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

This is an extremely slow process.

The source of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame was too vast. Even with the suppression of the Refining Heaven Ancient Array and the assistance of more than twenty kinds of strange flames, Xiao Yan still needed to spend a lot of time and energy to completely refine it...

……

Just as Xiao Yan was absorbing the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, something earth-shattering happened in the Central Continent, or rather, on the Dou Qi Continent—

While the Soul Palace stopped focusing on collecting the souls of powerful individuals, it began to spread rumors that an alien race capable of destroying the Dou Qi Continent was sealed beneath it—a claim that sounded utterly unreliable.

Although it sounded incredibly far-fetched at first, thanks to the persistent propaganda from the various protectors and venerables of the Soul Hall, gradually, some people actually began to believe the story the Soul Hall was spreading about the impending destruction of the Dou Qi Continent.

After all, just as the Soul Palace said, the Dou Qi Continent was once home to numerous ancient races and countless Dou Di powerhouses, not to mention the Dou Sheng powerhouses below the Dou Di level.

As we all know, a nine-star Dou Sheng can live for thousands of years. So why did all those numerous Dou Sheng powerhouses in ancient times disappear at the same time as the Dou Di powerhouses?

Why were there so many Battle Emperors in ancient times, but almost none have appeared since then?

Why is it that even legendary figures like the Yellow Spring Saint and the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, whose abilities are almost heaven-reaching, cannot break through to the Dou Di level?

……

As questions were raised one by one, and no one could answer them, the Soul Palace's propaganda grew increasingly powerful, causing unrest not only among the forces of Central Continent but also among the ancient races.

Isn't everyone's arduous cultivation precisely so that they can enjoy life and the privileges that the strong deserve? Now that the continent is on the verge of destruction, is there any point in continuing to cultivate?

Of the five remaining ancient races, only the Soul Race remained so mysterious that no news of them was circulated. The Ancient Race, after holding an elders' meeting, mobilized all the elders to govern their respective descendants and suppress all the restless hearts of the people. However, the Medicine Race, Thunder Race, and Flame Race were not so easily subdued.

"Soul Emperor and Gu Yuan must have found some crucial information!" Lei Ying slammed his hand on the table in front of him, shattering it, and roared angrily.

“There’s no need to repeat information we already know,” Yan Jin said calmly, but his twitching eyebrows betrayed his true feelings. “Yao Dan, how is the situation on your Yao Clan’s side?”

“Apart from a few outstanding disciples, everyone else has been affected to varying degrees,” Yao Dan sighed and said, “Especially after the Soul Clan revealed that the Dan Cloud covering the Central Plains was actually a sign that the Nine Profound Golden Thunder was about to fall, even before they opened the Demon Fire Space, more and more people were affected.”

"That really is the pill cloud of Nine Profound Golden Thunder?!" Lei Ying's eyes widened suddenly as he looked at the medicinal pill in disbelief.

“That’s right, Nine Profound Golden Lightning,” Yao Dan nodded slightly, “The appearance of Dan Yun is enough to prove that the refiner had reached the final step, but also fell at that final step…”

The Medicine Clan has the most records about the Nine Profound Golden Thunder, so Yao Dan also knows that those who can reach the final step of refining the Golden Core must have at least the strength of a Seven-Star Dou Sheng, but even with this strength, they still cannot successfully refine it...

'Could it be that the Dou Qi Continent truly does not allow the birth of Golden Core cultivators now?' A shadow crossed the eyes of the pill refiner who had been unable to comprehend the Golden Core refining technique for thousands of years and whose alchemy skills had remained stagnant at the level of Xuan Dan refining.

The inability to break through to the Dou Di realm doesn't have a significant impact on the Yao Clan, but the inability to refine Golden Cores is something even Yao Dan, the current clan leader, finds hard to accept.

“The Soul Clan has sent someone again,” Yan Jin suddenly said. “This time it’s the Soul Emperor. After all four Demon Saints have been replaced, he has actually made a personal appearance… He is currently outside the Flame Realm. How about we meet him?”

Upon hearing this, Yao Dan was immediately tempted, but after his gaze fell on Lei Ying, he fell silent again.

"...Let's go, we must get solid evidence!" To Yao Dan's surprise, after a moment of silence, Lei Ying was the first to agree to meet the Soul Emperor.

“Indeed, the Soul Clan wouldn’t spread such rumors about the impending destruction of the continent without a reason!” Yan Jin nodded heavily.

"How about... we reconsider?" Lei Ying and Yan Jin's agreement made Yao Dan start to worry. "Apart from Gu Yuan, none of the three of us know anything about the Soul Emperor. Perhaps this publicity campaign that has lasted for more than a year is really just a trap?"

"Then let's call on Gu Yuan!" Lei Ying gritted his teeth. "He's also the one who knows the most core secrets of the mainland!"

Following a meeting of elders, all the restless hearts of the ancient tribe were forcibly suppressed.

They already knew about this news, and it was precisely because they already knew that they became increasingly agitated. They were both patriarchs of existing ancient races, and it was one thing that Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi were stronger than them, but why did only the two of them know about this core secret concerning the safety of the continent?!

Yao Dan nodded slightly. In fact, he was the most impatient of the three clan leaders, having already arranged for his clan to prepare the pharmacopoeia in advance.

'Nine Profound Golden Thunder... Will the person who almost refined the Golden Core come?'

Yao Dan believed the Soul Clan's propaganda, but he believed even more in the person who had almost successfully refined the Golden Core. As long as that person didn't appear, he could continue to deceive himself into believing that refining Golden Cores or even Emperor Cores was still possible on the Dou Qi Continent, only those lacking sufficient strength and soul power couldn't do it.

Even though he was a mid-stage Seven Star Dou Sheng and a Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, he was practically the top alchemist on the entire continent.

Chapter 494 The Spirit of Strange Fire

It was when Gu Yuan accepted the invitations of the Flame, Thunder, and Medicine clans and appeared before the Soul Emperor that the sealed demonic fire space, after more than a year of silence, finally began to show some changes—

The Demon Flame Space remained as scorching as ever. Above the magma sea, a figure sat quietly cross-legged, with faint milky white and deep black flames intertwined and clinging tightly to his body.

Just as Xiao Yan had predicted, when he relaxed his control over the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation due to absorbing the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, the Void Devouring Flame Emperor Flame, with its faint spirituality, gradually approached Xiao Yan's body and eventually flowed into his meridians through his skin.

Having previously devoured two different flames simultaneously, Xiao Yan immediately began to focus on guiding the black and white flames within his body the moment he sensed the Void Devouring Flame Emperor Flame entering his body, allowing them to flow independently without interfering with each other.

Aside from taking a little longer, there were no other impacts during this process.

Furthermore, as he gradually devoured the two flames, Xiao Yan clearly felt that the Burning Technique was breaking through the limits of the Heavenly Rank and advancing towards a higher level.

When the faint flames on his body completely disappeared, Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally out of seclusion!" Xiao Yan stood up, then stretched languidly, his bones emitting a muffled thud like thunder that echoed across the sky.

Although he had only been in seclusion for a year, Xiao Yan's black hair had once again flowed down to his shoulders, making him look quite dashing and handsome. If you looked closely, you could see that Xiao Yan's pupils were now shaped like two extremely tiny flame lotuses. The lotuses were slowly rotating, and faintly, an attraction that seemed to pull one's soul out emanated from his pupils.

"Seven Star Dou Sheng..."

Xiao Yan felt the vast Dou Qi in his limbs and bones, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Then he closed his eyes, and an extremely terrifying soul force burst out of his body in an instant. In a short breath, it covered the entire Demon Flame Space. Within the range covered by the soul force, all the energy of heaven and earth could be mobilized in an instant.

"Emperor Realm!"

Clearly sensing the breakthrough in his soul power, Xiao Yan excitedly opened his eyes. If he were to use all his trump cards at this moment, he was confident that he could capture the Void Devouring Flame's true form within a hundred rounds!

"And the Burning Blade Technique..." In his excitement, Xiao Yan also thought of breaking through the Burning Blade Technique.

"It can barely be considered a mid-grade divine technique, and it still has a long way to go to reach the top-grade divine technique in the Great Thousand World."

Just as Xiao Yan was about to name the new realm of the Burning Blade Technique, a familiar, clear, and cold voice rang in his mind, introducing the current grade of the Burning Blade Technique and also giving him a brief introduction to the highest level of cultivation techniques and spiritual arts in the Great Thousand World.

"Could it barely qualify as a mid-level god-tier? Hmm..." After subconsciously nodding, Xiao Yan suddenly snapped back to reality, "Cang Qiong?!"

His right palm flipped upwards, absorbing all the flames except for the number one flame on the Strange Flame Ranking; the seven-colored flames then emerged—

As soon as the seven-colored flame appeared, the surrounding space began to distort rapidly. At the same time, the flame suddenly began to wriggle, and then, to Xiao Yan's astonishment, it transformed into a humanoid shape that was only half a foot in size.

"The heavens...?"

Looking at the humanoid figure above his palm, Xiao Yan was filled with surprise and confusion. He naturally knew that powerful strange fires would form strange fire spirits, just like the Pure Lotus Demon Fire of the past and the Void Devouring Flame of the present. But why was the strange fire spirit formed by his strange fire completely identical to the humanoid figure conjured by the world consciousness of the Dou Qi Continent, except for its size?

“It’s me,” Cang Qiong stretched. “Don’t rush to ask why… After your soul power broke through to the Emperor Realm, Xiao Xuan’s seal on your memories should have been broken, right? Review it again, and you’ll understand what I’m thinking.”

"memory?"

Upon hearing Cang Qiong's words, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and recalled everything Xiao Xuan and Cang Qiong had said in the third level of the Heavenly Tomb—the divided Great Thousand World, the fifth level of the Heavenly Tomb which sealed a half-step Sovereign, and the last 150 years...

As his memories gradually returned, Xiao Yan vaguely understood Cang Qiong's purpose: "Could this be the reason why I might be able to break through to the Sovereign Realm within 150...145 years?"

“You can understand it that way, but there’s also the thought that I don’t want to associate the Dou Qi Continent with those bastards,” Cang Qiong explained calmly. “After becoming your spirit of the strange fire, your strength will also drive the Dou Qi Continent to become stronger. Once you control the Cang Qiong Ranking of the Great Thousand Worlds, the Dou Qi Continent may have the opportunity to condense something similar to the Cang Qiong Ranking!”

"……what?"

"The Great Thousand World has been divided into three parts. One part is being assimilated by the Dou Qi Continent, another part has been occupied by the extraterrestrial demons, and only the last part still belongs to the Great Thousand World," Cang Qiong continued. "In that case, isn't it normal for the Dou Qi Continent to be upgraded after you take control of the Cang Qiong Ranking?"

It seems... to make some sense?

Although Cang Qiong had talked about the Great Thousand World when they were at the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Yan had never been to the Great Thousand World before, so he could only nod blankly, pretending that he understood.

"Alright, let me go back quickly," Cang Qiong sighed, clearly not understanding Xiao Yan's words. He then said, "Although there are still more than 140 years left, it will still take several years to devour this space and refine the pill's body. As the future savior of the Great Thousand World, now is not the time for you to rest!"

Urged by the heavens, Xiao Yan withdrew... the Emperor Flame. Then, he formed hand seals, and the Heavenly Array and Earthly Array activated simultaneously, emitting a loud "Return!" Countless milky-white fire lines extended from the array, like serpentine snakes, burrowing into every corner of the Demon Flame Space.

Wherever the fire passed, the space began to tremble violently, and fine cracks began to appear on the walls of the entire Demon Fire Space. The cracks became more and more numerous and dense, as if the entire Demon Fire Space was about to shatter completely at any moment.

The Refining Heaven Ancient Array is the foundation of the Demon Flame Space, and the Pure Lotus Demon Flame is its core. After Xiao Yan gained control of both, the enormous Refining Heaven Ancient Array became a filter, refining all the energy in the Demon Flame Space before transmitting the purest energy into Xiao Yan's body.

These refined energies were even gentler than Xiao Yan's Dou Qi. They didn't even need deliberate guidance; they simply swirled slowly around Xiao Yan and were gradually absorbed into his body.

Did you do this?

"Consider this a small help I can offer after becoming your spirit of the strange fire," Cang Qiong said leisurely, "It barely saves you the time it takes to control it with your soul power."

Xiao Yan remained silent, quietly feeling the Dou Qi within his body gradually grow stronger.

Chapter 495 Evil Qi

Yan Clan Yan Realm Reception Hall.

"You mean... the former Devouring Spirit Clan was actually a race from outside the Dou Qi Continent, whose goal was to destroy the Dou Qi Continent?" Yan Jin, sitting in the main seat, stared intently at the Soul Emperor and slowly asked.

The Soul Emperor did not directly answer Yan Jin's question, but silently raised his hand—

As the Soul Emperor opened his right palm, everyone could clearly see several wisps of eerie and evil black mist enveloped by his battle aura above his palm. They could vaguely see and even hear the sound of the battle aura enveloping the black mist being corroded.

Including Gu Yuan, Lei Ying, Yan Jin, and Yao Dan all had their expressions change drastically in an instant. With their strength, they could naturally feel the cold, evil power contained in the black mist, as well as the Soul Emperor's powerful battle aura that had been corrupted by that evil power.

"Evil energy."

At this moment, the Soul Emperor slowly spoke, "This is the power cultivated by a foreign race that shares the same roots as the Devouring Spirit Clan. It is a power that, even when crushed into this state, still possesses its own consciousness and attempts to invade my meridians."

Looking at the black mist above the Soul Emperor's palm, which was constantly churning and seemed to want to break out of the ball of battle qi from time to time, but more often wanted to follow the Soul Emperor's battle qi and re-enter his body, Gu Yuan and the other three fell silent.

"Where did you find them?" Lei Ying asked after a brief silence.

"The fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb..."

"The fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb?" Yao Dan interrupted the Soul Emperor. "What fourth level is there in the Heavenly Tomb?"

Ancient races all have records of the Heavenly Tomb, a 'cemetery' that has been passed down from ancient times, but Yaodan has never heard of the Heavenly Tomb having a fourth level.

Although Lei Ying and Yan Jin did not speak, their furrowed brows proved that they did not believe in the so-called fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb.

"As you all know, when the Heavenly Tomb opened last time, I borrowed the bodies of two little ones from my clan to enter it." The Soul Emperor mentioned this matter without any hesitation.

Lei Ying, Yan Jin, and Yao Dan nodded slowly. After all, none of the young talents from various races had been harmed during the last trip to the Heavenly Tomb, so they didn't pay much attention to this matter.

"It seems that for Xiao Yan's safety, not long after I entered the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Xuan threw me into the fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb," the Soul Emperor said slowly. "It was a boundless, completely desolate world, and the evil energy... just swirled rampantly on that land. According to Xiao Xuan... the evil energy lingering in the fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb had already been purified..."

The Soul Emperor gave a half-truth and half-false introduction to the fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb. Even Gu Yuan, who had received some rough explanations from Xiao Yan, could not distinguish between the truth and the falsehood in this introduction.

"After leaving the Heavenly Tomb, I gave the Soul Palace a task," the Soul Emperor continued after introducing the fourth and fifth levels of the Heavenly Tomb, "to search the entire continent for a spatial passage that leads to the fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb, or... to find evil energy."

"They found them?" Gu Yuan pressed.

“It’s obvious,” the Soul Emperor raised his right hand, indicating that this ball of evil energy was proof, “Although the spatial passage leading to the fourth level of the Heavenly Tomb was well hidden, it was eventually discovered.”

"So... you've entered the fourth level again?" Yan Jin asked, his brows furrowed.

“No, I just added another lock to that spatial passage,” the Soul Emperor slowly shook his head, then withdrew his right hand, “and added another lock to that spatial passage that was corrupted by evil energy.”

At this point, Gu Yuan and the other three finally understood why the Soul Clan was spreading rumors that the Dou Qi Continent was about to be destroyed—if every word the Soul Emperor said was true.

"...I want to see that spatial passage." After a brief silence, Yao Dan spoke.