Word Count: 2,621 Words
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If Hai Bodong, Jia Xing Tian, the elders outside, or even dusa knew what Xiao Yan was thinking, they would probably want to strangle him.
Reaching the high-star Dou Emperor stage in just two years, and you still think it's too slow???
Do you have any idea how long it took us to reach Dou Emperor back in our day?!
Of course, when Xiao Yan said it was slow, he didn't an his cultivation speed was lacking. Rather, staying here would only improve his cultivation level while his Spiritual Strength, alchemy skills, and Dou Techniques would see no improvent at all.
He would beco soone with abundant Dou Qi but lacking technical skill. Against opponents with cheat-like talents such as the Dou God Bloodline, without diligently honing his Dou Techniques, he wouldn't stand a chance!
Moreover, Xiao Yan hadn't forgotten that he needed to cultivate the Emperor Soul Technique. To do so, he needed to utilize the power of the Seed Fla of the Nihility Devouring Fla, which would be like entering hell itself.
dusa remained silent upon seeing Xiao Yan deep in thought. She continued absorbing the Heavenly Fla energy to rapidly condense her body.
Although Xiao Yan possessed a quasi-Tian Class Qi thod, she had evolved her bloodline and tempered her soul using the Green Lotus Core Fla, strengthened her bloodline power with the Ten Thousand Beast Fla, and now she was condensing her physical body with the Fallen Heart Fla. If she completed such an astonishing feat and reached Rank 7, her bloodline strength would definitely not be weaker than a Tian Class Qi thod.
'However... before leaving, there are still so matters to handle.'
Xiao Yan slowly spread out his hand. A colorless and formless fla erged from his palm with a whoosh, gradually transforming into a lazy little snake.
"Hiss hiss." The Fallen Heart Fla stuck out its tongue, looking drowsy as if just woken up. It lifted its eyes to glance at Xiao Yan, then smacked its lips, coiled up, and continued to sleep.
Xiao Yan's eyelid twitched violently. This guy...
He was also sowhat speechless about himself. A snake, a cat, and two fish. Am I really becoming a beast tar?!
"Wake up! Didn't you say you had sothing to tell !" Xiao Yan used his Spiritual Strength to nudge the Fallen Heart Fla coiled in his palm. The Fallen Heart Fla had communicated through their soul connection that it had sothing to tell him when he had completely refined it earlier.
But at that ti, he was about to refine the Bone Chilling Fla, so he had postponed it. Now that he had finished refining the Bone Chilling Fla and was preparing to leave the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to return to Jia Ma Sacred City to see his father, if it didn't tell him now, then when?
The little Fallen Heart Fla serpent heard Xiao Yan ntion this and abruptly raised its head. It jumped up with a flick of its tail and hovered in the air, its eyes instantly sharpening. Then it pointed its tail toward the magma.
"Hmm? You're saying there's sothing beneath the magma?" Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, and his Spiritual Strength instantly spread out. However, this magma world was too vast, and since the magma contained natural energy, his Spiritual Strength couldn't sense very far.
Xiao Yan's eyes flickered, and his expression changed slightly. The Fallen Heart Fla had lived in this magma world for countless years. If it said there was sothing good below, perhaps there truly was sothing hidden.
This tempted him sowhat. Perhaps there might be sothing unexpected down there.
Xiao Yan licked his lips and narrowed his eyes. This ti, it was worth taking the risk!
He didn't disturb dusa; after all, she wasn't obliged to act as his bodyguard.
The hesitation in his eyes gradually faded, having made up his mind. A solemn expression crossed his face as he looked down at the boundless magma. He didn't know how deep this underground magma was. To delve into it required exceptionally powerful strength because the scorching temperatures and imnse pressure down there were not sothing ordinary experts could withstand.
Based on estimations, diving into the depths of this magma would require at least the strength of a Dou Ancestor. For ordinary Dou Emperors without sufficiently abundant Dou Qi, diving down could have unpredictable consequences.
Of course, he was an exception; after all, the forr ruler was now by his side.
"Heart Fla, lead the way."
Xiao Yan stood above the magma, deep in thought for a mont, then waved his hand, and a black robe appeared in his grasp.
He hadn't yet had ti to exchange for the black robe used by Honorable Elders; for now, this robe was still that of a Heaven Grade Protector, but it was sufficient to block probing by Spiritual Strength at the Soul State!
Soul Chase!
Xiao Yan quickly ford hand seals, leaving behind a soul imprint as a coordinate. At the bottom of the magma, visibility would be poor, depth unknown, the magma viscous, and the area vast. If he ventured in haphazardly, who knew which way he'd have to swim to eventually return to the surface?
Perhaps if he wandered aimlessly downward, he'd get farther and farther from safety. But with a landmark sensing, even if sothing went wrong, he could quickly and accurately find his way back and escape.
After donning the Soul Robe and pulling up the hood, Hun Yan made his entrance with a 'Jie Jie' laugh!
The Nihility Devouring Fla covered the Soul Robe with a whoosh, and outside that, another layer of Fallen Heart Fla and Green Lotus Core Fla enveloped him. Xiao Yan felt sowhat secure only after fully activating his powerful spiritual perception.
After he had made all preparations, the sentient little Fallen Heart Fla serpent transford into a swimming dragon and darted into the magma with a splash.
Xiao Yan no longer hesitated. His body leaped, and he dove headfirst into the viscous magma. A burst of bubbles rose and quickly burst. The seemingly endless magma world once again fell into dead silence.
dusa glanced in the direction where Xiao Yan disappeared but didn't say anything. Since he didn't want her help, that saved her the trouble. However, the fact that Xiao Yan didn't even ask her made her feel sowhat displeased.
At this ti, the First Elder and others outside the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower were getting quite frustrated.
"Why hasn't that kid co out yet..."
...
Scorching heat and imnse pressure surged from all directions as Xiao Yan dove into the magma. Fortunately, he had refined the Bone Chilling Fla, and its dual attributes helped cool him down.
His Spiritual Strength also isolated the terrifying pressure. If an ordinary person were to dive into the magma world, even if they weren't burned to death by the magma, they would be crushed into pulp by the horrifying pressure.
Xiao Yan's figure paused slightly. After carefully surveying his surroundings and finding no anomalies, he continued following the Fallen Heart Fla downward.
Regarding this magma sea, although Xiao Yan had been cultivating here for two months, he knew little about it. The only thing he knew was that this seed to be the birthplace of the Fallen Heart Fla. As for whether this magma sea harbored other things, he was entirely unaware.
Perhaps even First Elder Su Qian wasn't very familiar with this underground magma world beneath the Inner Academy. Probably only the mysterious Headmaster, who built the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower above and eventually established Jia Nan Academy, would know sothing.
First Elder Su Qian and the Qian Bai Two Elders had once ventured down, but they retreated in apprehension upon seeing the endless magma.
Even peak Dou Ancestors, without the protection of a Heavenly Fla and the guidance of the Fallen Heart Fla, who would be as foolish as Xiao Yan to dive straight down like this?
It was no wonder that dusa's last glance at him held a faint 'you must be an idiot" sentint.
Ti passed bit by bit. Xiao Yan dove deeper and deeper following the Fallen Heart Fla. If not for the Fla Mantra evolving to a quasi-Tian Class, his Dou Qi at the Dou King level would definitely not have been sufficient.
'Sigh... this must be what they call extre deep-sea dread.'
This magma world wasn't devoid of life. Xiao Yan saw so creatures that were entirely crimson when he dove to a certain depth.
Their scarlet bodies were covered in red scales. Their approximately one-and-a-half-ter-long red tails swayed slightly. The red figures stood upright on two legs. To put it simply, they were red lizards that could walk upright.
Xiao Yan paid them no mind. Although these Fire Lizards were quite strong—the weakest being Dou Spirits, and quite a few Dou Kings among them—because they lived in the magma, their eyes had completely degenerated, and they relied on perception to locate enemies.
With the Soul Robe and his Perfected Mortal State Spiritual Strength, Xiao Yan feared sensory detection the least. Wrapped in Heavenly Flas, in the eyes of these Fire Lizards, he was just a sinking fla, nothing special.
After descending for about ten more minutes, the Fallen Heart Fla suddenly let out an excited cry.
"We've arrived?!" Xiao Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Continuously descending without knowing when it would end had made him feel sowhat numb.
Fortunately, along the way, he had the little Fallen Heart Fla serpent to lead and accompany him, which steadied his heart a bit.
'Eh? Is that a protective barrier?'
Xiao Yan's eyes flickered, and his gaze suddenly shifted to the transparent halo below. He saw the Fallen Heart Fla swishing its tail and darting into the light shield with a whoosh.
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Xiao Yan's eyes flashed. His figure twisted and followed the Fallen Heart Fla like lightning. Amazingly, his body passed through without any obstruction.
He sensed an unusual fluctuation of Spiritual Strength scanning over his body when his figure broke through that transparent light shield. If not for his exceptionally strong Spiritual Strength, it would have been difficult to detect this subtle spiritual fluctuation.
Following the Fallen Heart Fla through the light shield in an instant, his eyes narrowed as he saw a mysterious skeleton suspended in the center of this enigmatic space!
'To be able to tear open space in a place like this? This strength must be at least at the Dou Venerate level...'
Although a Dou Ancestor could already utilize a bit of Spatial Strength, tearing space and creating a Space Lock barrier like this would require at least a Dou Venerate.
Hiss hiss hiss!!! The Fallen Heart Fla was like an excited child as it swiftly swam to the top of the skeleton, its tail pointing like an arrow at the side of the bones.
There was actually another Fallen Heart Fla there!
"A Fallen Heart Fla?! A second one!" The birth of Heavenly Flas was extrely stringent, but it didn't rule out the possibility of two identical Heavenly Flas being born.
Xiao Yan carefully examined this formless fla resembling a candle fla and murmured, "This is an immature Fallen Heart Fla..."
This one was worlds apart compared to the fully matured Fallen Heart Fla serpent that possessed intelligence. Even if he refined it, it probably wouldn't increase his strength by much.
It might be just a bit more mature than when the Seed Fla of the Nihility Devouring Fla was first born. Nurturing this Fallen Heart Fla to maturity would likely require a lot of effort from Xiao Yan.
'One money-eating beast is enough. As for this... let Heart Fla devour it or give it to the academy. If I can make Jia Nan Academy owe a favor, that wouldn't be bad.' He didn't feel there was anything wrong with taking the Fallen Heart Fla for himself.
At this mont, Xiao Yan sowhat understood the feeling Hun Huzi had when he looked down on the Bone Chilling Fla!!!
Tasteless to eat, but a pity to discard.
However, Xiao Yan didn't imdiately go to retrieve it. Instead, he revealed a aningful smile as he looked toward the skeleton.
"Perhaps I should say, 'Pardon the intrusion.'" Xiao Yan didn't use Dou Qi but spread his voice using Spiritual Strength, which could prevent exposing that he only had the strength of a Dou King.
A dazzling white light suddenly burst forth from within the skeleton as soon as he finished speaking. The sudden change made him furrow his brows as a massive force quietly immobilized him.
Xiao Yan didn't resist this force. He clasped his hands behind his back and quietly waited.
Breaking this seal wasn't difficult for him; he only needed to use a Soul Skill and the Nihility Devouring Fla to do so.
The light gradually contracted, wriggled, and finally transford into the illusory figure of an elderly man.
The illusory figure wore a white robe, his beard and hair all snowy white in color. His aged face was composed, and a faint brilliance flickered in his indifferent eyes. Xiao Yan felt a sense of oppression emanating from the depths of his heart as soon as this illusory figure appeared.
"So, the Fallen Heart Fla has been subdued by soone after all." The illusory figure glanced at Xiao Yan, then looked at the little serpent that swam to Xiao Yan's side. His voice carried a hint of indescribable aning.
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed. He had heard the First Elder say that the Headmaster had once discovered the Fallen Heart Fla here. Initially, he had planned to capture it, but upon seeing that the Fallen Heart Fla already possessed so intelligence and that he himself didn't really need it, he built the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower instead.
Could it be that this Fallen Heart Fla once belonged to the person before him?!
The mysterious soul body beckoned with his hand, and the Heart Fla serpent, looking sowhat bewildered, slowly swam to his side. Xiao Yan wasn't surprised, showed no resistance, and didn't make any fuss upon seeing this.
With the Fla Mantra, he had absolute control over Heavenly Flas.
Moreover, a soul body? Heh. Let him act up for a while; let's see if there's anything else.
"You don't seem afraid of taking away the Fallen Heart Fla," the old man's eyes flashed with a glint as he looked at Xiao Yan.
With the Soul Robe on, he couldn't see through Xiao Yan's strength.
Xiao Yan shrugged, not saying a word.
"Rest assured, I won't snatch your Fallen Heart Fla. Strictly speaking, I have long been a dead man. Over these many years, my soul has been nearly eroded away," the old man said indifferently. The Fallen Heart Fla returned to Xiao Yan's side on its own with a light wave of his hand.
Xiao Yan didn't believe the old man's words. His understanding of soul bodies had deepened greatly after joining the Hall of Souls. So, he knew that the person before him wasn't a remnant soul but a very powerful soul body that was well preserved.
"I forgot to introduce myself. This old man is Yao Tian Huo. Others sotis call Venerable Tian Huo." The white-robed old man smiled. However, within his smile was a pride that emanated from his very bones.
"Oh." Xiao Yan's tone was neither joyful nor sorrowful. Venerable? He was one too.
Junior Xiao Yan of the Xiao Clan. Others sotis call Venerable Hun Yan!
Of course, his title of Venerable was sowhat inflated.
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