Sacred Pill City

Moonlight splashed across the river of stars; the road stretched endlessly ahead. Wind and smoke faded away, leaving a lone shadow in the waning night.

Who told me to have such extraordinary talent? Who told me to be so good at alchemy, too?

Xiao Yan sat high atop one of Starfall Pavilion's star peaks. Azure Dou Qi flowed through his nostrils into his body, circulated several times, then returned to his Dou Qi vortex. With each cycle, he refined a little of the energy between heaven and earth.

"No wonder outsiders cultivate so much more slowly than members of my Xiao Clan..." Xiao Yan sighed softly.

Starfall Pavilion was already a first-rate power in the Central Plains, and the energy within the Star Realm was even denser. With the added support of special formations, its energy concentration was almost three times that of the outside world.

Yet that concentration was merely ordinary in the Xiao Realm.

The energy in the Xiao Realm was generally three to five times denser than outside. Places where descendants of experts like Xiao Yan cultivated boasted concentrations eight or even ten times greater. They enjoyed such cultivation conditions, along with the talent bestowed by their bloodline power.

No wonder Dou Wangs were as common as dogs in the Xiao Realm, and Dou Emperors walked everywhere.

A whole month had passed, and he had only recovered to a two-star Dou Emperor. Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly.

"My disciple!" An aged voice rang out beside Xiao Yan's ear.

The old man wore a long azure robe, and his formerly disheveled hair and beard had been carefully groomed. At first glance, he actually had something of an immortal sage's bearing.

Are you going to find an old flame to do some square dancing?

Xiao Yan snarked inwardly, but knowing Yao Lao would not understand square dancing, he asked instead, "All dolled up like that-are you going on a date with an old flame?"

"Ahem." Yao Lao could not help coughing twice before saying solemnly, "I'm merely going to see an old friend."

"What kind of old friend requires you to put on perfume?"

"Can we skip this subject for now?" Yao Lao's old face reddened. He looked at Xiao Yan with a smile. "How has your alchemy practice been going lately?"

"You've been guiding me every day. How could you not know?" Xiao Yan glanced at Yao Lao.

"Hehe." Yao Lao rubbed his hands together with a grin. "You truly are an alchemical prodigy. Even without Heavenly Flames, you can refine peak fifth-tier pills. If you had Heavenly Flames, you'd already be a sixth-tier alchemist by now."

"Tsk, tsk. A fifteen-year-old sixth-tier alchemist. Even the Yao Clan hasn't produced one in nearly a thousand years. Perhaps only the Medicine Emperor back then possessed such talent."

"My disciple has the makings of an emperor-tier alchemist!"

Yao Lao stroked his beard as he laughed, his old face nearly blooming into a chrysanthemum.

"I really want to see the day your alchemy gallops ahead of the pack, leaving those Yao Clan youngsters crushed beneath you."

"Keep dreaming." Xiao Yan sneered. "My mother is the daughter of a Yao Clan elder. Plenty of the Yao Clan's prodigies are my cousins. Oh, right, you're from the Yao Clan too, aren't you? We're even distant relatives."

"Your mother is from the Yao Clan..." Yao Lao froze at those words, then a trace of desolation crossed his face.

"Forget it, forget it. I came to tell you that the competition is in seven days. Get ready. We're setting off."

"Is it about to begin?" Xiao Yan paused, then looked at Yao Lao. "Give me a moment."

With that, he spread his Dou Qi Wings and flew back to his residence.

Half an hour later, when Xiao Yan appeared before Yao Lao again, he nearly dazzled the old man's eyes blind.

The youth wore a gold-threaded white robe lightly painted with two clusters of ink bamboo. His tall, slender figure, already approaching its full growth, carried clothes perfectly.

It was as though the exquisite outfit had been tailored for him, each enhancing the other.

His formerly loose hair had been gathered beneath the Seven-Dragon Golden Crown and secured with a snow-white jade hairpin.

As the saying went, a man depended on his clothes just as a horse depended on its saddle. Dressed like this, Xiao Yan's already handsome face gained a few more degrees of charm.

A jade tree standing in the wind, brimming with youthful spirit.

Along with the two locks of hair falling carelessly over his forehead and the faint roguish air about him, his dark eyes revealed a maturity beyond his years-enough to draw the glances of many young women.

"You're still the flashier one." Yao Lao stared for a long while before finally squeezing out those words.

"Likewise, likewise. The master leads you through the door, but how flashy you become is up to you."

Xiao Yan chuckled, looking every bit the graceful young gentleman.

"No time to waste. Since we're both ready, let's go." With a sweep of Yao Lao's hand, a spatial passage appeared before them.

"Let's go..." As his voice rang out, Xiao Yan followed him into the spatial passage.

"What's that smell? Your perfume smells so unusual. What perfume is it?"

"Bleu de Chanel for Men."

"What a strange name."

"Never mind the name. As long as it works."

"Fair point. Later, your master will see whether there's any room to improve the formula."

"If you want the formula, you can just say so..."

Their quiet conversation drifted through the spatial passage...

Sacred Pill City stood at the center of the Pill Region, grand and magnificent.

With the Ancient Seven Clans remaining out of sight, Sacred Pill City could almost be considered the most prosperous place on the Dou Qi Continent.

Experts gathered here like clouds, and alchemists like rain. That meant the wealthiest people on the Dou Qi Continent had all come here.

It was practically the Central Plains' CBD!

Beyond its magnificent main city, Sacred Pill City also had eight enormous plazas outside.

At that moment, one of the enormous plazas outside the city teemed with all sorts of experts and alchemists, with flames of various colors rising from time to time.

Clearly, some alchemists were refining pills right there.

Just then, space rippled, and a silver ring of light abruptly expanded in midair, making countless experts in the plaza look up.

Opening a spatial passage oneself was a feat only a Dou Zun expert could perform.

Even in Sacred Pill City, where experts gathered like clouds, a Dou Zun expert ranked among the very best.

As the spatial passage opened, an azure-robed old man with the bearing of an immortal sage stepped out. Behind him followed a white-robed youth, handsome as a jade tree in the wind, dashing and suave.

"It's him! Venerable Yao, Yao Chen!" someone exclaimed, and the already bustling plaza grew even noisier.

"Venerable Yao, Yao Chen! They say his alchemy is extraordinary-even faintly surpassing the Pill Tower's Three Giants."

"Yes. Supposedly, his alchemy is only a hair's breadth from the ninth tier. Unless a ninth-tier alchemist appears, he could be considered the continent's greatest alchemist."

"If he's appeared at the Pill Tower, it looks like something is about to happen again."

"Hm? Who's that young man following him? Could he be a disciple he recently accepted?"

Someone noticed Xiao Yan behind Yao Lao.

"Heavens, Venerable Yao's disciple! If I could become Venerable Yao's disciple, I'd reach the heavens in a single step.

"My ancestors' graves would practically be billowing auspicious green smoke!"

"Nonsense! You call that billowing green smoke? They'd be shooting flames!"

"Wow, that young man is so handsome, and he has such presence." The eyes of quite a few young female alchemists lit up as they watched Xiao Yan.

"If only I had a boyfriend like him!"

"You? Stop swooning. Did you see the Dou Qi Wings behind him?

"He can already form wings from Dou Qi at such a young age. Even as Venerable Yao's disciple, his future is limitless. How could a little nobody like you deserve him?"

"What did you say? If he wouldn't fancy me, would he fancy a vixen like you?"

"Who are you calling a vixen?"

"You, you little bitch!"

The two female alchemists began brawling in the plaza over Xiao Yan.