Chapter 177: Xiao Clan, Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan's mood right now was like receiving a red envelope during the New Year—mouth saying he felt awkward, heart desperately wanting it.

Princess Yao Ye was also the future queen of the Jia Ma Empire, with sharp eyesight; she instantly saw through Xiao Yan's inner thoughts.

Act now!

She grabbed Xiao Yan's hand, forcefully placing the storage ring and scroll into his palm, saying: "Yao Ye trusts in Master Xiao Yan's ability and talent—I represent the Imperial Family, and we will forever welcome Master Xiao Yan."

Since they had already offered it to him, Xiao Yan cleared his throat twice and no longer held back, saying: "Then Xiao Yan thanks Princess Yao Ye and Elder Hai for your trust—I'll take this pill formula and medicinal materials for now, and I vow to complete the refining, not to let down Princess Yao Ye's expectations; I'll send you the elixir once it's finished."

Since everyone else had said so, Xiao Yan could only humbly accept their offer.

Before arriving, Xiao Yan had already suspected Yao Ye had something to ask of him—he figured since he'd already accepted one Imperial Supreme Fruit, helping out was only fair, but he hadn't expected this.

Yao Ye let out a light laugh and said: "Then Yao Ye will await Master Xiao Yan's good news—should you succeed, the Jia Ma Imperial Family will reward you handsomely."

Xiao Yan raised his hand, said no more, and returned to the Miter Clan's guild to begin his alchemy cultivation.

Watching Xiao Yan's back as he flew away with his fire wings, the massive Youhai Jiao Beast said: "This kid isn't just skilled in alchemy—I just sensed an extremely powerful force within him."

Jia Xingtian looked at Yao Ye and said: "I've heard the Miter Clan was even willing to gift half their guild assets to Xiao Yan, and intended to betroth Ya Fei to him, just to keep him."

Yao Ye's beautiful eyes gazed at the fading flame afterimage in the sky, a flicker of unusual emotion passing through them as she said: "He's worth it."

Jia Xingtian turned his head to glance at Yao Ye, then smirked: "You're not exactly young anymore, are you?"

Yao Ye's eyes flashed a dangerous glint as she smiled at Jia Xingtian: "What is Grandfather trying to say?"

"I didn't say anything."

Not long after, Xiao Yan returned to the Miter Clan's guild—he no longer stayed at the Nan Lan Clan's residence.

For the remaining time, as he'd promised, Xiao Yan made pill refining his top daily priority: refining elixirs until his Dou Qi and Soul Force were exhausted, then practicing the Soul Gathering Scripture and the Burning Scripture to restore his Soul Force and Dou Qi; any leftover time went to cultivating Dou Techniques.

Having successfully refined a Five-Grade elixir once, Xiao Yan now had more experience with Five-Grade refining; though the first week still saw mostly failures, his Strange Fire, combined with his powerful Fire Control Power and Soul Force, allowed him to extract significantly more medicinal material than usual—plenty to waste.

After a week, Xiao Yan had achieved a certain success rate in refining low-grade Five-Grade elixirs.

In the second week, Xiao Yan began challenging mid-grade Five-Grade elixirs; by the end of the month, he had successfully refined a high-grade Five-Grade Dou King Pill—and its quality was remarkably fine, even causing Chairman Fa Ma to sigh helplessly.

He marveled at Xiao Yan's progress—it was absurd. In barely a month, he'd gone from his first successful Five-Grade elixir to refining a Dou King Pill, with the finished product's quality rivaling that of the Alchemist Guild Chairman himself.

In barely a month and a half, Xiao Yan had fully stabilized his status as a Fifth-Rank Alchemist, capable of refining high-grade Five-Grade elixirs with extremely high success—he was, without doubt, a true Fifth-Rank High-Level Alchemist.

In a spacious secret chamber on the seventh floor of the Miter Clan's guild, soft lighting bathed every corner, completely banishing darkness.

This chamber was the highest-grade secret room of the Miter Clan's guild—not only could it block Soul Perception, it could even withstand attacks from a Dou King; now, it had become Xiao Yan's personal alchemy chamber.

Against the wall stood a flat bed, upon which Xiao Yan sat cross-legged; before him lay various meticulously stored medicinal materials—these had cost Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong immense effort to obtain.

Today, Xiao Yan planned to refine the Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill, because that morning, the Yun Lan Sect had sent a letter: Nalan Yanran had completed her trials in the Life and Death Gate and had formally challenged Xiao Yan!

She had even sent out invitations to all the powerful figures of Jia Ma Sheng Cheng, aiming to build momentum for herself as the future Sect Master!

In plain terms, it was a declaration of war!

The letter didn't even specify a time—meaning Xiao Yan could come to the Yun Lan Sect whenever he pleased.

"That old man Hai probably has his neck stretched out waiting," Xiao Yan murmured with a faint smile, recalling how Hai Bodong had been probing him these past days about whether he had the confidence to refine the Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill. "Though it's a high-grade Five-Grade elixir nearing its peak, my current alchemy should handle it easily—dragging it out any longer and he'll nag me to death."

Xiao Yan flicked his storage ring, and a black alchemy furnace crashed onto the floor.

Some say alchemy shouldn't rely on good furnaces, but Xiao Yan dismissed such notions—if that were true, why would alchemists even chase Strange Fire? Everyone could just use ordinary flames.

Xiao Yan believed: To do a job well, one must first sharpen one's tools.

Owning good tools is part of one's own strength!

The Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill can indeed restore Dou Qi trapped by residual Flame Sealing back into the energy vortex, thereby recovering power—but to what extent depends entirely on the elixir's quality.

Xiao Yan intended to refine a top-quality Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill for Hai Bodong.

"Come on, Mao Wu."

"Meow!" Mao Wu let out a cry and leapt directly from Space onto the Black Demon. Whenever Xiao Yan refined Five-Grade elixirs now, he summoned Mao Wu—Mao Wu's Space power helped Xiao Yan detect problems more precisely and halt losses in time.

This was a cat that truly aided alchemy.

Moreover, over the past month, Mao Wu had eaten every single failed medicinal material Xiao Yan refined, his power surging rapidly—he had clearly become a Medicinal Cat.

Xiao Yan wasted no time—he immediately used his Fused Strange Fire to refine, his Dou Qi surging continuously. Soon, the infernal heat inside the Black Demon reached an unimaginable level.

Xiao Yan placed each medicinal material into the alchemy furnace; when the final herb entered, his gaze grew solemn, and he began refining according to the pill formula.

Meanwhile, in the sixth-floor reception room, Hai Bodong waited anxiously. Though he appeared calm, Ya Fei could tell—he was like a husband waiting outside the delivery room, pretending serenity while his heart raced.

He was probably screaming silently in his mind: Don't fail! Don't fail!

Three hours passed—CRACK—the chamber door opened, and Xiao Yan walked in, exhausted.

"How did it go?!" Hai Bodong leapt to his feet, tense.

Seeing Hai Bodong's anxious expression, Xiao Yan smiled and tossed a pill bottle containing a purple elixir toward him: "Smooth delivery—mother and child both safe."

Seeing Xiao Yan just throw it, Hai Bodong fumbled frantically to catch the pill bottle, then nervously opened it—immediately, a deep purple medicinal mist poured out, filling the entire room with purple vapor.

From the sheer volume of mist alone, the elixir's quality was exceptional—perfectly refined!

"Can't you ever stop this habit of tossing elixirs?!" Hai Bodong snapped.

"Take it quickly—the Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill's potency needs time to refine. I plan to leave for the Yun Lan Sect first thing tomorrow."

"Fine! Tomorrow morning, I'll accompany you to the Yun Lan Sect," Hai Bodong laughed loudly, clutching the elixir and sprinting off to find a good place to refine its power.

"Ya Fei, tomorrow, prepare some people and a more luxurious vehicle—I want to make a grand entrance."

"So flashy?" Ya Fei blinked—Xiao Yan wasn't someone who liked to show off.

"I'm not going to the Yun Lan Sect as the Alchemist Xiao Yan—I'm going as Xiao Clan, Xiao Yan! I won't let my clan's honor suffer."

(End of Chapter)