Not having a master yet already possessing such outstanding Alchemy technique, then if Yang Kai was the same as him and had received more than ten years of careful guidance, just what kind of level would he have reached?

“If my guess is correct, he should be self-taught through some ancient books and handwritten notes left behind by a highly skilled predecessor,” The old man speculated, his guess infinitely close to the truth.

“Teacher, I suddenly feel quite depressed!” Di Yao sighed dispiritedly.

“Hoh hoh, there’s no need for that,” The old man smiled softly, “There are always one or two people in this world that have Heaven defying aptitude, he belongs to this category. Although he has never had formal training, his control of Spirit Arrays and True Qi and even his ability to select and process herbs all bare the mark of his own unique insights, a very good seed indeed.”

“Haa…” Di Yao sighed heavily, “Master, it’s been just slightly more than a year since we emerged from the wilderness yet I’ve already lost to two different people. The last failure can be taken for granted, her physique was special after all, but today’s defeated really left me somewhat muddleheaded.”

He had great confidence in his ability to win this contest, but at the last moment, Yang Kai had actually successfully refined a pill with Pill Veins, causing him to lose.

“Then you should understand well now what it means to always strive to improve yourself, there are always heavens beyond heavens, and people beyond people,” The old man said solemnly.

Di Yao nodded repeatedly, “Master can rest assure that disciple will redouble his efforts in the study of the Alchemic Way and will certainly not disappoint Master’s expectations.”

The old man caressed his beard, smiled, and nodded lightly.

There was a glimmer of light in the depths of his eyes though as he thought of something but decided not to say to his apprentice.

From the pill brought back by Di Yao this time, the old man had discovered some familiar traces, specifically from the Spirit Array technique that this young Alchemist utilized while refining this pill.

These traces seemed to be somewhat similar to the ones used by a little girl who defeated Di Yao a year ago.

[Is there some kind of relationship between the two?] The old man became pensive, in his heart feeling quite curious about this Yang Kai and very much looking forward to meeting him.

Two days later, Cang Yan and the others finally returned. When Yang Kai saw them again, he found that the expression of his Martial Uncles was not very good.

After taking a short break and drinking some tea, Li Wan sighed heavily and said, “It seems that we underestimated the attraction of the Thousand Year Demon Flower has to Transcendent Realm masters. This time’s matter will probably be a bit difficult.”

“How so?” Yang Kai asked.

“There are too many people here, there are already at least a hundred Transcendent Realms gathered around the mountain, waiting for the Thousand Year Demon Flower to blossom. On the actual day, that number will likely triple,” Cang Yan replied, letting out a slightly helpless sigh.

Yang Kai’s face also changed greatly.

More than three hundred Transcendents; even if only ten percent of them were Third Order, that still meant there would be at least thirty.

Although the four Protectors from Soaring Heaven Sect were all incredibly strong, able to dominate over opponents in the same realm with ease, in such a chaotic environment among so many masters, it would still be very difficult to escort Yang Kai to Ascending Heaven Cliff and monopolize the Thousand Year Demon Flower.

If things went badly, there was even a chance they would be completely annihilation.

Talents like Yang Kai were incredibly rare, so now Cang Yan and the other three had to consider whether taking this risk was worth it, if they couldn’t afford the consequences, it would be best for them to leave Floating Clouds City now.

“What if we find someone to work with?” Yang Kai’s expression changed once more as he made this proposal.

“Who could we find to work with?” Cang Yan slowly shook his head, “Everyone is aiming for the Thousand Year Demon Flower so it’s not realistic to find someone to cooperate with. Cooperating means dividing up the medicinal liquid of the Thousand Year Demon Flower. There are already four of us here who need a share and no one knows just how much medicinal liquid can be condensed from the Thousand Year Demon Flower can condense, if there isn’t enough in the end, it would only lead to another dispute.”

“What if there was someone who had no interest in the Thousand Year Demon Flower’s medicinal liquid, could we work with them?” Yang Kai asked with a smile.

“Where would we find such a person?”

“Close by.”

“You mean that little boy?” Fei Yu spoke thoughtfully, quickly understanding who Yang Kai was talking about.

“En,” Yang Kai nodded.

“Boy, what little boy?” Li Wan chimed in, “Didn’t we say you should stay in the inn these days before we came back?”

“Never mind that, it was just a small outing,” Fei Yu quickly transferred the topic, “Actually, we met a very interesting little fellow.”

“Let’s hear about it,” Cang Yan asked curiously.

Yang Kai quickly summarized the events that led up to him meeting Di Yao, greatly surprising his three Martial Uncles, especially when he mentioned how Zhou Liang, a genuine Saint Realm master, treated this strange boy, not even hesitating to banish his mistress in order to appease the latter. All this considered, the identity of this Di Yao was definitely extraordinary.

Moreover, he was not a guest of Zhou Liang’s, but of the Demon Race master Ao Gu! Zhou Liang, who was from the Human Race, had actually stepped forward to protect him, further increasing Yang Kai’s Martial Uncles’ interest.

Although they had never met this boy, after listening to Yang Kai’s description, all three of them were vaguely able to see a giant shadow hiding behind Di Yao, silently protecting him.

“Is he trustworthy?” Cang Yan asked solemnly.

“I believe so,” Yang Kai nodded.

“Objectively, I also believe him, that little boy isn’t half bad,” Fei Yu added with a smile.

“Since the two of you say so, it should be credible,” Cang Yan nodded, “The other party indicated he wanted to work with you, right?”

“That’s what he said.”

“It seems that he has some other objective on Ascending Heaven Cliff that the public is unaware of. If that’s the case, then you should try talking to him about it, if everyone can work according to their own needs, it would be for the best,” Cang Yan’s eyes flashed brilliantly, “However, if he doesn’t want the medicinal liquid of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, what is he after? We need to investigate this clearly so as not to fall into a trap.”

“Then how about I go to the City Lord’s Mansion to talk to him?” Yang Kai asked, he too was quite concerned about what Di Yao said before. It seems this guy knew some secret that others didn’t. Yang Kai was interested in knowing where he learned this hidden information.

Moreover, Yang Kai wanted to know what force was behind Di Yao.

It was impossible for Zhou Liang to treat a young man so courteously if there wasn’t someone extremely powerful behind Di Yao the former wanted to curry favour with.

If Yang Kai’s guess was correct, this person should be Di Yao’s Master and they should also currently be a guest in the City Lord’s Mansion!

This person was no doubt a top-level Alchemy Grandmaster, being able to speak with such a master would be greatly beneficial to Yang Kai.

Obtaining the consent of his several Martial Uncles, Yang Kai left with Fei Yu and headed for the City Lord’s Mansion.

However, before they could go far, the two of them ran into a familiar pair, one old, one young, it was old man Du Wan and the young Mi Na. Upon catching sight of them, Mi Na ran over happily and said a few words to Fei Yu before her beautiful eyes glanced over at Yang Kai and asked, “Who is this toy boy?”

Yang Kai’s face immediately went black, “What did you say?”

Mi Na couldn’t help covering her mouth as she stared at Yang Kai in shock, pointing to him as she stuttered, “You… but… how are you…”

Suddenly remembering something, she clapped her hands and nodded, “Right, Old Man Du gave you that thing, I almost forgot.”

As she said so, she reached out and started pinching and pulling Yang Kai’s face, muttering in amazement.

Old Man Du and Fei Yu just stood to the side and smiled wryly, not making any attempt to interfere.

“You little bastard, stirring up so much trouble the moment you arrive in Floating Clouds City, you really can’t sit still can you?” Mi Na smiled happily, playing with Yang Kai’s new handsome face excitedly.

“You’ve already heard about that?” Fei Yu smiled towards Mi Na elegantly.

“En, the whole of Floating Clouds City knows about it,” Mi Na nodded while continuing to knead Yang Kai’s face like she had found a new toy and was happily playing with it.

Yang Kai gradually became frustrated with this but instead of getting angry he instead wore a nasty smile and retorted, “If you keep pinching me, I’ll have to fight back, little girl, don’t reach out for a yard after taking an inch !”

Saying so, he directed his gaze at her full rounded chest, his eyes filling with a sinister light.

Mi Na suddenly stepped back as she crossed her arms defensively across her chest and ground her teeth, “Rogue.”

“Old Man Du, where are you headed?” Yang Kai paid no more mind to this crazy girl and turned his attention to Du Wan.

“There’s going to be an Alchemy contest in the main square hosted by the Alchemist Guild. This old man was bringing Mi Na to the competition. It’s not often she comes out so it will be a good experience for her,” Du Wan explained, suddenly wearing an expectant expression as he asked, “Little friend Yang, do you want to participate? Although it is already passed the registration time, with this old man’s recommendation, there won’t be any problem joining the competition.”

“Good, you have to go, everyone competing is from the younger generation, if you go, you can definitely earn our Grand Boulder City Alchemist Guild branch some fame!” Mi Na said eagerly.

Yang Kai scratched his nose and smiled, “Old Man Du, did you perhaps make a special detour?”

Du Wan smiled without the slightest hint of shame, “Have I been seen through by little friend Yang?”

If Du Wan really was headed to the main square, it made no sense of him to appear here. When Yang Kai and Fei Yu were visiting the Trading District a few days ago, Yang Kai had also heard about this Alchemy contest and knew that it wasn’t being held anywhere around here.

Because of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, countless Alchemists had no gathered in Floating Clouds City, which was a truly rare occurrence. The Alchemist Guild would naturally try to take advantage of this situation to examine the standard of the younger generation of Alchemists by giving them a platform for exchanges and competition.

“Actually, this old man made a bet with a few old friends regarding which of our Alchemist Guild branches had the best junior. En, the bet was any one item in our Universe Bags. The heritage of these old fellows is quite rich after all,” Du Wan’s made his sales pitch.

Mi Na also chimed in, “If you can win the final victory, the Alchemist Guild will also provide a generous reward of rare herbs and even a high-quality pill furnace.”

Saying so, she shamelessly grabbed on to Yang Kai’s arm and begged, “Big Brother Yang Kai, you have to go, Junior Sister really wants that pill furnace, it’s a Saint Grade item!”

Seeing Mi Na act this way gave Yang Kai goosebumps but he still managed to put on a wry grin, “Since Old Man Du has asked, how can I refuse? Don’t shake me anymore, you’re making me dizzy.”

“You’ll really come? Great!” Mi Na shouted excitedly.

Yang Kai only hesitated for a moment before giving in and nodding, “Good, if I can win the final victory, I hope that I can choose the herbs I need from the bet and rewards, as for the pill furnace, I don’t need it.”

“En en, no problem!” Mi Na nodded her head furiously like a chicken pecking rice.

“Don’t get so excited, there are many strong Alchemists in this world, I won’t necessarily be the last one to laugh.”

“Nope, this is a competition amongst the younger generation of Alchemists, so no one can beat you,” Mi Na replied, full of confidence in Yang Kai.