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

"...We can only wait for him to recover slowly on his own," the old man said slowly after a long while. "Ten days, half a month, half a year, a year... or even a lifetime, no one knows when he will wake up."

"That serious?" The middle-aged man's voice was full of disbelief.

“No one knows what he did before,” the old man said silently. “He was only at the fifth level of Nirvana Realm, and his spiritual power was only at the level of a first-level Heavenly Talisman Master… With such strength, he set up a spatial teleportation array and blocked two ninth-level Nirvana Realm cultivators and one Shengxuan Realm cultivator. No one knows what he paid for it.”

"That……"

"Father, Elder Qian, you should go out first," the middle-aged man was interrupted by the girl before he could finish speaking, "He needs to rest now!"

The middle-aged man looked at the girl with a puzzled expression. After a moment, he slowly said, "I will have the sect search for medicinal herbs that can restore the primordial spirit as much as possible."

"And those three bastards," the girl said softly.

“Those three people…we have no clue whatsoever,” the middle-aged man frowned slightly. “All the Demon Seal members are dead, and the Crimson Leaf City Lord’s Mansion was massacred, as if the three of them had made up their minds never to appear in the Eastern Xuan Region again.”

"I see..." The girl's voice sounded somewhat confused.

"Take good care of him." After giving this instruction, the middle-aged man and the old man left the house together.

"Your primordial spirit is injured... Can you still wake up?" The girl looked at the boy lying on the bed with his eyes closed and no breath in his body with a confused expression.

"275631, 275632, 275633..."

Lying in bed, Xiao Yan silently counted the numbers, doing his best to conceal his true situation and not revealing a single trace of his spiritual power. He even had Yao Lao add layer upon layer of protection to his spiritual power.

His consciousness remained in darkness, and only in such darkness could Xiao Yan ensure that his spiritual power, which was penetrating deep into the Dao Sect and attempting to find the secrets hidden in the deepest part of the Dao Sect, would not be discovered by the sect leader or that "Elder Qian".

My spiritual power wandered deep within the Dao Sect for a long time, learning many of its secrets, but I found no information related to the "Otherworldly Demons." I don't know if the Dao Sect leader didn't leave the seeds of the Otherworldly Demons in the sect, or if the Dao Sect and the Otherworldly Demons really had no connection whatsoever.

Finally, after a long time, Xiao Yan gave up the search and slowly withdrew his spiritual power that had spread throughout the Dao Sect.

After all his mental energy was withdrawn, his tightly closed eyes slowly cracked open a crack. Struggling, his eyes opened completely, and he saw everything around him clearly—

A quiet room filled with the rich aroma of medicinal herbs.

'Earth Soul Saliva, Ghost Soul Fragrance...' Xiao Yan quietly identified all the medicinal herbs in the room.

"Your mental strength has improved again," Yao Lao's voice echoed in Xiao Yan's mind, "You're getting closer and closer to the Heavenly Realm. In at most two years, your mental strength will be able to break through to the Heavenly Realm."

'That's great news...'

After muttering something, Xiao Yan slowly sat up. A feeling of weakness emanated from his limbs and bones. His body, which was once terrifying and capable of fighting hand-to-hand with a Reincarnation Realm demon beast, was as fragile as someone in the Fifth Element Nirvana Realm.

'Senior Zhu Yun's Vermilion Bird Body Refinement technique is exaggerated to an extreme.' After the seal on a certain flame in his dantian was lifted, his fragile body gradually returned to normal. 'Combined with the technique of 'Ignite All Things,' it can actually completely seal off physical attributes, so even someone in the Reincarnation Realm wouldn't be able to detect any problems upon direct contact…'

"I don't think even the person who created this technique expected you to be able to do something like this," Yao Lao complained.

'Perhaps there's simply no situation that requires going to this point.'

After chuckling, Xiao Yan got off the bed. The moment he opened his eyes, he noticed the middle-aged man outside the room. The middle-aged man also confirmed his situation through his somewhat uncontrollable mental power. Therefore, the time for their formal meeting had come.

crunch--

The door slowly opened, and I walked along the gravel path outside the room. On both sides of the path were clear pools of water, with a faint mist swirling around them. Occasionally, the surface of the water rippled, as if something had swept by.

Following the path, Xiao Yan finally stopped. The pools on both sides converged here, and in front of the tranquil lake, a middle-aged man dressed in white and wearing cloth shoes stood with his hands behind his back.

"Disciple Xiao Yan greets the Sect Leader." Xiao Yan bowed and respectfully greeted the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man turned around, smiling faintly at Xiao Yan, "You don't seem surprised?"

“When you appeared in the Crimson Forest, I was still alive,” Xiao Yan said softly. “But at the time I thought it was a revolving lantern, so I didn’t react at all. It wasn’t until I returned to the sect that I realized the truth, but by then I had completely fainted.”

“That wasn’t fainting,” the middle-aged man shook his head helplessly. “If it weren’t for good luck, what you call ‘fainting’ might have turned into ‘passing away’.”

"...That was really dangerous."

"Only this?" The middle-aged man looked at Xiao Yan, who calmly uttered six words, with some surprise. "Only this?"

“I survived, didn’t I?” Xiao Yan chuckled. “Since I survived, other possibilities will always remain possibilities and will never become reality.”

“...That’s true,” the middle-aged man smiled after a slight pause. “This time, you have done a great service for our Dao Sect... Also, thank you for saving Huanhuan.”

"If I hadn't presumptuously set up the formation, I wouldn't have attracted the attention of the Shengxuan Realm," Xiao Yan said calmly. "I'm just making amends for my mistake."

"Make amends? That can't be explained simply by the word 'make amends'..." The middle-aged man chuckled, wanting to say something, but after glancing at Xiao Yan's calm expression, he swallowed his words and asked instead:

"Is there anything you want? Anything that the Dao Sect can provide, it's fine."

"...The Dao Sect's Spirit Gathering Array," Xiao Yan paused slightly before mentioning something he had coveted since entering the Dao Sect, "It would be best if there were scrolls recording every node of the array, but if not, I could at least get up close to the Spirit Gathering Array!"

"A spirit-gathering formation?" Ying Xuanzi was slightly taken aback, then turned around, waved his sleeve, and the calm Hu Bo was directly torn apart, revealing a huge formation. Light spread out, and waves of amazing energy surged out from the light formation.

At the very center of that light array was a black sapling about half a meter tall, emitting fluorescent light that twinkled beautifully.

"Is this what you mean?" However, compared to the black Immortal Origin Ancient Tree, what Ying Xuanzi wanted to show Xiao Yan was the formation surrounding the Immortal Origin Ancient Tree.

"...Its effect is not to gather the primordial energy of heaven and earth." After carefully examining the formation for a moment, Xiao Yan shook his head and said.

"Indeed, you've come a long way in the art of formations," Ying Xuanzi nodded slightly. "Can you see its function?"

"Seal off the power of heaven and earth...?" After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Yan asked uncertainly.

Chapter 294 The overall situation?

Upon hearing these words, Ying Xuanzi's surprise became even more apparent.

“That’s right, its function is to seal the spiritual energy of heaven and earth… But how did you discover it?” Ying Xuanzi looked at Xiao Yan in surprise. “Although the effect of this ‘Spirit Locking Array’ is to seal the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this area, the lakebed is connected to the four Dan Rivers of the Dao Sect, so the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within this array is completely sufficient to block your spiritual power from detection.”

It's not difficult to see that its effect isn't to gather the primordial energy of heaven and earth, but its actual effect of sealing off the primordial energy of heaven and earth can't be seen with just the naked eye, can it?

Xiao Yan's mental strength is very strong. Although he is only a first-level Heavenly Talisman Master, the total amount and quality of his mental strength are no weaker than that of an ordinary sixth-level Heavenly Talisman Master. However, there are quite a few elders and disciples in the Dao Sect whose mental strength is stronger than Xiao Yan's. They can also see that the effect of this formation is not to gather the power of heaven and earth, but no one has been able to guess the actual effect so far.

Even Ying Xuanzi, before taking over as the head of the Dao Sect, had never guessed the effect of this formation.

“You should know that I have a certain talent for manipulating space,” Xiao Yan said, scratching his cheek with some distress. “Although the spiritual energy in this formation can affect the detection of spiritual power, there are still some spatial fluctuations at the edge of the formation.”

This time, Xiao Yan was not lying. The concentration of spiritual energy in the Spirit Locking Array was extremely high, and even his mental power was affected to some extent. He could only guess the actual effect of the array based on the tiny, almost imperceptible spatial fluctuations at the edge of the array.

"Spatial fluctuations?" Ying Xuanzi raised an eyebrow slightly, gathering his spiritual power at the edge of the formation. After a long time, he finally noticed that almost non-existent spatial fluctuation.

"...Your talent for manipulating space is terrifyingly strong."

Because it took him a long time to detect that slight fluctuation, Ying Xuanzi looked at Xiao Yan with even more shock. If he hadn't failed to find the Ancestral Symbol while treating Xiao Yan's body, he would have almost suspected that Xiao Yan possessed a rare treasure like the Space Ancestral Symbol.

"When we first discovered the Immortal Origin Tree, there were five ripe fruits," Xiao Yan said, his gaze lingering for a moment before he took out five crimson fruits from his Flame Awakening Ring. "The situation was urgent at the time, so we didn't divide them up immediately..."

"You can decide for yourself who to leave it to," Ying Xuanzi said with a light laugh after his gaze lingered on the crimson fruit for a moment. "By relying on the four Dan Rivers of the Dao Sect to nourish the Immortal Origin Ancient Tree, it will bear its first batch of fruit by this time next year. When it is fully ripe, our Dao Sect will be like the Yuan Sect, with a thousand more disciples consuming the Immortal Origin Ancient Fruit every year..."

"...Then, continue to let them participate in the sect competition, and then die at the hands of the Yuan Sect people?" Since Ying Xuanzi brought up the Yuan Sect first, Xiao Yan took this opportunity to "question" them.

Upon hearing this, Ying Xuanzi's smile froze. After a moment, the stiff smile slowly faded. "That's right. After you entered the Dao Sect, you did many missions outside the sect and came into contact with many disciples stationed outside. Among all the disciples, those stationed outside harbored the deepest resentment towards me..."

Ying Xuanzi's expression was extremely bitter, as if he was saddened by the resentment of those disciples towards him, and also as if he was grieving for the disciples who had died at the hands of the Yuan Sect.

Xiao Yan remained silent. Although Ying Xuanzi presented himself as a gentle and refined gentleman, he was still unsure whether there were any sects in the Eastern Xuan Region that had come into contact with the alien demons, nor whether the Dao Sect was the kind of sect he was thinking of that had come into contact with the alien demons.

"You should know Zhou Tong, right?" After a moment of silence, Ying Xuanzi asked.

“Yes, a disciple of the Desolate Hall a hundred years ago, the only disciple in the last hundred years to comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture,” Xiao Yan nodded. He had a detailed understanding of Zhou Tong’s experiences. “He was also the only disciple who, as a disciple, stormed into other sects and forced the sect leaders to take action.”

“The Great Desolation Monument will be opened in a few months. You and your friend… your name is Lin Dong, right?” After Xiao Yan nodded, Ying Xuanzi continued, “You two may be the next disciples to comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture.”

Xiao Yan remained silent. Could he say that he had no interest in the Great Desolation Scripture?

After interpreting Xiao Yan's silence as a lack of confidence, Ying Xuanzi sighed almost imperceptibly, no longer placing the pressure of comprehending the Great Desolation Scripture on Xiao Yan.

“Zhou Tong is my disciple,” Ying Xuanzi said softly.

Xiao Yan was stunned. This point was not mentioned in the book recording Zhou Tong's deeds in the desolate hall.

"He was my last disciple, and to me, he was practically my son," Ying Xuanzi continued. "After he died at the hands of the Yuan Sect, my Dao Sect and the Yuan Sect nearly broke off all relations, and a war that could sweep across most of the Eastern Xuan Region could break out at any moment..."

Xiao Yan remained silent. Both the Dao Sect and the Yuan Sect were ancient sects in the Eastern Xuan Region. If they were to truly break off relations, the war might not only sweep across half of the Eastern Xuan Region.

"All the disciples were furious, wishing I would directly order a war against the Yuan Sect, and then use the blood of the Yuan Sect disciples to comfort Zhou Tong's spirit in heaven," Ying Xuanzi slowly closed his eyes, his voice trembling slightly, "Although it would seem shameless for me to say it myself..."

Back then, for the sake of the Dao Sect and the lives of countless ordinary disciples, I gave up revenge. I even suppressed the disciples' anger. After all, Zhou Tong was already dead, and I couldn't implicate more innocent people for the sake of the dead.

Ying Xuanzi smiled bitterly, and Xiao Yan's expression was also somewhat moved. He was able to suppress the anger that was equivalent to the death of his own son, and even admonished the angry disciples of the Dao Sect...

Perhaps, in terms of personality, at least in terms of the ability to withstand anger, dozens of Xiao Yans combined would not be a match for Ying Xuanzi.

"In the sect competition the year after Zhou Tong's death, almost all the disciples of the Dao Sect and the Yuan Sect were wiped out. Although I suppressed their anger, I could not erase it. The deaths of the disciples were my responsibility," Ying Xuanzi sighed after calming down and continued, "But, just like with Zhou Tong's case... I suppressed the anger within the sect."

"In many subsequent sect competitions, the disciples of my Dao Sect and the disciples of the Yuan Sect fought each other continuously, and I always suppressed the anger of the sect. I think those three people in the Yuan Sect are like me, able to limit the anger of their disciples, and for the sake of their lives, suppress all their anger..."

But in the end, I was wrong. When the disciples of the Dao Sect were able to rationally deal with what happened back then, and could ignore the existence of the Yuan Sect, the instigator of the war... became the disciples of the Yuan Sect.

"And then, it has continued to this day?"

"And so it has continued to this day," Ying Xuanzi nodded, "Every time, I remind myself that the dead cannot be brought back, and all I can do is protect the lives of my surviving disciples..."

Ying Xuanzi was still talking, but Xiao Yan couldn't listen anymore—

Perhaps, initially, when Zhou Tong died, Ying Xuanzi was indeed trying to protect the lives of his surviving disciples. However, later, as the Dao Sect disciples fought desperately against the Yuan Sect disciples, and then the Yuan Sect instigated a battle between itself and the Dao Sect disciples, Ying Xuanzi's concerns extended far beyond the lives of his surviving disciples...

The disciples who had died had become shackles, shackles on Ying Xuanzi's body, making it increasingly difficult for him to make the decision to fight Yuanmen to the death...

In other words, the disciples who died have become "sunk costs." As long as Ying Xuanzi still cares about them, the Dao Sect will not completely break ties with the Yuan Sect, nor will it choose the path of mutual destruction with the Yuan Sect.

"Is the array diagram of the Spirit Gathering Array in the Heavenly Palace?"

After a long while, once Ying Xuanzi had recovered from his past, Xiao Yan asked, "If I'm going to get it from the Heavenly Palace, I'll need some kind of proof, right?"

Ying Xuanzi stared blankly at Xiao Yan, and saw an expression on Xiao Yan's face that he hadn't seen in a long time—disdain and a reluctance to offer any further advice.

“…Go find Huanhuan,” Ying Xuanzi said softly after a long silence. “She should be here soon. Just have her take you to get the array diagram for the Spirit Gathering Array.”

"Thank you, Sect Leader." After bowing respectfully, Xiao Yan slowly withdrew.

"You don't like what he did?" After turning around, Yao Lao's voice echoed in Xiao Yan's mind.

"Even if hundreds of me combined, we couldn't match his level of tolerance for anger," Xiao Yan said calmly. "Unless one's strength is far inferior to the other's, I don't understand why one should suppress anger, nor do I understand why one wouldn't seek revenge for the death of a loved one."

Upon hearing this, the old doctor fell silent.

Indeed, if it weren't for his strength, if he hadn't known that the Soul Palace had Dou Sheng behind it, or even if he didn't know how many Dou Sheng existed, Xiao Yan would have already gone to the Soul Palace to make them pay the price after learning that his father was missing, even if he knew that his father was still alive.

"Then, do you still doubt the Dao Sect?" After a moment of silence, Elder Yao asked softly.

"...Even if there really are people with problems within the Dao Sect," Xiao Yan replied after a brief pause, "only Ying Xuanzi and Elder Qian are likely to have been in contact with the Otherworldly Demons."

Of course, this was the result of Xiao Yan's worst-case scenario. In Xiao Yan's view, Ying Xuanzi, who was able to suppress his anger over the death of his 'son,' did not seem like the kind of person who would come into contact with the enemy of heaven and earth. Therefore, the purpose of the trip to the Dao Sect could be said to have been achieved.

"Xiao Yan, you're awake?!"