“Stop, I say!” Nalan Jie shouted with an ugly expression as he squeezed through the confused crowd and quickly arrived by Nalan Yanran’s side.

His footsteps stopped beside Nalan Yanran. He first turned to Xiao Yan and asked, “Little friend Yan Xiao, are you alright?”

Xiao Yan shook his head, indicating that nothing was serious.

Nalan Jie sighed in relief once he saw that Xiao Yan was safe. If he had been injured, it might have been a disaster for himself.

As his eyes glanced over at the young tranquil face, Nalan Jie could not help but think even more highly of him. Although the battle lasted for a short time, with Nalan Jie’s strength, he was naturally aware of it the instant the fight broke out. He had deliberately arrived late, obviously trying to observe Xiao Yan’s fighting strength. After all, a lot of alchemists, though extremely proficient at refining, were a complete mess when it came to fighting. Nalan Jie had seen such people before.

“This little guy, I did not expect that besides having an extraordinary talent in alchemy, his fighting strength is not weak either. Looking at his aggressive attacks, he seems to be a person who has already killed before.” Secretly admiring in his heart, Nalan Jie turned his eyes to Mu Zhan, his old face sank as he shouted, “Mu Zhan, I did not think that after two years of experience, not only did it not smother your unreasonable arrogance, but instead caused you to become increasingly arrogant. This is the Nalan Clan, not your Mu Clan. Even that old guy Mu Chen would not dare to not give me, Nalan Jie, any face if he came!”

“Hee hee, Grandfather Nalan, stop rebuking me. I just wanted to check out this friend’s skill. I had not meant to cause trouble in the Nalan Clan. As for all the damaged property, I will call people at once to have it all completely replaced.” Although Mu Zhan’s nature was extremely arrogant, in front of Nalan Jie, whose seniority was comparable to his grandfather, he did not dare to quibble or be presumptuous. He immediately laughed while nodding his head.

"Hmph! These words of yours can go and deceive a ghost.”

TL: These words of yours can go and deceive a ghost - Meaning no human would believe you

Nalan Jie snorted coldly as he stared directly at Mu Zhen and said in a deep voice, “Mu Zhan, I’m going to tell this clearly to you now, Yan Xiao is a distinguished guest of my Nalan family. I do not want him to be injured. Although, your Mu Clan has many madmen, my Nalan clan is not to be trifled with!”

Nalan Jie knew Mu Zhan’s character only too well. After failing to attack Xiao Yan today, he might get his clan members to attack in the future. In order to ensure Xiao Yan’s safety and to gain favorable impression toward the Nalan clan, Nalan Jie said these words, which caused many people to secretly change their expressions, in front of everyone.

Hearing Nalan Jie’s words which did not sound like a joke, Mu Zhan’s expression changed slightly. He did not expect that Nalan Jie would actually leave such hard words for only a tier two alchemist.

Mu Zhan’s gaze was bizarre as he glanced up and down and weighed Xiao Yan who was behind Nalan Yanran. He secretly wondered in his heart, “What exactly is the identity of this brat? When I return home, I must get someone to investigate him properly.”

“Why? What happened?” As Mu Zhan quietly mouthed to himself, another old voice sounded from outside the crowd. A thin figure flashed and shifted through the crowd and immediately appeared beside Xiao Yan just like a ghost. Everyone’s gazes drifted over. It was Primer Tengshan who was called out by someone earlier.

“Mu Zhan?” Primer Tengshan’s eyes swept onto the mess all over the place. When his gaze moved toward Mu Zhan, he was initially surprised. When he turned around and saw Ya Fei and Xiao Yan standing together, he instantly appeared to have understood the entire situation. Immediately, his old face, just like Nalan Jie, swiftly sank. His old eyes viciously stared at Mu Zhan and furiously said, “You start creating trouble the moment that you return. Do you believe that I won’t get Mu Chen, that old guy who won’t die, to once again expel you to the border to gain experience?”

“Uh... Clan Head Tengshan... you are also here.”

Seeing the person who had arrived, Mu Zhan, who was fearless, immediately shivered. Back then, the greatest reason which resulted in him leaving the capital and going to the border was because the arrogant Mu Zhan had angered Primer Tengshan. It resulted in the Mu clan having no choice but to throw this scourge to the empire’s borders. Therefore, when he saw Primer Tengshan at this moment, Mu Zhen showed some fear as he smiled awkwardly and humbled his speech.

Primer Tengshan snorted softly. He glance at Nalan Jie by his side as he slowly said, “I shall also give you a reminder. Once you leave this place, don’t go and find trouble with young friend Yan Xiao. He is also a friend of the Primer clan. If you really cause any trouble, then don’t blame these old bones of mine when I become angry. When that time comes, even Mu Chen will not be able to protect you...”

Although Primer Tengshan was unclear about Xiao Yan’s actual strength and his background, he did not have the slightest hesitation when he said these words. A Duo Huang class strong person who had a haughty character was actually willing to follow by Xiao Yan’s side as a bodyguard. This was sufficient to see just how much ability this ordinary looking young man actually possessed.

In a two short minutes, Mu Zhan received serious warnings from two out of three of the large clans. This kind of situation had caused not only Mu Zhan himself to be somewhat stunned, but also the surrounding observers to feel shocked.

Since Xiao Yan was able to help Nalan Jie expel the poison, everyone was not overly surprised when the latter did his best to protect Xiao Yan. After all, his own life was in the hands of the other person. However, everyone felt that it was strange and inexplicable that Primer Tengshan was able to say such serious words without any hesitation despite only having known Xiao Yan for a short while.

It should be known that behind Mu Zhan was the entire Mu clan. This strength was not the slightest bit weaker than the Primer clan. By just comparing numbers, the Mu clan even exceeded the Primer clan greatly. After all, the Primer clan was a merchant clan and not a warrior clan like the Mu clan.

Of course, these strong people referred to those of the middle strength and not the peak strength like Primer Tengshan. After all, his kind of class was not something that could easily appear by simply relying on the clan having a combat atmosphere. The most important factor was one’s training talent. On this point, both clans were on even ground.

“Che, lucky brat...” Within the crowd, Liu Ling saw the two people of extremely great weight protecting Xiao Yan. He frowned slightly, pursed his lips together and coldly laughed.

Beside him, Little Princess had her eyebrows knit slightly. Her eyes passed through the crowd as she looked at Xiao Yan. She softly muttered, “Looks like he should have something that both clans value greatly. Otherwise, Primer Tengshan and Grandfather Nalan would definitely not take the risk of offending the Mu clan and speak out for him without any hesitation.”

“What a mysterious fellow... it’s a pity.” Little Princess regretfully shook her head. She recalled her attitude toward Yan Xiao and could only laugh bitterly. She did not expect that a failure on her part to identify a talented person would actually result in her losing a chance to befriend such an outstanding person. If her emperor father or elder sister were to know about this, she would likely be viciously reprimanded.

The corner of Mu Zhan’s mouth twitched. The smile on his face was extremely ugly. A long while later, he helplessly spread out his hand in front of Nalan Jie and Primer Tengshan’s gaze and said, “Two old sirs, I have already said that today’s matter was only a misunderstanding. Alright, as long as this friend does not provoke me in the future, I will not go and make things difficult for him. Let’s take this as giving both of you face.”

Nalan Jie nodded faintly. He turned around, eyed the hall and clapped his hand. With a smile, he said, “Everyone, please continue. This is but mischief caused by the younger generation. Everyone can just treat it as having watched an interesting performance. Ha ha.”

Hearing Nalan Jie’s words, the surrounding observers knew what was good for them as they followed him and laughed. After which, they consciously scattered and began to search for people that were pleasing to their eyes as they continued to drink wine and chat.

“Hehe, old fellow, you really won’t give up any chance to make a good impression...” Primer Tengshan smiled, leaned close to Nalan Jie and said softly.

“Humph. Old fellow, looks like you really intend to snatch this person from us?” Nalan Jie glanced at Primer Tengshan and said with a cold smile.

“If such a talented person was to run to someone else’s home, that would be a matter that would give one a terrible headache...” Primer Tengshan laughed softly, “I seem to feel that Ya Fei and young friend Yan Xiao are able to converse very well. Don’t you agree? But little niece Yanran does not appear to be able to lower herself and get closer to young friend Yan Xiao. Hee hee, after all their statuses are different. If it is like this, won’t your side greatly lose out?”

Nalan Jie’s shriveled face swept across Ya Fei from the corner of his eyes who was pulling Xiao Yan and checking all over him body to see if he was wounded in the fight. He then glanced at his granddaughter who was standing on one side with her cool pretty face that did not have the slightest activity. He could only shake his sleeves as he bitterly replied, “You are really willing to put in the capital...”

“Just so so.” Primer Tengshan smiled in a very pleased manner. He drowned the red wine in his hand all in one go.

......

“Alright, I am really alright. Although that fellow is troublesome to fight with, this little bit of warm up won’t cause me any harm.” Xiao Yan helplessly eyed Ya Fei who was repeatedly sizing him up. He shook his head and bitterly said.

Hearing that there was nothing different in Xiao Yan’s voice, Ya Fei finally sighed in relief. Her long eyes were filled with shock as she sized Xiao Yan up. She softly said, “Little Fellow, I remember that when you left Wu Tan City back then, it had not been long since you had broke through to to a Dou Zhe. Just how long has it only been... you are actually able to fight equally with Mu Zhan?”

Xiao Yan smiled. After experiencing that kind of tough training, this kind of a return was something that he felt to be only normal.

“Nalan xiao-jie, thank you for taking action...” Ya Fei took two steps forward, came to Nalan Yanran’s side and smiled as she helped Xiao Yan thank her.

“Mister Yan Xiao is our Nalan clan’s guest. It is only natural for me to step forward. Actually, with Mister Yan Xiao’s strength, it appeared that my action may have been unnecessary...” Nalan Yanran glanced at Xiao Yan. When this fellow saw her, his expression began to gradually become indifferent. This kind of treatment, which appeared to be on the two ends of a pole when compared with the one he used with Ya Fei, really caused Nalan Yanran to be somewhat speechless.

“Ya Fei, we have not seen each other for two years. You don’t need to ignore me in this manner, do you?” Standing by the side, Mu Zhan, who saw that Ya Fei did not even spare him a glance, could not help but bitterly smile as he asked.

“Young Master Mu, I wouldn’t dare to. It is just that temper of yours is something that Ya Fei is not blessed enough to endure. I hope that in the future, you will not say those things that damage Ya Fei’s reputation. I have never made promises of any engagement, so when have I become your woman?” Ya Fei glanced at this fellow and said with a cold smile.

Once she said those words, she once again walked back to Xiao Yan’s side. She pulled at his sleeve and gently said, “Let’s go somewhere else...”

Xiao Yan glance at the gentle faced Ya Fei and then watched Mu Zhan, whose expression had become somewhat green in his fury. He nodded slightly and allowed Ya Fei to pull him toward the other side of the hall.

“That damn brat...” Mu Zhan’s eyes angrily stared at Xiao Yan’s back. He violently waved his hand and then shifted his gaze toward Nalan Yanran. He said, “Yanran, what exactly is this fellow’s background? Don’t just keep quiet. No matter how you put it, we have played and fought as children. Don’t tell me that you are not even willing to reveal this little bit of information?”

Seeing the fierce and brutal faced Mu Zhan, Yanran helplessly shook her head. She said, “To be honest, I am really unsure about the exact background of Yan Xiao. But his medicine refining skills are extraordinary. My grandfather’s ‘Searing Poison’ was something even Elder Gu He could do nothing about. However, he is able to expel it...”

“That is all that I know. In any case, you better not go to him and find trouble. Otherwise, you might find yourself faced with quite some trouble.” Nalan Yanran reminded him. She then turned around and slowly walked into the hall, leaving Mu Zhan standing alone on the same spot and clenching his teeth, unable to resign to the situation.

“I don’t care what your identity is... don’t give me the chance...” Mu Zhan clenched his teeth and ruthlessly said in a soft voice.