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Xiao Yan, however, was not in a hurry to rush forward. He deliberately instructed the Little Lion King to fly upward, revealing the entrance to those impatient Poison Masters.
Little Fairy Doctor said nothing about his actions and simply sat quietly, completely unworried about these Poison Masters obtaining anything good.
This was because Xiao Yan, that fellow, had donned his Soul Robe precisely to facilitate some plundering later.
Such a treasure land was absolutely bound to contain numerous heavenly treasures. Everything in a place like this was ownerless. The most primitive law of the jungle applied here: the capable obtained what they desired!
Those lacking the strength to secure good items would ultimately only invite disaster upon themselves. Xiao Yan naturally wouldn't bother discussing righteousness and morality with these people.
It was like the Poison Sect and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate earlier. Though their reasoning sounded somewhat justified—that those who didn't contribute couldn't enter—Xiao Yan knew that the Space Lock had opened entirely on its own and had nothing to do with them.
The Poison Sect and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate had merely fabricated an excuse, intending to monopolize the opportunity. Who would have thought they would encounter Xiao Yan, a ruthless fellow who didn't care about reason and relied solely on the strength of his fist?
Had they simply stepped aside, Xiao Yan might have let it go. But since they resorted to such petty means to obstruct him, he no longer felt inclined to be polite.
Moreover, his Yan Alliance was already hostile toward the Poison Sect and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate; they were inherently enemies. Killing another one of their Dou Emperors now meant fewer Yan Alliance members would die later.
As the initiator of the alliance treaty, the greater his ability, the greater his responsibility.
"Let's go, Little Lion King. Zi Yan and the other one might need some time. Leave a mark for them to follow. We'll head in first to check out the situation." Xiao Yan lightly patted the Little Lion King's fur.
Roar! (Alright!)
The Little Lion King let out a long, proud roar toward the sky. Opportunities to take charge like this didn't come often.
"Oh right, Zi Yan, remember to bring back the corpses of those two Dou Emperors. Don't shatter their souls," Xiao Yan said. Immediately, the Little Lion King gave a powerful flap of its wings and flew into the Space Lock.
"Why are you collecting the corpses of Dou Emperors?" Little Fairy Doctor looked at Xiao Yan, puzzled. Typically, only practitioners of demonic paths collected corpses.
"Dou Emperor soul bodies can be exchanged for medicinal ingredients," Xiao Yan replied flatly. Why wouldn't he collect the loot dropped by these defeated 'monsters'?
Little Fairy Doctor tilted her head. Soul bodies could be exchanged for medicinal ingredients? How did that work?
A vibrant life force washed over Xiao Yan the moment he passed through the Space Lock. After the light faded, towering ancient trees were the first things to meet his eyes. The space within the Space Lock was brimming with vitality. It could be said this was the most vibrant place Xiao Yan had ever seen, the previous one being the small valley Little Fairy Doctor had discovered.
"The life force in this place is so abundant." Little Fairy Doctor's beautiful eyes widened in amazement. As someone skilled in cultivating medicinal herbs, she recognized this land as exceptionally suitable for planting.
Sitting atop the Little Lion King, they gazed out over the landscape. Rolling mountains undulated, and rivers coiled through the terrain. It was a lush, verdant expanse, covered in vast forests and traversed by a river that snaked through it all. An uninformed person might mistake this place for one of the great forests within the Chu Yun Empire.
"Don't run!"
"Quick, get the elder over here! I've found a precious tier 4 medicinal herb!"
"Hah! You beast dare to block my path!"
Eagles soared and beasts roamed here; the forest was dense. However, it was not devoid of powerful magical beasts. Xiao Yan observed many magical beasts living here, and even saw plants capable of attacking people!
"Dou King Grass?" Xiao Yan looked down from his high vantage point and saw a Rank 5 magical beast guarding a spiritual herb. He identified it at a glance as Dou King Grass, the main ingredient for refining the Dou King Pill.
He merely shook his head, making no move to rush down and seize it. Although Dou King Grass held some value, it meant little to the current Xiao Yan. Forget Dou King Grass; even Dou King Pills themselves weren't particularly enticing.
Unless it was a heavenly treasure of tier 6 or higher, he couldn't muster much enthusiasm. His mind was currently focused solely on the Heavenly Flame and the Clear Soul Nether Orchid.
Some of the Poison Masters from smaller factions and some rogue cultivators who had followed Xiao Yan inside were quite clever. Lacking grand ambitions and merely wanting to earn a small profit, they didn't venture deep into the lofty mountains and precipitous ridges of this space. Instead, they stayed near the entrance, gathering some low-grade medicinal herbs.
This region, with its abundant vitality, was naturally a place rich in spiritual herbs and medicinal plants. The deeper one ventured, the higher the grade of the medicinal ingredients became. However, the more advanced the ingredients, the stronger the magical beasts guarding them.
Therefore, for rogue Poison Masters or disciples from small factions, not venturing too deep was the safest course of action.
Although a vast number of medicinal herbs grew in this area, practically covering the mountains and plains to the point where one could seemingly pick up wealth just by bending over, Xiao Yan still didn't pause for a moment. Instead of continuing to fly, he led Little Fairy Doctor and the Little Lion King deeper into the area on foot.
In fact, not only Xiao Yan wouldn't stop here; any cultivators of significant strength, or disciples from Dou Emperor-level factions, wouldn't linger here either.
Their goals aligned with Xiao Yan's. Beyond just seeking high-grade medicinal ingredients, they sought the Dou Venerate's inheritance and even more precious resources.
How could they possibly waste valuable time on these ordinary spiritual herbs and medicinal plants?
As Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor ventured deeper, the spiritual herbs and medicinal plants appearing in the mountain ranges became increasingly precious. After reaching a certain depth, rare tier 6 spiritual herbs began to appear.
"Is that a Water Lotus Lingzhi?!" In a small pond grew a sky-blue lingzhi mushroom. This lingzhi was very peculiar; it actually grew in the water, resembling a lotus flower. Little Fairy Doctor couldn't help but exclaim in pleasant surprise.
Just as Little Fairy Doctor intended to move closer for a better look, suddenly, with a splash, the pond water began swirling into a vortex centered around the lingzhi. From within the vortex emerged skeleton after skeleton. The most eerie part was that these skeletons could move; their empty eye sockets glowed with blue flames.
!!!!
"What is that!" Little Fairy Doctor's beautiful eyes widened in shock. She instantly gathered a ball of poisonous gas in her hand, ready for battle.
Skeletons reviving?! How could this be possible!
Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened slightly. His Spiritual Strength swept across the area, and understanding dawned on him. "Those blue flames are a type of special fungus. It's likely from the Water Lotus Lingzhi; it's parasitizing these skeletal remains."
As an alchemist, he naturally knew that lingzhi were essentially fungi formed over decades, sometimes centuries. Every unique heavenly treasure possessed its own methods of self-preservation.
"Should we leave then?" Little Fairy Doctor asked.
"Leave? Why would we? This Water Lotus Lingzhi is the main ingredient for refining the middle-grade tier 6 Water Restoration Pill. The Water Restoration Pill can not only rapidly heal injuries for those below the intermediate-star Dou Emperor stage but also enhances water-attribute Dou Qi for a period. It's quite valuable." Although Xiao Yan didn't possess water-attribute Dou Qi, he had the Sea Heart Flame.
The Sea Heart Flame, being a dual-attribute Heavenly Flame, functioned as both fire and water attribute when used. It could burn exceptionally well even underwater, a truly wondrous property.
With a soft whoosh, the Sea Heart Flame floated above Xiao Yan's palm. He and Little Fairy Doctor exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other's intent.
Roar!!
Little Fairy Doctor leaped lightly onto the Little Lion King's back. The Little Lion King didn't hold back, condensing purple fire in its mouth and spewing it toward the dense mass of skeletons surging from the water.
However, even the purple fire of the Amethyst Winged Lion King did not faze these white bones. Having been soaked in this place for a long time, their bones were coated with a special layer of water vapor that effectively resisted fire attacks.
Facing the countless skeletons charging through the surrounding purple fire, Little Fairy Doctor casually struck out with her palm. A mass of poison gas transformed into a storm, sweeping up large numbers of skeletons.
Following Xiao Yan's reminder, she knew how to deal with these bizarre skeletons. As long as she poisoned the fungi animating them, the skeletons would lose their ability to move.
Her Woeful Poison Body's poison was perfectly suited for dealing with large numbers of enemies.
Naturally, Xiao Yan took advantage of Little Fairy Doctor attracting the skeletons' attention to move forward and harvest the Water Lotus Lingzhi.
Harvesting a Water Lotus Lingzhi differed from harvesting ordinary lingzhi. The true medicinal efficacy wasn't in the flower-like part visible above the water, but in the root-fruit beneath the stem. This meant one had to dive underwater to retrieve the root-fruit.
The Sea Heart Flame enveloped his entire body with a humming sound, and he dove into the water like a leaping dragon.
The underwater scene instantly startled Xiao Yan. From above, the pond appeared very small, just an ordinary pool. But once submerged, he discovered that the space below was unbelievably vast. The underwater world seemed bottomless, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. A vortex spiraled up from the pond's depths, carrying skeleton after skeleton upwards, creating a deeply unsettling sight.
"As expected, there's still a guardian." Xiao Yan's eyes flashed, his body completely wrapped in the Sea Heart Flame. His gaze followed the long, swirling vortex downward.
Sure enough, seated cross-legged at the root's position was an old man. Unlike the surrounding white bones, this old man didn't resemble a dead person at all.
The moment Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength swept over him, the old man's eyes snapped open. The pond water churned violently as the aura of a Dou Emperor erupted forth.
Ordinary lingzhi subsisted on dead or rotting wood, but the Water Lotus Lingzhi fed on the corpses of living beings.
"If any other Dou Emperor were in this water, they might truly be helpless against you. But unfortunately for you..." Xiao Yan smiled faintly. The Flame Mantra circulated wildly, his Dou Qi rapidly catalyzing the Sea Heart Flame.
Instantly, the surging Sea Heart Flame spread out like clear seawater, creating faint ripples that resembled water waves.
Whoosh!!
In the next second, the Dou Emperor's corpse suddenly ignited violently underwater!
Burning through water! In this environment, the Sea Heart Flame was like a fish in water. Not only did the water fail to extinguish the Sea Heart Flame, but it could even transmit the flames to burn the opponent directly through the water.
Gurgle, gurgle... The old man's body was mostly consumed by the flames, revealing a hollow interior devoid of organs. Dense blue fungal filaments grew thickly among his bones, an extremely grotesque and nauseating sight.
With a thunderous roar, the old man revealed a ferocious and terrifying visage as he charged toward Xiao Yan.
Smiling slightly, Xiao Yan drew out the Heavy Xuan Ruler. The Sea Heart Flame surged explosively in the water, vaguely taking the form of a flood dragon.
"Let's consider this a warm-up."
After roughly ten minutes of battle, the old man was ultimately incinerated by the fiercely burning Sea Heart Flame, turning into ashes that sank to the bottom of the pond. Xiao Yan put away the Heavy Xuan Ruler, dug out the root-fruit, and left the area.
What he found rather regrettable was that the old man's soul body had long since dissipated, making it useless even as 'cat food'.
"You were so slow," Zi Yan said impatiently, sitting on a rock as she watched Xiao Yan emerge from the water.
"Wasn't it because I had to wait for you?" Xiao Yan, being reasonably fair, tossed Zi Yan one of the root-fruits. After all, they were a team; he couldn't hoard everything.
Zi Yan immediately beamed, placing the item into her void storage space. Once her current supply of 'candies' ran out, she would find Xiao Yan to refine more.
The Amethyst Winged Lion King had no need for medicinal ingredients. What he truly desired was the Body Transformation Pill. His current role as Xiao Yan's enforcer was solely to help gather all the necessary ingredients for the pill, so Xiao Yan could refine it for him.
The Nihility Devouring Flame devoured the two Dou Emperor corpses Zi Yan had left on the ground, while Xiao Yan absorbed their soul bodies into the Soul Command Token.
The number of soul bodies within Venerable Yan's Soul Command Token was slowly increasing.
"It's your turn to put in some effort now. Don't slack off," he said.
Zi Yan immediately perked up upon hearing this. Her treasure-hunting ability seemed to have upgraded along with her breakthrough to Rank 6. She could sense treasures even if they were buried hundreds of meters underground.
She completely ignored any heavenly treasures below tier 6.
"Rebirth Three Leaf Flower! The main ingredient for the tier 6 Revival Pill! We'll take it!"
"Hiss! Azure Wind Fruit! This is good stuff."
"Golden Maple Flower, Vermillion Red Fruit, Hundred Herb Leaf! Snatch them all!!"
The deeper they ventured, the more numerous the precious heavenly treasures became. Xiao Yan and Zi Yan acted like people who had never seen the world before. Regardless of the rank of the magical beast guarding the treasures, even those at the peak Rank 6 strength found it difficult to withstand the assault of this group.
Little Fairy Doctor shook her head. These two were truly bandits. They didn't even spare the medicinal ingredients obtained by some Dou Emperor-level Poison Masters. Any heavenly treasure they set their sights on was snatched away, perfectly demonstrating the principle of 'might makes right'.
"Xiao Yan, there's a very strong energy fluctuation over there," Zi Yan suddenly pointed into the distance, her eyes sparkling with light.
As the group drew closer, they discovered a strangely shaped flower growing on the back of a gigantic black spider. The peculiar flower resembled a ghostly face, and the spider's back similarly bore a ghostly visage.
"Ghost Face Flower?! The main ingredient for refining the middle-grade tier 7 Yin Yang Life Soul Pill!" Xiao Yan's eyes instantly widened.
To refine a Heavenly Flame body and resurrect Venerable Tian Huo, besides needing a body of at least Dou Ancestor level and three kinds of Heavenly Flames, one also required the peak tier 7 Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill.
For the current Xiao Yan, refining a peak tier 7 pill, bordering on tier 8 like the Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill, was still far too premature. Even he wouldn't dare confidently predict when he could successfully refine it.
However, resurrecting Venerable Tian Huo didn't necessarily require the Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill. There was a lower-grade substitute: the Yin Yang Life Soul Pill. The Yin Yang Life Soul Pill was only a middle-grade tier 7 pill. It possessed the effects of fusing the soul and restoring life, similar in medicinal effect to the Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill, though not as potent. It could still resurrect Venerable Tian Huo, but it would affect the recovery of his cultivation level after rebirth, preventing him from fully regaining his former strength.
And the Ghost Face Flower was one of its main ingredients!
Xiao Yan transmitted his voice into the storage ring, "Venerable Tian Huo, that Ghost Face Flower is the main ingredient for refining the Yin Yang Life Soul Pill. This time, it's your turn to act."
Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, a terrifying surge of Spiritual Strength suddenly erupted from the snow-white storage ring. This Spiritual Strength merged into Xiao Yan's body, instantly elevating his strength to that of a 7-star Dou Emperor.
"Kid, lend me the Fallen Heart Flame for a moment. Let this old man show you the might of the ultimate skill that once made my name resound across the Dou Qi Continent!" Venerable Tian Huo's heroic spirit soared to the heavens.