After a brief moment of daze, Xiao Yan's chest heaved as he rasped out, "So, the Qi Power that mysteriously disappeared from my body—was that your doing?"
"Hehe, I was forced into it, little fellow, don't blame me," a frail, aged voice replied with a hint of helplessness.
Yet before the voice could finish, it was cut short by a furious, roaring howl.
"Fuck me!"
With a roar of uncontainable rage, Xiao Yan abruptly ripped the ring from his finger and flung it fiercely toward the depths of the Xiao Family's backyard.
The moment the ring left his hand, however, Xiao Yan's mind snapped clear and instant regret washed over him. He reached out to catch it, but alas, the ring had already flown far out of reach.
*Whoosh—*
Right at that moment, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the boundless mountain terrain, scooped up the ring Xiao Yan had just thrown, and vanished into the distance in a few swift leaps.
"What the hell!"
"Who's there?"
"Give me back my ring!"
Panicking, Xiao Yan threw caution to the wind, took a flying leap right off the towering cliff, and gave chase to the figure in black who had stolen his black ring.
He had completely forgotten that he was only at the third stage of Qi Power, and the Xiao Family's backyard was exceptionally steep.
Gu Changqing was already some distance away when he heard Xiao Yan's shrill, agonizing shrieks echoing from behind.
Yet Gu Changqing did not look back once.
With a sealing talisman already condensed in his palm, he swiftly sealed Yao Chen inside the ring.
Taking advantage of the moment before Yao Chen could break through the seal, he accelerated and fled far into the distance.
"This..."
"Brilliant!"
"Young Master Changqing actually played such a massive chess move!"
Ling Ying was utterly dumbfounded. He never expected that Gu Changqing had gone through such painstaking lengths to hide here simply to snatch Xiao Yan's black ring.
Well, strictly speaking, that wasn't quite accurate—he was picking up the black ring that Xiao Yan had thrown away.
The crucial part was that this ring seemed to harbor a mysterious soul entity.
Fearing that Gu Changqing might run into danger, Ling Ying hastily transformed into a streak of black light, skimming low across the ground as he gave chase.
Amidst the endless sea of trees, a figure in black raced swiftly toward the depths of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
The figure in black was none other than Gu Changqing. The backyard of the Xiao Family bordered the Magical Beast Mountain Range; although it was a rather secluded spot, plenty of mercenaries still chose to venture into the Magical Beast Mountain Range from Wutan City.
At that moment, Gu Changqing chose to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range to digest the spoils of his lurking mission.
Yao Chen was completely bewildered as well. He had never expected that the moment he was cast aside by that kid, before he even had a chance to return, someone else would intercept the prize.
Just as he intended to burst forth, he discovered that the black ring was blocked by an inexplicable force.
Yao Chen charged forward several times, yet he was completely unable to break through this strange sealing barrier using his own strength.
With no other choice, he had no option but to unleash his Bone Spirit Cold Flame.
The Bone Spirit Cold Flame ranked eleventh on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
It was an eerie, jade-white flame that combined extreme cold with extreme heat, and could only be encountered in places of extreme cold and ultimate yin once every century during the alternation of the sun and moon.
This flame was exceptionally icy; although it appeared freezing cold from the outside, even capable of forming frost, its actual temperature was immensely high and its destructive power was terrifying. The moment the Bone Spirit Cold Flame appeared, Gu Changqing's sealing talisman instantly dissolved.
Just as Yao Chen intended to strike while the iron was hot and burn this kid who dared to intercept his prize to ashes, a flat, indifferent voice brought Yao Chen's movements to a screeching halt.
"Yao Chen, I advise you not to harbor any other thoughts."
Gu Changqing stopped in his tracks, looking indifferently at the black ring he held in his hand.
The air fell abruptly silent for several seconds, before an aged voice finally drifted out from inside the ring.
"You must be that Gu kid from the Xiao Family, right? Why do you know my real name?"
"I come from the Gu Clan."
Gu Changqing simply spat out a few words with utter indifference. Then, with a deadpan expression, he peeled off the black veil from his face, revealing a strikingly refined and handsome visage.
Inside the black ring, Yao Chen's feeble soul entity shuddered violently, his eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief and sudden realization.
"No wonder... no wonder old man like me could never see through the two of you siblings. So... you come from the Gu Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans. The Ancient Eight Clans, heh..."
Yao Chen's voice carried an indescribable sorrow and nostalgia, as if Gu Changqing's words had recalled some unpleasant past events.
"Yao Chen, hailing from the Medicine Clan, once the continent's number one Alchemist, an eighth-tier peak Alchemist, master of the eleventh-ranked Bone Spirit Cold Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Later, because of a special cultivation technique called the *Flame Mantra*, you were betrayed by Han Feng, the disciple you regarded as your own flesh and blood. After drifting from place to place and suffering numerous trials, you finally ended up in the hands of Xiao Yan of the Wutan City Xiao Family. Am I wrong about any of this?"
Gu Changqing tossed the black ring in his hand again and asked indifferently.
The moment Gu Changqing mentioned that he hailed from the Medicine Clan, Yao Chen's heart had skipped a beat. But when Gu Changqing uttered the two words *Flame Mantra*, he could no longer sit still, bursting straight out of the black ring as he asked in utter shock, "You even know about a technique like the *Flame Mantra*? Just who are you?"
He simply refused to believe that Gu Changqing was merely a kid from the Gu Clan as simple as that.
"Gu Changqing."
Gu Changqing replied indifferently, looking with a trace of curiosity at the renowned Honored Warrior Yao before him.
"Did you come for the *Flame Mantra*?"
Yao Chen stared straight at Gu Changqing and asked.
"Correct!"
Gu Changqing nodded in admission.
Silence!
A long silence! Yao Chen looked at Gu Changqing, and Gu Changqing looked back at Yao Chen.
In the end, it was Yao Chen who cracked under Gu Changqing's composure. After pondering for a moment, he said,
"Old man like me has already paid with my life for this technique. Do you really expect to just take this technique away with a single sentence?"
"Honored Warrior Yao, you joke. Not only am I taking the *Flame Mantra*, but I am also taking your ring, your Bone Spirit Cold Flame, and everything inside your ring."
Gu Changqing smiled—his smile calm and serene, yet to Yao Chen's ears, it made him instantly fly into a rage.
"Brat, you go too far! You are insatiably greedy! Even if you come from the Gu Clan and are a proud talent of the clan, it is sheer daydreaming to think you can rob me, Honored Warrior Yao, in such a manner!"
"At worst, this old man will burn through every ounce of soul power I have left and perish together with you!"
Yao Chen was genuinely infuriated by Gu Changqing. Not only did he want the *Flame Mantra*, but he also wanted the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, and he wasn't even going to spare the ring and his remaining collections either.
This was simply too outrageous!
"Honored Warrior Yao, you are wrong again. With your current soul power, which hasn't even reached the Spiritual Realm, even if you exhaust yourself completely and add the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to the mix, it is still impossible to perish together with me. Why don't you try and see if you can still connect with your black ring right now?"
Gu Changqing smiled again, gently twirling Yao Chen's black ring between his fingers as he asked playfully.
Taking advantage of the moment Honored Warrior Yao rushed out of the ring, he had applied yet another Primordial Spirit Sealing Talisman, completely cutting off the connection between the ring and Yao Chen.