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

"A secret technique combining battle qi and soul power?" Qi You nodded thoughtfully. "Then, what if the newcomer's strength is comparable to Zhu Li's or even mine?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan became wary. Although Qi You was from Donglong Island and had even left him a dragon seal that could subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flames, what if he developed inappropriate thoughts after leaving Donglong Island and without the restraint of the First and Second Elders of Donglong Island?

"You should know about the ancient clans, right?" Xiao Yan chuckled as he pulled Zi Yan to his side. "I've made deals with them before..."

"Ancient Clan? Are you referring to the Ancient Clan, one of the ancient imperial clans?" Qi You suddenly interrupted Xiao Yan and asked.

"There shouldn't be another ancient clan on the Dou Qi Continent with a Dou Sheng within their ranks, right?" Xiao Yan countered.

“That makes sense…” Qi You paused for a moment, then gave a helpless bitter smile. “So, you really are a descendant of Xiao Xuan, right?” As if confirming her suspicions, Qi You’s expression relaxed considerably.

"Xiao...Xuan?" Upon hearing Qi You's words, Xiao Yan realized he had misunderstood him before. However, the "Xiao Xuan" in Qi You's words made Xiao Yan frown slightly, and he asked with some confusion, "Who is that?"

"...The patriarch of the Xiao clan a thousand years ago," Zhu Li, who understood Xiao Yan's "identity" from Qi You's words, looked at Xiao Yan with some emotion, "a thousand years ago, the man on the Dou Qi Continent who was closest to becoming a Dou Di, hmm... he had a fairly good relationship with Hei Qing."

Over the past thousand years, Hei Qing has mentioned many times that he knew Xiao Xuan back then. But a thousand years ago, Hei Qing was just a little guy similar to Zi Yan now. Even if he knew Xiao Xuan, he was probably treated like a child... or even a pet.

"The patriarch of the Xiao clan a thousand years ago? The man closest to becoming a Dou Di?" Xiao Yan frowned. After learning that the jade piece passed down in his family was the so-called Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, he learned about the "Emperor Clan" on the Dou Qi Continent from Xun'er and Yao Lao.

However, at that time, Xiao Yan thought that the Xiao family... or rather the Xiao clan, had only been glorious ten thousand years ago, in the years when Tuoshe Ancient Emperor had just broken through to Dou Di, and then gradually declined. But according to Qi You... a thousand years ago, the Xiao clan seemed to still have a large number of Dou Sheng imperial clans?

"You don't know?" Xiao Yan's reaction surprised Qi You, but he quickly realized what was going on. "Ah, that's right. A thousand years ago, after he gathered the strength of the entire Xiao clan to try to break through to the Dou Di realm but failed, and was besieged by the Soul Clan, the decline of the Xiao clan became unstoppable..."

"Could you tell me what exactly happened back then?" Xiao Yan asked after Qi You finished speaking.

“Of course,” a faint smile appeared on Qi You’s old face. “Since you know about the ancient clans, you should also know what the imperial clans are, right?”

“There were families that produced Dou Di in ancient times,” Xiao Yan nodded. “Currently, there are seven imperial families on the Dou Qi Continent: the Spirit Clan, the Stone Clan, the Medicine Clan, the Flame Clan, the Thunder Clan, the Soul Clan, and the Ancient Clan.”

“That’s right. A thousand years ago, the Xiao Clan was one of the imperial clans on the Dou Qi Continent, and even the most powerful one,” Qi You nodded. A thousand years ago, he was still a minor, but he had some knowledge of the news on the Dou Qi Continent. “Among the eight imperial clans that existed at that time, the Xiao Clan was the first to produce a Dou Di. Therefore, the Xiao Clan’s bloodline was also the first to show signs of depletion.”

Dou Di possesses the ability to alter their own bloodline to benefit their descendants. If the bloodline is sufficiently concentrated, they can even directly break through to the seventh or eighth star Dou Sheng level. However, such bloodlines will eventually be diluted through generations of inheritance and eventually completely depleted. It is precisely to avoid such depletion that the "Emperor Clan" has always lived in the small world created by their ancestors, and there are countless descendants... just like a small Dou Qi continent.

"So, to avoid the depletion of his bloodline, Xiao Xuan gathered the strength of his entire clan in an attempt to break through to the Dou Di realm?" Knowing the importance of bloodlines to imperial clans, Xiao Yan nodded slowly and then asked.

“…It is the power of the bloodline of the entire clan,” Qi You glanced at Xiao Yan, then slowly said, “This is also the key reason why the Xiao clan has become weaker with each generation.”

"Bloodline power?" Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, then realized, "It's either success or death?" he murmured softly.

"You could say that," Qi You nodded. "However, it's a pity that he failed to break through, and after his failure, he was besieged by the Soul Clan's powerful members. Although he eventually killed countless Soul Clan members, he still perished in the end. And because the Ancient Clan did not intervene in the war between the Xiao Clan and the Soul Clan, it became the strongest of the remaining seven great imperial clans after that."

"I see..." Xiao Yan nodded. He didn't care at all what the Soul Clan had done a thousand years ago. After all, apart from sharing the same surname and possessing the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, the current Xiao family had almost no connection with the Xiao Clan of a thousand years ago.

“Speaking of which, Xiao Xuan should still have a tomb left behind,” Qi You said, not understanding Xiao Yan’s thoughts. After noticing Xiao Yan’s sudden silence, she continued, “If nothing unexpected happens, it should be in the Heavenly Tomb… You should know what the Heavenly Tomb is, right?”

Xiao Yan gave a somewhat helpless smile.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have mentioned these things..." Qi You muttered, then introduced, "The Heavenly Tomb is a 'public cemetery' left over from ancient times, containing countless powerful figures. Xiao Xuan's tomb should also be in the Heavenly Tomb. Moreover, the Heavenly Tomb is located in the Ancient Realm. Given your relationship with the Ancient Clan, you should be able to enter it."

As a "street hustler" of the Dou Qi Continent, the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan knew most of the secrets of the continent. Even though the news of the Heavenly Tomb only circulated among the imperial clans, Qi You still knew about it, but only to a general extent.

However, in Qi You's opinion, since Xiao Yan said he could summon the powerful members of the ancient clans, entering this Heavenly Tomb to find Xiao Xuan's tomb should not be a problem.

"Is it in the ancient realm?"

Xiao Yan, who was unfamiliar with the Heavenly Tomb, one of the most prestigious cultivation sites on the Dou Qi Continent, nodded, thinking that it shouldn't be a problem to "ask" the Ancient Clan for entry after he became a Dou Sheng or Dou Di.

“Speaking of which, Xiao Xuan once created a fighting technique,” ​​Zhu Li, who had been listening in, also remembered something. “What was it called… Heavenly Fire Three Transformations? Although it has now become the inherited fighting technique of Burning Flame Valley, it was actually taught by Xiao Xuan to the patriarch of Burning Flame Valley.”

"The Ancestor of Burning Flame Valley?" Xiao Yan suddenly remembered what Gu Yuan had said a few years ago: that the last line of the Xiao clan was in Burning Flame Valley.

“A thousand years ago, besides Xiao Xuan, there were four other powerhouses on the continent who were at the late stage of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm. Two of them were the patriarchs of the Ancient Clan and the Soul Clan, and the other two were the Ancestor of the Pill Tower and the Ancestor of the Burning Flame Valley,” Zhu Li said cheerfully, recounting news from a thousand years ago. “They were able to cultivate to the late stage of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm without the bloodline of a Dou Di or any other bloodline… If you ask me, their talents were much stronger than those of Xiao Xuan and the other two.”

Chapter 373 Yanghuo Ancient Altar

"Stop! What do you want? I am a member of the Scorpion Dragon Clan. If you kill me, they will never let you go!" On the ground, a ferocious giant scorpion with hundreds of feet of blood-red dragon wings and a body that was hundreds of feet long struggled to raise its head, look at the fiery dragon in the sky, and struggled to say these words.

"We want your magic core." Above the sky, Xiao Yan said these words with a light laugh. Then, the fiery dragon suddenly pounced on the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast that was struggling on the ground.

Having suffered heavy injuries in the previous battle and now unable to even fly, the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast felt a sense of death loom over the Flame Flood Dragon rushing towards it.

Under this sense of impending death, endless resentment surged in the blood-red eyes of the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast, and it roared to the sky, "I swear by the bloodline of the Scorpion Dragon Clan, you will be hunted down by my Scorpion Dragon Clan for the rest of your life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast's blood-red eyes automatically detached and then exploded. A thin beam of blood light pierced through space at an astonishing speed and appeared in front of Xiao Yan like lightning.

"What is that?" Xiao Yan raised his hand in surprise, using his strange fire as a shield to grab the thin blood-red light.

"Perhaps... it's what it called, the mark the Scorpion Dragon Clan used to mark those who killed their people?" Yao Lao said somewhat uncertainly, looking at the blood-red light in Xiao Yan's hand.

"When I fought it just now, I used a different kind of fire, right?" Looking at the 'corpse' of the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast below, which had been burned by the Flame Dragon and left only with a fist-sized blood-red magic core and a small clump of essence blood, Xiao Yan said uncertainly, "Didn't it know that this kind of thing is... useless against a different kind of fire?"

After removing the fighting spirit used to protect the blood-red light and watching it completely dissipate in the strange fire, Xiao Yan had a strange expression on his face—he had thought that the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast had launched the blood-red light because it was confident that it could withstand the burning of the strange fire.

“Many magical beasts in Zhongzhou have an inexplicable confidence in the ‘backers’ behind them,” Yao Lao smiled helplessly. “This Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast should be one of those magical beasts.”

"They're clearly both eighth-tier magical beasts..." Xiao Yan muttered to himself, then with a wave of his hand, the eighth-tier magical core and the essence blood of the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast floated toward him.

"I've obtained the essence blood from your body to refine your body, Master, and the final item to help you unlock the Poison Pill Technique, Little Fairy Doctor!" Xiao Yan smiled as he stored the demon core and essence blood into his storage ring. "Now all that's left is to find a place with extremely strong Yang energy!"

Two months had passed since he left Donglong Island with Zi Yan. During these two months, Xiao Yan had also collected all the medicinal materials needed to refine the Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill with the help of the information released by Xingyun Pavilion. He even refined an eighth-grade, eight-colored pill. Therefore, Xiao Yan was 90% confident in obtaining the eighth-grade, nine-colored Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill!

"Yes..." Hearing Xiao Yan's somewhat excited voice, Yao Lao also felt a little emotional—

It has only been a little over ten years since Xiao Yan first formally began refining pills. The little guy, who was already struggling to refine first-grade pills back then, has now developed the ability to refine eighth-grade nine-colored pills. He can even defeat an eighth-order magical beast with ease, without using any secret techniques to enhance his strength, even though the strange fire and the dragon's might in Xiao Yan's body played a significant role in the battle.

"Huh? What's wrong?" After snapping out of his reverie, Yao Lao was a little confused when he found Xiao Yan, Little Fairy Doctor, and Zi Yan all staring at him expectantly.

"To activate the Poison Pill technique, we need a place that is extremely yang and intense, capable of suppressing the Calamity Poison Body," Xiao Yan said. "Teacher, you said you knew such a place!"

“Oh, indeed,” Yao Lao said with a chuckle after Xiao Yan’s reminder. “There is a strange place in the Ye family. I remember its name is… Yang Huo Ancient Altar? That altar has an eye that leads directly to the depths of the earth. Occasionally, some flames from the earth’s core will float out from this eye. And this place is also able to gather the sunlight from the sky. When the sunlight from the sky comes into contact with the flames from the earth’s core, it will turn into a kind of flame. The Ye family calls that flame Yang Huo.”

"Yang Fire?" Xiao Yan blinked. "Could this flame be a type of flame that isn't recorded on the Ranking of Strange Flames?"

"No, that's not it. This Yang Fire is far inferior to the Strange Fire; it's only stronger than most beast fires," Yao Lao shook his head. "The most crucial point is that this Yang Fire doesn't last long. Even the Ye family members who want to use this Yang Fire must refine pills in the Yang Fire Ancient Altar."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's expression became somewhat strange. After a long while, he finally uttered, "Then wouldn't this Yang Fire Ancient Altar be essentially just a decoration in most situations?"

"The decorations also serve an aesthetic purpose," Yao Lao laughed. "The Ye family treats this Yang Huo Ancient Altar as a forbidden area, and no one except their elders and patriarch has ever entered it."

"Forbidden area?" Xiao Yan, who was about to say something, paused after hearing this term. "Since it's a forbidden area, will the Ye family lend it to me?"

"You wish to borrow the Yang Fire Ancient Altar?" A few days later, when Xiao Yan and his group arrived in Ye City and explained their purpose, Ye Zhong was momentarily stunned, then nodded vigorously, "No problem, you can use it whenever you want!"

The obsequious manner suggested that he was eager for Xiao Yan to make more requests of the Ye family.

“Borrowing it once is enough,” Xiao Yan shook his head. “Speaking of which, with the Ye family’s power, what rank of alchemist assessment can they arrange at most?”

As an alchemist who has already refined eight-grade, eight-colored pills, Xiao Yan has only undergone alchemist assessments up to the third grade, and those assessments were even conducted at the Alchemist Guild of the Jia Ma Empire. Therefore, his purpose in coming to the Pill Domain this time is also to take an alchemist grade assessment.

Of course, this was entirely Yao Lao's requirement. For Xiao Yan himself, the grade assessment was completely irrelevant. If he ever encountered a situation where he needed to prove his alchemist level, he could simply use his soul power level to speak for himself.

Nowadays, apart from alchemists, no one else on the Dou Qi Continent spends any effort on the strength of their soul power. Most Dou Zun have not yet reached the level of the Spirit Realm in terms of soul power, but he, who is not yet a Dou Zun, has already reached the level of the Great Perfection of the Spirit Realm. In fact, if he wanted to, he could break through to the Heaven Realm right now.

"An assessment for alchemist ranks?" Ye Zhong thought for a moment, "The highest should be the advanced seventh rank..."

After saying this, Ye Zhong's expression became slightly awkward. After all, they were one of the five major families in the Pill Domain. It was one thing for the family not to have any alchemists of the eighth rank or above, but now that they had found an eighth-rank alchemist who was willing to help them, they couldn't even get him to participate in the alchemist rank assessment that matched his own level.

“Seventh grade, high level…” Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan frowned slightly. “What if I participate in the Pill Tower’s alchemist rank assessment normally?”

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yan still did not raise any questions about Ye Zhong's status as one of the five major families in the Pill Domain.

“The highest is the sixth rank,” Ye Zhong sensed a hint of dissatisfaction in Xiao Yan’s words, but he was relieved that Xiao Yan did not directly question him. Therefore, he quickly answered Xiao Yan’s question, “Higher-level alchemist exams require recommendations from people with the corresponding alchemist rank. However, the highest-ranking alchemist in the Ye family is the seventh-rank advanced, so the highest-ranking exam we can arrange is only the seventh-rank advanced.”

“I see…” Xiao Yan nodded in understanding. In his perception, Ye Zhong’s soul power was stuck just outside the threshold of the Spirit Realm. In other words, the seventh-grade alchemist in the Ye family was Ye Zhong himself. “Then I’ll trouble you, Mr. Ye, to arrange a seventh-grade alchemist assessment for me… If possible, it would be best to invite an eighth-grade alchemist as the examiner.”

"Eighth rank?" Ye Zhong gave a wry smile. "I'll try my best... When do you expect to be able to come out of the Yang Fire Ancient Altar and then take the alchemist rank exam?"

Although the Ye family was extremely weak, it was still not a problem to invite an eighth-grade alchemist to be an examiner for the alchemist rank assessment, especially since Xiao Yan himself had the ability to refine eighth-grade pills.

Seeing that Ye Zhong did not refuse, Xiao Yan nodded slightly and then said, "It will probably take about three days, right?"

"About three days?" Ye Zhong thought for a moment, then nodded heavily. "Don't worry, I will arrange everything by the time you come out of the Yanghuo Ancient Altar."

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Xiao Yan said with a light laugh.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ye Zhong personally led Xiao Yan and his group deeper into the Ye family compound. About ten minutes later, a secluded gravel plaza appeared before them.

In the center of the square, there was a slightly ancient altar. The huge stones used to build the altar were covered with the marks of time, indicating that the altar had existed for a long time.

As Xiao Yan approached the altar, he discovered that the light here was exceptionally bright. Moreover, the closer he got to the altar, the hotter and purer the surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy) became. Beams of light, almost tangible, poured down from the sky and, after being reflected by the smooth stone walls, all converged on a pitch-black stone tablet in the center of the altar.

"Beneath the stone tablet lies an eye leading deep underground. If you move it, some flames from the earth's core will burst forth, igniting the sunlight gathered there to form Yang Fire. Of course, this was only the case in the past..." Looking at the ancient altar, Ye Zhong sighed softly and smiled bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Little Fairy Doctor frowned slightly.

“In recent years, there have been very few flames emerging from the earth’s core, and other flames cannot ignite the sunlight here to form yang fire,” Ye Zhong said softly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor's expressions softened slightly. They didn't need to rely on any Yang Fire this time; they simply needed to use the pure energy of heaven and earth at this earth's eye to suppress Little Fairy Doctor's Calamity Poison Body.

"Little Fairy Doctor, let's go into the altar first," Xiao Yan said, turning his head to Little Fairy Doctor.

Upon hearing this, Little Fairy Doctor nodded gently, lightly touched the ground with her toes, and her figure floated down into the altar. As soon as she entered the altar, Little Fairy Doctor frowned slightly. Although her Calamity Poison Body had not yet erupted, and even seemed no different from an ordinary person because of the sealing technique that Xiao Yan had learned from Yao Tianhuo half a year ago, the dense Yang power still made her, who was cultivating Poison Battle Qi, feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Then I'll trouble you, Ziyan, to protect us." After seeing Little Fairy Doctor enter the altar, Xiao Yan smiled and looked at Ziyan beside him.

"Leave it to me!" Zi Yan nodded firmly. "I won't let anyone disturb you!"

"Unless it's just me," Zi Yan muttered to herself, while her eyes also turned to Ye Zhong, who hadn't left yet.

Seeing this, Ye Zhong smiled wryly, said something to Xiao Yan, and then headed out of the Ye family compound. Given the current state of the Ye family, it would still take a lot of effort to invite an eighth-grade alchemist to be an examiner for the assessment.

With Ye Zhong gone, Xiao Yan felt relieved and set up several arrays around the altar to shield soul power and vision before confidently stepping into the altar.

Looking at the somewhat nervous Little Fairy Doctor in front of him, Xiao Yan chuckled and said, "Alright, let's begin then."

Upon hearing this, Little Fairy Doctor nodded slightly, took a deep breath to suppress her nervousness, and then sat cross-legged inside the altar, her upper body straight, her slender neck and waist outlining a captivating curve.

Xiao Yan shifted his gaze slightly, and then it landed on the dark stone tablet in the center of the altar. Ye Zhong had also mentioned on the way here that this stone tablet was the key to opening the altar.

As he gently pushed the dark stone tablet with his palm, a warm sensation surged through his hand, making Xiao Yan feel even better. Then, with a slight force, he pushed the stone tablet away with a series of cracking sounds.

The stone tablet slowly opened, and a pitch-black hole about the size of a head appeared in Xiao Yan's field of vision. This must be the earth eye that Yao Lao and Ye Zhong had mentioned.

As the stone tablet was pushed aside, the stone walls surrounding the altar also slowly moved, eventually forming a circular stone wall that completely surrounded the altar and Xiao Yan and his companion inside. From the outside, all that could be seen was a towering and ancient stone wall.

After the circular stone wall was formed, more and more beams of light were reflected back by the smooth, mirror-like stone wall, eventually converging at the eye of the earth, where the bright white light was extremely dazzling.

Just as Ye Zhong had said before, no yang fire appeared after the sunlight gathered. Only the gathered yang energy became more and more intense. In the end, even Little Fairy Doctor frowned. The sunlight shining on her body brought her a strong burning sensation.

chi chi-

Then, bursts of grayish-purple poisonous mist, completely out of Little Fairy Doctor's control, surged out of her body and collided with the scorching sunlight outside, producing a hissing sound.

This strange phenomenon also made Little Fairy Doctor's heart tighten. With her Calamity Poison Body, she had never experienced a situation where she could not control the poisonous fighting energy in her body!