Slowly walking through several streets, Xiao Yan stopped outside an inn and then walked inside, ascending to the second floor. He arrived at a quiet room, lightly knocked on the door, and then pushed it open directly. Inside the spacious room, Hai Bodong was sitting cross-legged on a chair, his eyes slightly closed, with faint white cold energy swirling around him. As he breathed, the cold air entered his body through his nostrils, filling him with such energy that his aged face subtly glowed with a warm, jade-like radiance.
“Indeed, a Battle Emperor powerhouse. Although he is much older than Nalan Jie, judging by his vigor, if nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to live for another fifty years. If he gets lucky and breaks through to become a Battle Sect, he might enter the ranks of those old freaks.”
Gently closing the door, Xiao Yan tiptoed into the room, looking at Hai Bodong’s radiant face, and comparing it to the deathly aura that surrounded Nalan Jie earlier, he couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. Although Xiao Yan had made very little noise, for a powerhouse like Hai Bodong, it was as if thunder was roaring in his ears. The icy cold energy quickly retreated into his body, and he opened his eyes, scanning the room with a hint of coldness. When his gaze landed on Xiao Yan, the chill gradually subsided, and the sharp aura around him also quietly receded. Seeing the fatigue on Xiao Yan’s face, he asked, “Did you succeed?”
“Nalan Jie was deeply poisoned. Although I temporarily alleviated the toxicity today, it will take at least seven days to completely expel the ‘Brand Poison.'”
Xiao Yan sat on the soft bed, lazily responding, “Oh…” Nodding, Hai Bodong smiled in slight surprise, “It seems your control over the Flame is quite good. To be able to complete such a high-difficulty healing… even some renowned alchemists wouldn’t dare to use their flames in this way.”
As a Battle Emperor, Hai Bodong knew very well the risks involved in using a Heavenly Flame to drive out poison from the body.
“Just got lucky,” Xiao Yan shook his head, knowing that his proficient control over the Green Lotus Core Flame was mostly due to the Fire Lotus Seed he had consumed recently.
Removing his shoes, he sat cross-legged on the bed, rubbing his tired face. Extending his hand from his sleeve, he frowned slightly at the slightly blackened fingertips, then slowly formed cultivation hand seals and gradually closed his eyes. As he entered the cultivation state, Xiao Yan’s mind quickly focused on his qi core. With a slight movement of his mind, a wisp of green flame was spat out from the Nalan, enveloped by his dou qi, and slowly spiraled above the qi core.
Focusing on the continuously churning green flame, after a long while, under Xiao Yan’s control, the green flame suddenly surged, and the temperature sharply rose. As the temperature increased, faint black fog appeared in the center of the flame.
“What a fierce Brand Poison, not only able to withstand such high temperatures but also silently merge into the flame. If my compatibility with the Green Lotus Core Flame wasn’t so high, I might not have noticed… truly a poison that even Battle Emperors fear.”
Staring at the black fog, Xiao Yan murmured in his heart, “Purify them, or they’ll be a time bomb in my body, who knows when they might explode…”
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yan’s mind moved, and the green flame enveloping the black fog began to churn like boiling water, with the temperature continuously rising. When detoxifying Nalan Jie, Xiao Yan had kept the temperature of his Heavenly Flame at a moderate level to avoid burning him to ashes. Now, purifying the poison fog in his own body, thanks to the compatibility, he didn’t need to be so cautious.
As the temperature of the green flame rapidly rose, the clumps of black fog began to ripple, but this Brand Poison was no ordinary substance. Even under such high temperatures, it remained firm and did not immediately dissipate. Under the intense heat, the volume of the black fog slowly shrank, and after a while, the wisps of black fog began to merge, forming a deep black pearl. Inside the pearl, a faint light flickered, seemingly containing a vast amount of energy.
The strange transformation of the “Brand Poison” left Xiao Yan stunned. Staring at the black pearl rolling in the green flame, he clearly sensed that the pearl contained a vast amount of energy.
“What’s going on? The Brand Poison shouldn’t have this kind of energy…”
Muttering in confusion, Xiao Yan stared intently at the black pearl. The temperature of the green flame suddenly soared again, and the energy consumption caused by the heat made his soul power slightly exhausted. As the green flame continued to scorch, the black pearl finally showed signs of change. The surface trembled slightly, and thin strands of black fog seeped out, being purified into nothingness by the scorching flame. Strands of black fog continuously emerged from the pearl, and its color gradually shifted from deep black to light black…
Seeing the pearl’s color gradually lighten, Xiao Yan sighed in relief and sped up the purification process. When the last wisp of black fog emerged, the black pearl transformed into a small, glowing, transparent sphere. Through the almost transparent membrane, one could see a thick, surging liquid energy.
“Such pure energy…”
Staring at the tiny, transparent sphere, Xiao Yan frowned after a while, muttering to himself, “Logically, the Brand Poison shouldn’t have such pure energy. Could it be… this energy belongs to someone else?”
“To Nalan Jie…”
This sudden thought made Xiao Yan’s heart skip a beat. After a long while, he calmed down, thinking for a long time, and gradually felt relieved. The Brand Poison had been lurking in Nalan Jie’s body for so long, eroding his body, and occasionally consuming his dou qi. Over time, it had stored a rather terrifying amount. This was probably unpleasant for Nalan Jie, but for Xiao Yan, who accidentally brought the Brand Poison into his body, it was a fortuitous windfall. Given the purity of this energy, it was entirely possible for Xiao Yan to refine and absorb it.
For this unexpected windfall, Xiao Yan, after a moment of shock, secretly smiled with delight. Given his character, he naturally wouldn’t return it to Nalan Jie, so this abundant energy served as interest, staying with him.
With a turn of his mind, a wisp of green flame condensed into a fine flame needle, gently touching the transparent pearl. The pearl burst, and a large amount of blue-tinged liquid energy flowed out, just as it was about to scatter, it was forcibly controlled by the prepared Xiao Yan, flowing along the meridian routes.
After this ample liquid energy completed one cycle, the pale blue color was completely removed, transforming into a pure energy that anyone could absorb. Although the energy was already very pure, Xiao Yan still carefully used the Heavenly Flame to refine it further, until it became slightly viscous, then he infused it into the qi core. As the liquid energy entered the qi core, it was quickly assimilated into the same color, then began to separate, trembling as it turned into equally sized droplets, scattered within the qi core.
Feeling the increasing abundance in the qi core, Xiao Yan couldn’t help but shake his head. He calculated that this energy infusion had added nearly twenty drops of pure liquid energy to the qi core. At this rate, in less than half a month, he would reach the Seven Star Dou Shi level.
“No wonder, the energy condensed in a Dou Wang’s body, even a small portion is so vast…”
Xiao Yan sighed inwardly, then slowly opened his eyes and exhaled.
In the room, Hai Bodong’s gaze was fixed on Xiao Yan. Seeing him open his eyes, he smiled, “You seem to have grown stronger suddenly?”
Although Xiao Yan’s changes were not too drastic, Hai Bodong, with his keen senses, easily noticed the subtle changes.
“Uh-huh.” Nodding slightly, Xiao Yan lowered his head to look at his fingers, and his face changed. The tip of his right middle finger was still surrounded by a black ring.
“What’s going on? Didn’t you completely expel the Brand Poison?”
Looking at the black-tipped finger, Xiao Yan’s voice was low and heavy.
“What happened?” Seeing Xiao Yan’s expression, Hai Bodong was startled. Walking over, he saw the black finger, and his expression also changed. Frowning, he said, “Is this… the Brand Poison? How did it get on you?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t expect it to resist my Heavenly Flame’s heat.”
“It’s impossible. Ordinary Brand Poison can’t resist Heavenly Flame. Maybe this change is because the Brand Poison has been lurking in Nalan Jie’s body for too long, causing some kind of mutation…”
Frowning, Hai Bodong pondered for a while, then slowly said to Xiao Yan, “Try to see if there’s any discomfort in your body?”
Xiao Yan nodded, extending his right hand, and green dou qi surged. Both of them watched the dou qi closely. In their gaze, the rising green dou qi, after churning for a while, faintly showed some black marks on the surface.
“Ts-ts, it actually infiltrated your dou qi. Truly, the Brand Poison is terrifying.”
Seeing the black marks, Hai Bodong shook his head, “How do you feel?”
“Seems there’s no discomfort…”
Frowning, Xiao Yan was puzzled. His palm slightly moved, and the dou qi with black marks rotated, but it didn’t harm him; instead, he felt that the dou qi’s destructive power seemed to have increased.
“Ugh… I don’t know what’s happening, but it seems the Brand Poison isn’t retaliating against you. Maybe… it has been refined for your use?”
Hai Bodong shook his head.
Xiao Yan pressed his lips together, his gaze fixed on the green dou qi with a hint of black marks. As he willed, the green dou qi churned violently, forcing all the black marks to gather in the right middle finger. It looked like he was trying to see if he could expel them.
The black marks rushed into the middle finger, and after a while, the entire finger turned pitch black, its depth emanating a faint glow, appearing extremely bizarre.
“So toxic!”
Seeing Xiao Yan’s black finger, Hai Bodong’s face changed drastically. “Didn’t you say you refined it? How can it still have such potent toxicity?”
Xiao Yan’s face also changed. He never expected that merely removing the poison would result in this.
“It seems under my control, with no sign of retaliation.”
After a while, Xiao Yan, sensing no discomfort, slightly shook his head, extending his middle finger and looking up at Hai Bodong.
“What are you doing?”
Seeing Xiao Yan’s strange expression, Hai Bodong stepped back hastily.
“Help me test the effect of this thing…”
Xiao Yan grinned, and before Hai Bodong could react, he thrust his finger at him.
“Kid, don’t mess around. This is Brand Poison, damn it…”
Retreating, Hai Bodong, seeing Xiao Yan rushing at him, could only curse helplessly, extending his hands to form a piece of dark ice mirror in front of him.
With momentum, Xiao Yan’s finger pierced the ice mirror without hesitation. As they made contact, black mist seeped from Xiao Yan’s finger, and the ice mirror, which could withstand a blow from a Da Dou Shi, was quickly corroded with a deep hole. The finger pierced the ice mirror, moving horizontally, and the hard ice mirror was cleanly cut open…
Seeing Xiao Yan break the ice mirror so easily, Hai Bodong’s face changed. He leaped onto the beam, looking down at Xiao Yan, and grumbled, “Damn, stop messing around! That’s Brand Poison. Even with my strength, getting tainted by it is troublesome.”
Xiao Yan smiled at Hai Bodong, looking down at his eerily black finger, his eyes filled with mixed emotions. The destructive power of the Brand Poison far exceeded his expectations, and the bizarre attack method, though unexpected, made Xiao Yan both excited and wary. Though the black finger’s destructive power was formidable, its origin was the terrifying Brand Poison that even Hai Bodong feared. Though the Brand Poison now seemed to follow Xiao Yan’s command, how could he be sure it wouldn’t suddenly erupt in the future? Recalling how Nalan Jie, a Dou Wang, was reduced to such a pitiful state by the Brand Poison, Xiao Yan’s lips trembled.
Seeing Xiao Yan’s expression, Hai Bodong understood his concern. Stepping down, he kept a distance from Xiao Yan, consoling, “Don’t worry too much. The Brand Poison in your body must be a variant. Otherwise, this wouldn’t happen. But no matter how it changes, with your Heavenly Flame, you won’t end up like Nalan Jie.”
“Haha, maybe you should be grateful. By accident, you gained a very strange ability. In the future, this black finger will likely cause many to fall to you.”
“Sigh, let’s hope so…”
Sighing, Xiao Yan could only nod with a wry smile. As he willed, the black finger’s color gradually faded, and soon it returned to normal.
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