhaps Cao Dan had found her pretty and teased her a few times. Who would have thought that the little girl would attack outright? Naturally, Cao Dan's lackeys were not about to stand by and watch him get beaten up, so they all rushed at her...

And got beaten up together.

"...And... and that little girl also said... said that all the Pill Tower disciples in our cohort are useless trash who only got where they are by pill-popping! She said she alone could take on a whole group of us!"

Xiao Yan wore an expression as though that was perfectly natural.

"That's true."

"..."

The girl's indignant emotions were abruptly thrown into disarray by Xiao Yan's response.

Naturally, Xiao Yan excluded himself from that assessment. Other than him, the strongest was Cao Ying. She could not even last two exchanges against him. At that level, being called someone who had cultivated by pill-popping was not exactly wrong.

Xiao Yan did not know who the little girl in red was, but the fact that she had beaten up that many disciples without anyone stepping in to stop her was enough to show that her identity was extraordinary.

Moreover, she was clearly a cultivator of battle qi. Xiao Yan deduced that she was most likely the descendant of some high-ranking Pill Tower figure.

As for being insulted? Xiao Yan cared even less. She had insulted those people who cultivated by pill-popping. What did that have to do with him, Xiao Yan?

He could not be bothered to provoke such an inexplicable person. Proper cultivation was more important.

"Not interested. Farewell." Xiao Yan turned and left.

"Huh?" The girl had yet to recover from Xiao Yan's "that's true" when she realized he had already walked away. She hurriedly asked, "Aren't you going over to take a look?"

Without turning his head, Xiao Yan replied, "No need."

After taking two steps, Xiao Yan suddenly turned around and walked back.

"Huh, you're willing to go now?" The girl looked rather delighted.

"Perhaps." Xiao Yan smiled faintly, then asked, "But before that, I have one question for you."

The girl was confused, but she still nodded. "Go ahead."

"Who sent you to find me?"

Xiao Yan had suddenly thought of that question. After entering the Pill Tower, he had not displayed his strength to anyone other than Cao Ying. Who would think of seeking him out at a time like this?

Given Cao Ying's proud nature, asking Xiao Yan for help would be no different from lowering her head to him. That was simply impossible. Besides, based on Xiao Yan's impression of her, she did not seem like the sort of person who would ask anyone for help over her foolish younger brother.

Then other than Cao Ying, if someone had called for him without knowing his strength, no matter how he looked at it, this did not seem like a good thing.

"Ah... this... no... no one. I came to find you myself." The girl was clearly startled and only managed to get the words out after stammering for a while.

Xiao Yan curled his lips. Her acting was even worse than Wu Hao's. Then his voice turned colder. He was no longer polite as he threatened her.

"If you insist on taking this on alone, then calling me over at a time like this is clearly setting up a fellow disciple. According to Pill Tower rules, you should be expelled from the Pill Tower! Do you want me to report this?"

Xiao Yan was completely bluffing her. He did not even know how many rules the Pill Tower had, let alone whether her actions could count as harming a fellow disciple.

But young people had little experience. The moment she heard "expelled from the Pill Tower," she panicked and hurriedly spoke with a tearful voice.

"Song Qing! Song Qing told me to come get you."

The girl in red was originally the pretty and delicate type, but there was a heroic air between her brows and in her bearing. At that moment, she stood there with her hands on her hips. Disciples lay scattered all around her, groaning endlessly. She was even stepping on the arm of Cao Dan, who was either pretending to be unconscious or truly knocked out. Several meters away stood another group. Though they were all men much taller and more imposing than the girl, they only dared to face off against her from a distance. Compared to the girl's calm and carefree expression, their faces were filled with fear and hesitation.

There were countless people coming and going within the Pill Tower. Passersby were all puzzled by what had happened, but not a single one truly stopped or intervened. Most of the spectators of this grand spectacle were disciples from Xiao Yan's cohort.

When Xiao Yan arrived, this was the scene he saw. He decisively joined the group watching from the back and deliberately made his presence known.

"Brother Dan Xuan, little sister Dan Chen." Xiao Yan's calm but deliberately unlowered voice quickly drew everyone's attention.

When Dan Xuan noticed Xiao Yan, he hurriedly greeted him with a smile. "It's you. Why did you only get here now?"

Dan Chen also lowered her head to greet Xiao Yan. Over there, Cao Ying rolled her eyes when she saw Xiao Yan arrive, while several people in the crowd began looking at him strangely.

Xiao Yan pretended not to notice and cheerfully picked up Dan Xuan's words. "I should be asking you that. Why are you still here instead of leaving? This has nothing to do with you, does it?"

Dan Xuan seemed a little embarrassed by the question. He gestured for Xiao Yan to lean closer, then whispered into his ear, "This is a Cao Family member getting beaten up. How could I possibly miss it?"

That answer truly shocked Xiao Yan. Well, well, Dan Xuan. Who would have thought that someone with such an honest-looking face would also be the type to kick someone when they were down? Truly...

Great minds thought alike!

Xiao Yan and Dan Xuan exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter amid the astonished looks of the people around them.

Everyone was happy to see someone surnamed Cao suffer misfortune!