Since Elder Pharmacist had been captured so many years ago, this was Xiao Yan’s first time seeing his mentor with his very own eyes. The elder’s head now displayed a mass of white wisps—his appearance was frail, devoid completely of that calm detachment Xiao Yan recalled so vividly—there was nothing left but weakness typical of an old man approaching the end of his years. This transformation filled Xiao Yan’s heart with melancholy pain. Ever since that day when Elder Pharmacist fell into Hun殿’s hands, his life hadn’t been extinguished—but clearly, his situation thereafter had not exactly been good.
As Xiao Yan dropped helplessly onto his knees, within that bright luminescent orb, Elder Pharmacis’s eyes fluttered slightly; next, they creaked open to reveal two blurry pupils, looking towards Xiao Yan’s youthfulness and at Xiao Yan’s reddening gaze. Briefly stunned, a smile of frail contentment crept slowly across his face as he rasped, “Little fellow, you’ve finally come of age!”
Back then on departing, Xiao Yan was nothing but a fiery young lad, whose audacity burned bright with untamed potential. Yet, after the brief expanse of years, that same brash youth had now attained such maturity. A singular, simple line caused an even deeper swell of grief within Xiao Yan. Swiping at the water in his eyes, he then promptly readjusted himself—the environment around remained far too perilous for prolonged reminiscence.
All such heartfelt exchanges they must first suspend to wait until escaping the Ghost Spirit Mountains in one piece.
Rising calmly up amidst such emotional tides, Xiao Yan’s eyes scanned over the orb’s perimeter before he pressed his palm flatly against this glowing sphere. Immediately, the powerful waves from the soul emanating from his core surged outward like rolling seas—the sphere shimmered and wiggled with wave ripples emanating from that palm contact and finally spread across every inch of the shining oval.
“This soul-energy … oddly bears a trace of a Saint realm presence?”
Despite the elder’s own extreme fragility, his extensive awareness hadn’t faded away completely. From Xiao Yan’s usage this soul’s force emerged hints reminiscent of former times, which triggered his eyes first with momentary confusion and, soon after, deeper contentment—this disciple’s attainments had exceeded all his former expectations. After captured originally by Hun殿 forces, this disciple’s biggest worry then had revolved around Xiao Yan’s likely stunted progress under absence or guidance—but clearly, he had underestimated Xiao Yan’s true potential in those critical stages.
“Break!” Observing the increasingly thick webbing of these invisible ripples forming about the orb, frost glitter flared through Xiao Yan’s pupils as his voice thundered aloud.
“Boom!”—the resonating crash that followed as these very words echoed across the chamber caused instantaneous vibrations to ripple outward. Before another heartbeat passed, amidst barely perceptible sound, a tremendous implosion shredded that radiating orb of glowing power into a swirling nothing.
“Are you alright, Teacher?” Breaking free of this light, Xiao Yan rushed over and lifted Elder Pharmacist tenderly, before shooting a furious glare upon those four sinister black chains that bound the elder—coiling around his person thick as leviathans.
“This item is known as the Soul-Chaining Iron—a specially-designed instrument to constrain souls. It’s incredibly sturdy. You’d find dismantling it far less than simple…”
Eyeing these restraints now absent upon his limbs with bittersweet irony and a faint chuckle, Elder Pharmacist added, “Still, these people do indeed place me under great estimation by choosing to use so mighty binding.”
Xiao Yan slightly wrinkled at a brow, extending one hand onto those metal links only for intense coldness, dark sinister in nature, surging from their contact point straight towards his being—except, before such darkness even breached his skin’s barrier, those cold energies dissolved into mere nothing as swiftly purified from the power radiated by his Three-Pure- Lotus-Flame of FlameHeart.
“Screeee…” Clasping the chain, waves of dark violet flames surged instantly through his palm engulfments, igniting the ink-black iron links and causing thick fumes of white smoke to rise into air where the very essence seemed burned into ephemery.
“What is this?”
Staring at Xiao Yan’s violet flames’ emergence, initial confusion flashed briefly across Elder’s features before realization dawned suddenly in the depths behind Elder’s pupils—causing an undulating tide of hopeful wonder to ripple forward.
“You’ve consumed yet another foreign-flame again?”—he whispered.
Nodding slowly Xiao Yan replied, “It’s named the Three-Fury Blaze.”
Elder exhaled deeply, a tone laced with admiration escaping into words.
“It seems your fortune’s been quite remarkable through the years…” he muttered almost with admiration. To any ordinary pill-formulation expert, encountering merely one of such flames throughout life was near-miraculous—let alone to gather a collection time and time again.
Smiling quietly for response, Xiao Yan suddenly flamed up anew from his hands. A torrent of purple-brown infernal intensity surged forth. This searing, terrifying heat scorched the black iron links until each dark hue dissipated, leaving even the strange and ominous rune writings imprinted over chains disintegrating in mid-air in helpless dissolution like ghosts fading into night mist.
“Crunch!”
With each glyph’s annihilation, Xiao Yan clenched down one more. Immediately, cracks split through each dark metallic ring in audible evidence of destruction achieved with this might!
Removing all four such links once binding Elder—this relief visibly eased a trace of weariness from the mentor’s weary countenance even though fragility still held strong over his ephemeral structure.
Elder lightly moved his wrist in experimentation; observing those cursed bonds’ removal stirred a tide of quiet introspection within him.
Never would I have thought that my time of escape would actually arrive someday…
Looking around with solemn eyes, Elder finally suggested to his disciple urgently, “Hun殿’s forces harbor countless unknowns—we should leave sooner rather than later.”
Silently acknowledging—Slight shifts occurred within Xiao Yan’s eye as his gaze swept silently across myriad luminous orbs dotting the great chamber like stars in sky—within each flicked an ice-cold glint of vengeance as he murmured thoughtfully.
“We have come, let’s not leave clean. Wreck these traps—loose these souls into disorder, giving these damned disciples a proper shock.”
Without much elaboration, Xiao Yan clamped fingers; extending violet brown flarings, he shaped forth a flaming whip-like tendril. Whipping it fiercely in a wide, sweeping arc, the flaming chain tore through the mid-air black binds hanging above menacingly.
But before flame reached chains…
Suddenly that very expanse twisted—space solidized violently with instantaneous resistance as fire whip impacted into walllike obstruction—a shockwave explosion crackling as the flames bounced back ineffectually.
“It’s a remaining senior within Hun殿! We must leave quickly!”
Spotting resistance’s emergence, changes washed across Elder’s face immediately in a darkening storm.
No sooner had this resistance appeared in midair around them than Xiao Yan snapped himself into action without needing prompting. Grabbing his master tightly by an arm as movement blurred him into streak of lighting; Xiao Yan raced toward open egress away from their present confines like escaping thunderclouds of fate.
“Hehe… Ahh, old Pharmacist Pharmacist, you have indeed acquired such fine successor… actually daring to break into our Hun殿 territory, intent to snatch back captives—it truly deserves my sincere respect. Young man, this guts of determination—it’s even impressive by these this this this aging observer’s own measures…!”
Still retreating as swiftly as could manage, a voice laughed mockingly suddenly echoing within the chamber’s great confines—as his words completed a nearby area of their rearward fleeing abruptly warped with rippling distortions of forming invisible barriers.
“Hmph!”
Feeling a barrier now coalescing dangerously close behind him, Xiao Yan’s features furrowed inward sharply with concern as he stamped hard his foot ground behind. He stilled his motion entirely only to leap upwards with a powerful launch, staring upward.
High above—within that vast ceiling space once filled mostly by endless dark chaining networks, a tall thin robed elderly now calmly suspended himself amidst those links.
He smiled benignly downward at the two interlopers, clearly exuding authority, confidence.
“Does this person happen possess the might of yet another Dou Zun尊者?”
Even at but simple glance—imminent recognition struck within Xiao Yan’s heart alongside a wave of dread washing upon him. Such a situation remained always his greatest fear; intelligence reports indicated but five residing尊者 protectors, yet it seemed the actual force present within Hun殿’s domain might be even stronger.
“Master Xing Lun? *Even you’ve appeared here?”
Elder’s words carried shock; tension etched into his voice.
“Indeed…” chuckled the elderly one, “Hun主殿 held such concerns of your importance that I received instructions accordingly—meriting an assignment in the shadows to watch unobserved.”
Then he shifted focus—pacing eyes slowly upon Xiao Yan before smiling faintly, continuing…
“And naturally, an older gentleman such as myself harbors a desire to tempt big, rare fish as you.”
“You knew I would come?”
“Eventually, one was bound to do,” Master Lun grinned slyly, “You *are actually* the true ‘catch.’ Hun主 has shown far *more* eagerness regarding your personal case compared with even that of old Elder Pharmacist over here—Especially when concerning your ‘Key’ from your Xiao clan. Of course, it remains within your current possession, does it not? Despite your father refusing utterly to yield it… you—his one capable son and current prideful hope of said clan—stand *nowadays,* naturally as *ideal* safeguard.”
“FATHER!”
Upon hearing those fateful words whisper, fury and icy wrath surged violently in his heart—hatred burning hot within Xiao Yan’s eyes.
It truly had been these accursed Hun殿 fiends that ruined every cherished individual surrounding him. The depth of his grudge ran deeper than fathoming chasms in endless night.
“Do **NOT** challenge this guy. Our only immediate recourse involves getting out alive. You cannot withstand this being in single combat!”
Elder Pharmacist urged urgently upon perceiving Xiao Yan’s storm brewing in eyes.
Clunching his jaw together tightly, Xiao Yan nodded—his expression steeled. Although this Xinglun seemed ever genial and smilingly polite on appearances, beneath dwelled something potentially far darker than even the ancient Mu Master once was.
Indeed—trouble had properly descended upon this very place today. One needed to escape with absolute focus and effort—or risk grave loss: he himself, the Teacher, all—potentially swallowed alive beneath enemy forces and dark magic alike.
“Since myself already made such public, visible introduction…” with mocking sweetness, the older man smiled, his aged and pale palm extending from sleeve into visible as ominous darkness rolled outward in spiraling masses of condensed, malicious aura—swift morphed into a massive ten zhang diameter dark palm formed of condensed evil miasma swirling outward to slam down directly onto Xiao Yan without hesitation.
“Waaahhh…”
Upon hearing this furious, earth-rending roar as this dark force streaked forth, Xiao Yan’s countenance immediately shifted dramatically as he hastily began to shift hand seals rapidly for preparation.
“Heavnly Flame Triform Transformation!” Xiao Yan’s cry—first shift, second shift, third shift—resounded fiercely and rapidly amidst the mental expanse, just as his aura expanded tenfold with this triple intensification technique. With an explosion outward, the violet-brown fiery blaze rocketed forward from his palm—twisted into form of dragon’s visage that roared in unbridled fury, smashing directly into the giant palm strike unafraid and fierce in challenge!
“Bang!!!”
The explosive force between fiery dragon blast and dark palm strike created an apocalyptic roar within that enclosed area, a mighty shockwave bursting outward sending nearby black chains snapping like dry leaves and light globes spinning violently. Upon fracturing apart, these spheres revealed the ghost forms once sealed in them—faces still bearing pain and confused horror of long-captive suffering.
The shock waves swept outward across the battleground, sending Xiao Yan staggering backward no fewer than a dozen steps with each one ringing heavily beneath his feet. Internally, Xiao Yan could feel his blood boiling tumultuously. There, in the thick of the storm—the gravity of the confrontation with elder Xinglun weighed heavily—his opponent must have certainly reached Five-Star Dou尊’s Peak at absolute least, if his estimations remained near accurate; If such an appraisal bore fruit… then undoubtedly… this man stood within ranks of the Hun殿’s “Heavenly Respecteds”—its “Celestial尊者”!
“At that present moment, his powers reach the Peak of the Five-Star Dou尊; absolutely, you cannot challenge him headfirst in this fashion.”
Rapidly shouted Elder on witnessing Xiao Yan’s setback from that confrontation.
“Teacher—I have the strength—return first into seal ring!”
Gritted Xiao Yan resolutely, decisive resolve shining through in voice.
Startled for one brief moment at hearing such suggestion, Elder still nodded after that brief hesitation. Transforming form, his entire presence became radiant beam of brilliant essence, soaring into Xiao Yan’s blackened thumb ring on fingertip, dissolving into protective sanctum within.
Certainly, under conditions of full health and vigor, overpowering that same Xinglun would be easily feasible. Yet, as is—so weakened now that he could offer Xiao Yan zero aid—it could actually become a liability merely to linger longer beside the fighting.
Sight vanishing as Teacher sealed temporarily in safety…
Fury and bloodlust lit ablaze again anew in eyes—Xiao Yan’s mind set with unbreakable certainty: Today—irrespective of whoever tried hindrance—nothing nor **no one** must prevent his successful escape from this demonic lair bearing Teacher upon his back.
Whoever tried to obstruct him on route of this resolve—he would meet with **slaughter!**
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