Xiao Yi Xian

Under the powerful assault of Eight Extremes Collapse, the Red Flame Demon Bear finally fell to the ground, unwilling to accept his fate. He had never imagined that, with his strength, he would die so easily at the hands of a human child. Had human cubs really become this formidable these days?

After killing the Red Flame Demon Bear, Xiao Yan took out a dagger and cut open his head. He had intended to check whether the magical beast had a magic core, but instead, a red gleam greeted him. Then a mass of red flame rose from the Red Flame Demon Bear's body.

"This fellow actually had a beast flame inside him?" Xiao Yan was slightly taken aback. Although there was no magic core, a beast flame was far rarer. After all, such things could only appear inside fire-attribute magical beasts, and even then, the chances were extremely slim.

Though this beast flame had come from a mere tier 2 magical beast, putting it up for auction would certainly attract plenty of Alchemists. To Xiao Yan, who already possessed black flame, however, it held little appeal. Its tier was too low, and even feeding it to the Flame Mantra would not cause the technique to evolve.

Even so, Xiao Yan took out a jade bottle and stored it away. Whatever else it might be, it was still a beast flame, and selling it would fetch a considerable sum. Besides, it was not necessarily useless. In his previous life, Xiao Yan had obtained a scroll called the Flame-Tending Mantra, which could cultivate a peculiar flame known as life transformation fire. Though inferior to heavenly flames, it was far stronger than ordinary beast flames.

However, cultivating this so-called life transformation fire required other flames as raw materials. The beast flame inside the Red Flame Demon Bear might be weak, but it was just right for cultivating life transformation fire.

After sealing the beast flame inside the jade bottle, Xiao Yan took out another bottle and collected some of the Red Flame Demon Bear's blood. Even Yao Lao, inside the ring, was puzzled by this action. Still, his disciple had always been reliable. Since he was doing this, he must have a deeper purpose, so Yao Lao did not ask.

Only after putting away the beast flame and blood did Xiao Yan turn around. Looking at the white-clad girl, who was still catching her breath, he asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm..." Only then did the white-clad girl recover from her earlier shock. Looking at Xiao Yan with gratitude written across her face, she said, "Um, thank you."

"It was nothing. No need to thank me." Xiao Yan offered a seemingly friendly smile, then pointed at the grilled fish. "You look hungry, too. If you don't mind, why not come over and eat with me?"

"Really? Thank you so much!" The white-clad girl nearly jumped for joy. After being chased by the Red Flame Demon Bear for so long, her stomach had long since been growling with hunger. Without a thought for appearances, she hurriedly grabbed a grilled fish and began devouring it.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yan could not help sighing inwardly. Who would have thought that the future Heavenly Poison Woman, whose fearsome reputation would spread far and wide, had once been such a little white rabbit? She had far too little experience of the world. If he truly wanted to do something to her, that grilled fish alone would have been enough to take her out.

"My name is Xiao Yan. What's yours?" Xiao Yan picked up a grilled fish as well, asking with feigned casualness as he ate.

"I don't have a name, but everyone calls me Xiao Yi Xian. You can call me that, too," Xiao Yi Xian answered somewhat indistinctly.

"No name..." Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows slightly. What those words implied was that she had no parents. That was perfectly normal, though. After all, the Woeful Poison Body existed from the moment its bearer was in the womb. Although it would not activate after birth so long as its bearer avoided contact with poison, its toxins had already invaded the mother's body during pregnancy. And the father, who had the most contact with the mother, naturally would not escape unscathed either.

Thus, in a certain sense, the Woeful Poison Body was synonymous with a lone star of calamity. Once someone with this constitution was born, their family was destined for tragedy.

Of course, Xiao Yan felt little sympathy for those who possessed the Woeful Poison Body. What occupied his thoughts now was how to coax this future Heavenly Poison Woman over to his side.

"Xiao Yi Xian is a pretty good name. It seems to suit you, too. Who gave it to you?" Xiao Yan continued fishing for information.

"It's because I'm a physician. I've saved lots of people, so that's what they started calling me."

"A physician... I never imagined you were so capable." Looking at Xiao Yi Xian, Xiao Yan felt momentarily dazed. He could still faintly see traces of the future Heavenly Poison Woman in her face, yet he could never have imagined that the she-devil who would poison a thousand miles of land in a fit of rage had been a physician who healed people and saved lives as a child. Time truly was the most terrifying weapon in the world.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Seeing Xiao Yan's distracted expression, Xiao Yi Xian could not help reminding him, "If you don't eat, your grilled fish will get cold."

"It's nothing. I was just curious. Why was that magical beast chasing you?" Coming back to his senses, Xiao Yan picked a topic at random to divert Xiao Yi Xian's attention.

"I actually came out to gather herbs. I got lucky this time and found a good medicinal ingredient, but I didn't expect that magical beast to have its eye on it, too. It happened to be away when I went to pick it, but once I'd finished, it came back. Then everything went horribly wrong." Xiao Yi Xian looked thoroughly dejected. Clearly, she had never expected a simple herb-gathering trip to bring such rotten luck.

"You came out to gather herbs alone?" Xiao Yan asked with a frown.

"Not exactly. There were a few guards with me at first, but when they saw how fierce that magical beast was, they abandoned me and ran off."

"I see." Xiao Yan nodded slightly, then asked with apparent nonchalance, "What herb did you pick? Could you let me take a look?"

"Of course." Xiao Yi Xian took out a cloth and wiped the grease from her hands. Then she pulled a pale yellow, crystalline lump from the little pouch hanging at her side and handed it to Xiao Yan. "Here, this is it."

Xiao Yan accepted the pale yellow crystal and examined it carefully for a while before handing it back to Xiao Yi Xian. "It's just a piece of yellow lotus essence. How does that count as a rare medicinal ingredient?"

"You ignorant fellow! This isn't yellow lotus essence. It's blood lotus essence!" Xiao Yi Xian said indignantly.

"Blood lotus essence?" Xiao Yan blinked, putting on an expression that looked harmless to man and beast alike. "What's that?"

"Blood lotus essence is a very rare medicinal ingredient. Although it looks a lot like yellow lotus essence, it's worth hundreds of times more. But because the two grow together, very few people can tell them apart." At this point, Xiao Yi Xian could not help feeling a little proud, since she was one of the very few people who could identify blood lotus essence.

"Oh? Then how do you tell them apart?" Xiao Yan continued.

"That's easy." Xiao Yi Xian leaned closer to Xiao Yan and gently scratched a small opening in the pale yellow lump with her fingernail. "Listen, although blood lotus essence looks a lot like yellow lotus essence, there's a whole other world inside. This yellow outer layer is just a disguise. The real blood lotus essence is hidden within. As long as you cut through the surface, you'll see a blood-red layer inside. That's the actual blood lotus essence."

"But there's nothing blood-red inside yours," Xiao Yan said, staring at the piece of yellow lotus essence in Xiao Yi Xian's hand.

"How is that possible? I checked it earlier." As she spoke, Xiao Yi Xian examined the yellow lotus essence in her hand again. "Look, isn't it right... Huh? Where did the red mark go?"

She turned it over and inspected it several times, but could no longer find that red mark. "How could this happen? I clearly saw something blood-red earlier!"

"Could you have mistaken it?" Xiao Yan glanced at the Storage Ring on his hand and asked without betraying a thing.

"How is that possible?" Xiao Yi Xian still could not quite believe it. For this piece of blood lotus essence, she had spent ages being chased by the Red Flame Demon Bear and nearly lost her life here. Yet in the end, the rare medicinal ingredient she had struggled so hard to protect turned out to be nothing more than commonplace street-stall goods...

Naturally, she would never have guessed that the culprit behind all this was Xiao Yan, sitting across from her and looking utterly harmless.

Xiao Yi Xian was not the only person in the world who understood medicinal ingredients. Even setting aside Xiao Yan's experience from his previous life, Yao Lao had taught him plenty about identifying medicinal ingredients over these past few months alone. Thus, Xiao Yan had recognized the blood lotus essence the instant he saw it.

When Xiao Yi Xian handed it to him, he had switched it with lightning-fast movements the moment it reached his hand, replacing the real blood lotus essence with ordinary yellow lotus essence before passing it back to her. At this moment, the genuine blood lotus essence lay quietly inside Xiao Yan's Storage Ring. As for the yellow lotus essence used in the switch, it was a leftover scrap from his earlier medicine refining.

Because Xiao Yan had already given Xiao Yi Xian the impression that he knew nothing about medicinal ingredients, and because his movements had been so quick, she never even considered that he had swapped out the blood lotus essence right before her eyes. She even began to suspect that her eyes really had deceived her earlier, leading to this ridiculous blunder.

"All right, all right. When the old man at the frontier lost his horse, who could say it wasn't a blessing?" Seeing Xiao Yi Xian's dejected expression, Xiao Yan comforted her. "Though you made a mistake, this piece of yellow lotus essence brought you to me. That proves there's at least a little fate between us."

"That's true... But who's this old man at the frontier? Did he lose his horse?" Not quite understanding Xiao Yan's words, Xiao Yi Xian asked curiously.

"Uh... The story about the old man losing his horse means..." Only then did Xiao Yan remember that this tale did not exist on the Dou Qi Continent, so he briefly recounted it. After hearing the story, Xiao Yi Xian's spirits lifted somewhat. Looking at his earnest expression, she smiled and said, "Xiao Yan, you really are a good person."

Xiao Yan froze for a moment at those words. This was the first time anyone had praised him like that, and the person doing so was his former sworn enemy.

In truth, it was not that Xiao Yan had never wanted to be a good person in his previous life. After all, deep down, he was still someone from Earth. It was just that, in that world, kindness was the most worthless thing of all.

Whether relatives, teachers, friends, or even the women closest to his heart, they had all harbored sinister intentions, ready to deal him a fatal blow at any moment. Only by forcing himself to become ruthless, forcing himself to grow into the Demon Fury Sage whom everyone feared, could he survive.

Presumably, the Heavenly Poison Woman had been the same. Right now, however, she was still an innocent, kindhearted little girl. Perhaps in his previous life, she, too, had only grown into that vicious she-devil after being wounded until not an inch of her remained untouched.

"Finished eating? If you have, let's go." After finishing the grilled fish in his hand, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yi Xian, who seemed to have something to say but kept holding back, and took the initiative to speak.

"Go? Where are we going?"

"To take you home, of course. There are quite a few magical beasts around here. It's dangerous for a little girl like you to try to get out alone." Xiao Yan smiled. "Didn't you say I was a good person? Then I'll see the good deed through to the end and escort the Buddha all the way west. I'll take you home, so a magical beast doesn't gobble up your tender little self halfway there."

"My luck isn't that bad, but thank you anyway." Hearing that Xiao Yan actually intended to escort her home, Xiao Yi Xian was overjoyed. To be honest, after being chased by a magical beast for so long, she was still shaken. She would not dare head out alone.

That was precisely why she had been hesitating earlier. She wanted to ask Xiao Yan for help, but they barely knew each other, and she had nothing worthwhile to offer in return. That was why she had kept looking as though she wanted to speak, only to hold back. She had never expected Xiao Yan to offer on his own.

"If you really want to thank me, treat me to a meal once we reach your home." Xiao Yan patted the heavy ruler on his back. "Stay close to me later. Don't wander too far away, or I won't be able to protect you."

"All right." Though that was all she said, Xiao Yi Xian felt completely reassured. Xiao Yan was a Dou Shi, and one who could kill a tier 2 magical beast with just a few blows at that. With someone like him protecting her, she would be perfectly safe as long as they did not encounter a magical beast of tier 3 or above.

"By the way, you're so young. Why are you so powerful?" As they walked out of the little valley, Xiao Yi Xian glanced at the Red Flame Demon Bear's corpse on the ground and could not help asking.

"By cultivating hard, of course." As Xiao Yan stepped past the Red Flame Demon Bear, he casually waved a hand and stored the corpse inside his Storage Ring. Although the bear was dead, his flesh could still serve as an ingredient. Leaving him here would be rather wasteful.

"What a boring answer. Who gets to become a Dou Shi at your age just by cultivating hard?" Xiao Yi Xian said, somewhat speechless.

"If you know it's boring, don't ask. These magical beasts have very sharp hearing. They might hear us and come this way," Xiao Yan warned her.

Xiao Yi Xian waved a hand. "Don't talk as if I know nothing. Besides, how could my luck be so bad that I'd run into a magical beast after taking just a few steps?"

"Roar!" Before she had even finished speaking, a giant blue wolf sprang from the forest. At the sight, Xiao Yan sighed. "Seriously, have you offended something unholy lately?"