An Unwelcome Visitor

After returning to the clan, Xiao Yan had wanted to spend some intimate time with Little Fairy Doctor, only to learn that she had already found a cultivation chamber and entered seclusion.

Little Fairy Doctor had been able to directly attempt a breakthrough to the Great Dou Master realm back in the Tagore Great Desert, but she had postponed it because she needed to return to Wutan City with Xiao Yan. Now that they had settled down in the Xiao Clan, she naturally had to resume her secluded cultivation and make her breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Qinglian also threw herself into cultivation. After all, among Xiao Yan's group, Qinglian had the weakest cultivation. She could currently rely on her third-tier Sand Python to barely fight Little Fairy Doctor to a draw, but once Little Fairy Doctor broke through to the Great Dou Master realm, a Sand Python without a special bloodline likely would not last three exchanges against her.

As for clan affairs, each matter was handled by the people in charge, so there was no need to trouble Xiao Yan.

After making a round and discovering that he had nothing to do, Xiao Yan went to the cave dwelling he had previously opened up in the back mountain.

Several years ago, when he still did not know that Yao Lao had already dissipated, he had imagined cultivating with Yao Lao and prepared this cave dwelling for that purpose. Although it ultimately went unused, its furnishings were all complete. Naturally, it included an alchemy chamber.

Although the pills obtained from the Mo Clan were enough for the Xiao Clan to sell for a while, Xiao Yan was idle anyway. He decided to start refining pills, which would also let him practice his alchemy skills.

Under normal circumstances, refining first- and second-tier pills offered no benefit to a fourth-tier alchemist like Xiao Yan. He might even become rusty at refining high-tier pills if he did it for too long.

So Xiao Yan was naturally not refining pills in the usual way.

In one breath, he took out ten of the cauldrons he had bought from Gu Ni. Surging Dou Qi transformed into ten streams of blue-red flames, carrying dozens of medicinal ingredients taken from his Storage Ring and separately feeding them into the ten cauldrons.

If anyone else had been present, they would have noticed that the ingredients rolling within the ten cauldrons and the heat used on them were all quite different.

That was right. Xiao Yan was not merely refining ten batches of pills at once; he was refining different pill formulas, such as Blood-Staunching Pills for healing injuries, Strength-Accumulating Pills for boosting strength, and more.

Although doing this could greatly increase his pill-refining efficiency, refining ten batches at once with dozens of ingredients in each was no less complicated than refining a fourth-tier pill. It was also a considerable trial for Xiao Yan. But unsurprisingly, an accident was about to happen soon.

Just as one of the faster-refining batches was about to emerge from the cauldron, the energy within suddenly fluctuated before swiftly expanding. By the time Xiao Yan reacted, it was already beyond saving.

Boom!

An explosion rang out, accompanied by a plume of black smoke. Fortunately, Xiao Yan protected the remaining cauldrons in time, so the other nine had not encountered any problems.

When was the last time he had blown up a cauldron while refining a first-tier pill? Xiao Yan mocked himself inwardly, but he was not discouraged. After all, it was only natural to be somewhat unaccustomed to it the first time.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and continued refining the remaining nine cauldrons.

Time flew by. Xiao Yan was already a fourth-tier alchemist, and he also possessed Yao Lao's alchemy notes. Refining pills with multiple cauldrons was naturally not particularly difficult for him.

In just five days, Xiao Yan could steadily refine ten batches of first-tier pills at the same time.

At the same time, the first-tier pill ingredients Ya Fei had delivered three days ago had also been completely used up.

Looking at the hundreds of jade bottles filled with pills scattered across the floor, Xiao Yan's lips curved slightly upward. After stretching lazily, he walked outside, intending to relax properly.

The moment he emerged from the cave dwelling, Xiao Yan saw a green-clad figure hurrying toward him. It was Qinglian!

"Young Master Xiao Yan, you've finally come out!" Seeing Xiao Yan appear at the entrance, Qinglian's face lit up with delight, and she quickened her pace as she ran to him.

"What is it, Qinglian? Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen?" Xiao Yan casually pinched Qinglian's little cheek and spoke with a smile.

"It's like this, Young Master. Over the past few days, the Xiao Clan's markets have been selling pills one after another, causing the suppression by the other two clans to collapse on its own. Not only that, we've also seized many businesses that originally belonged to them. Now the patriarchs of both clans can't sit still any longer. They've brought people to our Xiao Clan's main hall to make trouble!" Perhaps because she had just run over, Qinglian's face was more flushed than usual, making her look exceptionally lovely.

"So that's what it is. It's fine. Since they've come, we can just kill them." Xiao Yan spoke indifferently, as though the patriarchs of those two clans were nothing more than ants on the ground. Compared to the two clan patriarchs, Qinglian before him was far more worthy of his attention. Her smooth, tender little cheeks were simply too delightful to let go of.

"Oh, Young Master!" Little Qinglian blushed from Xiao Yan's teasing, but she still remembered the instructions given before she came by the clan patriarch—Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan. "Young Master, this time is different from what you expected before. Before Qinglian came, the patriarch told me that the Wutan City Lord would also personally come to the Xiao Clan today to handle this dispute among the three clans. He told you to hurry over!"

"The Wutan City Lord?" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed, and then he let out a cold laugh. "Hmph! The two of them have joined hands to deal with our Xiao Clan for so long, yet I never saw him come to mediate. Now that our Xiao Clan has only been fighting back for five days, he can't sit still anymore. Does he really think our Xiao Clan is made of clay?"

"Exactly! What kind of City Lord is he? He's truly shameless." Qinglian said angrily as well.

However, Xiao Yan was not truly enraged, nor was he even surprised. As the Wutan City Lord, it was perfectly normal for him to join the other two clans in suppressing the Xiao Clan, which showed signs of rising. This had long been expected and was not difficult to understand.

But being able to understand it did not mean that Xiao Yan had no dissatisfaction in his heart.

With a cold snort, Xiao Yan said to Qinglian, "Qinglian, let's go! I'd like to see what tricks these people can come up with."

The Xiao Clan's main hall, where Xiao Yan had been welcomed several days earlier, was now filled with another group of people.

At the head of the hall sat two middle-aged men in luxurious robes, one on each side. The man on the left was Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan. The man on the right was the key figure in this conflict, the Wutan City Lord—Wu Jin!

As the Wutan City Lord, although Wu Jin had not yet reached the Dou Spirit realm, he was still a Peak Great Dou Master. Moreover, he was several years younger than Xiao Zhan. If nothing unexpected happened, he would become a distinguished Dou Spirit within ten years! Then he would no longer need to fear the influence of the other three great clans in Wutan City and could become a true local emperor.

Yet at this moment, Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Clan patriarch, had somehow stumbled into absurdly good fortune. Not only had his cultivation advanced another step, placing him one star above the patriarchs of the other two clans, but all of the sons he had fathered were geniuses as well.

His youngest son, Xiao Yan, was the youngest Dou Fighter in Wutan City. His two older sons were also said to have reached the Dou Master realm. (When Xiao Zhan had let it slip, he had actually said Great Dou Master, but nobody believed him. They thought he had accidentally added the word "Great," so what spread was that they were Dou Masters.)

At that thought, the originally clear sky within Wu Jin's heart seemed to become covered by dark clouds.

To drive away those clouds, Wu Jin instructed the other two clans to start causing trouble for the Xiao Clan. Everything had initially gone smoothly, and the Xiao Clan had indeed been suppressed so badly that it could not lift its head. But for some reason, the Xiao Clan had suddenly begun selling a large number of pills in its markets these past two days, instantly tearing a huge hole through the half-year blockade.

Seeing that the other two clans would not act without seeing profit and had no intention of making further moves, Wu Jin had no choice but to make this trip himself.

Looking at Xiao Zhan, who was seated in a position of honor just like himself, endless resentment welled up within Wu Jin. Fine, a mere Six-Star Great Dou Master already dared to put on airs before me! Very well. Let's see how I deal with you!

Below them, the Xiao Clan's elders and the patriarchs and elders of the Jia Lie Clan and Oba Clan were currently spitting arguments at one another over this incident.