Chapter 370 Xiao Changfeng

"Ah! Where did this little white tiger come from? So cute! Come here, let big sister give you a hug!"

"Giggle, look, he's angry. Even his angry face is adorable!"

"Hehe, young master, is this your little white tiger? Could you lend him to me for a couple of days?"

Since yesterday, White Light had become a beautiful sight in the Xiao residence. Wherever Ye Yuan went, he became the focus of everyone's attention.

Especially these young ladies and maidservants—when they saw White Light, they couldn't move their legs and couldn't resist teasing him.

But White Light didn't like others' affection. Whenever someone approached, he put on a distant demeanor, baring his teeth at them.

Yet the more he did this, the cuter those young ladies and maidservants found him.

Naturally, Ye Yuan wasn't strolling around idly playing with the tiger; he was looking for an opportunity to inquire about the slaves. But he couldn't be too obvious about it, lest he arouse suspicion, and the white tiger made the perfect cover.

With the white tiger as a pretext, Ye Yuan could openly chat with those maidservants and young ladies, and through this, he indeed gathered quite a bit of information.

Through indirect questioning, Ye Yuan finally confirmed that the Xiao family had indeed recently bought two Boundless Realm slaves!

Strictly speaking, these two slaves weren't bought by the Xiao family; one was gifted by the Huang family and the other by the Xue family.

Clearly, these two families sent the slaves to curry favor with Xiao Ruyan.

As a second-rate noble family, the Xiao family wasn't qualified to purchase such rare slaves.

Ye Yuan also wanted to inquire about the appearance of the two slaves, but unfortunately, they had been sent directly to Xiao Ruyan's residence, and no one else had a chance to see them.

And the women's quarters were part of the inner residence, heavily guarded by experts. With Ye Yuan's current strength, sneaking in silently was nearly impossible.

It seemed that to get close to these two Boundless Realm individuals, he would ultimately have to rely on Xiao Ruyan.

In his current state, Ye Yuan could only come into contact with these two. The others had likely been bought by powerful forces, and figuring that out in a short time wouldn't be easy.

But Ye Yuan wasn't anxious. From the moment he learned that Mei Zhen and the others had been sold to the Central Royal City, he had prepared for a long struggle.

"Oh dear, Ji Qing, I finally found you! I've been asking around for you for ages!" As Ye Yuan was deep in thought, Manager Tong shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Xiao residence was vast, and finding someone took considerable effort.

"Hmm? Manager Tong, is there something you need? I figured since I'll be staying at the Xiao residence from now on, I should get familiar with the place, so I've been wandering around." Ye Yuan said with a smile.

Manager Tong said indignantly, "Brother Ji, the Alchemy Competition is only two days away. Shouldn't you make some preparations? Wandering around like this... it's not good, is it?"

Ye Yuan rolled his eyes at this. "Isn't it just an Alchemy Competition? What's there to prepare for? Didn't you say the Tong family is only sending some younger members? It's not like we're competing against their old monsters."

Seeing Ye Yuan's nonchalant attitude, Manager Tong grew even more exasperated. "Ji Qing, you're now a guest alchemist of our Xiao family, drawing a salary from us! The Alchemy Competition concerns the survival of the Xiao family. Can't you take it seriously? Although the Tong family is sending their younger generation, their strength is formidable!"

"How formidable?" Ye Yuan asked curiously.

To be honest, Ye Yuan knew nothing about the so-called Tong family.

"The Tong family... Ah, forget it, forget it. Come with me. Someone wants to see you! Once you meet him, you'll naturally understand."

...

Ye Yuan followed Manager Tong to a quiet courtyard and then entered a room after some twists and turns.

"Is that Tong Su'an? Have you brought Ji Qing?" A steady voice came from inside the room.

"Yes, he's outside." Manager Tong said respectfully.

"You may withdraw. Let him come in." The voice from inside spoke again.

"Yes!"

With that, Manager Tong turned to Ye Yuan and said, "Go in yourself. Remember, don't be rash."

"Oh." Ye Yuan responded perfunctorily, without much concern.

Manager Tong felt a bit frustrated but didn't say anything more and withdrew.

Ye Yuan entered the room, which turned out to be an alchemy chamber. A middle-aged man was sitting cross-legged on a couch in the center of the chamber.

Just as Ye Yuan was about to step forward and bow, a vast spiritual force surged toward him like a tidal wave.

Ye Yuan's eyes flickered, but he neither dodged nor avoided, allowing the other party to act.

The middle-aged man's soul power appeared highly aggressive, but when it reached Ye Yuan, it became extremely gentle.

A faint spiritual force enveloped Ye Yuan, as if probing something.

After a few breaths, the other's spiritual force receded like the tide.

"Young man, you have great composure! My spiritual force attacked you, yet you stood as steady as a mountain!" The middle-aged man's deep voice rang out.

Though his voice was calm, it carried a hint of surprise. Clearly, Ye Yuan's reaction had exceeded his expectations.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Since I couldn't escape, why bother with unnecessary effort? From the moment I entered this room, if you, senior, wished to kill me, I would have no choice but to comply."

The middle-aged man suddenly laughed heartily. "Truly, heroes emerge from youth! From your words, it seems if we were outside, you'd have the means to escape?"

Ye Yuan replied with neither humility nor arrogance, "It's not without possibility!"

Clearly, the other party was a Soul Sea Realm expert!

The chance of escaping from such a person was extremely slim, but in Ye Yuan's dictionary, the word 'impossible' did not exist.

If he made good use of favorable timing, terrain, and human factors, he might still have a chance to escape.

Back when he was only at Liquid Realm Level 2, hadn't he killed the Sea Transformation Realm Black Crow Elder?

Of course, the gap between the Soul Sea Realm and the Crystal Condensation Realm was not the same as that between the Sea Transformation Realm and the Liquid Realm.

So Ye Yuan only 'modestly' said that it was not without possibility.

There was a world of difference between the Lower Three Realms and the Middle Three Realms. No matter how strong a Sea Transformation Realm cultivator was, they were still in the Lower Three Realms, incomparable to the Middle Three Realms' Soul Sea Realm.

"Heh heh, Tong Su'an said you were capable but also arrogant, and it's true. However... you did just escape a calamity." The middle-aged man laughed.

Ye Yuan knew exactly what he meant but pretended to be puzzled. "Oh? Senior, what do you mean by that?"

"News from the Two Realms Passage indicates that a Boundless Realm youth may have secretly infiltrated the Royal City. I was just testing your soul power. If your soul power differed from that of our Gale Wind Realm martial artists, I would have killed you without hesitation!" The middle-aged man said calmly.

Ye Yuan showed just the right amount of surprise. "Is that so? Senior suspected I was from another realm?"

"Heh, it's just that your age matches the intelligence, and your sudden appearance in the Royal City was quite abrupt. Out of caution, I gave it a try. By the way, I am Xiao Changfeng, the head of the Xiao family."