I'll Teach You a Few Medicinal Formulas

Cai Lin said nothing, but she glared at Xiao Yan, her teeth worrying her lower lip. She looked embarrassed and annoyed, with something else in her expression that was harder to name.

Their delicate bodies could hardly withstand Xiao Yan's strength. With the Ox Talisman and years of Body Refining behind him, even a casual squeeze from him could crack stone and split metal.

Xiao Yan felt rather helpless about it. He quickly drew on the Horse Talisman to heal them both.

Its gentle power swept over them, and the red marks and pain vanished. Their tender skin was as good as new.

While he tended to them, Xiao Yan gained a general understanding of the sisters' current condition.

"Judging by how you are now, it'll probably be some time before your evolution is complete," Xiao Yan said after a moment's thought.

The sisters knew that well enough. They still could not return to human form whenever they wished, but compared with sleeping all day as they had before, being able to come out for air now and then was already a great improvement.

"I'm going to sleep. What about you two?" Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow as darkness fell, his gaze moving between the sisters.

There was only one bed in the room. What he had in mind was obvious enough: the three of them could squeeze in together.

"In your dreams," Cai Lin muttered. Cai Die made a playful face at him.

The sisters exchanged a glance, matching sly smiles spreading across their lips, then swayed toward Xiao Yan on their supple snake tails.

Watching the two beautiful Snake-People draw closer, Xiao Yan swallowed and opened his arms, eagerly awaiting their embrace.

But before his expectant eyes, soft, colorful light suddenly bloomed around the sisters.

When it faded, the beautiful Snake-People were gone. In their place were two round-headed Little Sky Swallowing Pythons, blinking their big eyes innocently.

"Damn it, you did that on purpose!" Xiao Yan blurted, staring at the two little creatures and their guileless faces.

The Little Sky Swallowing Pythons flew up to him, one on either side, blinking so innocently it was almost convincing.

"I wasn't talking to you two." Xiao Yan sighed helplessly. He put on a gentle smile and rubbed their heads.

They narrowed their eyes in pleasure under his touch, even lifting the tips of their little tails.

Since he could not fall asleep holding the beautiful Snake-People, Xiao Yan settled for taking the two Little Sky Swallowing Pythons to bed.

He carefully placed them on his chest and soon fell fast asleep.

The little creatures behaved themselves, lying quietly on his chest and sleeping soundly.

The next day, Xiao Yan did not wake until the sun was high.

Out of habit, he called for his teacher. The ring remained silent.

After a brief, groggy pause, Xiao Yan remembered something and snapped fully awake.

"Oh no. I forgot to lift the Restriction on Master."

The two women had distracted him so thoroughly last night that he had forgotten all about Yao Lao.

Xiao Yan's eyelid twitched. He hurriedly withdrew the Sheep Talisman's power.

"Master... are you... all right?" he asked the ring cautiously.

"I'm fine. You, on the other hand, ought to look after your health. After carrying on all night, would you like me to teach you a few medicinal formulas?" Yao Lao drifted slowly out of the Storage Ring, a knowing smile on his face.

Xiao Yan was still young, after all. Yao Lao was genuinely worried that his body might not be up to it.

"Master... please don't tease me." Xiao Yan scratched his head, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

Yao Lao thought he had spent the night in the arms of two beauties. In truth, he had slept alone, holding two little snakes.

After chatting with Yao Lao for a while, Xiao Yan collected himself, changed into a loose black robe, and hid his face beneath its hood. Then he set off for the Black Seal City Auction House.

There was no auction today, and the entrance was quiet, with only a few people coming and going.

Xiao Yan stepped inside. A staff member led him to a quiet Trading Room.

An elderly attendant sat within. The moment Xiao Yan entered, the man's practiced eyes swept over him from head to toe.

The black robe hid Xiao Yan's face, but not his composed bearing. A fawning smile spread across the old man's wrinkled face, and he came forward, rubbing his hands together.

"What would you like to buy, honored guest?" the old man asked with a smile and a bow.

In their line of work, knowing how to treat a customer mattered. They could usually tell at a glance whether someone had money to spend.

The old man had plainly placed Xiao Yan among the wealthy.

Xiao Yan first listed a string of Medicinal Herbs. Once the old man had noted them down, he unhurriedly described the fragmentary map.

Xiao Yan had the strength to back him up, so he had no need to worry about such things.

The old man searched his memory for a moment, and his expression shifted slightly.

Come to think of it, the old scrap of cloth that had repeatedly failed to sell at the Auction House sounded very much like what Xiao Yan had described.

The cloth looked tattered, but it was extraordinarily tough. The appraisers had tried every method they knew. They could neither burn it nor uncover the slightest clue about it.

The old man's eyes flickered, though his smile did not change. "Please have a seat for a moment, honored guest. I'll be right back."

With that, he hurried out of the Trading Room.

But instead of heading to the Storage Room where the map fragment was kept, he went straight to a room in the deepest part of the Auction House.

It belonged to Yuan Yi, master of the Eight Gates and the man who controlled the Auction House.

The old man came before Yuan Yi and recounted everything that had happened.

Yuan Yi was a middle-aged man with a somewhat fierce face. He leaned back in his broad chair, tapping a finger against the armrest in a dull, steady rhythm.

After a long silence, he slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed in them. "He wants to buy that scrap of cloth? Could someone know its secret?"

Yuan Yi had long been deeply curious about the mysterious cloth.

He was a Dou Huang expert. Anything he could not destroy even at full strength had to hold some unknown secret.

He had put the cloth up for auction in the first place to try his luck and see whether it would draw out someone who recognized it.

"Master, what should we do next?" the old man asked, bending respectfully as he awaited instructions.

"How strong is he? Could you tell who he was?" Yuan Yi did not rush to a decision. First, he questioned the old man closely about Xiao Yan.

No one who could establish a foothold and build a power base in the Black-Corner Region was a fool. Yuan Yi would not charge in without first gauging the other party.

"He wore a black robe that concealed both his face and his cultivation... But judging by his voice, he should be quite young," the old man replied, still bent at the waist. "A young man." He reported his first impression of Xiao Yan exactly as it was.

Yuan Yi fell silent for a moment. The tapping of his finger against the armrest gradually slowed.