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Wei Yang held the transparent bottle and the scroll in his hand, weighing them slightly, then quickly searched through some distant memories in his mind.
After a while, he looked toward Xiao Yan and pondered:
"Actually, I do have a method, though it's barely a method at all. Maybe it can resolve the Life Devouring Pill."
"Oh? Tell me!" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up instantly when he heard this, and he spoke with surprise and excitement.
Yao Lao also listened carefully.
"This method is actually quite simple. As everyone knows, as a Dou cultivator's realm increases, their lifespan and vitality will grow along with it." Wei Yang gently reminded.
"You mean…!" Xiao Yan reacted instantly, slapping his thigh. "I get it!"
"Mm, this method is indeed quite a good one." Yao Lao also immediately understood.
Just like an elderly person whose lifespan was nearing its end, if they suddenly broke through a bottleneck and shackles that had restricted them for many years, stepping into a brand-new level, their lifespan would naturally extend.
Some people even went so far as to regain their youth, with white hair turning black in the blink of an eye, going from elderly to middle-aged — and that was nothing too strange in this world.
"If we can help Xiao Li break through to the Dou Huang level within one year, then his nearly exhausted lifespan and vitality will naturally be raised and prolonged. In that way, it would greatly alleviate the backlash from the Life Devouring Pill and extend his life once more."
"But this method… it's still too difficult right now! What a pity, Xiao Li only has one year of lifespan left. If he had just one more year, it would be so much easier." Wei Yang shook his head and sighed.
"Yeah… only one year left, wanting to advance to Dou Huang, that's too hard!" Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile as well.
The solution was right in front of them — but so hard to reach.
"So stupid, I'm really stupid, as dumb as a pig!" Xiao Yan was annoyed with himself, slapping his own head hard.
Such a simple principle — how had he not thought of it before?
They had wasted these past few months for nothing.
Now with only a year left, trying to force an ordinary Dou Wang to break through to Dou Huang, even with three alchemists — Yao Lao, Wei Yang, and Xiao Yan himself — involved, felt utterly overwhelming.
The three of them fell silent.
Xiao Yan rubbed his head with frustration, feeling a headache coming on. Just how could they push Xiao Li up to Dou Huang within only a year, prolong his lifespan, and earn themselves some breathing room?
Nighttime
In the Yun Lan Sect, within a remote great hall in the back mountain.
The great hall was empty and silent.
At the center of the hall, a peerlessly elegant woman dressed in white quietly sat on a meditation mat, her eyes closed.
Creak—
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening echoed through the empty hall.
Then, the tightly closed main doors of the hall slowly began to open.
A beam of moonlight spilled in through the gap of the opening door, finally wrapping around the white-robed woman. Like a faint layer of silver gauze, it made her appear like a celestial maiden from the heavenly palace, radiating an indescribable nobility and ethereal aura.
As the doors opened fully, an old figure slowly stepped inside, then stopped a short distance away from the white-robed woman, lightly smiling:
"Yun'er, are you still angry with your master?"
Hearing that elderly voice, the white-robed woman slowly opened her tightly shut eyes.
Her pitch-black eyes, like gemstones, reflected a strange kind of charm under the moonlight.
Complemented by her elegant, otherworldly, noble face, she gave people a feeling of being unworthy to even look upon her.
She was none other than the Yun Lan Sect's master: Yun Yun.
Three years of time had left no trace upon her face whatsoever; instead, through the brewing of time, her unparalleled noble temperament had only grown stronger.
However, beneath that nobility, there seemed to be a hint of coldness that she did not possess back then.
"Master, how come you have time to visit this forbidden hall today?" Yun Yun cast a glance at the old man before her, but did not rise. There was a faint hint of self-mockery in her tone.
As the sect master of the Yun Lan Sect, she was currently locked up here by the previous sect master himself — all because she opposed some of his decisions. Frankly, it was quite ironic.
"Sigh, Yun'er, you're still the same temperament. Just for a Xiao Clan that has nothing to do with you, have you forgotten how I nurtured you? Forgotten that the Yun Lan Sect is your root?" The old man sighed, then spoke with a tone of disappointment.
"Master's years of nurturing, Yun Yun naturally remembers clearly and would never dare to forget. Yun Yun grew up in the sect since childhood, and has long seen the sect as her own home."
There was a trace of bitterness on Yun Yun's beautiful face. After a pause, she lowered her voice and murmured:
"But precisely because of that, I don't want to see the Yun Lan Sect gradually walking into a path of no return."
"Yun'er, you are being insolent. What nonsense are you speaking? It's just a little Xiao Clan, our Yun Lan Sect could crush them as easily as crushing a bunch of ants — where comes any path of no return?" the old man rebuked coldly.
"But a little Xiao Clan, we once publicly promised them back then that the grudges would be settled from that day onward. Why must you treat them this way? Doing so will not only damage the reputation of our Yun Lan Sect, but will also force Xiao Yan and the others into a life-or-death enmity!" Yun Yun said bitterly.
"Hmph, so what? A junior with a bit of so-called talent, how could he ever make me, Yun Shan, feel fear?" the old man sneered coldly. "He offended my Yun Lan Sect and publicly humiliated the next sect master of Yun Lan Sect — shouldn't he pay the price for that?"
Hearing this, Yun Yun slowly closed her eyes, no longer wanting to argue.
This topic, she had argued with Yun Shan countless times over these two years, but in the end, she, the current sect master, was the one placed under house arrest.
And she had been confined for more than two years now. These days, the entire Yun Lan Sect was already Yun Shan's personal kingdom.
Yun Shan's reason back then for attacking the Xiao Clan was even laughable — he claimed Xiao Yan had insulted the next sect master of the Yun Lan Sect, Nalan Yanran.
Once this matter was exposed, such a far-fetched excuse caused an uproar across the entire empire, making people feel deeply ashamed of them.
After all, a massive power like the Yun Lan Sect turning its back on its own word was enough to make jaws drop.
The sect's reputation, after this, was thoroughly stained with a shadow.
After thinking for a moment, Yun Yun finally still felt powerless and softly reminded:
"You can ignore Xiao Yan, but what about Master Wei? Back then, we personally promised Master Wei that all grudges were settled…"
At these words, Yun Shan's expression grew slightly ugly. He flicked his sleeve and coldly laughed:
"Wei Yang? Merely a Tier 6 alchemist. Our Yun Lan Sect has its own alchemists, why should we care about him?"
"And that Wei Yang has already left the Jia Ma Empire for more than three years, hasn't he? As a Tier 6 alchemist, there has been no news of him in any of the nearby empires. Either he left the entire Northwestern Region, or perhaps he has already died somewhere."
"Even if he's still alive, revenge? That would be a joke. A mere Tier 6 alchemist poses no threat to my Yun Lan Sect!"
Hearing these words, Yun Yun shook her head, no longer speaking.
She felt Yun Shan had already changed — changed into something close to madness.
Yun Shan only saw Wei Yang as a Tier 6 alchemist, but deliberately ignored Wei Yang's age — that was the truly terrifying part.
Moreover, at this point, what was done was done; saying anything else was meaningless.
Because the Xiao Clan was destroyed — that was an ironclad fact, with no possibility of turning back.
Yun Yun could even faintly foresee that, perhaps not long from now, the Yun Lan Sect would pay a terribly heavy price for this.
Even if one day, Wei Yang and Xiao Yan came storming up to the Yun Lan Sect, she would not be surprised in the least.
This was a kind of instinct in her heart, one that had started faintly flickering over two years ago, lingering ever since.
And lately, this ominous premonition seemed to be growing stronger and stronger.
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