"Old man, what are you looking at?"
At this moment, the little golden dragon was clinging to Xiao Bai's sleeve, exposing half of its body to the wind. But the old man beside them kept staring at it, which annoyed the dragon. It bared its teeth and glared at him impatiently before asking.
Facing the little golden dragon's gaze, Hai Bodong felt a bit embarrassed. He wanted to ask something but hesitated, so he had to suppress his curiosity, turn his head away, and stop looking at the strange little creature.
"Huh? Another old man? And this one's transparent! Master, why are you always surrounded by all these strange old men?"
Just as the little golden dragon finished dealing with Hai Bodong, another old face suddenly appeared before it. Unable to hold back, it loudly questioned.
Xiao Bai had a bit of a headache. This little guy was like a mischievous child—while it treated him well, it was absolutely infuriating to everyone else.
"Yao Lao, Elder Hai, please don't take it to heart. This little guy is just like that!"
"Hehe… Xiao Bai, where did you pick up such a little thing?" Yao Lao stroked his beard and curiously studied the glaring little golden dragon.
That day, he had noticed the celestial phenomenon fading away while flying midway. After sensing Xiao Bai and Medusa's situation at the time, he had chosen not to disturb them and instead returned to the side hall. Thus, he was unaware of what had happened afterward.
As for the little golden dragon, Yao Lao was only surprised by its dragon-like form, but he wasn't particularly concerned. In this world, even medicinal pills could take shape and cultivate, so this little golden dragon wasn't anything too extraordinary.
Hai Bodong, standing nearby, perked up his ears. He realized that even though he was a Dou Huang, his knowledge was far inferior to these two. This soul-form expert, for example—though slightly astonished, he didn't seem to find such occurrences unusual.
"It fell from the sky!" Xiao Bai, though he had some guesses about the little golden dragon's origins, was uncertain, so he could only respond like this.
"Tsk, tsk… your luck is simply unbelievable!" Yao Lao was momentarily stunned, then shook his head in amazement. Seeing that Xiao Bai wasn't willing to elaborate, he didn't press the matter further.
Following Xiao Bai on this trip had been incredibly worthwhile.
He had obtained the Heavenly Flame.
The ingredients needed to refine the Blood Lotus Pill for absorbing the Heavenly Flames had also been fully collected.
Even the last missing ingredient, the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, had been obtained from Medusa.
This deal had been too good to be true. If not for this transaction, he might have had to spend a great deal of time leading Xiao Yan around to find these items. But now, everything had fallen into place, saving him a lot of trouble.
Thinking about his cheap disciple, Xiao Yan, Yao Lao couldn't help but sigh at his fortune. While sitting at home, opportunities just came knocking on his door.
'No, I must tell Xiao Yan when I return that he should stick close to this Bai-ge in the future. What a perfect golden thigh to hug! More importantly, his luck is extraordinary—not only for himself but also for those around him. He's like a walking koi fish of fortune!'
Xiao Bai suddenly felt a shiver down his spine when he noticed Yao Lao staring at him with a burning gaze. Frowning slightly, he asked, "Yao Lao, if you have something to say, just say it. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Haha… it's nothing, nothing." Yao Lao's hand paused as he stroked his beard, then he let out an awkward laugh.
"Master, this old man looks shifty-eyed. He's definitely up to no good!" The little golden dragon flew to Xiao Bai's ear and whispered.
Although the voice was low, everyone present had keen senses and heard it clearly.
"What did you just say, little thing?" Yao Lao feigned anger. He had roamed the continent for so many years, and this was the first time someone had called him shifty-eyed.
"Old man, if you dare call this dragon 'little thing' again, I'll bite you to death!" The little golden dragon straightened its body, put its hands on its hips, ground its teeth, and glared fiercely.
"Oh? This little thing has quite the temper. Come, come, take a bite out of me if you can!" Yao Lao teased. Although he didn't know what this little golden dragon was, as a soul-form being, he wasn't worried about it being able to touch him.
Hearing this, the little golden dragon didn't hesitate. With a flash of golden light, it shot directly at Yao Lao. As it passed through his soul form, a faint golden lightning flickered from its body.
"Hmph!" Yao Lao let out a muffled grunt, his face twitching slightly before returning to normal.
*I underestimated it!* he thought to himself.
He hadn't expected this little creature to have such power. Though it didn't injure him, the golden lightning had caught him off guard.
It carried a trace of destructive power that sent sharp pain through his soul.
If not for his Chilling Bone Flame blocking it, he might have needed to expend a considerable amount of soul power to dispel it.
Xiao Bai originally had no intention of stopping the bickering between the two, but with his powerful soul perception didn't miss Yao Lao's fleeting pained expression.
He was somewhat surprised. The little golden dragon shouldn't have been able to harm Yao Lao, yet the old man's expression didn't seem to be an act.
"Old man, do you still dare to call this dragon a 'little thing'?" The little golden dragon shook off the bits of ice from its body, flew back to Xiao Bai's side, and smirked triumphantly.
"Hmph, it was nothing more than an ant bite." Yao Lao's face twitched slightly as he glanced sideways at the little golden dragon, speaking in a calm and unbothered tone.
The little golden dragon's smug expression instantly darkened. Seeing this, Xiao Bai quickly grabbed it in his hand.
"Master, let me go! This dragon demands a one-on-one duel!" The little golden dragon struggled fiercely, shouting defiantly.
Xiao Bai looked at the two of them helplessly. Yao Lao, despite suffering a loss, still refused to back down and continued provoking the dragon with his playful antics.
"Xiao Bai, this thunder dragon is not simple. That golden lightning may seem weak now, but its origin could be of an extremely high level!" Yao Lao transmitted his voice with a serious tone.
The only golden lightning he knew of was the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning, a force that hadn't been seen in years. Even Dou Sheng-level powerhouses had to be cautious when facing it. Yet the little dragon's golden lightning was far weaker by comparison.
But the Dou Qi Continent was vast—no one could claim to know everything about this world. It wasn't strange to encounter rare types of lightning. After all, even the lightning that Xiao Bai possessed was something Yao Lao had never seen before.
At first, he'd assumed the little golden dragon was somehow related to Xiao Bai's own lightning. But after hearing it "fell from the sky," Yao Lao decided to test it.
"Don't worry, Yao Lao. I'll be careful!" Xiao Bai responded softly. He hadn't expected the old man's seemingly playful actions to actually be a calculated test.
"Alright, enough fooling around!" Xiao Bai patted the little golden dragon in his hand.
"Oh!" The little golden dragon immediately quieted down. Once Xiao Bai let go, it slipped back into his sleeve and resumed enjoying the breeze, ignoring Yao Lao completely.
Seeing how obediently the little creature listened to Xiao Bai, Yao Lao felt reassured.
"By the way, Elder Hai, are you coming with me, or do you want to return to the Miteer Clan in the imperial capital?"
After all the commotion, the Jia Ma Empire was already in sight. Xiao Bai suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Hai Bodong.
"I'll go with you to Wutan City. I did promise to follow you for three years, after all." Hai Bodong shook his head.
What was the point of returning to the Miteer Clan? To check on that useless Miteer Tengshan?
Traveling with Xiao Bai was far more interesting. He had a feeling that staying by Xiao Bai's side would allow him to witness things beyond anything he could experience in the Jia Ma Empire.
Right now, he had no attachments, and the Miteer Clan wasn't facing any life-or-death crises. Instead of returning, it was better to see what kind of family Xiao Bai came from.
Besides, the Miteer Clan had branches in every city within the Jia Ma Empire. If he needed anything, he could always contact them from anywhere.
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