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

"Ok!"

After Xiao Yan withdrew his soul power, Qing Lin nodded heavily. Then, the enormous Nine Netherworld Python flicked its tail and sped off like a meteor, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Along the way, apart from receiving a message from the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan that the clan leader had reached an agreement with the Dragon King of North Dragon Island to expedite the reunification of the four dragon islands, there were no other disturbances.

After Xiao Yan relayed the news about the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan to Zi Yan, allowing Donglong Island to delay the gathering time of the Dragon Island, Xiao Yan and his group officially entered the spatial passage leading directly to the Ancient Sacred City.

On the spaceship, Xiao Yan calmly observed the surrounding ships that seemed to share the same destination, as well as the silver spatial passage. His thoughts unconsciously drifted back to the night before their departure—

"Xiao Yan".

With a knock on the door, a familiar voice reached Xiao Yan's ears inside the room.

"Elder Feng, what brings you here? Please speak." Upon recognizing the person, Xiao Yan hurriedly opened the door, intending to invite Venerable Feng, who was standing at the door, inside for a chat.

“No need for that. I just have something to tell you,” Venerable Feng shook his head and said, “You should be able to guess about that old fellow Yao Chen’s background, right?”

"Uh... I heard it from someone else," Xiao Yan said, somewhat confused, "They said that Teacher was framed and therefore expelled from the Medicine Clan..."

Aside from the information Gu Yuan revealed back then, Xiao Yan never heard anything from anyone else about the relationship between Yao Lao and the Yao Clan. Many times, Xiao Yan wanted to ask, but he always held back. After all, no matter how you looked at it, what happened between Yao Lao and the Yao Clan could not be explained by simply saying "being framed".

“Framed? That old guy never mentioned being framed in front of me. He only said that he was expelled because of a failed mission.” After a slight pause, Venerable Feng shook his head helplessly and continued, “Although that’s all in the past, he has never mentioned it over the years, which means that he has never truly moved on from the past.”

"But with your current strength and alchemy skills, Teacher, I'm afraid no one would refuse your request to go back, right?" Xiao Yan asked, somewhat puzzled.

A mid-stage one-star Dou Sheng and a ninth-grade pill refiner—even a Dou Di family wouldn't be able to find one so easily, right?

“While a mid-stage One-Star Dou Sheng is strong, the Medicine Clan is not lacking in them,” a somewhat helpless voice rang out from the side before Venerable Feng could answer, “As for Treasure Pill Alchemists… in the past thousand years, the Medicine Clan has produced more than ten Profound Pill Alchemists, not to mention Treasure Pill Alchemists.”

"Teacher!" Xiao Yan, who hadn't paid attention to his surroundings, hurriedly bowed to the suddenly appearing Yao Lao.

"Hmm," Yao Lao nodded with a smile, then looked at Feng Zun Zhe, whose expression was slightly embarrassed, "Those who will attend the ancient clan's coming-of-age ceremony are all young members of the Yao clan. You wouldn't be hoping that Xiao Yan Zi will put in a good word for this old man, would you?"

“No, that’s not what I meant at all,” Venerable Feng shook his head decisively upon hearing this. “I’m just worried that those brats from the Medicine Clan will speak ill of you in front of Xiao Yan…”

Upon hearing the second half of Venerable Feng's words, even Elder Yao's expression turned strange, and he gave Xiao Yan a somewhat subtle look—

If it were just insults directed at Xiao Yan himself, he might just treat it like a mad dog barking wildly nearby. He wouldn't even bother to look at it, let alone take action. But if the person insulting him is Yao Lao...

Although Yao Lao felt that Xiao Yan was unlikely to make any major moves now, judging from his past performance... it was really hard to say.

"I will try my best to hold back."

Under the watchful eyes of Yao Lao and Feng Zun Zhe, Xiao Yan hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter such a sentence.

'Does the Medicine Clan only distinguish social status based on the density of their bloodline?' Gazing at the silver spatial wormhole, Xiao Yan murmured to himself, 'With my teacher's current strength and alchemy skills, I'm afraid many younger generations are even more...envious of him, right?'

Over the past thousand years, there have been more than ten Xuan Dan alchemists... Let's say that the Medicine Clan has had nineteen Xuan Dan alchemists in the past thousand years. If we calculate with a ratio of one to ten, the Medicine Clan has had fewer than two hundred Bao Dan alchemists in the past thousand years. Even if it's one to one hundred, there are still less than two thousand Bao Dan alchemists. And how many generations of alchemists would an ancient clan like the Medicine Clan have in the past thousand years? And how many alchemists would there be in each generation?

As for Yao Lao, a member of the Yao clan who was expelled by the Yao clan and whose bloodline concentration was extremely low, he became the number one alchemist on the continent a hundred years after leaving the Yao clan. He even refined a precious pill in front of all the prominent people on the continent. No matter how much the Yao clan looked down on alchemists on the continent, such news would still reach their ears.

Those of high status and strength no less than Yao Lao would naturally not care about these things, but there are definitely many among the younger generation of the Yao clan who think Yao Lao is unworthy of his reputation. If one of their fathers was of the same generation as Yao Lao, but his alchemy skills are now inferior to Yao Lao's, then it is not just a matter of thinking that Yao Lao is unworthy of his reputation.

'Seal their bodies with your soul power before they open their mouths,' Xiao Yan said, his eyes narrowing. 'Even the most foolish person would shut up if they ran into a wall with their most powerful soul power, wouldn't they?'

Of course, compared to the "weak" alchemists of the Medicine Clan, Xiao Yan was more concerned about the young talents of the Soul Clan who would appear, as well as the younger generation of the Flame Clan who were said to have inherited four different flames.

'Although I also possess the four types of strange flames that the Yan Clan has inherited for thousands of years...'

After muttering a final thought, Xiao Yan, along with Little Fairy Doctor, Qing Lin, and the others who had come up behind him, looked towards the silver ball of light at the end of the spatial passage—

We've arrived at the ancient holy city!

Chapter 443 Interlude

"Whether you oppose or support him, I like him, and you can't change that!"

At the ancient clan's elders' meeting, the girl who had broken through her seclusion uttered words that made all the elders' faces twitch. Then, completely disregarding the thoughts of those enraged elders, she turned and left.

The girl had no intention of wasting her time arguing with these old fogies. All she knew was that the family's coming-of-age ceremony was about to begin, and she would soon see the boy again after a year, a boy who now possessed the power to "kidnap" her from the ancient world.

As the girl walked away, the ancient clan elders' meeting fell into a deathly silence, with the elders who opposed Xun'er's proposals exchanging bewildered glances.

"...Should we take action against that surviving member of the Xiao family?" After a long while, one of the elders suddenly spoke up.

Although there is more than one member of the Xiao family still alive, to these arrogant elders of the ancient clan, all members of the Xiao family except Xiao Yan are no different from ants, and naturally they will not be counted among the living.

"Will you be the one to make the move?" Gu Muyun glanced casually at the person who spoke.

This person's name is Gu Shan. Although his strength is only at the half-saint level, he is one of the elders who is most hostile to the Xiao family among all the elders present. Most of the elders in this group, apart from Gu Shan, are hostile to the Xiao family because of the incident involving the ancient demon.

"Of course..."

Gu Shan's gaze unconsciously drifted towards the elders' seats, and he then discovered that all the elders above the level of four-star Dou Sheng had long since disappeared, except for Elder Gu Yang, who was guarding the ancestral hall of the ancient clan.

“With the soul power of a Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm plus the battle qi level of a Seven-Star Dou Zun,” Gu Yang’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly after noticing Gu Shan’s gaze, and then he said calmly, “combined with the secret techniques of the Soul Clan, I might not be his match.”

“Then let that dead bastard be left alone…” Hearing Gu Yang speak, Gu Shan thought he could persuade him and immediately tried to continue to persuade him.

“The Xiao clan has not completely disappeared,” Gu Yang interrupted Gu Shan decisively. “Xiao Chen did not die in the great war between the Xiao and Hun clans. A thousand years... He was a mid-stage five-star Dou Sheng back then, he would not have died peacefully in a mere thousand years.”

"...Then should we return the spot in the Heavenly Tomb to the Xiao family?"

The name Xiao Chen did not have much of a deterrent effect on Gu Shan, who had only become a half-saint in the last thousand years. After being surprised for a moment by Xiao Chen's strength as a mid-stage five-star Dou Sheng, he said angrily. His words made many elders nod slightly.

"if not?"

Before Gu Yang could speak, an aged voice slowly echoed in the hall, "My Gu Clan has occupied the Xiao Clan's quota for so many years. It's one thing for the Xiao Clan to disappear without a trace, but now that Xiao Yan has the strength to enter the Heavenly Tomb, what reason is there to exclude him?"

Upon hearing this voice, the elders who had previously agreed with Gu Shan slowly closed their eyes, indicating they would no longer obstruct him. Even Gu Shan wisely kept quiet, but after a moment's hesitation, he still said—

"Xiao Xuan's tomb is located within the Heavenly Tomb, but none of our people have entered it in the past thousand years!"

"Don't even think about Xiao Xuan's tomb. Given his situation back then... his tomb might have been moved to the fourth or even fifth level," the voice said calmly without reprimanding Gu Shan. "If that's the case, even if the clan leader takes action, there's no way he could possibly access Xiao Xuan's tomb."

"Because of the Soul of the Heavenly Tomb?" Gu Yang suddenly asked.

"Perhaps, it's not just the soul of the Heavenly Tomb."

After leaving behind those words, the voice never rang out again, leaving the elders sitting in their seats with constantly changing expressions.

*

"The Soul of the Heavenly Tomb, the Five-Layer Heavenly Tomb, and... 'More than just the Soul of the Heavenly Tomb'?"

Before the Soul Emperor could even get angry upon receiving the message from the Dark Hand, he was drawn to several keywords in the message.

"So what I sensed back then was the soul of the Heavenly Tomb?"

Although what happened in the Heavenly Tomb wasn't particularly significant in the Soul Emperor's life, the feeling of being constantly watched since entering the tomb troubled him for many years. And today, he finally understood everything, and—

"The Five-Layered Heavenly Tomb, you actually guessed right," the Soul Emperor turned around and looked at the Void Devouring Flame that had just arrived behind him, "Is this also your inherited memory?"

The Soul Emperor looked with great interest at the Void Devouring Flame, whose face was somewhat pale. When he "picked up" the Void Devouring Flame back then, the Void Devouring Flame exchanged its inherited memories for the right not to be devoured. Over the past thousand years, he thought that the Void Devouring Flame had already given up all its inherited memories, but it turned out that there was an unexpected gain.

"...I don't know," Void Devouring Flame, his brows furrowed, shook his head slowly after a long silence. "If you hadn't mentioned the early opening of the Heavenly Tomb to me a year ago, I would never have heard of the words 'Heavenly Tomb'."

“But this is a secret realm that opens once every twenty years,” Soul Emperor naturally did not doubt what Void Devouring Flame said. “You have mostly stayed in the clan during these thousand years. Even if you have not paid attention, you should have heard these two words.”

“That’s right.” Void Devouring Flame nodded, a ruthless glint in his eyes. He suspected that his memories had also been tampered with by that person!

"It seems this Heavenly Tomb is even more interesting than I imagined..."

The reaction of the Void Devouring Flame naturally attracted the attention of the Soul Emperor. It was precisely because of this that the Soul Emperor became more interested in this Heavenly Tomb that had existed since ancient times, and put aside the reckless actions of that hidden agent.

"Interested in visiting the Heavenly Tomb?" After a brief moment of thought, the Soul Emperor asked with a slight smile.

"Us?" Void Devouring Flame looked at Soul Emperor with some surprise, then realized, "A split soul? But I remember the two you arranged to go to the Heavenly Tomb were eighth-grade bloodlines, right?"

With the current soul power of Soul Emperor and Void Devouring Flame, even if they split off a soul with 80-90% of their strength, it would not affect the strength of their main body. The only problem is that the two who are about to go to the ancient clan have eighth-grade bloodlines.

"A mere eighth-grade bloodline," the Soul Emperor chuckled casually, "is enough to crush the soul and temporarily requisition the body."

"They really show no mercy," Void Devouring Flame commented. "I remember one of them is your descendant, isn't he?"

"Just descendants of a few hundred generations," the Soul Emperor chuckled casually. "Even within the clan, not many people still remember this lineage."

“That’s true.” Void Devouring Flame nodded.

“Perfect timing. This time, the little guy from the Xiao family also has a spot to enter the Heavenly Tomb,” Soul Emperor suddenly thought of something. “A seven-star Dou Zun at the age of twenty-five… even among all the families, he is a top genius.”

"Unfortunately, the power of the Xiao family bloodline within him is almost zero."

"Perhaps he will become the second Dou Di besides me?" Soul Emperor smiled nonchalantly. "The Xiao Clan's bloodline dragon pen is still in my hands, so I'll take this opportunity to return it to its original owner."

"Since you collect such things..." Void Devouring Flame was speechless for a moment.

Chapter 444 Fear

"Brother Xiao Yan!"

The moment he stepped out of the spatial tunnel, a figure rushed into Xiao Yan's arms, and then a clear voice reached Xiao Yan's ears.

"I miss you so much..." Xun'er buried herself in Xiao Yan's arms, greedily inhaling his scent, and whispered almost in a dream.

The unexpected embrace of the soft jade and the tender whispers in her sleep caused Xiao Yan's body to stiffen for a moment. He then gently hugged the girl in his arms and whispered, "Xun'er, I missed you too."

This is the giant stone plaza outside the ancient holy city, the only way for all forces and powerful individuals invited by the ancient clan's coming-of-age ceremony to enter the ancient holy city. Because the guests have not yet all arrived, the space here is in a distorted state. Every now and then, figures land on the giant stone plaza amidst flashes of silver light, and the noise soars into the sky.

But even in the midst of the constant clamor of the square, the young man and woman embraced tightly, as if they were the only beings in the world.

"Gu Yuan's daughter, the one with the most complete bloodline in the ancient clan in a thousand years..."

Somewhere in the square, the "young man" dressed in black robes watched with great interest the boy and girl embracing in the sky, "So, this little guy from the Xiao clan actually got lucky?"

"Divine bloodline..." The young man beside him, also dressed in black robes, frowned slightly. "The fact that divine bloodlines can still be born now... could it be that the bloodlines of the ancient clans have not yet shown signs of drying up?"

A thousand years ago, the bloodline of the Xiao clan showed signs of drying up. Xiao Xuan, unwilling to see the Xiao clan decline step by step, chose to fight to the death, but ultimately failed due to the sabotage of the Soul Clan.

A thousand years later, the Spirit Clan, weak as it was, did not even have a single expert above the five-star Dou Sheng level. Even when the two of them were distracted by participating in the ancient clan's coming-of-age ceremony, the Spirit Clan still had plans to wipe them out without a trace.

However, the ancient race still has divine bloodlines being born, which is as if mocking everything the Soul Race has done for the continuation of its bloodline.

"Just a final burst of energy before death," the Soul Emperor, now possessing the body of 'Soul Cliff,' casually remarked. "The depletion of bloodlines cannot be reversed simply by the birth of a divine-grade bloodline..."

While casually responding to the Void Devouring Flame, the Soul Emperor shifted his gaze from the young men and women in the air to the "Black Annihilation Army," the most elite force of the ancient race.

"The Black Annihilation Army... In the past, a sixth-rank bloodline in the Black Annihilation Army was only fit to be a centurion, but now..."

Looking at the one-star Dou Zun at the forefront of the Black Annihilation Army, Soul Emperor chuckled, "Commander... among the four Grand Commanders and eight Grand Commanders, there is actually a sixth-grade bloodline. Xiao Xuan back then didn't want to see this scene, so he chose to gamble everything!"

"Just like you?" Void Devouring Flame retorted.

“No, he is more decisive than me, and also more…merciful,” the Soul Emperor shook his head. “If it were me, I would choose to join forces with the Soul Clan or the Ancient Clan to slaughter the other six clans, and then go to find the cave of the Ancient Emperor Tuoshe.”