Chapter 619: Reforging the Glory of Wangchuan—It Is Our Bounden Duty!

"Want a dough figurine? Five wen apiece."

Looking at the smiling youth before her, Bai Xiaoxiao's heart gave an immediate jolt.

She had been so caught up in talking with that person earlier that she hadn't even noticed when exactly he had walked up to her.

She knew that after her death and resurrection, her physical body had been strengthened to an extreme degree, so by all rights this shouldn't have happened.

But when Bai Xiaoxiao recalled the information that person had told her, she felt everything seemed perfectly reasonable again.

At his peak, the other party had been a cultivator of great divine abilities—even if his current strength was only two or three percent of that, he was still far stronger than that three-eyed law corpse from Black Mountain Village.

Of course, Bai Xiaoxiao had no concept of titles like "great divine abilities"; in any case, according to that person, when he was alive he had been one of the top cultivators in the world.

As for now—

'He's actually a law corpse, just like the Three-Eyed one.'

Looking at the youth before her, who looked no different from an ordinary person, Bai Xiaoxiao felt a sudden surge of nervousness.

Just as the girl was at a loss for what to do, the youth scratched the back of his head and said with some regret: "Looks like you don't want one. I thought you little miss had been staring at me because you wanted to buy a dough figurine."

With that, he turned and walked back toward his own stall.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoxiao opened her mouth, then hesitated.

Just as she was at a loss, Li Ang's voice sounded once more in her heart.

【Just state your purpose directly. Even if something unexpected happens, I'm here.】

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoxiao no longer hesitated. She immediately dropped to her knees on the ground and declared loudly: "I have long admired you, Mr. I beg you to take me as your disciple!"

To be honest about the long admiration—before this she barely knew anything about the Divine Ability world, let alone anything about 【Wangchuan Art Academy】.

Faced with this sudden apprenticeship request, the youth immediately stopped in his tracks.

But before he could react, a burst of laughter erupted from all around.

"Zhao Yan, can't believe you've got this trick up your sleeve."

"That's right, that's right. If I'd known, I would've learned to mold dough figurines too—might've run into a little beauty like this wanting to apprentice."

The street vendors looked at the youth, whose expression had gone slightly stiff, and could not help but let fly a round of teasing.

They were all uncultured commoners from the marketplace, so naturally one couldn't expect them to say anything pleasant.

Faced with this teasing, the youth named "Zhao Yan" scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly a couple of times: "Everyone, stop making fun of me. Would you believe me if I said I don't know this little girl?"

This remark naturally drew another round of laughter.

Unless that little girl was a fool, why would she randomly take a dough-figurine molder as her master?

Just look at that skin—who knows which family's young lady has snuck out.

Still, a story like this, the kind that only existed in storybooks, was a first for them too.

Seeing that explanation was useless, Zhao Yan sighed, then turned and walked back to stand in front of Bai Xiaoxiao.

He looked at the girl still kneeling on the ground and said helplessly: "Young Lady, please stop teasing me. These dough figurines barely let me scrape by."

As he spoke, seemingly to prove his own poverty, he dug into his pocket, but in the end only pulled out a few copper coins.

Although Zhao Yan appeared very helpless, a closer look would reveal that there was not the slightest emotion in his eyes.

Hearing his words, Bai Xiaoxiao instinctively raised her head to explain: "It's not like that—"

But halfway through, she suddenly faltered.

Because the girl realized she couldn't directly state her purpose. She couldn't exactly tell the person before her that she had come to inherit 【Wangchuan Art Academy】.

Although that person had said he could back her up, if possible, she felt it was still better not to trouble him.

Just as Bai Xiaoxiao was at a loss for what to do, a burst of clamorous noise suddenly came from one side.

"All of you, be smart about it. Hand over the protection fee right now."

The girl followed the sound and saw a gang of ruffians going from stall to stall collecting protection money from the street vendors, with one of them walking straight toward her.

Just as Bai Xiaoxiao was stunned by this, Zhao Yan put on a fawning smile and said: "Brother Wang, I remember paying the protection fee a few days ago, didn't I? Why again—"

"A few days ago was a few days ago, today is today." The ruffian curled his lip, then said with some impatience, "Hurry up and hand over the money."

Hearing this, Zhao Yan's smile instantly stiffened. He then somewhat helplessly handed over the copper coins in his hand: "Business hasn't been good these past few days, so this is all I have. I hope Brother Wang can give me some leeway—"

"Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson before you'll hand over the full amount."

Looking at the pitifully few copper coins in the youth's hand, the ruffian's face could not help but reveal a vicious grin.

Just as he was cracking his knuckles, preparing to make a move, he suddenly noticed Bai Xiaoxiao kneeling nearby.

After a brief silence, the ruffian lowered his hands, squinted slightly, and asked: "Is this your wife? I can waive this round's protection fee for you, but then— heh heh."

As he spoke, a few lewd chuckles escaped his lips; the meaning of his words was all too clear.

Bai Xiaoxiao hadn't expected this ruffian to set his sights on her, but she was no longer that wild mountain girl of the past.

With 【Borrowed Essence True Sight】, she could easily deal with this gang of ruffians.

However, the girl did not choose to act.

First, there were too many eyes around—it wasn't suitable for revealing her identity. Second, she wanted to see what the supreme master of Wangchuan Art Academy standing before her would do.

At this moment, upon hearing the ruffian's words, Zhao Yan gradually wiped the smile from his face.

He sighed softly in his heart, thinking to himself:

'What a hassle... I just wanted to quietly wait for Senior Sister to revive.'

The youth had once tried to make this world a better place, but all such attempts had ended in failure.

Gradually, he gave up these "unrealistic" ideals and chose to stay together with his senior sister for the rest of his life.

But the good times did not last long. Due to the recurrence of old wounds, his senior sister had reached the end of her life one step ahead of him.

Yet whether by heaven's mercy or not, his senior sister had actually become a law corpse.

Facing an enemy he had once slain countless times, Zhao Yan hesitated for the first time.

In the end, he chose to shelter her, even relocating the entire 【Wangchuan Art Academy】 to this remote coastal region.

However, paper could never truly wrap fire, and his old friend, Immortal Lord Changshi Wanfa, had eventually noticed something was off.

The outcome was simple: he and his senior sister fought with everything they had and still weren't opponents, and could only watch helplessly as the Wangchuan Art Court was wiped out by the other party.

Of course, the disciples had only been stripped of their cultivation and had their memories erased; the ones who truly died were only him and his senior sister.

The good news was that he had likewise turned into a Law Corpse, and thanks to the Men Sect's divine ability, his senior sister was also able to live a second life.

Therefore, as long as he kept waiting like this, there would come a day when he could wait for his senior sister to return once more.

As scenes of the past flashed through his mind, Zhao Yan's expression kept shifting.

At the same time, the thug was getting somewhat impatient from waiting.

Just as he was about to call out and urge them on, he saw the youth before him grab the girl's arm and dart into a nearby alley.

Seeing this, the thug was first stunned, then furiously gathered his lackeys and gave chase.

On the other side.

Bai Xiaoxiao looked at the youth gripping her forearm tightly, and couldn't help feeling a bit bewildered inside.

The so-called "Great Divine Power Qiufazhe"—faced with a few rogue thugs, he actually chose to run?

Could the intelligence really have been wrong? Had they found the wrong person?

Just as Bai Xiaoxiao's thoughts were running wild, Zhao Yan had already brought her to some dead-end alley.

After confirming he had shaken off those rogue thugs, he plopped down on a broken basket by the road and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After briefly steadying his breathing, Zhao Yan looked at the girl before him who seemed perfectly fine, and said, "Young Lady, you should hurry home and stop pestering me."

"If you really want to learn dough-figurine making, at worst I'll give you a manual and you can learn it yourself."

He knew this little girl who had suddenly Zhaoshang Sect-ed him was probably not simple—after all, how could an ordinary person run this long without batting an eye?

But to avoid complications, he still wanted to make one last attempt.

If the other party obediently left, then naturally everyone would be happy.

But if the other party still refused to let it go, then he wouldn't blame himself for being ruthless.

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoxiao's feet seemed to take root, standing in place without moving.

Leaving was impossible; she still had to complete that person's mission.

Seeing this, Zhao Yan first let out a sigh, then slowly let his expression fade.

He looked at the hesitant girl before him and said in a voice devoid of any emotion: "Although I don't know how you saw through it, I've already given you plenty of chances."

As he spoke, a burly figure formed from gathered fresh blood slowly appeared behind him.

Huitian Blood Body—one of the divine abilities of the Wangchuan Art Court, once one of the strongest Qiufazhe Sects.

"Since you won't obediently listen, then stay here."

As his words fell, the blood-red figure suddenly reached out both hands toward Bai Xiaoxiao.

Feeling that gust of fishy wind rushing at her, the girl couldn't help but widen her eyes and instinctively activated the Jieyuan True Eyes.

As that crimson pupil surfaced between her brows, Zhao Yan couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow: "Life-bound divine ability? No, this is a innate divine ability? You're also a Law Corpse?"

Although his current strength was only two or three percent of its peak, his eye for things hadn't dropped in the slightest; he wasn't so far gone as to fail to distinguish between a life-bound divine ability and an innate divine ability.

But he clearly hadn't sensed any Law Corpse aura on this little girl—after all, anyone who could appear in daily life just like an ordinary person, like him, wouldn't be weak in the Lidoubu Society.

And this little girl—

Couldn't withstand a single blow.

Ignoring the blood-red light that tried to control his limbs, Zhao Yan's expression didn't change in the slightest—merely this level couldn't do anything to him.