Word Count: 3,226 Words
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Crackling sounds of fracturing space echoed throughout the Star Region as the battles between Dou Venerates pushed the realm to its breaking point.
"This is catastrophic! If the Star Region shatters, the Three Thousand Burning Flame will flood into Holy Pill City, transforming the entire city into a living hell!"
"What can we do? If the Star Region collapses, the resulting spatial turbulence would create chaotic currents that even a Dou Venerate might not survive!"
"Are we simply supposed to watch while the Hall of Souls makes off with the Three Thousand Burning Flame?!"
The remaining top-ten alchemists argued frantically, unable to decide on a course of action.
"All of you, leave immediately."
A deep voice suddenly cut through their panic. At some point, Xiao Yan had begun walking steadily toward the battlefield. His back was to them, his silhouette radiating a sense of tragic resolve!
"Big Brother Xiao Yan, come back!" Dan Chen cried out desperately. This was nothing short of suicide! Not only was the Three Thousand Burning Flame there, but also Hall of Souls Venerables!
Cao Ying's heart clenched with sudden fear. "Xiao Yan, what are you doing?!"
Xiao Yan did not turn back, his voice low and steady. "If the Three Thousand Burning Flame falls into the Hall of Souls' hands, it would spell disaster for the entire Central Plains. I cannot allow them to succeed, no matter the cost. I can only hope... that the Three Thousand Burning Flame might finally set aside its hatred."
His words left everyone utterly stunned.
"Xiao Yan! Don't go! The Star Region is about to collapse. Even if you manage to stop the Hall of Souls, you'll be swallowed by the spatial collapse!"
Xiao Yan did not respond. Instead, he summoned Xing Tian, which had absorbed the six-colored Pill Lightning and reached the level of a quasi-Sky Demon Puppet.
Now, Xing Tian's combat strength rivaled that of a half-step Dou Venerate.
A wave of heat erupted from Xiao Yan's body. With each step he took, the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change continuously enhanced his strength until he reached the half-step Dou Venerate realm!
Man and puppet advanced steadily toward the raging Dou Venerate battlefield!
Qiu Ling watched the young man in the champion's white robe, and a sense of respect, along with shame for himself, rose in his heart. He was not even as brave as this youth!
To help the Three Thousand Burning Flame repel the Hall of Souls and thereby resolve the hatred between them sounded simple, but even experts like Old Qing Hua and himself, both Dou Venerates, dared not attempt it.
After all, the Hall of Souls was no pushover. If all four of their Venerables struck simultaneously, even Qiu Ling would fall. Who would risk their life on the slim chance that the Three Thousand Burning Flame might help them?
Even if, against all odds, they did help the flame defeat the Hall of Souls, who could guarantee it would not immediately turn its hatred against them afterward?
And all of this was before considering the imminent collapse of the Star Region itself!
Yet while he, a Pill Tower First Elder, hesitated, this mere twenty-six-year-old youth strode forward without hesitation!
Watching Xiao Yan's retreating figure, everyone sensed the solemn resolve of a warrior marching toward certain doom. A heroic, righteous spirit emanated from him, moving many to tears.
Many who had initially doubted that an outsider from beyond the Central Plains could become a candidate for Pill Tower giant now felt deeply ashamed.
A person of such righteousness would surely lead the Pill Tower to new heights!
ROAR!
The Three Thousand Burning Flame unleashed an enraged bellow that shook the space. The Star Region convulsed violently as purple-black flames erupted like volcanic fury, spreading in all directions with terrifying momentum.
"Run! The fire waves are coming!"
Xiao Yan faced the ocean-like tide of flames that filled the entire Star Region. He wrapped himself in merged Heavenly Flames and charged straight in. His figure quickly disappeared into the sea of fire.
"Xiao Yan!"
"Big Brother Xiao Yan!"
When they saw Xiao Yan plunge headlong into the terrifying wave of fire, Dan Chen and Cao Ying paled with fright. This was suicide!
"Trust him. He's not a reckless person. Let's leave and find the Association Heads. Only they might have a chance of saving him."
Qiu Ling's face was grim as he swept his sleeve, summoning a fierce wind that swept everyone toward the exit of the Star Region.
Before departing, he cast one final, lingering look toward the Three Thousand Burning Flame and sighed. "Xiao Yan, since this is the path you have chosen, may fortune favor you."
As the last person shot out of the Star Region, the void space fell into profound silence. Purple-black flames filled every corner like an ocean of fire, their terrifying heat distorting space itself, which continued to collapse around them.
However, on the battlefield surrounding the Three Thousand Burning Flame, the four Hall of Souls Venerables who had been locked in fierce battle suddenly halted their attacks.
Qiu Ling could never have imagined, not even in his wildest dreams, that everyone here was a goddamn Hall of Souls Venerable!
And one Tianzun.
"Jie Jie Jie, Three Thousand Burning Flame, now that all those bothersome Pill Tower people are gone, who can possibly save you!" Mu Gu cackled, his eyes burning with greed.
Mu Gu had most feared that the Pill Tower people might suddenly interfere. After all, both Old Qing Hua and Qiu Ling possessed Dou Venerate strength. If they had truly been willing to risk everything, they might have succeeded in thwarting his plans.
But now, they had trusted Xiao Yan's words and left. Heaven itself seemed to favor the Hall of Souls!
"Beast, surrender without a struggle! I'll take you back to the Hall of Souls and present you to our Hall Chief!" Mu Gu glanced at the Three Thousand Burning Flame, but his wary gaze soon shifted to Xiao Yan standing opposite him.
A sharp gleam still lingered in Mu Gu's eyes. He remained unconvinced of Xiao Yan's superiority. In his mind, he had lost to Xiao Yan only because he lacked a Heavenly Flame.
After capturing the Three Thousand Burning Flame, if the Hall Chief helped him refine it, he might yet surpass Xiao Yan!
Xiao Yan found Mu Gu's words amusing and laughed aloud, shaking his head with a smile. "Oh, Mu Gu, Mu Gu. Have you still not realized the situation? Are you still dreaming?"
!?
Whoosh!
Without warning, one of the Hall of Souls Venerates beside Mu Gu struck, sending a palm attack hurtling toward him!
"Qing Hai! What are you doing?!" Mu Gu's expression changed drastically as he hastily executed a defensive Dou Technique.
BOOM!
Mu Gu countered with a palm strike of his own. Their Dou Qi collided violently, and since Mu Gu's strength exceeded Venerable Qing Hai's by one star, the other party gained no advantage.
But before Mu Gu could even breathe a sigh of relief, a ghostly figure appeared behind him and viciously slammed a palm into his back.
The terrifying force of a peak 3-star Dou Venerate sent Mu Gu spitting blood.
All traces of his earlier arrogance vanished. Mu Gu stared in terror at the two Hall of Souls Venerables, completely unable to comprehend why they were attacking him!
"It's you! Xiao Yan!" Mu Gu's face twisted with rage and panic as he shouted, "Xiao Yan! Have you lost your mind?! This mission was personally ordered by the Hall Chief! Are you betraying the Hall of Souls?!"
Xiao Yan grinned broadly, revealing a set of pearly white teeth. He looked absolutely delighted.
"That's right, this is the Hall Chief's order," he nodded, then added with a smile, "It's just that the mission has changed. Now it's to help me enter the Small Pill Tower and obtain a pill recipe."
"To enter the Small Pill Tower, I need to gain Xuan Kong Zi's trust. And you, Mu Gu, are the perfect token of my loyalty."
Mu Gu's face turned ghastly pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Horror consumed him!
Xiao Yan planned to use his life to win the Pill Tower's trust!
Kill Mu Gu, save Holy Pill City, subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame—Xiao Yan would become the hero of the Pill Tower! He would earn the trust of every elder and even the giants, winning the adoration of everyone in Holy Pill City!
He, Mu Gu, was nothing but a stepping stone for Xiao Yan!
Wasting no more words, Mu Gu immediately took out a spatial jade token and crushed it, intending to open a soul passage for escape.
However, after he crushed the token, nothing happened. The space remained eerily silent.
"No, this can't be! The Hall Chief wouldn't abandon me! I'm an 8th-tier alchemist! I'm the Hall of Souls' 'Medicine Venerable'!!" Mu Gu's eyes grew vacant. The blow was too devastating to accept!
He, Mu Gu, was merely a disposable pawn.
"I heard that over twenty years ago, you and Han Feng betrayed him in exactly this way."
Xiao Yan's icy voice pierced Mu Gu's ears, sending violent tremors through his body as his mind was unwillingly dragged back to that fateful day!!
Betrayal... Back then, Venerable Yao had met his end through the treachery of his own disciple and junior martial brother! Now, Xiao Yan would let Mu Gu taste what it felt like to be betrayed!
An eye for an eye!
Mu Gu's original plan had been to have Hall of Souls Venerables create chaos in Holy Pill City to distract the Pill Tower giants, while he would use his position as Pill Gathering runner-up to enter the Star Region. There, he would release the Three Thousand Burning Flame and use its hatred of the Pill Tower to destroy Holy Pill City, capturing countless soul bodies in the ensuing chaos.
If the Pill Tower and the Three Thousand Burning Flame became locked in a battle to mutual destruction, he might even claim the Heavenly Flame for himself.
That had been Mu Gu's plan—at least, until Yan Tianzun intervened.
During the days after returning to Holy Pill City, Xiao Yan had not only cultivated the Great Single Soul Skill. He had also visited the nearest Hall of Souls branch, learned of Mu Gu's plan, and contacted the Hall Chief using his Soul Command Token.
"Keep Mu Gu's plan intact, but change the ending: I will kill Mu Gu, save Holy Pill City, and enter the Small Pill Tower," Xiao Yan had proposed.
The Hall Chief's response had been the same as Hun Huzi's: Do as you please.
Whether it was the Hall Chief or Hun Huzi, they had only one goal: to help Hun Tiandi successfully refine the Di Tier Pill and break through to the Dou God realm!
For that goal, they would sacrifice all under heaven if necessary, let alone a mere Mu Gu.
"Kill him." Xiao Yan's robe swept the air as sharp killing intent flashed in his eyes.
Whether for the repeated troubles Mu Gu had caused him or for Venerable Yao's sake, Xiao Yan had no reason to show mercy. Mu Gu's death was inevitable. Xiao Yan simply didn't want him to die as easily as Han Feng had.
At Xiao Yan's command, the three Dou Venerates Mu Gu himself had summoned unleashed a barrage of attacks toward him.
Besides Venerable Qing Hai, the Venerable whose strength surpassed Mu Gu's—a peak 3-star Dou Venerate—was none other than Venerable Tian Huo. The third was another 3-star Dou Venerate arranged by the Hall of Souls at Xiao Yan's request.
Surrounded on all sides and already wounded from Venerable Tian Huo's earlier sneak attack, Mu Gu had no chance of survival.
Xiao Yan watched Mu Gu being besieged in midair with not a trace of pity in his eyes. This was retribution!
Soon enough, Venerable Tian Huo struck Mu Gu down with a single palm. Even as Mu Gu's soul attempted to flee his body, Venerable Qing Hai captured and sealed it within a Soul Command Token.
Mu Gu could never have imagined his end would come this way: killed by Hall of Souls Venerables, his soul captured and sealed away—just as he himself had done to countless others. Everything he had inflicted on others had returned to him full circle, like perfect karmic retribution.
Xiao Yan gazed at the corpse sprawled on the ground, its eyes still wide with disbelief. At last, he had truly avenged his Master and cleansed his own sect of traitors!
"Tianzun, this is Mu Gu's soul," Venerable Qing Hai said, dropping to one knee and offering his Soul Command Token with both hands.
Mu Gu's soul was no ordinary prize; this was the soul of an 8th-tier alchemist capable of summoning four-colored Pill Lightning. Its value far exceeded even that of Yao Li.
Qing Hai dared not even consider keeping it for himself. He knew well that Xiao Yan was now a Tianzun, and the Pill Gathering champion!
Xiao Yan waved his hand dismissively. "I believe I still owe you a medicinal pill, do I not?"
At his words, Qing Hai immediately bowed his head lower, his voice taut with nervousness. "Yan Tianzun is joking. I was blind before. To serve Yan Tianzun is my greatest honor!"
Xiao Yan shook his head indifferently. "Keep the soul. It's more than enough to trade for a tier 8 pill. I have no time for alchemy right now, so consider my debt settled."
Joy flashed across Venerable Qing Hai's face as he hurriedly expressed his gratitude. "Thank you, Tianzun!"
Xiao Yan then turned to the other 3-star Dou Venerate. Though this man held a formidable reputation even within the Hall of Souls, his heart trembled under Xiao Yan's gaze. This youth was truly terrifying!
Mu Gu had died without ever understanding why.
Thud.
This Hall of Souls Venerable instantly dropped to one knee, head bowed low. "The Hall Chief has issued a command of silence. None of us will utter a single word about this!"
Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction. The Hall of Souls had strict protocols. The identities of their Protectors and below were to be kept secret, unless they had already been exposed. This was especially important for someone of Xiao Yan's critical status.
Only then did he feel reassured. He believed that Hun Huzi and the Hall Chief would surely have ways to maintain his cover.
He exchanged a nod with Venerable Tian Huo, who then produced a spatial jade token. Upon crushing it, a special soul passage appeared.
The three Venerables entered the soul passage and departed from the Star Region, leaving Xiao Yan standing alone.
After they left, Xiao Yan finally turned to face the immense Three Thousand Burning Flame.
The moment Xiao Yan's gaze fell upon it, the Three Thousand Burning Flame's dragon pupils contracted. Though this human's strength was so insignificant it could crush him with a single swipe, it now felt an inexplicable wariness.
Some instinct warned that attacking Xiao Yan would lead only to its own destruction!
"I've helped remove the seal, and now we're alone. Isn't that proof enough of my sincerity?" Xiao Yan looked directly at the Three Thousand Burning Flame without a trace of fear.
"I cannot trust you humans, especially you alchemists." The Three Thousand Burning Flame emitted a deep, guttural voice, watching Xiao Yan with extreme caution.
Xiao Yan smiled slightly, then a purple light suddenly flashed in the void. A massive dragon claw tore through space, followed by an enormous purple dragon emerging from the spatial tunnel, one that looked remarkably similar to the Three Thousand Burning Flame itself.
The only difference was that this purple dragon was slightly smaller, as Zi Yan had only reached Rank 7 and not yet Rank 8, meaning her body had not reached full maturity.
The Three Thousand Burning Flame was clearly surprised by Zi Yan's appearance. It didn't fully understand why it had taken this form, only remembering that long ago, before it had developed self-awareness, someone had discovered and subdued it.
That person had nurtured it for some time before mysteriously disappearing. Since then, it had longed to escape the Pill Tower to search for that person.
Somewhere deep within, the Three Thousand Burning Flame felt that person was its true master, which was why it had always rejected the alchemists of the Pill Tower.
"Three Thousand Burning Flame, the reason you resemble Zi Yan is because the 'person' who originally subdued you was actually an Ancient Void Dragon. He left a soul dragon imprint within you, which is why you've taken the form of an Ancient Void Dragon," Xiao Yan explained.
During his earlier communication with the Three Thousand Burning Flame, his powerful Spiritual Strength had detected a soul imprint within it.
"An Ancient Void Dragon... Is he with the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe now?" the Three Thousand Burning Flame asked.
"I don't know. But I'll be taking Zi Yan back there soon."
Xiao Yan smiled gently and continued, "Zi Yan is the Dragon Queen of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, possessing the power of the Ancestral Dragon. If you're considered part of the Ancient Void Dragon race, then you should trust her. Right now, only I can help you leave the Pill Tower."
"If you try to exit the Star Region alone, the Pill Tower giants will kill you instantly. They've spared you all these years not out of mercy, but because they didn't want to waste your value."
At these words, the Three Thousand Burning Flame fixed Xiao Yan with a ferocious stare. "You want to refine me?!"
Xiao Yan smiled and, with a wave of his sleeve, summoned the Fallen Heart Flame. The formless flame immediately transformed into a massive python, its size hardly smaller than the dragon-shaped Three Thousand Burning Flame.
"My Qi Method is special. I can preserve your consciousness. If you help me accomplish my goals, you'll be free to leave whenever you wish and regain your independence. I promise you this."
Hiss hiss!
The Fallen Heart Flame flicked its serpent tongue, putting in a good word for Xiao Yan.
The Three Thousand Burning Flame hesitated, still wary. Xiao Yan glanced meaningfully at Zi Yan, who immediately understood and gave him a subtle wink.
In an instant, Zi Yan's body erupted with blinding purple light. A powerful royal aura descended upon them, and with a resonating hum, the dragon imprint on the Three Thousand Burning Flame's forehead became visible.
This seal resonated with Zi Yan's Ancient Void Dragon bloodline. More accurately, it represented submission!
The dragon imprint left by that Ancient Void Dragon in the past was merely ordinary. How could it possibly compare to the might of the Ancient Void Dragon's royal line!
Now, the Three Thousand Burning Flame was in essence half an Ancient Void Dragon. This kind of innate suppression affected it as well.
The Three Thousand Burning Flame felt the instinctive urge to submit rise from the depths of its being. It lowered its guard and bowed before Zi Yan. "I pledge myself to you, Lord Dragon Queen."
????
Xiao Yan was stunned. What the fuck?! Zi Yan just stole my Heavenly Flame!!