11: Chapter 11 Rewards and Hidden Dangers, Preparations to Leave the City

After the small competition, the Xiao Family seemed to return to its usual calm, but a subtle, different atmosphere flowed in the air. Lin Yan's name, like a stone thrown into a lake, sent ripples spreading quietly.

As a reward for tying for first place, Lin Yan received a considerable amount of gold coins and a double quota of cultivation resources for the next three months. He did not show off, instead going low-key to the family treasury to exchange most of the resource quota for things he urgently needed right now—various high-quality medicinal herbs and several mild-attribute Tier 1 Wood and Fire attribute Magical Beast Cores.

The deacon in charge of the exchange was much more polite to him, even carrying a trace of imperceptible fawning. This was the most direct change brought about by strength.

Returning to his still remote, but no longer inconspicuous small courtyard, Lin Yan closed the door tightly. He didn't immediately count his gains, but sat cross-legged and took out the 'fire-condensing pill' rewarded by the system.

The crimson pill rolled in his palm, emitting pure Fire attribute energy and a peculiar guiding fluctuation. Lin Yan could feel that the ten types of Heavenly Flame seed flames within his body, especially the Green Lotus Core Flame and Fallen Heart Flame, which had distinct Fire attributes, resonated slightly with this pill.

"This pill should be able to further purify the Fire attribute Fighting Qi I simulate, and perhaps... it might even slightly nourish the Heavenly Flame seed flames themselves?" Lin Yan pondered, then without hesitation, put the fire-condensing pill into his mouth.

The pill dissolved upon entering his mouth, turning into a gentle yet exceptionally pure and scorching medicinal power that quickly merged into his meridians and fused with his circulating Dou Zhi Qi. This medicinal power seemed to have some 'purifying' and 'guiding' properties. Wherever it passed, the extremely fine, floating impurities in the Dou Zhi Qi—which even the Fallen Heart Flame struggled to refine—were further swept away. Even more wonderfully, the guiding fluctuation contained in the medicinal power faintly stirred the aura of several Fire attribute Heavenly Flame seed flames in his dantian, making them a bit more active and causing the emitted Fire attribute energy to become purer and more restrained.

The effect was better than he had expected! Not only was his Dou Zhi Qi refined to be more solid and pure, infinitely approaching the threshold of the eighth stage, but the 'quality' of his disguised Fire attribute Fighting Qi also improved by a notch, becoming more natural and difficult to distinguish.

The cultivation continued until late at night. When Lin Yan opened his eyes, a flash of fire seemed to pass through his pupils, and his aura became increasingly steady. He estimated that with at most three to five more days of hard work, he would naturally break through to the eighth stage of Dou Zhi Qi.

Just as he was preparing to rest for a while, the courtyard door was gently knocked.

"Lin Yan, it's me, Xiao Yan."

Lin Yan got up to open the door. Under the moonlight, Xiao Yan stood alone outside the door, his expression lacking the exuberance of the day, replaced by a bit of heaviness.

"Brother Xiao Yan, so late, is there something?" Lin Yan turned aside to let him into the room.

Xiao Yan entered the room and didn't beat around the bush, lowering his voice: "It was Teacher who sent me." He pointed to the ring on his hand.

Yao Lao? Lin Yan's heart tightened, and his expression became solemn.

"Teacher said," Xiao Yan looked at Lin Yan with complex eyes, "your Fire attribute Fighting Qi... is abnormally pure, far exceeding ordinary Fire attribute constitutions, and even purer than some family descendants who possess special Fire attribute bloodlines. This level of purity, at your stage, may not be a good thing."

Lin Yan's mind raced, and he immediately understood Yao Lao's worry. In the Fighting Qi Continent, those with extraordinary talent were sought after, but the truth that 'possessing a treasure is a crime' held true everywhere. A side-branch descendant without a powerful background possessing a pure attribute comparable to ancient bloodline families was too eye-catching and easily attracted greedy peeping, or even being targeted by unscrupulous forces to be captured for research or stripped.

Yao Lao was truly a veteran; he saw the potential risks at a glance.

"Teacher also said," Xiao Yan continued, "the technique of instant burst you used at the end of the small competition doesn't seem to be as simple as a Dou Technique; it faintly touched upon more essential flame power. He asked me to remind you that when you go out to train, unless it's a life-or-death moment, try to use it less, or cover it up. Wutan City has limited horizons, but the outside world... is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, and there are many people with sharp eyes."

Lin Yan was shaken, feeling both admiration for Yao Lao's insight and vigilance about his own possible exposure. The power level of the Heavenly Flames was too high; even a simulation of a trace of the seed flame's aura would inevitably leave traces. Yao Lao's warning was timely!

"Many thanks to Senior Yao Lao for the advice, and thanks to Brother Xiao Yan for specifically telling me." Lin Yan thanked him sincerely, "I will be careful."

Xiao Yan nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Take care of yourself. I might be leaving Wutan City soon too. The three-year agreement is like a stone pressing on my heart; I need to grow faster."

The two chatted a bit more about cultivation and future plans, then Xiao Yan bid farewell and left, his figure disappearing into the night.

After sending Xiao Yan away, Lin Yan's heart could not calm down. Yao Lao's warning was still in his ears, and he himself had actually faintly sensed something wrong.

Since returning from the Cang Gong Pavilion today, he always felt that there was a vague gaze occasionally sweeping over his small courtyard. That gaze was extremely subtle, carrying scrutiny and investigation, definitely not the curiosity of someone from the family, but more like a cold, professional surveillance. He had tried to track it with soul perception, but that gaze was exceptionally slippery, disappearing without a trace every time he was about to capture it.

"Sure enough... have I been targeted?" Lin Yan's eyes turned slightly cold. Was it because of his performance in the small competition? Or because the purity of his 'Fire attribute Fighting Qi' had aroused the interest of some people? Could it be the Jia Lie Clan? The Ao Ba Family? Or... an even more troublesome existence?

He remembered the Great Elder's gloomy eyes before the final and the small action of seemingly crushing something in his sleeve.

"Wutan City, I cannot stay here any longer." Lin Yan made a decision. Originally, he had planned to stabilize his realm and master the new Dou Technique before heading to the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Now it seemed he had to set off early. Staying in the Xiao Family, the target was too obvious, and it might bring unknown risks to the family. Going out to train, with the world being vast, it was easier to hide his tracks.

He didn't delay any longer and began to pack his bags overnight. He put the medicinal herbs and Magical Beast Cores he had exchanged into the storage ring. He also packed away the remaining gold coins and a few changes of clothes. Finally, he took out the three breath-concealing talismans and carefully stored them on his person. This thing, in the coming days, would likely play a key role.

He had initially studied the scroll of 'Explosive Step'. The core lay in the instant burst of Fighting Qi in specific meridians of the legs and the coordinated exertion of muscles, which had the same effect as the exertion principle of the Eight Extremities Collapse. It was twice the result with half the effort to practice, and he could continue to ponder it on the road.

As for the 'Explosive Step' scroll itself obtained from the Cang Gong Pavilion, he thought for a moment and carefully hid it in a secret hole in the wall of the room. It might not be safe to carry it with him, and leaving it in the Xiao Family could be considered a memento, perhaps useful in the future.

After doing all this, it was nearly dawn. Lin Yan changed into a dark-colored coarse cloth garment convenient for movement and took one last look at this small room where he had lived for many years.

No attachment, only determination for the future.

He quietly pushed open the courtyard door, like a shadow merging into the morning mist, avoiding the path of the early servants, and walked towards the side door of the Xiao Family. The road was unobstructed, and he successfully left the Xiao Family mansion.

Walking on the empty street in the early morning, Lin Yan's steps were light, and his goal was clear—the North Gate of Wutan City, in the direction of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

However, just as he was about to turn into a main road leading to the North Gate, the feeling of being watched in his heart suddenly became clear and intense! It was as if there was a poisonous snake in the dark, finally locking onto its prey.

Lin Yan didn't stop, not even looking back, but his soul perception had spread backward like an invisible spider web. Behind the steaming heat of a breakfast stall at the street corner, at the junction of the shadows of two shops that had just unloaded their door panels, he "saw" two blurry figures that were almost integrated with the environment. Their auras were cold and obscure, and their eyes, like ice picks, were firmly nailed to his back.

They were not people from the Xiao Family, nor were they the auras of the other two major families in Wutan City. That cold, hollow taste with a faint soul quality...

Lin Yan's heart sank slowly.

He quickened his pace, blending into the increasing crowd, and hurried towards the city gate. The two cold gazes behind him followed closely like maggots on a tarsal bone. The bustling crowd at the city gate and the rising morning sun seemed unable to dispel the chill that had quietly enveloped him. The new journey had not yet truly begun, and an invisible net seemed to have already quietly spread.