Chapter 142: Fated with Peach Blossoms

At the same time, at the border corner where the Jia Ma Empire and the two nearby great empires met, a renowned ancient academy stood quietly.

Its immense prestige and overwhelming strength forced even the three great empires—those colossal powers—to treat it with great courtesy, not daring to show the slightest disrespect or negligence.

On a secluded mountain peak of the ancient academy, beside a cliff, a girl in a pale cyan dress stood gracefully. The gentle breeze that blew toward her made her waist-length black hair drift slowly, and as the hem of her dress fluttered, the perfect curves of her figure were faintly revealed.

It had been over a year since Xiao Yan left Jia Nan Academy. The once-new student had now become a senior, and the senior students of the Xuan-Class who had been defeated by Xiao Yan back then had all entered the Inner Court to cultivate.

Xun Er quietly gazed toward the direction of the Jia Ma Empire. Every time she looked that way, a warm current flowed through her heart, because in that direction was the person she cared about.

After a long silence, the girl suddenly spoke. Her ethereal, pleasant voice gave people a strange feeling of being cleansed in their hearts.

"Ling Lao."

A black shadow eerily appeared behind Xun Er, dropping to one knee, and said respectfully, "Miss, what are your orders?"

The black shadow was none other than Ling Ying, who had been driven away by Xiao Yan back then because his Soul Force had reached the Mortal Realm Late Stage.

"I want Ling Lao to make a trip to the capital of the Jia Ma Empire. Brother Xiao Yan has been away for over a year. Calculating the time, he should have arrived at the capital to keep the appointment." Xun Er's voice was cool and clear, as she spoke like a sage.

After a moment of silence, Ling Ying said, "Miss, with Young Master Xiao Yan's Soul Perception ability, I'm afraid I'd be discovered if I got within several hundred meters, or even a thousand meters, of him."

Ling Ying was helpless! Xiao Yan's Soul Perception was simply too strong—stronger even than that of an ordinary Dou Huang.

He himself cultivated darkness-attribute Dou Qi and was especially skilled at concealing himself, yet he had been found out by a mere Great Dou Shi—a boy of only eighteen.

What a blow! What a blow!

"Then don't get within a thousand meters," Xun Er said calmly.

After a pause, Ling Ying said, "Miss, in my opinion, Young Master Xiao Yan doesn't like being investigated."

Actually, it was simple. Because when Xiao Yan had discovered Ling Ying back then, he had driven Ling Ying away on the spot. This proved that Xiao Yan was extremely sensitive, and did not like being followed or investigated.

"So this time I hope Ling Lao won't be discovered again. Brother Xiao Yan doesn't like me sending people to protect him." Having spent many years with Xiao Yan, Xun Er naturally knew what kind of person he was.

Although Xiao Yan was usually cheerful and got along well with everyone in the clan, without any airs of the Young Clan Leader, he valued his dignity greatly. Xun Er sending people to secretly protect him was something Xiao Yan would absolutely dislike.

"Miss, forgive me for speaking out of turn. With Young Master Xiao Yan's talent and strength, there are probably only a handful of people in the entire Jia Ma Empire who could pose a fatal threat to him," Ling Ying said.

Hearing this, Xun Er's lips pouted slightly, with a hint of annoyance and grievance on her face, and she said, "Brother Xiao Yan is fated with peach blossoms—he easily attracts bees and butterflies."

"Uh............ I, I understand." Ling Ying wore a bitter smile. If Xun Er was troubled by such a thing and word got back to the clan, the whole clan would probably explode.

If Hai Bodong and the others heard Xun Er's words, they would surely say: Wow, you really read people well.

At this moment, at the Nalan Mansion, in the Hall. As the Family Head of the Nan Lan Clan, Nalan Su heard from a servant that Xiao Yan had arrived, and shot to his feet in an instant!

In the spacious Hall, besides Nalan Su, there were also some ten Alchemists seated, all wearing robes of the same color. On their chests, without exception, they wore the Class Badge of a Third-Rank Alchemist.

However, most of these Third-Rank Alchemists were middle-aged, and two of them even had hair streaked with white.

Originally, Nalan Yanran had also been here, receiving the Alchemists who had come from all over together with her father. But after some discussion, they had Nalan Yanran go to the Miter Clan, to the Mitel Auction House which had branches in every City across the country, to help search nationwide for Alchemists who possessed a Heavenly Flame. She had just left.

"Master, Master, Young Master Xiao Yan has arrived," a man who looked like a servant ran over and said.

"Please invite him in quickly." Nalan Su gestured to the bewildered Alchemists seated opposite and said, "Everyone, my apologies. We have already found an Alchemist. However, we will still offer you all our thanks."

All the Alchemists looked at each other, but were in no hurry to leave. They all wanted to see exactly who had such ability—even the Dantian Alchemist Gu He had been helpless against the Luo Du, yet someone could actually cure it?

In a short while, Xiao Yan, who had been dragged along running, was pulled by the old steward into the inner hall. His once neat and tidy hair had been turned into a bird's nest, a tangled mess.

Seeing Xiao Yan appear, even though eight years had passed, Nalan Su recognized him at a glance. He rushed forward and grabbed both of Xiao Yan's hands, asking in a deep voice, "Dear nephew, I heard from Yanran that you have a Heavenly Flame, is that true?"

The Nan Lan Clan had known about Xiao Yan being an Alchemist for over two years now. After all, back then Xiao Yan had refined a Pill in public, making the whole of Wutan City know about it.

Looking at Nalan Su, whose build was much larger than his own, Xiao Yan nodded and said, "Mm."

Seeing Xiao Yan nod, everyone in the Nan Lan Clan grew excited, saying, "The old Family Head is finally saved." With tears in the corners of his eyes, Nalan Su said with some apology, "I know Yanran did some things back then that wronged your Xiao Clan. I apologize to you on her behalf. In the future, as long as it's something our Nan Lan Clan can do, we will absolutely not refuse."

Xiao Yan was immediately left completely baffled, and said awkwardly, "To me it was a small matter, but I'd like to ask: what exactly happened?"

Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Nalan Su was instead stunned for a moment, and asked, "Didn't you come because you received the message we sent?"

Xiao Yan shook his head and said, "I just happened to arrive at Jia Ma Sheng Cheng, and came on my father's behalf to visit Uncle Nalan and your family, to pay my respects."

Xiao Yan even held up the Fruit Basket in his hand to show that he had really just come to visit, and had no idea what had happened.

"Come with me, I'll explain as we walk."

After Nalan Su's explanation, Xiao Yan finally figured out what had happened. It turned out that a few years ago, Nalan Jie had been afflicted with Luo Du, and had only barely managed to suppress it with the Dou Qi of a Dou Wang. Until recently, when the Luo Du suddenly erupted and nearly took Nalan Jie's life.

Even the Dantian Alchemist Gu He could not treat it, and could only give him an Elixir to extend his life, saying that to completely cure the Luo Du, a Heavenly Flame had to be channeled into the body to burn it away.

Not long after, Nalan Yanran returned from outside and learned of this matter. She recalled the flame Xiao Yan had used when battling Mo Cheng in Yan City, which seemed like a Heavenly Flame, and so sent people to look for Xiao Yan.

But after searching everywhere they could not find Xiao Yan, and never imagined that Xiao Yan was actually in Shimo City. They thought Xiao Yan was deliberately hiding from them.

So when they saw Xiao Yan arrive at the Nalan Mansion, the old steward was so excited, thinking Xiao Yan had finally forgiven them and come to save the person.

After hearing this, Xiao Yan gave a wry smile. Although Nalan Yanran breaking off the engagement was very rude, in the end the Xiao Clan had not been affected in any way, and he himself had even beaten Nalan Yanran.

Slowly approaching the large bed, Xiao Yan's gaze swept over the bed. The Nalan Jie in his memory, who once radiated authority without even being angry, was now thin as a bamboo stick, skin and bones, with large patches of a grayish-black color faintly covering his face, and even carried a faint aura of death.

"It's very serious."

(End of this chapter)