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"Xin Lan, this place is rich with all kinds of dicinal ingredients. You can practice alchemy here. I can help you resolve a crisis once, but I can’t always be there to solve your problems. Improving your alchemy skills is the true path forward," Xiao Yan said calmly.
Xin Lan nodded in response. "I understand, Senior Brother Xiao Yan."
"If you encounter any difficulties with alchemy, you can ask Zi Yan and the Athyst Winged Lion King to take you to Jia Ma Sacred City. Consulting with Yue’er might offer you so fresh perspectives," Xiao Yan added.
After giving his instructions, Xiao Yan walked over to Zi Yan, who stood to the side with a pout, visibly unhappy. He gently patted her small head to comfort her. "Don’t worry, I’ll be back very soon this ti. It shouldn’t take long."
Xiao Yan had no choice but to leave Zi Yan behind. Although the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change was a legacy left by his ancestor Xiao Xuan, that was a matter from a thousand years ago. The current Xiao Clan was no longer what it once was, and bringing too many people might complicate things.
Zi Yan let out a sigh. "I know. Just hurry back. If I finish all the candy pills, I’ll have to eat those bitter dicinal ingredients."
Xiao Yan could only smile wryly at her words. So that’s what you’re worried about!
After bidding farewell to the Athyst Winged Lion King and his cub, Xiao Yan handed them the True Fla Creation Skill. He asked them to deliver it to Venerable Tian Huo when they had the chance. After all, Venerable Tian Huo needed three kinds of beast flas to create the Life Transforming Fla: the Athyst Winged Lion King’s purple fla, Zi Yan’s dragon fla, and the Serene Sea Scaly Beast’s beast fla. That would be just enough.
Xiao Yan stayed for a al prepared by Little Fairy Doctor before using the Nihility Devouring Fla to open a wormhole.
"Be careful. If you run into danger, rember to crush the jade piece," Little Fairy Doctor said, her voice tinged with concern.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine." Xiao Yan nodded. He hesitated for a mont, then gently embraced her and whispered softly, "I’ll be back soon." With that, he turned and stepped into the wormhole, leaving the small valley behind.
However, Xiao Yan didn’t head straight for the Central Plains. Instead, he quietly arrived at the palace of the Snake-People Tribe.
"Who’s there?!"
A mass of black flas erged as Xiao Yan stepped out from the void. He imdiately saw Hua She Er gripping her weapon, on high alert.
"Relax, it’s ." Xiao Yan walked slowly out of the black flas.
"Grandmaster Xiao Yan!" Hua She Er lowered her guard upon recognizing his appearance and the black flas, though she looked at him with confusion. There’s a perfectly good front door, so why sneak in like this?
Seeing her expression, Xiao Yan coughed lightly in embarrassnt. "Where is Queen dusa?"
He had only revealed himself because his Spiritual Strength hadn’t located Cai Lin.
"Grandmaster Xiao Yan, you’re looking for Her Majesty the Queen? Unfortunately, it’s not a good ti. Her Majesty was summoned by the four elders. It seems they need to perform so Secret thod, which will likely take several days. Do you need to inform her?" Hua She Er replied respectfully.
’They’re starting the Secret thod so soon?!’ Xiao Yan’s heart jolted. A mix of emotions stirred within him. He naturally knew what this Secret thod entailed. Whether it was nervousness or sothing else, a sense of unease crept into his chest.
"No need. I just ca to deliver so pills for her. Please help give these to her. Also, I’ll be leaving the North-Western Region for a while and will return later. Please let her know for ." Xiao Yan felt a tinge of disappointnt at being unable to see Cai Lin. He left behind so nourishing and life-saving pills, handing them to Hua She Er.
"I understand, Grandmaster Xiao Yan. I will inform Her Majesty." Hua She Er accepted the pills with great care and replied solemnly.
"Mm." Since Cai Lin wasn’t there, Xiao Yan had nothing more to say. He opened the wormhole once again and began heading southwest toward the Central Plains.
After Xiao Yan disappeared, Hua She Er muttered to herself with a strange expression, "Could Grandmaster Xiao Yan be pursuing Her Majesty? Giving gifts and informing her of his whereabouts like this..."
The matter between Xiao Yan and Cai Lin was, of course, a closely guarded secret. If it were exposed, the entire Yan Alliance, and even the North-Western Region, would be shaken!
...
Within the pitch-black spatial passage, Xiao Yan’s entire body was enveloped in the black flas of the Nihility Devouring Fla. Only with these flas could he open wormholes and freely traverse the void.
Xiao Yan took out the map Ya Fei had given him from his storage ring. The map was very general, only roughly indicating the direction of Burning Fla Valley relative to Jia Ma Sacred City. Having never been to the Central Plains before, he could only rely on Mao Wu’s power to head straight toward Burning Fla Valley based on the approximate direction.
Fortunately, he possessed the Seed Fla of the Nihility Devouring Fla. Otherwise, if he had to rely on flying with Dou Qi wings, there was no telling how long the journey would take.
’Even using a wormhole, the distance is still imnse.’ Xiao Yan had been traveling for half a day before he could barely be considered to have left the Yan Alliance’s sphere of influence. One could imagine how vast the Yan Alliance’s territory had grown.
’This is too ti-consuming. I need to find a tool.’ Xiao Yan frowned. Wasting ti was wasting life. He still had several Dou Techniques he hadn’t cultivated.
As for his cultivation level, he wasn’t worried. With pills and Heavenly Flas, he could rapidly advance by relying on the Fla Mantra. But his Spiritual Strength had stagnated, and he also needed to carefully study the gray lightning within his body.
Xiao Yan didn’t want to squander the ti spent traveling to Burning Fla Valley.
After so thought, he took out the headless puppet from his storage ring. With a rather wicked sense of humor, he had nad it ’Xing Tian.’
’This thing should work.’ He also took out a wooden board and sat on it. With a thought, the Xing Tian puppet seed to gain its own consciousness. It raised the wooden board with both hands, supporting Xiao Yan.
Whoosh!
Mao Wu leaped out from the Acceptance Soul and settled on Xiao Yan’s lap.
ow! (Let’s go!)
With a ow and a point of Mao Wu’s paw, the headless puppet began running through the void! Yes, it started running!
’Hahaha, great! No wonder people buy Space Boats when using wormholes. With a ans of transportation, you can focus on other things.’ Xiao Yan couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
A headless puppet carrying him and running through the void—this comical scene was hard not to find amusing.
However, he quickly cald himself and took out the God Seal Technique scroll Xun Er had asked Ling Ying to deliver to him.
’I hope I can cultivate the Overturning Land Seal before reaching Burning Fla Valley. The fourth seal, Sky Burying Seal, and the final Ancient God Seal will have to wait a bit.’ Although the God Seal Technique was only a High Di Class Dou Technique, its profundity couldn’t be judged solely by its grade. After all, the original God Seal Technique’s power definitely exceeded High Di Class, and it was created by a Dou God.
Within the wormhole, even the passage of ti was imperceptible. One could only rely on powerful Spiritual Strength to probe outside the tunnel and gauge the ti. Apart from occasionally leaving the wormhole to have a hearty al in so desolate wilderness or to rest and sleep, Xiao Yan spent most of each day inside the wormhole.
...
In this dark, lightless tunnel, a bronze figure flashed by. Above it, a black-robed youth ford hand seals with chanical precision, and terrifying Dou Qi fluctuations emanated from his hands.
After more than ten days had passed, Xiao Yan’s eyes suddenly sharpened one day. With a thought, Xing Tian halted its steps.
"I’ve been sensing extrely dense fire affinity energy since just now... After so long, perhaps we should have reached the Roasting Fire Mountain Range," Xiao Yan murmured to himself.
Stepping out of the wormhole, Xiao Yan stood in the air and surveyed his surroundings. Not far away, a mountain range composed entirely of scorching volcanoes ca into view. As far as the eye could see, it was a uniform crimson red. So mountain peaks continuously emitted thick white smoke, and occasionally, lava would overflow from them. He even heard the distant sound of a volcanic eruption.
’A mountain range ford of active volcanoes... this should be it. This is the renowned Roasting Fire Mountain Range. Burning Fla Valley is here!’ Xiao Yan’s eyes flashed with excitent. The journey of more than ten days had indeed been quite exhausting. If he had reached the Dou Ancestor or even Dou Venerate realm, it wouldn’t have taken nearly this long.
’The fire-attribute natural energy here is incredibly rich. Cultivating fire-attribute Qi thods and Dou Techniques here will surely yield twice the results with half the effort. No wonder the Central Plains forces are so powerful. They have such a uniquely advantageous environnt.’
Xiao Yan gazed into the distance. At the edge of his vision, a fiery red line stretched across the horizon, majestic and unbroken, so vast that its end could not be seen.
"I wonder what kind of cultivation environnt those legendary Dou God Clan ’small worlds’ possess," Xiao Yan murmured, clenching his fist. "Now that I have the strength to co to the Central Plains, once I win the Pill Gathering championship and master the Emperor Soul Technique, I’ll co to the Gu Realm to find you!"
Setting foot in the Central Plains for the first ti, he couldn’t help but think of the girl who had always been by his side since childhood. For the sake of power, he had even been willing to join the Hall of Souls, all to prove himself worthy of her!
’Hm? Why have you faded?’ Just as Xiao Yan was about to put Xing Tian away, he turned his head and noticed that the puppet’s bronze surface seed to have peeled in places, revealing faint traces of silvery white beneath.
"No, wait... silver? This is an Earth Demon Puppet?!" Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed. He swept his Spiritual Strength across the entire puppet and muttered, "Could it be that running through the wormhole all this ti has polished it with Spatial Strength?"
"So there’s actually such a benefit!"
This was an unexpected surprise for him. He had only intended to use the puppet as a ans of transportation, yet it had ended up being refined in the process!
Thump, thump, thump. Xiao Yan patted Xing Tian and laughed. "Not bad. It should now have the strength of a 5 or 6-star Dou Ancestor. It can at least serve as a decent shield."
After putting the puppet away, Xiao Yan was faced with a new dilemma. Where exactly was Burning Fla Valley, and how was he supposed to enter it?
"Hehe, everyone, this is the Roasting Fire Mountain Range. Burning Fla Valley’s headquarters is located within."
A hearty laugh rang out from the forest below. "The fire-attribute energy in the Roasting Fire Mountain Range is extrely abundant. However, the energy carries a violent edge because the volcanoes erupt year-round. Even if you’re admitted into Burning Fla Valley, you must first dispel its violent nature if you want to absorb this energy. Otherwise, cultivating with it for too long may affect your state of mind."
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and looked down at the small group below. His mind raced with a sudden thought. ’Could today be Burning Fla Valley’s recruitnt day?!’
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