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**
Moments later, Yun Shan walked out again and sat at the head seat, holding a storage ring in his hand, gently rubbing its surface.
After a while, he finally threw the storage ring out with a pained expression. "Take it."
The black mist squirmed, and a foggy hand stretched out from within, snatching the storage ring and pulling it back into the mist.
Soon after, a voice drifted out from the black mist, sounding quite pleased. "Jie jie... not bad at all. Yun Lan Sect truly lives up to its name as a prestigious sect with a deep foundation."
Yun Shan's face twitched uncontrollably. He seriously suspected that this guy had taken a secret cut from the stash.
Based on what he knew of these people...Highly likely! Damn it. They're nothing but a pack of greedy jackals!
Yun Shan's fist clenched slowly, the cracking sound of bones echoing from his hand as he growled viciously, "Xiao Yan… that little bastard. Once I capture you, I'll make you taste a fate worse than death!"
At this moment, Yun Shan felt an overwhelming hatred for Xiao Yan.
After all, everything that had happened was brought about by Xiao Yan.
"Yun Shan, I don't care what kind of grudge you have with Xiao Yan. But Xiao Yan must remain alive," the voice from the black mist said seriously.
"Now that he's returned, the entire Xiao family is gathered. Saves us the trouble of searching for him in Black-Corner Region."
The mist churned slightly. "According to reports, Xiao Yan carries within him the soul remnant of Yao Zun Zhe, Yao Chen. His rapid rise is likely thanks to Yao Chen's help from the shadows."
"That Xiao Yan, with just a Dou Wang cultivation, managed to thrive in the Black-Corner Region… All of that surely hinges on Yao Chen."
"And Yao Chen is one of our Hall of Souls's targets as well."
"Jie jie... when it comes to dealing with soul bodies, no one does it better than our Hall of Souls. So leave Xiao Yan and Yao Chen to me. You only need to hold off that Wei Yang."
The black mist slowly laid out the plan. "As for the person I invited, he'll act at the final moment. When the time comes, the three of us will strike together and catch Wei Yang completely off guard!"
Yun Shan nodded slowly, a ferocious expression twisting his face. He sneered coldly, "Perfect. Once you've captured Xiao Yan, abolish that little bastard's Dou Qi before handing him over. I want to make him suffer… to vent my hatred!"
"Hmph, sure. Just don't kill him by accident. But let me remind you—when dealing with Wei Yang, you must be extremely cautious. All you need to do is stall him. Just delay him for a short while, and nothing more. Whatever you do, don't try to overachieve and expose a flaw. That Wei Yang... he's extremely cunning."
The voice warned coldly, "If you fall before I've dealt with Xiao Yan and Yao Chen, then there's nothing I can do. At that point, I'll just capture Xiao Yan and Yao Chen and retreat."
"And as for you and your Yun Lan Sect… I'm afraid the consequences will be especially miserable."
"This Sect Master understands. Don't underestimate me," Yun Shan snorted, his face flashing with a cold arrogance. "Hmph, no matter how cunning he is, he's still just a brat. This Sect Master won't be tripped up so easily."
"Defeating him may be difficult… but if it's just delaying him for a while, what could possibly go wrong?"
"…Hope so."
The black mist rippled faintly, then let out another strange, eerie laugh before slowly dissipating within the hall—leaving behind Yun Shan, wearing a twisted, cold grin.
In the Imperial Capital.
Although the fighting had come to an end, the capital could not calm down so easily in such a short time.
After all, what happened today was simply too monumental—an event destined to be recorded in the history of the Jia Ma Empire.
While the outside world was still in a frenzy of speculation and chaos, deep within a quiet courtyard behind the Alchemist Association, peace reigned.
The turmoil beyond had not reached this serene place at all.
Beneath the eaves, Wei Yang leaned back lazily in his chair. In front of him sat a wooden desk, on which a small red clay stove was burning steadily.
Gurgle gurgle—
A kettle sat atop it, steam rising.
Ah-choo!
Suddenly, Wei Yang sneezed.
"What the…?" he rubbed his nose with one hand, frowning slightly in confusion.
At his level, how could he possibly sneeze for no reason?A cold? That would be a joke.
"Could it be… someone's plotting against me?" Wei Yang muttered, eyes narrowing into slits.
Who could it be?Yun Shan? Or... Hall of Souls?
He straightened up slightly, fingers tapping gently on the table. That old fossil Yun Shan wasn't even worth a mention. Wei Yang could easily crush him with one hand. The only ones worth staying alert for—were Hall of Souls's people.
"Could it be that my power has drawn the attention of that Protector Wu from Hall of Souls? Is he scheming against me now?"
"But how?" Wei Yang rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
He wasn't the paranoid type who panicked over every sneeze—but when it came to Hall of Souls... he couldn't afford not to take every sign seriously.
After all, any minor carelessness could easily cost him his life.
"In the end… I've been too arrogant," Wei Yang sighed and raised his hand to slap his forehead.
A hint of regret and frustration rose in his heart.
If Du Jiao, that reckless brute, were here, he would have a lot more confidence right now.
At the same time, he couldn't help but reflect on himself—he'd clearly started getting overconfident.
It seemed that all the smooth sailing and constant success over time had subtly changed his mindset—he had lost his sense of caution and reverence.
That kind of mentality... was extremely dangerous.
Originally, he thought this trip back to Jia Ma would be simple. He even had the original plot as reference, so there shouldn't have been any danger.
But he'd neglected one thing—this was Hall of Souls they were dealing with!
And unlike the original story, there was now an unexpected variable in the mix—himself.
Given how much Hall of Souls valued the Xiao Clan, his presence alone could easily cause the events to deviate from the original storyline.
"Tch." Wei Yang rubbed his temples and softly berated himself: "Come on, Wei Yang, you need to learn your lesson. Don't let it go to your head! How did you start getting cocky?"
As he spoke, he even raised his hand and gave his earlobe a hard pinch.
Swish—
Suddenly, a faint sound of something slicing through the air rang out.
Hmm?
Wei Yang looked up.
At the center of the courtyard, space suddenly began to twist and ripple.
In the next moment, two figures—one tall and one short—strangely emerged out of thin air.
Wei Yang's brow lifted slightly. Calmly, he reached for the kettle and began making tea, quickly collecting his thoughts.
The taller of the two wore a fiery red dress. Her alluring and seductive beauty carried a strange, cold aura that gave her a distant, unapproachable presence—so much so that one dared not stare directly at her.
Standing beside her was a little girl in white, her large, jet-black gem-like eyes darting about curiously as she examined her surroundings.
It was none other than Medusa and Zi Yan.
After nearly two months of traveling together, the pair—one mature, one young—had become quite familiar with each other.
Just like in the original timeline, Medusa seemed to have a natural closeness—or at least strong interest—toward Zi Yan.
"You two aren't with Xiao Yan? What are you doing here?" Wei Yang casually asked as he brewed his tea.
The look on their faces already told him they were up to no good.
Sure enough—
"I'm the one who wanted to come see you!" Zi Yan wrinkled her nose in protest. "Xiao Yan's no fun. He even yelled at me, so I dragged Sister Medusa along and came to find you instead."
"You think just because you came here, I won't yell at you too?" Wei Yang glanced down, and sure enough—he spotted a finely carved jade box in Zi Yan's hand.
A faint medicinal fragrance drifted from within.
The corner of Wei Yang's mouth twitched slightly.
No need to ask—these two had stolen herbs again. The only question was, whose treasure vault had fallen victim this time?
This kind of thing had happened more than a few times already on their journey.
Sometimes, the two of them would wander through the mountains, robbing magical beasts of their herbs. Other times, they would sneak into other people's homes and outright steal from private stores.
Robbing magical beasts was still somewhat acceptable—but stealing from people was definitely crossing the line.
Xiao Yan had already lost his temper over this several times.
Wei Yang, on the other hand, had never taken a strong stance—his attitude ambiguous—so Zi Yan had gotten bolder. Every time she got scolded by Xiao Yan, she would run straight over to Wei Yang for refuge.
But judging from the look on Wei Yang's face now, it seemed he wasn't planning to tolerate her behavior any longer.
"Hehe..." Zi Yan's eyes spun with mischief. She quickly let go of Medusa's hand and scampered over to Wei Yang's side, sitting down with a grin.
She shoved the jade box into Wei Yang's hands and said sweetly, "Here, Wei Yang~ I especially brought this for you. I'm being nice to you, right?"
Her big, sparkling eyes gazed up at him eagerly, as if to say: Look, I'm loyal. I even brought you something good too!
"Stealing is wrong," Wei Yang said, frowning as he took the jade box and set it aside. "Xiao Yan scolded you because he cares."
"Let's not even talk about right or wrong for a second—if you keep getting away with this kind of behavior, it'll become a habit. And sooner or later, you'll pay for it."
"After all, if you keep walking along the riverbank, you're bound to get your feet wet."
"Sure, you're having fun and getting away with it now—because there aren't many strong people around. But what happens when you go to Central Plains later?"
"Besides, we need to have at least a basic sense of principles and boundaries. We can't just take whatever catches our eye. If something can be acquired through normal means, we should try to get it through those channels. That's the proper way to obtain what you want."
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