Beyond the Northern Sky City, Xiao Yan’s figure paused for a moment before he let out a sigh. His body then transformed into a streak of light, dashing towards the distant horizon. After flying nearly a hundred miles, Xiao Yan’s body suddenly halted. The immense presence that pervaded his body vanished like a shriveling sponge.
“Has the time come?” Sensing the rapidly weakening force within him, Xiao Yan could not help but smile bitterly. His gaze swept around before his body moved, landing on a peak surrounded by peculiar rock formations.
“The ferocity of your power display this time caused some internal injuries. You should treat them as soon as possible, or it may leave you with aftereffects. Also, avoid borrowing my soul power unless in crucial moments. In recent days, I have noticed that after you use my soul power, a trace of my residual soul imprints is left behind. If these accumulate, it might make your body resist your own soul. When that happens, if the soul cannot merge perfectly with the flesh, you will have no time to weep,” Heavenly Fire Venerable’s somewhat solemn voice echoed as Xiao Yan landed.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan’s expression changed. In recent times, he had had a faint sense of this, but had not given it much thought, especially since he had used Elder Pharmacist’s soul power before and no such situation occurred.
Although he was unsure of the specifics, Xiao Yan nodded; Heavenly Fire Venerable would not mislead him. “It seems that borrowing others’ power indeed has serious consequences. I must be more careful in the future.” Xiao Yan exhaled lightly, muttering silently to himself.
With this in mind, Xiao Yan’s gaze swept around. His body then moved, appearing on the steep cliff face of the mountain. He wielded the heavy ruler like it was cutting through tofu, creating a small cave capable of housing a person. It was important now to heal these wounds. Though he had defeated the Wind Thunder Northern Pavilion this time, they would not let it go easily. But Xiao Yan did not fear; Central Plains was vast, and even just the Northern Domain was endless. Though the Wind Thunder Pavilion was a major power, there were other forces in the Northern Domain that could match them. As long as he left their territory, they could do nothing.
As for threatening the Han family, once was enough. Everyone knew his relationship with the Hans was not deep, and it was unlikely the Wind Thunder Pavilion would do it again. A repeat would not only draw criticism but also potentially drive the Hans, who had a respectable position in the Northern Sky City, to drastic measures.
Thinking about this, Xiao Yan’s figure dashed into the cave. He then sat cross-legged, taking out a pill from his storage ring, placing it in his mouth, and assuming a cultivation hand seal. He slowly entered a healing state.
Xiao Yan’s recovery took nearly three days. During this period, he thoroughly examined every part of his body, detecting faint residues of a soul imprint. Though these traces were almost negligible, they permeated deeply into the human body. Fortunately, these residuals were minimal. Otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.
“Indeed… This is truly troublesome…” Discovering these soul imprints, Xiao Yan sighed, chuckling bitterly. When he tried to remove them using Dou Qi and Evenstrange Fire, but failed, his frustration only increased. Thankfully, he discovered it early; if more had accumulated, he might have had to abandon his flesh and become a spirit like the Heavenly Fire Venerable.
Though the residuals were few, they were still troublesome. Xiao Yan, with his character, could not tolerate such latent dangers, but he had no choice but to give up when all methods failed.
Inside the cave, Xiao Yan’s eyes opened slowly. His aura had returned to its peak, and every movement radiated powerful Dou Qi. A Nine-Star Battle Emperor was indeed stronger than a Seven-Star one.
“These soul residues are troublesome, but not impossible to expel. I remember there being a pill that can do this.”
With his eyes open, Xiao Yan muttered, gently touching the black ring left by Elder Pharmacist. He sent his soul force in, accessing numerous precious formulas collected by Elder Pharmacist—a treasure trove for Xiao Yan, even more valuable than Frost Spirit Cold Fire.
Without these formulas, his path as an alchemist would have been slow, highlighting their importance.
After nearly an hour, Xiao Yan, motionless, suddenly opened his eyes with delight. A plain black scroll appeared in his hand.
“Purification Soul Pill: Top-grade sixth rank, able to cleanse any foreign soul force, and nourish one’s soul. Ingredients: Purifying Grass, Ice-Fire Fusion Fruit, Water Soul Lotus…”
After embedding the information from the scroll into his mind, Xiao Yan saw the benefits of the Purification Soul Pill, and his smile broadened.
The rank of top-grade sixth wasn’t low, but should be manageable. Some ingredients were rare, but he could gather them over time. There was no rush, as the soul imprints hadn’t yet reached a critical point.
Having found a solution, Xiao Yan felt relieved. Storing the formula, he summoned four silvery scrolls—those obtained from the Wind Thunder Northern Pavilion.
“These should contain the missing parts of the ‘Three Thousand Lightning Fantasy Body’.”
Summing the Earth Puppets, Xiao Yan tossed the scrolls to them, which they caught and opened.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As expected, each scroll contained powerful lightning energy. Seeing the Earth Puppet repelled, creating a depression in the cave wall, Xiao Yan chuckled, “How insidious, the Wind Thunder Pavilion.”
Summoning back the scrolls, he infused his soul energy. Inside, the space mirrored the earlier scroll with a lightning pool at the bottom. Wiping away the soul-powered lightning, mysterious lightning characters emerged from the clear pool.
Carefully memorizing the characters, Xiao Yan checked the third and fourth scrolls. After about an hour, he withdrew, closing his eyes to arrange the characters in his mind.
This took several minutes, and upon opening his eyes, his brow furrowed. The characters formed a complete set, but the method of cultivating it eluded him—like having a treasure chest without a key.
“Key…” he murmured. Realizing the key to convert the characters into a cultivable method was missing, he didn’t know what it was. Only those qualified in the Wind Thunder Pavilion would know, but they wouldn’t share it.
“Darn it…” he bit down hard, frustrated at obtaining something unutilizable.
“I’ll deal with this later. Once I get the Three Thousand Flame Fire, I’ll make the Wind Thunder Pavilion give me the method.”
Storing the scrolls, Xiao Yan resolved to lie low, finding a city with a spatial wormhole to escape. In the vast Northern Domain, even the Wind Thunder Pavilion couldn’t control everything. Once out of their reach, he would collect materials for the Heavenly Fire Venerable’s body, a great asset. He also needed to break through to Battle Sect, ideally before the Alchemist Gathering.
With his plan set, Xiao Yan took the Earth Puppets and, spreading his bone wings, shot off as a streak of light, disappearing into the horizon.
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