Clan Leaders Clash

As soon as he finished speaking, Yao Dan flashed into the temporarily constructed space.

"Hehe, if you want to fight, then fight. Do you think this old man is afraid of you?" Shi Gandang laughed loudly and shot into the space like lightning. The Shi Clan differed from the Yao Clan. The Yao Clan excelled at pill refinement and Soul power, and did not enjoy fighting. The Shi Clan, however, excelled in physical strength, and everyone in the clan revered martial prowess. As the head of a clan, Shi Gandang rarely had the chance to spar with opponents of similar strength due to his status. Now that he had heard Yao Dan wanted to determine who was stronger, he was utterly delighted.

"Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation!" The instant he entered the space, Shi Gandang unleashed the Shi Clan's strongest battle technique. His body rapidly expanded, transforming into a thousand-zhang stone giant in just a few breaths. With a sweep of his palm, a massive gust of palm force containing countless destructive energies hurtled toward Yao Dan.

"Shi Gandang, after all these years, your strength still has not improved much. You still only know how to throw around brute force!" Though Yao Dan spoke mockingly, his expression changed, becoming extremely grave. Even unstructured brute force was still force. If he were touched by that palm wind, he would definitely suffer serious injuries!

"Two Forms Bewildering Steps!" With a thought from Yao Dan, an incomparably vast surge of Soul power erupted, enveloping his entire body. His movement speed rose to the extreme, and within a single breath, he appeared a hundred li away, easily avoiding the enormous palm wind.

The palm wind dissipated into the purest energy of heaven and earth within the space, only to turn into violent energy fluctuations an instant later and spread beyond the temporarily constructed space. Those intense fluctuations blasted open the doors of the Yao Clan's secret chamber, and the massive shockwave slammed all the guards outside to the ground.

"Quick, report to the Three Saints of the Yao Clan! The Clan Leader is fighting Shi Gandang to the death!" A guard with the strength of a Half-Saint exhausted all his strength as he shouted at the other guards who had rushed over, unaware of what was happening. Then he fainted.

"Yes!" The other guards did not dare delay. They immediately pushed their speed to the limit and fled this dangerous place.

As they spoke, the battle within the space grew increasingly fierce. Shi Gandang, seemingly crazed, hacked out one gust of palm wind after another, forcing Yao Dan to dodge and shift continuously. From the looks of it, Yao Dan had instead fallen into a disadvantage.

I can't let this fellow keep running wild. Fighting on the Yao Clan's territory—if these energy fluctuations spread out, who knows how much damage they'll cause! Yao Dan sensed the sounds outside, and his heart grew anxious.

"Myriad Medicine Spear!" Extremely vast Soul power condensed into a tangible spear a hundred zhang long. Yao Dan closed his eyes and entered a state of absolute focus, relying solely on his Soul power to sense Shi Gandang's palm winds. He continued to push the Two Forms Bewildering Steps to its limit to evade harm while desperately searching for a weakness in Shi Gandang's enormous body.

"Found it. Now!" Yao Dan opened his eyes and viciously hurled the spear. The spear split through several incoming palm winds and struck the stone giant's temple. With an enraged roar, the thousand-zhang stone giant began to collapse. Within only a few breaths, it shattered into countless massive boulders, piling into a towering stone peak. A figure then flew out from the stone giant—it was none other than Shi Gandang!

"Old Dan, it's been centuries since we last sparred. Your Soul power has improved tremendously." Shi Gandang stared brightly at Yao Dan. "Dodging beyond my attack range while pinpointing the flaw in my manifested body—impressive!"

"Enough nonsense. Admit defeat first, then we can continue talking." Yao Dan spoke calmly, though a trace of threat entered his voice. "This is Yao Clan territory, after all. The energy you released during the fight seems to have caused quite a bit of damage. As Clan Leader, I would very much like to recover those losses..."

"Fine, I admit defeat. The alliance between our two clans will be led by the Yao Clan. Satisfied?" Shi Gandang's tone carried a hint of resignation. His physical strength far surpassed Yao Dan's, yet it had been like sinking into the sea without a trace. Yao Dan used Soul power to keenly detect and predict his movements, never giving him even the slightest chance to land a blow. If this continued, he would merely be passively beaten.

Before his words had faded, the space shattered with a sharp whoosh. The two flew from the temporary space back into the Clan Leader's chamber, directly meeting the gazes of the Three Saints of the Yao Clan and Elder Wan Huo, who had rushed over after hearing the news.

"Clan Leader, Senior Gandang, what was the result?" Elder Wan Huo swiftly examined the two clan leaders. Though neither appeared injured, his Heaven Realm Great Perfection soul still detected that both their Dou Qi and Soul power had been considerably depleted. Shi Gandang in particular gave him a distinctly listless feeling.

"Let's say I narrowly surpassed Old Stone." Yao Dan glanced at Shi Gandang as he spoke. Hearing this, Shi Gandang silently nodded, his mood turning gloomy. If they truly fought to the death, they might very well perish together. But with a great enemy before them, how could they, as clan leaders, do something so heedless of the bigger picture?

"Old Stone, your clan does not lose out by losing to me. Since our two clans will stand united from now on, I can allow the alchemists of the Shi Clan to study pill refinement in the Yao Clan and help you train a few Pill Grandmasters." Seeing Shi Gandang's gloomy expression, Yao Dan tried to console him. Neither the strength nor status of the Yao Clan stood out among the Ancient Eight Clans. Only their pill-refining arts were truly coveted by the other clans.

"Heh, it's not as though my Shi Clan cannot refine Nine-grade Treasure Pills." Shi Gandang snorted coldly, already understanding most of Yao Dan's intentions. The Shi Clan truly had no ninth-grade alchemists, but they did have several Eight-grade Nine-color alchemists, every one of them a Dou Sheng. With a great enemy looming, what exactly was the Yao Clan planning by having several Dou Sheng come here to "study"? He knew perfectly well.

"If your clan has any truly exceptional geniuses, my Yao Clan can train a few of them on your behalf as well. You cannot put all your eggs in one basket. If the Shi Clan truly suffers a bloody calamity, this could help preserve some of your bloodline." Seeing that Shi Gandang was not taking the bait, Yao Dan added another sentence. "Besides, certain pills can now only be refined by my Yao Clan."

Shi Gandang's eyes shifted, and disbelief immediately appeared on his face. Seeing this, Yao Dan said no more and casually asked Yao Linmao, "Has Yao Chen emerged from seclusion?"

"He has. His cultivation has already reached the middle stage of the Three-star Dou Sheng realm." Hearing the Clan Leader ask this, Yao Linmao's heart began pounding wildly. He could already sense what the Clan Leader was about to say...

"Good. Issue the Clan Leader's order: assemble two Mysterious Pill Grandmasters, four Pill Grandmasters, and sixteen Eighth-Grade Advanced Alchemists. Five days from now, form the Myriad Medicine Returning Formation in the Lesser Medicine Realm and refine a Nine-grade Profound Pill!" Yao Dan glanced at Shi Gandang. "My Yao Clan is a hospitable clan. I invite Clan Leader Gandang to observe. I hope Clan Leader Gandang will honor us with his presence."

"Certainly, certainly." Shi Gandang grew excited as well. If the Yao Clan could truly refine a Nine-grade Profound Pill, their strength would surely rise greatly in a short time, and the Hun Clan might not dare attack them. If so, entrusting part of his clan's bloodline to them would not be such a great matter...

The Lesser Medicine Realm was the place in the Medicine Realm where the energy of heaven and earth was most concentrated. It was also the designated location where generations of Yao Clan ancestors refined Nine-grade Profound Pills and even Nine-grade Golden Pills. Since the death of the Yao Clan's old Clan Leader, the Lesser Medicine Realm had not been used as a pill-refining site for centuries.

Yet today seemed somewhat different.

"Power of heaven and earth, heed my command!" Yao Dan and Elder Wan Huo roared at the same time. The winds and clouds immediately changed color as countless streams of pure energy of heaven and earth surged in from every direction, gathering within the fire cauldron the two had jointly condensed from Heavenly Flames.

"Gathering the power of heaven and earth to forge a pill—you really are going to refine a Nine-grade Profound Pill!" Seeing this sight from several hundred zhang away, Shi Gandang could not help crying out in shock.