The day after the Alchemist Grand Meeting concluded, Zhou Changqing received an invitation from the Misty Cloud Sect.
The contents of the invitation were concise: it was an invitation for him, a Master Refiner, to come to the Misty Cloud Sect and witness the Three-Year Agreement.
Upon receiving it, Zhou Changqing's expression immediately turned a little strange.
Well now.
He had just been wondering why the Misty Cloud Sect had remained silent for so long. Considering the value he had demonstrated, they hadn't made a single move.
It seemed they weren't ignoring him; they had simply been busy with matters concerning the Three-Year Agreement.
Otherwise, even a top-tier faction like the Misty Cloud Sect would have to pay close attention to a Master Refiner who could significantly enhance their combat strength, even creating Dou Wang level combatants in batches.
After all, while the strongest expert in the Misty Cloud Sect was publicly a Dou Huang, the true core of their power still lay with their Dou Wang experts.
Holding the invitation, Zhou Changqing quickly found Xiao Yan, who was staying at an inn in the city.
Inside the room, Xiao Yan's expression also became odd when he saw the invitation in Zhou Changqing's hand.
"Old Zhou, don't tell me that's an invitation from the Misty Cloud Sect for the Three-Year Agreement tomorrow?"
Zhou Changqing sat down at the wooden table, tossed the invitation onto it, and poured some tea. "You know?" he asked, surprised.
"So it is? Old Hai got one too. He already showed it to me," Xiao Yan explained, picking up the invitation to confirm it was identical to the one he had seen from Hai Bodong.
Zhou Changqing nodded, raising an eyebrow in a teasing manner. "Looks like the Misty Cloud Sect is dead set on victory tomorrow. Feeling the pressure, Old Xiao?"
"Pressure? Heh, I just hope the Misty Cloud Sect doesn't end up shooting themselves in the foot."
Xiao Yan scoffed, a wisp of Dou Qi appearing in his palm.
Seeing the Dou Qi, Zhou Changqing stared at him in astonishment. "A four-star Da Dou Shi?"
If he remembered correctly, based on the original timeline, Xiao Yan should have only just broken through to the Da Dou Shi realm.
How did he suddenly jump three stars higher?
Seeing Zhou Changqing's shocked expression, Xiao Yan's face lit up with smug satisfaction. "Heh, surprised? As it happens, I broke through to the Da Dou Shi realm right after I got back from the conference yesterday."
Zhou Changqing thought for a moment and recalled the pill Xiao Yan had refined during the conference.
"You took the Three-Mark Azure Spirit Pill?"
"That's right. And I was lucky enough to avoid the backlash, smoothly raising my strength by a full three stars!"
Hearing this, Zhou Changqing understood.
The Three-Mark Azure Spirit Pill was a tier-four pill.
At its highest quality, a Three-Mark Azure Spirit Pill could rival a tier-five pill. Its effects were potent enough to forcibly raise a Da Dou Shi's strength by three stars, though it came with a certain risk of medicinal backlash.
A Da Dou Shi could only take this pill once, but if they later broke through to the Dou Ling realm, they could take it again. However, at the Dou Ling level, the pill could at most raise one's strength by two stars, and the probability of backlash would increase severalfold.
One could only say that he was truly the Child of Destiny of the Dou Qi Continent.
Even though Zhou Changqing's arrival had caused a considerable butterfly effect, Xiao Yan hadn't been negatively affected.
No, that wasn't entirely true. The effect had been a positive one.
Xiao Yan's strength was advancing even faster than in the original story.
When Zhou Changqing first met him in the imperial capital, Xiao Yan was already a nine-star Dou Shi, three stars higher than the six-star Dou Shi he was in the original plot. Then, by refining the energy from the Branding Poison while treating Nalan Jie, Xiao Yan broke through to the Da Dou Shi realm within half a month of arriving in the capital.
Therefore, after consuming the Three-Mark Azure Spirit Pill, he had directly reached the level of a four-star Da Dou Shi.
That's the power of the protagonist for you!
"Tsk, tsk. If the Misty Cloud Sect knew your current strength, I doubt they'd be so confidently inviting the leaders and experts of all the major factions to watch."
Zhou Changqing shook his head with a sigh, offering a moment of silent pity for Nalan Yanran and the Misty Cloud Sect.
She was already outmatched.
And now Xiao Yan had gotten a power-up.
How was the Misty Cloud Sect supposed to play this?
Xiao Yan seemed to already be imagining the scene of the Three-Year Agreement, a faint smile playing on his lips. "All I can say is, they brought this on themselves."
Although the trials of the past few years had tempered much of the hatred he once felt for Nalan Yanran, he had never forgotten the humiliation of that day. He had been holding it in all this time.
Furthermore, the Misty Cloud Sect had gone to such great lengths to build up momentum for Nalan Yanran, clearly planning to make a fool out of him in front of all the other factions.
Therefore, Xiao Yan held no goodwill for the Misty Cloud Sect and wouldn't mind stomping all over their pride tomorrow.
Zhou Changqing nodded. They had indeed brought it on themselves. If the Misty Cloud Sect hadn't made such a grand spectacle of it, they might not have ended up being annihilated by Xiao Yan later on.
Thinking about it now, the sect's invitation to him was likely a way to display their power, hoping to better win him over, perhaps even tempt him into joining them.
A nice dream, but reality was about to hit them hard.
"What do you think would happen if the Misty Cloud Sect found out about our relationship? Would they regret inviting me to witness the Three-Year Agreement?" Zhou Changqing asked with a slight grin, recalling the events of the duel in the original story.
Xiao Yan's eyes lit up. "You know, you might be onto something. If those old geezers in charge of this whole affair knew, the looks on their faces would be priceless."
Originally, with Hai Bodong and his teacher protecting him, he felt the Three-Year Agreement would go smoothly.
Now, with Old Zhou in the picture, and that other person by his side, there were absolutely no lingering worries!
That's right, Xiao Yan had recognized Queen Medusa.
He had come looking for Zhou Changqing once and happened to run into Medusa, who was there to collect lightning essence. Though Xiao Yan didn't realize it at the time, a later hint from his teacher allowed him to identify the fearsome woman who had forced the Pill King Gu He, one Dou Huang, and three Dou Wang experts to retreat in disgrace from the desert.
At the same time, Xiao Yan had learned from Yao Lao that Medusa had successfully evolved and broken through to the Dou Zong realm.
As for why Xiao Yan was so certain Medusa would intervene if an unstoppable force appeared, it was because he could see that the relationship between Zhou Changqing and Medusa was anything but ordinary.
It was almost laughable.
Why would the fearsome Queen Medusa, whose reputation struck terror across several empires, follow Old Zhou around if there wasn't something special between them? Did people really think she was some delicate beauty?
And if she were just keeping a boy toy, Queen Medusa had more than enough power and means to do so without traveling thousands of miles with him to the imperial capital.
With a Dou Zong, a Dou Huang, a Dou Wang, plus his teacher's own soul strength—powerful enough to contend with a peak Dou Huang and even clash with a Dou Zong—their lineup was beyond luxurious.
Even if Nalan Yanran lost and the Misty Cloud Sect wanted to make a move against him, they would first have to see if they had the strength to back it up!
"Alright, get some rest and be in top form for the agreement tomorrow. I'll stop bothering you."
Zhou Changqing waved and walked toward the door, turning his head to add with a smirk, "And don't you go celebrating early and rewarding yourself tonight. If you lose tomorrow because of that, your old man here will look down on you for the rest of your life."
Xiao Yan flipped him the bird and spat. "You're the one who'd be rewarding yourself in the middle of the night! I'm not that desperate. This young master's virginity isn't going to be lost to my own hand."
"Tsk, tsk. I see you're saving it for Xun'er."
"Get lost!"
"Hahahaha..."
The door clicked shut.
Listening to the fading laughter, a helpless look appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he cursed under his breath.
"Damn it. I knew I shouldn't have taught that little brat so much, just for him to use it to tease me."
But despite his words, a nostalgic glint appeared in his eyes.
Only when he was with Old Zhou could he recapture that feeling of shooting the breeze with his sworn sons from his past life. It was a big reason why he and Old Zhou got along so well. He had to admit, for a native of this world, Old Zhou's ability to pick up on new things was on par with any internet user from his previous life on Earth.
What Xiao Yan didn't know, however, was that Zhou Changqing was no native.
...
The next morning.
The golden sun broke through the horizon, its warm light spreading across the land, bringing infinite vitality to the new day.
Xiao Yan finished getting ready. He took off his alchemist robes and changed into his usual black and red attire. Removing the mask that represented 'Yan Xiao,' he shouldered the Heavy Xuan Ruler and left the inn.
Walking down the street, he moved with a firm and steady pace toward the Misty Cloud Mountain, north of the city, where the Misty Cloud Sect resided.
The Three-Year Agreement. It was time to bring it to a perfect close