Chapter 76: Flame-Sweeping Demon

“Sir, are you an alchemist as well?”

Chen Yuyang raised his eyebrows slightly.

Though he asked, he didn’t seem all that surprised.

After all, with the Alchemy Grand Tournament approaching, in this Spirit Herb City, you could hit three to five alchemists just by tossing a random brick.

It was hardly anything rare.

The young lady nodded slightly, her face wreathed in a smile.

“I wonder, fellow Daoist, what grade of alchemist are you now?”

Chen Yuyang smiled and shook his head gently.

“I dabble for my own amusement, so I honestly don’t know what level I am anymore. If not for my master’s orders, I wouldn’t have planned to attend the Alchemy Grand Tournament at all this time.”

What he said wasn’t quite a lie.

He did indeed start down the wild road of alchemy, though it’d only been tens of thousands of years since then.

Now, he really didn’t know what grade he was, or rather, the current one-to-nine tier evaluation system in the cultivation world didn’t apply to him anymore.

Yun Xiu nodded slightly, then smiled and said, “I see, I came because of my master’s orders as well. Originally, I’d planned to go into seclusion and break through to the next minor realm.”

“A minor realm? If I’m not mistaken, you’re already at the peak of Golden Core, right? Are you planning to break through to Nascent Soul before turning twenty?”

Chen Yuyang looked at the young lady, sensing the intentional and unintentional fluctuations of her spiritual energy, and smiled.

“Fellow Daoist, you have sharp eyes indeed. So you could tell.”

Yun Xiu covered her lips and smiled gracefully.

“I’m also at the peak of Golden Core.”

On the side, Yan Luo couldn’t help but interject when she heard this.

Ling Xi, hearing them both casually reveal their realms, couldn’t help feeling a bit inferior.

Yan Luo, who was about the same age as her, was far stronger than she was.

Yun Xiu, who didn’t look more than two years older, was also at a level Ling Xi could only look up to.

In comparison, her senior brother was still the most approachable—like her, just at the first level of Golden Core.

“If I’m not mistaken, fellow Daoist, you should already be at the third level of Golden Core, right? It hasn’t even been that long; your cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds.”

Yun Xiu praised.

Chen Yuyang waved his hand.

“Just lucky, nothing worth mentioning.”

“Ling Xi opened her mouth in disbelief, staring at the youth as if she’d been betrayed: Senior brother, when…when did you break through?”

“Just a few days ago…”

Ling Xi was completely dumbfounded.

These past days, she thought her senior brother hadn’t been cultivating at all.

So how had he broken through?

“Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t want to break through so quickly, either.”

Seeing the girl’s resentful eyes, Chen Yuyang raised his hands in innocence.

But saying that only made things worse—Ling Xi felt even more defeated.

What did he mean, ‘didn’t want to break through so quickly’?

Who in the cultivation world didn’t want to raise their level faster?

Senior brother was still pretending.

So annoying…

Ling Xi bit her lip in frustration, glaring at the youth.

Seeing this, the youth shook his head and stopped arguing with Ling Xi, instead turning to Yan Luo and Yun Xiu.

“All right, fellow Daoists, we have other matters to attend to; let’s part ways here for now.”

“What is it?”

Ling Xi blinked and tugged Chen Yuyang’s sleeve, unable to hold back her curiosity.

Chen Yuyang: “…”

Can’t you tell I just don’t want to continue this pointless conversation with them?

This girl really has no sense.

As her senior brother, he’d have to properly educate her once they got back.

“No matter, fellow Daoist, go do what you must. I’ll continue looking around.”

Saying that, Yun Xiu turned her gaze to Yan Luo.

“Fellow Daoist Yan, care to walk together?”

Yan Luo shook her head, eyes fixed on the youth’s retreating back.

Just then, Ling Xi remembered what she wanted to buy and quickly clung to Chen Yuyang’s arm, acting spoiled as she said, “Senior brother, senior brother, I’ll do anything, just lend me a few spirit stones so I can buy that thing~”

“Sure, as long as you promise not to borrow spirit stones from me.”

Chen Yuyang smiled.

The girl froze in place.

“But I haven’t even borrowed from you yet!”

“Isn’t that good enough?”

Chen Yuyang laughed cheerfully, but Ling Xi immediately puffed her cheeks in grievance.

“Senior brother, you’re so stingy.”

“This isn’t being stingy—you really don’t need that thing. No point wasting spirit stones.”

Chen Yuyang said righteously.

As the pair bantered and walked away, Yan Luo’s gaze grew a bit complicated.

Was it just her imagination?

It seemed like Yuyang was growing more and more indifferent toward her.

Just now, too, he hadn’t even looked at her directly…

Seeing Yan Luo staring at Chen Yuyang’s back rather than responding, Yun Xiu smiled and changed the subject with a sigh.

“Daoist Chen is a rare talent. So young, yet already at the second level of Golden Core.”

“Of course.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Luo responded immediately.

“Even with the Yan family’s full support, at his age I was barely a few realms higher. Besides, when he was at Foundation Establishment, he defeated me. His combat experience is rich, his methods mysterious—such people are rare in this world.”

Now, speaking of this, Yan Luo didn’t feel ashamed at all, because all she could think of was how Chen Yuyang had slaughtered dozens of Golden Core demon beasts with ease at Foundation Establishment.

To lose to someone like that—Yan Luo was utterly convinced.

Yun Xiu raised her brows, as if noticing a pattern.

Talk about anything else, and the Yan family’s young miss wasn’t interested.

But bring up that young man, and her spirits soared, her words doubled.

Could it be… Yan Luo felt something for him?

Yun Xiu, full of curiosity, continued, “Indeed, I can tell Daoist Chen is no ordinary person. In time, he’ll surely be a force to reckon with.”

Yan Luo nodded repeatedly.

“He certainly will.”

Yun Xiu narrowed her eyes, her tone lightly teasing.

“And he’s quite handsome too. I imagine countless girls will fall for him.”

At these words, Yan Luo’s eyes widened.

This time, she didn’t reply, but her flustered expression was plain to see.

Thinking further, knowing Chen Yuyang belonged to the all-female Hehuan Sect, her expression grew even more complicated.

If that’s the case, there must be no shortage of charming beauties at his side.

No wonder he was so indifferent toward her.

Yun Xiu saw her reaction and knew she’d guessed right about seventy or eighty percent.

But she didn’t call attention to it, simply smiling gently as she continued, “All right, Daoist Yan. I should be heading back, too.”

With that, Yun Xiu turned and walked away.

Yan Luo stood in place, her mind still full of thoughts about Yuyang.

Just then, a sudden aura descended from the heavens.

Yun Xiu’s pupils shrank, her footsteps halting as she quickly looked up.

The sky above was awash in fiery orange-red.

Beneath those swirling clouds, a figure shot down like a meteor, heading straight for Yan Luo.

“You little rascal! I went to your master looking for you, but you were nowhere to be found. So you came here instead. Really, running off by yourself for no reason?”

A voice rang out, somewhat stern but mostly warm and doting.

The next moment, a tall, sturdy old man in a wide robe patterned with golden fire appeared in front of Yan Luo.

“Grandfather, why are you here?”

Seeing the newcomer, Yan Luo was startled and couldn’t help but ask.

The elder was none other than Yan Dangmo, patriarch of the Yan family—the greatest of the four great families in the northern cultivation world.

“Why wouldn’t I come to see my granddaughter?”

Yan Dangmo laughed heartily, reaching out to ruffle Yan Luo’s hair, his eyes full of kindness and warmth.

As her grandfather petted her, Yan Luo’s face still couldn’t quite hide her gloom over Yuyang.

“What’s wrong? Who made my granddaughter unhappy?”

Sensing her mood, Yan Dangmo’s face fell, and an invisible pressure radiated out, making it hard for those nearby to breathe.

“No, it’s nothing, Grandpa. It has nothing to do with them.”

Seeing this, Yan Luo quickly spoke up.

Yan Dangmo finally withdrew his aura, giving a snort.

“Child, you don’t have to worry. No matter who it is, if they’ve upset you, your grandpa will set things straight.”

Yan Dangmo’s son had died young, leaving only this granddaughter.

Naturally, he doted on her, all the more so since Yan Luo was a Pure Yang Body—the most talented youth in the family.

He always paid close attention to her affairs.

He also wanted her to grow up without being embroiled in the family’s power struggles, so he’d arranged for her to cultivate swordsmanship under the vice sect master at Tianmen Mountain.

It had been nearly a year since he last saw her.

Now, seeing her so downcast, Yan Dangmo felt even more vexed.

“It’s really nothing, Grandpa. All right, take me home…”

Grumbling aside, Yan Dangmo’s face was still all smiles toward his granddaughter.

“All right, all right, we’ll do as you say.”

With that, Yan Dangmo released his spiritual energy, enveloping them both, and soared toward Dan Sect.

“Hm, speaking of which, your cultivation’s already at the peak of Golden Core—not bad at all.”

Sensing her realm, Yan Dangmo nodded with satisfaction.

“You’ve made quite a bit of progress lately, Radish.”

‘Radish’ was Yan Luo’s childhood nickname.

Only her mother and grandfather called her that in the whole Yan family.

“Just got a bit lucky, that’s all.”

“By the way, I heard you ran into some trouble in the Ziyang Secret Realm a while back. What happened?”

Yan Dangmo asked, remembering.

He’d heard from Nie Qi by letter that a few months ago, his granddaughter had been injured, then broke through in the nick of time to escape safely, even bringing back important intel—a real contribution.

“It wasn’t much. As long as your granddaughter’s safe, that’s what matters.”

Yan Luo didn’t want to go into detail—especially didn’t want to mention that young man.

“All right then… Oh, and the Huigen Pill I gave you before—you must’ve used it. Here, Grandpa recently concocted a few more. Take them and use as you see fit.”

Yan Dangmo pulled a jade bottle from his robe and handed it to her.

Yan Luo shook it, a flicker of surprise on her face.

“So many?”

“A few Huigen Pills, what’s so much about that? Your grandpa is at least a seventh-grade alchemist, you know. This is nothing.”

“What? Grandpa, you reached the seventh grade?”

Yan Luo was even more astonished.

The old man grinned with pride at her expression.

“Of course! Do you know who your grandpa is?”

Yan Luo couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Grandpa’s already so old, yet he still likes to show off in front of me.