"What? All the medicinal ingredients have been destroyed? What about the Second Elder? Where is he?" In the main hall, a furious roar echoed.
The guard trembled, kneeling before Jia Lie Bi, his face filled with terror as he swallowed hard and said in a horrified voice, "The Second Elder was killed by the person who destroyed the ingredients!"
Jia Lie Bi's angry expression suddenly froze, his heels gave way, and he slumped onto the chair behind him, his face blank. Jia Lie Nu was one of the Jia Lie family's three great Dou Masters; his death was an absolutely severe loss for the Jia Lie family.
Seeing Jia Lie Bi's appearance, the reporting guard looked distraught. At this moment, the terrifying strength of the black-robed figure still lingered in his mind. It was hard to imagine that the Second Elder, a three-star Dou Master, had been burned to ashes by the mysterious person. Such a horrifying scene had almost made everyone present at the time feel terrified.
"Who killed the Second Elder?" After sitting in the chair for a while, Jia Lie Bi finally recovered, his voice somewhat hoarse. Clearly, Jia Lie Nu's death had dealt him a great blow.
"I don't know. At that time, the person was wearing a black robe, and no one saw his face. However, he could control a ball of white flame, and the Second Elder was killed by that flame," the guard shook his head and said in a low voice.
"Black robe? Controls white flames?" After a brief silence, Jia Lie Bi's expression changed slightly. Using flames to injure an enemy was undoubtedly the method most favored by alchemists. And someone who could have a grudge against the Jia Lie family, and easily kill the Dou Master-level Jia Lie Nu with flames... With these conditions, the image of the black-robed alchemist he had coincidentally met at the auction house that day flashed through Jia Lie Bi's mind.
Thinking of how Ya Fei and Gu Ni had treated that black-robed alchemist with respect that day, Jia Lie Bi suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth. It seemed they had been wrong from the very beginning. At that time, listening to Liu Xi, they had thought that the Xiao family had merely been lucky to invite an ordinary alchemist. But now, the truth told them that the Xiao family's alchemist was countless times stronger than that half-baked alchemist, Liu Xi.
Slowly shaking his head, Jia Lie Bi's eyes flashed with resentment and anger. Now, the medicinal ingredients worth four hundred thousand gold coins had been destroyed, and due to financial issues, they still owed the medicinal ingredient family in Dan Le City three hundred thousand gold coins for this batch of ingredients.
For this batch of medicinal ingredients, Jia Lie Bi had originally planned to refine them into healing medicine, and after selling them, he would repay the money. But now, this unexpected turn of events had shattered all his plans.
The medicinal ingredient family in Dan Le City, who cooperated with the Jia Lie family, was also a powerful force. Once they learned that the medicinal ingredients had been destroyed, they would surely send people to demand payment. But at this moment, the Jia Lie family's finances were depleted. How could they repay this huge debt? If they couldn't repay it, the Jia Lie family's reputation would likely be ruined.
"Damn it!" Thinking of the infuriating situation, Jia Lie Bi slammed his palm heavily onto the adjacent table. The hard black wood table shattered, and splinters flew into the guard's face, but he still had to bow his head and endure it.
Taking a deep breath, Jia Lie Bi forcefully suppressed the anger and resentment he felt towards the Xiao family, and calmly said, "Distribute all the remaining healing medicine in the warehouse to the various markets. Furthermore, regarding today's incident, inform everyone who knows about it to keep their mouths shut. If word gets out, they will be dealt with according to clan rules."
"Yes." The guard's body trembled slightly as he respectfully replied, then stood up and quickly retreated.
Looking at the empty hall, Jia Lie Bi leaned back wearily in his chair. Although the Jia Lie family had escaped disaster this time, their influence would likely decline significantly. From now on, it would be difficult to contend with the Xiao family. Thinking of this, Jia Lie Bi sighed inexplicably. He didn't know why, but at this moment, he felt a hint of regret for having initially provoked the Xiao family...
However, regret was now too late.
After completing this matter, Xiao Yan had also resumed his original identity. He returned to the family to ask Yao Lao to refine a Qi Nurturing Pill, which he then eagerly gave to Xun Er. Seeing the young girl holding the pill in her hand, her eyes shimmered with a hint of redness. Seeing this, Xiao Yan immediately felt a sense of satisfied vanity.
A few days after Xiao Yan destroyed the Jia Lie family's medicinal ingredients, the Jia Lie family in Wu Tan City still appeared calm. However, those with keen observation could notice that in the past, Jia Lie clansmen often sought trouble at the Xiao family's markets, but in recent days, the usually arrogant Jia Lie clansmen had become more restrained and showed no activity, which made everyone feel puzzled.
Xiao family, deliberation hall.
"What is this Jia Lie family up to lately? They seem to have become weaker towards us? I've received several reports in the past few days." Xiao Zhan frowned, expressing his confusion to the three elders in the hall.
Glancing at each other, the three elders simultaneously shook their heads. After a moment of contemplation, the First Elder said, "This old fox Jia Lie Bi's unusual behavior might mean he's cooking up some sinister scheme. We still need to be adequately prepared."
Xiao Zhan nodded. As a cautious person, he naturally wouldn't relax his vigilance because of the Jia Lie family's outward actions.
His gaze shifted, and Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Yan, who was dozing off in his seat. He shook his head helplessly. This little fellow seemed to have no interest in family matters.
"Yan'er, have you met that old gentleman recently?" Raising his teacup and taking a sip, Xiao Zhan casually asked.
Hearing Xiao Zhan's question, the three elders also turned their gazes to Xiao Yan. The importance of that old gentleman to the Xiao family went without saying, and he seemed to favor Xiao Yan, yet they had never met him.
Everyone was filled with envy that Xiao Yan could enjoy such special treatment.
"Barely opening his eyes, Xiao Yan grumbled, "En, I have." After a slight pause, he added, "That old gentleman said he's preparing to take me as his disciple."
Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Xiao Zhan's hand, which was holding the teacup, suddenly froze. He looked up, his face extremely expressive, staring at the young man sitting in the chair. Swallowing, he said with a hint of disbelief, "You said the old gentleman wants to take you as his disciple?"
Seeing Xiao Zhan's ecstatic and excited expression, and the twitching faces of the three elders, Xiao Yan nodded wearily.
"Good, good, good..." His face flushed as he drained his teacup. Xiao Zhan excitedly stood up, pacing back and forth in the great hall, rubbing his hands in excitement: "I knew my son wasn't ordinary! Damn it, from now on, whoever dares to say my son is trash, I'll beat him to death on the spot!"
Seeing Xiao Zhan's agitated state, Xiao Yan reluctantly said softly, "In half a month, I want to go abroad with my master to cultivate... I'm afraid it will be a year or even longer before I can return."
"Ah?" Xiao Zhan was stunned, his smiling face retracting. He frowned and hesitantly asked, "Aren't you going to participate in the Jia Nan Academy's examination? That's a famous high-level academy on the entire Dou Qi Continent. If you can get in, it will be very beneficial to you."
"The examination can wait for another year or two," Xiao Yan touched his nose, smiling indifferently. "Although Jia Nan Academy is good, they can't make me surpass Nalan Yanran in two years."
Xiao Yan smiled, his gaze slowly sweeping across the great hall. That arrogant woman was originally right here, making him feel that his self-esteem was not worth a penny compared to her.
Hearing Xiao Yan mention the taboo subject in his heart, Xiao Zhan's face trembled slightly, and he remained silent.
Standing up, Xiao Yan reluctantly stretched out his hand to rub the back of his neck, slowly walking out of the great hall. The young man's indifferent laughter lingered in the hall.
"Since she made a promise with me back then, I will naturally fulfill it. It's not about giving her some kind of 'eye-opener.' I just want to conveniently say one thing when I fulfill the promise: 'Your judgment is still very poor...'"