Early Eight-star Dou Sheng

"Xun'er, I don't quite understand what you mean by that."

Yao Ling's expression darkened as she spoke.

"What I mean, Sister, you should already know perfectly well. On the Dou Qi Continent, the strong are revered. Even if I agreed, the Gu Clan behind me would never agree to something as absurd as 'three women serving one husband.'" Xun'er stared intensely at Yao Ling and said sternly, "So if Sister has any thoughts about Xiao Yan, you'd best abandon them as soon as possible. I imagine you wouldn't want our two clans to become enemies over such a trivial matter, would you?"

"What happens between our two clans isn't something the two of us need to worry about yet. But if we're talking about the strong being revered, all I know is that I'm slightly stronger than you right now." Yao Ling grabbed Xun'er's arm and said coldly.

"You dare treat me so rudely in the Gu Clan? Miss Yao Ling, if you intend to harm me today, I'm afraid you won't be leaving the Gu Clan." Unable to break free for the moment, Xun'er laughed in anger, her tone filled with threat. "I spoke openly today because I was thinking of you, Sister. If you refuse to accept my goodwill, then the trouble to come may never end..."

With that, Xiao Xun'er struggled free with all her strength, flicked her sleeve, and left. Only Yao Ling remained behind, lightly biting her red lips, her heart filled with sorrow.

"Clan Leader, if only you could stand against Gu Yuan..."

Meanwhile, in the Yao Clan tens of thousands of miles away, Yao Dan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and opened his eyes. The moment he did, Elder Wan Huo's aged figure entered his sight.

"Clan Leader, you really broke through to Eight-star Dou Sheng!" Elder Wan Huo said excitedly. "Our Yao Clan is bound to prosper greatly!"

"Hahaha, well said!" Yao Dan laughed heartily. "Elder Wan Huo, you've handled the clan's affairs all these years. You've truly worked hard. I, Yao Dan, am not one to confuse rewards and punishments. Today, I guarantee you in my capacity as Clan Leader that within one month, I will grant you a Nine-grade Profound Pill!"

"Thank you, Clan Leader!" Even with Elder Wan Huo's vast experience, he was so excited that he nearly fainted. He was already two thousand seven hundred and eighty-two years old, while a Six-star Dou Sheng's lifespan was only around three thousand years. As his limit drew nearer, his chances of breaking through grew increasingly slim. Without borrowing some external aid, he feared he would remain at the Six-star Dou Sheng level forever.

However, if he could use a Nine-grade Profound Pill to break through to Seven-star Dou Sheng, his lifespan would increase by more than half! A Seven-star Dou Sheng usually lived around five thousand years. If he had another two thousand years to cultivate, even reaching Eight-star Dou Sheng might not be an unattainable dream!

Sky Roc Mountain was a mountain range within the Lesser Medicine Realm that rose ten thousand ren high. Its summit was the place with the densest energy in the Lesser Medicine Realm, and it was also where generations of Yao Clan Leaders uniformly chose to refine Nine-grade Profound Pills.

Standing atop the mountain, Yao Dan swept out a hand, and the Nine Nether Wind Flame condensed into a colossal flaming cauldron. With another thought, the energy of heaven and earth within a radius of ten thousand miles surged into the flaming cauldron. The rudimentary form of a pill gradually appeared within it.

The pill he intended to refine this time was called the Heaven and Earth Reincarnation Pill. Refining it required no medicinal ingredients, but it demanded sufficiently powerful soul power and Dou Qi from the refiner, allowing them to mobilize enough energy of heaven and earth and refine the pill using nothing but that energy. If Yao Dan had not been an Eight-star Dou Sheng, this pill refinement would have been unimaginably difficult, perhaps even impossible to complete!

The refining process continued for eight full days. During that time, Yao Dan focused completely on guiding the energy of heaven and earth. Finally, at midnight on the eighth day, the originally pitch-black sky suddenly became as bright as day, and a flawless white cloud sped over from ten thousand miles away, hovering above the massive cauldron.

Not long after, a huge silver bolt of lightning containing terrifying energy struck the pill inside the cauldron. The pill absorbed all the terrifying energy within the silver lightning. Seeing this, Yao Dan took out two Medicine Gourds and separately stored the Heaven and Earth Reincarnation Pill and the silver lightning inside them.

This enormous silver bolt was neither commonplace lightning like Nine-Colored Pill Lightning, nor disposable lightning like Black Demon Lightning, which could be summoned at will and discarded after use. It was called Nine Profound Silver Lightning. Only when refining certain potent Nine-grade Profound Pills or relatively weaker Nine-grade Golden Pills would such lightning form between heaven and earth. It could continuously generate and accumulate energy on its own. As long as it accumulated energy for long enough, it could be used to refine another relatively weaker Nine-grade Profound Pill—the Lightning Tribulation Pill!

This Nine Profound Silver Lightning will be of great use at a critical moment... Yao Dan smiled inwardly.

Elder Wan Huo swallowed the Heaven and Earth Reincarnation Pill and entered meditation. Seeing this, Yao Dan ordered the Three Saints of the Yao Clan to temporarily handle the clan's affairs for Elder Wan Huo. He was completely confident that Elder Wan Huo would break through to Seven-star Dou Sheng. Now, he himself had matters to attend to—things he needed to do for the Yao Clan, and things only he could do for the Yao Clan.

The Flame Emperor Mountain Range in the southeast of Central Continent was where the Yan Clan resided. This mountain range stretched for thousands of miles, and scorching hot winds constantly swept through the skies above it. Passing travelers and merchants all avoided the mountain range. First, they feared the blazing winds upon it. Second, they did not wish to have anything to do with the Yan Clan guards, whose tempers were exceedingly violent.

Today, however, was unlike the past. A middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty flashed and shifted through space, arriving before several guards at the entrance to the Flame Realm from a thousand miles away in only a few minutes. The guards were all shocked. Despite possessing the strength of Six-Star Dou Zun, they could not discern the middle-aged man's cultivation at all!

"May I ask your honored name, sir, and the reason for your visit? That way, we may report to the clan," the guard captain asked respectfully.

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't know." The middle-aged man took out a token and handed it to the guard captain. The captain looked closely and saw a flame, a bolt of lightning, and a medicinal herb engraved upon it, immediately understanding the situation. He injected Dou Qi into the token and stood silently for several seconds. When he did, the expression on his face became even more respectful, almost fawning.

"Please enter, sir."

The Blazing Fire Guesthouse within the Yan Clan was the only place where the Yan Clan received its most distinguished guests. The Yan Clan was not hospitable by nature. On the contrary, in outsiders' eyes, its members were extremely hot-tempered and unapproachable. Thus, the private rooms of this guesthouse had always remained empty.

Yan Jin, the Yan Clan Leader, sat in a private room of the guesthouse alongside Fairy Huo Ling, the Yan Clan's only Seven-star Dou Sheng. The middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty sat upright across from them. For a time, none of the three spoke.

"Yao Dan, you've broken through to Eight-star Dou Sheng?" Yan Jin broke the silence and asked first. From Yao Dan's much younger appearance, he had already guessed most of the truth.

"Heh, naturally." Yao Dan did not deny it and admitted it openly. An Eight-star Dou Sheng had a lifespan of as much as seven thousand five hundred years. He had originally been four thousand one hundred and fifty-three years old. That was somewhat old for a Seven-star Dou Sheng, but for an Eight-star Dou Sheng, he was in the prime of life. That was why he had shed the appearance of a white-haired old man.

"The Middle Three Clans, united as one?" Yao Dan asked tentatively. The moment those words left his mouth, the air in the private room seemed to freeze.

"What, does your Yao Clan wish to abandon the Shi Clan?" Yan Jin gave an awkward smile upon hearing this. "From the standpoint of strength, it seems your Yao Clan isn't yet qualified to stand alongside my Yan Clan and the Lei Clan as one of the Middle Three Clans, is it?"