Two Heavenly Flames!

Xiao Yan stood alone in the Xiao Family's small courtyard, his eyes closed in thought. Suddenly, he assumed a stance, stepped forward, and threw a punch.

Eight Extremes Collapse!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six dull explosions rang out in rapid succession, air bursts erupting with every punch Xiao Yan threw.

The ring on his ring finger suddenly glimmered, his storage ring lighting up with a black radiance.

"Hm? Teacher, what is it?!" Before Xiao Yan could even wipe away his sweat after finishing his training, he saw Yao Lao float out from the storage ring.

"This aura... hm, I can't be mistaken. That brat Zhang and the others have returned." Yao Lao's voice sounded beside Xiao Yan's ear. Following Yao Lao's gaze, Xiao Yan only spotted two tiny figures rapidly flying over from the sky after quite some time.

"Xiao Yan, I'm back." Seeing how much Xiao Yan had changed, Zhang Tian was filled with emotion. He had finally returned. He had never traveled such a long road in either life.

"Well, well, brat, did you eat a staircase or something? You've grown this tall?"

Looking at Xiao Yan, who was now nearly as tall as him—lean but with a fair amount of muscle—Zhang Tian could not help teasing him.

"How has the method I taught you, using your soul's instincts to fight, been coming along?"

After catching up, Zhang Tian began checking Xiao Yan's cultivation progress again.

"It's going fairly well. I can successfully use it once or twice out of every ten attempts now." Xiao Yan scratched his head. Yao Lao had contributed greatly to this.

With Yao Lao's help, using his Half-Step Heaven Realm Soul Power, Xiao Yan had grasped it quickly.

After all, Yao Lao's ability to use and control souls was far beyond anything Zhang Tian could compare to.

"You're already a Nine-Star Dou Shi?" Zhang Tian examined Xiao Yan's realm. Sure enough, he had reached the Nine-Star Dou Shi level a month ago, but he was working hard to consolidate and suppress his cultivation.

"It's been over a month already. I want to build a more solid foundation. I can feel that this isn't my limit yet." Xiao Yan honestly told Zhang Tian what he thought.

After some people broke through a realm, their cultivation would reach its limit. To grow stronger again, they needed another breakthrough.

Yet after some geniuses broke through, they remained far from their limits and could continue tempering themselves. That was the difference in the upper limits of one's talent.

"Little Yan's foundation is very solid. With me by your side, you can rest easy." Yao Lao stroked his beard. Only after spending these days with Xiao Yan did he realize that Xiao Yan was not so outstanding merely because he had a good master. Even without Zhang Tian, he would still have been a rare genius.

As the Xiao Family's Second Elder, Zhang Tian should indeed pay a visit to his sworn elder brother, Xiao Zhan, after returning.

Thus, Zhang Tian, Xiao Yan, and Yao Lao headed toward the family hall.

To the others in the Xiao Family, it appeared that the Second Elder, who had been gone for a long time, was walking with Xiao Yan, accompanied by a middle-aged man with thick brows and large eyes.

Yao Lao's Soul Power had recovered quite well over these past days. He could now use strength roughly equivalent to a two-star Dou Zong, so it was easy enough to keep some members of the Xiao Family from seeing him.

So the group chatted as they walked.

"Teacher, we haven't seen each other in so long. It's already been four months." Along the way, Xiao Yan looked at Zhang Tian and could not help saying it. Though this master was only a few years older than him, Xiao Yan had unknowingly come to respect him as deeply as a father.

"To be precise, it has been three months and twenty-one days." Yao Lao said firmly from the side. Once he finished, he suddenly noticed Zhang Tian and Xiao Yan staring at him with strange expressions.

"What is it?" Yao Lao shrank his neck, suddenly feeling that this master and disciple pair were thinking something improper again.

Why had he calculated that so clearly?!

Xiao Yan screamed wildly in his heart, but he said aloud,

"Nothing, Teacher. It's just... oh, right, didn't you say last time that you wanted to refine healing pills for Teacher?"

Xiao Yan casually made up an excuse. After all, only they were in this small courtyard, along with several guards and maids standing watch outside.

Since Zhang Tian had been missing for so long without returning, Yao Lao had indeed worried that he might come back badly injured, which was why he had suggested refining healing pills for him.

"Who? Who said anything about refining pills?!" Yao Lao's old face reddened as he hurriedly denied it.

Knowing that Yao Lao had been quite worried about him, Zhang Tian felt warmed in his heart. This old man was truly adorable.

"Old Yao, this is a Magic Core. Take it. I remember you told us last time that two Magic Cores and the body of a Dou Zong were the main materials needed for your revival." Zhang Tian took out the Fire Eyed Jade Hoof Beast's Rank 7 Magic Core from his storage ring. The instant the Rank 7 Magic Core appeared, the air grew much hotter, and it emitted a fiery red glow.

Xiao Yan's lips went dry. Having devoured two Beast Flames, he could still sense the berserk, scorching power within the Magic Core in Zhang Tian's hand.

"Teacher... th-this... what rank is that Magic Core...?" Xiao Yan's lips were dry as an incomparably terrifying thought rose in his mind.

"A Rank 7 Magic Core, the Magic Core of a Fire Eyed Jade Hoof Beast." Zhang Tian flicked the Magic Core in his hand and revealed its origins.

"Hiss!" Xiao Yan sucked in a cold breath. A Rank 7 Magic Core belonged to an immensely formidable Magical Beast with a terrifying status on the continent, one that could often occupy an entire empire or even several empires.

"It really is a Rank 7 Magic Core." Yao Lao accepted the Magic Core. Though he had already examined it, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.

"You really did it. You killed a Rank 7 Magical Beast!" Yao Lao was utterly shocked. In less than two years, a Dou Ling had gained the combat strength of a Dou Zong. Terrifying—simply terrifying!

"With your current combat strength, you can already be called a Dou Zong, can't you?" Yao Lao looked at Zhang Tian with complicated eyes. He had truly never seen such a genius.

"I'm still a little short of Dou Zong. I'm still at the Dou Emperor realm for now." Zhang Tian laughed heartily, completely unconcerned.

"How far short?" Yao Lao stared intensely at Zhang Tian.

"One step." Zhang Tian smiled calmly, brimming with confidence.

"Good, good, good!" Yao Lao said "good" three times in a row before sighing again.

"So there truly are such peerless talents on the Dou Qi Continent, and one has appeared in the incredibly remote Northwest Continent. Such talent would not be inferior even to the direct descendants of the Ancient Eight Clans, would it?" Yao Lao's tone was immensely complicated.

"Teacher, what are the 'Ancient Eight Clans'?" Xiao Yan keenly caught hold of the faction Yao Lao had mentioned.

"I don't know either. I only know that they are the eight strongest clans on the Dou Qi Continent, but I do not understand their internal structure." Yao Lao shook his head.

But Zhang Tian knew perfectly well. Yao Lao himself was from the Medicine Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans. Yet he had been driven out of the Medicine Clan in his youth, and he barely understood the Medicine Clan itself, much less the other seven clans.

At this point, the Xiao Family disciples, guards, and maids had all been drawn to the Magic Core.

"So beautiful."

"The energy inside it is far too berserk. I can feel fear."

"Could this be the Magic Core of a Dou Wang Rank Magical Beast?!"

Yao Lao did not refuse. The hand holding the Magic Core trembled slightly. Revival finally seemed to be within reach, and he was immensely grateful to Zhang Tian.

"The Fire Eyed Jade Hoof Beast is absolutely no weaker than an ordinary high-level Dou Zong. After entering its fragmented state, it was even far stronger than an ordinary high-level Dou Zong. You must have gone through a fierce battle to kill it."

Zhang Tian nodded as he listened to Yao Lao.

"It was indeed extremely dangerous. I nearly died, and all my Dou Qi was completely exhausted. Fortunately, the Fire Eyed Jade Hoof Beast was struck by my Heavenly Flame and then burned to death."

"You went out and obtained a Heavenly Flame? Which one? Let me see." Hearing Zhang Tian's words, Yao Lao's attention was immediately drawn. To an alchemist, a Heavenly Flame was a supreme treasure, as alluring as jewels were to women. He did not doubt Zhang Tian's words either; after all, Dou Zong-level strength truly was enough to subdue some of the lower-ranked Heavenly Flames.

Zhang Tian nodded and summoned two Heavenly Flames with a wave of his hand, one azure and one black, both constantly flickering in his palm.

"Two Heavenly Flames?!" Yao Lao not only cried out, but his eyes widened as he stared at the scene.

"How could anyone subdue two Heavenly Flames? Even if it were possible, it should not be something a Nine-Star Dou Emperor could accomplish!" Yao Lao stared fixedly at the two continually rising, burning Heavenly Flames. Their terrifying temperature proved that they were genuine Heavenly Flames.

"This is the nineteenth-ranked Azure Lotus Core Flame and the tenth-ranked Nine Nether Wind Flame." Yao Lao naturally recognized the two Heavenly Flames. That was precisely why he was so shocked. Even his Bone Spirit Cold Flame ranked only eleventh.

Partly because he had not found one and partly because he could not subdue a second Heavenly Flame, it also showed just how rare Heavenly Flames were.

He had lived for several hundred years and had found only the Bone Spirit Cold Flame and the Sea Heart Flame.

Xiao Yan, standing nearby, could also feel the terrifying energy contained within the two Heavenly Flames. The Flame Mantra even reacted faintly, while the two Beast Flames within his body seemed to have encountered a king.

Naturally, Xiao Yan knew what Heavenly Flames represented: the mark of a top alchemist, a supremely noble status, and terrifying power. Yet his teacher possessed two such Heavenly Flames.

When Zhang Tian released the Heavenly Flames, their terrifying might caused Ling Ying, outside Xiao Xun'er's door in the distance, to change expression. Though the fluctuation was extremely faint, it could not escape Ling Ying, a dark-attributed Dou Emperor.

"This power may be faint, but it carries an aura that makes my hair stand on end." Ling Ying's expression darkened. It reminded him of the Ancient Clan's Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame.

"No, I need to report this to Kuru Elder and Gu Mao Saint." Ling Ying went back and forth in his thoughts but still could not feel at ease. As the person with the densest and purest Dou Di bloodline in the Ancient Clan for a thousand years, Gu Xun'er had also inherited the Ancient Clan's legacy flame. Naturally, she would not have only one Dou Emperor secretly protecting her. Ling Ying directly served under Kuru Elder and Gu Mao Saint.

"Xiao Yan, I have found the Heavenly Flames you need to devour. But remember this: when devouring Heavenly Flames, you must not be impatient. Proceed step by step." Zhang Tian spoke to Xiao Yan, but Yao Lao was startled. After probing with his Soul Power—

"Damn it! Zhang Tian, you haven't subdued these two Heavenly Flames! Get them the hell away from me!" Yao Lao instinctively moved back, not forgetting to pull Xiao Yan with him.

Xiao Yan's expression changed as well. Naturally, he knew the terrifying power of Heavenly Flames. Uncontrolled Heavenly Flames would absolutely destroy everything.

"You madman! You haven't subdued either of these Heavenly Flames, yet you dare bring them this close?!" After instinctively retreating several steps, Yao Lao saw that the two Heavenly Flames in Zhang Tian's hand had not reacted and only then spoke.

When he had probed them just now, he had not found any soul imprints on the two Heavenly Flames. That meant they could be devoured, but it also meant they were ownerless flames that had not been subdued.

"It's fine. Don't be afraid." Zhang Tian brought his hands closer and fused the two Heavenly Flames together. His fingers flickered continuously, guiding two flame ribbons, one azure and one black, as they danced like butterflies amid flowers.

A series of muffled, thunder-like explosions immediately erupted from the two Heavenly Flames.

"Stop, stop!" Yao Lao was practically in tears. These old bones of his did not want to die here. He had felt a trace of delight upon seeing the Heavenly Flames, but now he only wanted them to get as far away as possible.

"It's fine. They have already submitted to me."

It took quite some time before Zhang Tian finally convinced Yao Lao, allowing him to set down his guarded heart and slowly approach.

Yet even as he looked at the two Heavenly Flames in Zhang Tian's palm, his heart still pounded with fear.