Passing through the soul membrane arranged by Yao Lao, Xiao Yan stared dumbfounded at Yao Lao in front of him, whose eyes were faintly pulsating with ghastly white flames.
In front of him, Liu Panlong had a bitter face, his expression as helpless as that of a primary school student.
As if sensing Xiao Yan's arrival, Yao Lao took a deep breath and finally regained his calm expression. He glanced at Xiao Yan, then at Liu Panlong, the disdain in his eyes almost unconcealed.
"So stupid. I explained it so clearly, yet you still don't understand. No wonder you're still just a third-grade alchemist at such an old age."
Looking at Yao Lao's helpless appearance, Xiao Yan suddenly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head somewhat sheepishly.
In his previous life, he only thought his cultivation talent was good, and his comprehension was naturally even better.
But it wasn't until later, when he arrived in the Great Thousand World and even broke through the Sovereign realm to travel the world beyond, that he realized he was indeed a genius.
The talent for cultivation has its limits, but the talent for comprehension is limitless.
Like him learning alchemy in his previous life, although he was occasionally reprimanded by Yao Lao, the number of times was not many. He had even created a heaven-defying Dou Technique like the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame as early as the Dou Shi stage.
But for someone like Liu Panlong to anger Yao Lao to the point of cursing loudly, this was the first time Xiao Yan had seen it. This was the gap in comprehension.
At the beginning of cultivation, perhaps those with good cultivation talent have more advantages, and their cultivation speed will be very fast. But in the later stages of cultivation, comprehension becomes more and more important.
Cultivation level, soul, and physical body can all be improved with medicinal pills, cultivation techniques, and heavenly treasures, but comprehension can hardly be improved. Perhaps only a peerless spiritual root like the Ancient Bodhi Tree, which is rare even in an entire plane, has such an opportunity.
Starting from Dou Sheng, comprehension will truly surpass all other talents and become the core of the path of cultivation. Especially after Heavenly Sovereign and even Sovereign, comprehension is the key to understanding the rules of heaven and earth and advancing further in cultivation.
Just like Liu Panlong in front of them, his comprehension was simply too poor. For the same alchemy principles, Yao Lao only needed to explain it once for Xiao Yan to easily understand and even draw inferences.
But for Liu Panlong, even if Yao Lao taught him three times, this fellow was still completely confused. This was the gap between their comprehension.
It was precisely because of this that Xiao Yan felt that a sixth-grade alchemist was probably the limit for this Liu Panlong.
Even with the guidance of Yao Lao and himself, it would be extremely difficult for him to become a seventh-grade alchemist.
To reap rewards for hard work is already a very fortunate thing for a person. It was only after living a long life and seeing countless beings struggle to death but fail to break through their bottlenecks that Xiao Yan understood how lucky he was.
"Teacher, you don't need to be so angry. This fellow's comprehension is just like that. You can't change it. Don't let your anger damage your soul."
Xiao Yan comforted Yao Lao and then nodded at Liu Panlong, who looked grateful.
"Master, this month's medicinal pills have all been refined. I have already placed them all in the storage ring."
Liu Panlong's face was full of gratitude as he obediently handed a storage ring to Xiao Yan.
Although Yao Lao's guidance would rapidly improve his alchemy skills each time, the feeling of being scolded so harshly was indeed not pleasant.
"Mm."
Holding the storage ring in his hand, Xiao Yan nodded lightly.
"You guys continue!"
Xiao Yan waved his hand and walked out of Liu Panlong's small courtyard. Not long after, Yao Lao's sigh once again sounded in the small courtyard: "Sigh, how can you be so stupid!"
Playing with the storage ring in his hand, Xiao Yan walked leisurely down the street. The slanting sun shone, stretching his shadow long on the slightly golden street.
Perhaps due to constant arduous cultivation and using various spiritual medicines to stimulate his body's potential, Xiao Yan's height had developed about a year earlier than in his previous life. At this age, a youth would often shoot up by a head at a speed imperceptible to ordinary people in just half a year.
And Xiao Yan, in just these two or three months, had also inadvertently grown by half a head.
Of course, what grew so rapidly was not just his height. His cultivation had also progressed rapidly in these two months. He was now a proper seven-star Dou Zhe, and even the distance to eight-star was not that far.
"Last month, Ya Fei had already sold the surplus medicinal pills to the imperial capital and other large cities. I wonder what the effect will be."
Leisurely humming a little tune, under the respectful gazes of several Miteer Auction House guards, Xiao Yan walked to the side of Ya Fei's office, only to see that the expressions of the two guards were a bit off.
Before Xiao Yan could ask, faint sounds of argument were already coming from within the office.
Although the sound insulation of the main door was very good, and the sound coming out was extremely faint, with Xiao Yan's terrifying soul perception, he could already hear the voices inside very clearly.
"Lei Le, this auction house in Wutan City is a place I have worked hard to build over the past year. Do you think you can get this auction house just because you have a few elders supporting you? Your Lei Le has elders supporting you, do you think that I, Ya Fei, don't have elders supporting me?"
Ya Fei's voice was filled with anger, but if one listened carefully, one could still hear a trace of unease.
Xiao Yan could easily tell that she didn't seem to have much confidence.
"Hahaha, Ya Fei, what's the use of telling me these things? If you're really not convinced, then let those old things behind you stand up and speak for you."
A wild laughter, tinged with a bit of vulgarity, sounded from opposite Ya Fei. Without lingering, Xiao Yan directly pushed open the office door.
Towards his action, the two guards at the door did not try to stop him. Clearly, they were already very familiar with, and even revered, this young master of the Xiao family.
In Wutan City, who didn't know the reputation of this young master of the Xiao family? The recent changes in Wutan City were all stirred up by this young clan leader of the Xiao family.
The moment Xiao Yan pushed open the door, three different pairs of eyes looked in Xiao Yan's direction at the same time.
And Xiao Yan was also quietly observing the three people in front of him.
He saw that Ya Fei, who originally had a charming and mature air, now had a rare look of annoyance and disgust on her enchanting, pretty face. Only when she saw Xiao Yan did a hint of pleasant surprise appear in her beautiful eyes, along with a trace of deeply hidden worry.
And opposite Ya Fei sat a pale-faced youth in white. This person's appearance was not much different from Liu Xi's back then. It was to the extent that one could tell at a glance that he was a lecherous starving ghost.
Looking at the youth's face, which seemed to have been hollowed out by wine and women, Xiao Yan struggled to recall this fellow's identity.
In his previous life, this guy named Lei Le seemed to have been dealt with miserably by Hai Bodong, along with his grandfather. He didn't expect that in this life, he would deliver himself to the door early, just like Liu Xi.
Beside that Lei Le stood a man with a slightly burly figure, clearly acting as a bodyguard.
Although this burly man didn't have "lecherous" written on his face like Lei Le, when his eyes looked at Ya Fei, they couldn't help but reveal a bit of fervor.
Towards this kind of gaze, not only was Ya Fei accustomed to it, but even Xiao Yan was used to it.
There was no helping it. Who asked this woman to be born so charming and alluring? She was practically a natural aphrodisiac for men.
But being used to it was one thing. For the current Xiao Yan, who had already mentally reserved Ya Fei, he would not allow any other man to dare to touch his woman.
His gaze lingered on the burly man for a moment. After learning that the other party's strength was about at the Dou Shi level, Xiao Yan then turned his gaze to Ya Fei, his voice gentle as he asked with a smile.
"What's wrong?"
(End of this chapter)