Luo Lan

The finely dressed youth had delicate, handsome features. Exquisite silver ripples were embroidered on his luxurious brocade robe, and a smooth white jade token hung at his waist. An ancient-looking character for "Luo" could just be made out on it.

He grabbed the skewer of Crimson Feather Beast meat and happily took a huge bite. It was so hot that he hissed through his teeth, yet his face was full of enjoyment, and he paid no attention to the child behind him, who was on the verge of tears.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man. He looked at the token on the youth's waist, an ingratiating smile plastered across his face, but he didn't dare say a word.

The people waiting in line around them fell silent as well. Though many of them looked displeased, they lowered their heads as soon as they saw the token, pretending they had seen nothing.

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.

He hadn't wanted to meddle. He could barely protect himself as he was, and in this unfamiliar city, the fewer troubles he had, the better. But when he saw the child clutching the crystal and weeping in distress, he couldn't help recalling himself many years ago, on the Xiao Clan's training ground, when everyone had mocked him as trash.

Xiao Yan sighed and walked over.

"Brother."

He stopped beside the finely dressed youth and pointed at the child, who was wiping away his tears. "I believe this child was in line for that skewer first."

The youth's mouth was greasy from the meat. He froze at the words, then turned and looked Xiao Yan up and down. Seeing his coarse clothes, pale face, and sickly appearance, he frowned. "Who are you? What's it to you?"

"Just passing by." Xiao Yan smiled. "I just think it doesn't look very good to snatch food from a child."

"Snatch?" The youth's eyes widened, as though the word had stung him. "I have to stand in line to eat? Do you know who I am?"

"No." Xiao Yan shook his head honestly.

The youth choked on his reply, his face turning red. He pointed at the token on his waist and shouted, "Take a good look! The Luo God Clan! My surname is Luo!"

A low stir immediately ran through the crowd. Someone whispered to Xiao Yan, "Little brother, let it go. Don't provoke them..."

But Xiao Yan looked thoughtfully at the token, then turned back to the youth and said in earnest, "So it looks good when someone from the Luo God Clan snatches food from a child?"

"You!" The youth stamped his feet in anger. He had grown up in Luo Shen City, fawned over wherever he went. Never had a sickly fellow in coarse clothes defied him in public like this. He immediately slammed the skewer onto the stall and rolled up his sleeves. "You're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

Before he had finished speaking, his right hand had clenched into a fist. A faint silver spiritual light emerged over it, and he drove it toward Xiao Yan's face with a powerful gust.

The punch was fast and carried considerable force. The Spiritual Energy fluctuations contained in his fist had reached the Spirit Wheel Realm.

Cries of alarm rose from the crowd as people hurriedly backed away.

As they saw it, the pale-faced young man was probably about to have his teeth knocked all over the ground.

Xiao Yan, however, stood rooted to the spot. Only when the fist was less than three inches from the tip of his nose did he slowly raise his right hand.

His movement looked slow, so slow it seemed to carry no force at all. Yet his palm landed lightly on the youth's wrist from the side, at precisely the right moment.

Then he gave it a gentle flick.

The youth felt a strange force travel through his wrist. It wasn't strong, but it struck with perfect precision at the point where he exerted his strength. The Spiritual Energy on his fist dispersed in an instant, and his own momentum sent him stumbling forward, nearly pitching headfirst into the charcoal fire at the meat stall.

Xiao Yan reached out, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and pulled him safely back.

The whole thing had happened in the blink of an eye.

The youth steadied himself, utterly dazed. He stared blankly at his fist, then at Xiao Yan, his face full of disbelief.

Xiao Yan hadn't used the slightest bit of Spiritual Energy. He had relied solely on the keen eye and technique he had honed through countless life-and-death battles. In his current state, the power he could muster was pitifully small, but it was more than enough to deal with a youth at the Spirit Wheel Realm.

Of course, though that move had looked effortless, it had actually aggravated his injuries. Xiao Yan showed nothing on his face, but waves of dull pain passed through his chest, and he gave a wry smile inwardly.

"You... what sorcery did you use?" The youth came to his senses, his face flushed red.

"It wasn't sorcery." Xiao Yan released his collar and clapped his hands. "When you punched, you piled all your Spiritual Energy onto the face of your fist, but left your wrist empty. It looked fierce, but it fell apart at a touch."

The youth opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. He knew Xiao Yan was telling the truth. The elder in his clan who taught him boxing had scolded him for the same thing, but he had never taken it to heart.

He glared at Xiao Yan for a long moment. The anger in his eyes gradually turned to curiosity, and finally, to a strange excitement.

"Hey, who taught you that move? Teach me, will you?"

Xiao Yan was taken aback by how quickly he changed his tune, faster than turning a page in a book.

The youth had already crowded up to him, his eyes shining. "I'm Luo Lan, from the Luo God Clan. What's your name? What clan are you from? How come I've never seen you in the city before?"

"Xiao Yan. No clan." Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Xiao Yan pointed at the child. "First, give him back his meat."

Only then did Luo Lan remember the skewer. He turned to look. He had flattened it when he slammed it onto the stall, and it was covered in charcoal ash. It was clearly no longer fit to eat. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, then took a small jade bottle from his robes and pressed it into the child's hand.

"Here, this is for the meat. It's enough to buy you a hundred skewers."

The child opened the bottle and peered inside, his eyes immediately going round. The crowd around them also drew sharp breaths.

Xiao Yan glanced over and saw several drops of crystal-clear liquid inside the jade bottle, giving off astonishingly pure Spiritual Energy fluctuations.

Supreme Spirit Liquid.

Xiao Yan had heard A Heng mention it over the past few days, but this was his first time seeing it. The Spiritual Energy contained in those few drops was so pure that the Dou Qi within his body couldn't help trembling slightly.

And Luo Lan had casually given it away as compensation, without even blinking.

"Boss, grill another ten skewers!" Luo Lan called to the stall owner. "Put it on my account!" Then he turned to Xiao Yan with a grin. "My treat, as an apology. Then you can teach me that move. How about it?"

At that moment, Xiao Yan's stomach let out another disappointingly loud growl.

Luo Lan burst out laughing.

Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and couldn't help laughing too.

The boy was a little spoiled and willful, but he wasn't a bad person.

Half an hour later, beside a greasy little wooden table on the street, Luo Lan gnawed on his seventh skewer of Crimson Feather Beast meat and asked indistinctly, "So, you came from somewhere else? What did you come to Luo Shen City for?"

"To find someone, and see if I can do a little business while I'm here." Xiao Yan ate his meat unhurriedly. The Crimson Feather Beast meat melted in his mouth and actually contained a faint trace of Spiritual Energy, which was quite beneficial to his depleted body.

"Business? What kind of business can you do?" Luo Lan asked curiously.

Xiao Yan thought for a moment, then took a small jade bottle from his robes, poured out a pill the size of a longan, and placed it on the table.

The pill was a vivid green all over, its surface smooth as a mirror. It lacked the distinctive patterns found on pills in this world, but it gave off a rich medicinal fragrance that seemed too thick to disperse. As soon as it appeared, the diners at the surrounding tables all turned their heads.

Luo Lan forgot to chew the meat in his mouth. He stared wide-eyed at the pill and, after a long while, managed to squeeze out a question. "Th-this... what kind of pill is this? How come it doesn't even have Pill Patterns?"

"I refined it myself," Xiao Yan said. "I want to find somewhere to sell it and exchange it for some spirit liquid. Do you know anywhere that buys pills?"

Luo Lan stared at the pill for a long time, then looked up at Xiao Yan. His eyes turned, and he slapped the table and stood up. "Come on, I'll take you there! The biggest pill shop in the city belongs to our Luo God Clan!"

True to his word, he set off at once. He tossed down a few drops of spirit liquid to settle the bill, then pulled Xiao Yan into the crowd.

Luo Lan's mouth never stopped moving along the way, and Xiao Yan soon learned that the boy was from a branch family of the Luo God Clan. His parents spent most of the year away on clan business, and he had been raised by the clan's elders. Wild by nature, he slipped out of the inner city every few days to wander around the outer city. His greatest hobby was eating his way through every street in Luo Shen City.

"Let me tell you, our clan leader is amazing." At the mention of the Luo God Clan, Luo Lan's face filled with pride. "His name is Luo Tianshen. By seniority, he's my great-uncle. There aren't many people on the whole Western Heaven Continent who dare provoke him! Even those fellows from the Blood God Clan have to slink away with their tails between their legs when they see him."

"The Blood God Clan?" Xiao Yan recalled what the Luo Shen Guard had said earlier.

"A bunch of pests." Luo Lan curled his lip, a look of disgust crossing his face. "They're our Luo God Clan's mortal enemies. We've been fighting for who knows how many years. Lately, I don't know what's gotten into them, but they keep sending their juniors to the outer city to stir up trouble. A few days ago, they even injured several of our clan members. The clan leader is in seclusion, and the elders are afraid of trouble... Hmph. If I run into them, I'll definitely give them a beating."

Xiao Yan glanced at him and thought that, judging by the way he threw a punch, he would probably be the one getting beaten if he ran into them. Naturally, he didn't say so, merely smiling.

The two made their way through streets and alleys. Whenever the token at Luo Lan's waist gave off a faint glow, Xiao Yan could sense the Bewildering Tracks Array's distorting power quietly recede before its light. He took note of the resonance between the token and the array, but did not slow his pace.

Before long, a magnificent five-story pavilion appeared before them.