A Life-or-Death Crisis

After marveling for a moment, Old Yao unhesitatingly increased Xiao Yan's body-training intensity—he tossed the Heavy Black Ruler onto Xiao Yan's back and demanded that he never be without it except when sleeping, even while refining pills.

This directly caused Xiao Yan's pill-refining success rate to plummet. Even with the support of the Cyan Peach Blossom Flame, which had fused three clusters of Beast Flame, his success rate was still half a tenth lower than before.

Xiao Yan felt utterly helpless and could only begin mass-refining First Grade Pills.

However, under the pressure of the Heavy Black Ruler, his progress in cultivating the Molten Earth Splitting Body advanced by leaps and bounds. According to Old Yao, if he maintained this pace, Xiao Yan would achieve minor mastery once he reached Dou Ling...

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes eight times at that, attempting to seriously injure Old Yao with the Eight Extremes Eye Roll Collapse. But Old Yao had successfully refined the Seven Illusions Green Spirit Saliva and recovered to Dou Zong, completely ignoring Xiao Yan's eye rolls.

"Enough of that. It's time for you to leave the Xiao Family and gain some experience outside."

"Your cultivation has basically been raised by refining Beast Flames. If your Soul Power and physical strength had not far surpassed your dou qi cultivation, allowing you to easily compress your dou qi, your foundation would be terribly unstable by now."

"If you want to break through to Dou Shi quickly, you must engage in a great deal of combat. Otherwise, you'll be stuck for at least half a year."

"Fine, then. I'll find a way to shake off that Dou Ling cling-on. Do you mind if I borrow your power to throw my weight around?"

"No matter. I've already recovered to Dou Zong. That's enough for you to do as you please throughout the Jia Ma Empire. Letting a little of my aura leak out won't matter."

Xiao Yan then found the Old Man steward and stated that he needed to gain experience.

"Where does my lord intend to train?" the Old Man asked with a genial smile, clearly intending to accompany him.

"I plan to cross the Beast Mountain Range alone, experience life-or-death dangers, and break through to Da Dou Shi as soon as possible," Xiao Yan said solemnly.

The Old Man immediately lost his smile. Why experience life-or-death dangers for no reason? Wouldn't it be fine to cultivate properly, step by step?

Thus, the day before Xiao Yan was set to depart, the Old Man delivered two more Beast Flames and forcibly stuffed them into Xiao Yan's hands.

"My lord, with the Jia Ma Empire at your back, you can break through normally without experiencing life-or-death dangers." The Old Man wore a broad smile, yet he absolutely refused to allow Xiao Yan to take risks.

However, the next moment, the Old Man sensed an aura from Xiao Yan that surpassed Jia Xing Tian's. That was absolutely a level that even a Dou Emperor could not reach.

"My teacher gave me a tiny bit of dou qi to protect myself." Xiao Yan still looked completely serious. =_=:

"Now you can rest assured and let me go to the Beast Mountain Range to experience life-or-death dangers! Although the process will be difficult, I'm confident I can walk out of the Beast Mountain Range alive!"

The Old Man wore an expression that said, "Are you kidding me?" Xiao Yan's serious manner truly left him at a loss.

Taking a Dou Zong-level Clone into the Beast Mountain Range, then claiming he wanted to experience life-or-death dangers—where exactly were those life-or-death dangers supposed to come from?

Even I, a mere Dou Ling, would be less safe in the Beast Mountain Range than you!

Still, the Old Man's long-standing upbringing prevented him from saying anything offensive. "May you have a smooth journey."

"Remember to conceal my tracks—hire a trustworthy Second Grade Alchemist to refine pills for the Xiao Family. As for the payment, put it on my tab."

"Yes, please put your mind completely at ease! I'll make sure everything is properly arranged!"

Only after Xiao Yan had left did the Old Man, drenched in sweat, write a letter and hand it to someone hidden in the shadows to deliver to the Imperial Capital...

"Miss, this subordinate has failed in his duties and was unable to uncover that Xiao Yan's background." Ling Ying, one of the Gu Clan's rare Dou Emperor experts, knelt on one knee before Xiao Xun Er, his face pale.

"You're injured?" Xiao Xun Er asked when she noticed something wrong with Ling Ying's complexion.

"There is a Dou Zong-level Clone on Xiao Yan's person. He discovered me hiding in the shadows and attacked me as a warning."

"However, that Clone seemed to have some reservations as well and attacked only a limited number of times. Otherwise, I might have died outright."

Xiao Xun Er's brows drew together slightly as she felt surprised by this suddenly appearing unknown expert. "Could you tell which faction he belongs to?"

"That unknown expert injured me using Soul Power. Combined with the intelligence gathered over the past few days, he should be an Alchemist from the Pill Tower in Central Continent," Ling Ying replied.

"An Alchemist..." Xiao Xun Er felt somewhat wistful. Her Fire Attribute was too pure and did not meet the innate requirement for an Alchemist to possess a trace of Wood Power.

"Forget it. Let him be. That thing presumably isn't on him either." After a long while, Xiao Xun Er finally made her decision.

"Yes!"

Xiao Yan carried the Heavy Black Ruler on his back and walked step by step to Qingshan Town.

If he refined those two Beast Flames, Xiao Yan would definitely be able to break through to Dou Shi. However, Old Yao would not allow him to do so.

Old Yao believed that Xiao Yan's control over the Cyan Peach Blossom Flame was already quite poor. He was relying entirely on Soul Power to forcibly suppress it. He should first improve his proficiency with Beast Flames before refining new ones.

Otherwise, forget refining Heavenly Flames in the future—even cultivating normally would become difficult.

Naturally, Xiao Yan listened obediently. Carrying the Heavy Black Ruler, he trudged a long way while cultivating, reaching the peak of Eight Star Dou Practitioner before finally arriving at Qingshan Town.

"Teacher, there should be quite a few Beast Flames in the Beast Mountain Range." Xiao Yan sprawled without a shred of dignity beneath the shade of a large tree, trying to fleece Old Yao.

"You needn't worry about such matters. I'll definitely let you evolve the Flame Mantra into a Xuan Tier Cultivation Method within the Beast Mountain Range."

Old Yao's calm voice sounded out, but inwardly, he was anything but calm.

Xiao Yan was practically like a young bull. His body was absurdly strong. He could even cultivate the Eight Extremes Collapse while carrying the Heavy Black Ruler, and he had already developed two layers of hidden force. One punch was enough to instantly kill an ordinary Second Rank Magical Beast.

Of course, that was assuming he had the chance to clash head-on with a Second Rank Magical Beast.

Even so, Xiao Yan's strength was enough to sweep through Qingshan Town—Old Yao released a trace of Soul Power and discovered that there was only one Two Star Dou Practitioner here.

"Hehe, Xuan Tier Low is still Xuan Tier, and Xuan Tier Advanced is still Xuan Tier..."

Xiao Yan's insatiable voice interrupted Old Yao's thoughts. Old Yao sighed helplessly. "Evolving a Xuan Tier Cultivation Method is nowhere near as simple as evolving a Yellow Tier Cultivation Method. Ultimately, the Flame Mantra must rely on the energy of Heavenly Flames to evolve."

"What if I wander around the Beast Mountain Range a couple of times and happen to find that... Myriad Beast Spirit Flame? Hehehe..."

"Then you can only stare at it. With your current cultivation, trying to refine a Heavenly Flame is like lighting a lantern in a latrine—courting death." Xiao Yan's fantasy made Old Yao laugh in exasperation, and he mercilessly poured cold water over him.

"Ah, I know. The Earth Spirit Pill, right? Earth Core Fire Ganoderma, Ice Fire Dragon Beard Fruit, Azure Wood Immortal Vine, and one Sixth Rank Water Attribute Magical Core. As long as I'm lucky enough to wander around twice and find those three medicinal herbs, then discover a Sixth Rank magical beast that died of old age... Ow!"

Old Yao could no longer endure it. Using Soul Power, he gave Xiao Yan a hard smack on the head.