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

Let's talk about next month's update.

There's been a lot going on at work, so updates will be sporadic before the Lunar New Year. Things should return to normal around the holiday period.

Chapter 396 Open and Honest (Part 1)

Xiao Yan did not doubt the truth of what Zi Yan said, but he was also somewhat worried that the energy transfer brought about by the bloodline connection would mean that when they reunited on the four Dragon Islands, Zi Yan's strength would not be enough to defeat the three Dragon Kings.

'Unfortunately, the fusion technique has greatly reduced its effectiveness now...' Xiao Yan sighed inwardly.

In the past, because his soul power was far stronger than his battle qi cultivation, "fusion" could usually directly raise his strength by three major levels. However, perhaps the difference between each level of Dou Sheng is just as vast. Even though Xiao Yan's battle qi cultivation had reached the level of a seven-star Dou Zun and his soul power had reached the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm, in his perception, even if he used fusion, it would at most raise his strength to the level of a two-star Dou Sheng late stage... or a three-star Dou Sheng.

'Perhaps, only when I reach the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm will there be more obvious changes...' Xiao Yan pondered, sensing the soul power within his body.

Legend has it that even if the soul power of someone who has reached the Emperor Realm is forcibly scattered, as long as the soul factors are not completely annihilated, it can still be reconstituted and eventually reborn. Although the Great Perfection of the Heaven Realm is far from the Emperor Realm, it is still the closest realm to the Emperor Realm in terms of soul power.

Of course, the most important thing is that after reaching the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, one can contend with a two-star Dou Sheng with just soul power. If one can contend with a two-star Dou Sheng with just soul power, then one should be able to reach the level of a four-star Dou Sheng by fully integrating Dou Qi and soul power.

"What are you thinking?"

Zi Yan lifted her head from Xiao Yan's embrace, looking at Xiao Yan who was clearly distracted, and asked with some curiosity.

"I was wondering if there was anywhere in Zhongzhou where I could improve my soul power faster," Xiao Yan sighed helplessly. While rubbing Zi Yan's head with his left hand, he clenched his right hand slightly, and a crimson crystal condensed in his hand. "This contains a wisp of my soul power. Give it to Elder Zhu Li when you return to Dragon Island."

Although Qi You's strength far surpasses Zhu Li's, it's clear that Zhu Li was the one in charge of Donglong Island while the other two elders were in seclusion. Naturally, Xiao Yan wouldn't rashly tell Zi Yan to give this thing to Qi You.

"Should we hand it over to Zhu Li?" Zi Yan nodded. Perhaps there would be a time in the future when she would need to manage a large force on her own, but certainly not now. "How should we use it? Crush it? Or touch it with our soul power?"

Before taking the crimson crystal and putting it into her storage ring, Zi Yan asked.

"Touch it with your soul power, and as long as I'm not in seclusion, I'll definitely be able to sense it..."

Xiao Yan nodded, then thought of Dan, whom he hadn't seen for many years, and that there were less than five years left until the "ten years" Dan had mentioned. "If I don't respond within ten minutes, I'll crush it. After crushing it, I'll definitely be able to sense the message it's sending."

Zi Yan nodded silently. At this moment, she didn't say anything about whether crushing it would disturb Xiao Yan's seclusion. After all, this crystal was obviously prepared to deal with the other three Dragon Islands and the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan. Xiao Yan, who had established a bloodline link with her, would definitely not be able to avoid the "disaster" that was bound to come.

"Then... I'll head back now?" After a long silence, Zi Yan finally spoke.

Why do you look like you're facing a life-or-death situation?

Seeing Zi Yan's heavy expression, Xiao Yan's slight sense of heaviness dissipated. He ruffled Zi Yan's hair and laughed, "Even if we really can't deal with those three Dragon Kings and the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan Chief in the end, we can just bring the people from Donglong Island to Dan Domain. Zhongzhou is, after all, human territory. Even if those four guys are all Dou Sheng, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly in Zhongzhou!"

"I was just playing along with your performance!" After swatting away Xiao Yan's mischievous hand, Zi Yan stood up. "Alright, that's enough for now. I'm going back now." With a wave of her hand, a spatial rift connecting to the void appeared beside her, and she then directly entered the spatial rift.

After Zi Yan disappeared, Xiao Yan took a deep breath, crossed his legs, and began to circulate the Burning Technique to devour the Three Thousand Burning Flames.

More than half a month later, after the Burning Technique, which had absorbed the Three Thousand Burning Flames, advanced to the mid-stage of the Heaven Rank, Xiao Yan slowly got up and prepared to leave the Star Domain.

However, just as he raised his hand, preparing to tear open the spatial rift, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, Xiao Yan abruptly turned his head and looked towards a desolate area within the star field—

"Senior Dan?"

The light, airy voice quickly dissipated into the star field, but Xiao Yan still stared at that desolate wasteland, as if he had really seen "Dan," whom he hadn't seen for many years, in that wasteland.

"...You really saw me?"

More than ten minutes later, an aged voice rang out in the star field. Then, Dan's figure appeared in Xiao Yan's field of vision, still wearing a green robe, exactly the same as when he appeared in front of Xiao Yan five years ago.

"I'm not sure if I saw you..." Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief after Dan appeared, "I just felt like I sensed something."

"If you weren't sure you saw me or not, you wouldn't have stared at me for more than ten minutes." Dan pouted, while once again inwardly marveling at Xiao Yan's keen spiritual power—

I thought that the limit was when I unconsciously sensed his identity while refining pills. I didn't expect that not long after, I couldn't even hide my figure anymore and was caught red-handed as soon as I appeared.

"Haha..." Xiao Yan chuckled dryly, then a hesitant expression appeared on his face.

"You think you've seen through my identity?" Dan raised an eyebrow and asked, looking at Xiao Yan's eyes, which were exactly the same as Yao Chen's from a few years ago.

"I wouldn't dare..." Xiao Yan sighed and said.

Regardless of Dan's identity, Xiao Yan did not feel that he was in a position to bargain with Dan.

"Just say what you want to say," Dan said, looking at Xiao Yan with interest. "You should know that as long as you are still the chosen one, I will never lay a hand on you."

Hearing Dan's seemingly serious words, Xiao Yan raised his head and looked directly at Dan.

Dan responded to Xiao Yan's gaze with a smile.

"Are you... a top-grade imperial pill?" After a long while, Xiao Yan slowly spoke.

"You seem surprised?"

Although Xiao Yan's guess was extremely accurate, the uncertainty in his words still surprised Dan Lue. You see, when Yao Chen pointed out his identity earlier, although it sounded somewhat uncertain, it was more of an affirmation of his own guess.

"You haven't formally come into contact with ninth-grade pills yet?" Dan quickly realized what was going on and asked directly.

"Uh... what does it have to do with anything?" Xiao Yan's face was full of confusion.

After guessing that Dan's true identity was an Emperor-grade pill, Xiao Yan understood that Dan's "inheritance" only referred to taking Emperor-grade pills. However, Dan's strength was at least above the six-star Dou Sheng level, and it was even possible that he had reached the nine-star Dou Sheng level. Under such circumstances, was Dan really willing to "sacrifice himself"?

"As expected—" Upon hearing Xiao Yan's answer, Dan revealed an expression of "I knew it."

really?

Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Is there a significant difference in spiritual quality between rank nine and above pills and rank eight pills?"

“You can think of it as a difference in spirituality,” Dan nodded. “Under normal circumstances, the spirituality of a refined elixir is dozens of times that of an eighth-grade nine-colored elixir, and its intelligence is basically the same as that of a magical beast… You know this, right?”

Xiao Yan nodded silently.

"Then, do you know that after the Xuan Dan and Jin Dan are formed, their intelligence is no different from that of humans? In fact, there is a Xuan Dan on the Dou Qi Continent with the strength of a six-star Dou Sheng?" Dan calmly revealed the absolute secret of the Dan Tower.

"A six-star Dou Sheng?!" Xiao Yan's scalp tingled, and after a long while, he whispered, "Are you sure that's just a Xuan Dan?"

If a Profound Core pill possesses the strength of a six-star Dou Sheng, then what kind of strength would a Golden Core pill have? A nine-star Dou Sheng? And what about an Emperor-grade pill...? A Dou Di?

Just thinking about these things made Xiao Yan's gaze unconsciously fall on Dan.

"Of course, not all Xuan Dan have that kind of strength. That little guy only fused a wisp of the alchemist's consciousness into the pill during its formation, so in a sense, he is actually an avatar of that alchemist," Dan smiled and said, "although this avatar is somewhat special."

Xiao Yan nodded thoughtfully. He had indeed never heard of such special information from the top of the continent. But was it related to the question he had asked earlier?

"Although his strength is somewhat beyond the level of ordinary Xuan Dan, even the human form formed by ordinary Xuan Dan is roughly the strength of a Transcendent Dou Zun, and most Golden Core cultivators are also the strength of a Five-Star Dou Sheng. As for Emperor Core cultivators... for example, my strength is almost the same as that of someone who has just entered the Dou Di realm."

Dan naturally understood what Xiao Yan was thinking. After recounting the news about the old ancestor of the Pill Tower, he calmly uttered words that terrified Xiao Yan.

"Given that high-grade pills possess considerable intelligence and power, and are aware that their fate is to be 'consumed,' why do you think ancient alchemists were still able to refine pills of these grades normally?"

While Xiao Yan was still in shock, Dan casually asked this question.

"The Pill Refining Array... a kind of array that can erase the intelligence that is born during the pill refining process," Dan said to himself. "There are many ways to erase the intelligence that is born in pills, such as arrays, magic weapons, or fighting techniques. However, it seems that these things have been gradually lost because of the disappearance of the Dou Di."

Erasure of intelligence?

Lost to history?

To be honest, when Dan said these words, Xiao Yan's first reaction was that the loss of these formations, magical artifacts, and fighting techniques that erased the intelligence of high-level pills were all Dan's doing.

"I didn't do it," Dan said, glancing casually at Xiao Yan.

"When we first met, I told you that I carried a part of the Empress's legacy, right? What do you think I was like back then? Had I lived on the continent for tens of thousands of years, waiting for your appearance, or was I sent directly from tens of thousands of years ago to the present by the Empress?"

Since Dan has already asked this question, it's impossible that he's lived on the Dou Qi Continent for tens of thousands of years, waiting for Xiao Yan to appear—

"A Dou Di can send items tens of thousands of years into the future?" Xiao Yan looked at Dan with disbelief.

"Of course," Dan didn't care about Xiao Yan's "exaggeration," "So, for me, it's only been less than ten years since I left the Empress's hands, and those things were completely lost thousands of years ago... Why am I telling you all this?"

After shaking his head somewhat helplessly, Dan changed the subject, "When the Empress was refining me, she planted a restriction on me, a restriction that can preserve my consciousness at any time."

The word "prohibition" implies restriction or constraint, but Dan's statement about "being able to preserve consciousness at all times" has absolutely no connotation of restriction!

In the silent star field, Xiao Yan and Dan stared at each other.

After a moment, Dan said with a hint of disdain, "I thought you would directly ask why it was called a restriction, but in reality, there are no restrictions other than the benefits."

Xiao Yan's lips twitched slightly, thinking that Dan's previous silence was because the sudden mention of the restriction had put him in a bad mood, which was why he hadn't directly revealed the content of the restriction.

Seeing Xiao Yan's expression, Dan smiled casually, "I think you can guess what kind of restriction was placed on me, right?"

"You can't target the successor candidates... or rather, you can't attack me?" After a brief hesitation, Xiao Yan asked.

“That’s right, to be more specific… it means that we are not allowed to have any hostility towards you,” Dan said casually.

"No hostility allowed?"

"You don't think a Dou Di (Battle Emperor) can't do these things, do you?"

"No, I'm thinking... what if it's a test with good intentions, but I fail it and end up seriously injured or even dead?" Xiao Yan asked tentatively.

"Why do you think the person who refined this 'elixir' wouldn't notice this loophole, which is essentially a word game?" Dan sighed softly.

Xiao Yan gave a dry laugh.

"Leaving aside the fact that such a loophole doesn't exist," Dan continued, "the fact that Her Majesty the Empress is still alive makes it impossible for me to try to break through this restriction."

Compared to the insignificant matter of Dan's expressed disgust for the restriction—

"Empress Qiankun...she's still alive?" Xiao Yan looked at Dan in disbelief.

“Of course she’s still alive,” Dan said matter-of-factly. “Although I can’t sense where the Empress is right now, there’s no doubt that she’s on the Dou Qi Continent.”

Xiao Yan's expression shifted from relaxation upon hearing "unable to perceive its exact location" to utter terror upon hearing "it's right on the Dou Qi Continent."

"What are you afraid of?" Dan looked at Xiao Yan speechlessly. "No matter how you look at it, the fact that the lady is still alive is more beneficial than harmful to you, right? If you really wanted to harm you, why would you have placed such a restriction on me, and why would you have specifically instructed me to find you when you were at your weakest?"

In Dan's opinion, Xiao Yan was somewhat ungrateful. Although Xiao Yan did not improve his strength much during those extra ten years, how could he have the means to fight enemies across multiple levels without the experience of those two worlds?

'At the very least, it's impossible for someone at the Dou Zong level to kill a five-star Dou Zun without taking any damage.' Thinking of Xiao Yan's Burning Technique and the power of the Dou Techniques created based on it, Dan silently changed his mind.

Chapter 397 Open and Honest (Part 2)

Hearing Dan's somewhat speechless words, Xiao Yan chuckled dryly. Indeed, just as Dan said, if the Empress of Qiankun really wanted to harm him, he would have been annihilated the moment he first met Dan.

As for nurturing him and eventually possessing his body...

Before meeting Yao Lao and before Dan appeared, Xiao Yan's goal in life was nothing more than to become one of the top ten strongest people in the Jia Ma Empire, nothing more than to become a minor Dou Huang. Even if the Dou Di from tens of millions of years ago knew all of his future life trajectories, he wouldn't have placed his bets on this little guy living in a barren city in the northwest of the Dou Qi Continent, would he?

Moreover...

Recalling the cultivation methods for spiritual power mentioned in the brief history of cultivation that Dan had given him, Xiao Yan felt that the Empress Qiankun might be more than just a "Dou Di".

'A realm above Dou Di?'