At the entrance of the cultivation room, a little girl in a white dress was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her eyes glancing at the people in the rest area. Although she seemed harmless, the faint ferocity in her eyes made anyone who met her gaze break out in cold sweat.
“Haha, so it’s Senior Zi Yan.” Liu Qing’s expression changed slightly when the little girl in white appeared, but he fared better than the others. He smiled and greeted Zi Yan. However, the way he addressed her felt strange. A man as big as a gorilla speaking so politely and warily to a little girl barely reaching his waist was anything but normal.
Zi Yan glanced at him, then slowly walked into the area. As she entered, the surrounding onlookers hurriedly retreated, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire. Lin Yan stood beside Xiao Yan, feeling uneasy as he saw Zi Yan walking towards them. This terrifying brute king truly frightened him.
“Hey, who bullied you? Didn’t I tell you to come to me if you have trouble?” Zi Yan stopped beside Xiao Yan and pouted, “Tell me, I’ll help you get back at them.”
As she spoke, her large, dark, and lively eyes swept the area. Anyone who caught her gaze shivered and shook their heads hastily. Beside Liu Qing, Yao Sheng’s face twitched, and he quietly stepped back, hiding half his body behind Liu Qing. In front of this little monster that everyone in the inner courtyard feared, no one dared to provoke her.
He never expected that Xiao Yan would have such a close relationship with this most unapproachable little monster.
“Just a minor conflict. I can handle it myself,” Xiao Yan said with a smile, shaking his head. Even though he knew Zi Yan was a very powerful magical beast, her appearance as a little girl made it impossible for him to think of using her name to show off. Besides, the so-called bullying hadn’t reached that level; the previous exchange with Yao Sheng had ended in a draw.
Hearing Xiao Yan’s words, Liu Qing’s face relaxed a bit. If Xiao Yan had mentioned Yao Sheng, Zi Yan would have probably grabbed him and beaten him up. Then, to protect Yao Sheng, he himself would have to intervene. Although he wasn’t afraid of even Lin Xiu Ya in the inner courtyard, he was wary of this little monster. Conflict with her was something Liu Qing wanted to avoid at all costs.
Zi Yan frowned upon hearing this. Turning around, she fixed her large eyes on Xiao Yan and, in a voice only they could hear, said, “Hmph, don’t think you can avoid making pills for me just because you didn’t let me help.”
Xiao Yan shook his head, amused. This little girl thought he was trying to escape the responsibility of making pills for her by refusing her help. Indeed, a cute little thing…
“Don’t worry, I won’t go back on my word. Just bring the herbs when you need more pills,” he said, patting Zi Yan’s head affectionately. But suddenly, he felt some strange gazes from around him. Looking up, he saw everyone staring at him in astonishment… specifically at the hand patting Zi Yan’s head.
“Slap that guy away,” someone muttered in the crowd. Zi Yan’s fierce reputation among the ‘Strong Rank’ elites was well-remembered. Many brave and skilled people had challenged her in the past, but each had been slapped away like a ball, ending up with broken bones and injured tendons. Although the injuries healed, the terrifying scene was something they remembered for life.
Therefore, seeing Xiao Yan treat Zi Yan like this, some people couldn’t help but feel a little schadenfreude. Of course, the slapping they anticipated didn’t happen to Xiao Yan. Zi Yan just unhappily shook her head, patted Xiao Yan’s arm, and scolded him, causing the surrounding crowd to shudder.
When did the brute king become so easy to talk to? Under the watchful eyes of many, Xiao Yan awkwardly stopped patting and withdrew his hand.
Liu Qing coughed, realizing Zi Yan had intervened. He couldn’t say any more warnings. From the interaction between Xiao Yan and Zi Yan, it seemed they had a good relationship. He didn’t doubt that if he repeated his previous warning, the brute king would punch him.
“Alright, let’s end things here today. Any grudges can be settled in the tournament. That is the fairest place,” Liu Qing said, clapping his hands. After giving Xiao Yan another look, he waved his hand and led Yao Sheng and the others away from the rest area.
Seeing Liu Qing de-escalate the situation, the onlookers shrugged and dispersed slowly.
“Heh, you should have just said it was that effeminate guy earlier. With this monster helping you, why fear Liu Qing?” Lin Yan poked Xiao Yan’s back and whispered after seeing Liu Qing leave.
Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head, not dwelling on the topic. He stretched lazily and asked, “Are these cultivation rooms all usable? Are there any restrictions?”
“Of course there are,” Lin Yan rolled his eyes. “The sixth floor doesn’t differentiate between high, medium, and low. It’s all for ‘Strong Rank’ elites. However, the quality of the cultivation rooms depends on your ranking in the ‘Strong Rank.'”
“You’re ranked 31st in the ‘Strong Rank,’ so your designated cultivation room is over there,” Lin Yan turned and pointed to a corner not far from the area. There stood a solitary cultivation room, which, although more elaborate than those on the lower floors, was simpler compared to the other cultivation rooms on this side of the rest area.
“The numbers on the doors represent the ‘Strong Rank’ ranking. The higher the ranking, the better the effect. I’m in the ninth room. Haha, cultivating there is at least twice as fast as in your 31st room,” Lin Yan said, smiling proudly.
Xiao Yan nodded, not paying attention to Lin Yan’s pride, and turned to head to his cultivation room.
“Hey, are you going to cultivate here?” Zi Yan’s voice rang out as Xiao Yan turned.
“Yeah.”
“Then come to my cultivation room. It’s the number one, and it’s three times faster than the ninth,” Zi Yan said, her innocent voice making Lin Yan’s proud smile freeze instantly. He then looked at Xiao Yan with envy.
The number one cultivation room was this little monster’s personal room. The top twenty ‘Strong Rank’ members had long coveted it but none dared to challenge her. They could only envy from afar. No one expected that Zi Yan would lend her room to Xiao Yan, a treatment even Liu Qing and Lin Xiu Ya had never enjoyed.
“Can you lend the cultivation room to others?” Xiao Yan asked in surprise.
Lin Yan shrugged helplessly, “As long as the owner agrees, the inner courtyard won’t interfere.”
Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and nodded with a smile. “Alright, then I’ll take advantage of your room and experience the speed of the number one cultivation room.”
With only about twenty days until the tournament, quickly improving his strength was the most urgent matter for Xiao Yan. Refusing now would seem like coquettishness.
Zi Yan’s face lit up when Xiao Yan agreed. “But I’ll come find you to make pills during your cultivation.”
“Sure,” Xiao Yan smiled. This was a small matter, and he wouldn’t refuse.
“Follow me,” Zi Yan said, even more delighted. She led the way, and Xiao Yan, shrugging at the envious Lin Yan, followed her.
Passing through the rest area, the spacious cultivation rooms on the other side appeared in Xiao Yan’s sight. Getting closer, he could even sense the pure energy emanating from these rooms.
Along the way, Xiao Yan indeed saw the numbers on the doors as Lin Yan had mentioned. Starting from the 20th, the warmer energy seeping out became more robust as they went deeper. When they reached the rooms within the top ten, he could even see faint red energy like fine threads floating in the air. Such a strange sight left Xiao Yan secretly amazed.
Xiao Yan stopped in front of the most distant spacious cultivation room. This room was quite peculiar; while other cultivation rooms had robust energy overflowing, this one was empty. Standing outside, Xiao Yan couldn’t sense any energy within.
“Don’t try to sense it. This number one cultivation room is special. The energy inside is too strong, and ordinary materials would burst. So, we use these special materials that completely block the energy,” Zi Yan waved at Xiao Yan and pointed to a black iron door at the end of the corridor. “Don’t go there. It’s forbidden. If the elders find out, even I would be confined. So, be careful.”
Following Zi Yan’s gaze, beyond the black iron door was an inky darkness. Xiao Yan’s eyebrows furrowed, and just as he was about to turn his head, his hand trembled. A moment ago, he clearly felt his Heart Flame quiver slightly…
Only one thing in the Sky Burning Pagoda could make the Heart Flame react like this: the Falling Heart Flame!
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan glanced deeply at the black iron door before forcibly turning his head and pushing open the door to the highest-ranking number one cultivation room on the sixth floor…
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