"Who dares to bump into this young miss!" The little girl in purple grumbled unhappily, rubbing her head where she had been hit.
Xiao Li also saw the little girl in front of him. She was dressed in purple, and even her hair was purple. She looked no older than twelve or thirteen, fair-skinned and delicate, very cute.
However, her large, dark, watery eyes were now filled with a hint of anger from being bumped, and she glared at Xiao Li.
"You bumped into me! Apologize right now!"
Although she was angry, her appearance, like a jade Carving and embellishment, made her seem rather cute.
Xiao Li readily admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, I was in too much of a hurry and accidentally bumped into you. Are you alright?"
Seeing his sincere apology, the little girl didn't press the issue and continued to browse the various medicinal ingredients on a nearby shelf.
She specifically picked out ancient, potent medicinal ingredients and then gnawed on them directly as if they were snacks.
Xiao Li only knew one person who consumed medicinal ingredients in such a crude manner—Zi Yan.
"Your name is Zi Yan, right?" Xiao Li's tone softened slightly.
"So what? Do you need something from me?" Zi Yan glanced at him, her watery eyes showing a hint of impatience.
She thought Xiao Li was just an ordinary person from the academy, so she wasn't very keen on talking to him.
"Why do you eat these medicinal ingredients?" Xiao Li asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Because I want to grow up quickly."
"But the power of these medicinal ingredients isn't enough. I have more and higher-grade medicinal ingredients here. Do you want them?"
Xiao Li raised his hand, and a high-grade golden medicinal ingredient appeared in his palm.
He had grown these himself from medicinal ingredient seeds in the Realm of Growth, and their quality was top-notch.
Having consumed so many medicinal ingredients, Zi Yan naturally recognized at a glance that the medicinal ingredient in Xiao Li's hand was indeed very high-grade, superior to all the medicinal ingredients in the ingredient library.
"Yes, do you want to give these medicinal ingredients to me?" Zi Yan's eyes were filled with anticipation and excitement.
She really wanted to grow up.
As long as she grew up, perhaps she could recall her past and find her kin.
"If you just eat medicinal ingredients like this, you won't absorb too much energy. If you truly want to grow up, I have a way to help you."
"Really?" Zi Yan's eyes lit up, full of expectation.
But then she suddenly became a little wary: "But what if you're lying to me?"
"Whether I'm lying or not, wouldn't you know if you just come with me?"
Zi Yan's little head thought carefully for a moment.
"Fine, I'll trust you for now. If you dare to lie to me, I'll bite you to death!"
After saying that, she even made a fierce expression, her two little fangs looking very cute.
Xiao Li couldn't help but laugh.
This little girl was a bit smart, but not overly so.
After all, Zi Yan's intelligence was currently similar to that of a child around ten years old.
Soon, Xiao Li took her to a nearby alchemy room, then refined the medicinal ingredient into a simple pill, adding a bit of sugar to make it taste better.
Zi Yan only ate one pill and was shocked by the sweet taste and the more refined energy.
"Delicious!"
The energy of the pill was not only richer than directly gnawing on medicinal ingredients, but it also wasn't difficult to eat at all.
She instantly fell in love with it.
"I want more..." She looked at Xiao Li eagerly, not at all embarrassed, simply wanting to eat more.
Xiao Li smiled helplessly, then casually took a few more medicinal ingredients, refined them into pills, and gave them to her, saying,
"Don't eat too many in one day, or you might get indigestion."
"If you really want to grow up quickly, come find me tomorrow, and I'll help you."
Zi Yan was in her current state because she had accidentally consumed the Star Transformation Grass.
Making her body grow was not a difficult task; either her cultivation reached the Dou Zong stage, or she consumed a shape-shifting pill to fully transform.
Xiao Li could easily refine shape-shifting pills now.
However, he and Zi Yan had just met, so he naturally wanted to delay a bit to foster their relationship.
"Really? Okay, I'll find you tomorrow!"
"Oh, and I still don't know your name?"
Through those few pills just now, Zi Yan now completely trusted Xiao Li.
After all, who could refuse a big brother who helped her refine pills, and refined them so deliciously?
"My name is Xiao Li, an Elder of the Inner Academy, and I live in the Elder's dormitory area."
"You're an Elder of the Inner Academy?" Zi Yan was a little surprised, then mumbled a few words,
"Aren't all the Elders in the academy old men? How can there be such a young Elder like you?"
"If it weren't for me, wouldn't you miss out on delicious pills?" Xiao Li chuckled.
"That seems right too." Zi Yan felt he made a lot of sense.
This little girl's mind couldn't ponder too profound matters.
Soon after, the two parted ways... Originally, Xiao Li still had to guard the medicinal ingredient library for another hour before getting off work.
As closing time approached, several people rushed over,
"Elder Xiao, something bad has happened! Hu Jia and the others are in trouble!"
"What happened? Explain it clearly." Xiao Li immediately stood up.
"We went to the mountains in the back, intending to find some medicinal ingredients, but we unexpectedly encountered a Fifth-Rank Magical Beast. Hu Jia stayed behind to deal with the Magical Beast to cover our retreat."
These people had just come from the Outer Academy, so they were more familiar with Xiao Li and thought of coming to him first when something happened.
"Reckless!"
Xiao Li flung his sleeve and immediately flew towards the Inner Academy's back mountain... The Inner Academy was located amidst a continuous mountain range, and there were many Magical Beasts around, but they generally did not interfere with the Inner Academy.
As long as the students themselves didn't provoke them, those Magical Beasts wouldn't dare to come.
These new students, like Hu Jia, had just arrived at the Inner Academy and were looked down upon by the older students, so they were determined to quickly improve their strength.
They originally intended to find some medicinal ingredients, but instead encountered a Fifth-Rank Magical Beast!
At this moment, in the forest, Hu Jia and two other people had sustained injuries of varying degrees.
Opposite them was a tiger covered in fiery red thorns—a Thorn Tiger, Fifth-Rank!
The Thorn Tiger stared at the three people opposite it, its gaze menacing.
Hu Jia bit her silver teeth, glancing at the two severely injured people behind her, her heart filled with increasing self-reproach.
If she hadn't insisted on coming to the back mountain, such a thing wouldn't have happened, and her companions wouldn't have been hurt.
"Xiao Qi, A Si, I'll hold it off, you two hurry and leave." Hu Jia drew her long whip, looking resolutely at the Thorn Tiger.
"But..."
"No buts! If all three of us stay, we'll all die. If you run, at least you have a chance to live." Hu Jia shouted.
Xiao Qi and A Si gritted their teeth, turned, and ran.
Hu Jia, meanwhile, actively charged towards the Thorn Tiger,
"This young lady is going to fight you to the death today!"
Her long whip immediately ignited with scorching flames, rapidly swirling into a massive fiery whirlwind that struck the Thorn Tiger.
But her attack was like scratching an itch; it couldn't harm the Thorn Tiger at all.
"Roar!"
With just a roar from the Thorn Tiger, she was sent flying backward, crashing heavily against a large rock.
"Cough!"
Her chest churned with surging blood, and she coughed out a large mouthful of fresh blood.
Watching the Thorn Tiger charge at her, Hu Jia despairingly closed her eyes...