Ao Tuo issued several commands and waited for a while. 

After a few moments, a black figure flashed in his office and said, "Lord, we have captured them." 

Ao Tuo nodded and spoke in a dull tone, "I will interrogate them myself." 

The black figure kneeling on the ground seemed to feel Ao Tuo's anger, and his body shivered. 

He picked up his alchemist coat from the chair and said, "Let's go." They stepped out of the office and walked towards the depths of the building. 

Soon, Ao Tuo and his subordinate stopped in front of the black gate below the alchemist association. One could smell the blood from outside the entrance. 

Who could have imagined there was something like this below the alchemist association? 

Yet, Ao Tuo's face remained calm; he had long known about it. 

'Creak!' Someone from the other side opened the gate. Another man in a black uniform stepped outside and saluted Ao Tuo. 

The two men in black uniform were a part of the alchemist association's secret force. To keep their identity hidden, they covered themselves with a black mask. Only Fu Lan Ke and Ao Tuo were the two people who knew their real identity. 

"Where are they?" Ao Tuo waved his hand and asked. 

The black man stood up, turned around, and stepped inside the black gate. Ao Tuo silently followed him. Soon, they stopped in front of a cell. 

"Sir, we have captured all family members of the traitor," the black-robed man standing behind Ao Tuo spoke in a cold voice. 

Ao Tuo nodded and stepped inside the cell. A fiery red dou qi enveloped his body, and a whip appeared in his hands. Ao Tuo coldly looked at the three captives bound in front of him, and the fury in his heart burst out like a volcano. 

He didn't ask them anything; instead, Ao Tuo's dou qi boiled, and he started hitting them. The whip in his hand was like a poisonous snake; it tore through the air and hit their bodies. 

Soon, the cell was filled with heart-wrenching screams. The guards outside looked at it calmly. It was nothing new for them. 

......

After leaving the alchemist association, Xiao Ning quickly rushed back to the inn where he resided for the last few days. 

As the distance lessened, the premonition in Xiao Ning's heart grew, and he became more anxious. 

'Xi Yian, stay safe.' Xiao Ning muttered in his heart. 

Soon, he reached the inn, and Xiao Ning rushed straight towards his room, ignoring everything else. 

Xiao Ning's heart throbbed as he stood outside the room. He became more anxious and lost his previous composure. 

He sensed no one inside the room, and Xi Yian was missing. "Someone took her away as bait? Or she was the real target all along?" Xiao Ning muttered to himself as he entered the room. 

After seeing the messy room, Xiao Ning's eyes became icy. He clenched his fists, and bloody marks appeared on his palms. 

'Exhale!' Xiao Ning took a few deep breaths and calmed himself. The fury in his heart did not decrease, but Xi Yian's safety was his top priority. 

Xiao Ning's mental strength surged, and he quickly scanned the entire room. 

As he checked the room for clues, Xiao Ning's face became ugly after seeing Xi Yian's pouch, which contained poison collected for her cultivation. 

The pouch was open, with traces of poison scattered around it. 

'She consumed all of the poison to increase her strength,' Xiao Ning thought in his mind. He was more worried about her 'Woeful Poison Body.' 

'If Xi Yian's physique erupts at this junction, the people who took her would certainly kill her,' Xiao Ning became more worried. 

Suddenly, Xiao Ning sensed something, and he tilted his upper body towards the right. 

'Click!' That exact moment, Xiao Ning heard the sound of glass breaking; a black arrow broke through the window and embedded in the wall on the opposite side. 

Xiao Ning narrowed his eyes after seeing the arrow and many things became clear. He is the target, and these people took Xi Yian as bait. 

Xiao Ning moved forward and grabbed the letter tied to the arrow. He narrowed his eyes, and his face grew colder after reading the contents of the letter. 

Even after knowing that it was a trap prepared for him, Xiao Ning did not hesitate. He took out the jade bottle from his storage ring and swallowed the golden pill inside.

The golden pill melted after entering Xiao Ning's mouth and an enormous amount of energy poured into his body. 

He didn't have enough time to refine and absorb the energy contained inside the golden pill. Xiao Ning looked at the raging energy present inside his body without any hint of panic on his face. Like it was not his body ravaged by the medicinal power contained in the pill. 

Xiao Ning smashed the remaining window and jumped out of it. A pair of golden wings appeared on his back, and he soared into the sky. It was a race against time, and Xiao Ning didn't care if other people knew about his dou qi technique. 

Anyway, it was no longer possible for anyone else to train this dou qi technique. 

Only now did the perks of being an alchemist become visible; Xiao Ning used a portion of his consciousness to refine the majestic energy in his body while flying over the Black Rock City. 

After a few seconds, Xiao Ning heard a muffled sound from his body; he had refined a part of medicinal energy and broke through 1 star. 

Yet, there was no joy on his face; instead, he began to refine the remaining energy even more frantically. In the process, Xiao Ning wasted a portion of it. Still, he broke through again. 

Normally, the golden pill could have allowed him to break through three times. Yet, Xiao Ning only broke through twice. 

He didn't feel regretful for missing the opportunity, nor did he care about the pain his body felt during this frantic refining. 

......

In a few moments, Xiao Ning flew outside the city. As soon as he did, Xiao Ning felt a few tyrannical auras in the distance. His face turned solemn; yet, he still flew over. 

"Xi Yian!" Xiao Ning shouted after he saw her tied to a tree. Xiao Ning's mood calmed after seeing her condition.