91: Chapter 91 Gu Huyou is back online! I, Xiao Yan, am this Yan

"Friend?"

Xiao Yan muttered the term to himself, feeling an unprecedented warmth welling up inside.

Admittedly, Gu Han was defending the Cloud Mist Sect's face, but even when facing the Mu Family's head and young master, his attitude didn't have to be so unyielding.

Ultimately, he was standing up for him; this feeling of being valued was something he, having experienced three years of the world's coldness, cherished deeply.

"Friend?" Xiao Yi Xian pursed her lips, thinking to herself that he certainly had a lot of friends.

"I'm not good with words and don't have many friends," Gu Han said as he poured tea for everyone. "Those sitting here are all of them."

Yun Yun didn't count as a friend; she was the respected Sect Master.

Zhang Chuchen wasn't a friend either; he was his good senior brother.

"Regardless, I, Xiao Yan, will remember this. You will always be my friend from now on," Xiao Yan said with extreme solemnity.

"Giggle." Ya Fei picked up her teacup, her light laughter breaking the slightly serious atmosphere. "It is Ya Fei's honor to be considered a friend by the Snow Sword Young Master. Also, thank you for helping me out just now."

"Helping you out?" Gu Han's thick, heroic brows rose slightly, his eyes smiling. "Did you think my saying I had important business with you was just to deliberately provoke Mu Zhan?"

"So you admit you were deliberately provoking Mu Zhan?" Nalan Yanran crossed her arms. "I was really breaking a sweat for you."

"That's because you don't know my strength, Junior Sister Yanran." Gu Han's expression remained calm.

The words 'Junior Sister' made Nalan Yanran grit her teeth. She spoke with certainty, "Thirty years East of the river, thirty years West of the river. Don't think you can stay ahead of me forever."

Xiao Yan's eye twitched slightly as he glanced at this nominal ex-fiancée; she truly wasn't as gentle and considerate as Yanyun.

That sentence made him feel somewhat offended.

"If I recall correctly, were you ever stronger than me?" Gu Han asked seriously.

Nalan Yanran: "..."

"Doesn't that just prove the saying is correct?"

"Then work hard, Junior Sister," Gu Han said in a strange tone. "Perhaps there aren't many days left for you to call me Senior Brother."

"What do you mean?" Nalan Yanran's brows furrowed.

Gu Han didn't explain but looked at Ya Fei. "A Dou Huang senior from the Central Plains who thinks highly of me said they found someone in a strange situation. My analysis suggests that person might be the Ice Emperor senior."

Ling Ying wouldn't enter the Cloud Mist Sect's territory, so he could say whatever he wanted.

"What!?" Ya Fei stood up abruptly, losing her usual composed demeanor.

"Ice Emperor!?" The expressions of Xiao Yi Xian and the others also changed.

To be given such a title, he must be a Dou Huang expert, standing at the very top of the Jia Ma Empire's pyramid.

"Is it that Supreme Elder of the Mittel Family, Senior Hai Bodong?" Nalan Yanyun confirmed.

"Yes." Gu Han nodded slightly. "When I have time, I plan to meet that person. If it really is His Excellency Hai Bodong, that would be good news."

"It's wonderful news," Ya Fei's eyes sparkled. "You finding the Supreme Elder is the same as me finding him. With such a great merit, plus his protection, I can focus on what I want to do."

"Before this succeeds, please do not spread the word," Gu Han reminded them.

Everyone nodded immediately; in truth, even if they wanted to spread the word, no one would take them seriously.

"Brother Xiao Yan, come with me. I have an important matter to discuss with you."

Having revealed a bit of information about Hai Bodong, Gu Han stood up and signaled Xiao Yan to follow him.

The two headed to the study in the Inner Academy, leaving the four women drinking tea in the pavilion.

"Brother Xiao Yan, can the Alchemist behind you refine a seventh-grade pill?" Gu Han's expression was very serious.

Xiao Yan's nerves also tightened subconsciously. He asked instead of answering, "Brother Gu Han, do you need a seventh-grade pill?"

"Not me, but our Cloud Mist Sect's Old Sect Master might need it." Gu Han's expression became solemn. "As you know, a senior from the Central Plains thinks highly of me. Before leaving, he told me that people from the Hall of Souls have been appearing in the Jia Ma Empire and surrounding empires."

"Furthermore, this person from the Hall of Souls might have already approached the Old Sect Master."

Hall of Souls!

Hearing the name of this organization, Xiao Yan was merely puzzled, but Yao Chen, hidden within the ring, was no longer calm.

To actually appear in such a remote place, could they be looking for him?

"This is an extremely strange organization," Gu Han introduced to Xiao Yan. "According to that senior, there is a saying in the Central Plains: One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Pavilions."

"The 'One Hall' is the Hall of Souls, and the 'One Tower' is the Pill Tower, a holy land for Alchemists. Both are top-tier organizations on the continent, with Dou Sheng experts overseeing them openly and more than ten Dou Zun Experts."

Xiao Yan: !?!

Good grief, he thought to himself.

The Hall of Souls and the Pill Tower were simply ridiculously strong; were they things he could even come into contact with now!?

The strongest in the Jia Ma Empire was only a Dou Huang; by comparison, it was practically a backwater.

Then his Wutan City, in the context of the entire Fighting Qi Continent, wasn't it just a beginner village in a game?

At this moment, part of Xiao Yan's worldview was reshaped, and his spirit as a transmigrator from Blue Star was infinitely stimulated.

Since others could reach Dou Zun or even Dou Sheng, and he had now taken a mysterious Soul body as his master, why couldn't he?

"The Hall of Souls has always acted arrogantly and mysteriously. It's said they scavenge for soul bodies across the continent; they don't sound like good people." Gu Han said seriously. "According to that Dou Huang senior, a Soul Hall Protector might use the excuse of helping someone break through to Dou Zong to make the Old Sect Master work for him in the Jia Ma Empire or even this southwest corner."

"But there's no such thing as a free lunch. If the Old Sect Master accepts this honey-coated poison, he might be controlled by the Hall of Souls in the future."

"The Cloud Mist Sect has treated me well; I don't want to see that day come."

"Before that senior left, he told me a recipe for a seventh-grade pill called the primal chaos one qi pill, which can clear the methods left behind by a Soul Hall Protector."

"This is why I'm looking for you; I want to ask if the person behind you can refine a seventh-grade pill."

"If not, I might have to make a trip to the Pill Tower in the Central Plains in the future to ask an Alchemist there for help."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan didn't answer immediately but asked Yao Lao in his heart, "Teacher, what do you say?"

"Tell him there's no problem!" Yao Lao's voice rang out. "If it's confirmed that the Cloud Mist Sect's Old Sect Master is controlled by the Hall of Souls' methods, bring the medicinal ingredients for the primal chaos one qi pill, and I will personally refine it for him. The medicine will surely cure the illness."

Xiao Yan: !

It was the first time he felt the urgency in this old fellow's words.

It clearly carried a hatred for the Hall of Souls.

"Don't think too much; I will naturally tell you everything later. Answer the Little Fellow Gu first," Yao Chen urged.

"Oh." Xiao Yan responded in his mind and cupped his fists toward Gu Han. "Brother Gu, there is someone behind me who can refine a seventh-grade pill. If what you said really happens, just gather the ingredients and come find me."

"Thank you, Brother Xiao Yan," Gu Han thanked him solemnly, then looked at the ring on his hand. "And thank you as well, Senior!"

Xiao Yan: !

Yao Chen: ?!