"Hahahaha! Congratulations, Senior Xiao Yan, on taking another step forward in your cultivation!"
Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng, the Liu Clan's first elder, clasped their fists and congratulated Xiao Yan with smiles.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan laughed heartily and replied casually before leaving the ravaged ruins with them.
Inside the Liu Clan's council hall, Xiao Yan and Liu Huabai sat in the seats of honor.
Smiling, Xiao Yan looked casually at Liu Huabai, who had been watching him all along. At last, he asked:
"Is there something you wish to discuss with me, Clan Leader Liu? If so, there's no need to hold back. Just say it. I trust you wouldn't say anything unpleasant, would you?"
Liu Huabai's pupils contracted slightly, and his expression instantly grew somewhat unnatural. He steadied himself, his thoughts racing. After a long while, he finally smiled and said to Xiao Yan:
"Yes, Senior, you're quite right. There are indeed a few questions I hoped you could answer for me."
As Liu Huabai spoke, his gaze shifted evasively, but Xiao Yan paid his question little mind.
He naturally knew that since Liu Feng inside the Gold-Inscribed Plaque had tried every possible means to make him swear a heavenly lightning oath, he would certainly have informed the Liu Clan.
After all, that heavenly lightning oath had been meant to bind Xiao Yan; Xiao Yan had simply discovered it in the end.
Otherwise, Xiao Yan would have become the Liu Clan's puppet by now.
And now, because of the two instances of Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, Liu Huabai wanted to know exactly what had happened to Xiao Yan inside the Gold-Inscribed Plaque.
Hearing this left Xiao Yan rather displeased, but despite his displeasure, he had at least obtained the inheritance.
He had lost nothing himself, either, so he cared less about Liu Huabai's question.
Thus, after a brief pause, Xiao Yan slowly spoke under Liu Huabai's anxious gaze, his expression unchanged:
"That's right. Your Liu Clan ancestor's objective was mostly achieved."
Liu Huabai had barely heard these words and had no time to rejoice before he was instantly struck dumb.
His slightly parted mouth remained open, and his eyes stared blankly at Xiao Yan, making him look exceedingly comical.
Xiao Yan smiled, and that smile brought Liu Huabai back to his senses.
Cold sweat instantly streamed down his face. His seated body rose slightly without his realizing it, and his mouth twitched as he forced out a smile uglier than a sob. He asked Xiao Yan:
"What do you mean by that, Senior?"
Xiao Yan smiled coldly and shot Liu Huabai a bone-chilling look.
Liu Huabai's expression changed abruptly, and his body trembled. He hurried to his feet, clasped his hands to Xiao Yan, and apologized:
"I have greatly offended you, Senior. Please forgive me. As for what you meant, I simply failed to understand it for a moment. I hope you can be accommodating."
"Humph! As long as you understand! Some things, once spoken aloud, can get people killed!"
As soon as those words left his mouth, the teacup in Xiao Yan's hand exploded into powder that scattered through the air.
Liu Huabai's expression changed once more. His already bent body bowed a full ninety degrees, leaving him unable to see Xiao Yan's expression.
Whether he had deliberately ducked out of sight was impossible to know.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he bent down to avoid Xiao Yan's eyes, he also missed the playful expression on Xiao Yan's face.
Xiao Yan cleared his throat and prepared to continue, but Liu Huabai hurriedly took an intact teacup and carefully brewed him a steaming cup of tea.
"Humph! For the sake of your ancestor's inheritance, I'll spare your life today. That said, your Liu Clan ancestor really was quite a figure."
"But unfortunately, his methods were too ruthless. Swearing that heavenly lightning oath this time was probably the first time in my life I've been tricked!"
"Humph! As for you, a descendant of the Liu Clan, Liu Feng presumably told you his plan as well. Heh! You'd best not get your hopes up. My agreement to protect your Liu Clan in its hour of danger was already as far as I could possibly go. So I advise you to stay out of trouble while I'm away. Otherwise, even with the heavenly lightning oath binding me, I'll still wipe out your Liu Clan!"
Liu Huabai's expression changed, though he was much better off than before. His eyes shifted, and he clasped his hands to Xiao Yan. Having finally calmed himself, he said:
"I understand. What you have agreed to do, Senior, is already the greatest concession you could make to my Liu Clan. I will do my utmost to keep my clansmen in line and prevent them from stirring up trouble everywhere. If anyone disobeys, I certainly won't let them off lightly!"
Liu Huabai spoke with iron resolve, without the slightest hesitation, and his words carried a note of certainty.
Xiao Yan nodded slightly. Only then did he drink a few more cups of tea, rise, and stroll out of the hall. Seeing this, Liu Huabai hurried after him.
A moment later, Liu Huabai glanced at the ruins beneath his feet, frowning slightly. He looked up at Xiao Yan and asked:
"Senior, what are you doing here?"
Xiao Yan smiled faintly but did not answer. He darted forward and arrived before the entrance to the library pavilion.
Liu Huabai raised an eyebrow, finally recalling Xiao Yan's request from half a month ago. He shook his head helplessly.
Experts were always so particular about certain things. It was only a small clan's library pavilion. No matter how glorious its past had been, what could it amount to now?
Liu Huabai quickly walked ahead of Xiao Yan and came to the library pavilion's entrance. The plaque that marked it as an important clan location had long since been taken down.
It looked like nothing more than an ordinary pavilion. Standing before its doors, Liu Huabai changed the seals with his hands.
One profound seal after another struck the wooden doors of the library pavilion, sending ripples spreading outward like waves on water.
Xiao Yan stood quietly behind Liu Huabai, looking at the lonely pavilion amid the ruins. Then he glanced at the Gold-Inscribed Plaque standing before the bluestone.
He sighed softly and stretched out his hand. With a low, muffled sound, a thumb-sized cluster of emerald-green flame rose from his index finger.
Though it was only a tiny flame, the moment it rose, heaven and earth seemed to let out an unwilling roar.
With a thought from Xiao Yan, Soul Power spread out bearing the small cluster of emerald-green flame, covering the entire ruined bamboo grove. Then, under his control, it slowly sank into the ground, finally vanishing into the soil.
At that moment, Liu Huabai finally opened the library pavilion's doors.
Xiao Yan looked at the beads of sweat on the tip of Liu Huabai's nose, smiled faintly, and stepped into the pavilion.
Liu Huabai glanced once more at the ruins before the pavilion. His gaze dimmed slightly, and he sighed, then turned and followed Xiao Yan inside.
Inside the library pavilion, storage shelves stood in orderly rows, bearing neatly arranged volumes of Dou Techniques and cultivation methods that looked old and ancient.
Xiao Yan spotted a shelf at the very back that looked as though no one had touched it in a long time. Four large characters were written on it: "Literary Classics."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth. These books might have served only as reading material for a small clan, of little practical use, but they were just what he needed.
Xiao Yan hurried over in a few long strides and reached the shelf.
His fair hand gently leafed through the dust-covered ancient books.
At last, Xiao Yan's gaze settled on a simple, old book tucked away in a corner. It looked somewhat damaged.
Xiao Yan eagerly opened it. Inside were pictures and explanations of medicinal ingredients of various kinds and uses.
Xiao Yan turned his hand, and a medicinal ingredient appeared from the intermediate Storage Ring he had requested from Liu Huabai. It was a lush green plant with slender stems and leaves, only about a foot long, with a little soil still on its roots. It looked like a length of vine.
Xiao Yan searched through the book for something matching the vine. Seeing that Xiao Yan seemed to have found something, Liu Huabai was just about to step forward for a closer look when Xiao Yan waved his sleeve, and a screen of Dou Qi light stopped him ten feet away.
Because of the screen of Dou Qi light, Liu Huabai could not see what was happening inside and could only wait patiently.
Purple wisteria tendril: the main medicinal ingredient for the Ninth-grade Pill known as the Purple Void Heavenly Spirit Pill. It takes a hundred years to sprout, a thousand years to become a plant, and five thousand years to truly mature.
During its growth, it can use the energy of heaven and earth accumulated over a thousand years to summon a lightning tribulation of heaven and earth, baptizing itself with the power of heavenly lightning and refining its medicinal potency.
If it can withstand the lightning tribulation, the purple wisteria tendril will mature at once into a fully mature purple wisteria spirit tendril. It will develop spiritual intelligence and walk the world no different from an ordinary person, its cultivation even capable of reaching the Dou Sheng level.
Reading this, Xiao Yan clicked his tongue and exclaimed in admiration. He had never imagined that a mere medicinal ingredient could reach the Dou Sheng level simply by passing a lightning tribulation. Tsk, tsk, all my cultivation has gone to the dogs. Tsk, tsk...
Evil soul demon fruit: an essential medicinal ingredient for the Ninth-grade Emperor Pill, a first-grade herb. It absorbs the murky spirits of the dead souls of all living things in the world. By absorbing evil spirits for a hundred years, the dead souls of Dou Zong experts for a thousand years, or the dead spirits of Dou Zun experts for a hundred years, it becomes a profound fruit.
The Ink Blood Demon Tree begins bearing fruit after growing for a thousand years. Only after ten thousand years can one tree produce ten fruits, yet only nine of those fruits can be used. The remaining one must be left to drift with the current.
Otherwise, the person who uses it will inevitably perish beyond saving. No one knows why; all that is known is that those who used the tenth fruit in the past all exploded and died for unknown reasons before they could use it.
Thus, whenever anyone in the world obtained an evil soul demon fruit of unknown origin, they would throw it away. After all, no one knew whether that demon fruit would bring them a fatal calamity.
For that reason, whenever people encountered an evil soul demon fruit, they avoided it like the plague.
Xiao Yan read for several hours, spending those hours in astonishment and shock.
Several herbs long extinct on the Dou Qi Continent and several rare plants he had only heard of in legends but never seen left Xiao Yan utterly shocked. Eventually, he grew somewhat numb to it all.
The afternoon passed as Xiao Yan was astonished again and again. Only when darkness fell did he return to the Liu Clan's residential quarter, his face full of shock, accompanied by a thoroughly puzzled Liu Huabai.
Unfortunately, Liu Huabai knew nothing. He could only blink and pay it no further mind.
Experts really are strange beyond compare. Yet when Liu Huabai led Xiao Yan away, he failed to notice that the ruins around them had become a vast, lush green bamboo grove.
Only the next morning, under his clansmen's shocked gazes, did Liu Huabai recall what had happened the previous night, leaving him utterly shocked as well.
Experts truly are mighty beings, capable of anything with the myriad things of heaven and earth! Strength really is the creator of this world! Once you have strength, tsk, tsk, what do the myriad things of heaven and earth, even all of nature, amount to...
Liu Huabai gave a low sigh.
"The Liu Clan is still far too weak!"
Over the next few days, Xiao Yan continued to stay at the Liu Clan. Even so, Liu Huabai was a little pleased. After all, as long as Xiao Yan remained, who would dare come to Qingyang City and cause trouble?
Time flew, and ten days passed. Xiao Yan had now been in this other world for a month. On this day, Liu Huabai startled him awake from his cultivation.
Liu Huabai smiled and said to Xiao Yan:
"Senior, tomorrow is Qingyang City's annual large-scale auction. Would you be interested in attending?"
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. After a brief moment's thought, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He nodded to Liu Huabai, said no more, and resumed cultivating.