I and countless versions of myself simultaneously travel through time.

"But then again, sigh." Ye Yan sighed, his tone full of helplessness, "I heard that Senior Hai Bodong has recently gone into seclusion in the mountains, detached from worldly affairs. My Yunlan Sect is really short of people, and we have to be forced to sell this Breaking Calamity Pill to others. I'm caught in a dilemma."

His acting skills were superb. As he spoke, he took out an exquisite jade box from his pocket, opened it, and a round pill lay quietly inside, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.

This is an alternative version of the Calamity-Breaking Pill. The two main ingredients are the same as the original: Twin Spirit Fruit and a sixth-order fire-attribute magic core. The only difference is that the final Sand Mandala has been replaced with other medicinal herbs.

As for the tempering with different flames, Ye Yan hasn't fully mastered it yet, but this pill is already the result of his painstaking research.

This is the Dou Qi Continent, a paradise for debts of gratitude. Loyalty and righteousness need no further explanation. If you help me, I will remember you for life. It's a deal that angel investors won't lose.

Ye Yan's soul talent was already outstanding, and as a fire-attribute alchemist, this path was more suitable for him than anyone else.

Furthermore, the same panel gave him the ability of "soul devouring," which practically paved the way for his invincibility.

Ye Yan was increasingly looking forward to the day he would meet the true form of the Soul Clan.

Hai Bodong's eyes twitched at his behavior, and he finally spoke helplessly, "Speak, what exactly do you want?"

"Just join my Ye Alliance." Ye Yan's wistful expression vanished, replaced by a sincere smile. "The Yunlan Sect needs a change. Senior, are you truly content to be a mere Battle Spirit? Not even willing to put up a few blows to Medusa's snakeskin?"

Hai Bodong's lips twitched slightly.

He finally understood that Ye Yan had been manipulating him from beginning to end, and this kid probably even knew everything about the fragment of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame map that he had desperately snatched.

I made this special trip just for this.

But this guy will still smile and tease you, making it impossible for you to get angry.

"I've been searching for this medicinal herb for a long time." Ye Yan sighed again, making a move to put the pill back into his pocket.

To obtain a single Rank 6 pill, Ye Yan had to venture into dangerous areas and kill Rank 6 magical beasts just to gather the necessary materials. He had suffered quite a bit.

Hai Bodong had to acknowledge this favor.

"Fine, fine, I'll give you the incomplete map in exchange, okay?" Hai Bodong gritted his teeth, took out the yellowed incomplete map from his storage ring, and slapped it on the table.

Ye Yan nodded in satisfaction and pushed the pill over.

He took out another pill that could directly break through to the eighth level of the Dou Wang realm, as a temporary exchange. After all, the Breaking Calamity Pill was only a second-rate product; his real target was the Strange Fire.

"This Calamity-Breaking Pill... is it a defective product?" Hai Bodong took a closer look and almost vomited blood in anger.

"Don't worry, senior, it's enough." Ye Yan waved his hand with a smile. "I'm going to collect the strange fire. You can refine it slowly. I can give you some extra practice later."

"Go on, take this map, don't waste it." Hai Bodong waved his hand impatiently.

Ye Yan bowed respectfully: "Senior Hai Bodong is indeed very efficient. He completed the course in just one day. I admire him greatly."

Having said that, he no longer concealed himself, releasing his immense aura as an eighth-level Douhuang without reservation, and his soul realm was also revealed.

Hai Bodong's pupils contracted slightly. This kid has been hiding his true intentions well.

Watching Ye Yan's departing figure, Hai Bodong slowly nodded. As the head of a sect, his strength and temperament wouldn't disgrace that pill.

Then I opened the pill and took a look.

"Extremely defective product".

Hai Bodong: "..."

We can only wait for his return.

He must be a decent person, right?

Hai Bodong is very popular. He is based on the Ice Emperor in "Song of the Sand". Even when faced with the terrifying pressure of Queen Medusa that could freeze the desert, he never bowed his back.

How could a man who values ​​dignity more than life bow down for a mere unsealing pill?

Hai Bodong's courage is commendable. The Jia Ma Empire has no fewer than 200 Dou Wang level experts, but only five people can reach the Dou Huang level. Hai Bodong's talent even faintly surpasses that of Yun Shan and Jia Xingtian.

Throughout his life, whether by choice or by fate, his vision and judgment have never faltered. Back then, he dared to venture alone into the heart of the Snake People's territory, and later he dared to invest heavily in Xiao Yan when Xiao Yan was still a waste. The Jia Ma Empire could not find another like him with such courage.

Now, the young man standing before him is even more unfathomable than Xiao Yan was back then.

Ye Yan, the sect leader of Yunlan Sect, is only thirty years old, yet he is already an eighth-star Douhuang.

What's even more terrifying is his soul realm, a level that ordinary alchemists can never reach.

Although the pill he casually pulled out was a "second-rate" product, the pharmacological expertise it contained was enough to secretly astound even Hai Bodong, a seasoned and knowledgeable expert.

This young man seems to possess some kind of bizarre ability to "devour souls".

Coupled with the temptation of the other party's promise to lift the seal, Hai Bodong hardly hesitated.

While they might not bow down in obeisance, a nod of agreement to cooperate is a natural progression.

As for that defective pill, it wasn't tempered by a different kind of fire.

Hai Bodong knew perfectly well that when refining the Breaking Calamity Pill, a different kind of fire was an unavoidable hurdle.

Since Ye Yan dared to bring it out, it means he has other trump cards up his sleeve.

This unfathomable composure is what truly impressed the Ice Emperor.

Arrogant people only hide their sharpness in front of the stronger.

Desert City.

Ye Yan did not rush to set off, but lingered in this border town for half a day.

He strolled through the bustling streets, mingling with mercenaries and merchants, seemingly taking a leisurely walk, but in reality secretly searching for prey.

The "Soul Devouring" talent is the most practical ability he obtained from the same-wearing panel.

By devouring the soul of an alchemist, one can extract its essence to nourish oneself. Those low-level alchemists whose soul realm has stagnated are nothing less than walking tonics for Ye Yan, as he still needs to improve his soul realm.

He found several targets, some of whom were well-known second-grade alchemists in the city, and others were old pharmacists who lived in seclusion deep in alleys. Their soul power was only at the mid-stage of the mortal realm.

Ye Yan made his move silently, devouring, refining, and absorbing the power of the soul's origin. Strands of this power flowed into his sea of ​​consciousness, and the tangible sense of improvement made him smile slightly.

The barrier to the soul realm is slowly loosening. Although there is still a distance to the spiritual realm, every bit of progress is visible to the naked eye.

There were many areas around Mo City where low-level magical beasts gathered, and Ye Yan cleared out a few of them as if he were farming dungeons.

He didn't care about the magic cores of these magical beasts, but he would occasionally encounter a few lone mercenary alchemists and swallow them without a second thought.

After repeating this process for half a day, his soul perception improved even further.

As Ye Yan passed by a blacksmith shop, he caught a glimpse of two familiar figures: the brothers Xiao Yan and Xiao Ding, who were selecting weapons inside the shop.

Xiao Yan is not here; he is still the good-for-nothing young master of Wutan City.

My nephew hasn't broken off the engagement yet.

Ye Yan glanced at them once before looking away.

Leaving Mo City, Ye Yan transformed his fighting spirit into wings and flew towards the depths of the Tagor Desert.

Yellow sand filled the sky, and the scorching sun beat down.

This desolate desert stretches endlessly, and the deeper one goes, the higher the temperature becomes, and the more concentrated the fire-attribute energy in the air becomes.

Following the map provided by Hai Bodong, Ye Yan headed west and finally stopped in front of a fissure valley where lava was churning.

A wave of intense heat washed over us, and the lava deep underground emitted a dark red glow, distorting the very air.

Ye Yan took a deep breath, leaped into the crevice, protected by his battle qi, and plunged deep into the magma.

The underground world, an ocean of flames.

Deep within the scorching earth, he saw the lotus flower.

The Fire of the Green Lotus Core.

It floats silently in the magma, shaped like a budding blue lotus flower, its petals half-open and half-closed, with a cluster of translucent blue flames burning in its heart.

The cyan color was so pure it didn't resemble flames; rather, it was like a piece of flowing jade, radiating a warm and breathtaking luster.

A glint flashed in Ye Yan's eyes.

The Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the list of extraordinary flames, is born deep within the earth. It undergoes countless tempering, fusion, compression, and sculpting by the earth's fire. It takes ten years to become a spirit, a hundred years to take shape, and a thousand years to become a lotus. It takes a full three thousand years to fully bloom and bear fruit.

This fire is incredibly powerful; it can even trigger volcanic eruptions near volcanic areas, but it also has the ability to quell volcanic eruptions. This contradictory nature makes it the most spiritual of all the strange fires.

More importantly, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame possesses a unique attribute: because its shape resembles a lotus flower, it can give the holder inner peace and prevent them from being controlled by violent emotions.

For an alchemist like Ye Yan, who frequently faces soul backlash, this characteristic is nothing short of a natural tranquilizer.

"It's still there."

Ye Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

In the original storyline, Queen Medusa had already taken the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, and Xiao Yan went through great lengths to retrieve it from the Snake-People.

However, in this fan fiction world, Medusa has not yet set foot here for some reason, and the strange fire remains intact at the place of its birth.

Ye Yan sighed, looking at the cluster of blue flames swaying in the heart of the lotus, his gaze complex.

If he were to rely on his own abilities and forcefully swallow the strange fire with the strength of an eighth-level Douhuang, even if he survived by sheer luck, he would inevitably suffer severe injuries.

But he has a cheat code.

Same as the panel.

"Shared Space" is now live!

Within the shared space.

Dressed in women's clothing, Ye Yan gently stroked her hair: "Hey, another newcomer."

Ye Yan's eyes lit up: "What are you babbling about? Let me touch it, and share some of your cultivation with me!"

Turning his head, he caught sight of the newly arrived mortal Ye Yan, who looked completely bewildered and was about to discuss cultivation techniques with his female counterpart.

"You're still taming strange flames? Wow, that's exciting!" exclaimed Ye Yan, a mortal.

After leaving the message "I'm logging off, chat sometime" in Doupo, Ye Yan disappeared.

Ye Yan, a mortal, sighed: In the end, a person has to rely on themselves.

The next moment, a shared energy from the cultivation world of Ye Yan in women's clothing surged into his body; it was a gift from another world's "Ye Yan".

The other party is on the path of cultivation and has reached the Core Formation stage, with a cultivation level far exceeding his.

This spiritual power merged with Ye Yan's battle qi, like adding fuel to a fire. The battle qi in his body instantly boiled, and the energy in his meridians surged wildly, impacting the already crumbling barrier.

Nine-star Douhuang.

Peak of the Nine Stars.

Peak of the Battle Emperor!

One-star Dou Zong!

Ye Yan clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Without further hesitation, he walked directly to the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame and reached out to pluck the cluster of azure flames from the lotus's heart.

As soon as he obtained the Azure Flame, a searing, soul-burning sensation instantly coursed through his body. Ye Yan gritted his teeth and integrated the original seed of the strange fire into his body.

Battle qi and strange fire collided, intertwined, and merged in his meridians, and every inch of his flesh and blood was being re-tempered by the flames.

This pain far exceeded that of ordinary cultivation, but Ye Yan's face instead showed a hint of excitement, which was the growing pain of transformation.

one day one Night.

Ye Yan sat cross-legged on the underground magma, his body wreathed in azure flames, and his battle qi became even purer under the tempering of the strange fire.

His body was reshaped in the flames, becoming stronger and more resilient, with every bone and tendon seemingly forged into steel.

The next day, he slowly opened his eyes.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and a blue flame danced in his pupils before disappearing.

Ye Yan raised his palm, and a cluster of blue flames appeared in his palm. It was the original fire of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire, which burned gently under his control.

"It hasn't been completely refined and absorbed yet... it should be ready after today."

Ye Yan frowned slightly as he sensed the strange fire within his body.

Although the strange fire has been incorporated into his body, it has not yet fully resonated with his soul and fighting spirit.

This cannot be accomplished overnight; it requires nurturing, adjustment, and assimilation day after day.

Moreover, the rules of this world seem to be somewhat disconnected from the strange fire.

He was able to use strange fire, but the "power of rules" that allowed him to control it at will was nowhere to be seen.

"No rush."

Ye Yan put away the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, stood up, and looked at the sliver of sky above the magma.

With the strange fire by his side, refining medicine, crafting weapons, and even refining people will be greatly enhanced.

Ordinary alchemists can only subdue strange flames, and if they are not careful, they will suffer a backlash.

The Burning Technique is completely different. It directly refines and devours the strange fire, thus uniting man and fire into one, and the origin of the strange fire returns to the master of the Burning Technique.

After the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame was subdued, Ye Yan did not rush to leave. His gaze fell on the azure lotus platform deep in the magma, which had lost its flame. Although the lotus platform had lost its original flame, it was still a treasure that had been nurtured for thousands of years.

The lotus platform itself is as warm and smooth as jade, with a bluish-green color throughout, exuding a faint sense of coolness.

There were also nine lotus seeds on the lotus platform, each one plump and round, with blue light patterns flowing on its surface, and the fire attribute energy contained within them was astonishingly pure.

With a wave of his hand, Ye Yan put the lotus platform and nine lotus seeds into his storage ring.

These things will be useful for alchemy and cultivation in the future, especially the lotus seeds, which, if planted, will be useful in time.

It's not impossible to cultivate new Green Lotus Earth Core Fire, of course, that would be a long wait of thousands of years, while the roots and stems just happen to remain.

Having done all this, Ye Yan stood up, brushed off non-existent dust from his robes, and without turning around, addressed the churning lava behind him: "Come out. Aren't you tired after watching for so long?"

Deep within the magma, a graceful figure slowly emerged.

Medusa, the queen of the snake people.

She wore a purple brocade robe that outlined her exquisite figure breathtakingly. Her face was cold and noble, but her long, narrow eyes held a complex expression.

She had planned to seize the strange fire after Ye Yan took it, but when she sensed the surging aura emanating from Ye Yan, she froze.

Nine-star Dou Huang... Peak Dou Huang... Still rising?

Medusa's pupils contracted slightly. She had witnessed Ye Yan advance from the eighth star of Dou Huang to the first star of Dou Zong in a single day, his aura so powerful it was almost tangible.

She had never seen such a rapid breakthrough in all her years of life.

"The Snake-People are just what I need to expand the Ye Alliance for." Ye Yan stood in the void, looking down at her. "Let's go."

Medusa bit her lip, wanting to say something, but found that her body followed uncontrollably.

Ye Yan's soul power was like an invisible hand, firmly restraining her. This was the difference between a Dou Zong and a peak Dou Huang.

Even at the peak of the Douhuang realm, one still needs to use Dou Qi to transform into wings in order to fly, while the Douzong realm can already walk on air and control the energy of a region.

This gap cannot be bridged by quantity; it represents a qualitative leap.

"Are you Ye Yan? The Sect Master of Yunlan Sect?" Medusa suppressed the humiliation in her heart and asked.

Ye Yan glanced at her, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Oh? You've heard my story?"

Medusa remained silent.

Of course she had heard of it. The new sect leader of Yunlan Sect was a 30-year-old Dou Huang, ruthless and cruel, and even the old sect leader Yunshan was sidelined by him.

She never expected that this person would be a hundred times more terrifying than she had imagined.

The territory of the Serpent People.

When Ye Yan stepped through the air, followed by Medusa, who was bound by soul power, and landed in front of the Snake-People's main hall, the entire Snake-People tribe was in an uproar.

"My Queen!"

"Who is that man? Why is the Queen being with him?"

The snake people watched this scene in horror. Their queen, the arrogant Medusa, was now like a tamed cat, obediently following behind Ye Yan, her eyes filled with resentment but unable to break free.

The four elders of the snake-people rushed over upon hearing the news, and their expressions changed drastically when they saw Medusa being controlled.

The fourth elder, suppressing his anger, stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "My lord, we admire your ability to subdue the strange fire and reach the Dou Zong realm. However, the Queen is the pillar of our Snake-People clan, so we beg you to show mercy. But we have no other choice."

"furious."

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot, and everyone only saw two streaks of blue flames streaking across the air. Immediately afterwards, two screams rang out at the same time.

Before the two snake-man elders could even react, their chests were pierced by the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame. The flames spread from the wounds and burned them to ashes in the blink of an eye.

The wind blew, and it vanished into thin air.

"Wait." Medusa's voice caught in her throat, her pupils dilating violently.

She stared at the two pools of ashes on the ground, her face deathly pale. Those were the last remaining elders of her clan, among the few Dou Wang powerhouses of the Snake-People race, and they had been casually wiped out by Ye Yan.

And she could do nothing.

"Your Majesty, you wouldn't want your snake-people to be lost, would you? Alas, I've been dreaming about this all day, and I'm lacking a suitable person for dual cultivation." Ye Yan wanted to play with the snake gall.