Xiao Yan was slightly startled as he eyed the fear that flashed across Lin Yan’s face. He immediately knit his brows slightly, and his heart began to churn a little. Ever since he was acquainted with Lin Yan, this arrogant fellow had never displayed fear toward anyone. He merely felt some admiration for the strengths of Lin Xiu Ya, Liu Qing, and the others when facing them. However, he never showed the slightest hint of fear of them. Now, on the other hand, this Lin Yan who was renowned for being arrogant and wild in the Inner Academy had descended into silence and displayed such an expression when mentioning the person ranked first on the ‘Strong Ranking’. This caused Xiao Yan to be unable to maintain a calm heart.
“Ke ke, I was merely asking randomly. Senior Lin Yan need not take it to heart.” Xiao Yan smiled slightly after the silence continued for a while. He continued smiling while spoke and he gently placed his teacup down.
The expression on Lin Yan’s face finally became a little relaxed after hearing Xiao Yan’s words. He let out a bitter smile as he sighed, “I really don’t wish to mention that fellow. I think you will be able to see that fellow in the grand competition one month from now. However, I will give you some advice first. If you were to meet that fellow in the competition, you must not anger that fellow no matter what. You can also admit defeat if it is not possible.”
Xiao Yan pursed his lips and quietly nodded. Just how strong was that fellow who was ranked first on the ‘Strong Ranking’? Xiao Yan suddenly felt some curiosity for that fellow as this thought flashed within his heart. He really did not know just what kind of frightening fellow that person was in order to cause Lin Yan to say such words. Could it be that he had three heads and six limbs?
“Hee hee, however, you might not meet that fellow. The difficulty of you charging into the top ten is over ten times more difficult than defeating Bai Cheng. Currently, all of those fellows in the top ten are, without exception, at the peak of the Dou Ling class. They have rich fighting experience. At the same time, each of them also possesses powerful Dou Skill in their hands. Their fighting strengths are far from what a person at Bai Cheng’s class can be compared with.” Lin Yan laughed. His straightforward words did not leave much face for Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan laughed bitterly. He could not do anything about this forthright manner of Lin Yan and could only speak vaguely, “I will just do my best.”
“Why don’t we have a fight? If you can defeat me or endure some exchanges in my hands, you might have a chance.” Lin Yan’s gaze rotated two rounds around Xiao Yan’s body. His eyes suddenly became fiery hot as he made a suggestion in a somewhat pressing manner.
Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this. He could not help but feel his entire body turn cold when he saw the thirsty manner of Lin Yan. This fellow’s addiction to fighting was nearly comparable to Wu Hao’s. He did not want to spend effort to fight this kind of person, who would turn into an insane person once they started fighting. Therefore, he hurriedly waved his hand and said, “Forget it, forget it. I have currently yet to recover. Let’s wait for the future.”
Lin Yan could only nod his head in disappointment when he heard Xiao Yan’s rejection. After training for half a month within the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’, he could sense his hands becoming itchy. He really hoped that there would be someone who would allow him to have a delightful carefree fight.
Xiao Yan hurriedly pulled away from this conversation topic when he saw Lin Yan’s manner. He could not wait to find an excuse to sent the latter off after conversing for a while with him.
Xun Er could not help but smile and shake her head when she saw Xiao Yan send off Lin Yan and closed the door heavily. However, she hurriedly withdrew her smile when she saw Xiao Yan’s angry eyes being thrown over. She spoke in a saucy manner, “I know that it is not that Xiao Yan ge-ge is afraid of him, but that you are merely worried that you would injure him when sparring.”
“You can just show off...” Xiao Yan rubbed his nose in embarrassment after being given a clean slate by Xun Er. His gaze glanced at the weather outside and mused for a moment before speaking, “I want to go and take a look at Elder Hao’s place. He controls the medicinal warehouse of the Inner Academy, and I am currently lacking certain medicinal ingredients. If he has them, I must get some from him no matter what.”
Xun Er nodded slightly when she heard this. She immediately asked, “You are lacking medicinal ingredients? Recently, the medicinal gathering group of our ‘Pan’s Gate’ was formed. Moreover, they have entered the mountains quite a number of times, and had a few great harvests. They may have what you need.”
Xiao Yan smiled bitterly. The medicinal ingredients that he needed were something that he had never even seen before. Their values were something that one could tell just by thinking. However, he could not brush aside Xun Er’s good intentions. Therefore, he finally said the name of the final medicinal ingredient that he lacked: Asparagus Ice Fire Fruit.
Xun Er’s brows frowned in deep thought for a while after hearing this name. She could only helplessly shake her head. She examined the list of what the medicinal gathering group had harvested but did not discover this medicinal ingredient among the listed names.
Xiao Yan did not feel surprise when he saw Xun Er acting in this manner. He said goodbye to Xun Er before opening the door and leaving.
.......
Xiao Yan looked left and right once he left the house. He found a remote place before summoning the Purple Cloud Wings. Finally, he leaped high into the sky before flying out of the new student area. His gaze glanced down when he flew past the entrance and did indeed discover some fellows were sneaking around beside the entrance, guarding it. He immediately let out a bitter laugh. As he flapped his wings, his body turned into a faint black shadow that disappeared into the distance under the cover of the sky that was gradually becoming dark.
There were many experts within the Inner Academy and Xiao Yan did not want to invite any trouble. Therefore, he landed at a place where there were few people after having avoided those fellows who had thoughts of challenging him. He withdrew the Purple Cloud Wings before he swiftly walked to the warehouse managing the medicinal ingredients of the Inner Academy.
As the place where the Inner Academy stored precious medicinal ingredients, this warehouse managing medicinal ingredients had quite the tight security. Not only was there Elder Hao, a Dou Wang, guarding this place, but there were also over ten instructors patrolling twenty-four hours a day. This kind of place was one that ordinary students were prohibited from entering. Perhaps it was because Elder Hao had given prior instructions, but Xiao Yan was not expelled from it after being stopped by a patrolling instructor. Instead, after having confirmed Xiao Yan’s identity, the latter brought Xiao Yan to Elder Hao.
“Ke ke, in the two months that I have not seen you, you have actually reached the Dou Ling class. Moreover, you even defeated Bai Cheng, who is a six star Dou Ling. You are really not bad.” Elder Hao, who was originally inspecting the medicinal ingredients being stored hurriedly placed down the things in his hands when he heard Xiao Yan had come to look for him. He ordered his subordinate to bring him in before smiling and eyeing Xiao Yan. Clearly, he had already heard of the matter at the Fighting Arena.
“I was merely lucky.” Xiao Yan bowed slightly toward Elder Hao as he smiled. Only after the instructor left did he quietly speak about the intention of his visit. “This time around, I have come to look for Elder Hao mainly because I lack a medicinal ingredient in order to refine a medicinal pill. Therefore, I wish to come here to take a look and see if I can find it. Ke ke, now that my strength has increased a little, I will likely have a higher success rate in refining that ‘Dragon Strength Pill’.”
Xiao Yan’s gaze intently observed Elder Hao’s expression. Only upon seeing the somewhat happy face of the latter after he heard those last few words did Xiao Yan sigh in relief.
“Ke ke, these medicinal ingredients that are placed here will sooner or later be taken away by those old bastards from the Alchemist Department using some excuse.” Elder Hao waved his hand and walked closer to Xiao Yan in a somewhat earnest manner. He patted Xiao Yan’s shoulders as he smiled and said, “Xiao Yan, I shall not say any other unnecessary words to you. If you are able to refine just one medicinal pill that I am satisfied with, I will allow you to take away any one random medicinal ingredient from this warehouse. What do you say?”
Xiao Yan was startled. One kind of medicinal ingredient in exchange for a medicinal pill that he would be satisfied with? This...
“You should not think that I am taking advantage of you. I think that a medicinal ingredient that even you think is difficult to find would likely be an extremely rare one. You would not lose out if you exchanged a medicinal pill for a medicinal ingredient of this tier. What do you say?” Elder Hao laughed, clearly understanding what Xiao Yan was thinking in his heart when he saw the latter hesitating
Xiao Yan nodded slightly after quietly musing for awhile. If this place really had the final medicinal ingredient needed to refine the ‘Ground Spirit Pill’, the Asparagus Ice Fire Fruit, he did not really lose out by using a ‘Dragon Strength Pill’ to exchange for it. However, he would not lose out only if he exchanged for this medicinal ingredient. If it was some other medicinal ingredient, it was likely that this business was not really worth it.
“Alright. We’ll do as Elder Hao has suggested.”
A brilliant smile surfaced on Elder Hao’s face when he heard Xiao Yan agree. The frown on his forehead also became much more relaxed. He randomly threw out a snow white item and said, “This is the place where the management warehouse stores the most valuable medicinal ingredients. Go and search there. You can come and fulfill our transaction if you find it.”
Xiao Yan hurriedly received the snow white item. His eyes glanced at it. This was actually a jade plate that was made of white jade. There were various life-like medicinal plants engraved on it. A faint medicinal fragrance seeped out from it, causing one to feel relaxed and happy.
“This Inner Academy really has a deep foundation. Even this jade plate is actually made with an extremely rare jade material.” Xiao Yan muttered in his heart as he held the jade plate. He did not continue to stay, but turned around and walked to the door that led to the medicinal ingredient warehouse.
“That’s right. Little fellow, remember to only search for the thing that you need. Don’t randomly touch anything else. There are traces of energy on those things. I will be able to sense it as soon as it is touched slightly.” Elder Hao reminded just before Xiao Yan entered. The medicinal ingredients inside were far too valuable and the Inner Academy could not tolerate not taking some precautions.
“Ke ke, Elder Hao, you can rest assured. Xiao Yan is not a greedy person.” Xiao Yan laughed. He understood that Elder Hao was reminding him not to be greedy. Therefore, he immediately gave a direct reply.
Elder Hao could only smile awkwardly after Xiao Yan had exposed the meaning of his words. He waved his hands and once again sat back onto the chair to review the documents of the medicinal ingredients.
Xiao Yan smiled slightly, pushed the door, and entered. A spacious corridor was behind the door. Xiao Yan followed it until the end where a faint energy was covering the place. His gaze looked in all directions. When he saw a notch on the wall by the side, Xiao Yan took a step forward and carefully placed the white jade into it.
The energy glow in front of him gradually became weak as the white jade plate was resting in the notch. A moment later, it completely disappeared.
Xiao Yan took the white jade plate. He eyed the wooden door hidden behind the energy barrier and rubbed his hands somewhat anxiously. After which, he pushed open the door and entered this medicinal warehouse, which was engulfed by medicinal fragrances.