Battle Through the Heavens: Top Talent

Chapter 38 Zi Yan

A sudden voice sounded from behind, startling Xiao Yun, who was already troubled by the inability to find the Purple Spirit Flower. "When did this person arrive? I remember I was the only one who came in, and my soul perception didn't detect this person at all?"

Startled, Xiao Yun's fighting spirit surged forth, instantly putting him into battle mode. He turned around abruptly, his gaze filled with horror as he looked behind him.

When Xiao Yun saw the owner of the voice behind him, his lips twitched slightly, his surging battle qi was withdrawn into his body, and the wariness on his face disappeared, replaced by a look of realization.

Before him stood a little girl in white, slightly taller than him. The girl was only twelve or thirteen years old, with long, light purple hair that reached her waist. Her cheeks were extremely fair, and she had a pair of large, bright, dark eyes. She was as cute as if she had been carved from jade.

In the inner courtyard, who else could be so adorable as to be able to sneak up behind Xiao Yun without being noticed? And judging from her appearance, it seems she came here to steal medicinal herbs again.

"Kid, didn't you hear me? Do you want a beating?" Seeing that Xiao Yun ignored her and instead kept staring at her, Zi Yan stepped forward impatiently, raised her fist and asked.

"Um, put your fist down and talk properly. Also, I'm not called a kid, my name is Xiao Yun." Seeing the raised fist, a bead of cold sweat immediately appeared on Xiao Yun's forehead. He didn't expect this little miss to be so violent. She wanted to hit him just because he didn't answer the question. Moreover, with Zi Yan's strength, he would be dead if she punched him.

"Hmph, then tell me what you're doing here. Are you here to find medicinal herbs to eat, just like me?" Hearing Xiao Yun's words, Zi Yan snorted, but still put down her fist and picked up a medicinal herb next to her to gnaw on.

Xiao Yun recognized the herb; it was a fifth-grade high-level herb, Taiyi Bamboo Vine. Its body was incredibly hard, and even ordinary beast fire could not harm it. However, Zi Yan had gnawed a small gap into it.

Silently taking a step back, Xiao Yun spoke up: "I didn't come here to find medicinal herbs to eat, but to use them to refine pills. Besides, you shouldn't be considered looking for them; what you're doing is stealing."

"Who said this is theft? I eat them to grow up. It's better to eat all these things that are just sitting here unused so I can grow up." Hearing Xiao Yun's words, Zi Yan's face darkened slightly, and her childish voice echoed throughout the room.

"Alright, alright, you didn't steal it, you took it honestly, didn't you?" Hearing this deafening voice, Xiao Yun covered his ears and comforted her repeatedly. He was really afraid that Zi Yan would throw a tantrum like a child and he would have nowhere to complain if he got beaten up.

With her adorable big eyes wide open, Zi Yan suddenly moved closer to Xiao Yun, placing one hand on his shoulder to stop him from retreating. She said, "Hmph, you just said you could refine pills, right? Then can you refine this for me? I've eaten pills before, and they taste much better than this broken bamboo."

Looking at the Taiyi bamboo vine with a gnawed corner in front of him, Xiao Yun's lips twitched incessantly. To waste such a precious medicinal herb like this, and then to present it to an alchemist and say it doesn't taste good, if he weren't outmatched, he would have already snatched it away.

"It's possible, but what benefit would I get from helping you refine these?" Xiao Yun uttered a calm voice as a plan gradually formed in his mind. Zi Yan was extremely powerful in combat, and if he could cooperate with her, he could take her to rob some of the rare and precious materials in the back mountains.

"Hmph, I can be your boss. If anyone bullies you in this inner courtyard, I'll beat them up for you!" Zi Yan put one hand on her hip, her small face full of pride, and said, "Don't underestimate me just because I'm only a little older than you. There aren't many people in this inner courtyard who can beat me."

"No need, I don't need any boss, and no one in this inner courtyard can bully me. Do you have any other skills?" Xiao Yun said with a smile.

Although Xiao Yun was smiling, Zi Yan could still sense a hint of disdain in his expression, as if he were saying: You seem to be of no use.

The pride on her face faded, and Zi Yan lowered her head and thought for a while, trying to prove that she was also good at other things. But even if she racked her brains, she found that she was only good at fighting and knew nothing else.

"Hmph, you tell me yourself, whatever you want me to do, I can do it!" Although she didn't have any particular skills, she couldn't lose in terms of momentum, so Zi Yan shouted loudly.

"Can you do anything?" Xiao Yun's smile grew even wider, making him look just like a bad guy trying to lure a child.

"Hmph! Of course, I'm very capable; I can do anything!"

"Then help me find a medicinal herb later. It looks like this. If you can find it, I'll help you refine this Taiyi Bamboo Vine."

With a flash of light, Xiao Yun took out a scroll containing information about the Purple Spirit Flower and handed it to Zi Yan, saying, "One herb for one herb, that's fair, isn't it?"

"That's not fair! Finding medicinal herbs takes a lot of time, and you don't need them to refine them. I'll help you find one herb, and you have to refine twenty for me. That's fair!" Taking the scroll, Zi Yan looked at the pictures and information on it, her big black eyes brightening slightly, but Xiao Yun didn't notice.

"Who told you that refining pills is very laborious? Even just extracting the essence takes a lot of time. It's not as simple as you say. Only laymen would think that refining pills is an easy thing."

With a slight pout, and seeing Zi Yan raise her fist again, Xiao Yun quickly said, "How about this, one plant equals five. As long as you help me find one, I'll refine five medicinal herbs for you, regardless of their grade. Are you satisfied now?"

"That's more like it." Zi Yan nodded, and with a flick of her wrist, a small, entirely purple flower appeared in her hand. "Here you go, this is the flower you wanted."

No wonder I couldn't find it; turns out you took it all!

While inwardly complaining, Xiao Yun smiled and took the Purple Spirit Flower, stuffing it into his storage ring, saying, "Are there any more? One is still too few."

"Use this first, and I'll give you another one after you finish refining it for me." Zi Yan handed the Taiyi bamboo vine, which she had already chewed a few times, to Xiao Yun with a wary look on her face. "Now, refine this for me first."

"No rush. How can you refine them here? Come out with me first. I'll register these herbs with Elder Hao, and then we'll find a quiet place for you to refine them." Xiao Yun said. This place is full of rare herbs. What if he accidentally blows it up?

"What's the point of talking to that old man? I just leave." Muttering to herself, Zi Yan followed Xiao Yun and walked out of the medicine warehouse with him.

"So this is theft... Ah, stop hitting me, or I won't help you refine it anymore."

"Who told you to accuse me of stealing? Humph!"

……

In the quiet room, Elder Hao remained leisurely seated in his chair, flipping through the book in his hands. Only when he heard the door open did he look up and ask without raising his head, "Little fellow, have you found the medicinal herbs you need?"

"Found it, Elder. Not only did I find the medicinal herbs, I also found a person." Xiao Yun replied, covering his head, his eyes constantly glancing at Zi Yan beside him until she clenched her fist again.

"People? Didn't you go in alone?" Upon hearing Xiao Yun's words, Elder Hao immediately raised his head and saw Xiao Yun's aggrieved expression, as well as Zi Yan beside him, who was clenching her fists as if to hit him.

Elder Hao glanced at Xiao Yun, then at Zi Yan. After a moment, he snapped out of his daze and jumped up from his chair, angrily shouting, "Why are you here again? Didn't I tell you not to come? If you want medicinal herbs, can't you go find some in the back mountain? All the herbs here are useful!"

"That's right, it's for me to use when I grow up, why can't I eat it? I'm also a member of the inner courtyard! You old geezer, if you say another word, I'll beat you up." Zi Yan glanced at Elder Hao and changed the direction of her fist that was originally aimed at Xiao Yun, and shouted loudly.

Elder Hao was furious, enraged by Zi Yan's arrogant attitude. He trembled all over, and after a long while, he said angrily, "Go ahead and hit me! I'll report this to the Grand Elder later and tell him what you've done!"

This elder, respected by the students in the inner courtyard, could only argue with the Grand Elder when he was furious with Zi Yan, just like a bullied child complaining to the teacher.

"...Hmph! Go ahead and say it. I'm not afraid of old man Su. Let him come find me!" Hearing Elder Hao's threat, Zi Yan suddenly felt a little short of breath, but when she saw Xiao Yun beside her, she immediately became tough again and shouted loudly in her childish voice.

Hearing their conversation, Xiao Yun knew that if he didn't say something, Elder Hao would probably really make a move. He quickly stepped forward and stood between the two, saying to Elder Hao, "Elder Hao, these are the medicinal herbs I need. Please register them."

With a flash of light, a large pile of medicinal herbs appeared on the table. Seeing this, Elder Hao ignored Zi Yan and whispered, "How did you run into her? Did she do anything to you?"

"No, I only promised to help her refine the medicinal herbs."

"Uh, refining medicinal herbs? Then you'd better be careful. This lady has a very bad temper. She often beats people up over the smallest things. Almost everyone in the inner courtyard has been beaten by her." Elder Hao patted Xiao Yun's shoulder and said with a look of sympathy.

I've already experienced it.

Thinking to himself, Xiao Yun glanced back at Zi Yan, who still had a bump on his head from the punch she had just given him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Hurry up and finish registering. You still need to help me refine pills!" Zi Yan said, baring her teeth when she saw Xiao Yun's gaze.

"Alright, you've taken quite a lot. A total of four hundred days' worth of fire energy. Swipe your card." After tallying up all the pills, Elder Hao took out something exactly the same as the one Xiao Yun had seen in the arena before.

This time, Xiao Yun not only obtained the ingredients for the Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill, but also the ingredients for many other pills. These would cost hundreds of thousands of gold coins in the outside world, but in the inner courtyard, they could be exchanged for only four hundred days of fire energy, which is quite cheap.

After paying the fire energy, Xiao Yun led Zi Yan away from the medicinal herb management warehouse. "To help you refine the herbs, we need to go to a quiet place with plenty of fire energy. Let's go to the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower."

(End of this chapter)