Starting as a supporting character in Doupo

"Great!"

Upon hearing Xiao Fan's words, Lin Yan's face lit up with a delighted expression. After all, for a cultivation fanatic like him, not entering the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower for more than half a month had already nearly killed him.

If it weren't for the fact that the fire poison in his body was no joke, he probably would have already lost control. Now that he heard that he could re-enter the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower to cultivate, Lin Yan instantly felt that his future was bright.

"But you must remember, you can't stay in the tower all the time like before." Seeing the expression on Lin Yan's face, Xiao Fan knew what he was thinking.

"what?"

"What do you mean, 'ah'?" Xiao Fan's expression turned serious. "Now that the fire poison in your body has been completely eliminated, if you don't want to be tormented by the fire poison like before, you'd better cultivate for three days and rest for one day. That way, you won't have to worry about the fire poison in your body anymore."

"Alright." Hearing Xiao Fan's advice, Lin Yan recalled the days he had been tormented by fire poison and nodded in agreement.

Having experienced a body free of fire poison, he didn't want to go back to the inhuman life he had before.

After letting Lin Yan get some rest, Xiao Fan left his room.

As soon as she returned to her room, she saw a small head peek out, revealing a girl's serene face and a few strands of long, sky-blue hair hanging down along the door frame.

Since Yueyao came to this courtyard, she would often appear at Xiao Fan's door. Sometimes, when Xiao Fan wasn't there, she would tidy up his room for him.

Although Xiao Fan didn't mind and even enjoyed it a bit, he still felt a little uncomfortable having a beautiful girl tidy his room.

"Yueyao? Why are you in my room again?"

"Hehe!" Yueyao smiled at Xiao Fan. "Xun'er and the others asked me to come up here to find you. They said they have something to discuss with you."

He walked over to Yueyao and patted the girl's head. Yueyao's face lit up with a happy expression, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and two faint dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"Let's go."

Naturally, Xiao Fan took Yueyao's soft little hand and led her straight to the lobby on the first floor.

The first floor of Xiao Fan's courtyard has now been transformed into their office area for discussing matters related to Panmen. Of course, this is only their office area. The Panmen's main hall has been arranged by Xun'er and the others in another attic next door, which has been renovated.

Upon arriving at the lobby on the first floor, Xiao Fan saw Xun'er and Hu Jia sitting in chairs. Even Wu Hao, whom he rarely saw, was there.

"Oh?" Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow at Wu Hao. "What? Didn't you go to the arena today?"

Since entering the inner academy, Wu Hao has become completely fascinated by the arena, where the only rule is strength.

For someone like Wu Hao, who is obsessed with battle, the arena is like a fish finding water.

The murderous aura that Wu Hao originally exuded within the outer court's enforcement team has had a diminishing impact on him after being tempered in the arena.

It seems that the situation Wu Hao was worried about, where his mind was affected by murderous intent, will not happen.

"Hehe." Wu Hao looked at Xiao Fan and smiled awkwardly. After all, he had been losing more than winning in the arena for the past month. He had started with fire energy and was still in a losing position.

"Him?" Upon hearing this, Hu Jia slammed her hand on the table and stood up, looking at Xiao Fan with her hands on her hips. "If I hadn't stopped him, he probably wouldn't be here right now."

Then Hu Jia looked at Xiao Fan and said in a strange tone, "Who would have thought that the seemingly powerful Panmen sect has one sect leader who is in seclusion and does not care about worldly affairs, one deputy sect leader who enjoys playing and having fun, and the remaining male comrade who spends every day in the arena. Such a huge family business is actually being guarded by two weak women."

"Ahem..." Xiao Fan avoided Hu Jia's gaze and glared at Wu Hao. "Really? Such a thing actually happened? Wu Hao, you're really going too far. You should help Hu Jia and the others with some of their work. And Xiao Yan too, I'll have a good talk with him after he finishes his cultivation. He's the sect leader, yet he doesn't care about anything!"

"Oh." Hu Jia still stood with her hands on her hips, staring at Xiao Fan with a murderous look in her eyes.

Xiao Fan glanced at Xun'er sitting to the side and gave her a wink, but Xun'er acted as if she hadn't seen it and ignored it.

Xiao Fan had no choice but to turn his gaze to Yue Yao, who was standing to the side.

"Alright, weren't we supposed to be talking about serious matters?" Seeing Xiao Fan getting thwarted everywhere, Yue Yao smiled and then broke the silence.

"Fine, Yueyao, you traitor!" Hu Jia, who was standing to the side, immediately retorted when she saw Yueyao speak. "Didn't we agree to give them a taste of their own medicine together? You little brat, you've betrayed us again."

Shaking his head, Xiao Fan ignored the two bickering, pulled out a chair, leaned on the table, and looked at Xun'er, asking, "What exactly happened?"

"We're out of money." Xun'er looked at Xiao Fan and helplessly spread her hands.

"No money?"

“That’s right!” Seeing that they were getting down to business, Hu Jia stopped fooling around and quickly sat down. She said to Xiao Fan, “Don’t you think about it? There are so many students in Panmen now, and with the aftermath of the White Gang incident, many senior students have joined us. The original reward mechanism was already attractive. We can’t just promise it and not deliver, can we?”

"It's only because we stole so much fire energy from so many other teams when we entered the inner courtyard that we've been able to cultivate for so long. Otherwise, we would have run out of fire energy long ago."

"I see." Hearing Hu Jia's words, Xiao Fan tilted his head, which was resting on the table, and then said, "Indeed, the current Panmen has been living off its savings. Without income, no matter how much wealth they have, it will be depleted."

“That’s right,” Xun’er chimed in. “In the inner courtyard, students earn fire energy mainly by copying books, repairing formations, and participating in missions. Or they can search for rare and precious materials or exchange them for cultivation techniques and combat skills, but none of these are suitable for our development.”

"So what are your thoughts...?" Watching Xun'er chatter on and on, Xiao Fan had a bad feeling.

"Hehe." Hu Jia chimed in. "Didn't you give Senior Lin Yan a pill to suppress fire poison before? We can totally sell that pill."

"That's it?" Xiao Fan looked at the two of them suspiciously.

"Hmm." Hu Jia's face showed a troubled expression. "But we were worried that your prescription might be very rare, since only you alchemists would understand these things."

"Haha." Xiao Fan chuckled at Hu Jia's expression, then waved his hand when he saw her growing annoyance. "This? It's worthless, use it as you like."

Chapter 169 Senior Brother, you're the real freak!

"See?" Xun'er, who was sitting to the side, saw Hu Jia's annoyed expression, and said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand, "I told you, Brother Xiao Fan doesn't care about these things, but you didn't believe me."

"Xun'er, you're still talking about me like that."

Upon hearing Xun'er's words, Hu Jia walked over to Xun'er and started tickling her to cover his own flushed cheeks.

After letting the two playfully bicker for a while, Xiao Fan said when he saw that the time was right, "Since that's the case, then it's decided. We'll first focus on buying materials that can suppress the fire poison. Then I'll refine some finished products, and once we sell them, we should be able to support our consumption for a while."

"Okay, then it's settled."

The others had no objection to Xiao Fan's decision, so they decided to acquire medicinal herbs first to overcome their current predicament.

Just as the group was talking, the courtyard gate creaked open. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and Xun'er's eyes lit up. She immediately ran over.

"Oh, what day is it today? Even you're back."

Upon seeing the newcomer, Hu Jia's face immediately darkened, and she spoke in a sarcastic tone. The speed of her change of expression made Xiao Fan wonder if she had studied acting.

The person who arrived was Xiao Yan, who had been in seclusion in the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower for a month.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Xun'er rushed over and put her arm around him. Xiao Yan chuckled when he heard Hu Jia's words, but didn't say anything.

He then turned his gaze to Xiao Fan beside him and nodded. "Senior Brother."

"You're back just in time. There's something I need to trouble you with."

Seeing that Xiao Yan had just finished his seclusion, Xiao Fan's eyes lit up, and he patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder.

"You, the sect leader, have left such a huge mess for us. You're having a great time now, aren't you?"

"Hehe..." Xiao Yan knew he hadn't really managed the Panmen sect much, so he scratched his head and didn't say anything.

"Alright, alright." Hu Jia stepped forward and pushed Xiao Fan aside, still complaining. "What do you mean by dumping such a huge mess on us? Remember, it's dumping it on me and Xun'er. You two don't need to worry about it."

As they talked, Hu Jia's gaze toward Xiao Yan gradually turned hostile.

"I'm doing this because of my cultivation."

Upon hearing Hu Jia's words, Xiao Yan, standing to the side, said with a serious expression, "Don't worry, just let me know if you need anything. I haven't forgotten the agreement with the White Gang six months from now."

After Xiao Yan finished speaking, he noticed that everyone was looking at him strangely. He scratched his head in confusion and asked, "Did I... say something wrong?"

"Hahaha." Seeing Xiao Fan's expression, everyone found it amusing.

"You just finished your seclusion and don't know anything?" Hu Jia rolled her eyes and asked Xiao Yan curiously.

"Yes, I've been cultivating in the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower for the past month. I just came out today and rushed back as soon as I came out. What happened?"

Looking at everyone's expressions, Xiao Yan knew that something major had happened that he was unaware of. He frowned, and his tone turned cold. "The White Gang is here again?"

"No, no." Seeing Xiao Yan's expression, Hu Jia could tell that Xiao Yan really didn't know anything, and she gave him a strange smile.

"Actually, it's nothing serious. About half a month ago, the White Gang took advantage of the fact that all of our Panmen members were out cultivating and bullied Xiao Fan and Yue Yao."

Hu Jia, seemingly eager to stir up trouble, silenced Xun'er with a glance and, feigning a worried expression, spoke to Xiao Yan.

"What!!"

Upon hearing Hu Jia's words, Xiao Yan's face flushed with anger. You see, in Xiao Yan's heart, Xiao Fan held a similar position to his father, teacher, and Xun'er. They were all people he could not touch. Hearing that the White Gang had taken advantage of his absence to bully him, he was naturally furious.

The coldness emanating from Xiao Yan made the people standing next to him feel pressured, and Xun'er's eyes widened, filled with joy.

"Brother Xiao Yan, you've broken through again!"

"Hmm." Xiao Yan nodded. The joy he had felt from his breakthrough in cultivation had long since vanished with Hu Jia's words.

"Senior brothers, are you alright?" Xiao Yan then looked at Hu Jia beside him and asked, "What happened next? How did it go?"

Seeing Xiao Yan's angry expression, Hu Jia felt that she couldn't provoke him any further. If she did, she was afraid that Xiao Yan would do something like attacking the White Gang again.

"Ahem, well, later on, of course, Xiao Fan attacked the White Gang and beat Bai Cheng to a pulp." Hu Jia said with her hands behind her back, looking very happy. "The matter ended with the White Gang issuing an apology."

"Oh, that's good, that's good..."

When Xiao Yan heard Hu Jia say that Xiao Fan was alright, he was immediately relieved, but then he realized that something was wrong.

Xiao Yan frowned as he looked at Hu Jia and said, "You mean..." Xiao Yan then turned his gaze to Xiao Fan, "Senior Brother defeated Bai Cheng?"

"correct."

Looking at Hu Jia's matter-of-fact expression, Xiao Yan suddenly wondered if he had been cultivating in the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower for too long and was already hallucinating.

Xiao Yan's gaze fell on Xun'er, who was clinging to his arm. After seeing Xun'er nod, he took a deep breath and accepted the fact.

Looking at Xiao Fan again, his gaze held not only admiration but also a hint of bitterness. "Senior brother, you're too monstrous! That Bai Cheng is a six-star Dou Ling!"

"Hehe." Xiao Fan reached out and patted Xiao Yan's shoulder, laughing, "There's nothing to be proud of."