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

Medusa looked at Xiao Yan with a bewildered expression.

“I also want to know…” Xiao Yan sighed helplessly, “Wait, this is…” Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yan felt his soul power “capture” a peculiar creature.

A surge of spiritual power erupted, controlling the strange creature and pulling it in front of the two of them.

The creature had a round head covered with tiny scales, and its small eyes revealed a hint of ferocity. Its rather large mouth was slightly open, revealing a dense array of sharp teeth, making it resemble a lizard capable of walking upright.

"A magical beast? A magical beast that lives in such deep magma?"

Medusa looked at the lizardman bound by Xiao Yan's soul power with surprise. She could sense that this magical beast was at most a fourth-order creature. In this place that was almost a forbidden zone for life, how could there still be a creature surviving?

"Their strength is rather average, but their numbers..." Spreading out his soul power and sensing the number of lizardmen in the dark red magma, Xiao Yan couldn't help but be somewhat surprised, "They're really something else."

Within the range covered by Xiao Yan's soul power alone, he had already sensed nearly ten thousand lizardmen. The strongest among them possessed the strength of a Dou Zong, while the weakest, like the one before him, had not even reached the Dou Ling level.

"Let's go in and take a look. What summoned me should be this skeleton... or that Fallen Heart Flame." Xiao Yan wasn't very interested in the lizardmen, a race that was hard to tell whether they were magical beasts or demi-humans. He released them and stepped directly into the transparent light circle.

Medusa glanced at the lizardman who had fled immediately after being released, then silently followed Xiao Yan into the circle of light.

As Xiao Yan got closer to the mysterious skeleton, the summoning feeling he experienced grew stronger. However, even now, he still didn't know whether it was the skeleton or the Fallen Heart Flame that was summoning him.

After lingering on the mysterious skeleton for a moment, Xiao Yan turned his gaze back to the fallen heart flame.

This Fallen Heart Flame was only the size of a head, and the temperature it emitted was far less than that of the Fallen Heart Flame inside Xiao Yan's body. It was probably like the Living Flame sleeping in Xiao Yan's natal spirit talisman, still in its infancy.

This juvenile form of strange fire obviously cannot provide the energy for the evolution of the Burning Technique. However, for Canaan Academy, this is definitely a godsend. As long as they have this, the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower can be reopened. Although the effect may be weak at first, as long as powerful people continuously supply it with energy and battle qi, it will not be long before the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower is the same as before it was destroyed.

Moreover, this Fallen Heart Flame, nurtured from a young age, will not be as rebellious as the previous one. In fact, once it gains sufficient intelligence, it will treat Canaan Academy as its home and protect it.

"Are you planning to subdue it as well?" Medusa asked, noticing the increasingly intense gaze Xiao Yan gave the young Fallen Heart Flame.

“It’s of no use to me,” Xiao Yan shrugged. “However, it’s very useful to Canaan Academy…” As he spoke, he reached out his hand, preparing to capture the young Fallen Heart Flame.

However, Xiao Yan stopped after taking only one step, his gaze falling on the skeleton. "Aren't you going to come out, sir?"

As soon as the words fell, a dazzling white light burst forth from within the skeleton. Then, the white light wriggled and transformed into a phantom figure of an old man. The figure wore a white robe, and his hair and beard were all snow-white. His face was aged, and an awkward expression flickered in his calm eyes.

"...I didn't expect that the Fallen Heart Flame would still be subdued by someone." After the illusory figure appeared, it remained silent for a moment before speaking.

Xiao Yan didn't answer, just looked at the illusory old man with a cold smile, as if to see what else he could say.

"...Ahem, I am Yaotianhuo, also known as the Heavenly Fire Venerable," after a long stalemate, the old man finally coughed, "and was the previous owner of the Fallen Heart Flame that you refined."

Yao Tianhuo was extremely embarrassed. After discovering that the young man in front of him was only a Dou Zong, he was preparing to show off his skills in front of everyone, control his body, and then summon the Fallen Heart Flame that he had refined. However, he was discovered before he could even make a move, and he couldn't even summon the Fallen Heart Flame.

'Wait a minute, didn't this kid just refine that Fallen Heart Flame? Normally, it shouldn't have resisted me, its former master, much, right? Surely his fire control technique isn't stronger than mine?'

When introducing himself, Yao Tianhuo couldn't help but mutter to himself, "No matter what, he was a Dou Zun in his previous life, so his fire control technique shouldn't be weaker than that of a Dou Zong, right?"

"When I subdued it, I didn't realize it had an owner." Controlling the Fallen Heart Flame summoned within his body, Xiao Yan grew increasingly impatient with the soul entity before him.

“It’s normal that you can’t detect it,” Yaotianhuo chuckled dryly. “I set it free before I died, so it’s not really a problem to say that it’s ownerless.”

"So, you want the Fallen Heart Flame back now?"

Xiao Yan's tone turned icy. Other things were fine, but the strange fire was almost the foundation of his strength. Let alone the fact that he was just a soul in front of him, even if he were still alive, as long as he said that he wanted to take back the Fallen Heart Flame, Xiao Yan would definitely kill him on the spot.

Chapter 337 Strange Movements of the Ancient Jade

“No, as you can see, my soul is attached to the Fallen Heart Flame of this juvenile form, and my soul power has been worn away by the years,” Yao Tianhuo said with a bitter smile. “If no one enters here within two years, my soul will completely dissipate.”

Xiao Yan made no comment on what Yao Tianhuo said. Although what he said was true, Yao Tianhuo was a Dou Zun in his previous life. If it were someone else who had refined the Fallen Heart Flame instead of Xiao Yan and Medusa who came here, who knows if Yao Tianhuo would still be as weak as he is now?

"Why waste so much breath on him?" Medusa said coldly. "Don't you need this Fallen Heart Flame? Why not just obliterate his soul?"

As he spoke, a seven-colored light shone from his hand, as if he were preparing to completely annihilate the remnant soul of Yaotianhuo for Xiao Yan.

“Ahem, if you need this juvenile Fallen Heart Flame, I can leave it behind,” Yaotianhuo hurriedly said after confirming Medusa’s strength from the seven-colored light emanating from her hand. “Moreover, I’m willing to give you my famous fighting technique from back then! No, calling it a fighting technique isn’t quite right… more accurately, it’s a fire control technique!”

"You must be an alchemist, right? Since you were able to restrain the Fallen Heart Flame, it means your soul power isn't weak either. However, for you alchemists, the methods of controlling flames for attack are relatively limited. My fire control technique can completely solve this problem!"

After centuries of silence, they finally saw a living person. Yao Tianhuo was unwilling to live in his soul form for so long only to die silently in this magma. Therefore, he quickly presented his bargaining chip and explained in detail the advantages it would bring to Xiao Yan.

"Fire control technique?" Xiao Yan was slightly surprised.

The Fire Control Technique, as the name suggests, is a method for controlling flames. Xiao Yan has never practiced this technique. In his daily life, he usually relies on his powerful soul force, which far exceeds that of ordinary alchemists, to control strange fire. In fact, in terms of fire control skills alone, Xiao Yan is probably not even as good as Han Feng. The reason he can crush Han Feng is simply because his soul force is far superior to Han Feng's.

"What level of fire control technique is it?" Xiao Yan asked, his interest piqued.

"Earth Rank," Yao Tianhuo finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xiao Yan showing interest. "It is called the Five Wheels of Fire Technique. It has five levels, which are divided into wolf, leopard, lion, tiger and dragon according to the animal form. Each level has its own fire spirit. When it is cultivated to the great success, the five beasts gather together and can form the Five Wheels of Fire Array, which has the power to burn the sky and steam the sea."

After all, it was his signature technique from back then, so Yao Tianhuo's voice was full of intonation when he recounted this fire control technique.

"Based on my deduction, if four out of the five fire spirits are condensed from different kinds of fire, the power of this technique can even be comparable to a Heaven-rank combat skill!"

After explaining the Five-Wheel Fire Technique, Yao Tianhuo glanced at Medusa, who was clearly a Dou Zun (Battle Venerable) level expert, and added a sentence.

'Five kinds of fire spirits, and as long as four of them are condensed from different kinds of fire, they have the power of a Heaven-rank fighting skill?' Xiao Yan's heart stirred. Not counting the Dragon-Phoenix Demon Flame, he already had five different kinds of fire, and the number of these different kinds of fire would only increase in the future. Therefore, this Five-Round Fire Separation Technique was simply a fire control technique tailor-made for him!

However, even though he was certain that he would obtain the five rounds of the Fire Separation Technique, given Xiao Yan's personality, he felt that not making a big profit would be a loss, so he concealed his emotions very well.

"The four fire spirits condensed from the strange fire will have the power of a Heaven-rank fighting skill?" Xiao Yan looked at Yao Tianhuo with a half-smile. "But you should know that a person can only refine one kind of strange fire, right?"

Furthermore, since Mr. Yao's body is located here, it means that you wanted to collect this newly formed Fallen Heart Flame back then, but the two Fallen Heart Flames repelled each other, which is why you perished here, right?

For different flames, there is no such thing as perfect fusion between identical flames. Repulsion, like that between enemies, is the norm for different flames. Since the corpse of Yaotian Fire is here, and even attached to the newly formed Fallen Heart Flame, it means that he perished back then because of his greed in wanting to absorb the second Fallen Heart Flame.

“…I suppose so,” Yaotianhuo smiled helplessly. “Back then, I was too greedy and wanted to absorb the strange fire seed of this Fallen Heart Flame, but I ended up being severely injured and attacked at the most crucial moment…”

"Are they those fire lizardmen?" Xiao Yan asked, a thought stirring within him.

"You've had contact with them?" Yao Tianhuo was also somewhat surprised to hear Xiao Yan's words.

“There was one that tried to attack us, but I noticed it,” Xiao Yan said casually. “However, I wasn’t interested in it, so I let it go and then came in.”

“That thing should be a native creature of this place, and there are a lot of them. It’s best that you didn’t fight with them,” Yao Tianhuo nodded and continued, “Moreover, there are many powerful beings in their group who can rival Dou Zun. Back then, I encountered a Dou Zun-level lizard clan expert. If their clan hadn’t been ignorant of spatial power, I might not have even been able to save my body back then.”

There are actually fire lizards at the Dou Zun level?

Both Xiao Yan and Medusa were somewhat surprised by Yao Tianhuo's words, and at the same time, they were also somewhat relieved. Although both of them could be considered Dou Zun powerhouses, fighting against the Flame Lizardmen in their homeland was ultimately an unwise choice.

“Since you know that a person cannot refine two different flames, then for me, these Five Flames of Separation are nothing more than different Earth-rank fire control techniques,” Xiao Yan made no mention of the fact that he had already refined five different flames besides the artificial one, “and for me, this level of fire control technique can be obtained at any time as long as I go to the Central Continent…”

Upon hearing this, Yao Tianhuo's eyes flickered slightly, as if he wanted to argue a few more points about his Five-Wheel Fire Technique, but Xiao Yan did not give him that chance.

“You might not believe it, but the highest-grade pill I’ve ever refined is the Poria Green Pill, and because the medicinal materials I used were of a higher grade, it attracted three-colored pill lightning at the time,” Xiao Yan said with a smile as he looked at Yao Tianhuo. “Since you were a Dou Zun powerhouse in your previous life, you must know what level of pill it is that attracted three-colored pill lightning, right?”

Recalling the soul force that sensed his presence even before he appeared, Yao Tianhuo reluctantly believed what Xiao Yan said. Of course, more importantly, he couldn't help but believe it.

"But these five rounds of the Fire Separation Technique are the only ones that are useful to you." Because he "believed" Xiao Yan, all Yao Tianhuo could do now was wait for Xiao Yan to state his conditions.

“Although you are a Dou Zun, your soul power has not reached the Spirit Realm, so it is not difficult to repair your soul power,” Xiao Yan said leisurely. “In fact, I have a way to give a person who is only a soul body a physical body again… You should also want to regain a physical body, right?” He looked at Yao Tianhuo with a smile.

"...Is there anything I can do?"

The restoration of soul power and the regaining of a physical body were two points that struck Yao Tianhuo's Achilles' heel. Yao Tianhuo, who only had soul power left and could only hold on for a few more years, simply gave up his plan to negotiate terms with Xiao Yan.

"Once I've finished dealing with things in the Northwest Continent, I will definitely head to the Central State," Xiao Yan said, not directly stating his conditions, but instead talking about his own affairs. "However, my family is still on the Northwest Continent, and there's a force trying to obtain a treasure from my family. A few months ago, they even kidnapped my father..."

"You hope that after I am resurrected, you will help protect your family?" Yao Tianhuo asked with some surprise after understanding Xiao Yan's conditions, while glancing at Medusa standing quietly beside Xiao Yan. "Let me, a Dou Zun who is not familiar with you, protect your family?"

“That’s right,” Xiao Yan admitted without hesitation, “Ten years. After I resurrect you, I hope you can protect my family for ten years.”

As for being unfamiliar with such things… isn't that how alchemists are? The more people come seeking medicine, the more powerful individuals they gradually get to know.”

“That’s true.” Yao Tianhuo nodded, subconsciously treating Medusa as a Dou Zun he had become familiar with after the transaction.

"So, Mr. Yao agrees?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile.

“I have no other choice,” Yao Tianhuo sighed deeply. Then, with a wave of his hand, a snow-white storage ring floated up from the white bone beside him and landed in his hand. With a flick of his finger, a pale white scroll appeared in front of him. On the scroll, some birds and beasts with flames all over their bodies were painted. “This is the Five-Round Fire Technique that I told you about. Now it is yours.”

After saying that, Yao Tianhuo threw the scroll to Xiao Yan.

After taking the scroll, Xiao Yan immediately unfolded it and glanced at it. After confirming the peculiarity of this fire control technique and that the four fire spirits would indeed undergo special changes due to the strange fire, he smiled and put it into his storage ring.

Watching Xiao Yan's skillful movements, Yao Tianhuo sighed deeply.

"I hope I haven't misjudged him!" After sighing, Yao Tianhuo didn't hesitate. With a flick of his hand, the nascent Fallen Heart Flame floating beside his skeleton drifted toward Xiao Yan.

After carefully gathering the Fallen Heart Flame, Xiao Yan looked at Yao Tianhuo again, "To regain a physical body, I need at least the body of a Dou Zong or higher expert. Should I hunt one in the Black Corner Region, or should I use your skeleton, Mr. Yao?"

"Then I'll use my own." Yao Tianhuo smiled wryly as he put his remains into the snow-white storage ring.

"Speaking of which, you captured a Flame Lizardman earlier, right?" After doing this, Yao Tianhuo suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Xiao Yan. "These creatures are extremely sensitive to the flow of magma. If there is any slight movement in the magma, they will notice it. In addition, their numbers are huge, and the more you kill them, the more they will multiply. In the end, they will attract the real powerhouses of the clan, and then it will be troublesome."

“That’s not a problem. Their soul power is extremely weak, so leaving safely is no problem at all,” Xiao Yan smiled casually. “However… you said there are Dou Zun level experts among them, right? Haven’t they ever left?”

"These creatures can only survive in magma. Once they leave the magma, they will die quickly, just like fish out of water."

"That's good..." Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. If these fire lizardmen were to leave the lava and head to the surface, he would have to persuade the inner courtyard to move away from this place.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Yao has been to the deeper lava... Mr. Yao?" Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yan noticed the undisguised fear on Yao Tianhuo's face.

For a moment, the atmosphere in this space became somewhat strange—Yaotianhuo was a Dou Zun in his previous life, so anything that could make him feel fear must be related to a Dou Sheng, right?

After a long while, the eerie atmosphere was broken by Yaotianhuo's panting.

“Little guy, for the sake of our deal, I advise you not to be curious and try to go down there. Although I don’t know what’s down there, I can vaguely sense that there is a terrifying presence there…” Yao Tianhuo said slowly after taking a deep breath.

"It was only at the moment my body collapsed that I vaguely sensed something. Sometimes, I even wondered if these mysterious fire lizards were the gatekeepers of the magma world at the bottom?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded. Even with his Spirit Realm and near-Heaven Realm soul power, he couldn't detect what was deep within the magma, which meant that one couldn't sense things deep inside under normal circumstances. If there really was something related to Dou Sheng deep inside, it wasn't impossible for these fire lizardmen to be the gatekeepers.

"Then let's not talk about these things," Xiao Yan chuckled. "Let's leave this place first."

Seeing this, Venerable Tianhuo moved his hand seals slightly, and the white storage ring in his hand automatically slipped onto Xiao Yan's finger. His blurry figure also flashed in, and a faint fluctuation spread out from the storage ring. The light barrier in front of Xiao Yan slowly cracked.

As soon as the light shield cracked, Xiao Yan and Medusa rushed into the magma together.

But the moment the light shield cracked, neither Medusa, Yaotianhuo, nor Xiao Yan noticed that at the bottom of that unreachable crimson magma world, a massive pillar of light, several meters long, slowly opened, its slight opening and closing resembling a pair of eyes.

At that very moment, Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat. His hand, hidden in his sleeve, flicked, and a broken piece of ancient jade appeared in his palm. Now, the jade, which had remained unresponsive for so long, was emitting a faint warmth.

Xiao Yan gently stroked the ancient jade with his fingers, took a deep breath, and the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, which had been silent until now, began to move, indicating that there was something related to the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor at the bottom of this magma region... or more accurately, at the bottom of that magma world! It might even be the legacy left behind by that Tuoshe Ancient Emperor!

'But why?'

As he swam upstream, a sense of confusion flashed through Xiao Yan's mind. When he first arrived here, the ancient jade did not exhibit any unusual phenomena, so why did it show signs of movement when he left?

Chapter 338 Demon Flame Valley

Pfft!

The silent magma sea was calm and still, with only the occasional burst of bubbles causing a faint sound. The entire magma world remained deathly silent. Suddenly, a sound of water breaking rang out, and then two figures, their bodies enveloped in crimson flames, flashed out from the magma and finally hovered in mid-air.