"Xiao Yan, go get their spatial rings!"
Xiao Bai said to Xiao Yan, who was still in a daze, and then turned toward the small room where the blacksmith had entered earlier and shouted, "Come out!"
The blacksmith, who had been hiding in the small room, was trembling like a sieve. He had clearly seen through the small window earlier that the person outside was a killing star who easily wiped out everyone from the Jia Lie family.
Those were big shots from Wutan City! Normally, these people were always high and mighty, unreachable for people like them in the West District.
But today, they were killed as easily as one would kill a chicken. No, judging by the looks of the killing star, it was even easier than killing a chicken!
Shivering, the blacksmith crawled out of the small room, ran to Xiao Bai, and knelt down in front of him, pleading desperately, "Young master, spare my life! Spare my life! I had nothing to do with this! They forced me!"
Xiao Bai looked at him with a blank expression and, after a moment, said calmly, "Where is my cauldron?"
"It's at the front shop, young master. Please wait, I will go get it right away!" the blacksmith said, glancing at Xiao Bai's reaction. Seeing that he didn't speak, he hurriedly got up and ran out.
"Big Brother Bai, are you really just letting him go like this? If we were in a weak position today, we would've been buried here!" At this moment, Xiao Yan had already retrieved the spatial rings of Jia Lie Bi and Jia Lie En and handed them to Xiao Bai. He asked curiously.
"Heh~!" Xiao Bai coldly snickered, not giving a direct answer.
Taking the spatial rings handed to him, Xiao Bai examined them in his hand. It was his first time holding one. The spatial ring was completely black, with a slightly rough surface, a bit wider than rings from his previous life.
He used his soul power to scan inside, and among the two rings, one was slightly larger, around ten cubic units, while the other was smaller, only about three or four.
The larger one was likely Jia Lie Bi's. It was filled mostly with gold coins—about 400,000—and a Low-level Xuan Class cultivation method, "Wind Fury Technique," along with a Low-level Xuan Class Dou technique, "Swift Wind Palm." The rest were just miscellaneous items.
The smaller one had only a few tens of thousands of gold coins and several Huang Class Dou techniques.
Seeing the items inside, Xiao Bai couldn't help but shake his head. Wutan City was too small. The Jia Lie family, one of the three major families, only had this little in the possession of its high-ranking members.
However, the spatial rings and gold coins solved Xiao Bai's current needs. Alchemy was not something the poor could afford to learn. Despite alchemists being wealthy, that wealth only came after they became famous.
Most lower-tier apprentices with alchemical talent either had a good family background, a good teacher, or relied on a family or sect for support. Otherwise, where would they get the large quantities of medicinal materials to practice and break through?
After putting all the useful items into the larger ring, Xiao Bai threw the rest away before placing the ring on his finger.
He took another look at it and nodded.
Not bad. With this spatial ring, it would be much more convenient when going out with Yao Lao in a few months.
After all, this time they were heading to the Tagel Desert. The first thing to solve was the issue of water and food. Xiao Bai didn't want to be carrying a lot of bags—it would ruin his heroic image!
Xiao Yan watched him put on the ring with envy. After all, spatial rings were a rare item. Only his father and the eldest elder of the Xiao family had one. He had seen them since he was a child but never had the chance to use one himself!
Xiao Bai looked at Xiao Yan's expression and felt a bit speechless. You, the future Flame Emperor, can't you be a bit more ambitious!
Just then, the blacksmith came rushing back, stumbling and holding a small cauldron. Gasping for breath, he handed it to Xiao Bai with a flattering smile, saying, "Young master, here's your cauldron. Please take a look!"
Xiao Bai took it and saw that it was a small, completely black cauldron with three legs, two handles, and a round belly with a lid. The lid even had a few small holes. It was more like a large incense burner than a cauldron.
After nodding in approval, he confirmed that it was indeed made according to the design he had provided. Xiao Bai stored the cauldron in his spatial ring.
Xiao Bai looked at the blacksmith with a calm, emotionless gaze and softly said, "We agreed that the cauldron would cost a thousand gold coins. I paid half as a deposit at the time, and the remaining five hundred gold coins would be paid when I picked it up, right?"
The blacksmith swallowed nervously. He was too scared to accept any payment now and quickly said, "No, no... Young master, it is my honor that you came here to have this cauldron made. How could I dare accept money? Back then, I was ignorant, but now I will return the gold coins to you... return them to you!"
As he spoke, he hurriedly bowed his head and trembled as he tried to take the gold coins from his pouch to return them.
Xiao Bai ignored his actions and calmly took out five hundred gold coins from his ring, placing them on the stone table beside him, saying, "Now, our agreement is fulfilled!"
Seeing Xiao Bai's actions, Xiao Yan thought that Xiao Bai was going to let the blacksmith go and asked in confusion, "Big Brother Bai, is that it?"
But before he could finish his sentence, he saw Xiao Bai's expression turn cold. He pointed his finger at the blacksmith's forehead, and the blacksmith, like the members of the Jia Lie family, collapsed straight to the ground.
Since coming to this world, Xiao Bai had often wondered what it would be like. This world was cruel, not like his previous life, which was peaceful and stable.
As someone who had grown up in a peaceful and stable environment, he had often pondered what his feelings would be like the first time he killed someone. Would he be nervous? Would killing someone change his personality?
He had thought about these things when he was bored, but now, when the moment had truly arrived, Xiao Bai realized that he had overthought it.
When it was life or death, there was no time to think about those unnecessary things.
Xiao Bai did not want to be a saint; he just wanted to live—live well.
He could have his own bottom line and not kill innocents recklessly, but he also couldn't be too merciful, or he would be stuck in this world, and sometimes, it could cost him his life.
When the blacksmith came back, Xiao Bai had a moment of hesitation about whether or not to kill him, but he suppressed it right away.
Maybe he was really forced into it, or maybe he was tempted by profit, but did that matter?
No, it didn't. If Xiao Bai couldn't defeat the Jia Lie family's people today, his body might end up on some desolate mountain tomorrow, eaten by wild beasts. The world might never even know that someone named Xiao Bai had ever existed.
Thinking of this, Xiao Bai stood there for a moment, lost in thought, his feelings somewhat complicated.
"Big Brother Bai...?"
Xiao Bai was brought back to reality by Xiao Yan's voice. He saw Xiao Yan looking at him with some worry and smiled gently at him.
"It's nothing, let's go!"
Saying this, he walked out first. Xiao Yan, seeing that he didn't seem to be troubled, put his worries aside and hurriedly followed.
"Big Brother Bai, why did you give him the money before killing him?"
"That was our agreement, so I had to fulfill it. A promise is a promise. Fulfilling the agreement doesn't conflict with killing him!"
After hearing this, Xiao Yan understood. Xiao Bai kept his word. Even if the blacksmith had become his enemy, his promise before they were enemies had to be kept.
"Then, Big Brother Bai, if there was someone you had promised something to, and later they became your enemy, and if fulfilling your promise meant their strength would surpass yours, would you still do it?"
Xiao Yan asked this question purely out of curiosity—what would Big Brother Bai choose if that situation arose?
Yao Lao, who was in the ring, also perked up his ears, equally curious about how Xiao Bai would act if he ever found himself in such a situation.