Seven days later.
"Brother Xiao Yan, aren't you planning to take the Jia Nan Academy entrance exam in a while?"
"I hear their teachers include experts at the Dou Emperor level, and even Dou Zong."
Beside him, Xun'er clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head, asking softly as she watched Xiao Yan's unenthusiastic expression.
Jia Nan Academy was renowned throughout the Dou Qi Continent. Everyone admitted there possessed outstanding talent.
"That's right, Brother Yan. With your talent, Jia Nan Academy would definitely nurture you as one of their core students!"
"I don't know why that fellow Xiao Tian turned them down back then, but I bet he'll regret it someday."
On their way to attend the auction at the Mittel Auction House, Xiao Ning had somehow joined the crowd around Xiao Yan.
Xiao Ning had already broken through to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi. Before long, he could use that Qi Gathering Powder to attempt his breakthrough to Dou Zhe. As a result, he had been growing more spirited by the day.
"Besides, the person handling recruitment in the Wutan City area next time happens to be my sister's instructor!"
"Even if the academy is packed with prodigies, I'll have my sister sacrifice a little of her insignificant beauty if that's what it takes to get Brother Yan into the best class!"
As Xiao Ning prattled on, selling out his sister for favor, he completely failed to notice Xiao Yu's livid face behind him or the ferocious, man-eating glare in her eyes.
One kick from those legs looked as though it could outlast Xiao Ning's entire life.
"What could I learn in an ivory tower like an academy?"
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and drawled, utterly uninterested.
"When Xiao Tian left the Xiao Clan alone, he said he was going to travel the continent. Am I supposed to stay in an academy, sparring and playing around with a bunch of children?"
The group chatted intermittently, covering a considerable distance before they knew it.
Along the way, Xiao Yu was surprisingly willing to leave the "arrogant" Xiao Yan alone. At some point, however, Xiao Ning's face had swollen into a pig's head.
"Cousin Xiao Yan, you were injured a while ago. Do you need to find some healing pills at the auction?"
Behind Xiao Yan, Xiao Mei, who had remained silent throughout the journey, suddenly spoke up and edged forward unobtrusively.
Watching her movements, Xun'er merely smiled at them without a word.
"I've already recovered. Thank you."
Xiao Yan did not slow his steps. His gaze remained fixed ahead, where the auction house's domed roof had begun to come into view.
His flat tone betrayed no emotion, leaving Xiao Mei a little dejected as an indescribable ache welled up in her heart.
"Heh, you really do hold a grudge, brat. That girl's practically plastering her feelings across your face, yet you still won't give her a kind look."
As Xiao Yan slipped out of the crowd of Xiao Clan members surrounding him, Yao Chen's teasing voice sounded in his mind, leaving him rather helpless.
"Some things, once lost, are lost for good. There's no repairing them."
Xiao Yan could not help missing how proud and unruly these people used to be. If only they could return to that. Then he and Xun'er could walk quietly side by side.
"Teacher, will the gold we get from auctioning our things today be enough to gather the medicinal ingredients you mentioned?"
"Of course not. How could those things you refined compare to the pills I'm preparing for you?"
"But I have my own way of handling the gold. You needn't worry."
Yao Chen's unhurried voice echoed in Xiao Yan's mind, making the corner of his mouth twitch.
He could practically picture the old man sitting cross-legged on the soul-nurturing wood, leisurely stroking his beard.
Then Yao Lao abruptly changed the subject, bringing up someone Xiao Yan cared a great deal about.
"I know that Xiao Tian, whom you've always wanted to catch up to and surpass, has already left the Xiao Clan..."
"That boy probably has even more secrets than you now. Your loss to him back then was hardly unjust."
"If you don't hurry and prepare to go out in search of genuine heavenly flames to devour and evolve your method... with the Flame Mantra currently only at the low Xuan tier, you're already at a natural disadvantage against either Xiao Tian or Nalan Yanran in terms of cultivation methods alone."
"So when Jia Nan Academy starts recruiting, you need to sign up first."
Xiao Yan raised his brows at this and gave a bitter chuckle.
"What would I go there for? I don't lack Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills, and I have you to guide my alchemy and cultivation. What else could they teach me?"
"As far as I know, Jia Nan Academy should possess a heavenly flame ranked fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!"
At the mention of this, Yao Chen seemed to recall something, and his tone slowly grew solemn.
"You mean the fallen heart flame?!"
Hearing Yao Lao's words, Xiao Yan's voice trembled slightly, and a brilliant gleam burst from his eyes.
"Indeed..."
"But there's something else."
At this point, Yao Chen's tone gradually grew indifferent, even icy. Having never seen his teacher act this way, Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned.
"A few years ago, when people from Jia Nan Academy came to the Xiao Clan to recruit Xiao Tian, I happened to hear a piece of news..."
"Besides the fallen heart flame, there's another heavenly flame somewhere not far from Jia Nan Academy."
"The sea heart flame!!"
"Two hundred and eighty thousand gold, going three times. Sold!"
"Congratulations to the city lord on winning the final six bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid!"
Under countless watching eyes, Ya Fei, dressed in a red gown, gently tapped her little hammer against the table, settling the sale.
Wrapped snugly in her fitted gown, Ya Fei's voluptuous curves set some of the gazes in the hall ablaze.
"Our next lot comes from the same alchemist who created the miraculous Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid: a fourth-grade pill, the Qi Burst Pill!"
Ya Fei's voice drew everyone's attention back. Behind her, a crimson jade box slowly rose.
"After consumption, it can cause the user's aura to surge for a short time. For a Da Dou Shi, it can instantly send their Dou Qi soaring, temporarily granting them the strength of a Dou Ling!"
With a charming smile, Ya Fei opened the jade box. Her gaze drifted over the heads of the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family below, her alluring tone seemingly carrying an unspoken suggestion.
They belonged to Wutan City's three great families, yet ever since Xiao Zhan revealed his Dou Ling strength, the heads of the other two families had spent every day in fear and trepidation.
They had even voluntarily scaled back their marketplaces and businesses, afraid that if they displeased the Xiao Clan one day, their own families might be wiped from the city.
Fortunately, Xiao Zhan was fairly magnanimous and had not taken the initiative to deal with either of them, allowing them some peace of mind for the time being.
Yet this prolonged feeling of treading on thin ice left both family heads deeply stifled.
At the announcement of this pill, Jia Lie Bi and Oba Pa caught their breath, extreme greed and longing blazing in their eyes!
Seeing their expressions, the smile in Ya Fei's eyes deepened.
"However, this pill is an enhanced version of the Qi-Boosting Powder. As you may have guessed, it also has rather severe aftereffects."
She paused, her beautiful eyes sweeping across the hall.
"Once its effects wear off, your meridians will be damaged, leaving you scarcely able to get out of bed. A month of recuperation is required for recovery. Unless the situation is critical, it must not be used lightly!"
As her words fell, the atmosphere in the hall stiffened slightly.
This Qi Burst Pill was clearly a double-edged sword. It could save one's life in a crisis, yet it might also force its user back into a desperate predicament...
"The starting bid is two hundred thousand gold!"
"Two hundred and twenty thousand!"
After a brief silence, Jia Lie Bi, head of the Jia Lie Family, was the first to speak.
A hint of ruthlessness flickered in his somewhat sinister eyes.
The Jia Lie Family had always been at odds with the Xiao Clan. Compared with the Ao Ba Family and the city lord's residence, they were the ones most urgently in need of a trump card to counter the Xiao Clan's potential threat.
If he obtained this pill, he would have the means to stand against them at a critical moment!
"Two hundred and fifty thousand!"
Nearby, Oba Pa also called out a bid, his expressionless face giving no hint of his thoughts.
"Two hundred and seventy thousand!"
Faced with Oba Pa's continued bidding, Jia Lie Bi immediately followed without hesitation, looking utterly determined to win.
"Three hundred and ten thousand!"
Xiao Zhan, his face solemn, hurried to join the bidding as well.
Bids rose one after another, and the crowd's mounting frenzy bore witness to the pill's value.
"Five hundred thousand!"
Jia Lie Bi's low voice rang out, abruptly silencing the hall.
Five hundred thousand gold seemed to have already exceeded the pill's market value.
A curious gleam flickered in Ya Fei's eyes as she lightly tapped her jade hammer.
"Five hundred thousand gold, going once... five hundred thousand gold, going twice... three times! Sold! Congratulations, Clan Head Jia Lie!"
Only upon hearing Ya Fei's announcement did Jia Lie Bi slowly breathe a sigh of relief, though the expense inevitably made his heart ache!
After spending such an enormous sum, he would surely have no chance at the remaining items.
Yet before anyone could recover, another announcement drew everyone's attention.
"The next lot-"
Ya Fei's voice suddenly rose, an inexplicably solemn look settling over her face.
"A Dou Technique whose exact grade is unknown, but which is certainly of the Xuan tier-"
"Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer!"
Before you continue