Nalan Yanran, your fiancé is coming!

For the next month, Xiao Yan was in no hurry to leave.

The Xiao Clan now had more shops and more guards, and its daily demand for cultivation liquids and wound medicine had risen sharply as well.

He could hardly leave everyone in the clan staring helplessly at the pharmacy the moment he stepped out.

So he first paid a visit to the Mittel Auction House.

Ya Fei took the list of medicinal ingredients. A quick glance brought a brighter smile to her eyes.

"Young Master Xiao, are you planning to empty our storerooms?"

"Prepare a month's supply first. We'll need more later."

Xiao Yan lifted his tea and said with a smile:

"The quality needs to be consistent, and the prices reasonable. The Xiao Clan can purchase ingredients from the auction house long-term."

Ya Fei understood.

A lasting business arrangement, along with a chance to build ties with the Alchemist behind the Xiao Clan—she was naturally more than willing.

After several rounds of discussion, they settled the matter.

Common ingredients would be delivered to the Xiao Clan monthly. Anything temporarily unavailable would be brought in from elsewhere through Mittel's trade routes. If the Xiao Clan had surplus pills, it would also give the auction house priority in selling them on consignment.

With their partnership settled, Xiao Yan added a few materials needed for his own cultivation before taking his leave.

Ya Fei escorted him to the door. Looking back at the list on the table, her brows suddenly twitched.

These ingredients...

They look rather familiar.

With the ingredients sorted out, next came the people who would refine them.

Xiao Yan asked his father to select several young clan members, then narrowed them down to three.

All had advanced to Dou Zhe and practiced fire-attribute cultivation methods. They worked hard and learned to identify ingredients quickly, making them promising seedlings.

But to truly become Alchemists, they still lacked one thing.

A trace of wood attribute in their souls.

That night, in the pharmacy.

Following Xiao Yan's instructions, the three young clan members closed their eyes and regulated their breathing, each with a small medicinal Cauldron beside them.

Bodhi concealed his form and stood nearby. His gaze swept over the three as he transmitted his voice to Xiao Yan:

"These three have reasonably good talent and aptitude."

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up at those words.

The Grandmaster extended a finger. A soft ball of azure light rose at its tip, gently split into three wisps, and sank into their brows.

That pure energy was exceedingly gentle.

It followed their consciousness into its depths, gradually merging with their souls and adding a thread of wood attribute to their predominantly fiery auras.

The three felt only a slight coolness between their brows. Their breathing suddenly grew much easier, and when they opened their eyes again, they could distinguish even the scents of the ingredients in their Cauldrons far more clearly than before.

Watching from the side, Xiao Yan silently marveled. The aptitude for alchemy that countless people sought in vain could actually be supplied by the Grandmaster's hand.

Bodhi withdrew his hand, his voice still reaching Xiao Yan alone.

"I've opened the door for them. How far they go from here will depend on them."

Xiao Yan nodded, then turned and handed over three booklets he had prepared in advance.

"Starting today, I'll teach you to refine medicine."

The three froze for a moment, then rose together, their voices trembling with excitement.

"Thank you, Third Young Master!"

In the days that followed, the pharmacy grew lively.

Identifying ingredients, controlling fire, extracting essences.

Xiao Yan set aside time every day to demonstrate personally, then had the three take turns practicing.

At first, scorching ingredients was a common occurrence.

One let his flames leap so high that he nearly singed off his own eyebrows. Another focused so hard on suppressing the fire that he failed to notice his Cauldron had gone cold.

Xiao Yan stood beside them, the corners of his eyes twitching.

Only then did he realize how little trouble he had given the Grandmaster when learning from him.

Fortunately, the three were eager to learn.

By the end of the month, they could finally extract several common ingredients cleanly and blend medicinal liquids according to the formulas.

Though they still could not refine any respectable pills, they could now take turns handling the Azure Origin Body-Tempering Liquid the clan used daily.

Only after all three completed several consecutive batches without mistakes did Xiao Yan entrust the daily medicinal liquids to them.

Watching the pharmacy grow steadily busier, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he went away in the future, at least he would no longer have to worry about which tub of Medicinal Bath back home was about to run out.

During that month, Xiao Yan visited the auction house several more times.

Sometimes he collected ingredients; sometimes he discussed delivery dates for the next shipment. On one occasion, he even donned a black robe and consigned several bottles of Origin-Nourishing Spirit Liquid under the identity of Mr. Origin Return.

But when he next entered the reception room in his true appearance, Ya Fei's gaze had changed somewhat. "Young Master Xiao, everything you requested today is ready."

She pushed several medicine cases onto the table but did not immediately have anyone carry them out.

Xiao Yan glanced at her.

"Is there something else?"

A smile rose to Ya Fei's lips as she said:

"I'm just a little curious. Why do your preferences for the ages of certain ingredients match Mr. Origin Return's exactly?"

Xiao Yan's hand paused slightly as he lifted his tea.

Ya Fei noticed, and her smile deepened.

"When others buy Redleaf Grass, they usually ask about its age first. Mr. Origin Return, however, specifically said he would rather have younger plants than any with blackened roots."

"When you selected ingredients a few days ago, you said the same thing."

Xiao Yan set down his teacup and smiled.

"Perhaps we learned from the same person."

"That certainly is possible." Ya Fei nodded lightly, then took out an empty Jade Bottle. "But when Mr. Origin Return seals a bottle, he always wraps a thin cord twice around its mouth and hides the knot behind the stopper. The bottle of medicine you brought last time was sealed the same way."

Xiao Yan looked down and could not help laughing.

He had casually left that bottle of medicine for an auction house porter who had injured his hand. He had not given it much thought at the time, yet had left behind such a small clue.

Those two things alone could not fully prove anything.

But seeing Ya Fei's probing expression, Xiao Yan could not be bothered to keep dancing around the issue.

"Miss Ya Fei, you have a sharp eye."

A gleam flashed through Ya Fei's eyes.

She had actually guessed correctly! The Xiao Clan's mysterious Alchemist and the elderly-voiced Mr. Origin Return at the auction house were both this youth before her?!

For a moment, even with her composure, she could not help giving Xiao Yan several more looks.

"You really know how to keep a secret."

Xiao Yan smiled and said:

"My cultivation was low back then. I had to be careful."

"And now you're willing to admit it?"

"I'm relying on you to purchase all my ingredients. Keeping it hidden would only make things troublesome."

Ya Fei looked at him and smiled as she put the Jade Bottle away. "Don't worry. I'll keep this secret for you."

Xiao Yan nodded.

"Then thank you."

"And stop calling me Miss Ya Fei every other sentence." She refilled Xiao Yan's tea, her tone far more relaxed than before. "Since you've laid your cards on the table, let's consider ourselves friends. If you're short of any ingredients, come straight to me."

Xiao Yan lifted his teacup, and they exchanged a smile.

"All right."

"Then thank you, Sister Ya Fei."

Another week passed.

The ingredient supply was settled, the pharmacy had people to take over, and Xiao Yan had finished refining the batches of pills he needed to leave behind. Only then did he bid his father farewell.

Xiao Zhan stood in the room, looking at his son's packed luggage, still somewhat uneasy.

"Are you sure you don't want me to send a few people with you?"

"Father, your son doesn't need someone looking after him every time he leaves the city." Xiao Yan smiled and patted the longsword on his back. "Besides, Master will be with me."

Only upon hearing that last sentence did the worry between Xiao Zhan's brows slowly ease. Although he had never personally witnessed that expert's abilities, he had already received far too many benefits over these past days.

Having someone like that watching over his son was better than sending a few guards himself.

Yet Xiao Yan did not leave immediately. Instead, he took out a small Jade Bottle and placed it in his father's hand. "Keep this safe."

"More pills?" Xiao Zhan pulled out the stopper. A wisp of delicate fragrance drifted out, and even the Dou Qi within him stirred slightly. Inside the bottle lay a pill with a faint golden sheen.

Xiao Yan's smile faded as he said seriously:

"Master personally refined this for you. Once you've arranged the clan's affairs, you can take it in seclusion and use it to break through to Dou Ling."

Xiao Zhan's hand tightened abruptly at those words.

Dou Ling!

After stalling at Nine-Star Great Dou Master, he had thought about taking that next step, but had no idea how much longer he would have to grind away at it. Now his son had delivered that opportunity right into his hands.

"Yan'er, this..."

Xiao Yan smiled and said:

"Father, just keep it without worry."

"By the time I return, I might have to address you as a Dou Ling expert."

Xiao Zhan stared blankly for a moment, then laughed and scolded:

"You little brat, teasing your father."

Despite his words, his hand never loosened around the Jade Bottle.

Outside the courtyard gate, Xun'er had already been waiting for a while.

When Xiao Yan emerged, she handed him a small cloth bundle filled with dry rations. "Brother Xiao Yan, take this with you. You can eat it if you get hungry on the road."

Xiao Yan accepted it and agreed with a smile.

The young girl looked at him and said softly:

"Once you reach the Imperial Capital, remember to send a letter home."

"I will."

Xiao Yan waved to his father and Xun'er, shouldered his luggage, and turned to walk out through the Xiao Clan's main gate.

Morning light fell at the end of the street. The longsword on the youth's back swayed gently, but his steps never stopped.

"Nalan Yanran, your fiancé is coming!"

The Imperial Capital.

The Misty Cloud Sect.

It was time he went to meet that fiancée of his.