Chapter 91: The Whereabouts of Yan Chen, Thrown into the Alchemy Furnace, His Clothes Burned Away

“Look, look, I’ve refined a Spirit-Purifying Pill with pill veins...”
“Fine, just shove it straight into my eyes.”
Ling Tian watched the excited Xiao Yanying holding out the pill and teasingly bringing it right up to his face.

Xiao Yanying, hearing his mockery, realized it was indeed a little improper. She forced down her excitement, but looking at her own handiwork, she was still very pleased.

“By the way, remember those forehead flicks I gave you just now?” Ling Tian asked at a rather inopportune moment.

“Of course I do!”

When Ling Tian brought it up, Xiao Yanying bared her little tiger teeth, thinking he wanted her to pay him back, and answered with great readiness.

Clearly, she had guessed wrong.

“Those few times, your movements were a bit off, and besides, you were thinking too much. Just like when I told you to put everything in at once, you were flustered. I don’t understand what there was to panic about. Wouldn’t it have been enough to just put it in? But you? Even after placing it in, you still nearly arranged it in sequence. If I hadn’t helped you, it probably would have failed, wouldn’t it?”

As Ling Tian’s words fell, Xiao Yanying lowered her head. What he said was indeed not wrong; this was her flaw.

“For an alchemist, sequence is very important, but you can’t be rigid about it. I’ve already taught you once. As for the rest, you can start refining on your own. I won’t keep you company anymore.”

Without waiting for Xiao Yanying to speak, Ling Tian continued.

When Xiao Yanying heard this, she was immediately displeased. What did he mean, keeping her company?

A fourth-grade pill, after all!

Was it so simple?

She was just about to object when she saw Ling Tian take out the spiritual medicines for refining a fifth-grade Blood Qi Pill.

She obediently shut her mouth. Without strength, there was no point in making noise. She knew that much.

She could not help feeling a little depressed.

Could he be refining one pill grade a day?

That thought scared Xiao Yanying. By rough count, he was only about six years old now.

Even if he had started refining pills at the age of one, that would still only be five years.

Five years, and already a fifth-grade alchemist?

Too insane!

Xiao Yanying shook her head and pressed her lips together as she withdrew her gaze. It truly was enough to make one spit blood to compare oneself with others.

What people feared most was comparison; the blow was simply too great.

Still, thinking that he was the disciple of a Great Emperor, his starting point was naturally higher than hers, and that gave her some comfort.

With that in mind, she resumed refining the fourth-grade Spirit-Purifying Pill.

By the fifth batch, Xiao Yanying was already able to keep every pill veined.

She had also gained tremendous insight and was very satisfied with her progress.

Looking at Ling Tian, a trace of helplessness appeared in her eyes. He had already refined two batches of fifth-grade Blood Qi Pills.

“Still a bit lacking.”

Her mood had already been poor, and hearing Ling Tian say this while looking at the veined fifth-grade Blood Qi Pill in his hand made it even worse.

Lacking where, exactly?

If she could refine a fifth-grade pill, she would probably be leaping with joy.

And yet he even wore that expression.

“Not bad. Great progress. Keep it up!”

Ling Tian rose to his feet, put away the Blood Qi Pills, and nodded in praise toward Xiao Yanying.

“Heh...” Xiao Yanying gave two weak laughs. Was that supposed to count as praise? I guess so...

Just after Ling Tian left, her master dragged him away to discuss pill formulas.

Xiao Yanying stared after Ling Tian’s departing figure, somewhat absent-minded.

The days of refining pills were tiring, but the rewards were considerable.

At the very least, one could produce and consume for oneself.

The medicines her mother gave her were all healing pills, the kind that could snatch a person back from the brink of death.

As for pills meant to aid combat cultivation, there were practically none.

First, her mother was a ninth-grade alchemist, and the pills she refined contained too much energy for her to handle.

Second, she did not want her son’s cultivation to be built up by pills; there would absolutely be no great benefit in that.

Ling Tian naturally knew this as well, and would keep things measured.

Xiao Yanying breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that over the next several days Ling Tian only refined fifth-grade pills and had not moved on to sixth-grade, or even seventh-grade, pills.

If he truly had refined them, her mentality might have exploded.

The gap was simply too vast.

Still, for someone his age to become a fifth-grade alchemist was already extremely impressive.

For those without talent, even a lifetime of pursuit might never reach that level.

That day, as always, Xiao Yanying brought Ling Tian a meal.

By Ling Tian’s own saying, one who ate another’s food would owe them a debt, and one who accepted another’s hands would be bound by gratitude; if he was to teach her, she had to give him some benefit in return.

“Mm, this meal looks pretty good...” Ling Tian nodded in satisfaction after glancing over the dishes.

Xiao Yanying, who usually had plenty to say, remained silent this time. Her eyes were darkened, and she looked as though she had not slept well.

“Are you trying to refine a fifth-grade pill?” Ling Tian frowned slightly when he saw the spiritual medicines she had taken out.

He knew Xiao Yanying’s level very well.

Although she had more or less mastered fourth-grade pills, she was absolutely not at the stage where she could attempt a fifth-grade one.

Xiao Yanying said nothing. Instead, she stubbornly set up the cauldron and began refining pills.

Sure enough, in no time at all, the cauldron exploded.

Ling Tian blocked the blast, not even having finished his meal yet!

“Again?”

Ling Tian’s eyes widened. Seeing Xiao Yanying preparing to refine once more without the slightest hesitation, he could no longer endure it.

Was she kidding? He was trying to eat here, and with her making such a scene, he could not even keep the thought of eating in his head.

With no other choice, he reached out and restrained her.

She kept her head down and refused to speak to him.

Ling Tian ignored her and continued eating on his own.

“Let go of me!”

In the end, it was Xiao Yanying who could not hold back first. She kicked out at Ling Tian and said through pursed lips.

“I can let you go, but you should at least tell me what happened, shouldn’t you?”

Ling Tian blurted out the question.

He had not intended to get involved in this matter. After all, it was better to have one less trouble than one more. Yet, somehow, by some ghostly impulse, he had asked anyway.

Never mind. Since he had asked, so be it. At worst, he simply would not help.

“My mother sent word to me saying that in our Xiao Clan of the Heavenfire Dao Domain, they’ve already begun vying for the right to inherit the clan leadership.

“My brother’s situation isn’t too good, and she wants me to go back and help him.

“She also told me that another younger brother has returned—number nine—and in a very short time, he used his alchemy skills to gather a group of supporters. Now he’s the one with the greatest advantage.

“He can refine fifth-grade pills at most, so I was thinking that if I could also refine a fifth-grade pill, I’d be able to win supporters for my brother.”

Seeing that Ling Tian had asked, Xiao Yanying had no intention of hiding anything and explained the reason.

“You said you’re from the Xiao Clan of the Heavenfire Dao Domain, and that younger brother of yours—what’s his name?”

Ling Tian narrowed his eyes slightly, instantly realizing that something seemed off.

The Xiao Clan, a fifth-grade alchemist, and a recent return...

That description immediately brought an old acquaintance to mind.

“Um... Mother seemed to say his name was Yan Chen! Yes, that’s right!”

Xiao Yanying’s attitude toward Ling Tian had changed, and though a little strange, she still told him the name.

“So it really is him! Right, you don’t need to refine pills anymore. Isn’t this just a trivial matter? I’ll go with you!”

Ling Tian’s suspicion was confirmed. Truly, one need not seek far and wide after stepping through iron shoes; the answer had come without the slightest effort.

He had thought that after Yan Chen escaped, there had been no news of him. He never expected to learn his whereabouts from Xiao Yanying.

And he still wanted to become the young clan chief of the Xiao Clan in the Heavenfire Dao Domain? Had he agreed to that?

He did not know whether Yan Chen’s damaged Dao heart had recovered, but he was very much looking forward to seeing what surprises that fellow would bring him.

“You have a grudge with him?”

Xiao Yanying sized Ling Tian up, then voiced her guess.

In truth, Ling Tian’s reaction had already been very obvious. One could say even a fool would have noticed something was wrong.

Much less Xiao Yanying, who was not a fool.

“Somewhat. But I can assure you, I’m only dealing with him. As for your Xiao Clan, we have no grievance and no enmity, so I naturally won’t interfere.

“Besides, isn’t this what you need as well? Just think of it as a win-win cooperation.”

Ling Tian shrugged, knowing what she was worried about.

She was nothing more than afraid that he might drag the Xiao Clan into this, which would not be worth it.

As a top-tier orthodoxy, the Xiao Clan naturally had a Great Emperor in charge.

Still, compared with Luo Qingqiu, they fell quite a bit short.

After all, her Chaos Dao Body was simply too formidable.

“In that case, happy cooperation!”

Xiao Yanying was a clever woman. After some thought, she agreed.

The two arranged to set out together the next day.

After returning to the spiritual peak where Luo Qingqiu resided, Ling Tian told her about the matter.

Luo Qingqiu gave him a jade pendant containing three attacks equivalent to her full force. It was no trivial gift.

Ling Tian praised Luo Qingqiu lavishly once more, and only after being kicked out by her did he finally stop.

He had originally wanted Luo Changsheng to go as well. With such a bodyguard, many things would be much more convenient.

But he was the holy lord of a sacred land, burdened with endless duties, and naturally had no spare time.

Thus, on this journey, only Ling Tian and Xiao Yanying set out.

The two gathered and, instead of riding a mount, chose to fly with swords.

The main reason was that there were teleportation arrays available along the way, which made travel quite convenient.

Riding a mount would have been too ostentatious.

Without Luo Changsheng at his side, danger was easy to encounter.

But no matter how carefully they counted and calculated, they never imagined that after leaving one teleportation array and heading toward the next, trouble would arise.

The two of them were kidnapped.

They were taken to a deep mountain, and all along the way, a deranged man kept sizing them up.

It was as though he wanted to see straight through them.

Ling Tian, however, could tell that this man was an alchemist. Out of curiosity, he made no move to break free, wanting to see what he intended to do.

Who could have guessed that once inside the mountain cave, the deranged alchemist would order people to throw Ling Tian and the others into the pill furnace?

Ling Tian was fine; his clothes were impervious to water and fire. But Xiao Yanying was in trouble—her clothes were instantly burned to ashes.

Ling Tian’s eyes widened. Xiao Yanying, perhaps because of the flames, was flushed all over. She glared at him through gritted teeth, while he watched with absorbed interest, and let out a shrill cry:

“Why are you still looking? Close your eyes!”