After everything was settled, Xiao Yan slowly walked out of the cave, climbed up the steep path to the top of the mountain, looked around and saw no one, then let out a sigh of relief, took big strides, and headed straight for his family's residence.

  Leisurely returning to the family, he walked to the front yard, but saw the three elders hurrying past him with a gloomy and angry look on their faces. He stopped in his tracks, Xiao Yan was somewhat puzzled, earlier he had clearly seen the gloom and anger on the three people's faces.

  "Who provoked them?" Astonished, Xiao Yan shook his head and turned around. The girl in green clothes had also darted out from a small path on the side and stood elegantly in front of him.

  Looking at Xun Er in front of him, who was smiling and very lovely, Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat. He thought back to the question asked by Medicine Old Man in the mountain cave, his face involuntarily flushing with some guilt, and he shifted his gaze upwards, pretending to be deep in thought.

  Xiao Yan's unusual behavior left her stunned for a moment. After a while, Xun Er shook her head inexplicably, took a step forward, and let her eyes wander over Xiao Yan's face. A hint of surprise appeared on her delicate face, her hands clasped behind her back, and she leaned forward slightly, bringing their faces only one centimeter apart. With a smile that was not quite a smile, she asked: "Xiao Yan gege, have you advanced to the next level?"

  As the warm, fragrant wind blew against his face, Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned. He shook his head violently and suppressed the thoughts in his heart. He patted the little girl's small head, who was almost as tall as him, and said helplessly: "Can't you just let me say it out loud, to satisfy my vanity a bit?"

  Upon hearing this, Xun Er's eyes curved slightly, like a pair of beautiful crescent moons. She stretched out her slender white hand, as she usually did, and carefully smoothed out the slightly wrinkled clothes for Xiao Yan.

  In the past, Xie Yu was treated like this by Xiao Yan, and he didn't have any thoughts about it. However, today, after being exposed by Yao Lao's words, his heart suddenly became a little restless.

  Near the small path, occasionally there were people from the tribe passing by, and when they saw Xun'er helping Xiao Yan tidy up his clothes like a little wife, they couldn't help but feel envious.

  Lowering her head to gaze at that delicate and flawless little face, a strand of black hair fell in front of her smooth forehead, occasionally blown up by the gentle breeze, revealing a pair of bright and beautiful eyes, whose sparkling movements were extremely captivating.

  Staring blankly at Xun Er, Xiao Yan's breathing gradually became a bit urgent, and his eyes also revealed a hint of fervor.

  "Xiao Yan gege... what are you looking at?" Xun'er finally noticed the fervent gaze in his eyes, her small face turning red as she softly scolded him.

  "Ah? Uh..." Xiao Yan woke up with a start, his face also becoming slightly flushed. Fortunately, his skin was much thicker than Yun Er's, and after coughing dryly twice, he said nonchalantly: "Nothing, I just think Yun Er is getting prettier and prettier."

  Listening to Xiao Yan's words, Xun'er hummed a non-committal sound, her small red lips curving into a joyful arc.

  "Oh, right..." Seemingly remembering something, Xun'er suddenly refocused her gaze on Xiao Yan and softly said: "Xiao Yan gege has already advanced to a Dou Zhe, so shouldn't you be learning Dou Qi Gong Fa as well?"

  His face stiffened, Xiao Yan nodded awkwardly.

  Her slender fingers pressed against her snow-white chin, Xun'er smiled and said: "Can Xun'er take a look at what level of skill this is?"

  "Cough... what's the difference in techniques? They're all external things, that one... as long as you diligently cultivate, isn't any level the same?" Xiao Yan said with a dry laugh.

  Seeing Xiao Yan's appearance, Xun Er's eyes slowly narrowed into a dangerous arc, but her soft voice was still gentle and moving: "Brother Xiao Yan, let Xun Er take a look..."

  Looking at Xun Er's persistence, Xiao Yan could only helplessly shrug his shoulders and stretch out his hand. A moment later, a faint yellow glow surged up.

  "Xiao Yan, is this the better cultivation method you were talking about?" Looking at the faint yellow glow that seemed to be on the verge of extinguishing at any moment, Xun Er's small face looked a bit unsightly, her tightly pursed red lips revealing her indignation.

  Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to explain.

  "You clearly knew that having a high-level technique at the beginning would be beneficial for your future cultivation, yet you still refused me. Xun Er isn't something to be given away as charity, and even if she was, it's not like you couldn't find an even higher level technique to give back to me later. But now, you're cultivating the lowest level technique, are you intentionally trying to anger me?" Xun Er's eyes widened in anger, staring at Xiao Yan with a gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul. Her long eyelashes still held a few sparkling tears, her delicate features twisted in a way that was both pitiful and endearing.

  The gentle and soft Xun'er speaking in this tone can imagine how incomprehensible and angry she is towards Xiao Yan's actions.

  Looking at Xun Er, who was biting her lip and had a stubborn expression as if demanding an answer from herself, Xiao Yan shook his head in frustration and sighed softly: "We've lived together for over ten years, don't you understand me yet? Do you really think I'm the kind of idiot who would abandon high-level cultivation methods to practice the lowest level ones?"

  "But your technique... is obviously a low-level Huang stage, I can feel it." Upon hearing this, Xun Er's small face relaxed slightly from her anger, but she still stubbornly said.

  "Things can't be judged by appearance alone, I'm not convenient to tell you the reason now, but one day you'll know, I'm absolutely not being arrogant..." Xiao Yan smiled.

  "Really?" Looking at Xiao Yan's confident appearance, Xun Er fell silent for a moment before hesitantly asking again.

  "Really, really, absolutely really..." He hastily nodded his head, Xiao Yan was afraid she would continue to entangle him in this matter, and hurriedly changed the subject: "Has something happened to the clan recently? Why do several of the elders look unhappy?"

  "Uh, recently the Gali family somehow invited a first-class alchemist, and now in their market, there is a new kind of wound medicine called 'Hui Chun San'. This wound medicine is cheap and has high output, it's extremely popular among mercenaries near Udan city." Xun'er nodded, furrowed her brow, and said softly: "Affected by 'Hui Chun San', the number of people in all of Xiao family's markets has decreased by almost half. Because of this decrease, those merchants also ran to Gali family's market, and in just a few days, Xiao family suffered a significant economic blow. Uncle Xiao is already worried sick about it."

  Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded vaguely, no wonder the three elders' faces were so gloomy...

  He rubbed his nose and Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold smile in his heart: "Just a first-rate alchemist, could it be that the Jiaolong family has defied the heavens?"

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