The next day, when Xiao Yan emerged from his room, he happened to spot the already returned Hu Jia and Wu Yu in the hall. Hu Jia didn’t look much different from usual, but Wu Yu’s appearance was not too pleasant. His face bore occasional bruises, yet despite the many scars on his face, this battle fanatic had an excited and fervent look. Xiao Yan observed that he seemed to have gained a hint of ferocity and sharpness. Clearly, these days of mingling in the arena had given him some gains.
“Xiao Yan, you’ve actually advanced?” The two noticed Xiao Yan and, feeling the somewhat smoother and stronger aura compared to a few days ago, they asked in surprise.
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded, sitting down in the hall, and said to Wu Yu with a grin, “How is the arena?”
“There are many strong people, all those who have been tempered in real battles. They are far beyond those in the outer academy who only know to practice mindlessly. I spent four days there, fought eight matches, won three, and lost five. In the end, I lost almost twenty days worth of fire energy.”
Wu Yu nodded, giving a rather high evaluation of the arena.
“Oh?” Hearing this, Xiao Yan was slightly surprised. Even someone as strong as Wu Yu couldn’t maintain a fifty percent win rate in the arena. It seems that the arena truly gathers many strong people, which piqued his interest.
“If you have time, you can also try the arena. It’s a good place to hone your skills.” Wu Yu stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth and mumbled, “I’m probably going to spend less time in the Heavenly Flame Tower. I think the arena suits me better.”
Xiao Yan smiled and was about to speak when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he saw Xuner coming down from upstairs.
Smiling at Xuner, Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and said, “It’s perfect that everyone is here. I plan to go into seclusion in the Heavenly Flame Tower for a while. During this time, the affairs of the Pan Gate will be left to the three of you.”
“Seclusion?” The three in the hall were somewhat stunned. After a moment, Xuner softly asked, “For how long?”
“Until I break through to the eight-star level,” Xiao Yan replied with a light smile.
“Eh? You just broke through to the seven-star level not long ago, and you want to break through again? Even with the help of the Heavenly Flame Tower, it shouldn’t be this fast, right?” Hu Jia said with a frown.
“It wouldn’t be that fast on the first or second layer, but we have the Qing Fire Crystal Card, don’t we? This thing is enough to let us enter the fifth or even sixth layer to train,” Xiao Yan said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Wu Yu’s eyes widened. “Fifth and sixth layers? Don’t you know that the further down in the Heavenly Flame Tower, the more intense and scorching the heart fire becomes? With your seven-star grandmaster strength, you can at most train on the third layer. The fifth and sixth layers require at least a four-star Dou Ling or higher to resist.”
Beside him, Hu Jia also nodded slightly. Through her recent familiarity with the inner academy, she also knew some things about the Heavenly Flame Tower.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Yan-ge can do it. How many surprises have you seen from him?” Unlike Wu Yu and Hu Jia, Xuner only slightly paused when she heard Xiao Yan’s words, then picked up a teacup and took a sip, saying with a light laugh. She knew Xiao Yan better than the two of them, and she also understood that with his character, he would never do something without being sure.
Xiao Yan nodded with a smile. With the Earth Heart Lotus Flame, he didn’t need to worry about the intensity of the heart fire or the erosion of the fire poison. These might be great obstacles for other students, but in front of him, they were nothing.
Seeing Xiao Yan’s determination, Wu Yu and Hu Jia could only nod.
“While I’m in seclusion, keep an eye on the ‘White Gang’. That Bai Cheng doesn’t seem to be a person with a broad heart. I think, even with that half-year agreement, he might secretly make some moves against us.”
At the mention of Bai Cheng, Xiao Yan’s brows furrowed slightly. That gloomy guy always made people wary.
“Xiao Yan-ge can rest assured in seclusion. When you come out, you will see a stronger Pan Gate. As for Bai Cheng, if he really wants to play tricks, we won’t blame ourselves for not following the rules of the inner academy,” Xuner nodded and said with a faint smile.
Slightly nodding, with Xuner in charge, Xiao Yan could naturally feel at ease. A single Bai Cheng was not in his eyes.
“By the way, is there a place in the academy where one can get various medicinal herbs or monster cores?” Finished drinking the tea in his hand, Xiao Yan suddenly asked.
“Medicinal herbs? Monster cores?” After a moment of thought, Xuner nodded and said, “In the eastern area of the inner academy, there is a trading place. There are many strange and wonderful things sold there, including many medicinal herbs. These are all things that the inner academy students find in the deep mountains. But if you want to buy them, you need ‘fire energy’.”
Remembering the location, Xiao Yan then patted his rear and said goodbye to the three, leaving the freshmen dormitory area and heading straight to the eastern area of the inner academy as described by Xuner. This period of seclusion would be quite long, and to maximize its effectiveness, he needed to prepare some things.
The inner academy was extremely vast, and it took Xiao Yan half an hour to travel from the freshmen area to the eastern area. Fortunately, the so-called trading area was a very popular place, so there were always people coming and going, and Xiao Yan wouldn’t get lost.
After half an hour, Xiao Yan stopped outside a large, spacious square. Inside the square, there were many stone platforms, and at this moment, these platforms were filled with a variety of items. Outside the platforms, the crowds were bustling, and the lively atmosphere left Xiao Yan slightly astonished.
Entering this huge trading area, the surrounding noise almost disoriented Xiao Yan. He twisted his body and squeezed into the crowd, scanning the items on the stone platforms. As he scanned, he grew increasingly amazed. He found that some of the items for sale here were not inferior to those in the big cities of the Black Corner Region. Perhaps because the inner academy was located in the remote mountains, some rare things were even hard to find in the shops of the Black Corner Region.
After a brief moment of amazement, Xiao Yan started looking for the medicinal herbs he needed. The things he needed were not too difficult to find, and after an hour of treasure hunting, he acquired almost all the medicinal herbs he needed, spending nearly thirty days of fire energy.
Looking at the significantly reduced ‘fire energy’ on his Qing Fire Crystal Card, Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly. He originally thought that over a hundred days of ‘fire energy’ was pretty good, but he didn’t expect it to deplete so quickly.
After lamenting the reduction of his ‘fire energy’, Xiao Yan was about to leave this noisy place when he suddenly heard Pharmacist Elder’s voice: “Young man, go to the eighth stall ahead and take a look.”
Hearing Pharmacist Elder’s sudden words, Xiao Yan was startled, then turned his head curiously, looking at the eighth stall. To his surprise, the originally crowded crowd seemed to part around it, and some students passing by rushed past like rabbits.
With a hint of confusion, Xiao Yan stepped forward, squeezing through the crowd, heading towards that special area.
As he approached the gap in the crowd, Xiao Yan looked at the stall. Behind it, a man in light gray clothes sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, ignoring the people around him. This did not look like someone selling things.
“This person… has a very strong aura, probably even stronger than Bai Cheng. He must be a strong expert from the ‘Strong List,’ but although his aura is strong, it’s filled with a fiery and aggressive temperament. His temper doesn’t seem good.”
Relying on his keen soul perception, even though the gray-clothed man’s aura was well-controlled, it did not escape Xiao Yan’s attention. He was intrigued.
His gaze shifted from the gray-clothed man to the stone platform in front of him, and he slowly scanned it. As his eyes moved, his surprise grew. The stone platform was filled with magic cores of various attributes, and their levels were all around the fourth rank. Such ranks of magical beasts could rival a Dou Ling, and he had put out so many at once.
Shaking his head in amazement, Xiao Yan’s moving gaze suddenly froze. He gave a low exclamation, his eyes fixated on an item at the center of the stone platform.
The item that caught Xiao Yan’s attention was a half-foot-long withered vine. The vine was a deep green color, like a fine piece of jade, with natural patterns etched on it, winding and twisting like a green snake. The most peculiar thing was that this green withered vine emitted a refreshing and pleasant scent, indicating that it was no ordinary object.
“What is this?” Although he could tell from its appearance that this was the most unusual item on the platform, his knowledge could not identify what it was.
“Green Wood Fairy Vine!” Pharmacist Elder’s voice carried a hint of unhidden delight.
“Green Wood Fairy Vine?” Xiao Yan was stunned, then a slight tremor ran through his heart, and joy instantly spread across his face. The Green Wood Fairy Vine was a necessity for refining the Earth Spirit Pill. He hadn’t expected to meet it here. It was incredibly lucky!
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