Chapter 164: Reunion of Xiao Yan and His Mentor

A young man dressed in black, who appeared quite ordinary yet exuded an extraordinary aura, was standing on the street, gazing up at the sky.

After a moment, he murmured as if talking to himself, "Teacher, what was that just now..."

After a brief silence, an elderly voice echoed in his mind with a sense of sentiment, "It was the Black Sun Flame. This must be the doing of Wei."

Hearing this, the young man in black grinned, with a hint of a smile in his eyes, he softly said, "As soon as I saw those black flames, I knew it was definitely him. But what's he doing? Setting off fireworks over the capital for no reason? Almost leveled the entire city."

He muttered to himself, "Could it be some signal for me? Telling me he's here?"

"What nonsense are you thinking, Xiao Yan?" The elderly voice responded with slight annoyance, "He's already a well-known master in the capital, does he need to inform you in such a way, what kind of secret signal?"

"Uh, seems like it," the young man scratched his head.

"Hmm... this situation seems more like he's experimenting with a new powerful move that he can't control perfectly..." the old voice pondered, and reminded, "Do you remember the fire lotus you created in the desert?"

"Of course I remember," the young man shivered all over at the mention, recalling the flattened sand dune, and a look of lingering fear flashed in his eyes.

It was a terrifyingly powerful technique he had forcefully created one day by merging purple flames with exotic fire, akin to a small-scale nuclear explosion.

He nearly blew himself up at the time, and even now, the memory brought chills to him.

"You're saying..." Xiao Yan's eyes widened.

"Judging from the explosion's power, it's clearly beyond the level of a Dou Huang. Wei, being at most a low-level Dou Huang, could cause such a commotion with the Black Sun Flame; it's probably like your lotus, a powerful yet uncontrollable and dangerous thing," the old man speculated.

Xiao Yan nodded, then smacked his lips, muttering, "Wei really is something."

He didn't expect that after he had just created a terrifying technique he was proud of, Wei Yang seemed to have developed something similar.

Hmm, not surprising, both hailed from the same place and were equally brilliant.

"Of course, this is just an old man's speculation, not to be taken seriously," added the elder.

"Heh," Xiao Yan licked his lips and said, "Why not just ask him directly?"

"Hmm, meeting him is good, haven't seen that boy in ten months, kind of miss him," the old man smiled.

"Haha, let's go meet Master Wei," Xiao Yan laughed heartily and strode towards the Alchemist Guild, feeling joyful.

In his eyes, there was anticipation, after ten months of not seeing each other, he missed this fellow countryman of his.

Most importantly, having this hometown friend around made him feel more confident.

...

At noon.

After sending away Ya Fei and the two princesses, Wei Yang stopped dealing with external matters, directly hanging a "Closed for Retreat" sign at the courtyard, explicitly indicating he didn't want to entertain guests anymore.

As for the Jia Ma Royal Family sending two princesses to interact with him, he surely understood the implied intention.

How else do you say the rich know how to play?

They don't state it outright but give you hints directly.

Wei Yang didn't doubt that if he showed the slightest interest, they wouldn't give him time to consider and would clean and package them for him overnight.

Then he could do whatever he pleased.

But is Wei Yang such a person?

Superficial!

Would he care about just a pretty face?

No!

He cared more about inner beauty.

Uh… of course, also about mutual compatibility.

Simply put, compared to superficial beauty, he valued talent more.

Otherwise, what's the use of a pretty ornament?

This is a fantasy world, it's that realistic.

Otherwise, with his current status, what kind of beauty couldn't he have?

But having them is useless, just wasting time and energy.

...

Outside the courtyard.

"Is Master Wei in?" A slightly hoarse young voice suddenly sounded.

Under the eaves, having his thoughts interrupted again, Wei Yang sighed deeply with some helplessness.

He lived within the Alchemist Guild, hung up a "do not disturb" sign, yet still couldn't avoid disturbance?

Very annoying.

"What is it?" Wei Yang frowned and asked.

His hand slowly clenched, you better have something important.

"Yan Xiao?" Wei Yang was stunned, finding the name strangely familiar.

Then, he chuckled absentmindedly.

Yan Xiao, read backwards, isn't it Xiao Yan?

So, this little fellow came looking for him.

Hmm, with his current third-tier alchemist status, he indeed had the qualification to freely enter this residential area.

Wei Yang exhaled lightly, relaxed his body, which lazily leaned on the backrest, and said irritably, "Come in."

"Heh," a familiar light laugh immediately sounded from outside the courtyard.

Subsequently, the courtyard door was pushed open, and an ordinary-looking young man in black stepped inside.

He shut the courtyard door with a backhand, walking lightly through the courtyard, gazing at the grumpy Wei Yang, and teasingly said, "Master Wei, pardon the intrusion."

"You are indeed disturbing, why not take the hint and quickly leave yourself?" Wei Yang retorted directly.

"Uh," Xiao Yan choked, sat down opposite the table, unceremoniously picked up the teapot and cup, poured himself water, gulped down a cup, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve, complaining, "Hey, hey, hey, what's with the temper today? After hearing about you, I hurried over to see you, and this is the attitude I get."

"Who wouldn't be annoyed getting disturbed several times a day? Also, you're wearing a cheap human skin mask, how would I recognize you?" Wei Yang crossed his arms.

"Uh…" Xiao Yan touched his cheek, then quickly reacted, covered his face with his sleeve, and tore off a thin membrane like a cicada's wing.

Revealing Xiao Yan's original handsome face, he said, "Is this okay now? Making a fuss. Also, being a master alchemist, not expecting to be disturbed is unrealistic. Why vent your anger on me?"

"Let's not talk about this," Wei Yang waved it off, his irritation dissipated. He lifted the teapot to pour Xiao Yan a cup of water as an apology, and asked, "What makes you so cautious? Wearing a mask outside, lots of enemies?"

"Alas, it's all for the Seven Illusion Green Spiritual Saliva…" Xiao Yan sighed bitterly and explained the situation.

The elder was a soul form; every time he acted, including concocting pills, it consumed a large amount of soul power.

Thus, materials that restored the soul were beneficial.

Xiao Yan hadn't found any soul-restoring materials at the Mittel Auction House, but Ya Fei provided information that the Nalan family possessed a Seven Illusion Green Spiritual Saliva...

And Nalan Jie was currently heavily poisoned, just in need of an alchemist to remove it.

So, Xiao Yan went with a mask.

After hearing this, Wei Yang gave him a thumbs up, "As a repudiated grandson-in-law, concealing identity to proactively attend to the poison removal of the ex-fiancée's grandfather, meeting with the former in-laws... Tsk, tsk, city folk sure know how to play."

"Could you stop mocking me?" Xiao Yan appeared helpless, his mood somewhat gloomy too.

If not for the elder, he wouldn't have done such a thing.

Nalan Jie? He could rot for all he cared!

After all, he had been divorced; now, he felt like he was offering himself up, ingratiating them.

Especially meeting Nalan Yanran, being personally seen off by her, chatting with her, left Xiao Yan with unspeakable feelings.

"Alright, alright, my bad," Wei Yang quickly raised his hand in surrender, apologizing. Leaning over, he patted Xiao Yan's shoulder gently, saying, "Don't be upset, a deal is a deal, grievances are grievances, it's mutual benefit, nothing to be ashamed of."

Xiao Yan shrugged and smiled.

He could only comfort himself this way.

"Alas, it burdens me, Xiao Yanzi, you feel aggrieved," an elderly voice arose.

The elder's translucent, illusory form slowly floated out.

"Teacher, it's a disciple's duty, please don't overthink," Xiao Yan quickly waved it off.

The elder smiled, signaling Xiao Yan not to be agitated. He sat cross-legged and looked at Wei Yang, smiling, "Boy Wei, Dou Huang now?"

"Yes, just broke through recently, then came to the capital," Wei Yang nodded with a smile, lifted the teapot to pour the elder a cup of tea, and smiled, "Seeing the elder in good spirits reassures this student."

Presently, the elder hadn't fallen into slumber as in the original work, and instead seemed to be in great shape; his soul form appeared more solid than ten months ago, with a glowing countenance, suggesting that the effect of the sixth-grade Soul Stabilizing Fruit was evident.

"These old bones are still resilient, won't die just yet," the elder chuckled, lifting the cup of tea and said.

Wei Yang chuckled inwardly.

This elder, indeed has a pretty robust life, whether in the original work or now.

Due to Wei Yang's influence, the elder lived a much easier and happier life, at least not as strained as in the original work.

Nor did he have to fall asleep from exhaustion often.

In this, Wei Yang had contributed significantly.

Though their relationship was transactional, each benefiting from the other.

There was no denying that Wei Yang, in it all, had aided the mentor and disciple duo substantially, albeit indirectly.

Now, the duo didn't need to worry about finding exotic fires and only needed to focus on their strength.

It was known that there were two exotic fires waiting for them in the Black Corner Domain.

(End of Chapter)