The night in Black Rock City carried the dry chill unique to the desert. By the time Xiao Yan returned to the Wind and Sand Inn beneath the moonlight, only a handful of pedestrians remained on the streets. The city guards were changing shifts, their breath rising in white clouds, and paid little attention to the young cultivator who came and went in such haste—exactly as he wanted.
When he pushed open his room door, Yao Lao's soul form was hovering by the window, gazing at the pitch-black desert beyond the city. Only after sensing Xiao Yan's return did he slowly turn around. His translucent figure was more solid than yesterday; clearly, he had recovered a good deal of soul power.
"Quite a haul from that little trip?" There was a probing note in Yao Lao's voice. His gaze fell on the grains of sand Xiao Yan had failed to brush from the hem of his clothes, their edges faintly bearing scorching marks.
Xiao Yan took off his pack and casually tossed several chunks of black iron ore onto the table—he had bought them at the market to conceal his actual movements. With just the right hint of weariness on his face, he rubbed his temples. "I ran around more than half the city, but all I heard were rumors chasing the wind and clutching at shadows. The Mo Family really is looking for me, and they've offered a hefty bounty, but no one knows I'm here in Black Rock City."
He deliberately skipped over his disposal of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group and the Mo Family pursuers, mentioning only inconsequential matters. At the same time, he suppressed his four-star Dou Shi aura a little further, making himself look more like someone who had just survived a fierce battle and had yet to recover.
Yao Lao nodded without asking any more questions, merely pointing to a small porcelain bottle on the table. "These Body-Tempering Pills were refined using the residual flames of the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame. Take one. It will stabilize your current cultivation. Remember, once you return, you must not reveal your true strength. Wutan City may seem peaceful, but dark currents churn beneath the surface. The Xiao Clan, the Nalan Family, and other hidden forces are all watching your movements."
"I understand, Master." Xiao Yan took the porcelain bottle and poured out a crimson pill. The moment it touched the air, it released a faint lingering warmth of green fire. It melted in his mouth, and a gentle yet domineering energy slid down his throat, instantly flowing through every limb and bone. It completely smoothed away the "hidden injuries" left by his earlier staged battle—which were actually a sluggishness in his dou qi that he had deliberately preserved.
He sat cross-legged, pretending to regulate his breathing, while secretly reviewing everything he had gained on this journey: the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame had been fully refined, and his concealed strength had reached Peak Dou Ling; he had imprinted the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map in his mind with soul power, while the original lay hidden deep inside his Storage Ring; the Mo Family's desert forces had been uprooted, and the threat posed by the Otherworlder had been completely eliminated. More importantly, his understanding of the system's rules had deepened another level—as long as his disguise was convincing enough, even using power far beyond his current realm could be judged as "consistent with the hidden settings."
"We'll leave for Wutan City first thing tomorrow morning," Yao Lao's voice sounded beside his ear. "The Mo Family still has roots in the heartland of the Jia Ma Empire. We shouldn't linger in Black Rock City. Take the trade route back. Traveling with a caravan will be safest, and least likely to attract attention."
Xiao Yan opened his eyes and nodded.
Before dawn the next day, Xiao Yan changed into an even more inconspicuous set of gray cloth clothes. Carrying a pack stuffed with coarse cloth and dry provisions, he slipped into a caravan heading toward Wutan City and quietly left Black Rock City. The caravan's guard captain was an experienced Dou Shi. Seeing that Xiao Yan was merely a young cultivator at the "Early-Stage Dou Shi" who had paid two silver coins for passage, he casually assigned him to the rear of the group with several laborers.
The caravan's journey was slow and dull. They traveled beneath the blazing sun by day and camped on the Gobi flats at night. Xiao Yan spent most of his time silently following at the rear, either pretending to study the plants along the roadside or closing his eyes to "rest." When someone occasionally spoke to him, he offered only a few brief replies, carving the words "keep a low profile" into his very bones.
His emperor realm soul, however, never relaxed, constantly covering a radius of ten li. The caravan was a jumble of fish and dragons: wandering cultivators looking to take advantage, spies observing in secret, and even several assassins with concealed auras, evidently targeting some item among the caravan's cargo. Yet none of them gave Xiao Yan a second thought. This seemingly unremarkable youth was like a grain of sand in the desert, utterly inconspicuous.
They did encounter trouble along the way. A band of Desert Bandits set its sights on the caravan. Their leader was a fierce, one-eyed outlaw at Peak Dou Master, and when he charged from behind a dune with more than thirty desperate cutthroats waving curved blades, the caravan instantly descended into chaos.
The guard captain roared as he organized their resistance, but the one-eyed outlaw kept him occupied, forcing him to scramble from one side to the other. Several laborers collapsed in terror, about to be cut down by the bandits.
Xiao Yan hid behind a cargo crate, seemingly panic-stricken, while his right hand quietly gripped the dagger concealed in his sleeve. He did not act immediately, instead waiting for the right moment—he had to keep his strength hidden while ensuring the caravan made it through safely. After all, he still needed its cover.
Just as a blade struck the guard captain's shoulder and the bandits were about to break through the defensive line, Xiao Yan "accidentally" tripped over a rope at his feet and crashed into a nearby earthenware jar filled with fire oil. The jar shattered, spilling pungent oil across the ground, where it happened to flow beneath the feet of several bandits at the front.
At the same time, he flicked an almost imperceptible wisp of green flame from his fingertip, letting it fall onto the oil like a spark.
Boom!
Flames erupted instantly, forming a wall of fire that cut the bandits' charge in two. Several bandits at the front were engulfed at once, screaming as they rolled to the ground.
"Damn it! Where did that fire come from?" Shock and fury gripped the one-eyed outlaw, and his assault faltered.
The guard captain seized the opening, fighting through the pain to counterattack and slash the one-eyed outlaw's arm.
The sudden blaze threw the bandits into disarray. Seeing their leader wounded sent their morale plummeting. The guards took the opportunity to strike back and soon routed them.
Once the chaos had subsided, the guard captain approached Xiao Yan with a hand pressed over his wound and patted his shoulder. "Young brother, thank goodness you crashed into that jar today. Otherwise, we'd all have been finished!" He simply assumed Xiao Yan had gotten lucky and saved everyone by accident.
Rubbing his knee, which hurt from the fall, Xiao Yan wore an expression of "lingering terror." "I... I didn't mean to..."
The laborers and caravan members around him now looked at him differently, with gratitude and a measure of awe. A seemingly clueless youth had somehow stumbled into a great accomplishment. His luck was simply outrageous.
Xiao Yan offered no explanation. He merely lowered his head and continued quietly gathering things, as though what had just happened had nothing to do with him. He knew that being labeled "lucky" could sometimes protect him better than being called "powerful."
The rest of the journey went much more smoothly. Perhaps the blaze had intimidated the others harboring ill intentions, for the caravan suffered no further attacks. More than ten days later, Wutan City's outline finally appeared on the horizon.
From a distance, Wutan City's walls looked taller and larger than those of Black Rock City. People streamed through the gates, making it even livelier than when he had left several months ago. Xiao Yan noticed that the number of guards at the gates had doubled, and every one of them possessed a steady aura. Security had clearly been tightened recently.
"It seems Wutan City hasn't been peaceful these past few months either," Yao Lao's voice sounded in his mind.
Xiao Yan nodded and stayed at the rear of the caravan, slowly approaching the gate with the flow of people. The guards were indeed much more meticulous. They checked travel documents and scrutinized everyone entering the city. Their gazes lingered on him briefly, but seeing only an ordinary cultivator, with caravan members to vouch for him, they waved him through.
The moment he stepped into Wutan City, an inexplicable twinge of emotion stirred in Xiao Yan's heart. When he had left several months ago, he had still been the "good-for-nothing" mocked by the entire city, burdened with the humiliation of a broken engagement. Now he returned wielding heavenly flames, his strength far surpassing that of most people in the city, yet he still had to wear that "good-for-nothing" mask.
The streets bustled with pedestrians, and the cries of vendors remained familiar. Head lowered, Xiao Yan hurried across the main street toward the Xiao Clan. He could feel several concealed gazes settling on him. One came from a tea shop on the street corner, its aura cold and sinister, carrying undisguised hostility—it belonged to someone from the Nalan Family.
It seemed that even after Nalan Yanran had broken off their engagement, the Nalan Family had not eased its surveillance of him.
Xiao Yan continued walking as though he had noticed nothing and soon reached the entrance to the Xiao Clan Residence. The familiar vermilion gates were shut, and the bronze door knockers bore more verdigris than before. The two guards at the entrance froze when they saw Xiao Yan, then their faces filled with surprise.
"Is... is that Young Master Xiao Yan?" one guard stammered. They had both been present when Xiao Yan's engagement was broken off several months ago. Later, they had heard that the young master had gone to the Magical Beast Mountain Range in a fit of anger and never returned. Many in the clan had assumed something had happened to him.
Xiao Yan nodded, his voice calm. "I'm back. Open the gates."
The guards hurriedly nodded and bowed as they drew back the bolt. Watching Xiao Yan enter the residence, they exchanged glances and saw the same puzzlement in each other's eyes—something about Young Master Xiao Yan seemed different. His aura was still so weak, yet he gave off an indescribable sense of pressure, like a sword hidden in its sheath: ordinary at a glance, but concealing a keen edge.
Passing through the familiar courtyards, Xiao Yan headed toward his own quarters. Several servants he met along the way looked surprised to see him, and their whispers reached his ears.
"Young Master Xiao Yan is back?"
"He's actually still alive?"
"I heard he went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range. He's lucky to have made it back alive..."
Xiao Yan turned a deaf ear and went straight to his secluded little courtyard. When he pushed open the gate, he found weeds grown half as tall as a person and a stone table covered in dust. Clearly, no one had tended the place in a long time.
He sighed softly, not for himself, but for the cold treatment the original owner of this body had endured.
"Clean it up first. This will be your foothold from now on." Yao Lao's voice carried a hint of world-worn weariness.
Xiao Yan nodded. Rather than using dou qi, he found a broom and a cloth and began cleaning bit by bit. Sunlight filtered through the window lattice into the room, and dust danced in its beams. His movements were slow and meticulous, as though he were performing an exceedingly important task.
Only he knew that he was not merely cleaning the courtyard, but also putting his own state of mind in order. Falling from the emperor realm, crossing worlds and being reborn, binding himself to the system, hiding his strength... He had experienced so much along the way. Only by preserving this calm could he tread more steadily and go farther through the whirlpool that lay ahead.
By sunset, the little courtyard was finally neat again. Xiao Yan sat on the freshly cleaned stone stool, watching the evening clouds and gently stroking his Storage Ring. Deep within it, the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame slumbered quietly, radiating warm power.
The turmoil in Wutan City had only just begun. And he was ready.
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