Xiao Zhan smiled calmly.
The Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family must be feeling utterly scorched and overwhelmed by now, right?
"Oh, and Elders, this is a critical time. To keep the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family from leaping over the wall like cornered dogs, we must strengthen the marketplace's defenses."
"Rest assured, Clan Leader. I will personally oversee the marketplace!"
The First Elder volunteered.
Across the entire Xiao Clan, his strength was second only to Xiao Zhan's.
Xiao Zhan smiled and nodded. As clan leader, he had countless daily affairs to handle and the overall situation to oversee, so he naturally could not stay at the marketplace himself.
"With the First Elder stationed there, I can rest easy."
The mountain behind the Xiao Clan!
Xiao Yan gazed down at the scenery beneath the cliff. A breeze brushed his face, making his robes flap in the wind.
"Teacher, I want to spend some time training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range."
Yao Lao's spectral soul drifted out of the Bone Flame Ring. He asked curiously, "Your coming-of-age ceremony is only half a year away, isn't it? Won't you wait a little longer?"
Xiao Yan shrugged indifferently. "I'll just come back when it's time. The Magical Beast Mountain Range isn't far from Wutan City anyway."
"What about the clan?"
Xiao Yan chuckled. "Father and the others are holding the fort, and they have the pills I refined. In ordinary commercial competition, the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family definitely aren't their match.
"If the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family want to fight until the fish dies and the net tears, using underhanded methods, all the better.
"That'll give us the perfect excuse... to cut out the weeds by the roots!"
The current Xiao Clan was not the Xiao Clan of the original story. Both Xiao Zhan and the Three Great Elders were far stronger than their original counterparts.
If the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family really dared to stake everything on a death struggle, the only possible outcome would be a dead fish and a net that remained intact.
Yao Lao gave Xiao Yan an odd look. "Tsk, tsk. I never realized you had such a bloodthirsty streak, brat."
Xiao Yan shook his head. "Cut down the weeds without pulling out their roots, and they'll grow again with the spring breeze. I understand that much."
"Hahaha! Well said! Just what I'd expect from my disciple."
Yao Lao had roamed the continent for years. If he had not killed a thousand people, he had killed eight hundred. How could he be some rigid moralist?
"When are you planning to leave?"
"Hmm..."
"The day after tomorrow!"
Xiao Yan pondered his answer. He certainly could not leave without a word. He could not say how anyone else would react, but one particular girl would definitely be unhappy.
Three days passed in a flash!
Xiao Yan's room was already empty. Ling Ying, who had come to deliver the news, could only smile wryly at the gloomy expression on his young lady's face.
How could he fail to recognize that his young lady's heart had begun to bloom with love?
But...
Although Young Master Xiao Yan was exceptionally gifted, there was still a considerable gap between him and those monstrous talents in the clan.
How could the clan's elders possibly allow Young Master Xiao Yan to be with the young lady?
No, that wasn't quite right!
Young Master Xiao Yan's talent for alchemy was even more terrifying than his talent for cultivation. If he could become a ninth-tier Alchemist, persuading the clan's elders might not be impossible.
Ling Ying had no children of his own, and he had watched Xiao Xun'er grow up. If possible, he still hoped she could find happiness of her own.
Aside from Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Zhan was the only person in the Xiao Clan who knew where Xiao Yan had gone.
However, Xiao Zhan had no intention of stopping him.
After all, Xiao Yan's two older brothers had gone out to make their way in the world when they were only Dou Zhe.
And Xiao Yan?
Leaving aside his own strength, he also had a teacher backing him. What danger could he possibly encounter?
Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had it far rougher than Xiao Yan. Fortunately, they sent letters home every so often; otherwise, Xiao Zhan would genuinely have thought those two brats had died out there.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Qingshan Town!
Dressed in fitted black clothes, Xiao Yan carried an enormous, thick, ancient-looking ruler on his back. Every step left a shallow footprint in the ground.
Needless to say, that enormous ruler was the Heavy Xuan Ruler from the original story.
Yao Lao had given the Heavy Xuan Ruler to Xiao Yan two years earlier. Since it could suppress Dou Qi, it could naturally suppress his nascent Dou Qi as well.
Moreover, the Heavy Xuan Ruler was extraordinarily heavy, making it quite effective for building physical strength at lower cultivation levels.
Of course, Xiao Yan had long since grown accustomed to its weight.
As he walked through the streets of Qingshan Town, his heroic bearing and the door-sized Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back drew awed and envious looks from many passersby.
Some women in revealing outfits, in particular, repeatedly cast flirtatious glances his way.
"Little Yanzi, looks like you're quite popular!"
Yao Lao's teasing voice rang out in Xiao Yan's mind.
Xiao Yan shrugged. The reason for this was actually quite simple.
Qingshan Town was mostly populated by mercenaries who revered strength, and both his bearing and his appearance fit their image of a powerful expert.
Afterward, Xiao Yan took advantage of his leisurely stroll to visit every shop in Qingshan Town.
His goal was clear: the blood lotus essence from the original story.
In the original story, the blood lotus essence had been in an herb shop. Because it looked extremely similar to yellow lotus essence, it had been mistaken for the latter.
However, perhaps because Xiao Yan had arrived more than a year earlier than in the original story, he failed to find the blood lotus essence. He did, however, pick up quite a few other high-grade herbs at bargain prices.
After all, Qingshan Town stood near the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and rare medicinal herbs were the last thing that mountain range lacked.
Watching Xiao Yan rake in one bargain after another, Yao Lao sighed. "If those people who sold you these herbs knew their true value, they'd regret it until their guts turned green."
Xiao Yan smiled smugly. "Teacher, that's luck for you. Do you understand just how much being a child of fortune is worth?"
Yao Lao replied irritably, "A child of fortune? You? How come I've never noticed?"
What kind of child of fortune couldn't even break through to Dou Zhe?
Xiao Yan spread his hands. He had told the truth, but his teacher simply would not believe him!
Just then, Xiao Yan suddenly froze.
"What is it?"
Curious, Yao Lao followed Xiao Yan's gaze. Ahead of him, a graceful figure in white was approaching from the distance, surrounded by a group of mercenaries.
She wore a white dress. Her features could not be called breathtakingly beautiful, but she radiated a fresh, ethereal air.
Her most striking feature was undoubtedly her slender waist, narrow enough to encircle with one hand.
If he had to describe it in a single word: perfection!
"Little Yanzi, what's this? Have you fallen for that young lady at first sight?"
Yao Lao teased, "If you've taken a fancy to her, you'd better think ahead about how you'll explain it to that girl back home."
The corner of Xiao Yan's mouth twitched. Speechless, he said, "Teacher, is that really how you see me? Do I look like some lecher?"
Yao Lao hesitated for a moment.
"Hmm... I never noticed it before, but you certainly looked the part just now.
"After all, who stares so fixedly at a girl the first time he sees her?"
Xiao Yan thought for a moment and decided his reputation could still be salvaged. He immediately explained, "Teacher, you really have misunderstood. I was staring at her mainly because she reminds me of an old acquaintance."
Yao Lao sneered.
"Oh? Who?"
"Xiao Xun'er or Ya Fei? Or perhaps Xiao Yu or Xiao Mei?"
At that, Xiao Yan gave up. There was no explaining his way out of this!
He could hardly say that the woman before him was an "old acquaintance" from his previous life, could he?
Indeed, although this was his first time seeing the White-Clothed Woman before him, Xiao Yan had recognized her at a glance.
The White-Clothed Woman of Qingshan Town, Xiao Yi Xian!
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