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

The Soul-Binding Pill is arguably the best pill for treating soul injuries, second only to ninth-grade pills. However, even this could not restore Yao Lao's soul to a perfect state. The only thing Xuan Kongzi could think of was that Yao Lao had used that soul skill on the remnant soul of the Dou Sheng.

As Xuan Kongzi nearly roared, Xuan Yi, who knew the most about soul issues, grabbed Yao Lao's right hand, his soul power surging out to check every part of Yao Lao's soul inch by inch.

"I suppose so," the old apothecary said with a helpless smile.

"You can still laugh???" Xuan Kongzi glared at Yao Lao fiercely, "Using it on the remnant soul of a Dou Sheng... you old man, you're still alive? You're really lucky!"

"That's always been the case."

"I wasn't praising you!"

*

Once a seventh-grade pill is formed, it will possess rudimentary intelligence and have the idea of ​​escaping from the alchemist. Some peak seventh-grade pills not only have this idea but also take action, although in the end they are all captured by the alchemist and returned to the jade bottle.

Eighth-grade pills possess much stronger intelligence. Some of the pill lightning they attract, even those of seven colors or higher, will fight against the alchemist in order to save their "life." The Shiva Wheel Karma Pill that Xiao Yan refined not long ago was exactly this type of pill. Moreover, that Shiva Wheel Karma Pill also had the ability to transform into a beast form, and when used at full strength, it even had a combat power close to that of a nine-star Dou Zong.

However, its true form was ultimately just a pill. After Xiao Yan casually disposed of it, he fed it directly to the little fox he had found in the Great Wilderness Sect years ago.

After consuming the Shiva Wheel of Karma Pill, the little fox fell into a deep sleep. When it wakes up, it should be able to fully reach the strength of the Great Desolate Stele Spirit, and will be considered a trump card in Xiao Yan's hands in the future.

'Then... what about ninth-grade pills?'

When the Nine-Turn Nirvana Pill reached the fusion stage, Xiao Yan suddenly thought of the ninth-grade pills and the legendary emperor-grade pills. After all, the intelligence of the eighth-grade eight-colored pills was already close to that of magical beasts. Would the intelligence of the ninth-grade treasure pills, mystic pills, and golden pills be similar to that of humans?

'And then there are Emperor-grade pills… If Emperor-grade pills truly exist, would the intelligence they possess be completely equivalent to that of humans? And their strength—would it be equivalent to a Dou Di… or even a half-step Dou Di?'

The fusion of the core was still progressing little by little, but Xiao Yan's thoughts had already drifted thousands of miles away. Then, while his mind was wandering, Xiao Yan suddenly thought of someone for no apparent reason, someone he had met when he returned to the Dou Qi Continent from the Douluo Continent, a "Dou Sheng" named "Dan".

"Is its name Dan... the Dan of Emperor-grade pills...?" Xiao Yan uttered these words almost as a murmur.

However, Xiao Yan quickly regained his composure and focused all his attention on the process of fusing the Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill. Of course, the main reason was to prevent his soul power from breaking through his own limitations and directly advancing to the Heavenly Realm the moment the pill was completed, should he make another breakthrough during the pill refining process.

*

"You guessed it again?"

After hearing Xiao Yan's last words, which seemed to come out unconsciously, Dan looked somewhat troubled. "These two, master and disciple, are really outrageous. I thought I could at least hide my identity until they become Dou Zun... or even half-saints."

Generally speaking, regardless of a person's talent in soul power, upon becoming a half-saint, one can at least break through to the Great Perfection of the Spirit Realm, and even with a little talent, one can break through to the Heaven Realm. It can be said that almost all Battle Saints have at least the soul power of the early Heaven Realm—of course, this refers to humans.

That's why, when Dan appeared in front of Xiao Yan and Yao Lao back then, he knew that if Yao Lao fully recovered, he would definitely know his identity. As a result, even before Yao Lao had fully recovered, he vaguely guessed his identity and even knew that he had been paying attention to Xiao Yan's cultivation progress.

Then, just now, under Dan's watchful gaze, Xiao Yan's soul power approached the Heavenly Realm. Although he eventually suppressed it himself, he did not miss any of the unique abilities of the Heavenly Realm soul power. In other words, once this pill is refined, Xiao Yan will directly achieve his goal—to push his soul power to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm in one go.

Then, without anyone knowing what happened, Xiao Yan suddenly revealed his identity under Dan's gaze. Although it was still just a guess, Xiao Yan would definitely know that his guess was correct once Dan appeared in front of him again.

"Forget it, if he guessed it, he guessed it. With his wicked technique, he'll be a five-star Dou Zun by the time he devours those three thousand raging flames," Dan quickly gave up thinking. "Speaking of which, why did the Empress set a ten-year timeframe when she threw me out?"

It was, after all, an Emperor-grade pill. To take it, one would need at least the strength of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng at its peak. In the world today, there are only three people with that strength. But back then, he was asked to find a member of the Xiao Clan named Xiao Yan, a boy who carried a storage ring containing the soul of a Dou Zun.

He found the person, but as for their strength...

"Even if he devours that Pure Lotus Demon Flame, he'll only reach the level of a Seven-Star Dou Sheng at most, right?" Dan muttered, looking at Xiao Yan, who was at the final stage of Core Formation. "You can't say that with just the strength of a Seven-Star Dou Sheng, he can break through that Soul Clan and devour that Void Devouring Flame, can you?"

*

After examining every part of the old doctor's body, Xuan Yi released his grip on the old doctor's arm with a somewhat solemn expression.

"How is it?" Xuan Kongzi asked nervously, looking at Xuan Yi. "This old man has always had good luck, so it should be about the same this time, right?"

“Indeed… very lucky,” Xuan Yi said with a forced smile, “It only caused some damage to the essence of the soul… releasing a soul blast on the remnant soul of a Dou Sheng only caused damage to the essence of the soul…”

"The essence of the soul has been damaged?" Xuan Kongzi was stunned for a moment. "Unfortunately, the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Herb in the Pill Tower has not yet reached maturity..."

As one of the top alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent, Xuan Kongzi naturally knew how to repair the soul's origin. If the medicinal herb in the Pill Tower wasn't still some time away from maturity, he could even directly heal Yao Lao's injuries.

“Single Dragon Heavenly Mushroom alone is probably not enough,” Xuan Yi sighed helplessly, then glared fiercely at Yao Lao, “Soul Infant Fruit is also a necessity!”

Soul Infant Fruit and Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushroom are two medicinal herbs that can repair injuries to the soul's origin. Their rarity surpasses even that of Strange Flames. Even the Pill Tower only has a few Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushrooms that are still over a hundred years away from maturity. As for Soul Infant Fruit, there is absolutely no news about it!

"Both?" Xuan Kongzi's eye twitched slightly. "Are you sure it's just 'minor' damage?"

“It really is just ‘slight’ damage,” Xuan Yi said with a smirk. “Normally, the damage to the soul essence of those who need these two medicinal herbs would be at least enough to shatter the soul, if not split it into three or four pieces. But none of that happened, as if someone pulled them back at the last minute!”

Upon hearing the last half of Xuan Yi's words, Yao Lao suddenly realized something, but his skillful acting prevented him from revealing any flaws.

Chapter 380 The Dan Family's Demands

After the Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill was completed and the pill lightning was absorbed by the Heavenly Demon Puppet, Xiao Yan learned about Yao Lao's current situation from Xuan Kongzi and the others.

"Is your soul essence injured?" Xiao Yan murmured. In the battle against the Ten Kings Palace, he was ultimately too hasty, wanting to defeat them in the shortest amount of time. After all, it took so many of them working together to barely suppress the Ten Kings Palace. If he and Lin Dong had exhausted their power, they would have been the ones to fail in the end.

"What is needed to restore the teacher's soul essence?" But that was a long time ago, and there was no chance to go back now, so after a brief silence, Xiao Yan asked.

"On the Dou Qi Continent, there are only two kinds of medicinal herbs that are easiest to find and can restore the soul's origin," Xuan Kongzi said in a deep voice, "Soul Infant Fruit and Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushroom..."

Where can I find them?

Before Xuan Kongzi could even mention that two kinds of medicinal herbs were needed this time, Xiao Yan spoke up directly, "What I mean is... where should we obtain the two kinds of medicinal herbs?" Under the somewhat surprised gazes of Xuan Kongzi and the other two, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment before adding.

“There are a few Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushrooms in the Pill Tower’s herb garden, but it will be about a hundred years before they mature…” Xuan Kongzi said.

"It will take more than a hundred years?" Xiao Yan frowned slightly, then said, "Where can we obtain the Soul Infant Fruit? We can accelerate its ripening after we find the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushroom."

Force-ripening?

Upon hearing these two words, everyone present looked bewildered. Only Yao Lao, after a brief moment of confusion, suddenly revealed an expression of understanding. After all, he was the only one present who knew that Xiao Yan possessed a Life Flame that was still in its infancy.

Xuan Yi, who had been watching Yao Lao the whole time, quickly realized what was going on after seeing Yao Lao's enlightened expression.

"You still have the Flame of Life?" Xuan Yi looked at Xiao Yan with a look of surprise.

“A nascent life flame,” Xiao Yan nodded, “It’s not a big problem to occasionally catalyze a few medicinal herbs.”

After receiving Xiao Yan's affirmative answer, Xuan Yi, Xuan Kongzi, and Tian Leizi all breathed a sigh of relief.

When Xiao Yan was dealing with Dan Lei, the others discussed whether they could directly accelerate the ripening of the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushroom, and even discussed possible methods. However, they all rejected the idea in the end, because they were unsure whether the effect of forcibly ripening the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Mushroom in repairing the soul's origin would be weakened.

Now that they know Xiao Yan possesses the Flame of Life, even if it's only in its juvenile stage, they no longer need to worry about the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Herb. After all, the Flame of Life is renowned for its life force.

After the Flame of Life spreads out, as long as the seeds of medicinal herbs are put into it, the seeds will germinate and grow rapidly. In other words, with this strange flame, there is no need to worry too much about collecting medicinal herbs. As long as there are enough seeds, you can obtain the desired medicinal herbs in a continuous stream. This is the description of the Flame of Life on the Strange Flame Ranking.

If the fully formed Flame of Life were not exceptionally intelligent, it would not usually appear in the form of fire, but would instead transform into various medicinal herbs, quietly taking root in the soil. Only those with great fortune would be able to find it from the ground. Otherwise, even if one walked right past it, one would not be able to see through its true form. Perhaps the entire continent would be filled with alchemists searching for the Flame of Life.

"You actually managed to find the Flame of Life?" Xuan Kongzi's face was also filled with an envious smile. "Xiao Yan, you are indeed very fortunate!"

"Just lucky," Xiao Yan said with a light smile. "It appeared near me as a white orchid fruit. If I hadn't been so lucky, I might have overlooked it..."

For Xiao Yan at that time, the White Orchid Fruit was of no use. If he hadn't remembered that there was no White Orchid Fruit at the location where he was before he left, and hadn't thought that a long time had passed, he might have really ignored the mere White Orchid Fruit.

"This means you were destined to find it," Xuan Yi said with a relieved smile. "In that case, we don't need to worry about the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Herb anymore, but it's the Soul Infant Fruit..."

Ultimately, it is a medicinal herb even rarer than the Strange Flame. Even if we no longer need to worry about the Spirit Dragon Heavenly Herb, it may still take many years to find the Soul Infant Fruit.

“We will arrange for people to keep an eye on the medicinal herbs in various ruins in the future,” Tian Leizi sighed and said, “There has been no news of Soul Infant Fruit on the continent for nearly a hundred years. If it really exists, it will only appear in the ruins of those half-saints and fighting saints.”

"Is that so?" Elder Yao nodded. "I will have the elders of the Starfall Pavilion keep an eye on this as well."

"Why don't we ask the elders in my clan first?" Zi Yan suddenly said. "Perhaps the Soul Infant Fruit is among the collections of those old guys."

After all, Zi Yan came with Xiao Yan, so although Xuan Kongzi and the other two could see that Zi Yan's true form was a magical beast, they did not know what her true form was. Now, Zi Yan's words made them focus their attention on her.

"Uh, who is this...?" Xuan Yi asked uncertainly.

“This girl’s true form is the Ancient Void Dragon,” Xiao Yan rubbed Zi Yan’s head. “Stop fooling around. The Soul Infant Fruit’s function is to repair the soul’s origin. For the Ancient Void Dragon, it doesn’t have much nutritional value. If it did, I would have kept it last time!”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Zi Yan muttered. “If I hadn’t mentioned it before… you wouldn’t have been able to get the Dragon Seal, would you?” Just as she was about to say the name of the Three Thousand Burning Flames, Zi Yan suddenly glanced at the three people in black robes and then chose to skip the name.

"It really is..." Thinking of the situation with the Three Thousand Burning Flames, Xiao Yan nodded subconsciously.

"Then, let's go back and ask if they have any?" Zi Yan's eyes lit up. She was worried that the amount of medicinal herbs in her storage ring wasn't enough to help Xiao Yan, whose soul could potentially advance to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm at any time.

"Let me use the Dragon Seal to inquire first..."

Seeing Xiao Yan lower his voice as he talked to Zi Yan, Xuan Kongzi's lips twitched slightly. The Taixu Ancient Dragon had disappeared for hundreds of years. He did not expect that the little girl next to Xiao Yan would actually be the Taixu Ancient Dragon. Moreover, judging from her conversation with Xiao Yan, her status in the Taixu Ancient Dragon clan seemed to be quite high.

"Besides the Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill and the Strange Flame, it seems that reforging the body also requires at least the physical body of a Dou Zong and the essence blood of at least a seventh-tier magical beast, right?" While Xiao Yan and Zi Yan were asking Qi You if they had a Soul Infant Fruit, Xuan Yi also looked at Yao Lao and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Xiao Yanzi has prepared several bodies of peak Dou Zong experts," Yao Lao nodded, "and recently he also collected the essence blood of an eighth-order Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast."

"The essence blood of an eighth-tier Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast?" Xuan Yi frowned. "Let's exchange it. I still have a bottle of the essence blood of a ninth-tier magical beast. As for the physical body... exchanging it for the remains of a Dou Sheng should be enough to help you break through that barrier, right?"

After he finished speaking, Xuan Kongzi and Tian Leizi waited with great interest for Yao Lao's reaction.

When Yao Lao's physical body was still intact, he was stronger than the three of them in both strength and alchemy skills. However, decades have passed, and putting aside alchemy skills... Yao Lao is definitely no match for them in terms of the amount of resources he has. Therefore, the two of them are now very curious to know what choice Yao Lao will make.

"Uh..." The old apothecary didn't know how to respond for a moment, "How about we just forget about it?"

In the end, Yao Lao hesitated before speaking. After all, Xuan Kongzi and Tian Leizi were watching. If he agreed directly, wouldn't he be seen as a freeloader? Although he had teased Xiao Yan about being a freeloader before, if it were him, he would still choose to refuse...

"If you're going to do it, do it to the best of your ability!" Although Yao Lao wanted to refuse, Xuan Yi wouldn't give him the chance. "Come on, Xiao Yan, tell me, do you want to use these?" Then she ignored Yao Lao's opinion and looked at Xiao Yan, who had turned around after asking for no result.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Xiao Yan said, pleased to see Yao Lao in such a predicament. “With the blood essence of a ninth-tier magical beast and the help of the Dou Sheng’s remains, Master should be able to break through the barrier of the Half-Saint realm directly. Then I will have another Half-Saint to rely on.”

"You brat!" Yao Lao instantly bristled, glaring angrily at Xiao Yan.

"Your disciple has already agreed, and you're still refusing?" Xuan Yi interrupted Yao Lao before he could finish speaking. "Or do you think you'll be able to repay these things in the future?"

After saying this, the old doctor remained silent for a long time.

"Well... let's leave it at that." Finally, the old apothecary came to his senses, nodded, and said.

"Hmm." Upon hearing this, a smile finally appeared on Xuan Yi's face.

"Ahem," Xuan Kongzi, who had been watching the show, quickly coughed when he saw that the two had reached a consensus, and changed the subject. "By the way, we will be bringing guests over in a couple of days, so please get ready."

"Guests?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan looked at Xuan Kongzi with some surprise. It was at this moment that he noticed that Cao Ying, who had always been by Xuan Kongzi's side, and Dan Chen were nowhere to be seen.

“While you were refining pills, I told Ying’er and Dan Chen about your desire to try refining the Three Thousand Burning Flames. After all, among the five great families, besides the Ye family, the Cao family and the Dan family are the easiest to persuade,” Xuan Kongzi chuckled. “So the two of them resigned and returned to their respective families. If nothing unexpected happens, their families will come to me during this time… So, you need to prepare some things to persuade these two families during this time.”

"Uh... could you give me a hint?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan felt a chill run down his spine and asked.

“Of course there are… I guess you could say there are?” Xuan Kongzi, who had just given a firm affirmation, suddenly hesitated for a moment. “What the Dan family needs are the formulas for high-grade pills, which is not a problem for Yao Chen. And then there’s the Cao family… they’ve been keeping an eye on the Blood Demon Flame.”

"Paying attention to the Blood Demon Flame?" Xiao Yan could understand the Dan family needing formulas for high-level pills, but the Cao family's interest in the Blood Demon Flame was something he couldn't quite grasp.

"You know, strange flames are not easy to find..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan Kongzi's gaze towards Xiao Yan became somewhat strange. According to what Yao Lao had said before, Xiao Yan had found six different kinds of strange fire in the past five years. If you include the Bone Spirit Cold Fire in Yao Lao's possession and the Three Thousand Burning Flames in the Pill Tower, that would be eight different kinds of strange fire—which is more than one-third of the total number of different kinds of strange fire!

“Ahem,” Xuan Kongzi coughed lightly after a brief lapse in concentration, and continued, “Even if we find it, the Cao family’s resources are insufficient to cultivate it to the point where it can differentiate into sub-flames. Ultimately, only one person will be able to use the strange fire. For them, finding a strange fire is not as important as cultivating enough Blood Demon Flames… Of course, it would be best if the cultivated Blood Demon Flames could rival the strange fire, but even if they can’t, they won’t care too much.”

"So...they want to cultivate artificial flames?" Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment before asking.

“You could say that,” Xuan Kongzi patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder. “We can help you handle the Ye family’s matter in the next couple of days. You should think carefully about how to persuade the Cao family and the Dan family.”