Xiao Yu Turns the Natural Order on Its Head

After an auction ended, some rejoiced at acquiring their desired items amid fierce competition, while others were dejected after falling just short. But Jia Lie Bi was the only one who had lost more than ten thousand gold coins.

Although Xiao Zhan had not obtained the Spirit Gathering Liquid, seeing Jia Lie Bi suffer such a setback was still a delight.

After returning to the Xiao Family, Xiao Yan gave Xiao Zhan three bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid he had refined, telling him to give two to his elder brothers and use the remaining bottle to explain matters to the elders.

Only then did Xiao Zhan understand why Xiao Yan had told him not to buy the Spirit Gathering Liquid. Their family had something even better.

In his excitement, Xiao Zhan suddenly realized something. Medicinal liquid... His son had become an alchemist, and a second-tier one at that?!

Xiao Zhan wanted to ask for clarification, but Xiao Yan had already dashed toward the rear mountain.

Having fused with Beast Flame, Xiao Yan naturally wanted to test it out in alchemy.

With a flick of his finger, a wisp of brilliant golden flame shot into the medicinal cauldron. Though tiny, its temperature was no weaker than the great blaze previously generated by the cauldron.

Solid flame was an ability generally possessed only by fourth-tier alchemists. Yet through spending gold, Xiao Yan had fused with Beast Flame and gained this ability while only at the second tier.

After a brief period of adjustment, once Xiao Yan had grown familiar with the Beast Flame, he refined Rejuvenation Powder, Blood-Clotting Powder, and several versions of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid one after another.

Having spent quite some time refining medicine, Xiao Yan easily felt the benefits of Beast Flame. It extracted the essence of medicinal power more quickly, and the medicinal power it tempered was even richer, making the finished products somewhat more effective.

A mere Beast Flame had such miraculous effects. One could imagine just how powerful the Strange Flames said to make all flames bow in submission the moment they appeared must be. No wonder they drove alchemists mad.

"Green Lotus Core Flame..." Xiao Yan murmured, his heart stirred.

To fuse with this Strange Flame, it was best to have the assistance of a Spirit Core, Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and the Blood Lotus Pill.

Xiao Yan knew how to obtain Ice Spirit Cold Spring and also understood the formula for Blood Lotus Pill. He could pile up materials until he eventually succeeded, but Spirit Core was much harder to acquire.

This material was exceedingly rare. It existed only at the very center of high-grade Storage Stones, and even then, it could only be mined with extremely low odds.

The Storage Ring on Xiao Yan's hand, made from a low-grade Storage Stone, had cost seventy or eighty thousand gold coins. One could imagine how precious Spirit Core was.

For this, he came up with two methods.

First, he could go to Canaan Academy and ask Skyfire Venerable.

As one of the few experts on the Dou Qi Continent who had dared to attempt refining multiple Strange Flames, he might possess a special material like Spirit Core.

Unlike Tuoshe Ancient Emperor, Xiao Xuan, and Yan Jin, who had ultimately succeeded, Skyfire Venerable had suffered from poor fortune. He had been besieged by terrifying Flame Lizardmen in the magma.

The strongest among those special creatures could reach the Half-Saint level. Skyfire Venerable had not encountered one of those, but while fusing two Fallen Heart Flames, he had been in poor condition. When Dou Venerate-level Lizardmen attacked him, he suffered fatal injuries.

The second method was to discard the Spirit Core and use the most primitive material: the Green Lotus Seat that had always carried the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Like Fallen Heart Flame, this object could increase cultivation speed. It could also be refined and fused into the body, permanently increasing the meridians' resistance to Strange Flames.

If one Green Lotus Seat was spread throughout the body, its effects would be diminished. It would not compare to its former ability to completely withstand Green Lotus Core Flame, but with two, three, or even more, the entire body would eventually be able to endure that Strange Flame's temperature.

Though Green Lotus Core Flame grew from a plant, its growth was exceedingly slow. It took a hundred years merely to take shape. One Green Lotus Seat was already extraordinarily rare, let alone a second.

But Xiao Yan possessed the Palm-Heaven Bottle, which could ripen things. A single drop of the green liquid it produced could hasten growth by a century, so obtaining several would not be a problem.

After giving it some thought, Xiao Yan continued refining medicine to repay his debt to Mitre.

After descending the mountain, Xiao Yan took out the Seven-Colored Poison Classic and selected a poison capable of putting even a Dou Practitioner into a deep sleep.

The Jialie Family might make a move soon. At such a critical time, personal safety came first.

With his experience as an alchemist, though it was Xiao Yan's first time making poison, he found it rather easy. The medicinal herbs planted in his courtyard proved useful at this time.

At dawn, Xiao Yan rose from the tub of medicinal liquid. By his estimate, this deluxe version of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid would support him until he broke through to a Seven-Star Dou Practitioner.

By then, if he wanted to continue relying on external aids, he might have to replace that magic core with a second-tier one.

Just as Xiao Yan was thinking this, bang, the door was violently shoved open, and a blue figure rushed in.

The young woman had a pair of especially long, sexy jade-like legs. Her white thigh-high stockings squeezed a ring of soft flesh at her thighs, and she wore a short blue dress with a gleaming blue headscarf atop her lovely hair.

Did she not know how to knock? Seeing Xiao Yu at the doorway, Xiao Yan frowned, then quickly realized a problem.

Xiao Yu was truly turning the natural order on its head! He had not peeped at her bathing, yet she had directly broken into his room. Boys had to protect themselves not only outside, but at home as well. He could not let down his guard.

Seeing Xiao Yu frozen in shock, opening her mouth as if to scream, Xiao Yan swiftly leaped out. One hand covered her silent mouth, his foot kicked the door shut, and he dragged the young woman onto the bed.

Xiao Yu struggled fiercely, but with only Battle Qi strength, the gap between her and six-star Dou Practitioner Xiao Yan was far too great. She only exhausted herself until her cheeks flushed red and sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Don't scream!" Xiao Yan said fiercely. "This is my residence. You barged in by force. If anyone should scream, shouldn't it be me?"

Xiao Yu calmed down somewhat. Knowing that even if she had a reason, she had acted rather rashly, she stopped struggling. Catching a refreshing fragrance, her body softened before her heart did, and her cheeks burned.

"I'm letting you go now, but you'd better not scream." Xiao Yan's tone eased, though he remained impolite as he slowly removed his hand.

Seeing that Xiao Yu was being fairly obedient, he asked, "What happened?"

Xiao Yu suddenly came back to herself and only then remembered why she had come. "The Jialie Family found a second-tier alchemist. Since yesterday, they've been selling a healing medicine called Rejuvenation Powder. Mercenaries and adventurers like it very much, and the foot traffic at the Xiao Family market has already been cut in half."

She paused, then continued, "The elders know you've been studying alchemy on your own for some time, so they sent me to find you and have you help think of a solution."

Xiao Yan smiled. "So that's all it is. I thought the sky had fallen. Even if it had, finding me now would be useless. Don't worry. A mere second-tier alchemist can't turn the heavens upside down."

You make it sound as though you'll be able to mend the sky someday? Hearing his enormous tone, Xiao Yu said, "He's an old alchemist with years of experience. Can you really do it?"

Xiao Yan found that hard to understand. "The market is an important source of income for the Lineage. At a time like this, shouldn't you hope that I can do it, and that I can do it very well?"

That was true, but Xiao Yu curled her lips. "I never place much hope in low-probability events. It saves time that might be wasted finding other solutions."

"It's only Rejuvenation Powder." Xiao Yan rubbed the Storage Ring on his finger, took out a jade bottle, and tossed it to Xiao Yu. "You've already wasted quite enough time."

When she opened the cap, a medicinal scent wafted out. Looking at the pale green liquid inside, Xiao Yu found it extremely similar to the medicinal liquid the family had purchased for reference.

"You became an alchemist?!" Xiao Yu stared at Xiao Yan in shock.

Unlike cultivation, among ten thousand people, perhaps only one possessed the potential and aptitude to become an alchemist.

Such harsh requirements meant that alchemists had always been few in number. Any alchemist capable of refining miraculous pills would be courted at any cost by every faction, their status lofty and distinguished.

She froze for a moment, then said joyfully, "Then hurry, let's go."

"You expect me to go like this?" Xiao Yan wore an odd expression.

Seeing Xiao Yan's sturdy body, Xiao Yu hurriedly looked away. Her heart raced, and she did not dare look further. "Then hurry and put on some clothes."

Xiao Yan did not move. "I am the Xiao Family's third young master. I've always cultivated diligently and lived frugally. Now that I've become an alchemist, with countless matters to attend to, shouldn't I have a thoughtful girl to wait on me?"

Xiao Yu knew he was saying this for her to hear. They say alchemists have strange, unfathomable temperaments. I never expected Xiao Yan to develop such a disposition so soon after becoming an alchemist. Could it be that too much contact with medicinal herbs has given him drug poison?

After that strange thought flashed through her mind, Xiao Yu did not dare delay for fear that someone would come looking. After a slight hesitation, she said, "I... I'll dress you, then."

She was the granddaughter of the Xiao Family's First Elder, her status no lower than Xiao Yan's, and had never waited on anyone before. At first, she was somewhat clumsy, but she was still a girl. Before long, she had helped Xiao Yan dress neatly and tied his sash.

Now that she was close enough to examine him carefully, she saw that Xiao Yan's face was as fair as jade beneath a crown, even more handsome than four months ago. If the girls in the Lineage learn that Xiao Yan is not only such a genius in cultivation, but also became an alchemist so quickly, they'll surely become even crazier over him.

She looked for a moment, then did not dare keep looking. Turning her head, she said, "Let's go."

"Wait a moment." Xiao Yan grabbed Xiao Yu's hand and pulled her back.

Xiao Yu's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she saw a palm glowing with golden light press toward her.

Xiao Yan asked, "If someone asks later why such a large patch of your clothes is wet, how will you answer?"

Xiao Yu was stunned by the question. It truly would be difficult to answer honestly, but she had never lied and could not make up an excuse.

After drying Xiao Yu's dress with heat, Xiao Yan pinched the ring of soft flesh pressed out by her lace-trimmed stockings, then smiled and walked out. "Let's go."

Xiao Yu loved her pair of long, sexy legs, to the point of somewhat warped narcissism. She had never expected Xiao Yan to get his hands on them.

Her body stiffened where she stood. Stamping her foot in shame and anger, she quickly chased after him.