When Xiao Yan left the Nalan Mansion, Nalan Jie and Nalan Su both escorted her out.
"Clout."
As far as Nalan Jie and the others were concerned, they really did owe Xiao Yan a favor this time-
Without this method, once he could no longer suppress the brand poison, Nalan Jie would inevitably suffer its effects, perhaps even meeting an "early death."
So they gave her the seven illusory azure spirit saliva quite willingly.
Xiao Yan said goodbye to Nalan Jie and the others, then casually stuffed the wooden box containing the seven illusory azure spirit saliva into Apothecary's ring.
"Here, Teacher. Got it."
"Tsk, I really do wonder how that brain of yours works..."
Apothecary grumbled through a mental transmission, though Xiao Yan had also given her a little "inspiration."
Honestly, when she first heard Xiao Yan's idea, her immediate thought was, You can actually do that?!
She suddenly felt rather dense.
All the solutions she had considered involved using medicine or flames to neutralize the brand poison. It had never occurred to her that they could simply "physically separate" it.
Following "Practicing While Carrying a Medicinal Bath Tub" and "Go to Jia Nan Academy After Training," she had now "lost" to that girl Xiao Yan on the level of thinking yet again.
Three times. Three whole times!
Apothecary could not help falling into "reflection"-this was not a matter of her being "too old" to think of it, but of her and Xiao Yan having different underlying ways of thinking...
Meanwhile, watching Xiao Yan's carriage recede into the distance, Nalan Jie and Nalan Su remembered the "three-year agreement" almost simultaneously-
In fact, when Nalan Su first saw Xiao Yan, he had been certain she would bring it up later. Xiao Yan had also thought the subject would be unavoidable.
But then all three of them had been busy discussing the brand poison, so Nalan Su and the others had pushed the three-year agreement to the backs of their minds. Only now did they "remember."
"Father..." Nalan Su looked at Nalan Jie, hesitating.
"Ah... Don't bring this matter up in front of that girl from the Xiao Clan again." Nalan Jie shook his head.
"We weren't aboveboard in how we handled this. Only Xiao has the right to decide whether to cancel that three-year agreement."
"Heh, after all these years, I turned out to be less broad-minded than a youngster..."
With that, Nalan Jie turned and went straight back into the mansion. Nalan Su gave a bitter smile and nodded in agreement.
To be honest, Nalan Su could no longer quite understand this niece of his-assuming Xiao Yan was willing to acknowledge him as her uncle.
Come to think of it, news of Xiao Yan should have reached the Misty Cloud Sect by now, right?
"I'll have to find a chance to visit Yan at the Misty Cloud Sect..."
Inside the carriage, Apothecary had "muted herself." Xiao Yan did not strike up a conversation either, instead watching the scenery along the street.
Actually, Xiao Yan was also hesitating over whether to cancel the three-year agreement-if things continued along their current course, she would be rather blatantly bullying him when the time came.
A "higher-dimensional" beatdown?
Wouldn't that be grinding the Nalan Family's face into the dirt beneath her foot?
The two families did have a longstanding friendship, after all. Was it appropriate to make their relationship that strained?
Especially since Nalan Yan was the Misty Cloud Sect's chief disciple. If she really beat him black and blue, she might also earn the displeasure of the sect's higher-ups...
It was rather troublesome.
But thinking it over again, when Nalan Yan had established that three-year agreement, if her talent had not returned, she and the Xiao Clan would have been the ones humiliated.
Nalan Jie and Nalan Su had both been "tacitly allowing" it.
Once the Misty Cloud Sect spread the story far and wide, she and the Xiao Clan would truly become "famous nationwide."
Since they never intended to let you save face, why bother preserving theirs?
And so Xiao Yan snuffed out the idea of "canceling the three-year agreement."
Even an Emperor-Grade Alchemist could not concoct a "pill for regret," right?
Yes, Nalan Yan had proposed the agreement first. At the time, he had already undergone his coming-of-age ceremony and was capable of taking independent responsibility for his actions.
Adults had to answer for what they did.
If someone argued that Nalan Yan had not met Blue Star's standards when he broke off the engagement, then he was still a child-all the more reason not to let him off.
As for the Misty Cloud Sect, Xiao Yan could only say, "This is a private matter. Please don't turn it into a conflict between factions."
Besides, she had the Jia Ma Imperial Family "backing" her and was a "genius Alchemist." The Misty Cloud Sect had no reason to "offend" her over a single disciple like Nalan Yan.
Of course, if Nalan Yan fell too far behind her in cultivation by then... she could just go through the motions.
Really, it was mostly about that sense of ceremony-without the "three-year agreement," it always felt as though something was missing.
As for whether Nalan Yan would pull a "never despise a youth for being poor"... ha, with his aptitude, probably no old grandpa would take a fancy to him.
Even someone looking for a body to possess would find him lacking.
Xiao Yan stopped dwelling on it and closed her eyes to doze.
She had to admit, the coachman arranged by the imperial family was quite good. He kept the carriage so steady...
"Teacher, where are we going next?"
After they returned to the courtyard where they were temporarily staying and activated Concealment, Apothecary floated out of the ring and used bone spirit cold flame to process the seven illusory azure spirit saliva.
Xiao Yan asked the question while refining pills beside her.
"Next, we're going to the Magical Beast Mountain Range-some of your big sister's training methods can't be used with so many people around."
Xiao Yan: "..."
Her hand trembled, instantly ruining the unfinished pill inside the Medicine Cauldron.
Xiao Yan sighed, cleared out the medicinal dregs, and took out fresh ingredients to start again-she had been refining a second-grade pill.
With the addition of ganlan water flame, her fused beast flame had become stronger and slightly harder to control.
That had piled snow onto the frost of her already "unimpressive" success rate with second-grade pills-lowering it by roughly five percentage points.
There was not actually much to teach about low-level alchemy. She had to gradually feel out that balance herself. The guiding principle was simple: if you were bad at it, practice more.
Before Xiao Yan had even finished extracting the medicinal ingredients, Apothecary had already processed the seven illusory azure spirit saliva, refining it into a small cluster of seven-colored liquid.
Apothecary downed the seven-colored liquid in one gulp, then floated back into the ring.
Xiao Yan did not concern herself with how Apothecary was doing. After successfully refining that second-grade pill, she sat cross-legged and began cultivating to replenish her Dou Qi.
Sleep? What sleep? At your age, how can you possibly sleep?
To a certain extent, cultivation could replace food and sleep. Abundant energy was the best nourishment for the body, as well as the best way to ease physical fatigue.
For Xiao Yan as she was now, replacing sleep with seated cultivation was no problem at all.
At the Da Dou Shi level, even spending a month or two in secluded cultivation would not cause any problems-Xiao Yan knew nothing about higher levels, since the Xiao Clan had no one at those levels.
...That stung.
The next day, Xiao Yan sought out the elderly "housekeeper" and told her she intended to head out for training.
"Where do you intend to train, my lady?" the elderly woman asked with a genial smile, clearly intending to accompany her.
One of her "duties" was to ensure Xiao Yan's safety-
If someone "assassinated" Xiao Yan, or she "died young" during her training, wouldn't the imperial family's investment go straight down the drain?
And in the Jia Ma Empire, a Dou Ling already counted as a "powerhouse." Other people would also show the imperial family some respect.
Thus, the odds of Xiao Yan being "assassinated" were low. A Dou Ling was hardly weak either, and under ordinary circumstances, protecting a Dou Shi was not difficult.
"I plan to cross the Magical Beast Mountain Range alone, face life-and-death dangers, and break through to Da Dou Shi as soon as possible." There was really nothing she could not reveal, so Xiao Yan said it outright.
After all, wherever she said she was going, this elderly woman would probably "shamelessly insist" on following her. Telling the truth would save trouble.
At Xiao Yan's words, the elderly woman's smile immediately vanished.
"Cross the Magical Beast Mountain Range"? Good grief, you're only a Dou Shi, and you actually dare say that!
Deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, third-order magical beasts were as common as dogs, fourth-order magical beasts roamed everywhere, and there were even fifth-tier magical beasts. Sixth-order magical beasts could be there too.
Never mind a Dou Ling-even a Dou King or Dou Emperor might not emerge in one piece!
The elderly woman was stunned. Why is this young woman so reckless?
Why go looking for life-and-death dangers for no reason? Can't you just cultivate properly, one step at a time?
"My lady, with the Jia Ma Empire behind you, you can make a normal breakthrough without facing life-and-death dangers."
Xiao Yi Xian will probably appear this weekend~
Before you continue