Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

"Number one in the entire continent?" Yao Lao blinked. "Haha, you should win the Pill Gathering held by the Pill Tower in the future first!" He laughed, but Yao Lao had no doubt that Xiao Yan had the potential to win the Pill Gathering championship in the future, or even become the number one alchemist in the entire continent!

"I'll show you!" Xiao Yan smiled confidently. "Then, teacher, I'll begin."

"Well, keep it up!" The old doctor's smile gradually faded, and he nodded gently.

The pain of using the Burning Technique to devour a strange fire far surpasses that of refining it. At least, what Yao Lao, who was watching from the sidelines, saw was that the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire within Xiao Yan's body, which had been completely refined by Xiao Yan, went completely berserk.

The rampaging flames left countless bloody marks on Xiao Yan's body. Those bloody marks were almost like etched into Yao Lao's heart. He wanted to help, but the Bone Spirit Cold Flame in his hand made him stop himself from doing so.

Yao Lao could only watch as the azure flames scorched Xiao Yan's body. Even though the surrounding area was filled with magma, the rampaging Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame gave Yao Lao the illusion that the azure flames would devour all the surrounding magma...

But perhaps it wasn't an illusion. After all, for a moment, a large portion of the magma around Xiao Yan did indeed dissipate. If this place weren't the Earth's core, the place where all magma converges, perhaps all of this magma would have been completely devoured by the rampaging cyan flames.

It took less than a day to refine the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, but the evolution of the Burning Technique took a full three days!

Finally, when all the noise around him disappeared, and when the rampaging blue flames completely subsided and gradually receded back into Xiao Yan's body, Xiao Yan slowly opened his somewhat tired eyes.

"Did it succeed?" The old apothecary pursed his lips, extremely nervous.

"I did it..." Xiao Yan forced a tired smile. "Teacher, I did it!"

"Hmm..." Looking at Xiao Yan's extremely excited yet exhausted expression, Yao Lao smiled and nodded, gently patting Xiao Yan's shoulder, and said with a smile, "Congratulations, you have successfully proven that this Burning Technique can indeed devour different flames! That means its potential is limitless, and at the same time, your potential is also limitless!"

"It's a bit of a pity," Xiao Yan suddenly sighed, "After absorbing the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, the Burning Technique is only at the high-level of the Profound Rank, still one step away from the Earth Rank..."

"At least, this advanced Xuan-rank is enough for you to cultivate to the Dou Huang level." Yao Lao shook his head helplessly. Xiao Yan usually knew when to stop, but at this moment he was behaving like a greedy child.

"There may be three more strange flames existing in the Northwest Continent. Even if you only manage to obtain one, let alone devour them all, are you worried that the Burning Technique won't be able to evolve to the Earth Rank?"

"That's true!" Xiao Yan laughed. "By the way, teacher, how long has it been since we started refining the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame?"

After glancing at the cyan lotus platform beneath him, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, "If not much time has passed, I plan to continue cultivating for a while longer. Although the effect of this cyan lotus platform has weakened considerably after becoming a Dou Ling, it's still faster than when there was no boost!"

"Not long, only three days."

"Oh, only three days... Huh?! Three days?!"

Because of Yao Lao's calm tone, Xiao Yan, who hadn't been listening carefully to what Yao Lao said, took a second to react.

"We're almost past the allotted time!" Without hesitation, he got up and rushed towards the upper layer of lava.

"You don't want the blue lotus platform anymore?"

"No, I'll keep it for someone who's meant to have it!"

"Moreover, maybe when I have children in the future, I can leave them here and let them cultivate through this cyan lotus platform. Maybe a new cyan lotus core fire will be born then!"

After leaving his final words, Xiao Yan disappeared into the sea of ​​lava, leaving only the azure lotus platform standing gracefully amidst the crimson.

Chapter 158 Poison Swamp

"Aren't you going to the Izumo Poison Swamp?"

Outside a small town on the border between the Izumo Empire and the Gama Empire, Xiao Yan looked at Little Fairy Doctor with some astonishment as she suddenly said that she was not going to continue.

"Is the Calamity Poison Body no longer under control?" After a brief moment of astonishment, Xiao Yan looked at Little Fairy Doctor with some worry.

"No, it's just that I suddenly realized I'm not suited to cultivating battle qi," Little Fairy Doctor chuckled. "Besides, isn't it nice not to cultivate battle qi? I don't have to worry about future cultivation resources all the time, and I don't have to worry about potential revenge killings..."

"Although I may no longer be able to be a doctor because of the Calamity Poison Body, isn't it nice to just live a peaceful life in this small town?"

What if there are poison masters who indiscriminately kill innocent people?

What if there's a madman whose power you, a melee fighter, can't control?

What if you can't control your cravings for drugs?

Xiao Yan had a lot to say, but looking at the serene smile on Xiao Yi Xian's face and feeling her trembling hands, he finally fell silent.

After a long while, Xiao Yan put on a bright smile: "Then, will we meet again someday?"

"Yes, see you again if fate allows!" Little Fairy Doctor nodded gently, her smile remaining serene.

After nodding, Xiao Yan unfurled his several-meter-long purple cloud wings, which shimmered with a purple glow under the sunlight.

"I hope that when you come here next time, you will still be the same Little Fairy Doctor you are now."

Leaving behind his last words, Xiao Yan's Purple Cloud Wings vibrated slightly, propelling him rapidly upwards before he suddenly shot off into the distance.

"Is she still the same Little Fairy Doctor?" The smile on Little Fairy Doctor's face gradually faded. After a long while, she gave a bitter laugh. "Perhaps, if I can control myself."

Looking at the cloud trails left by Xiao Yan's rapid departure in the sky, Little Fairy Doctor sighed softly and walked towards the town ahead.

The Izumo Poison Swamp is located in the western part of the Izumo Empire.

Although the Izumo Empire has the most poison masters in the entire Northwest Continent, and some even speculate that there is one or more Dou Zong among the most powerful sects in the Izumo Empire, no one has ever reached the very center of the Izumo Poison Swamp.

Perhaps it's just a rumor. After all, as a "secret realm," the Izumo Poison Swamp has never expanded and has existed for over a thousand years. Even if a Dou Zong's strength is insufficient to reach its very center, how could a secret realm that has existed for a thousand years not have attracted the attention or visited by stronger individuals?

The claim that no one has reached the very center is just a rumor, a fabrication designed to fuel everyone's frenzy for the Izumo Poison Swamp!

You ask why such rumors exist?

Of course, it's just a tactic used by the "guide" at the edge of the Izumo Poison Swamp to attract more business for himself!

That's right, a guide!

As the largest and most terrifying poisonous swamp in the entire Northwest Continent, the Izumo Poisonous Swamp's structure is actually not complex. From the outside in, it can be roughly divided into four areas: the outermost edge area, the inner danger zone, the central death zone, and the potentially existing core area. Although the structure is simple, the toxins and climate within the swamp are ever-changing. Even the outermost edge area is not safe, as evidenced by the several stone statues standing in the edge area, which are said to have been once powerful Dou Huang (Battle Emperor) figures.

Thus, the profession of guide, unique to the Izumo Poison Swamp, came into being.

Each guide is a 'small person' who has relied on the Izumo Poison Swamp for survival all their life. Their fighting spirit level is very weak, and the strongest of them may not even be a Dou Shi. But it is this weak fighting spirit level that allows them to roam freely in the Izumo Poison Swamp.

Of course, this only applies outside the death zone.

Suffering Town.

The town closest to the Izumo Poison Swamp is Suffering Town, since a large part of it is actually located in the Izumo Poison Swamp. Although this is very dangerous, it is also one of the ways for the guides of Suffering Town to prove their abilities.

After all, those few statues of Dou Huang stood upright on the main road in the center of Suffering Town, indicating that Suffering Town was located in the most dangerous area on the edge of the Izumo Poison Swamp!

"Once you enter the poisonous swamp, you must obey my every command. If I say 'lie down,' even if there is monster dung at your feet, you must lie down immediately, understand?"

Zhou Ze, the most outstanding of the many guides in the town of Suffering, carefully gave instructions to the people surrounding him before entering the poisonous swamp.

"What will happen if I don't do as instructed?" Li Ru, the poison master who reeked of a fishy stench, asked curiously.

"What will happen if I don't do it?" Li Ru's question stumped Zhou Ze. After scratching his messy hair, Zhou Ze subconsciously turned around and looked at the stone statue on the central road behind him. Then, Zhou Ze found a ready-made example.

"Look, do you see that person?" Zhou Ze waved to his patrons, signaling them to pay attention to the last person in the group approaching the stone statue.

"I saw him. Is there anything special about him?" Xiao Yan asked, looking at the skinny, monkey-like passerby in front of him.

"Special? Of course, but actually not that rare," Zhou Ze shrugged. "I've been a guide in Suffering Town for over a decade, and I could tell at a glance that this kid was eyeing the storage rings on the fingers of those stone statues..."

The ring on the stone statue's finger?

The group then noticed that the statues all wore storage rings on their fingers, and these rings looked to be of extremely high quality. If storage rings were to be ranked, the rings on the statues' fingers would probably be considered to be of the seventh rank.

"Can't we touch those storage rings?" Xu Chuan, an ordinary Great Dou Master standing next to Xiao Yan, asked curiously.

"What do you think?" Zhou Ze glanced at Xu Chuan as if he were an idiot. "If it were possible to touch it, hundreds of years have passed, would it still be your turn?"

Just as Zhou Ze was speaking, the skinny monkey in front of him touched the storage ring on the stone statue with his finger.

Almost instantly, countless tiny black insects surged out of the storage ring, and in just two seconds, the skinny monkey was completely devoured.

At the same time, the guide of the skinny monkey also noticed the skinny monkey's actions. Unlike the other team members who subconsciously unleashed their fighting spirit and killed swarms of black insects, the guide of the seven-star warrior sighed and stood there blankly.

Seven seconds.

In just seven seconds, the guide and his squad were wiped out, without leaving a single drop of blood.

"What was that thing?" Li Ru asked in astonishment, staring wide-eyed at the black insect that had wiped out the entire squad and returned to his storage ring.

"The flesh and bone worms, I wonder when they moved in." Zhou Ze calmly packed his equipment.

"Impossible!" Li Ru retorted instinctively. "That team has a Grand Dou Master! The Flesh and Bone Worms, which are poisonous insects without any grade, can't even corrode a Dou Master's Dou Qi armor, let alone a Dou Qi robe!"

"...Your gold coins."

Zhou Ze glanced at Li Ru, then without explaining, simply took out the 10,000 gold coins Li Ru had previously handed over from his storage ring. "You should leave the team. I dare not take you in. You'd better find someone else!"

"You...!" Li Ru stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Fine, I see you're just a useless piece of trash who only knows how to talk! I'll find someone else!" He snatched the gold coins from Zhou Ze's hand and moved toward the guides around him.

"If you get kicked out once, will no one be willing to take you under their wing?"

Seeing Li Ru being rejected time and time again, Xiao Yan asked curiously.

"Otherwise what? We're the guides, not the ones who will die," Zhou Ze said, curling his lip. "We're all risking our lives. Ninety-nine percent of those who dare to contradict the guides are troublemakers. Anyone who doesn't want to die would never want them!"

"Alright, alright, let him go. Let's go in," Zhou Ze stretched after packing his things, looking at the five people including Xiao Yan. "Actually, the Poison Swamp isn't that scary. After all, I'll tell you in advance about everything that's forbidden. As long as you follow my instructions completely, not to mention dangerous areas, even death zones will be a piece of cake!"

"You've been to the Death Zone?" The five people, including Xiao Yan, looked at Zhou Ze, who was only a three-star Dou Zhe, with surprise.

“Uh… I went in, took a few steps,” Zhou Ze hesitated for a moment, then shrugged helplessly. “Then the guide who led the way, the best guide in the whole town of Suffering, turned into a pile of rotten flesh. Since then, I’ve never been in again.”

"I'd like to ask about the strength of that guide..." Lei Rui licked his upper lip and asked.

“A Battle King,” Zhou Ze shrugged, “a Battle King who turns into rotten flesh in a second.”

The expressions on their faces froze instantly.

"Let's go, it's time to begin." After surveying the five people's frozen expressions with satisfaction, Zhou Ze clapped his hands and took the lead in stepping into the edge of the poisonous swamp.

After a brief hesitation, the five of them followed Zhou Ze.

Mixed among the group, Xiao Yan sighed helplessly.

Initially, although he knew that the Poison Swamp had a guide, Xiao Yan, who possessed the protection of a strange fire and the spiritual power of a spirit realm, did not intend to pay a guide to lead the way.

Protected by the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, Xiao Yan rushed into the danger zone in one breath, only to be ingested by a mysterious poison—

Even though his soul power could sense it penetrating deeper into his body, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame wandering through his meridians didn't collide with anything, as if his body was completely unharmed. If he hadn't sealed his heart with his soul power at the last moment, that strange toxin might have already entered his heart!

Having no way to deal with the toxins in his body, Xiao Yan had no choice but to abandon his first exploration and retreat to the outside of the poisonous swamp, hoping to resolve the toxins in his body as quickly as possible. Then he discovered that the toxins that had entered his body... had disappeared?

Although it was incredibly unbelievable, after several tests, Xiao Yan confirmed that the toxin had disappeared.

Completely bewildered, Xiao Yan entered the poisonous swamp for the second time. Then, just as he entered the dangerous area, he again sensed the toxin entering his body...

After repeating this three times, Xiao Yan completely gave up the idea of ​​entering alone and instead began looking for a guide in the town of Suffering. After some inquiries, Xiao Yan set his sights on Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze's fee is 10,000 gold coins, which is the lowest among all the guides in Suffering Town. However, this does not mean that Zhou Ze's skill level is poor. In fact, in terms of skill alone, Zhou Ze ranks extremely high among the guides in Suffering Town!

The reason the fee is so low is because Zhou Ze established a rule: