“Eee… give it to me.” Little Yan clutched the pearl, drooling with desire. It had been eyeing this item since the beginning, but Xiao Yan was busy studying it, so there was nothing it could do. Now that Xiao Yan finally decided to give up on it, it immediately came out.
Watching Little Yan like this, Xiao Yan was a bit taken aback. The little one’s intellect was growing higher and higher, and it could even use its childish voice to say some words now. However, this kind of initiative was something Xiao Yan saw for the first time.
“This thing is not very beneficial to keep…” Xiao Yan said, frowning slightly. Although the pearl contained devouring power, it didn’t distinguish between friend and foe; it even consumed life force. Whoever kept it inside their body would only grow weaker and weaker.
Little Yan shook its little head, and then a surge of pink flames gushed out from its body, enveloping the black pearl. Then, it directly fused the pearl into its body.
Seeing Little Yan’s eager expression, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment but did not stop it. Despite being just a fire spirit, Little Yan had an extremely keen sense of danger. If the black pearl was harmful, it shouldn’t be acting like this.
Under Xiao Yan’s watchful eyes, the pearl quickly and completely merged into Little Yan’s body. Just as the pearl disappeared, a faint wisp of black flame suddenly surged out from within Little Yan’s body, rapidly heading towards its head.
Xiao Yan, who shared a mental connection with Little Yan, naturally sensed the changes in its body. His expression changed instantly.
“Poof!” At this sudden change, Little Yan, however, remained calm. Thin strands of pink firelines rapidly formed a net, binding the black flame. Then, the fire net contracted, squeezing and shattering the wisp of black flame into numerous points of black light, which were subsequently absorbed into Little Yan’s body with a sweep of the flames.
“Aah!” As the black light points fused into Little Yan’s body, the pink lotus fire mark on its forehead gradually acquired more black patterns, giving it a slightly sinister look.
“Eeew!” After completely absorbing those black light points, Little Yan suddenly reached out its little hand and grabbed at the air. Instantly, an invisible vortex formed, and the energy in the environment rapidly converged towards its palm. In a short while, it turned into a mass of colorful energy crystals, which Little Yan then tossed into its mouth.
Xiao Yan watched this scene, dumbfounded. He distinctly felt that the mottled energy crystals, after entering Little Yan’s body, were quickly broken down into raw energy molecules, all of which were absorbed by it. What shocked him the most was that, after absorbing those energy crystals, he clearly felt a stream of pure energy appearing in his body without any reason…
“This…”
Xiao Yan was flabbergasted. After a moment, he managed to stabilize his mind and slightly refined the pure energy, integrating it into his body as fighting qi.
“Those energies are what this little one is returning…” Xiao Yan looked at Little Yan with intense focus. Those energies were the fragmented crystals that this little one had just swallowed. These originally unabsorbable energy crystals, after passing through Little Yan’s body, transformed into pure energy, some of which was then fed back to him.
“Eeew!” Little Yan smugly wiggled its little head. After absorbing those energy crystals, the pink flames covering its body seemed to become a bit brighter. And somehow, Xiao Yan faintly noticed that Little Yan, compared to before, seemed slightly stronger…
“Can this little one also cultivate…?” A strange thought flashed through his mind, and a stunned expression appeared in Xiao Yan’s eyes. The devouring power seemed to allow Little Yan to extract energy from the universe like human strongmen, elevating itself. If this were true, wouldn’t Little Yan become increasingly stronger? And, with the spiritual connection between Xiao Yan and Little Yan, Xiao Yan would be able to strengthen along with it, effectively having a tireless and hardworking partner.
“It seems that the accidental discovery has brought about a good result…” Xiao Yan stroked his chin, contemplating how to refine the Void Devouring Flame. He had no experience in such matters, so he could only try blindly. Fortunately, Little Yan’s body was peculiar, and as a fellow Unique Flame, it could fully bear the unique abilities of the Void Devouring Flame.
“Hehe, it seems this cultivation session has brought forth some odd things again…” As Xiao Yan was quietly pleased with his gains, a familiar, aged laughter abruptly sounded. Looking up, Xiao Yan saw Pharmacist Chen smilingly descend from the sky, landing on the lake’s surface.
Xiao Yan smiled, “Everything in the alliance is fine, right? Any movement from the Soul Palace?”
“Yes, everything is good. As for the Soul Palace, we have recently received news that they have withdrawn from the branch palaces we previously detected. Perhaps they are worried that we will destroy those branches again.”
“Withdrawn?” Xiao Yan’s eyebrows furrowed a bit. For some reason, he always felt that the recent actions of the Soul Palace were a bit strange. After receiving such a big blow from the Heaven Alliance, they should not simply endure it.
“Do you feel something is off?”
Seeing Xiao Yan’s expression, Pharmacist Chen nodded, sighing, “I’ve mentioned before that the Soul Palace must have some plan in mind. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have collected souls for so many years. Even though we don’t know what the plan is, if the Soul Palace completes it, it might not be good news for us.”
Xiao Yan also nodded. Though the Soul Palace lost this confrontation and suffered a great loss of face, the Soul Race remained motionless, making it hard to discern the intentions of this enigmatic race.
“I will send spies to investigate and hopefully learn more…”
Xiao Yan silently nodded, feeling a bit oppressed. Despite having reached the Fifth Star Dou Saint, he still couldn’t rescue his father from the Soul Race. It wasn’t because he was afraid, but because the Xiao Clan could not afford any setbacks. If anything happened to him, no one else would be able to save his father and restore the Xiao Clan. Without absolute certainty, taking such a huge risk was not advisable…
“Even the Fifth Star Dou Saint is not enough…”
Xiao Yan’s gaze flickered. This strength indeed no longer feared the Soul Palace, but the Soul Palace was merely an external force of the Soul Race. His true enemy was the Soul Race, the most mysterious behemoth on the Dou Qi continent!
The Fifth Star Dou Saint, a peak powerhouse in other places, was still inadequate to challenge the Soul Race. The Ninth Star Dou Saint, Xiao Xuan, still fell at the hands of the Soul Race. A mere Fifth Star would not make much of a difference.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yan’s expression darkened. With his current strength, there were no shortcuts to rapid improvement. He had already obtained the Clear Lotus Demon Fire, and the second-ranked Void Devouring Flame was likely in the possession of the Soul Race. As for the number one on the Unique Flame list…
Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile. Such a thing could not even be described by the word “sacred.” Getting it was wishful thinking.
“Unique Flames may no longer be a viable option…”
Xiao Yan sighed lightly, a flash of inspiration struck him. Gripping his hand, an ancient jade with a timeless aura appeared in his palm. The jade bore mysterious patterns, and at its center, a tiny light point flickered, his father’s soul imprint. This, naturally, was the Ancient Jade of Tu She Ancient Emperor that both the Gu Clan and the Soul Race coveted!
Pharmacist Chen, seeing Xiao Yan suddenly take out the Ancient Jade, was a bit surprised and looked at him curiously.
Xiao Yan touched the ancient jade, his finger slowly caressed the light point, a wave of guilt emerging in his heart. As a son, he could only watch helplessly as his father suffered in the Soul Race, which was unfilial.
“Father, Yan-er has never forgotten you. As soon as I obtain the strength to go to the Soul Race, I will definitely come to save you!”
Xiao Yan bit his lip, took a deep breath, and suppressed the turmoil in his heart.
“The Ancient Jade of Tu She Ancient Emperor is related to the emperor’s chamber. But this jade has been divided into eight pieces, and it’s impossible for me to gather all of them.” Xiao Yan’s gaze flickered, and a picture flashed through his mind. It was a magma world where Xiao Yan met the Heavenly Fire Venerable—a magma world beneath the Inner Courtyard of the Gan Nan Academy!
There, Xiao Yan first sensed the abnormality of the Ancient Jade of Tu She Ancient Emperor. Thinking back, he remembered the strange magma creatures in the depths of that magma world. They seemed to be guarding something.
“Perhaps I should find a time to explore the underground of the Inner Courtyard again…”
Watching Xiao Yan sink into deep thought, Pharmacist Chen shook his head helplessly, coughed, and handed over a scroll. “This message is from the Nine Hells Earth Dragon Clan for you. Take a look…”
“Yaphira?”
Hearing this, Xiao Yan was startled, and a bit puzzled. He took the scroll and slowly opened it, revealing a line of red text in his vision:
“Yaphira’s invasion, unusual changes in the Nether Springs of Nine Hells!”
Xiao Yan jumped to his feet, his face darkening. A terrifying aura erupted, even slicing the waterfall behind him in half.
“Cai Lin!”
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