Ch. 40 - Arriving at the Alchemists Association

"Brother? When can we go to The Azure Dragon School?"

"Tomorrow. They have examinations for two days every month and we just happened to arrive just in time."

"So that is why you wanted to use a Teleportation Talisman to get us here... You did not want us to miss the examinations of this month, right?"

Xiao Huoyan replied by nodding.

"But where are we going to stay for the night then?"

"There is supposed to be an inn quite close by. We can stay there for the night. The examinations will begin early tomorrow morning."

"What are we supposed to do until then?"

"Train and rest."

"Is that not the same as what we did at home? No fun at all!"

"Then what do you want to do?"

Xiao Huoyan had not thought about what to do while waiting from the examinations to begin. He did not know what to do in places like this. The Azure Sea Division was much bigger than the forest he had spent most of his life in!

"How about we spend some money instead? I have heard the food here is really good! They also have good equipment and there is even a treasure pavilion not too far from here!"

"... Where is the Alchemists Association?"

"The Alchemists Association? Why do you want to go there?"

"To become an alchemist, of course."

"You can?!"

"How am I supposed to know? I have yet to try it out, but I have a feeling that I will be surprisingly good at it."

"The Alchemists Association is close to the Auction House! I will go with you to the Alchemists Association if you come with me to the Auction House right afterwards! No more training today, okay?"

"Deal! Lead the way."

"... But..."

"Do not tell me you that you do not know the way--"

"--That is not it! It is just... would you mind making us both... uhm, visible again?"

"O-oh! R-right! Can we wait until after we reach the Alchemists Association?"

"Hm? Why?"

"I am not used to being at crowded places and I guess it would be easier if no one saw us. I have concealed our cultivations well, so no one will be able to tell how strong we are, and I thought that we could wear these--"

"Cloaks?"

Xiao Huoyan had taken out two black cloaks."

"Mhm."

"But will the experts at the Alchemists Association not be able to see through these plain cloaks?"

"They will not. I used Evil Nightmare Illusions to make sure they will not see through these."

"You really thought this through, huh?"

"I did. Uhm... Can you just think about where the Alchemists Association is supposed to be? It would be much faster."

"Hm? Why?"

"I can use your thoughts as a map, and we will get there much faster."

"Sure! Shall we get going then?"

Xiao Huyan answered by taking out another Teleportation Talisman and crushing it.

Just like before, everything turned pitch black. Then they both arrived at the Alchemists Association.

"This sure is effective, but did you really have to use such a precious Teleportation Talisman just to get here? It was not that far anyways. Such a waste!"

"Do not worry sister! I have plenty of them and they are easy to make, so even if we run out of them I will just make some new ones on spot", Xiao Huoyan said with a bright smile on his face.

"Okay. Shall we go inside, brother?"

"Mhm."

They both went inside, and as they entered Tian Xin was surprised to see how simple, yet elegant the furniture were.

"HOW BIG!!", Tian Xin exclaimed with admiration in her eyes. She had never before in her life seen such a big room!

"Who is there?!"

Suddenly an angry guard seemed to be shouting at them.

"Did you not say that others would not be able to see us?!", Tian Xin whispered to her brother.

"Do not panic sister. He can not see us, but you just spoke very loud so of course he heard you."

"Oh. Sorry, but what are we supposed to do now?! Should we leave?!"

"No."

As Xiao Huoyan said that, he let go of his sister's hand and made them both visible.

As they were both wearing black cloaks, Xiao Huoyan being a little child, was of course pretty short compared to his big sister Tian Xin.

Anyone who didn't already know he was a child would mistake him as an old man.

Xiao Huoyan wanted it to remain that way. He would reveal his talent in alchemy to the chief of the Alchemists Association and then speak into his mind, purposely letting him find out that he was just a small child.

Until then, he'd just use voice transmission to speak with his sister, so that she could inform anyone they needed to speak with of what he wanted said.

He had indeed come up with quite a plan before entering. He did not want the people in the Alchemists Association to look down on him for being a child, so he had prove himself first and then expose his identity as a child of the Jin Clan.

He wanted them to know that he was not someone they could mess with as they pleased since there would always be envious people with ill intent.

He would ask them to keep his identity as Jin Xin strictly confidential and to only call him by the name 'Tian Yan'.

He would also tell them to send someone to The Azure Dragon School if they ever needed to contact him.

He knew that if he did that, they would all understand that he was an extraordinary child with an unmeasurably bright future.

Of course, he would not expose all of his secrets, but he knew that he had to tell them at least this much in order for them to truly respect him.

He needed a backer in The Azure Sea Division. Even though he could indeed take care of himself on his own, he did not want to expose himself too early.

It would be much easier to avoid trouble if he had a powerful backer.

That way, he would not have to worry about his sister as much, knowing that she would be fine even if he were to leave her alone for some time.