Leaning on a Big Tree Makes Climbing Easier (5)

Xiao Yan was in a daze.

Ever since her identity was exposed, Xiao Xun Er no longer had any intention of pretending. She unceremoniously displayed the generosity of a rich woman, continuously sending Beast Flame into Xiao Yan's hands as if it were free.

In just one month, Xiao Yan obtained ten Fourth-Rank Beast Flame, his Flame Mantra evolved into Yellow Tier Advanced, and his cultivation broke through to Five-Star Dou Zhe.

The Beast Flame came too fast and too fiercely, and Xiao Yan's ability to control the flames was difficult to improve. As a result, it took two months. Xiao Yan had already broken through to the Dou Shi, but his alchemy skills were still only at the first grade.

Moreover, due to the long hours spent manipulating the flames with a tense mind, he slept less than four hours a day and relied entirely on cultivating his Dou Qi to endure it. Xiao Yan could even faintly sense his mother's calls.

Left with no other choice, Xiao Yan temporarily slowed down his intense work.

"Brother Xiao Yan broke through from Dou Zhe to Dou Shi in just two months, and has also mastered the power of flames to this extent. His cultivation speed is truly terrifying!"

Wutan City, behind Xiao Xun Er, there were dazzling and colorful lights and shadows. Upon closer inspection, these lights and shadows were actually formed from flames, creating beautiful butterflies that scattered sparks of fire.

Surrounded by admirers, Xiao Xun Er was like a goddess descended from heaven, her beauty beyond compare.

The fire butterfly was naturally Xiao Yan's doing. Although he was traveling with Xun'er, he couldn't forget to train her in fire control. Not only that, Xiao Yan also carried a huge, black sword as big as a door on his back. Coupled with his plain face, if anyone else saw him standing next to Xun'er, they would probably question their existence.

To be honest, there wasn't much beautiful scenery to see, but with a beautiful woman by your side, even the dull and boring flowers, plants, and trees had a certain charm.

"Compared to this, Xun'er's cultivation speed is even more despair-inducing! She hasn't consumed any resources, and she's already Eight Star Dou Practitioner." Xiao Yan shrugged helplessly.

Xiao Xun Er naturally understood Xiao Yan's meaning—if she could cultivate so quickly, how strong must the younger generation in the clan who enjoyed the legacy of the Dou Emperor be?

"Brother Xiao Yan, there seems to be traces of Heavenly Flames in the Tagor Desert, and Brother Xiao Yan eldest and second eldest brothers have also established a force there—should we go and take a look?" Xiao Xun Er naturally wouldn't discourage Xiao Yan, but rather shared the good news to encourage him.

"Heavenly Flames..."

There are only twenty-three Heavenly Flame Ranking. The first-ranked flame is unknown, and the second and third-ranked flames are unique Heavenly Flames in the world.

Other Heavenly Flames might produce two or three, but the total number of Heavenly Flames across the entire Dou Qi Continent is probably only in the hundreds.

However, how vast is the Dou Qi Continent?

The Jia Ma Empire alone has a population of hundreds of millions. However, the Jia Ma Empire is just a tiny country in the Northwest Continent. There are thousands upon thousands of such insignificant small countries.

The Northwest Continent is still just a poor and remote area of the Dou Qi Continent, and it is nothing compared to the Central Continent.

This is only on the ground. The Heavenly Flames are located in many places, not just on the ground. For example, the ninth-ranked Three Thousand Burning Flame are located in the sky, hundreds of thousands of feet above the ground. And the tenth-ranked Nine Nether Wind Flame exist in the abyss, hundreds of thousands of feet below the ground.

With hundreds of Heavenly Flames scattered across such a large area, finding even one is harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

Without Xun'er, Xiao Yan might have been just a workaholic, refining Pills day and night, earning money to buy Beast Flame fires to create a Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, cultivating to the Dou Ancestor realm, barely gaining the ability to protect himself, before searching for possible Heavenly Flames.

It's even possible that they won't be able to find Heavenly Flames, and will have to pile up individual Beast Flame to upgrade the Fourth-Rank Beast Flame to the fifth, sixth, Seventh Tier... or even Eighth Rank.

This was the growth path Xiao Yan originally set for himself. It might not be amazing, but it was relatively safe and had a high success rate.

But after being taken care of by Xun'er, he was already a Dou Shi of Fighting) and had news of Heavenly Flames.

"Luckily, you're here." Xiao Yan gently put his arm around Xun'er's shoulder and said.

Xiao Xun Er blinked, her face slightly flushed, but she did not break free. She simply whispered, "Heavenly Flames are different from Beast Flame. Even the lowest-ranked Profound Yellow Flame has immense power to destroy the world. Ordinary people could never completely refine its essence and integrate it into their Dou Qi Vortex."

"To refine Heavenly Flames, you need to prepare Na Ling beforehand. However, Na Ling only exists in the core of a high-grade Storage Stone, and its quantity is extremely rare. It will probably be difficult to find one in a short period of time."

"So, Brother Xiao Yan will have to eat more of Xun'er's soft rice, okay?"

Hearing Xun'er's concern for him, what could Xiao Yan say?

With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?

Watching the two lovey-dovey lovers, the Old Yao, hiding in the Ancient Ring, felt a pang of unease, recalling his own past experiences...

One week later.

Xiao Yan and Xun'er embarked on their journey to the Tagor Desert.

In fact, he could have set off at any time, but Xiao Yan couldn't bear to leave his father behind. So he spent a week refining about 10,000 doses of Blood Coagulating Powder for the Xiao Family.

It takes 103 portions of Medicinal Herbs and has a success rate of about 50-60%, which is equivalent to that of a senior First Grade Alchemist.

However, even such a First Grade Alchemist already has a Heavenly Flames waiting for him, while Gu He, the Sixth Grade Alchemist of the Jia Ma Empire and the Pill King Gu He, is still struggling to find the trace of the Heavenly Flames.

Such is the diversity of the world.

Xiao Ding Xiao Li were very excited about Xiao Yan's arrival.

The three brothers hadn't seen each other for three or four years—ever since Xiao Yan's talent disappeared and he became a cripple, Xiao Ding Xiao Li left the Xiao Family to work hard, wanting to carve out a place for Xiao Yan.

This is one of the reasons why Xiao Yan can relax and do nothing; he has people protecting him on both sides, so he is not worried at all.

However, Xiao Ding Xiao Li were clearly more interested in Xun'er and Xiao Yan being together than in Xiao Yan regaining his talent. They were ruthless in gossiping about it, and even Xiao Yan, with his thick skin, couldn't quite handle it.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Xiao Yan and Xun'er checked into a room under Xiao Ding's arrangement.

Xiao Xun Er slept on the bed, while Xiao Yan slept on the floor.

It wasn't that Xiao Xun Er was unwilling, but Xiao Yan always felt that sharing a bed might lead to trouble.

So Xiao Flame Master offered to sleep on the floor, Xun'er, being shy, couldn't bring herself to say something as lewd as wanting to share a bed with Xiao Yan.

This is how this situation came about.

Night falls.

Xiao Yan slept soundly, Xun'er had difficulty falling asleep.

Xiao Xun Er sat up in bed, peeked at the sleeping Xiao Yan, quietly lifted the covers, stepped over Xiao Yan, and slipped out of the room.

For a moment, only Xiao Yan's steady breathing could be heard in the room.

"Alright, little guy, stop pretending to be asleep. Go ahead and look if you want. I'll help you hide your presence."

Xiao Yan: "Hoo—"

The Old Yao: "..."

It was only then that Old Yao realized that Xiao Yan's Soul Power was still active, but he had fallen asleep at some point—he appeared to be awake, but in reality, he had been asleep for a long time.

"This is unbelievable! This state is so similar to what Seventh Grade Alchemist experiences when breaking through to the Spirit Realm Soul..."

Leaving aside the carefree Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun Er took out a Jade Slip from her Storage Ring after leaving the room.

This is a communication Jade Slip between Xiao Xun Er and Gu Yuan. With Gu Yuan's Soul Realm, as long as Xiao Xun Er is not sealed by something like Space Barrier, he can contact her no matter where she is in the Dou Qi Continent.

Gu Yuan was usually busy with his affairs and left Xiao Xun Er to her own devices. So when he suddenly contacted her, he naturally noticed Xiao Xun Er's recent unusual behavior.

Collecting Beast Flame was a trivial matter that wouldn't have alarmed Gu Yuan, but mobilizing the Na Ling and a Seventh Grade Pill almost made Gu Yuan think that the seal on the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame had malfunctioned.

So Gu Yuan came over and took a look.

Just then, I saw Xiao Yan holding Xun'er's little hand and running in the sunset.

Gu Yuan instantly understood: his own fresh and beautiful cabbage had been eaten by a pig!

However, Gu Yuan was ultimately a gentle person and was not very willing to interfere with Xun'er's choice. He observed Xiao Yan for a while longer, trying to find as many advantages as possible.

If the Hun Tiandi were here, he could scatter Xiao Yan's ashes on the spot!

However, after taking another look, Gu Yuan truly discovered Xiao Yan's extraordinary qualities.

Those wisps of fire butterflies were actually formed from ten Beast Flame, and possessed the characteristics of ten Beast Flame!

Although each characteristic is weakened, it is ultimately a fusion, which is impossible to achieve without an extremely profound understanding of fire.

Let alone Dou Zhe, even Dou Wang Dou Emperor would probably have a hard time achieving this.

After exchanging a few words with the Residual Soul in the ring, Gu Yuan learned that there was also a miraculous technique called the Flame Mantra Technique, which could devour and evolve Heavenly Flames.

If the Gu Clan hadn't already possessed several Heavenly Grade Cultivation Method, Gu Yuan would probably have found it hard to resist the allure of such techniques.

However, upon discovering this, Gu Yuan finally felt somewhat relieved. After sending two Dou Zong to keep watch, he left—mobilizing Dou Zun would likely provoke the elders to bark.

This time, it was also a report between two Dou Zong. Gu Yuan learned that Xiao Yan was about to refine the Heavenly Flames and unleash the true power of the Flame Mantra, which is why he sent a message to Xiao Xun Er.

The message contained only a single, simple sentence:

"If Xiao Yan can refine the Heavenly Flames while still at the Dou Shi level, you can take him back to the Gu Clan."

Well, the Gu Clan have plenty of money and a solid financial foundation. As long as it doesn't involve core inheritances like the Ancient Emperor Pool, they won't feel bad about taking out a few small items.

The only problem is the clan elders. Those people would never allow anything to go wrong with the Dou Di Bloodline. However, as long as it doesn't go that far, it won't actually affect the Dou Di Bloodline.

Gu Yuan's idea was actually quite simple: just make Xun'er happy. If Xiao Yan could break through to Dou Sheng, the Gu Clan would gain a genius for free. If not, the long-term gap would be enough for Xun'er to face reality.

If Xun'er continues to care about Xiao Yan... then it won't matter if her Dou Di Bloodline is affected when she breaks through to the Peak Dou Saint.

In fact, in order to be with Xiao Yan as soon as possible, Xun'er might work even harder to cultivate.

Since that's the case, then we might as well accept this son-in-law, even if it's a bitter pill to swallow. The Gu Clan won't lose out, and it'll make Xun'er happy.

Xiao Xun Er didn't know what Gu Yuan was thinking; she only knew that her Brother Xiao Yan had gained her father's approval.

But then I thought, doesn't this also mean that my father has already been here at some point, and may even have seen Brother Xiao Yan?

A young girl, her heart set on someone, stood under the moonlight, biting her lip and stamping her feet incessantly, her mind a jumble of thoughts, unsure of what to do...

The next day, the three brothers, who had just reunited, parted ways again—the refining of the Heavenly Flames was a big undertaking and could not be disturbed by others, so they naturally had to find a secluded place where few people went.

Xiao Yan and Xun'er traveled through the desert and arrived at a desolate Gobi Desert.

Unlike the desert exposed to the scorching sun, the Gobi Desert has jagged Stone Wall and some deep caves, which effectively block the sun and make the environment quite cool.

Xiao Yan followed Xun'er into a cave entrance. Suddenly, the shadows on the ground began to writhe and condense into a human-shaped dark shadow. Before long, an old figure appeared in front of the two of them.

"Miss, I have found the Green Lotus, which has eleven lotus seeds on it. However, the Green Lotus Core Flame in the heart of the lotus has been taken away by Queen Medusa of the Snake People Clan."

"The Snake People Clan are heavily guarded. Besides Queen Medusa, there seem to be several other Dou Emperor auras hidden among them. It will probably be difficult to make a move in the short term."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun Er immediately frowned, and wisps of Golden Flame quietly appeared in her originally watery Beautiful Eyes.

The Green Lotus Core Flame is crucial to whether Xiao Yan can gain Gu Yuan's approval, which in turn affects whether Xiao Yan can enter the Gu Clan with Xun'er. The Snake People Clan is inherently cold and yin, yet they possess the Heavenly Flames, which is practically a forced obstacle to Xun'er's love!

The Snake People Clan have already chosen a path to their own demise!

"Ahem, Miss, there's no need to be angry. I'll go there myself." Just then, a voice came and extinguished Xiao Xun Er's anger.

Ripples spread through the space. One of the two Dou Zong had been following for an unknown amount of time stepped forward, took the Green Lotus from Ling Ying's hand, and used it as a container for the Green Lotus Core Flame before disappearing.

Xiao Xun Er frowned slightly. She didn't recognize this Dou Zong. He was obviously sent by Gu Yuan to follow her around at some point, and was basically Xiao Yan's "examiner".

With a sigh, Xiao Xun Er took a lotus seed from Ling Ying and handed it to Xiao Yan, saying, "Brother Xiao Yan, why don't you refine an Earth Fire Lotus Seed first? It will at least improve your strength and increase the success rate of refining the Green Lotus Core Flame."

Xiao Yan had nothing to say. He took the Earth Fire Lotus Seed, opened his mouth, swallowed it, and entered a state of cultivation.

No matter how much Xiao Xun Er cares about the Heavenly Flames, it's still because she cares about herself. Xiao Yan has nothing to repay Xun'er for the time being, so he can only do his best to refine the Heavenly Flames and not let Xun'er down.

The energy contained in the Earth Fire Lotus Seed was terrifying, and its quality was frighteningly high. However, Xiao Yan did not experience any difficulty when refining the Beast Flame. He only felt that the scorching power was quite close to him, and he easily completed the refinement. He soared from a Dou Shi to Five Star Dou Shi, and his Dou Qi did not feel weak at all.

Opening his eyes, Xiao Yan saw that the Dou Zong expert had returned sometime earlier, carrying a jade-like green Green Lotus in his hand. At the heart of the blooming lotus, a cluster of dancing flames caught Xiao Yan's eye.

Of course, a thin seal covered the Green Lotus, isolating the fluctuations of the Heavenly Flames.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, and his usually calm heart couldn't help but feel excited. He murmured softly, "So this is the Green Lotus Core Flame..."

For instructions on refining the Green Lotus Core Flame, please refer to the main storyline. I'm too lazy to write it out again here; it just happens in a flash!