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  "I'll make you uand the gap between us in the qualifying petition!" Bai Shan had no choice but to drop this harsh line before taking his leave.

  Xiao Yan watched Bai Sha, smiled at Instructor Ruo Ling, and said, "Thank you for your timely assistance, Instructor."

  Instructor Ruo Ling shook her head. "Even if I hadn't intervened, you wouldn't have been in any danger, would you?"

  She realized she could no lauge Xiao Yan's current level of strength. She herself was a 5-star Dou Grandmaster, yet in a little over a year, just how far had Xiao Yan advanced!

  Xiao Ya out a helpless sigh and said, "You 't put it that way, Instructor Ruo Ling. If you hadn't e out, I might have actally killed him. That would have been troublesome."

  ! ! ! ! ! !

  A chill swept through Instructor Ruo Ling, her entire body turning cold. Though Xiao Yan spoke with a gentle, somewhat aggrieved tone, she believed he meant every word!

  Had she not been nearby, there was a very real possibility that Xiao Yan would have killed someoright!

  Instructor Ruo Ling carefully sized up Xiao Yan and asked, "What's your current cultivation level?"

  Xiao Yan picked up a skewer and said while mung on it, "I'm not telling you. A mao maintain a sense of mystery."

  Instructor Ruo Ling's eyes widened in astonishment. I'm your damn instructor!!

  Then again, she remembered that she'd never really taught him anything. Perhaps being his instructor in name wasn't worth fussing over.

  "I'm tired to rein you in, so do as you will. Four months from now is the Inner Academy Qualifying petition. I'll enter your name and Xun Er's—no problem there, right?" She sighed. Her students had grown up, and it was hard to trol them now.

  Xun Er had actually been qualified to participate in st year's qualifying petition, but she gave up the opportunity to wait for Xiao Yan.

  Xiao Yan shook his head and said, "Could I trouble the instructor to also submit the names of Xiao Ning, Xiao Yu, Xiao Mei, Xiao Meng, and Xiao Yue Liang?"

  All the members of the Xiao had been taken under Instructor Ruo Lin's tutege.

  "Ah?" Instructor Ruo Ling uzzled upon hearing these words, "Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu are both 5-star Dou Masters, so they could give it a try. But Xiao Mei's cultivation talent isn't high, not to mention Xiao Meng and Xiao Yue Liang, who have only been in the academy for less than a year."

  "They won't make it into the top fifty."

  Instructor Ruo Ling was still a Huang Css instructor. An instructor's rank wasn't just reted to the number of students advang to the Inner Academy; they had to meet certain quotas within four years, under specific time straints. Additionally, too many failures would affect promotion.

  Therefore, each year's Inner Academy slots had to be allocated very carefully. This year was a critical period for Instructor Ruo Ling's promotion to Xuan Css instructor.

  Yet Xiao Yan merely offered a fident smile. "Please rest assured, Instructor Ruo Ling; I, Xiao Yan, don't make empty boasts."

  Instructor Ruo Ling suddenly recalled that when Xiao Yan first ehe academy, he had spoken simirly, and in the end, he had indeed aplished what he promised.

  "You truly want them to participate in the examination as well?" she asked.

  "Please be pletely assured, Instructor Ruo Ling. As long as they endure my special trainiering the Inner Academy won't be a problem," Xiao Yan said with a grin.

  A strange light fshed in Instructor Ruo Ling's eyes. If Xiao Meng and Xiao Yue Liang, who had only been in the academy for a year, could ehe Inner Academy, that would be truly astonishing.

  "Alright, since you're so fident, I'll trust you this time." Instructor Ruo Ling herself wasn't sure where her fidence came from, but when she saw the look in Xiao Yan's eyes, she knew she hadn't made the wrong decision.

  "Thank you, Instructor. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way." Xiao Yan whistled cheerfully, skewers in hand, as he headed toward the pavilion where Xun Er lived.

  "Hey, the men's dorm is iher dire!"

  "I'm not spending the night."

  "That still won't do!"

  In the end, Xiao Yan couldn't escape Instructor Ruo Ling's watch. He wound up simply sitting on top of the building with Xun Er, gazing at the stars, nibbling skewers, reminisg about old times, their hands softly entwined.

  …

  Over the few months, Xiao Yan hardly had any free time; if anything, he was even busier.

  Not only did he have to act as the Little Leader and instruct Xiao Yu and the others in the cultivation of their new Dou Teiques and Qi Methods, he also had to take care of his own cultivation as well.

  The Asura Soul Reaping Teique, this High Di Css Soul Skill, was extremely challenging to cultivate even with his exceptional prehension.

  Xiao Yan was born with Spiritual Strength twice that of others. He had inally thought that cultivating Soul Skills wouldn't pose too much of a problem, but this High Di Css Soul Skill still hindered him.

  Three months passed, and he hadn't even touched upory-level threshold. It was a harsh sp in the face for this genius.

  Although he was stu the Soul Skill, thanks to the power of the Fme Mantra, his cultivation level increased by oar, reag the 2-star Dou Spirit stage.

  Even though the Fme Mantra hadn't been upgraded to an Intermediate Di Css Qi Method, the speed at which his Dou Qi densed had still increased signifitly. Three months of time allowed him to advance by oar.

  "Ah… you… let go, you big pervert!!" shrieked Xiao Yu, clutg the hem of her skirt. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shimmered with tears. She gred daggers at Xiao Yan.

  He had grabbed her ankle and hoisted it up, openly admiring her long legs. "Cousin Xiao Yu, are you getting brazen? You actually dared to challenge me?"

  Xiao Yu bit her lower lip. She had thought that after over three months of intense cultivatiorength had improved signifitly, and she might at least cause Xiao Yan some trouble. So, she challenged him.

  But the result was the same as before. She was easily subdued by Xiao Yan and even embarrassed in front of everyone.

  Just as Xiao Yan reciating the beautiful se before him, a slightly cold voice came from behind. "Xiao Yan ge-ge."

  ! ! ! !

  Xiao Yan immediately released his grip, raised his hands in surrender, and turo look at Xun Er. "Xun Er, you're free today? What brings you to the Dou Teique Hall?"

  Xun Er's bright, captivating eyes g him, sending a flutter through his heart. She said, "Xun Er came t something for Xiao Yan ge-ge. Here, it's what Xiao Yan ge-ge asked for."

  She took out a piece of sheepskin part from her ste ring and ha to him. Xiao Yan's spirits lifted upon seeing it. On the part was a clearly marked route—it .

  "With this, everythis easier," he muttered as he studied the information.

  Xiao Mei leaned over, soundiant. "Cousin Xiao Yan, yoing out?"

  "Hehe, not just me. The day after tomorrow, there's going to be an annual au in Bck Mark City of the Bck-er Region. If I were alone, I could fly there, but since I'm bringing all of you, we'll need a detailed map," Xiao Yan expined with a smile.

  Xiao Ning and the others' eyes lit up when they heard that Xiao Yan was going to take them to the au in Bck Mark City.

  "Wow!! An au—I've never been to one before!"

  "Yeah, I've never eveo the Miteer Au House in Wu Tan City."

  The younger Xiao Meng and Xiao Yue Liang had tended an au and were especially excited.

  "You've all been cultivating diligently these past few months. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare bring you to the Bck-er Region; that pce doesn't have a good reputation," Xiao Yan adopted the demeanor of a Little Leader and early advised.

  "sider this an opportunity to broaden your horizons and see what a rge-scale au house looks like. It'll also allow you to experiehe harsh realities of the Bck-er Region in advance. Once we're there, make sure you don't wander off. You're all aware of what the Bck-er Region is like, right?"

  The excitement that had just filled everyone quickly subsided at the mention of the Bck-er Region.

  After all, they'd been at Jia Nan Academy for quite some time and uood what kind of pce the Bck-er Region was.

  Of course, Xiao Yan wasn't just taking his members to broaden their horizons. More importantly, he'd heard earlier that there would be a Di Css agility-type Dou Teique up for au this time.

  Xiao Yan didn't have many Dou Teiques at the moment. Apart from the Asura Soul Reaping Teique he was still learning, his Oe Bst, Mad Lion t, and Exploding Steps had all been cultivated to perfe.

  With his current strength, it was iime to repce his agility-type Dou Teique with a higher-level one, and a Di Css one would be just right.

  Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and teasingly said to Xun Er, "Xun Er, if you see anything you like, your Xiao Yan ge-ge will buy it for you."

  Xun Er covered her mouth and giggled. "Then Xun Er won't be polite."

  "Err... nothing too expehough, or I might have to sell myself to pay."

  ...

  Two days ter, a horse-drawn carriage appeared before a massive city structed of pitch-bck boulders. The hazy outline of the city gradually came into view. At the four city gates, one could vaguely see densely packed little bck dots of people swarming like ants into the city's gaping dark maw.

  In the driver's seat of the carriage, two figures dressed in bck robes swept their sharp gazes around the surroundings.

  From the bloodstains and bde marks on the sides of the carriage, it was clear that the journey had been far from peaceful.

  Only now did they realize that Xiao Yan had tricked them!!

  Driving the carriage from Peace Town to Bck Mark City took a full two days, and those two days were anything but calm.

  They entered bandits, thieves disguised as ordinary people, and even magical beasts lurking in the shadows waiting to prey on them.

  And throughout it all, Xiao Yan and Xun Er didn't lift a finger or utter a single word of warning. They just watched them perform.

  Only then did they uand that Xiao Yan had set this test for them. The five of them had to rely on their own strength to traverse half of the Bck er Region to reach Bck Mark City, with Xiao Yan ag as the invigitor!

  If they couldn't eveer a the Bck-er Region, then they had no qualifications to ehe Inner Academy. They might as well not go and embarrass themselves.

  "Little Leader, we've arrived at Bck Mark City," said Xiao Meng and Xiao Yue Liang, who were in charge of driving the carriage.

  Upon hearing their words, Xiao Yu and Xiao Mei, who were sitting oher side of the carriage, and Xiao Ning, who was standing atop the carriage keeping watch behind them, all heaved a sigh of relief.

  "The Bck-er Region is truly wless."

  "The Little Leader's training is the real deal. If it were three months ago, I would have definitely been buried in the Bck-er Region."

  Inside, Xun Er gave Xiao Yan's shoulder a little shake. "Xiao Yan ge-ge, we're here."

  Only then did Xiao Yan slowly open his eyes and see Xun Er's smiling face. He stretched zily and said, "Let's be off, then. I hope this au won't disappoint."

  Everyo on bck cloaks and used the hoods to cover their faces. This kind of attire was mainstream in Bck Mark City; more than half the people dressed this way.

  "Little Leader, we've already gathered some information. The rgest medial mert here is called the Thousand Medial House. The au is hosted by the Eight Gates that trol Bck Mark City. I heard the leader of the Eight Gates is very powerful, able to rank withiop ten of the Bck Ranking in the Bck-er Region," Xiao Nied in a low voice.

  Xiao Yan lightly furrowed his brow and asked, "What's the Bck Ranking?"

  Xiao Ning expined, "It's a ranking simir to the Ten Strong of the Jia Ma Empire, but I've heard that the top ten on the Bck Ranking in the Bck-er Region are all Dou Emperors."

  "The ones ranked first and sed are too mysterious to know much about, but it's rumored that they might be experts at the Dou Aor realm. The third on the Bck Ranking is also araordinary elite expert. It's said that his strength has long been at the peak of the Dou Emperor realm, and he's extremely profit in alchemy, hailed as the number one alchemist in the Bck-er Region. Therefore, most people respectfully call him the 'Medie Emperor'. His name is Han Feng."

  "Han Feng?" Xiao Yan had actually heard this name before. Back then, Hun Lao Gui had told him that there was an alchemist in the Bck-er Region who had also set his sights on the Falle Fme. That person was called Han Feng.

  'A peak Dou Emperor… still not enough to threaten Jia Nan Academy, I'd think…'

  After p for a moment, Xiao Yan said, "Let's go to the Thousand Medial House first and see if there are any preedial ingredients."

  They slowly walked along the street. Xiao Yan's gaze tinuously swept over the shops on both sides. But what left him someeechless was that before even walking a mere hundred meters on this short street, he had witnessed no fewer than ten is of brawling and even bloody knife fights. For a city like this, there was almost only one word to describe it: chaotic!

  If these people weren't so weak, Xiao Yan would have used the Soul and Token to vely collect the souls of the deceased.

  The group followed Xiao Ning's guidand soon arrived at the Thousand Medial House.

  As they stepped into this imposing medial shop, they were immediately greeted by an aroma mingled with the sts of over a huypes of medial ingredients.

  The interior of the shop was extremely spacious. ly arranged crystal ters were pced in all dires. Withiransparent ters were all kinds of medial ingredients. At this moment, quite a few people were stopping in front of these ters, and the noisy chatter echoed tinuously.

  "Not bad," Xiao Yan murmured.

  Having seen Queen Medusa's treasury and the Medie Hall of the Misty Cloud Sect, the Thousand Medial House naturally couldn't surprise Xiao Yan too much.

  However, Xiao Ning and the others were dazzled. It was their first time seeing so many medial ingredients.

  The prices at the Thousand Medial House lived up to its reputation in the Bck-er Region. Most of the medial ingredients were a full three times more expehan the normal market prio wonder crime was rampant in the Bck-er Region; with such prices, how could ordinary people afford to buy anything?

  In the end, Xiao Ya 800,000 gold s to buy the main ingredient for a tier 5 medial pill and the disappointed.

  "It's actually quite a bit rger thaian-css au of the Miteer ."

  Standing on the bustling street, Xiao Yan looked up at the colossal au house before him and couldn't help but excim in surprise. Back when he saw the headquarters of the Miteer Au House in the capital city of the Jia Ma Empire, he had been somewhat amazed by its scale.

  But he hadn't expected that upon arriving at Bck Mark City, he would realize how vast the world truly was. The Jia Ma Empire was merely a weak empire ranked he bottom in the North-Western Region.

  At the entrance of the Great Au Fair, dozens of expressionless men in tight bck outfits with sharp ons at their waists swept their eagle-like gazes over the streams of people ing and going. Judging from the auras faintly emanating from these men, five of them were actually at the Dou Master realm, while the rest were at the peak of the Dou Practitioage.

  Evee guards casually assigned were at the Dou Master realm. It seemed the strength of the Eight Gates was truly formidable.

  "There are so many people at this au," Xiao Yu furrowed her delicate brows as she stuck close to Xiao Yan.

  Xiao Yan protected Xun Er in the middle while Xiao Ning and the other two males formed a protective formation, shielding Xiao Yan and the others in the ter from the crowd.

  After following the flow of people into the slightly dim corridor all the way to the end, a colossal au hall appeared before Xiao Yan's eyes, causing him to draw in a sharp breath.

  This au hall was rger than any he had seen before. The densely packed seats and the au stage built entirely from dazzling crystals were enough to make one's eyes spin.

  "If I'd known earlier, I would have gotten a VIP card. Sitting at the front would be better," Xiao Yaed helplessly.

  He had just learhat one could obtain a VIP card by bidding over a million gold s. This card not only allowed oo sit in the front VIP seats but also provided access to a VIP passage without having to queue.

  Xun Er smiled. "I don't mind sitting anywhere, as long as I'm with Xiao Yan ge-ge."

  Just as Xiao Yan and the others were chatting in the regur seating area, in the front row of the VIP se, a handsome youth with a pale face dressed in bck robes was frowning as he looked at Xiao Yan.

  "You Master, what's wrong?" Beside him, an old man with an equally pale plexion asked in a low voice.

  The pale-faced handsome youth slowly retracted his gaze upon hearing this.

  "It's nothing. I just felt that fellow is a bit strange. Moreover, looking at him, I actually have a strange feeling of... dread in my heart." Fan Ling chuckled at himself and shook his head after saying this.

  "Hehe, You Master must have sensed wrongly. Although our Blood Sect's Qi Methods are extremely cold and naturally fear some extreme fmes, fmes of that level are possessed by very few people iire Bck-er Region," the old man said with a ugh.

  "Perhaps it was just my imagination."

  Fan Ling nodded and stopped his wild thoughts. Turning his gaze to the crystal stage, he muttered in a low voice, "I wonder if that information is true. If it is, Father said that no matter the cost, we must obtain it!"

  "Hehe, rest assured, You Master. The Sect Master has already secretly made preparations. Even if that item falls into someone else's hands, they absolutely won't get ten miles out of Bck Mark City!" the old man chuckled sinisterly.

  "Good to hear." The er of Fan Ling's mouth curled into a cold smile. He gradually closed his eyes and quietly waited for the au to begin.

  Just as Fan Ling closed his eyes, Xiao Yan suddenly raised his head and gnced in his dire. With his Spiritual Strength, he could naturally sehat someone had been him.

  However, after a single gnce, Xiao Yan didn't give it much thought. With Fan Ling's strength, he wasn't qualified to warrant his attention.

  After Xiao Yan chatted and ughed with Xun Er, Xiao Yu, and the others for nearly half an hour, a crisp bell chime slowly rang out within the hall.

  Xiao Yan stopped his idle chatter upon hearing this chime and looked up at the dazzling crystal stage.

  At this moment, a white-haired old man who seemed to be the aueer was already standing on it with a smile.

  Xiao Yan's expression instantly turned a bit strange. After all, this was seemingly the first au he had attehat wasn't hosted by Ya Fei. Moreover, it was being hosted by an unfamiliar old man. The trast was a bit too big.

  "Finally, it's about to begi's hope there are some hidden surprises."

  Xiao Yan murmured under his breath as he looked at the huge hall that was almost filled to the brim, a hint of anticipation in his dark eyes.

  For some reason, he had a feeling that there would be things beyond his expectations at this au.