As he eyed the fallen Magic Beast beside him, Xiao Yan threw aside the cloth in his hand that was filled with blood. After which, he flipped his hand and a dagger appeared. Squatting down, he cut opened the Magic Beast’s head while ignoring everyone and slowly began searching within it.
After a few more cuts, Xiao Yan’s eyebrows began to be pressed together and he shook his head helplessly. He wiped off the blood on the dagger and kept it. Finally, he stood up and shrugged his shoulders at those who was watching him. “It looks like I’m unlucky. There’s nothing at all.”
Hearing Xiao Yan’s words, everyone gradually began to recover from their shock. Staring at Xiao Yan’s empty hands, Ka Gang could only shake his head regretfully. He then waved his hand and shouted, “Everyone, let’s first help the Company Leader finish off the other Magic Beast.”
Upon hearing Ka Gang’s shout, all the members of the Bloody Battle Mercenary Company quickly gripped the weapon in their hands and began swarming toward Fei Lei’s battlefield and began to attack the Magic Beast as a group under Fei Lei’s command.
Carrying the heavy ruler, Xiao Yan leaned against a tree trunk. He chewed grass in his mouth and lowered his head to see the abrasions on his fist. His eyes were full of excitement. Although he only managed to defeat the rank two Magic Beast in one blow because of his elemental advantage, the strength of the Purple Flame had far exceeded Xiao Yan’s expectation. If this happened during another time, he could at the very most only injure a rank two Magic Beast after he used ‘Octane Blast’. Killing it would still be impossible.
Xiao Yan slid his finger over the storage ring and retrieved an ‘Energy Recovery Pill’. He threw it in his mouth without anyone noticing and swallowed with a slight tremble of his throat.
“Ugh, if this lousy Qi Method still doesn’t evolve, I won’t even be able to afford consuming ‘Energy Recovery Pills’.” Xiao Yan helplessly whispered as he felt his body gradually recover its Dou Qi.
While the bored Xiao Yan was leaning against the tree trunk, two beautiful shadows were slowly headed at him from a short distance away.
“Hey, Xiao Yan, are you alright?”
A young lady’s lovely and clear voice caused Xiao Yan to lift his head lazily. He carelessly glanced at Ling Er before resting it on the other lady with the demon like figure for a while. Finally, he withdrew his gaze lazily. When faced with this young lady who had given him the impression of being unruly, Xiao Yan had little intention of paying any attention to her. Hence he said in an indifferent voice, “I’m fine.”
Being treated indifferently by Xiao Yan, Ling Er’s face became somewhat bright red. She opened her moist and small red mouth, looking as though she wanted to speak but was unable to. She was unable to find any words to ease the atmosphere; it appeared that she knew what kind of impression she left on him.
“Your palm is bleeding. Do you need to bandage it?” Seeing the gloomy atmosphere, the female with the devilish figure could only helplessly open her mouth to speak. Instantly, the cool and crisp voice sounded beside Xiao Yan’s ears.
Xiao Yan lifted his gaze and scrutinized this lady with quite a good appearance. He swept his gaze over her body and slightly shook his head. In a similarly helpless voice, he said, “There’s no need. I’m fine.”
The similar indifferent manner Xiao Yan displayed much like he did before caused Qing Ye to be slightly shocked. It was not that she was vain but with her stunning appearance, she had seldom received such treatment. However, she was also a proud person. When she saw Xiao Yan shake his head, rejecting, she did not continue to inquire. Thus, the atmosphere between the three of them once again returned to its depressing state.
The gloomy atmosphere continued for a while before it was finally interrupted by the celebratory cry from within the forest. The three of them raised their heads and found that the Magic Beast that was originally putting up a tough fight with Fei Lei was finally defeated by the combined strength of everyone. No wonder they were so excited.
Leaving the Magic Beast carcass aside, Fei Lei instructed a few mercenaries to search for the Monster Core and led Ka Gang and the others, who were laughing together, toward Xiao Yan. The unrestrained laughter frightened the birds away from the forest. “Ha ha. Brother Xiao Yan, I’ve heard about you, but never had the luck to see you in person. Thank you very much for today.”
Xiao Yan nodded his head with a smile. He greeted Ka Gang first before smiling at this strong middle aged man who appeared to be a forthright person. “How can I have any good reputation in Qingshan Town?”
“Ha ha. Despite being so young, you were able to kill that crafty Mu She with your own hands. Your reputation is far from being inferior. At the very least, no one in my Bloody Battle Mercenary Company could be compared to you.” Fei Lei sized up Xiao Yan and could not help but sigh to himself as he shook his head. After seeing Xiao Yan fight just now, it appeared that the rumors of him killing Mu She were true. He could not figure out just how this person trained. How could he be so ridiculously strong in spite of being younger than twenty years of age?
Smiling carelessly, Xiao Yan raised his head and looked at the sky as he helplessly said, “ I’m sorry. There was no rank two Ice type Monster Core in the body of that Magic Beast. Therefore, I’ll have to continue searching and won’t be able to chat with all of you.”
As he spoke, Xiao Yan replaced the Heavy Xuan Ruler which was in his hand onto his back as he prepared to once again enter the forest to search for a target.
“I’m really sorry that you gained nothing for your effort. If you do not mind, why don’t you take the Monster Core of the other Magic Beast? It’s a ground type one.” Fei Lei waved his hand and expressed his apologies.
“Forget it. I only need an Ice type rank two Magic Core. You can keep that thing.” Waving his hand with a smile, Xiao Yan turned around and headed toward the interior of the dense forest.
“Wait!”
A cool sweet voice of a woman suddenly sounded from behind him, causing Xiao Yan to halt his footsteps and turn around doubtfully to face Qing Ye.
“Do you have a great need for a rank two Ice type Magic Core?” Qing Ye asked with her eyebrows slightly standing.
“Yes, I need it soon.”
Hearing this, Qing Ye hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hand and gradually retrieving the pendant from her long neck. One end of the pendant was hidden within Qing Ye’s skin tight clothing and as she gently pulled, the pendant was pulled out in its entirety. At the end of the pendant hung a round white colored ice pearl.
“This is a monster core from a rank two Magic Beast Icy Snow Snail. Since you helped our Bloody Battle Mercenary Company once, treat it as a reward.” Qing Ye touched the beautiful white colored Magic Core, seemingly unwilling to part with it. Then she threw it towards Xiao Yan and out of instinct, Xiao Yan reached his hand out and caught the milk colored Monster core. The part of his hand that caught it felt both warm and cool. Moreover, the pendant had a faint body fragrance remaining, perhaps a result of having remained on the skin of a woman for a long time.
“Qing Ye...” Seeing Qing Ye’s action, Fei Lei could not help but shout. After musing, he could only helplessly say, “Since you are willing, then do as you please. But this is your personal item. Once we return, I will find something to compensate you. After all, these are the company rules.”
“There’s no need. If he had not intervened and helped, we would at least have lost half of our members here.” Qing Ye said with a smile as she shook her head.
“It really is a rank two Ice type Monster Core.” After sensing the energy of the Monster Core in his hand, a joyful smile appeared on Xiao Yan’s face. He blatantly kept the monster core and lifted his head to eye Qing Ye’s exquisite and pretty face. He smiled and said, “Thank you very much. But this is yours and I should not let you lose out. How about...” After thinking with a frown for a moment, Xiao Yan flipped his hand and a jade bottle appeared in his hand. He then tossed it to Qing Ye and said with a bright smile, “There are five ‘Energy Recovery Pills’ in there which can help you quickly recover your Dou Qi in times of danger. If we were to compare prices, it should not lose to your rank two Monster Core... Consider it a fair trade.”
Qing Ye did not originally intend to accept anything from the other party but when the words ‘Energy Recovery Pill’ entered her ear, her pretty face became blank. She quickly reached out her hand and carefully caught the jade bottle. When she opened it, surprise filled her face, “It is a medicinal pill?”
Hearing this, Fei Lei and the others around her were also moved. In this kind of place, they could seldom see a medicinal pill that originated from an alchemist. Thus, when they saw that Xiao Yan could take out five ‘Energy Recovery Pills’, they were all shocked.
“This young man seems to have an impressive background. Seeing this style of spending money, it appeared that he was a young master that had left home to come out and gain experience. That Mu She was indeed quite unlucky.” Upon seeing the jade bottle in Qing Ye’s hand, Fei Lei could not help but quietly say in his heart.
“Everyone, thank you very much. I still have some urgent matters so I won’t be able to stay any longer. Goodbye.”
With the Monster Core in his hand, Xiao Yan was anxious to return back and refine the two medicinal pills needed for him to swallow the Purple Flame. He immediately faced Fei Lei and cupped his hands together before stomping off the ground and swiftly shooting into the dense forest. Gradually, he disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Watching Xiao Yan slowly disappearing into the dense and dark forest, Fei Lei could not help but let out a sigh. He laughed bitterly, “I had wanted to ask Xiao Yan to join our Bloody Battle Mercenary Company but seeing his generous trade, I did not have the face to open my mouth.”
“Let’s go. Stop thinking such ridiculous thoughts. With his talent, he would not stay in our small Mercenary Company. If I guess correctly, it is likely that he has come to the Magic Beast Mountain Range to train. With his training talent and calculating mind, the vast world is the stage where he can display his talent. For us... we should just focus on being insignificant mercenaries. Maybe in twenty years time, when he returns to Qingshan Town, he might have become a Da Dou Shi or Dou Ling.” Qing Ye kept the jade bottle, turned around and said in a faint voice.
“Haha, that’s true.”
Fei Lei shook his head in a manner that appeared to mock himself. He waved his hand and led everyone into loudly singing the song of triumphant return as they carried the carcass of the two Magic Beasts back to Qingshan town. Although they did not possess the talent Xiao Yan had, they as small flies, also had their comfortable lives.
After entering the dense forest and hurriedly dashing for some time, Xiao Yan finally came to a stop. His back trembled slightly and the Purple Cloud Wings gradually opened. The Dou Qi in his body circulated for a few times before finally pouring into the pair of wings on his back.
Instantly, Xiao Yan’s body slowly floated up. The pair of wings flapped once again and his body broke free of the bounds of the forest and flew into the blue sky. He took a moment to locate his bearings before he extended his wings and hurriedly flew toward the direction of the small valley.
During the flight journey, Xiao Yan consumed three ‘Energy Recovery Pills’ before he gradually found the small valley that was covered by a dense fog. He braced himself and broke through the thick fog and flew into the small valley. When he was about to land on the ground, the pair of wings trembled and transformed into tattoos on Xiao Yan’s shoulders.
After having been through a tough battle, Xiao Yan involuntarily let out a sigh as he once again returned to this peaceful valley. He quickly strode toward the straw house in the valley and found the anxiously waiting Fairy Doctor. When she saw Xiao Yan came back in one piece, the weight in the Fairy Doctor’s heart was similarly relieved.
After greeting the Fairy Doctor, Xiao Yan hurriedly gathered all the necessary medicinal ingredients for the two types of pills. Once finished, he carried the medicinal ingredients and leaped into the cave on the mountain wall, preparing to refine the two important medicinal pills for the swallowing of the Purple Flame.