Crimson Flame Storm, Orochi Nagi

"Alright, we've reached the herb-gathering area. Everyone, stop and rest for a while!" Deep within the Monster Mountain Range, Little Fairy Doctor had once again arrived here with Ten Thousand Medicines Hall's herb-gathering team and the mercenary guards.

After the group set up camp, Little Fairy Doctor began gathering herbs. Gradually, in her search for rarer medicinal herbs, she moved away from the others and came to the edge of a cliff.

"Eh!" Little Fairy Doctor's gaze was quickly drawn to a herb growing beside the cliff.

"This is a White Orchid Fruit. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem ripe yet. It should be ready to pick in a few days."

"Eh?!" Just as Little Fairy Doctor was about to get up and leave, she suddenly spotted a protruding platform beneath the cliff.

Remembering that legend of the Dou Qi Continent, Little Fairy Doctor hesitated for a while. In the end, unable to resist the temptation of treasure or an expert's inheritance, she chose to climb down and take a look...

Because she was not very strong, it took Little Fairy Doctor over ten minutes to carefully make her way down the vines along the cliffside and reach the platform.

Since Yun Shu had come here long ago and dealt with the Rock Snake, Little Fairy Doctor encountered no danger.

"This is... How is this possible?!" When Little Fairy Doctor reached the cave entrance, she saw a Parchment Scroll that was damaged in many places. What shocked her most was that her own name was written on it.

Naturally, this scroll had been left behind by Yun Shu. He knew that Little Fairy Doctor would eventually come here.

[Hello, Little Fairy Doctor!]

"How is this possible?! Who on earth left this scroll behind? Judging from how damaged it is, it must be over a year old! That person actually foresaw my arrival more than a year ago!" Little Fairy Doctor was utterly stunned.

This was the first time in her life she had encountered something so bizarre...

"No! I have to go inside and take a look!" Since something this strange had appeared, there was even less chance of stopping Little Fairy Doctor.

The cave entrance had been left open, so Little Fairy Doctor entered the cave dwelling without encountering any obstruction.

After searching around for nearly half an hour, Little Fairy Doctor let out a helpless sigh. Sure enough, there was nothing left...

"You bastard! How did you know I would come to this place?!" Little Fairy Doctor stamped her foot in anger. She had finally discovered a mysterious cave, only for her dream of getting rich to be ruthlessly slapped awake halfway through.

"Don't let me find out who you are!" After climbing back up, Little Fairy Doctor gritted her teeth and said this before reluctantly leaving the cliffside.

"La-di-da~" Outside Wu Tan City, Yun Shu carried a Mystic Heavy Ruler over his shoulder as he walked along the small path toward Green Mountain Town.

The reason Yun Shu was not traveling with Yao Lao was because he had no way to explain the origins of the Mystic Heavy Ruler, along with certain things and abilities that were inconvenient to reveal.

Only when he was not with Xiao Yan and Yao Lao could he use these things freely.

The Mystic Heavy Ruler's ability to suppress Dou Qi had reduced Yun Shu's strength to roughly the level of a two-star Dou Master. Coupled with the burden of carrying the Mystic Heavy Ruler, Yun Shu estimated that his current strength was only at the level of someone who had just entered the Dou Master Realm.

Even so, a Dou Master could still run rampant through Green Mountain Town. After all, the leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was only a Dou Master.

Other than gaining experience and improving his strength, Yun Shu's purpose for this trip was to give the Seven-Colored Poison Manual to Little Fairy Doctor before heading into the depths of the Monster Mountain Range.

As for what he was going into the depths for... Hehehe...

As for Xiao Yan, without the Wolf Head Mercenary Group chasing him, Yao Lao probably would not choose to send him into the depths of the Monster Mountain Range. After all, that was not a good place for cultivation. The current Xiao Yan could not even defeat a Second-Tier Magical Beast, while the depths of the Monster Mountain Range were filled with high-tier magical beasts of the fourth or fifth tier. Was he going there to die?

In the original story, there had been no choice. If they had not gone in, and Yao Lao had not acted, Xiao Yan would have been directly killed by the leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

After entering the depths of the Monster Mountain Range, though it was dangerous, there would not be much risk as long as someone with powerful Soul Perception like Yao Lao kept watch.

"It's time to learn this." Feeling somewhat tired, Yun Shu found a place to sit down. After raising his guard, he took out the low-grade Earth Rank battle skill that matched his cultivation method: Crimson Flame Storm!

Because he had never needed to fight, Yun Shu had never chosen to cultivate this battle skill. But now that he had begun his training journey, he did not intend to keep hiding it. Mastering it sooner would also increase his strength.

After all, Earth Rank cultivation methods and Earth Rank battle skills both allowed Yun Shu to fight opponents above his level.

Generally speaking, only when two sides were nearly equal in strength and their cultivation methods and battle skills were also similarly matched would there be an even fight.

If one side cultivated a high-tier battle skill or cultivation method, the result of the battle would definitely be one-sided. Otherwise, what would be the point of high-tier battle skills and cultivation methods?

So, Xiao Yan fighting above his level in the original story might have sounded like cheating, but it was actually perfectly normal. Once Eight Extremes Collapse was mastered, it could rival an Earth Rank battle skill, while Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler was already an Earth Rank battle skill.

If Xiao Yan could not defeat opponents above his level after cultivating those battle skills, that would be abnormal.

"Crimson Flame Storm, a low-grade Earth Rank battle skill. This effect... Damn, isn't this Orochi Nagi?!" Upon seeing the effect of this battle skill, Yun Shu's mouth fell open in shock.

This battle skill transformed Dou Qi into flames and then swung them toward the opponent...

However, it required charging. The longer the charge, the more Dou Qi it consumed. Naturally, the greater the power when it was unleashed.

The effect seemed simple and direct, but not everyone could use it. After all, a battle skill was a battle skill; it required a special circulation method for Dou Qi in order to be performed.

This battle skill was the same. Even flames produced from ordinary Dou Qi, when used through this special method, gained extremely high attack power—in other words, an extremely high temperature.

"I'll give it a try..." After scanning the scroll with his Soul Power, Yun Shu understood how to use the battle skill. At the same time, the contents on the scroll vanished under his scan.

Like certain Pill Recipes, this thing could only be used by one person to learn.

"Hah—" Yun Shu raised one hand toward the sky and, imitating Kyo Kusanagi's stance, used his will to guide his Dou Qi toward his palm and begin charging...

"Ha!!!" Feeling the rapid drain of Dou Qi within his body, Yun Shu frowned. When roughly twenty percent of his Dou Qi had been consumed, he stopped charging and hurled the flame in his hand outward.

Boom!!!!

A thumb-sized spark instantly expanded after leaving Yun Shu's right hand, transforming into a fiercely burning mass of Scarlet Flame.

"The charging time was about ten seconds, and it consumed twenty percent of my Dou Qi. As for the power..." Yun Shu looked at the ground in front of him. Since he did not dare burn down the forest, he had swung it at the ground instead.

A circular patch of ground roughly twenty meters in diameter had been scorched black.