"Blood fiend flower?"
"That natural treasure that greatly amplifies sinister, yin-aspected Dou Qi?"
At Ya Fei's words, not only did Xiao Yan cry out involuntarily, even Yao Chen inside the ring felt a little surprised.
Such sinister flowers were usually guarded by powerful beasts of chilling yin, which swallowed them whole as soon as they matured to strengthen the savage, baleful energy in their bloodlines.
In alchemy, it was a primary ingredient for the seventh-grade Blood Fiend Vengeful Soul Pill. In rarity alone, it far surpassed even seven illusory azure spirit saliva...
How could it have appeared at an auction house in Wutan City?
However, Xiao Zhan paid no heed to their startled cries. His face dark and his brows furrowed, he had already moved ahead of them.
Lion roars seemed to echo as his Dou Qi circulated. Azure Dou Qi surged, roaring as it pounced toward the fleeing black shadows.
As a Two-Star Dou Ling, he unleashed his full strength and caught up behind a black-robed man in an instant.
"Lion's Fang!"
Golden-azure Dou Qi formed a ferocious lion's head around his fist and savagely bit into the fleeing man's back.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Zhan struck down the shadow, who possessed the strength of a Dou Shi, killing him on the spot!
Without pausing for even a moment, he defeated several nearby shadows one after another.
Then Xiao Zhan fixed his gaze on the hunched figure darting ahead.
His aura far exceeded those of the others. Without question, he was a Da Dou Shi.
"You're not going anywhere!"
"Raging Wind Sword Aura!"
The earlier upheaval had reduced a stretch of the Xiao Clan's territory to near ruins without warning. Now these men were brazenly robbing his clan's ally right beneath his eyes. Xiao Zhan was beside himself with shock and fury.
As the Dou Qi closed in, the black-robed man hastily turned to block, tossing away the Xuan-Tier scroll tucked against his chest. Black Dou Qi collided with the azure lion's head in a thunderous explosion.
Boom-
The black-robed man flew backward, his bamboo hat shattering to reveal a face as pale as paper-Jia Lie Bi!
The Jia Lie Clan Leader, missing for so long, had actually appeared here to rob the Mittel Auction House!
"Just as I thought..."
"Yan'er was telling the truth."
As he looked at that hideous face, now little more than a skull, a sudden chill gripped Xiao Zhan's heart.
After taking a full-force strike from a Dou Ling, the puppet's bones had all shattered. Even if he could feel no pain, he lay on the ground, unable to rise again.
Xiao Zhan cast a complicated glance at the motionless Jia Lie Bi and sighed inwardly. Then his gaze began to turn ruthless.
With an angry shout, the phantom lion's head roared forth again, knocking two other nearby fleeing black-robed Dou Shi to the ground at once.
At the same time, the remaining shadows abruptly accelerated.
The black Dou Qi around them burned fiercely. They appeared to be using some forbidden secret art, sacrificing their vital essence for speed!
Two Da Dou Shi and several Dou Shi split off in different directions, shooting toward the city outskirts like cannonballs. One withered figure clutched a blood-red jade box tightly to his chest. Inside was the blood fiend flower!
"Trying to leave?!"
Xiao Zhan snorted coldly and was about to give chase when the black Dou Qi around Jia Lie Bi, whose bones had all shattered, suddenly began churning as though boiling. A black marking between his brows started cracking apart!
"He's compressing his Dou Qi... damn it! He's going to self-destruct!"
Xiao Zhan swept out his hand and hurriedly shouted a warning toward Xiao Yan.
Then he turned, his expression grim, and formed seals with both hands. Azure Dou Qi poured out like a tide, becoming an enormous barrier of light that enclosed Jia Lie Bi and the other two subdued black-robed men.
"Azure Lion Shield!"
A violent explosion erupted inside the barrier. Jia Lie Bi's body instantly dissolved into a cloud of black mist, and the savage energy shock wave made the Azure Lion Shield tremble fiercely.
The other two black-robed men also disintegrated under the impact, turning into black ash.
Once the energy subsided, Xiao Zhan dispelled the barrier, his face slightly pale.
"That old bastard Jia Lie Bi... dead, just like that."
He turned to look in the two directions where the figures had vanished. It seemed too late to pursue them now.
The speed gained by burning their blood essence and Dou Qi was indeed extraordinary. Such utter disregard for their own lives made Xiao Zhan clench his fists until his knuckles cracked.
"Father!"
Xiao Yan rushed over, his brows tightly furrowed as he surveyed the wreckage.
"Two got away. Both were Da Dou Shi."
"They threw away a Xuan-Tier Dou Technique without a second thought. Judging by that, their main target must have been the blood fiend flower you mentioned..."
Hearing this, Ya Fei, who had hurried over after receiving the news, wore a livid expression on her pretty face.
"We acquired that blood fiend flower from a merchant caravan by chance. We were preparing to send it to our headquarters in the Imperial Capital for auction."
"A natural treasure like that couldn't realize its true value in little Wutan City. Since so few people could recognize it, we never made any particular effort to keep the news secret. We just never expected..."
Looking at the ruins strewn across the ground and Nigu running over covered in dust and grime, Ya Fei could not help sinking to the ground, her exquisite face filled with dejection.
"After a loss like this, my assignment to gain experience in Wutan City really has ended in failure..."
Half a day later, Wutan City was shaken.
When the Jia Lie Family learned that their clan leader had been controlled by mysterious villains, robbed the Mittel Auction House, and ultimately died by self-destruction, fear and shock swept through the entire family. Their spirit utterly crushed, they dreaded being called to account by the auction house in its fury.
The Ao Ba Family had also suffered a grievous blow. After news of Oba Pa's disappearance spread, various factions chipped away at the family's businesses, forcing them to place themselves entirely under the Xiao Clan's protection to survive.
Thus, Wutan City's Three-Way Balance of Power was completely shattered, leaving the Xiao Clan as the sole dominant power.
As for the identities of those mysterious black-robed men, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yan tacitly chose to remain silent.
Apart from those two, no one knew that the mastermind was Xiao Zha, a member of a collateral branch of the Xiao Clan.
They only announced publicly that a grandmaster from the Mittel Auction House suspected that those men, whose methods were sinister and ruthless, most likely came from the chaotic Black-Corner Region.
After all, Jia Nan Academy, which had long been at odds with the forces of the Black-Corner Region, had now come to Wutan City to recruit students.
"Brother Xiao Yan, are you really leaving?"
"Xun'er, once everything is over, I'll come find you at Jia Nan Academy. Wait for me."
"I really shouldn't have let Nalan Yanran return alive back then..."
Under the moonlight, Xiao Lin watched the tender, intimate atmosphere between Xiao Yan and Xun'er from a distance. He smiled faintly, lost in thought.
Xiao Yan had already decided to venture out for training after registering at Jia Nan Academy.
Xun'er was also preparing to leave for Jia Nan Academy.
Xiao Tian had left, and Xiao Zha was missing.
The Xiao Clan was no longer a place where fortune gathered, and there was no need to stay any longer.
As for the paths their growth would take, Xiao Lin could still observe them at any time through the [Plane Eye].
Yet on this Northwest Continent, beyond the Xiao Clan and the Misty Cloud Sect, there were still several people blessed with great fortune who deserved his particular attention and nurturing...
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