BTTH : Emperor Yang

Chapter 180: Chapter 180: Background

Support me at patreon for 60+ advanced Chapters :

/YaoIk

**

The one who had spoken was the gray-robed youth standing in a secluded corner of the square.

On the stone platform before him, there was also a pile of pitch-black ash—he had clearly failed on his first attempt too.

Yet he completely ignored the angry stares thrown his way. With a cold smirk on his lips, he suddenly tossed the last set of ingredients on his table into his cauldron.

His faint, mocking laughter echoed across the square. ”Looks like I’m in the lead this round after all. So much for the so-called alchemists of the Jia Ma Empire...”

As he spoke, his hands continued to move swiftly. One medicinal herb after another was rapidly refined within the flames. Judging from the confident look on his face, it seemed he had already figured out the root cause behind the widespread failures.

The crowd grit their teeth in frustration—but they could do nothing.

Because they hadn’t even figured out where the problem lay.

”Oh? Is that so?” a calm and ethereal voice rang out.

Boom!

A soft muffled sound immediately followed.

Everyone, including the gray-robed youth, turned to look.

They saw that beneath Xian’er’s cauldron, some black ash had also spilled out.

The youth narrowed his icy blue eyes.

But Xian’er merely let out a gentle laugh, her fingers forming a quick hand seal.

In that instant, eight herbs floated up simultaneously—then were thrown straight into the cauldron.

That’s right—eight herbs refined at once.

From the full set of nine herbs, she had deliberately removed one.

Inside the slightly petite crimson cauldron, eight deep-red miniature suns floated in mid-air, rotating slowly.

Within each of the ”suns,” flames engulfed the herbs, warping and twisting them at high speed. The plants were burned to ash—leaving behind only their refined essence.

The gray-robed youth’s pupils suddenly contracted, his arrogant expression freezing on his face. Deep in his eyes, a glimmer of solemnity flickered.

He immediately understood: this white-haired girl, beautiful like a celestial being, had also discovered the core issue with the formula.

What’s more, the fire control technique she was using was something he deeply coveted.

In fact, he desired it even more than the pill formula for the Soul Mending Pill.

Xian’er’s choice to publicly refine only eight herbs was clearly done to give a hint to the rest of the alchemists present.

Xiao Yan’s eyes lit up, a flash of clarity glinting in his gaze. He had already vaguely sensed the issue—and now he understood completely.

With a cold snort, he responded, his calm voice also echoing across the square: ”In the lead? Not necessarily.”

Xiao Yan abruptly turned, swept his hand across the table, and tossed the final set of ingredients into his cauldron—after removing one herb, leaving eight.

Fwoosh—

A wave of purple flame surged upward, completely engulfing the eight herbs. Just like Xian’er, he chose to refine them all at once.

Roar—

From within the cauldron, the sound of faint dragon cries could be heard coming from the purple flames.

The flame churned and shifted—and shockingly, it transformed into eight tiny fire dragons.

The miniature dragons opened their mouths wide and swallowed the herbs whole.

Inside their bellies, the herbs twisted and writhed as they were rapidly incinerated and refined.

Ash and leftover residue were expelled from the tails of the dragons.

The gray-robed youth’s pupils shrank once more.

Another high-level fire control technique!

...

”This kind of fire control technique...”

Across the plaza—whether contestants, audience members, or even those in the VIP section—everyone stared, stunned, at the eight small purple fire dragons dancing through Xiao Yan’s cauldron, lifelike and vivid.

Then they glanced over at Xian’er’s cauldron, where eight deep-red miniature suns spun in mysterious orbits.

Strangely, many people sensed a kind of familiarity between the two.

These two fire control techniques seemed to share 40 to 50 percent similarity in form.

”Oh? So Yao Lao actually passed down the Nine Dragon Fire Control Technique to Xiao Yan?” Wei Yang was surprised.

In the original story, Yao Lao had never taught this technique to Xiao Yan.

In fact, he hadn’t taught him any advanced fire control techniques in the early stages, likely due to limitations in his strength at the time.

From what Wei Yang remembered, Xiao Yan’s most advanced flame control method in the mid-story arc was the Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique, which he received from Tian Huo Zun Zhe during the Dou Wang stage.

By that time, Yao Lao had already been captured by a Protector from the Hall of Souls.

Clearly, Wei Yang’s presence in this world had already caused changes in the original storyline.

He couldn’t help but wonder—how had Xiao Yan convinced Yao Lao to teach him the Nine Dragon Fire control technique

when he was still just a One-Star Da Dou Shi?Had Yao Lao been influenced or provoked by Wei Yang?

Of course, given Xiao Yan’s current strength and the limited time he had, his mastery of the Nine Dragon Fire Control Technique was still fairly rudimentary.

It had the shape—but not yet the spirit—of the real technique.

Still, Xiao Yan suddenly revealing this hidden trump card now, just to refine a mere Tier 3 Wind Walking Pill, was more than enough.

”Wei Yang, that fire control technique Xiao Yan is using...?” Fa Ma looked over, curiosity in his eyes.

The other esteemed figures also turned their gazes over, clearly intrigued.

With Xian’er and Xiao Yan refining pills side by side, the contrast made it easy to notice: these two fire control techniques—at several key points—shared striking similarities.

”Do you all still remember who I listed as my instructor in the registry?” Wei Yang asked with a light smile.

Qie Mi Er thought for a moment and replied, ”You wrote the name Yao Lao under the mentor field.”

Wei Yang nodded. ”That’s right.”

”Yao Lao?” The group of senior figures frowned slightly, murmuring the name to themselves. But none of them seemed to recall hearing it before.

Still, for someone to qualify as Wei Yang’s instructor, they had to at least be a master alchemist without question.

Only President Fa Ma frowned slightly—something about that name felt oddly familiar, yet he couldn’t recall from where.

Far away, in the crowd, Ao Tuo, president of the Black Rock City branch, suddenly froze. His pupils shrank as he hesitantly raised his hand.

”Uh... President, Vice President... Xiao Yan took his Alchemist Qualification Exam at my Black Rock City branch...”

”Oh?” Everyone turned their attention to him.

Even Ya Fei, Nalan Yanran, and others looked over with interest.

Ao Tuo swallowed nervously and said in a low voice, ”On Xiao Yan’s registration form... his instructor’s name was also written as Yao Lao.”

”Ah?” The crowd was briefly stunned, then quickly understood. All eyes turned to Wei Yang again.

Wei Yang smiled and nodded. ”Yes. My mentor and Xiao Yan’s mentor are the same person. So, strictly speaking, Xiao Yan is my junior disciple.”

”I see. No wonder...” The realization dawned on the crowd.

No wonder the usually indifferent and aloof Wei Yang had been treating Xiao Yan so unusually well.

At this moment, Wei Yang glanced—seemingly unintentionally—at Nalan Yanran, then said casually, ”To be precise, I’m merely an outer disciple of Teacher Yao, while Xiao Yan is his final personal disciple.”

Hisss—

Everyone gasped sharply.

Even someone like Wei Yang was only an outer disciple

?The thought was terrifying.

Just how powerful must this Yao Lao be? And wasn’t his standard for accepting disciples a bit too high?!

One after another, their gazes turned back to the black-robed, youthful figure standing calmly in the center of the field.

Their eyes were full of envy.

So he has such a powerful backer!

At the same time, several people turned to look at Nalan Jie in the distance with a mixture of mockery and schadenfreude in their eyes.

Nalan Jie, who had been eavesdropping intently on the senior figures’ conversation, immediately felt the weight of those stares. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his face darkened even further.

A bitter feeling welled up in his chest.

Regret? Of course he regretted it—how could he not?

Beside him, Ya Fei’s eyes sparkled, a flicker of brilliance flashing through her pupils.

She hadn’t expected that the shy teenager she’d first met three years ago would turn out to have such an astonishing background.

It was simply overwhelming.

Even if one ignored his mysterious, powerful master, just having someone like Wei Yang as his senior brother was enough for Xiao Yan to move through the Jia Ma Empire without fear of anyone.

Who wouldn’t show him respect?

”Xiao Yan...” Nalan Yanran murmured, her beautiful eyes locked onto the black-clothed youth in the middle of the square, who was focused entirely on pill refinement. Her delicate hand slowly clenched into a fist.

Her expression was complicated.

That boy who had once roared, ”Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never look down on a youth!”

Do I regret it?

No!

Very soon, her gaze regained its sharpness and clarity.

”My future will be decided by me—Nalan Yanran!” she whispered resolutely to herself.

--------------------------------------------------------

Support me at patreon for 60+ advanced Chapters :

/YaoIk