Chapter 13: Black Iron Plate

 Seeing Xuan'er actually nodding in agreement with Xiao Yan's words, Galeo's mouth twitched, his fists creaking as he clenched them, his gaze sharply fixated on the boy in front of him who had an indifferent expression.

 A group of subordinates behind Galeo, noticing their master's ugly expression, smartly stepped forward, subtly surrounding the two, their gazes mixed with malicious intent.

 In the depths of the market, there were plenty of people too. Seeing the incident over here, they couldn't help but look over with curiosity. Xiao Yan and Galeo were somewhat famous in Wutan City; Xiao Yan for his reputation as a waste, and Galeo for his notorious playboy ways. Though neither reputation was particularly flattering, they could still barely be considered two celebrities.

 Looking at the actions of the group, Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk appearing on his youthful face as he slightly tilted his head and let out a whistle towards a corner of the market.

 Seeing Xiao Yan's move, everyone turned their heads in curiosity, only to see the market's guard team charging over fiercely under the leadership of Captain Payne.

 Payne, leading a large group of guards, ran over quickly, waving his hand, and his subordinates immediately surrounded the group led by Galeo menacingly, creating a tense atmosphere between both sides.

 "Third Young Master, is something wrong?" Coming up behind Xiao Yan, Payne first glanced at Galeo and the others across from him, then respectfully asked with a smile.

 Xiao Yan smiled slightly, glancing at the grim-faced Galeo, and casually said, "Young Master Galeo, this market is part of the Xiao family's territory. Are you thinking of making a move here?"

 Galeao glanced at Pain with a hint of apprehension, then turned to Xiao Yan and sneered, "Are you just going to rely on your family's power? If you were a man..."

 "You want to say that if I were a man, we could have a fair match, right?" Xiao Yan suddenly waved his hand, interrupting Galeao with a laugh.

 Galeao let out a cold laugh and provocatively said, "That's right, do you dare?"

 Looking at the provocation on Galeao's face, Xiao Yan let out a somewhat helpless sigh, rubbed his forehead, and after a moment, he finally looked up, shrugged slightly, and with an expression of innocence, asked, "Young Master Galeao, may I ask how old you are this year?"

 Galeao's lips curled into a smirk, his face dark as he remained silent.

 "Big brother, you」re twenty-one this year, how old am I? Fifteen! You actually want me, a kid who hasn」t even had my coming-of-age ceremony, to duel with you? Don」t you think your request is a bit embarrassing?" Xiao Yan sighed, his helpless expression making the girl beside him, Xun Er, unable to hold back a chuckle, covering her mouth as she smiled.

 "Haha."

 Hearing the boy's innocent words, some mercenaries and merchants in the depths of the market couldn't help but burst into laughter. Indeed, at Xiao Yan's age right now, he could only be considered a naïve and immature youth, while Galeo was already an adult. This challenge was really something that made everyone silently look down on it.

 The mocking gazes around him were like a bucket of cold water, bringing some clarity back to Garleo. Xiao Yan's maturity and indifference always made people unconsciously overlook his age, so with the reminder, Garleo finally remembered that the boy in front of him was only fifteen...

 Gritting his teeth fiercely, Garleo glanced at the group of Xiao family guards standing behind Xiao Yan, watching him like hawks. Knowing that he had no chance to teach him a lesson today, he could only shake his head resentfully and said coldly, "In another year, you should be having your coming-of-age ceremony, right? Heh, I bet you, useless as you are, once that ceremony is over, you'll be sent off to some remote, poor place. After that, you won't even have the qualifications to enter Wutan City. How pitiful."

 Xiao Yan smiled faintly and shrugged noncommittally.

 His eyelids twitched, and for some reason, every time Galeo saw the calm and composed look on the boy's face in front of him, it ignited a blazing anger within him. You useless piece of shit, stop pretending to be some profound enigma…

 Forcefully suppressing the rage in his heart, Galeo snorted coldly, waving his hand to push through the crowd with his subordinates.

 "Oh, by the way..." Suddenly stopping his steps, Galeo seemed to remember something, turning his head to sneer, "Young Master Xiao Yan, I heard your Xiao family was forcibly dumped by the Nalan family's Nalan Yanran? Heh heh, it」s actually no big deal; with your cultivation talent, you really aren」t worthy of Miss Nalan, haha..." After saying this, Galeo laughed loudly and left.

 Xiao Yan cast a somewhat grim glance at the departing Galeo, extending his hand to grab Xun'er beside him, and said淡淡的道:「it」s just a mad dog; it bit you, do you really want to bite back?」

 "But he... went too far, shouldn't we just let him go like this?" Xun'er frowned, her delicate brows knitted together, feeling a bit indignant.

 "Hehe, there will be opportunities..." Xiao Yan squinted and smiled, the coldness at the corner of his mouth made Pain nearby feel a slight chill in his heart. A lion that bites isn't scary; what's scary is that this lion knows how to endure...

 "Uncle Pain, sorry to trouble you guys." Xiao Yan turned his head and smiled kindly at Pain and the others, the somewhat eerie atmosphere from before instantly transformed into the youth's vitality and frankness.

 Feeling somewhat amazed at Xiao Yan's emotional control, Pain's smile held an extra touch of genuine respect. Regardless of Xiao Yan's cultivation talent, just this level of intelligence means his future achievements probably won't be too low.

 "Hehe, Third Young Master is joking. This place is originally our Xiao family's territory; how can we allow the Gajie family to act so recklessly?" Payne chuckled, glancing at Xiao Yan who was looking around, and after saying his goodbyes, he consciously led his people away.

 Watching Payne and the others leave, Xiao Yan turned around, roughly ruffling Xun'er」s long hair with his hand, and said angrily, "You silly girl, a mere first-level magic crystal makes you so tempted? Don」t you know what kind of guy he is? If you take his stuff, that guy will definitely hit you while you」re down."

 Pouting slightly and fixing her messy long hair, Xun'er helplessly shrugged her shoulders, "If something comes to my door, why not take it?"

 Xiao Yan rolled his eyes, feeling a bit amused and exasperated: "That thing isn't even something precious; do you really need to act like this? You're the genius girl of the Xiao family..."

 Qin'er lightly wrinkled her cute little nose, lifted the bracelet on her delicate wrist, and teased, "So it turns out Brother Xiao Yan has been paying attention to me all along."

 Giving Qin'er a sideways glance, Xiao Yan took the girl's hand and walked towards some stalls deeper in the market...

 After passing several stalls, Xiao Yan finally stopped, bent down to look at a green crystal on the stall that still had some blood on it, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled, "I finally found it."

 As he reached out to grab the magic crystal, Xiao Yan's hand suddenly froze, a strange feeling surging up in his heart...

 Licking his lips, Xiao Yan's hand still reached out to grab the magic crystal, then his gaze casually swept across the stall...

 Moments later, Xiao Yan's eyes landed on a black iron plate next to the magic crystal.

 The black iron piece was quite old, covered in rust and still caked with some yellow mud, looking as if it had just been dug out of the ground not long ago.

 "Hey, Xiao Yanzi, buy that black iron piece; it's a good find..."

 Just when Xiao Yan was feeling a bit puzzled about his perception, a voice from Yao Lao suddenly rang out in his mind.