Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

This transformation has made him a top-tier all-around warrior. To put it bluntly, in this state, he is capable of defeating Qian Renxue, who is also a five-ring Soul King, head-on.

This is not to say that Qian Renxue is not strong enough. In terms of martial soul ability, Qian Renxue can still suppress Yan to a certain extent. However, her combat wisdom is not as good as Yan's, and she cannot be ruthless towards Yan. Some people will stop at nothing to win, which is fundamentally different.

Elite Competition

Chapter 174 Return to Douluo Continent

In the inner world of the Five Elements Continent, accompanied by a red light, Lieyan brought Yan back to the inner world. Their trip was to the Western Gold Empire of the Five Elements Continent, where they obtained the things they had agreed to meet from Zhou Xiaoxiao.

"The Foolish Rich Merchant Guild is truly remarkable. Not only have they collected the remaining four famous wines from the Bright Five Elements Continent, but also the wine recipes and some raw materials. The power of this merchant guild should not be underestimated."

On the eighteenth level of the Earth's core, Yan took out an exquisite brocade box from his storage soul tool while speaking. The box was heavy, well-sealed, and purplish-black in color. It was engraved with extremely beautiful patterns, and one could vaguely make out the shape of nine dragons.

These nine dragons are completely different in appearance, and seem to belong to different attributes. The eyes of the nine dragons are all inlaid with gems of different colors, and there is a faint magical fluctuation emanating from the brocade box, which seems to be a small magic circle that isolates the air.

Putting everything else aside, this brocade box alone is priceless, and the contents inside are even more extraordinary, consisting of four of the ten most famous wines.

Yan opened the brocade box, revealing four bottles set against a yellow satin background. Each bottle had an extremely antique style, yet they were all different, displaying colors of blue, red, white, and yellow respectively.

"The second-ranked Blue Ghost Liquid, the fifth-ranked Nine-Turn Blazing Elixir, the seventh-ranked Golden Jade Liquid, and the ninth-ranked Lonely Moon. Add to that the Source of Life and the Vast Ocean Elixir in my possession, and I have six of the top ten famous wines. The remaining four will have to wait until next time."

Yan stared at the four bottles of famous wine in the box, a burning desire appearing in his eyes. These four bottles were crucial to him. The ten most famous wines recorded in the wine catalog were already rare treasures, not to mention that two of them had a direct effect on him.

The ten famous wines recorded in the Wine Catalogue have a mysterious correspondence with the ten magic elements. The Source of Life corresponds to the Wood element, while the Vast Ocean Nectar corresponds to the Water element.

The four bottles of fine wine in front of Yan correspond to the elements of Ding Fire, Bing Fire, Geng Metal, and Wu Earth, respectively. The Source of Life prolongs life and strengthens the essence of Wood-type Soul Masters, while the Vast Ocean Nectar strengthens the essence of Water and can help cultivate the ultimate Water.

These other four bottles are also extremely effective, and all are related to ultimate attributes.

For Yan, both extreme Yin Fire and extreme Yang Fire are powers he is determined to control. Having a famous wine that can enhance these two aspects will naturally be of great help to him.

"This is the Jade of Heaven, but why is it so small?"

After admiring the four bottles of fine wine for a while, Yan took out some other treasures. The first one that appeared in his hand was a piece of lustrous white jade, about half the size of a palm and less than an inch thick.

This white jade has never been carved and looks very rough, as if it was directly mined from somewhere and sent out. However, the body is extremely smooth and feels comfortable to the touch, with a slightly warm feeling.

This Jade of Heaven is said to be a treasure formed from the primordial chaos at the beginning of the Five Elements Continent. It is extremely rare, and even the Nine-Crowned Demon Master could not obtain a single piece.

The cultivation of a Yin-Yang Mage is actually riskier than that of a Soul Master, especially when breaking through to higher levels. For Soul Masters, as long as they don't get greedy and absorb Soul Rings below their tolerance limit, there's generally not much risk.

The Yin-Yang Master is different. Every time he tries to break through a barrier and condense a new Yin-Yang Crown, it is a life-or-death ordeal. If he doesn't do it right, he will die.

However, if one possesses such a treasure, regardless of the nature of one's own magic power, there is no risk of going astray during cultivation. One only needs to place it on the chest, at the source of one's magic power, and even during the peak of one's power, there is nothing to worry about.

Moreover, this treasure has more than just that function. Its true effect comes after breaking through to the ninth crown. Refining it allows one to more quickly comprehend the chaotic power of yin and yang balance and break through to a higher realm.

Zhou Xiaoxiao used it in this way. His talent was not outstanding among the nine crowns, but after breaking through to the nine crowns, his cultivation progress was the fastest. This was because he had refined ten pieces of Heavenly Jade.

"Blazing Flame, why don't you keep this Jade of Heaven?"

After pondering for a moment, Yan decided to leave the Heavenly Jade to Lie Yan. Compared to himself, who was almost immune to demonic possession, Lie Yan, who had already reached the threshold of a second-level god and was preparing to break through to the next level, undoubtedly needed such a chaotic treasure more.

"Xiao Yan, it's good that you have this thought, but such a small piece of Heavenly Jade is of no use to me at all."

Lieyan simply shook her head, smiled gently at him, and then took the Heavenly Jade from his palm and crafted it into a small jade figure, which was none other than herself with a smiling face. "It's as if I've always been by your side. You must keep it with you at all times and never lose it."

Lieyan raised her jade finger and touched Yan's lips. Her gentle and charming expression was intoxicating. Yan couldn't help but enjoy it with both hands, savoring the tenderness once again.

After a long while, Lieyan blushed and gently pushed someone away. "Xiaoyan, these Five Elements Divine Stones are best used to set up a magic array. What kind of array do you plan to set up?"

"Blazing Flame, you should know some magic arrays for nurturing young magical beasts, right? Help me set up an array that can nurture dragon eggs."

After thinking for a moment, Yan said that if he remembered correctly, in the original novel, the Five Elements Divine Stones were used to set up a powerful magic array, which gave the twin fire dragons the strength of the seventh rank as soon as they were born.

He once obtained a dragon egg in the Dragon Valley Secret Realm of Douluo Continent, which is suspected to be Jia Lin, the last Fire Dragon King in the later storyline. She is a real potential stock, and Yan naturally wants to make the most of it.

After hearing his words, Lieyan's eyes flickered, and he nodded, muttering to himself, "A fire dragon egg? I think there's one over there."

After handing the Five Elements Divine Stones to Lieyan, Yan counted them again. The most numerous items traded from Zhou Xiaoxiao were naturally the Demon Cores and Crystal Crowns, with Demon Cores ranging from level one to ten.

While there were fewer crystal crowns, they ranged from one to nine crowns, with the nine-crown crystal crowns naturally catching Yan's eye the most. Due to the special rules of the Five Elements Continent, Yin-Yang Demon Masters could obtain corresponding ultimate power after reaching the nine-crown level.

In other words, each Nine-Crowned Crystal Crown not only contains extremely powerful energy, but is also a seed of ultimate power. Refining it may grant one the corresponding power.

This is of great significance to Yan and the Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent. Martial Souls with ultimate attributes are extremely rare and almost invincible at the same level during the Douluo Continent I era.

"Xiao Yan, this sword... there's something strange about it..."

After Yan carefully collected the nine-crown crystals, he drew a sword from the side—a strange heavy sword. Lie Yan also noticed the sword's extraordinary nature, and frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

"This might be the sword of the Fire God in the divine realm. I don't know why it ended up in the Five Elements Continent."

Yan found it quite difficult to hold the heavy sword horizontally with one hand. It was an enormous sword, nine meters long and weighing over three thousand kilograms.

The hilt alone is two meters long, without a guard; the long handle connects directly to the blade, which is seven meters long, three meters wide, and a terrifying one meter thick. Most peculiar is the spine of the sword; one side is red, the other blue, both shimmering with dazzling fire elemental energy.

"Vulcan's weapon, it does seem to be quite extraordinary."

After hearing his words, Lieyan couldn't help but reach out and pat it out of curiosity. At first, she thought Yan was joking, but after actually touching it, she immediately discovered its extraordinary nature. Even with her god-level strength, she had no confidence in destroying it.

After carefully examining it, Lieyan solemnly said, "Xiaoyan, divine artifacts require a lot of energy to unleash their power. If the energy is insufficient, they will easily absorb life force. In the future, try to use this sword as little as possible before you break through to the ninth ring."

"Ah."

Yan nodded, then sorted all the things he was going to take with him into his storage soul tool, and left enough gifts for Lieyan. Then he embraced the goddess in silence for a long time.

"Alright, I'm right here. It's not like you're never coming again, but you can't keep me waiting too long."

Instead, Lieyan comforted Yan. This gentle goddess leaned against Yan's chest like a little woman, and finally personally sent him into the interdimensional passage.

Before the blurry, distorted light screen, the Flame Queen's exquisite face held a hint of love and anticipation. "Little Yan, next time, you'll be strong enough, right? I'm really looking forward to you becoming even stronger..."

……

Inside the Papal Palace of Wuhun City, when a strange fluctuation flickered, a stunningly beautiful woman who was dealing with important matters paused slightly, then quickly put aside her tasks and hurriedly headed towards the secret passage at the back of the main hall.

Inside the underground research lab, light and shadow flickered. When Yan opened his eyes again, a familiar yet beautiful face, though somewhat haggard, appeared in his line of sight.

"I'm back, aren't you going to welcome me?"

Yan smiled and walked up to her, opening his arms and gently pulling her into his embrace. Her soft, perfect body stiffened slightly upon contact with his, but she didn't struggle. After a brief pause, she gently hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Teacher, have you missed me these past two years?"

Yan gently embraced Bibi Dong, feeling the elasticity of her delicate body and her unique, faint fragrance, which made him enjoy this moment of peace immensely.

"You little rascal."

Yan's peace was short-lived, shattered by a reproachful scolding. Bibi Dong, her face flushed, pushed away her long-unseen disciple.

It had only been a little over two years since they last met, and this rascal had not only grown taller but also bigger; he was practically an adult now, and yet he... Just thinking about the changes in this rascal's body when they embraced earlier, Bibi Dong couldn't help but feel ashamed and indignant.

Yet, deep down, she still harbored a sliver of expectation and pride. In short, her feelings were complex and difficult to explain; she herself couldn't articulate them.

Chapter 175 The Gift

"It's been so long since I last saw you. You've grown quite a bit taller, and your cultivation level has improved as well."

Inside the Spirit Hall's underground research lab, Bibi Dong looked at Yan, who had grown into a young man, with a hint of satisfaction in her eyes. As she spoke with a smile, she stepped forward to straighten his slightly disheveled collar and carefully adjusted some details before nodding in satisfaction.

"Thank you, teacher."

Yan's height was not much shorter than Bibi Dong's at this time, and he did not need to look up when speaking. With the improvement of his strength and the evolution of his martial soul, he became more confident. "I also gained some things from this seclusion. I have some gifts to give to my teacher."

"Gift?"

Bibi Dong looked at Yan with slight doubt. Although she knew that Yan had probably gone to an unknown world to cultivate, Bibi Dong did not think that he could obtain anything useful to her. After all, she was already a powerful figure among the titled Douluo, not far from the pinnacle of the human world.

Yan smiled and took out a package from his storage soul tool. "Some poison-attribute cultivation resources, and some magic skill notes."

Bibi Dong was surprised when she opened the package. She took out a magic core from the pile of packages. "This pure poison energy crystal, after being absorbed, can probably be used to condense a soul ring."

"Unfortunately, poison is a relatively uncommon attribute there, so I couldn't find many useful resources."

Yan explained softly that the Five Elements Continent is different from the Douluo Continent. The Douluo Continent has a diverse system with various attributes. Although the path of poison attribute, like Bibi Dong's, is relatively niche, it is not particularly unpopular.

But the Five Elements Continent is different. Ninety percent of human cultivators follow the Five Elements attributes. Although the remaining ones have mutated attributes such as wind, thunder, light, darkness, and poison, they are relatively niche and unpopular. Poison attribute is even more rare. Crystal crowns are hard to find, and magic skills are hard to find. However, some magic cores can still be collected.

Bibi Dong was quite satisfied with Yan's gift, and nodded with a smile, saying, "You're very thoughtful. It's not in vain that your teacher cares about you so much."

"Teacher, are Sister Xue'er and Nana and the others here?"

Yan naturally embraced Bibi Dong and walked forward. When his palm touched her slender waist, he could feel the skin tighten instantly. However, the Pope did not react. Instead, he moved closer and relaxed a lot.

"Xue'er is still in seclusion. She just broke through to level 60 a few days ago. Nana and Xie Yue were taken to Death Valley to cultivate by Gui Mei and Yue Guan. Although they are not as brave and diligent as you, they are much stronger than their peers, and their cultivation is already close to level 40."

Bibi Dong shook her head, then smiled as if she had thought of something and said, "But that chubby kid you kept asking for special training is still here. Although he's lazy and loves to eat, he still takes your words to heart. He's reached level 35 now, so his talent is pretty good."

Yan was speechless after hearing her words. "That little fat guy has some talent, but he lacks perseverance and needs someone to push him."

Bibi Dong continued, "By the way, the old servant who took care of you before, Feng Lin, returned to his hometown some time ago and became a branch bishop. Also, his grandson has entered the Spirit Hall Advanced Soul Master Academy for training."

Yan nodded to indicate that he understood. "I'll send some things over to Uncle Lin later. Also, I'll arrange for someone to take care of his grandson."

Bibi Dong continued, "Your sister Liya is now the head pastor of the Church of Light in the city, and the public response has been very good. She is quite suitable for this kind of work."

"Sister Liya has always been kind and doesn't like fighting, so this arrangement is the most suitable for her."

After thinking for a while, Yan asked again, "Has anything troublesome happened recently? If there's nothing else, I'll go to the Church of Light to see Sister Liya later."

Bibi Dong shook her head. "Nothing's wrong for now. Things have been relatively peaceful lately."

"Okay. I'll be going now."

Yan nodded. He had already brought Bibi Dong outside. If they continued walking, people would see the Holy Son and the Pope being so intimate. Although there wouldn't be any gossip, some people would still have something to say. So he said goodbye and left the Papal Palace.

Bibi Dong watched Yan leave until his figure disappeared into the hill where the Papal Palace was located. Only then did she turn her head in a daze. As if she had thought of something, she hesitated for a moment, then turned and went to the location of the Elders' Hall.

……

The Church of Light in Wuhun City is located in the city center, directly opposite the steps leading to the Papal Palace. This magnificent church was built by the Wuhun Hall to promote their faith after the first Light Ritual.

The church is decorated mostly in white and modern colors, which are dazzling under the sunlight. Walking inside, you are surrounded by shimmering light, as if it were a pure land of light.

The church interior was large, but it lacked any ostentatious displays of wealth; instead, it felt remarkably spacious. At the very back of the center stood a colossal statue of an angel, gleaming brilliantly in an endless halo of light, like a divine miracle.

Before the enormous six-winged angel statue, a figure knelt in prayer, praying to the angel god for the safety of the person he longed for.

"Sister Liya."

Suddenly, a call came from behind her. The female pastor, Liya, who was praying, was slightly startled. She thought it was just a hallucination caused by her own thoughts during the day, so she did not stop praying.

"Sister Liya, I'm back."