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

The moment he opened his eyes, an enormous gate came into view. The gate was crimson red, but unlike the bronze gate outside, this gate was open. Looking behind the gate, everything was blurry and unclear, extremely eerie and mysterious, which made Xiao Yan extra cautious.

hum!

Before Xiao Yan could probe anything, red light condensed on the giant gate, and ancient characters slowly appeared on it.

"Four Symbols Mysterious Sect, Vermilion Bird Palace..." Staring at the ancient characters, Xiao Yan read it out softly.

Soon, the characters on the giant gate changed, and another row of characters appeared.

"The Vermilion Bird Trial is a perilous journey with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. Enter at your own risk! Enter at your own risk!"

The two consecutive "Caution" characters, with a faint hint of bloodlust, gave off an extremely fierce feeling. Anyone who saw such characters would probably feel a chill run down their spine.

Xiao Yan took a slow breath, "A trial..."

Suddenly, Xiao Yan recalled a vision he had once seen beneath a lake, a trial that seemed to be a test of perseverance or strength, possibly a test of the Dark Sacred Tiger's legacy.

"Even if the Vermilion Bird Trial tests strength," Xiao Yan said, a slight smile playing on his lips, "I will definitely pass it normally!"

After saying that, Xiao Yan lifted his foot without hesitation and walked towards the opened giant door.

However, the inscriptions on the giant gate are actually useless. After all, the only way out of this space is this open gate, but the view inside is completely hidden!

The moment he stepped through the giant gate, the expected darkness did not reappear. Xiao Yan's vision only blurred for a moment, and then he felt the world around him suddenly change.

boom--!

Before he could even see the scene before him clearly, a deafening sound suddenly rang out, followed by a giant wave composed entirely of magma crashing towards Xiao Yan.

Having easily dodged the giant wave, Xiao Yan could see everything clearly before him—

A seemingly endless sea of ​​lava, above which fiery orbs continuously fell, striking the lava like meteorites. Then, towering waves, tens of meters high, were created and spread outwards.

Looking at the scene before him, Xiao Yan's eyes twitched slightly. "This trial... could it be that I have to pass through this sea of ​​lava?"

To be honest, if it were an ordinary sea of ​​lava, Xiao Yan felt he would have no problem at all. After all, when he was still a Great Dou Master, he went deep into the earth's core in search of the lotus platform where the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame was born, and swam in the sea of ​​lava underground for a long time.

but……

Feeling the completely uncontrollable spiritual power, the Yuan energy and strange fire sealed within his body like stagnant water, Xiao Yan managed a weak smile.

"Is it only possible with the body?"

Looking at the sea of ​​lava before him, the endless fireballs falling from the sky, and finally at the towering waves being created, Xiao Yan swallowed hard.

At this moment, he felt that his physical strength was still insufficient, and there were still many areas where he could improve...

Chapter 261 Vermilion Bird Body Tempering

Looking at the sea of ​​lava before him, Xiao Yan let out a long sigh and shook his head helplessly.

"Fine, I'd like to see just how terrifying this sea of ​​lava really is!" With a loud laugh, Xiao Yan tapped the floor with his toes and shot into the air.

Bang!

Then, just like those fireballs falling from the sky, Xiao Yan plunged into the sea of ​​lava.

The moment you fall into the sea of ​​lava, the scorching, boiling lava rushes towards you. The moment your clothes touch the lava, they turn to ashes. Intense pain comes from every inch of your skin, as if countless silver needles are piercing every inch of your skin.

The pain was enough to make an ordinary person scream to death, but the only good news was that Xiao Yan did not turn to ashes the moment he came into contact with the sea of ​​lava, just like his clothes. Thanks to his physical strength, which was equivalent to that of a beast in the Life Profound Realm, the sea of ​​lava had only brought Xiao Yan pain so far.

'Something's not right...'

The intense pain did not affect Xiao Yan's concentration. He clearly felt some energy slowly invading his body from the sea of ​​magma. However, the strange energy did not damage any of his meridians or internal organs. Instead, it moved forward little by little along a route of a "cultivation technique" that was completely unfamiliar to Xiao Yan.

Is the legacy hidden within this sea of ​​magma?

Xiao Yan felt he understood everything, and his face immediately darkened—

When he soared into the air, he did not feel any restrictions such as being prohibited from flying or reaching a certain altitude. In other words, with his movement-based martial arts and a sufficiently strong physique, he could skip across the lava sea like a stone.

Compared to swimming across the lava sea, this somewhat comical method might be an easier way to cross it, but if that method is chosen, the heritage "hidden" within the lava sea will undoubtedly be completely ignored.

"It's just swimming..."

With his spiritual power, elemental power, and strange fire all sealed, Xiao Yan muttered, "It's easy..."

Before he could finish speaking, a massive fireball landed squarely on Xiao Yan's head.

After the "tsunami" passed, Xiao Yan's figure could no longer be seen on the surging sea of ​​lava...

*

Inside the Azure Dragon Palace, beneath a sky full of lightning, a figure, protected by a faint golden light, gradually disappeared into the distance on the silver sea.

Inside the White Tiger Hall, the sounds of fighting and drums shook the heavens and the earth. On the edge of the blood-soaked battlefield, a burly figure, as large as a giant, carrying a huge iron rod, walked step by step into the tragic battlefield.

Inside the Xuanwu Hall, on the endless desert, a fierce wind howled, and a delicate figure stood quietly amidst the sandstorm. After a moment, thunder roared, and a light drizzle began to fall. As the rain fell, countless desiccated corpses raised their arms from the desert, shrouded in dark demonic energy...

The trials of the four great sects and four great lineages were proceeding silently. On this plaza hidden in the crevices of space, four massive bronze gates stood, seemingly unchanged from countless years past.

*

boom!

Above the crimson ocean, a dazzling fireball tore through the sky and then slammed into the sea, instantly creating countless towering waves.

Giant waves, formed from magma, surged and crashed against a figure slowly swimming in the ocean.

Bang!

A dull thud resounded, and the figure was blasted back dozens of meters. Then, crimson magma slowly flowed down his body, leaving no marks on his jade-like skin, which showed no signs of being burned red.

The figure slowly swimming in the sea of ​​lava was none other than Xiao Yan, who was trying to swim through the Vermilion Bird Trial.

"call--"

Xiao Yan exhaled a long breath and hovered above the ocean. At the end of his vision, a black coastline slightly higher than the lava sea appeared. If nothing unexpected happened, that was the opposite shore of the lava sea. However, looking at the black coastline, a trace of regret suddenly rose in his heart.

If I'm not mistaken, he has been swimming in this sea of ​​lava for almost half a month.

In the first few days, in order to feel the path of the energy that was moving slowly through his body, he did not advance very far. In fact, due to one "precise" fireball after another, he did not advance more than 10,000 meters.

After the special energy had traveled through Xiao Yan's body for a week and returned to its starting point, Xiao Yan mobilized the small amount of Yuan Power that had barely leaked out due to the flow of energy and let it flow along the route it had taken.

As the Yuan Power circulated again and again, the special energy extracted from this sea of ​​magma accumulated more and more. Eventually, it didn't even need the Yuan Power to propel it; the special energy could surge through Xiao Yan's body like a raging river.

Just as Xiao Yan had thought, a legacy was hidden within this sea of ​​magma, and based on his experience over the past ten days, it should be a high-level spiritual martial arts body-refining technique.

As Xiao Yan gradually mastered this body-refining martial art, his physical strength increased, and his temperature gradually rose. Now, even the magma sea, which was almost as hot as the fused strange fire within Xiao Yan's body, had little effect on him.

'It's time to end this!'

After this thought flashed through his mind, Xiao Yan burst out of the lava, instantly changed into a new set of clothes, and black wings unfurled from behind him, vibrating violently as they carried Xiao Yan toward the black coast.

hum!

The moment Xiao Yan landed, the atmosphere of this space suddenly froze, and then a violent vortex appeared in the sea of ​​magma.

Turning back to look at the surging sea of ​​lava, Xiao Yan's pupils suddenly shrank. His spiritual power, which had long been unsealed, allowed him to sense that a colossal creature was slowly rising from the depths of the lava sea.

Splash!

Under Xiao Yan's watchful gaze, the seawater surged more violently, and eventually, the color of the crimson magma sea deepened.

Finally, a colossal crimson creature rose from the ocean, its body covered in crimson feathers. With each flap of its wings, a howling wind arose, and at the same time, a terrifying pressure spread out. For a moment, Xiao Yan even felt that he had forgotten to breathe under this pressure.

"Vermilion Bird or Phoenix?"

Looking at the majestic, enormous bird, Xiao Yan suddenly asked a somewhat nonsensical question.

"Vermilion Bird or Phoenix, it doesn't matter, I'm not from either of those races anyway," a somewhat arrogant voice suddenly rang out, "But you... are you a dragon? Or a human?"

Following the sound, a black stone tablet stood near the claws of the giant bird-like monster. In front of the tablet, a woman in a red dress sat cross-legged, one hand supporting her chin, looking at Xiao Yan with some curiosity.

The woman in the red dress was extremely beautiful, but the curious expression on her face and the aura she exuded gave Xiao Yan the impression that she had a rather fiery personality.

“Humans,” Xiao Yan replied, “genuine humans.”

"Human?" The woman's gaze lingered on Xiao Yan. "Then the dragon within you... no, it doesn't seem to be a dragon. The Heavenly Demon Sable... no, it's not that either..."

"Did you sign a special contract with some strange monster?"

After muttering to herself for a long time, the woman finally asked the question.

"...What does this have to do with me inheriting the legacy of the Vermilion Bird Palace?" Xiao Yan asked after a moment of silence.

"It has nothing to do with me, I just want to know for myself," the woman said, pursing her lips. "You're the only one who has passed this trial in the past ten thousand years, can't I ask a few more questions?"

Xiao Yan did not answer.

"Forget it, I really didn't expect that such a boring guy like you could actually activate the highest-level trial I left behind," the woman said, greatly disappointed by Xiao Yan's expression. "Since you swam over this sea of ​​lava, you should have already mastered the Vermilion Bird Body Tempering Technique, right?"

Vermilion Bird Body Forging? What a straightforward name...

After mentally complaining, Xiao Yan nodded.

“Since you’ve already mastered it, you should have realized that it’s just a high-grade spiritual martial art,” the woman grinned. “High-grade spiritual martial arts… it sounds impressive, but for most sects and forces, it’s nothing special. After all, the true foundation of each sect must be at least a heavenly martial art…”

Xiao Yan listened silently, offering no comment on the common sense the woman spoke of.

"...Among the four great sects, the Vermilion Bird Sect, which is in charge of weapon crafting, should have the weakest overall strength. But in reality, the Vermilion Bird Sect is ranked second, only after the Azure Dragon Sect of Qingzhi. Do you know why?"

After explaining a whole bunch of common knowledge, the woman finally steered the conversation back to the Four Great Mystic Sects, "That's right! It's all thanks to the body-refining martial arts I created, the Vermilion Bird Body Forging and the Phoenix Heart Forging!"

The woman's self-identification made Xiao Yan realize that his previous guesses about her personality were correct.

"Vermilion Bird forging the body, Phoenix forging the heart? Are there two sets of body-refining martial arts in total?" Xiao Yan asked.

"No, there's only one set, but it can be divided into two parts," the woman waved her hand and laughed loudly. "I'm not as strong as Qingzhi, and I don't have any special background. Although I eventually reached the Reincarnation Realm, among all those at the Reincarnation Realm, I'm among the weakest... Of course, that was before this body-tempering martial art was created! When..."

Judging from the woman's appearance, she seemed to be preparing to continue boasting about her deeds for a while longer, but suddenly, as if she sensed something, her expression froze.

“…Never mind, I suddenly don’t want to talk about it anymore,” the woman said after a moment of silence. “You’ve already mastered the Vermilion Bird Body Forging Technique. As for the Phoenix Heart Forging Technique, you just need to follow the Vermilion Bird Body Forging Technique’s operating route once.”

"Similarly, just as the name suggests, Vermilion Bird Body Tempering simply enhances the strength of the physical body. According to our deductions, if a person starts cultivating this martial art from the Nirvana Realm, by the time he reaches the Death Profound Realm, the strength of his physical body will be on par with that of the Vermilion Bird in the Reincarnation Realm..." At this point, the woman glanced at Xiao Yan and then added.

"Your current physical strength is already equivalent to that of a Vermilion Bird in the Reincarnation Realm. If you can persuade a Vermilion Bird to fight you without using its Yuan Power, your chances of winning are very high!"

What is the physical strength of the Vermilion Bird in the Reincarnation Realm?

Xiao Yan's expression was somewhat blank. He knew that his physical strength had greatly improved during the crossing of the magma sea, but he had estimated that it was only about the same as that of a demonic beast in the Death Profound Realm...

"So, that's why I wanted to know whether you were human or a demon beast in the first place..." Seeing Xiao Yan's expression, the woman smiled with satisfaction. "The Vermilion Bird Body Tempering will be effective until you reach the Reincarnation Realm, but the improvement won't be significant in the later stages, and then there's the Phoenix Heart Tempering..."

"If I had to put it in perspective, Phoenix Heart Forging is actually a mental cultivation method, but it also improves the physical body during the mental cultivation process. Even when Vermilion Bird Body Forging can no longer exert much effect, Phoenix Heart Forging can still gradually improve the strength of the physical body. According to those people, my Phoenix Heart Forging is, in a sense, the highest level of Heavenly Martial Arts..."