A Small Test of Skill

After hearing Gu Yuan's words, Xiao Yan felt much more energetic.

After three years of cultivation at the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Yan eventually developed respect for Xiao Xuan and feelings for him. When he saw Xiao Xuan's haggard and worn-out appearance at their parting, he couldn't help but feel sad.

But the dead are gone, and Xiao Xuan is ultimately a dead man. Xiao Yan composed himself and resolved to carry on his legacy and diligently cultivate.

Therefore, Xiao Yan responded to Gu Yuan with neither humility nor arrogance, "There is no need for senior to trouble himself. My cultivation technique is already at the Earth Tier Advanced. Once I refine the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, I should be able to break through to the Heavenly Tier."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Yuan had already brought him back to Little Medicine Mountain. He said with a faint smile, "Sending you into the Heavenly Tomb is actually against the rules. In the past six months, those little guys have accumulated a lot of resentment towards you and want to teach you a lesson."

"But with your strength, it's hard to say who will teach whom a lesson—if you win, then you should call me uncle!"

Gu Yuan smiled, patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder, said nothing more, and then disappeared.

"Uncle..." Xiao Yan fell into deep thought.

Xiao Yan did indeed want to live off Xun'er and had been working towards that goal, but Xiao Yan would also feel anxious when the night was quiet.

The resources and heritage possessed by the Gu Clan far exceeded Xiao Yan's imagination. The glimpse of the younger generation of the Gu Clan revealed by Ling Quan only fueled Xiao Yan's despair.

But how can you be content if you don't even try?

Xiao Yan had prepared himself to struggle for decades or even centuries, but he never expected that he would see the dawn of success in less than ten years.

The process was so easy that Xiao Yan had an unreal feeling.

"Let's familiarize ourselves with the power first. We can't afford to mess up such a great opportunity..."

Xiao Yan then hurriedly went to meet up with Old Yao.

Half a year later, the Old Yao's soul seemed to have recovered a lot. From the outside, he was not much different from a real living person—his soul had been condensed to the point of being almost tangible.

At this point, Old Yao could actually find a living person to possess, but he didn't want to be resurrected through possession.

"Teacher!" Xiao Yan bowed respectfully and said, "I have received the inheritance of Ancestor Xiao Xuan this time, and there are some Pill Recipe that I would like to share with you, Teacher."

After saying that, Xiao Yan didn't Old Yao a chance to refuse. He directly released his Soul Power and transmitted a massive flow of information.

Even someone as Soul Realm as Old Yao couldn't help but lose focus for a moment amidst this stream of information.

"You brat, you didn't give me Pill Recipe that the Xiao Clan collected back then, did you?"

Several breaths passed before the Old Yao finally recovered.

The Pill Recipe given by Xiao Yan contained three Ninth-grade Pill Recipe and ninety-one Eighth-grade Pill Recipe. Some of the Medicinal Herbs recorded were almost extinct in Old Yao's knowledge and could only be found in Ancient Ruins.

"No, these were all given to me by my Ancestor Xiao Xuan. The Pill Recipe caught his eye and were eventually recorded must have been top-tier even among Ancient Race. The mid-level or low-level Pill Recipe have all been lost," Xiao Yan answered honestly.

"..." The Old Yao thought to himself that there was no difference. All those Seventh-grade Pill Recipe combined couldn't compare to a single Ninth-grade Pill Recipe.

But the Old Yao didn't say it aloud. Instead, he couldn't help but immerse himself in his disciple's gift. Putting everything else aside, these high-level Pill Recipe were a fatal temptation for Alchemist. No Alchemist who was devoted to alchemy could resist the temptation of high-level Pill Recipe, and the Old Yao was no exception.

Seeing that Old Yao Lao was lost in thought, Xiao Yan did not disturb him. He silently retreated to a distance and began to cultivate the Soul Attack Secret Technique.

The mainstream combat method in the Dou Qi Continent is Dou Technique, but Soul Power can also play a certain auxiliary role.

For example, if two powerful individuals are evenly matched in their Dou Qi levels, they can use their Soul Power to strike their opponent, causing a momentary daze and loss of focus, thus creating an opportunity for battle.

Soul Attack Secret Technique, on the other hand, are similar to Dou Technique, which can efficiently utilize Soul Power to generate immense power.

Xiao Yan was born with a stronger Soul Power than ordinary people. In addition, he has been controlling the Heavenly Flames day and night in recent years, and his Soul Power has never stopped growing, surpassing that of ordinary Dou Zong.

This powerful Soul Power, combined with secret techniques, could easily cause destructive power at the Dou Zong level, further enhancing Xiao Yan's combat strength...

Three days later.

A shimmering lake reflects the dense forest, with several fish creating ripples. A Savage Fang Wild Boar, over ten meters long, is happily rolling around in the muddy shallows by the lake.

The wild boar's head was five meters long, and its two ferocious tusks were three meters long. With its grunting snout, it rummaged around in the mud, stirring up large amounts of murky lake water.

Just a few dozen meters away, on a towering tree, Xiao Yan concealed his aura and squinted as he observed the Savage Fang Wild Boar.

The Savage Fang Wild Boar's original color had been covered by thick silt, but the aura it faintly exuded caused the space to distort, clearly indicating that it was Magical Beast that had just entered the Seventh Tier.

Although Xiao Yan is only at the Peak Dou Emperor, he has many cheat codes. This wild boar has now become Xiao Yan's chosen prey to test his strength.

At this moment, Xiao Yan was completely hidden among the dense leaves, and even his aura was indistinguishable from the leaves—it was the ability to conceal his aura brought by the Life Spirit Flame.

After observing for a while and confirming that there were no other Magical Beast around, Xiao Yan clasped his hands together, and his Soul Power surged from between his eyebrows. Then, his ten fingers danced nimbly like butterflies, weaving strands of translucent silk.

The threads intertwined and eventually coalesced into a sharp spike about the length of an arm.

"Buzz..."

Once the spikes were fully formed, they emitted a low humming sound. Then, with a barely perceptible spatial fluctuation, the translucent spikes completely disappeared into the space. Even the perception of Dou Qi could not detect them; only the Soul Power could sense the anomaly.

Xiao Yan pushed forward with both hands, and the spikes instantly traveled dozens of meters, arriving directly above the wild boar. Xiao Yan originally wanted to sink the spikes into the ground to further conceal his aura using the earth, but since the wild boar seemed to be Earth Attribute Magical Beast, he changed direction.

With spikes hanging high above its head, the Savage Fang Wild Boar seemed to sense a dangerous aura. It simultaneously sank its four limbs into the mud, and then a burst of earthy yellow light surged from the ground toward its magnificent, mane-covered body.

However, the next moment, the wild boar suddenly froze—the spikes slashed through the air and pierced straight into the back of its head before the Defense Dou Skill could take effect.

"Roar!"

The wild boar's eyes widened suddenly, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. Blood vessels covered the whites of its eyes, and blood gushed wildly from its mouth and nose. Its limbs trembled slightly.

It was seriously injured by just one stab.