Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

“If Mittel Tengshan asks about me, just say that I will visit him when I have time, and tell him not to go around asking about my whereabouts,” Hai Bodong glanced at Ya Fei and said somewhat coldly, “If he is really bored, he can prepare your dowry.”

dowry?

Upon hearing this, Ya Fei's expression faltered. "Elder Hai, I am the Chief Prosecutor of the Mittel family. No elder in the Mittel family has ever married out of the family..."

"Were there other female elders before?" Hai Bodong rolled his eyes.

"Alright, Elder Hai, stop teasing Sister Ya Fei," Xiao Yan sighed helplessly. "Can't we just talk properly?"

"I wasn't teasing this little girl," Hai Bodong said, pursing his lips. But he also knew that Xiao Yan was on Ya Fei's side at the moment. If he continued to speak vaguely, he would probably be the one who suffered. "Didn't we agree on this when I asked you to help me refine pills?"

"Huh?" Xiao Yan tilted his head, not reacting for a moment.

"I think half of the Mittel family's assets would be perfect as a dowry. What do you think?" Hai Bodong straightened his collar and looked at Xiao Yan with a leisurely air.

Xiao Yan looked at Hai Bodong suspiciously. He suspected that the old man had finalized this plan on the spur of the moment after seeing the relationship between him and Ya Fei, but he had no evidence...

'I'll give him a good beating when I have some free time, that's settled.'

After nodding, Xiao Yan made a decision, then sighed helplessly, "Forget it, marriage is not suitable for me. Let's sell the other half of the business you mentioned for gold coins."

"Sell it for gold coins? Do you think any family can buy half of the Mittel family's assets for just gold coins?" Hai Bodong rolled his eyes.

"You know about this too?" Xiao Yan gave him a disdainful look, then looked at Ya Fei. "Sister Ya Fei, don't pay any attention to this disrespectful old man. I still remember what you said back then about not wanting others to control your destiny."

Then, without waiting for Ya Fei to say another word, she pushed Hai Bodong and walked him out.

"I didn't say... I didn't want it to be like this..."

After letting out a helpless sigh, Ya Fei waited until Xiao Yan and the other two could no longer see their backs before walking dejectedly into the auction house.

"She was quite disappointed." After Ya Fei returned to the auction house, Lü Man looked back and said.

"Probably," Xiao Yan said noncommittally, "Are you planning to tie me to the Mittel family's war chariot?" He glanced at Hai Bodong beside him.

“Of course I’ll try if I have the chance,” Hai Bodong said without any hesitation. “A seventeen-year-old seventh-grade alchemist, even if someone says you can become an eighth-grade alchemist before you’re twenty, I’ll believe it.”

"You really believe me?" Xiao Yan's lips twitched, even though he himself felt that refining an eighth-grade pill before the age of twenty was not a problem.

"Of course." Hai Bodong was full of confidence. Compared with Xiao Yan, Lü Man, and even Bai Ya, he was indeed much weaker, but he was a professional when it came to judging people.

"Speaking of which, if we don't use the method of marriage, how can we hand over half of Mittel's business to you?" After a moment of pride, Hai Bodong said seriously, "Although I don't know why you need me to go to Wutan City to protect your family, no matter what, it will be difficult for me alone to protect your family in a city."

"If we were in the Holy City of Jiama, we could at least rely on the power of the Mu family, the Nalan family, the royal family, or even the Yunlan Sect. But in a remote town like Wutan City... it would be too late to ask for help."

Xiao Yan understood Hai Bodong's meaning. In terms of safety alone, it would definitely be safest to move the Xiao family to Jia Ma Holy City. After all, even if Hai Bodong went to Wutan City, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King would become a Dou Zong. In terms of top experts, Wutan City would only be able to barely match Jia Ma Holy City. In other aspects, such as the number of troops and the number of Dou Wangs, Wutan City was far inferior to Jia Ma Holy City.

“What you said isn’t wrong, but…” Xiao Yan hesitated.

"But what? You're not thinking you don't want to rely on the Mittel family anymore, are you?" Hai Bodong patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder. "It's no big deal. Those businesses were originally meant for you. If you really feel bad about it, just refine some more pills for me, okay?"

"Your plan is quite clever," Xiao Yan said, giving Hai Bodong a disdainful look. "That's right, at worst I'll just refine some pills for you."

Under Hai Bodong's persuasion, Xiao Yan reluctantly nodded, acknowledging the feasibility of his idea.

“Alright, I’ll go find that old guy Mittel Tengshan first,” Hai Bodong said with a smile. “I’ll come find you later.” He waved and then turned to blend into the crowd, heading towards the Mittel Auction House.

“I’m going to the Alchemist Guild to find some medicinal herbs,” Xiao Yan nodded. “Do you have anywhere you need to go?” He looked at Lü Man.

“I’ll go with you,” Green Barbarian shrugged. “I still have the self-awareness to be a prisoner.”

“A prisoner wouldn’t dare to comment on someone I know,” Xiao Yan glanced at her, “and say it out loud.”

"Then I'll pretend I'm not a prisoner."

A few minutes later, an extremely large building, shrouded in a faint fragrance of elixirs year-round, stood at the intersection of several streets. The five ancient characters "Alchemist Guild" on the towering gate shimmered with a pale silver light.

Xiao Yan, now dressed in the robes of a third-grade alchemist, paused briefly at the entrance before naturally blending into the crowd and walking toward the interior of the Alchemist Guild. Green Barbarian kept a half-meter distance from Xiao Yan, following closely behind without missing a step.

Stepping through the gates of the Alchemist Guild, Xiao Yan took a deep breath of the rich aroma of medicinal pills, then looked around—

The Alchemist Guild has a very large area, which can be roughly divided into three areas: east, south, and west. The east area seems to be a trading area, while the south area is where alchemists exchange experiences. However, the alchemists in the south area are of relatively low level. Compared with the previous two areas, the west area is much quieter, and it seems that only alchemists who have reached a certain level can enter.

After roughly determining the functions of several areas, Xiao Yan walked towards the trading area without hesitation. Although it was unlikely that he would find a bargain since everyone was an alchemist, but... what if he did?

Along the way, Xiao Yan spent a lot of money on the items that the alchemists in the trading area used to exchange. It wasn't that he hadn't seen them before or cherished them; it was simply that Xiao Yan didn't have many medicinal herbs on hand. Although he had already asked Ya Fei to collect a lot of medicinal herbs, if he wanted to deduce a pill that could strengthen his soul power in the near future, he needed to collect all kinds of pills that might be effective.

After completing his purchases, Xiao Yan turned and walked out of the Taobao area.

Just as he was about to leave the Taobao area, Xiao Yan suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at a somewhat dilapidated stone platform in the corner, frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly walked over.

Behind the stone platform stood a gaunt man. The medicinal herbs laid out in front of him were all quite common, so few people came to look at them, hence the bitter look on his face.

However, upon seeing Xiao Yan, this "sucker" who had been spending lavishly, approach, the gaunt man instantly perked up and looked at Xiao Yan with a somewhat fawning expression.

"Master, what would you like to order?"

After casually nodding to the man, Xiao Yan's gaze swept across the table, omitting the somewhat dried-out medicinal herbs, and then fixed his eyes on an inconspicuous black, broken piece of jade in the corner.

With a lazy gaze fixed on the broken black jade piece, Xiao Yan casually picked it up.

Upon handling the jade piece, it was not smooth; instead, it was covered with fine particles, suggesting that the material was not of very good quality. Furthermore, there were faint cracks on the jade piece, and sand was even stuck in the gaps.

The perception emanating from his soul reminded Xiao Yan that this black, broken jade piece was somewhat strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was so strange about it.

"Teacher, have you seen this before?" Without hesitation, Xiao Yan directly sought help from Yao Lao.

'Huh? This thing actually appeared in the Jia Ma Empire?' After a brief pause, Xiao Yan heard Yao Lao's somewhat surprised voice.

'Is this thing very rare?'

'It's not exactly rare, but this thing comes from the Burning Flame Valley, and they're the only ones on the entire continent who have the ability to turn jade pieces into storage devices.'

Burning Flame Valley?

Upon hearing those three words, Xiao Yan looked directly at the gaunt man and asked, "I'll take this. What do you need?"

"Master, I would like to exchange this for a grade three elixir." Upon hearing this, the man's spirits lifted, and he immediately chuckled awkwardly. Although he didn't know what kind of treasure this jade piece was, it seemed unworthy of a grade three elixir.

Xiao Yan's body stiffened slightly. Exchanging third-grade pills for things from Burning Flame Valley would definitely be a profit, but right now, he didn't seem to have any third-grade pills on him.

"Are you an alchemy apprentice?" Xiao Yan suddenly asked, glancing at the man in front of him.

"Yes, my talent isn't that great. Even after many years, I'm still just an apprentice alchemist..." the man said with a wry smile.

"A fourth-grade pill, the Soul Cleansing Pill," Xiao Yan said, casually taking out a jade bottle from his Awakening Flame Ring and tossing it to the man. "This jade piece is of some use to me, so I'll let you have it."

"Just take it anywhere. Although it's only a fourth-grade pill, if nothing unexpected happens, you'll become a true alchemist after taking it. Of course, how far you go depends on your luck."

He hurriedly took the bottle, and after listening to Xiao Yan's explanation, the man poured out the pills from the jade bottle without hesitation and stuffed them into his mouth.

After sensing the man's soul power slowly increasing, Xiao Yan curled his lips, turned around and left. He completely ignored the burning gazes of the people around him. Even if someone wanted to "discuss" with the people around them, the aura released by Green Barbarian would knock them unconscious immediately.

"Find a quiet spot and roast that jade piece with flames," Yao Lao's voice continued in Xiao Yan's mind, "The higher the temperature it can withstand, the more precious the contents inside are. If it can withstand the roasting of a strange fire..."

'The contents inside are much more valuable; perhaps for some time to come, the most precious thing you possess will be what's inside that jade piece.'

Although that's what Yao Lao said, Xiao Yan felt that as long as this thing could withstand the scorching heat of the Twin Dragon Extreme Ice and Fire, that would be enough. He didn't expect anything higher.

Chapter 188 The Champion's Reward

After standing in the center of the hall for a while, Xiao Yan turned around and walked towards the west section, where there were the fewest people.

Upon seeing the badge of a third-grade alchemist on Xiao Yan's chest, the two guards did not make any move to stop him, but Xiao Yan still stopped at the door.

"Please inform Master Frank and Master Otto of Blackrock City that Xiao Yan requests an audience," Xiao Yan said with a light laugh to the two somewhat bewildered guards.

The two guards exchanged a glance, and then the one on the right said, "A third-grade alchemist is qualified to enter this area."

“I know,” Xiao Yan nodded. Although he did not use his soul power at first, he did use it when examining the jade piece and also learned about the rules for entering and leaving this area. “But I am not an acquaintance of those two masters. I am only here to borrow their name. It is not appropriate to enter the two masters’ rest room without permission.”

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, the two guards hesitated for a moment. Then, the one on the right nodded, said "Wait a moment," and quickly retreated, heading towards the stairs behind him.

A few minutes later, unhurried footsteps sounded, and a moment later, an old figure appeared in Xiao Yan's sight.

After looking around for a moment, the old man's gaze fell on Xiao Yan's unremarkable face after his disguise. "You're the one who borrowed Xiao Yan's name?" There was some dissatisfaction in his voice, as if he regarded Xiao Yan as an opportunist.

"I am Xiao Yan's senior brother, my name is Yan Xiao," Xiao Yan said, crossing his arms and bowing. "Xiao Yan is still cultivating, so I probably won't be able to participate in the Alchemist Conference."

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Otto was stunned for a moment, then nodded helplessly. Two years ago, when he met Xiao Yan in Black Rock City, he knew Xiao Yan's identity and the story of Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran. He thought it was just a rumor, but Xiao Yan didn't even participate in the Alchemist Conference in order to prepare for the competition in half a month. He finally believed the truth of the matter.

"Is there absolutely no possibility?" Even so, Otto was still somewhat unwilling to give up.

“This is the final stage of my cultivation. Once I achieve it, I might be able to surpass Nalan Yanran in strength,” Xiao Yan shook his head. “Even if my master were to persuade me now, he probably wouldn’t agree.”

“I see,” Otto shook his head, then glanced at Xiao Yan, “Um, Yan…” Otto, who was about to call him by name, suddenly realized that the alchemist in front of him might be of a higher level than himself, and for a moment he didn’t know how to address him.

"You are Xiao Yan's elder, so just call me Yan Xiao," Xiao Yan said with a light laugh.

“Alright, then I’ll take advantage of this opportunity,” Otto laughed. “How about we go up and have a chat? It’s been a long time since that old guy Frank and I have seen Xiao Yan.”

“Of course it’s possible.” Xiao Yan nodded.

“Then come with me,” Otto said with a smile. “And this is…” His gaze fell on Green Barbarian behind Xiao Yan.

“She’s like my bodyguard,” Xiao Yan said. “I helped her refine a few pills, and in return, she has to protect me for the next few years.”

"I see." Otto nodded, asked no more questions, and led Xiao Yan upstairs.

After waiting until the crowd around them thinned out, Otto suddenly asked in a low voice, "Rock Owl, how old are you?"

“Twenty-five, a fifth-grade alchemist. This alchemist competition isn’t really suitable for someone my age.” Xiao Yan understood Otto’s meaning and said with a smile.

"Twenty-five years old, a fifth-grade alchemist?" Otto's face showed a pained expression. You have to know that when Gu He, the current Pill King, participated in the previous Alchemist Conference, he was already close to thirty years old, and his alchemist rank was only fourth grade!

"Are you really not going to consider it?" After the toothache subsided, Otto's face was filled with excitement. "The champion's reward is a prescription for a sixth-grade elixir!"

"A sixth-grade pill formula?" Xiao Yan showed a hint of interest. Although he was already a seventh-grade alchemist, most of the formulas he had, apart from those he had concocted himself, came from Yao Lao. The only one he had, the Breaking Calamity Pill, was something he had obtained from Hai Bodong last time.

"What kind of pill is it? What are its effects?" Xiao Yan asked curiously.

Seeing that Xiao Yan seemed somewhat interested, Otto chuckled and said, "The Spirit Fusion Pill is a somewhat unorthodox sixth-grade pill, but it can quickly restore soul power and repair any injuries the soul has suffered."

Soul power recovers rapidly?

How to heal the wounds inflicted on the soul?

Upon hearing a few keywords, Xiao Yan immediately thought of Yao Lao's powerful, yet noticeably weak, soul force. "Teacher, will this pill work for you?"

"...It's hard to say. After all, no one knows the effects of a elixir that works on the soul until it's actually taken." After a brief hesitation, the old doctor slowly shook his head.

"I need this prescription."

While Xiao Yan and Yao Lao were discussing, his arm inside his sleeve suddenly felt a chill, followed by a soul message with a seductive quality entering his mind.

Alright, now we don't need to worry about whether this pill formula is effective or whether it can work on a pure soul. Xiao Yan chuckled helplessly and said, "Okay, I admit the reward is indeed generous... I'll participate."