Chapter 181: I Heard You Have a Lot of Fire Energy?
Watching Xiao Yuan step into the building, Xiao Yan smiled and called out, "Bro, you're back."
"Mm, you've reached eight-star?"
Xiao Yuan nodded and glanced at Xiao Yan, smiling as he spoke.
These past few days, Xiao Yuan had been training in the back mountains of Canaan Academy. Though there were some extremely powerful magical beasts there, the energy sealed within his body was still more than enough to make a getaway.
Besides, with Wind Thread Shadow Steps and Purple Cloud Wings alone, fleeing was hardly an issue!
Most of the magical beasts in the inner academy's back mountains couldn't fly. And those that could wouldn't dare get close to the Inner Academy—the elders there were no joke.
As for the actual training, Xiao Yuan had the protection of the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, so it was quite safe. That soul-level suppression alone was enough to scare off most beasts.
"I've been refining pills while closing up in the Qi Refining Tower. It's worked out pretty well," said Xiao Yan with a smile.
"Not bad. At this rate, you're about to catch up with me."
Xiao Yuan nodded in approval.
"I don't believe it—have you already reached three-star?"
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Even though his third brother hadn't visited the Heaven-Burning Qi Refining Tower recently, practicing battle skills still helped hone Dou Qi control. With Xiao Yuan's natural talent, there was no way he hadn't made any progress.
"No, still at two-star. That battle skill is tough to learn. Some routines are easy to memorize, but integrating Dou Qi circulation into spear moves? That's no easy task."
Xiao Yuan shook his head seriously.
In the past month, he had managed to grasp the Nine Tribulations Devil Lightning Spear, but its power was still far from satisfactory.
He suspected it lacked the force of real heavenly lightning.
And this month had been all sunny skies—not even rain, let alone thunder.
Quite frustrating.
Also, although the spear was named "Devil Lightning Spear," due to his Qi Palace alignment, the lightning he produced was green.
Green lightning was rare. Combined with his white robes, it had a decent visual effect.
But power-wise? Not impressive enough to excite him.
As for the bit of Black Devil Lightning he had refined—it was intimidating inside his body, but in real combat, it wasn't enough for more than a couple of uses.
A limited resource.
While his lightning-type Dou Qi could nourish the Black Devil Lightning, it still lacked the essence of real heavenly thunder.
That said, the battle art was still an Earth-tier technique. Its power was legitimate. With this as his trump card, even facing an eight-star Dou Ling, Xiao Yuan wouldn't back down.
If he was to truly struggle, it would be against the top ten in the Strong Ranking.
Especially the top three. Unless he used his sealed internal energy, they would be nearly impossible to defeat.
Particularly the number one, Zi Yan... even though Xiao Yuan's physical strength was impressive, he wasn't delusional enough to think he could outmuscle a Taixu Ancient Dragon.
"True. Earth-tier battle skills are really tough to train. Back when I had Teacher's help, it still took me forever just to barely master one."
Xiao Yan nodded with deep understanding.
These past days, he had been refining pills non-stop. The Lionheart Society's pill inventory was now sufficient to last for half a month. With more free time, he actually felt a bit uncomfortable—not used to idling after years of non-stop training. But since he had just broken through to eight-star, rushing into another breakthrough would be overkill.
"By the way, where is everyone else?"
Xiao Yuan swept his spiritual sense across the empty building and asked casually.
"Sister Xiao Yu, Xun'er, and Hu Jia are all training in the Qi Refining Tower. As for Wu Hao—he came out of seclusion with me a few days ago and immediately went to hang around the battle arena!"
Xiao Yan chuckled.
"Hah, that's definitely Wu Hao."
Xiao Yuan smiled too.
"Speaking of which, the people we sent to buy herbs still haven't come back," Xiao Yan said, chewing on a pastry.
Most of the ingredients they bought earlier were now used up.
"They're back, but things didn't go well," Xiao Yuan said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the door.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, hurried knocking echoed from outside. Several figures rushed in.
"What happened, Ah Tai?"
Seeing the panting figures, Xiao Yan asked in surprise.
"President, Vice President—something happened!"
Ah Tai took a deep breath and steadied his breathing before speaking with a grim face.
"What is it?"
Xiao Yan frowned and swallowed the pastry in his mouth, his tone growing cold.
"Everyone sent to buy herbs came back empty-handed."
Ah Tai spoke with anger.
"I see… Looks like the Yao Gang is making their move. Tch, Han Xian still hasn't learned his lesson."
Xiao Yuan nodded knowingly. They had endured for a whole month—that showed restraint. But clearly, they had finally cracked.
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed, a flash of cold light glinting in them.
"And also, the brothers we sent out to sell pills were harassed. Some of the more hot-tempered ones tried to fight back and ended up injured. Almost all our sales points were smashed."
Ah Tai's teeth clenched as he added.
"What?!"
Xiao Yan's expression instantly darkened. He slammed the table and stood up. His face looked like the calm before a violent storm.
"The Yao Gang's this bold now?"
Even Xiao Yuan was a little surprised. Was Han Xian really that dumb?
Not to brag, but he could probably take down the entire Yao Gang by himself. What gave them the confidence to act this tough?
"It wasn't just the Yao Gang," Ah Tai said through gritted teeth. "According to our guys, the troublemakers included people from Bai Gang—and from Crack Mountain!"
"Bai Gang? Bai Cheng still hasn't given up?" Xiao Yuan was stunned, then frowned. "Crack Mountain? You mean…"
"Yeah, the faction founded by 'Tyrant Spear' Liu Qing, ranked in the top three of the Strong Ranking!"
Ah Tai's expression dimmed further as he spoke.
"Liu Qing wouldn't do something like this, would he?" Xiao Yuan murmured, thoughtful.
"It wasn't Liu Qing—it was two others. One named Reina, the other Yao Sheng."
Ah Tai shook his head and explained.
"Oh?"
Xiao Yuan found those names familiar.
Xiao Yan also seemed to recall something.
They hadn't chatted much recently, so Xiao Yuan wasn't caught up on everything.
"Bro, that Reina is probably coming after me. We had a scuffle in the Refining Tower. I hurt him."
Xiao Yan said quietly.
"And Yao Sheng's strength?"
Xiao Yuan turned to Ah Tai.
"Ranked seventeenth on the Strong Ranking. Probably a seven-star Dou Ling," Ah Tai said after a moment.
Xiao Yuan stroked his chin in thought.
"President, what should we do now? We can't let this slide!"
Ah Tai was getting restless.
"Don't rush, Ah Tai. Calm down."
Xiao Yuan waved his hand, signaling him to cool off. Then his tone turned sharp: "Gather everyone. We're going to pay Bai Gang a visit! Last time wasn't enough? Let's give them a real taste. If they dare mess with Lionheart, then they're going to lose some bones!"
"Yes, President! Let's crush them!"
Ah Tai's face lit up with excitement and determination. He rushed out of the building, shouting orders loudly.
"Bro, going against Crack Mountain now might be troublesome…" Xiao Yan said cautiously.
"Not necessarily. Liu Qing may not even be involved. For the Yao Gang to bring in Yao Sheng is one thing. But getting Liu Qing personally involved? Unlikely. Han Xian's pill-making skills aren't that impressive. He probably can't offer anything tempting enough."
Xiao Yuan calmly analyzed.
And from Liu Qing's reputation, he didn't seem like the type to bully newcomers over minor interests. That'd be beneath him.
Still, he likely wouldn't interfere with what his subordinates did either.
So that seventeenth spot on the Strong Ranking... was very tempting!
After all, beating Bai Cheng for the thirty-fourth spot had already earned him a good sum of Fire Energy. Taking the seventeenth spot would mean even more!
"In that case, shouldn't be too hard. I'll handle Reina."
Xiao Yan nodded seriously.
"Mm, after all this training, having someone to spar with sounds nice."
Xiao Yuan chuckled, waved his hand, and headed outside.
Xiao Yan followed closely.
On the wide, tree-lined avenue, passersby stared in confusion at the large, imposing group marching with weapons in hand and murderous intent in their eyes. A chill swept through the crowd.
As the armed group disappeared from view, whispers broke out along the quiet road.
"What's going on? They look like they're ready to kill someone."
"Judging by their emblems, they're from the Lionheart Society, right?"
"Wait... isn't that the group selling pills recently? And the guy in black next to the guy in white—could that be Xiao Yan, the rumored alchemist?"
"I heard Bai Gang tried to mess with Lionheart today. Looks like they're heading over for payback. Hah! This is gonna be good!"
"Pfft, Bai Gang's got guts, huh? They already got wrecked last time. Ran off like whipped dogs!"
"Hey now—this time, they've got some new muscle."
"Who?"
"Yao Sheng from Crack Mountain!"
"Hiss... Yao Sheng? The guy ranked seventeenth?!"
"Oh, this is gonna be interesting. Let's go see!"
The once-quiet Inner Academy suddenly buzzed with activity thanks to the aggressive Lionheart march. Curious students spread the word quickly, and soon, a large number of onlookers flocked to Bai Gang's base. Inner Academy battles weren't rare, but faction wars like this? Those were events!
Of course, ever since Xiao Yuan arrived, he'd stirred up quite a few such events.
He just usually did it alone—against entire factions.
Near Bai Gang's headquarters was a wide plaza. It was usually empty, but now it was packed with spectators.
Whispers filled the air. All eyes turned toward the two confronting factions in the center.
One side was larger, with over forty or fifty people gathered together—already an impressive show of force. The other side had around thirty people. Though outnumbered, their expressions were bold and arrogant, their eyes filled with challenge.
"Xiao Yuan, bringing all these people here—are you declaring war on Bai Gang?"
Bai Cheng stood at the front of his group, arms crossed. Behind him stood Bai Shan, Fu Ao, and the rest.
"Bai Cheng, you dared interfere with our pill sales. You didn't think this day would come?"
Xiao Yuan's tone was cold, his voice sharp and chilling.
"Fighting is part of life here. Little scuffles happen every day. What's the big deal?"
Bai Cheng rolled his eyes and spoke casually.
"Looks like I went too easy on you last time."
Xiao Yuan spread his hands and laughed coldly. The sarcasm was obvious, and the watching crowd laughed loudly—many still remembered how badly Bai Cheng had been beaten.
Face twitching, Bai Cheng gritted his teeth, then sneered, "This time, it wasn't Bai Gang picking the fight. I was just doing someone a favor."
"Oh? For whom?" Xiao Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Of course—the Yao Gang!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the edge of the plaza. All eyes turned as the crowd parted. A group of people in alchemist robes swaggered into the plaza.
At their head, Han Xian smirked mockingly. It was clearly his voice just now.
"Tch. Han Xian, I heard you've got a lot of Fire Energy lying around…"
Seeing him, Xiao Yuan smiled teasingly.
(END CHAPTER)
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