Chapter 62: Secret Talks in the Imperial Capital, Yao Ye

While Xiao Yan and Yao Yue were discussing the mysteries of alchemy aboard the flying magical beast, numerous powerhouses within the Jia Ma Imperial Capital were gathered in their respective secret chambers, discussing him.

Deep within the heavily guarded Imperial Palace, beside a massive lake, an old man dressed in coarse linen robes was lying on a lounge chair to cool off; however, when he took a document from the tall young woman standing in attendance beside him, his previously lazy eyes suddenly turned sharp.

"Is everything on this true?" Although he was confident he was not yet old enough to be fooled by such things, Jia Xing Tian still found it somewhat unbelievable!

Although the Wu clan relatives who had run to the Imperial Capital from Wu Tan City had boasted about how powerful that Xiao Yan was, he had lost count of how many people had exaggerated in front of him over the years, so in truth, he had only believed that Wu Jin had indeed been finished off.

As for Xiao Yan, he had only thought that he had participated in the process of finishing off Wu Jin, at most being one of the main forces.

One must know, this view was already extremely astonishing; possessing such cultivation at Xiao Yan's age was already very shocking, enough to crush all the geniuses of the Jia Ma Empire over the past few hundred years!

So, to tell the truth, in Jia Xing Tian's previous analysis, Xiao Yan himself might be a genius, but he should have also used some methods to rapidly increase his cultivation, the most common of which was taking pills.

Take the Jia Ma Imperial Family for example: as long as they wanted to, sparing no cost to "pill" someone into a 16-year-old Dou Ling was not a problem. The reason they did not do so was firstly because the cost was too great, and secondly because doing so would lead to a shaky foundation, with no room for further growth.

Therefore, regarding Xiao Yan, Jia Xing Tian did not place much importance on him at first; the only thing he was curious about was where the Xiao clan had found the resources to push Xiao Yan to this realm, and why the other party would force growth to help them develop. After all, even with pills, not everyone could reach the Great Master realm.

But the intelligence Yao Ye brought at this moment completely overturned all of Jia Xing Tian's previous speculations: a Great Master defeating a Spirit Master?

Where was this "shaky foundation"?

As for whether the other party had encountered some fortuitous encounter—Jia Xing Tian thought for a moment and directly ignored it, because no matter what the fortuitous encounter was, to reach this level required Xiao Yan himself to be a talent worth molding. It was just like having a peerless cultivation technique in front of you, but what use was it if you couldn't understand it?

"I also couldn't believe it when I first saw this intelligence, but it does indeed have Uncle Jia Tianyu's personal signature on it," replied Yao Ye, who was standing in attendance to the side, pointing with her jade finger to the handwritten characters in the bottom right corner of the document as she spoke.

Jia Xing Tian followed where Yao Ye pointed and looked; it was indeed Jia Tianyu's signature, and it even carried the aura of his Battle Energy.

"I really didn't expect this Xiao Yan to be heaven-defying to this extent. In this way, all our previous preparations must be scrapped and started over. Fortunately, this Xiao Yan did not come back directly with Tianyu, otherwise, we wouldn't even have a moment to prepare," Jia Xing Tian said with some emotion, then turned to Yao Ye and asked: "Regarding this Xiao Yan, what do you intend to do?"

Regarding Jia Xing Tian's question, Yao Ye was clearly prepared long ago and answered without hesitation: "Befriend, honor, and marry into the family."

Hearing Yao Ye's answer, Jia Xing Tian did not feel any surprise. He stroked his beard, and as a test for the successor of the Imperial Family, Jia Xing Tian habitually asked about the specific logic behind Yao Ye's decision.

"In that case, are you not worried that this Xiao Yan will threaten our Jia Ma Imperial Family in the future?"

"He won't," Yao Ye said decisively, and gave a very powerful explanation: "Would a fierce tiger fight an ant for food?"

"—" No, although what you said is a fact, did you have to be so blunt? Aren't you cursing both of us as ants? Jia Xing Tian thought, somewhat speechless.

"Then, who do you think is the best candidate for the marriage?" Jia Xing Tian asked again.

"Yao Yue."

"Yao Yue?" Jia Xing Tian was somewhat surprised, but after reacting, he felt it was a matter of course. After all, with Xiao Yan's talent, the only age-appropriate maidens in the Imperial Family qualified for marriage were Yao Yue and Yao Ye. However—

"Did you never think of yourself?" To tell the truth, from Jia Xing Tian's perspective, a marriage between Yao Ye and Xiao Yan could be called a true union of the strong. After all, compared to Yao Yue, Yao Ye, the next person in power of the Jia Ma Empire, marrying Xiao Yan would undoubtedly better strengthen the relationship between the Empire and Xiao Yan.

"I can't," Yao Ye replied directly.

"Why? Is it because you don't want to get married yet?" Jia Xing Tian asked, somewhat puzzled.

"No, it's because my personality is too overbearing. Hmph, men have never liked overbearing women," Yao Ye said coldly, without mercy.

"—" Fine, Jia Xing Tian admitted that this statement did have some truth to it, but then again, shouldn't you look at the fact that your grandfather is also a man? Is this something you can say to me?

"However, there is still one problem regarding the marriage," Yao Ye suddenly frowned and said.

"What is it?" Jia Xing Tian asked hurriedly, hoping to escape from the previous conversation as soon as possible.

"It is that Nalan Jie of the Nalan clan seems to have set a marriage contract between his granddaughter Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan over a dozen years ago, and it was a betrothal made while they were still in the womb."

Hearing this, the look of anticipation that had been in Jia Xing Tian's eyes suddenly went blank, and then he roared: "What!"

Deep within the Nalan family mansion in the Imperial Capital, a hearty laugh suddenly erupted from a corner.

"Hahaha! Good! Good! To think that my future grandson-in-law is actually so outstanding!" In a side room of the Nalan residence, Nalan Yanran's grandfather, Nalan Su's father, Nalan Jie, was lying on his bed, laughing very heartily.

"Su'er, look at this, how is it? My judgment is not bad, right? You used to complain to me that I found a nonsensical fiancé for Yanran, how is it now?" At this time, although Nalan Jie had long been poisoned by the Brand Poison and could only lie in bed to recuperate, he had not yet reached the point of exhaustion. Especially after receiving the news that Xiao Yan had forcefully defeated the six-star Spirit Master Jia Tianyu at the peak of the Great Spirit Master realm, he was even more ecstatic. Like a child, he kept showing off to his son beside him about the correctness of the marriage contract he had set.

——

For an old man who had reached his twilight years and could only lie sick in bed, proving that he still had value to the family was undoubtedly a very happy thing.

"Father is right; in the past, this son's vision was a bit short-sighted," Nalan Su, who was standing in attendance to the side, flattered him at the right moment, making the old man's mood even happier.

"Speaking of which, how is that girl Yanran doing now?" After Nalan Jie was happy for a while, he began to ask about the true protagonist of the marriage contract.

Mentioning Yanran, a trace of pride flashed in Nalan Su's eyes: "Yanran wrote a letter just a few days ago saying she is doing very well and is now at the cultivation of a nine-star Spirit Disciple!" Although such cultivation was still far from Xiao Yan's, it was already extremely outstanding, so Nalan Su had always been proud of such a daughter.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Yan even has some credit for this!"

"Oh? I remember they haven't met, right?" Nalan Jie asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's like this: although Xiao Yan has had no news since he left home three years ago, he was already a three-star Spirit Disciple before he left (as announced at the time). This stimulated Yanran quite a bit, and she has been practicing hard all these years, partly because she didn't want to be left too far behind by her fiancé, Xiao Yan."

"So that's how it is. In that case, these two little ones are truly fated!" Nalan Jie stroked his beard with one hand and laughed loudly: "Since that's the case, why not take advantage of the time the Imperial Family brings Xiao Yan into the Imperial Capital to let them meet? It would also be a good chance to use the influence of the Misty Cloud Sect to back Xiao Yan up, so he isn't bullied by the Imperial Family."

"That would be excellent; this son will go write the letter now!"

Besides the Imperial Family and the Nalan clan, other forces in the Imperial Capital that received the news also began to discuss it privately.

Alchemist Guild President Fa Ma: "To think that the Jia Ma Imperial Capital has actually produced such a talent. I wonder if this person will bring more alchemists to this remote place in the Northwest after he grows up?"

For Fa Ma, he did not care how strong Xiao Yan's cultivation talent was; he only cared about whether Xiao Yan's rise could give the Jia Ma Empire, a second-rate force in the Northwest, more exposure on the continent, thereby attracting more alchemists.

However, all of this was destined to be a matter for a long time in the future, so Fa Ma only pondered it slightly before letting it go.

In the Mittel clan, Hai Bo Dong stood by the window looking at the distant sky: "Xiao Yan—to think we would meet so soon."

"Teng Shan, how is the internal selection of your Mittel clan going?" Turning around to look at a somewhat chubby figure behind him, Hai Bo Dong asked.

"Reporting to Elder Hai, I have already checked. The one recognized as the most beautiful among our Mittel clan's female members of appropriate age seems to be in Wu Tan City, and she will be back in these two days," Mittel Teng Shan said, bowing respectfully.

"Oh? That is quite a coincidence," Hai Bo Dong raised an eyebrow and said with a light laugh: "However, just in case, others should also be prepared—tall, short, thin, big, small, all must be included, so as not to have the other party look down on us, understand?"

"Yes!"

On the distant horizon, after two days of flight, a magnificent city gradually appeared before Xiao Yan's eyes. Xiao Yan and Yao Yue's exchange and discussion naturally came to an end.

Looking at the city in the distance, a trace of anticipation appeared in Xiao Yan's eyes, and he muttered: "Jia Ma Imperial Capital, I have arrived."

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