Kapitel 17: Chapter 17: Relying on Oneself

Gu He's statement made Nalan Su's heart start to waver. He suddenly understood that talent was just that, talent. There had been many talented individuals throughout history, but only a few in the Jia Ma Empire had ever become Dou Emperors.

In fact, as Gu He said, the further one progressed in cultivation, the more resources one needed, and the less important talent became. With no resources to aid him, how could Xiao Yan possibly surpass his daughter!

If this daughter of his could truly defeat Xiao Yan, then allowing her to choose her own husband might lead her to find someone even stronger.

After all, the strong were always drawn to each other.

"I would like to thank Master Gu He for clearing up my doubts. If Master Gu He does not mind, I would be honored to have you as my guest at the Nalan Mansion. I, Nalan Su, will make sure that you are warmly welcomed," Nalan Su cupped his fist and said.

Gu He waved his hand, "No need, I plan to exchange an item with a powerful figure soon and will be busy preparing a batch of medicinal pills. I really won't have any spare time."

Nalan Su hastily offered, "Is there anything our Nalan Clan can do to help?"

Gu He smiled and shook his head, "I don't think that's necessary. The individual is a Dou Emperor."

Hiss! Dou Emperor!

Probably only Pill King Gu He had the capital to trade with a Dou Emperor in the entire Jia Ma Empire.

...

At this moment, Xiao Yan, whose protagonist script had been taken away, stood at the edge of a deep pool. With one hand, he picked up the Heavy Xuan Ruler planted in the ground before jumping into the water with a splash.

The immense weight of the Heavy Xuan Ruler caused his body to sink quickly. he grabbed the Heavy Xuan Ruler after it hit the bottom of the pool with a thud and swung it continuously. He swept, chopped, stabbed, and lifted. Despite its weight, the Heavy Xuan Ruler seemed to move as if it were an extension of his arm.

Weight training!

Xiao Yan had been practicing the Flame Splitting Tsunami for more than half a year, and he was already able to wield the Heavy Xuan Ruler at will. However, he felt that this was not enough, so he used the resistance and pressure of the water to intensify his training!

Whenever he ran out of oxygen, he would stow away the Heavy Xuan Ruler, surface to breathe, and then dive back down to continue his training.

As Xiao Yan's speed with the Heavy Xuan Ruler increased at the bottom of the pool, he actually stirred up a swirl in the water. This caused the water to churn violently.

He suddenly concentrated all his Dou Qi with a focused gaze. The special patterns on the Heavy Xuan Ruler emitted a faint red light. The terrifying heat could not be cooled even underwater, and huge bubbles continued to rise to the surface.

"Flame Splitting Tsunami!"

Xiao Yan swung skyward. A wave of intense heat shot up from the tens of meters deep pool straight into the sky. The terrifying heat continuously 'devoured' the waves!

With a thunderous boom, as if a torpedo had exploded, the pool larger than a soccer field burst open in an instant. A torrential downpour followed as the water rose tens of meters high.

Xiao Yan took this opportunity to leap out of the water pool with the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back.

"Huh? What are you two doing here?" Xiao Yan exclaimed as he leaped out of the water pool and noticed Xiao Mei and Xiao Yu by the poolside.

The poor duo had been chatting excitedly about joining Jia Nan Academy in half a year, with Xiao Yu explaining interesting things about the academy, when disaster struck from the sky and soaked them like drowned rats.

"Xiao Yan! It's you again!"

Xiao Yan touched his nose and held back his laughter as he said, "I wouldn't have guessed it, Xiao Yu, you're still quite innocent."

Xiao Yu looked down and realized they were both wearing white clothes today. Being drenched in water, their clothes became transparent! Xiao Yu's white underwear was clearly visible. Meanwhile, the younger Xiao Mei was more daring in her black underwear.

Xiao Mei blushed in embarrassment but did not attempt to cover herself. Xiao Yu screamed as she covered her chest with one hand and picked up a huge stone, intending to smash Xiao Yan to death.

However, Xiao Yan made a quick getaway in the time it took to pick up the stone, leaving only the words, "This was also an accident," before disappearing from sight.

...

Upon returning to the hidden mountain cave, Xiao Yan changed into a set of dry clothes and muttered, "Talk about bad luck."

He touched the storage ring, released the Bone Chilling Flame, and sat down in a cross-legged position about half a meter away from it. He then closed his eyes and slowly circulated the Flame Mantra.

One could see a special energy being absorbed into his body bit by bit, continuously strengthening his Qi cyclone.

Even when the Heavenly Flame became unstable and burned him, causing him to sweat profusely and scorch his skin, he still did not cease his cultivation.

If someone were to ask him, "Without the guidance of a master, without the aid of medicinal pills, what do you rely on to win?" Xiao Yan would firmly tell them: "Relying on myself."

After completing his monotonous daily cultivation, Xiao Yan leisurely returned to the clan. Before he even set foot inside the main gate, he saw three elders anxiously waiting for him.

"Xiao Yan, you brat finally came back!"

"Something big has happened!"

"Hurry, hurry, come to the clan meeting hall."

Without a chance to escape, Xiao Yan was immediately escorted to the meeting hall by the Second and Third Elders.

Finally, he understood what had happened after listening to the raucous discussions in the meeting hall. In summary, the Jia Lie and Ao Ba Clans had somehow managed to invite a 1st-tier alchemist and preemptively monopolized the market for all low-grade medicinal ingredients in Wu Tan City. They had spent a long time preparing and refining two types of 1st-tier medicinal pills and had captured a large portion of the market share.

"Little Clan Leader, these are the 'Rejuvenation Powder' and 'Minor Dou Qi Pill' sold at the Ao Jia Market."

Xiao Yan picked up the bottle labeled 'Rejuvenation Powder,' poured out some of the powder to smell it, and shook his head, "This is considered a medicinal pill? This is just the lowest grade of 1st-tier medicinal pills, and it can't even speed up the healing of wounds."

The Third Elder said with a bitter smile, "Little Clan Leader, please don't joke. Normal mercenary groups can only afford this kind of medicinal pill, and as long as it can stop the bleeding and ease the pain, it's considered good enough."

Xiao Yan then picked up the bottle labeled 'Minor Dou Qi Pill' and poured out a blue pill smaller than a dragon's eye. He crushed it gently and rubbed the powder between his fingers.

"This is slightly better than the Rejuvenation Powder and should be considered an intermediate-grade 1st-tier medicinal pill. It should allow someone whose Dou Qi is depleted to use an Intermediate Huang Class Dou Technique once again." Xiao Yan said as he wiped his hands with a handkerchief, as if the medicinal pill had dirtied his hands.

"Yan Er, do you have a way to deal with this?" Xiao Zhan immediately sought Xiao Yan because, about half a year ago, Xiao Yan had already detected the opponent's intentions and had all clan members prepare in advance.

Xiao Yan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and showed his usual confident smile, "Of course, I do."

The Grand Elder quickly said, "Tell us, we will all cooperate with you."

Xiao Yan waved his hand and said, "There's no hurry. As the saying goes, 'Those whom the Heavens wish to destroy, they first deprive of their senses.' Let's allow those two clans to enjoy themselves for now."

The Second Elder asked in confusion, "Then what should we do?"

Xiao Yan looked at the crushed white powder on the ground and said lightly, "For now, let's just play along with them. Solving their medicinal pill scheme now would at most cause them to lose some money, not enough to cause any serious damage."

"To deal with enemies, we must not just defeat them, but cripple them."