"Very good, thank you very much." Xiao Ling smiled and nodded.
"Then I'll be leaving now. I'll leave it to you." Hai Bodong said this before exiting the room.
Once he was alone, Xiao Ling walked to the table and chairs in the center of the room.
His fingers flicked across his storage ring, and instantly, the herbs Hai Bodong had given Xiao Ling appeared on the table.
With another wave of his hand, a medicine cauldron appeared beside the table and chairs. While not a top-tier cauldron on the Heavenly Cauldron List, it was more than adequate for Xiao Ling's current needs. Holding
the recipe for the "Evil-Breaking Pill" in his hand, Xiao Ling began to read the instructions.
In the original novel, even Yao Chen, the continent's foremost alchemist, made a mistake while refining the Evil-Breaking Pill, wasting some herbs.
This was because he was only in spirit form, and his strength was far less than it had been in life. However, even with Yao Chen's extensive alchemy experience, he had failed once, demonstrating the complexity of the recipe for the Evil-Breaking Pill.
After memorizing the recipe, Xiao Ling took a deep breath and calmed himself.
He walked over to the medicine cauldron, raised his arm, and placed it on the fire outlet.
With a thought, the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame within him burst forth from the Dou Crystal, flowing through his veins and into the cauldron.
As the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame emerged, a searing heat filled the room.
After igniting the cauldron with the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, Xiao Ling extended his hand, rapidly waving it across the table beside him. He grasped priceless herbs one by one and then placed them into the cauldron.
After all the herbs were placed in the cauldron, Xiao Ling's hand left the cauldron. His expression remained calm, and his fair hands suddenly began to wave rapidly, as if plucking leaves from a flower. With the flick of his fingertips, the blazing golden flames within the cauldron obediently transformed into several tiny flames, enveloping the poured herbs.
To refine the Evil-Breaking Pill the first time, Xiao Ling was completely focused, demanding perfection in every step.
In the quiet room, golden flames danced between the cauldrons, and a faint medicinal fragrance filled the air.
...
Jama Empire, Wutan City.
A carriage bearing the Jiama Empire's royal emblem drove from the city gate into Wutan City.
Behind the carriage followed over fifty lightly armored royal guards. The murderous aura emanating from each soldier betrayed the strength of their veterans on the battlefield.
Sitting in the carriage, Yaoyue extended her arm, parted the curtain, and surveyed the buildings of Wutan City with interest.
"Could this be where Xiao Ling, the 'First Genius of the Jia Ma Empire,' lived as a child? I wonder if I'll encounter anything interesting here," Yaoyue muttered to herself.
At the time, she was still studying alchemy with Vice President Mitchell at the Alchemist Guild when her sister came to her and asked her to go to Wutan City.
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Yaoyue had originally intended to refuse. She had never heard of Wutan City, a remote, small city.
However, her sister told her that it was the birthplace of Xiao Ling, the "first genius of the Jia Ma Empire," and that they were going there to escort Xiao Ling's clansmen to live in the imperial capital.
As the young princess of the Jia Ma Empire, Yaoyue naturally knew about Xiao Ling. So, she became intrigued by his birthplace.
Furthermore, Xiao Yan, whom her teacher often mentioned, seemed to be from the Xiao family of Wutan City. She could go and see what kind of strange person he was, someone whose problems even her teacher couldn't see.
Under the awestruck gaze of the residents of Wutan City, the royal guard arrived at the Xiao family compound and stopped.
The leading middle-aged officer waved to a subordinate nearby, who dismounted and approached the Xiao family guards. They said, "Hello! We are the imperial guards, here to escort the Xiao family members to the imperial capital."
The Xiao family guard captain had already received word from within the clan that the Jiama Empire's guards would arrive in the next few days.
He replied to the soldier, "I'll go inform the clan leader first. Everyone, please rest in the reception hall. He will be here shortly."
He then muttered a few words to a nearby guard and headed towards the clan leader's office.
The guard led the imperial guards to the Xiao family's reception hall.
After the guard captain's announcement, clan leader Xiao Zhan, along with several elders, ceremoniously welcomed the imperial guards.
The two sides agreed on a schedule, and they would depart for the imperial capital the next morning.
On his last night away from Wutan City, Xiao Zhan invited the leaders of all the major factions in Wutan to a dinner at the Xiao family's residence.
The patriarchs of Wutan City's other two major families, Jialiebi and Obapa, also accepted Xiao Zhan's invitation.
These three clans, once somewhat hostile to each other, now enjoyed a drink at the dinner because the Xiao family was about to leave Wutan City. While the dinner was underway, Xiao Yan was strolling around the Xiao family alone. As the third young master
of
the Xiao family, he was naturally entitled to attend the banquet, but he found it boring to sit alone in the hall after dinner, so he left early.
He snipped off a piece of foxtail grass from the roadside and held it in his mouth, savoring its slightly bitter taste. He then walked to the pond in the Xiao family's backyard and lay down on the grass, enjoying the cool evening breeze.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from afar, reaching Xiao Yan's ears.
Xiao Yan looked in the direction of the sound. A young girl was walking along a bluestone path towards the pond.
She was dressed in a purple gown with silver patterns. Her delicate features, influenced by the royal family, gave her a subtle aura of innate nobility. A purple sash cinched her slender waist, showcasing it to its fullest. She seemed relatively young, not much different from Xiao Yan himself. A faint smile graced her pretty face, giving her a certain elegance and serenity. However, whenever she glanced around, Xiao Yan noticed that this seemingly ladylike girl's watery eyes would flicker with a quirky, mischievous smile. Clearly, she wasn't the quiet type she appeared to be.
(End of Chapter)