novelraw 552. Zhang Yiyao Lao
552. Zhang Yiyao Lao
The final decision was that Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao would go to gather information, while Xiao Yan would stay behind to look after Yao Qingyu. After all, Xiao Yan's identity was still too conspicuous, and sometimes that could backfire. Since Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao appeared less frequently, others would likely pay less attention to them.
As they left, Yao Qingyu turned her gaze to Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan asked with concern, "Junior Sister Qingyu, how are you feeling today?"
Yao Qingyu's face was still pale, but her eyes were calm, as if she was not worried about her health at all.
"As usual, with the two of you taking turns helping me stabilize my body every day, there shouldn't be any problems for now."
Yao Qingyu's beautiful eyes fell on Xiao Yan. She had an idea in her mind, but didn't know how to bring it up. After Xiao Yan looked back at her, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Senior Brother Xiao..." Yao Qingyu finally mustered the courage to ask under Xiao Yan's gaze, "Could you tell me about him?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan was also taken aback, and first asked Yao Qingyu to confirm, "You mean the teacher?"
"Um."
At this moment, Xiao Yan wished he had Wei Jiangyuan's ability to spout nonsense so easily. From his interactions with Yao Qingyu, it was clear that she still harbored some dissatisfaction with Yao Lao. If he could explain and ease the situation, Yao Qingyu might not be so resistant when she met Yao Lao.
But Xiao Yan was still Xiao Yan after all, and he could only speak the truth: "What do you want to know?"
"Anything is fine... For example, what kind of person is he in your eyes?"
"This question," Yao Qingyu asked, which stumped Xiao Yan for a moment. He first analyzed his experiences with Yao Lao in his mind before finally saying, "Actually, at first, I just thought that Teacher was a mysterious and charlatan."
"Huh? Why?" Yao Qingyu never expected that Xiao Yan, the most renowned disciple of the Medicine Venerable, would evaluate him in that way.
"At first, I was considered a minor genius in the Gama Empire in the Northwest Region. However, after I advanced to the Dou Zhe level and condensed my Dou Qi vortex, my Dou Qi began to decline in a strange way, eventually regressing to only three levels of Dou Qi. At that time, almost everyone regarded me as a waste. Even the marriage partner that my grandfather had arranged for me before he passed away came directly to my Xiao family to break off the engagement."
"On the very day after the annulment of the engagement, the teacher appeared from the ring I always carried and told me that the reason my fighting spirit disappeared was because he absorbed my fighting spirit from the ring."
"So you didn't blame him?"
Xiao Yan smiled subconsciously: "At first I wanted to blame him, but my teacher said it would help me recover my strength. At that time, I was so thirsty for strength that I didn't care about those details anymore. Later I also understood that my teacher was seriously injured because of the pursuit by the Soul Palace. If he didn't absorb my fighting spirit, he would probably stay in the storage ring and never wake up."
"And then?"
"Because I made a three-year agreement with Nalan Yanran, who had broken off our engagement, I started cultivating with my teacher. It was around that time that my teacher introduced me to the possibility of becoming an alchemist. In our small town, even a first-grade alchemist was extremely rare, so from the beginning I really hoped to become an alchemist."
Yao Qingyu chuckled, "You probably never imagined you'd become such a powerful alchemist back then, did you?"
"That's right. After all, the strongest person in our Jia Ma Empire is only a sixth-grade alchemist. Even if you had told me about the high rank of our teacher back then, I wouldn't have been able to understand it at the time, let alone set an eighth-grade alchemist as my goal."
"After that, I followed my teacher to the deep mountains to cultivate in seclusion. It was in Qingshan Town that I met Little Fairy Doctor."
Yao Qingyu asked curiously, "Is that the beautiful lady next to you? I heard she possesses the Calamity Poison Body, right?"
Xiao Yan nodded: "Yes."
"I definitely want to get to know him after the Dan meeting ends."
"When we met outside the Dan Tower last time, she told me that she felt I must be a beauty."
Yao Qingyu smiled and teased, "She probably just said that because she was jealous that you kept staring at me."
"It shouldn't be that bad. Go on, I followed my teacher to find the strange fire. In the desert of the Gama Empire, we found the Red Lotus Karmic Fire."
"Ranked eighth on the Different Flame Ranking, he dares to take you to absorb it?"
"My teacher explained the dangers to me very clearly, but I still decided to absorb it in the end, because I really needed power, and the strange fire could provide it."
"This is actually one of the deepest impressions my teacher left on me. He always allowed me to do what I wanted to do, and he would always be there for me."
"After that, we went to the Yunlan Sect where Nalan Yanran was located. Because after absorbing the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, my strength had reached the Douhuang realm. Even the old sect master of the Yunlan Sect was no match for me. After successfully fulfilling my promise, I left."
"My teacher and I encountered people from the Soul Hall and Han Feng in the Gama Empire and the Black Corner Region, respectively. It was from that time that I learned that my teacher was assassinated by Han Feng and the people from the Soul Hall."
"When I met Han Feng, it was the time when I felt that the teacher's attitude was the coldest and most intimidating. He probably regretted it very much."
"After dealing with all that, we went to Tianlan City, the core of the Northwest Region. Because of Qinglin, another female companion in my team, I participated in the Beast Gathering of the Northwest Region..."
"...Afterwards, we met a very special and powerful expert who told my teacher that if he continued to remain inside my body, it would actually harm me. So my teacher stayed in the Northwest Region, waiting for me to become strong enough to rebuild his body..."
Xiao Yan, fearing it might backfire, honestly recounted the events related to Yao Lao, omitting only a few details. Yao Qingyu listened in silence, showing no strong emotions.
While Xiao Yan and Yao Qingyu were talking, Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao also rushed back with somewhat complicated expressions.
"One good news, one bad news, which do you want to hear?"
Xiao Yan didn't join Wei Jiangyuan in his antics, but instead looked at Lei Jingxiao, since he had gone along as well.
Lei Jingxiao frankly admitted: "We did find out some information inside. Someone had seen the Nine-Section Green Bamboo Heart, but it was seen when it was taken away at the top of Mist Mountain."
"Who took it?" Xiao Yan had already guessed the bad news Wei Jiangyuan was about to deliver.
"The Heavenly Dark Sect's Transmission".