Purple Cloud Eagle Wings

Yan Qingshan slowly spread open the scroll on the table. Two pitch-black eagle wings, dark enough to send a chill down one's spine, appeared before his eyes, vividly depicted upon the scroll.

The pair of eagle wings was entirely dark black, faintly veined with purple cloud patterns. The wings resembled black refined iron, carrying a peculiar metallic texture. They seemed alive; when a breeze passed over the scroll, the feathers actually moved like real wings.

"Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle, a Tier Five flying magical beast. Legend says it possesses a sparse bloodline of the ancient Fenghuang. Its flying speed ranks among the best of all flying magical beasts. Naturally cunning and savage, it is extremely difficult to capture and lives only in the Cloudy Mist region south of the continent."

A line of tiny writing on the scroll recorded the origin of the magical beast used for this Wings of the Eagle Dou Skill. A Tier Five Magical Beast was equivalent to a Dou Wang, and this was one of the finest among Tier Five flying magical beasts. Dealing with it was no less difficult than facing a Dou Emperor, which also proved the strength of the skill's creator.

"Eagle King's Soul..."

Yan Qingshan stroked the Wings of the Eagle scroll. His powerful perception allowed him to sense the hidden, violent soul within it. This was the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's Beast Soul, an existence similar to a weapon spirit, and it was also the key to this Flying Dou Skill.

Yan Qingshan steadied himself and activated the Indomitable Lionheart Forging Method recorded in the Lionheart King's Art. The inheritance left behind by the master of the cave dwelling was a complete set, so naturally it had taken into account the possibility that its successor might lack sufficient cultivation.

The master of this stone chamber had lived in an extremely ancient era. The cultivation technique inheritance he left behind bore traces of many ancient secret arts. Methods such as the Lionheart Forging Method seemed to involve spiritual cultivation.

Roaring Lion's Roar was an even rarer Dou Skill that fused Dou Qi with sonic attacks, and this Flying Dou Skill was another example. Its method of creation had become exceedingly scarce on the present-day continent.

Yan Qingshan calmed himself and placed both palms on the scroll. Not long after his hands made contact, a piercing shriek that seemed to stab straight through the soul rang out.

His body began to tremble involuntarily, and unbearable numbness spread through him. The shrill cry was like a power drill, violently hammering at his mind.

Yan Qingshan quieted himself and guarded his mind. Let him be strong; the breeze brushes the mountain ridge, yet I remain unmoved. He used the soul-piercing shriek to cultivate the Lionheart Forging Method, silently enduring wave after wave of impact. Even as his face turned pale and cold sweat beaded on his forehead, he had no intention of letting go. Instead, he sank into deeper cultivation.

This battle of souls ultimately ended in the Purple Cloud Eagle's defeat. After all, only its beastly instincts remained. Once all its methods proved useless, this water without a source finally receded.

The violent howls retreated like a tide, but Yan Qingshan remained seated cross-legged with his eyes shut, immersed in deep contemplation.

The eagle wings on the black scroll suddenly shone brilliantly. The purple and black light grew increasingly intense, finally transforming into two tiny streaks of Purple-Black Light that shot into Yan Qingshan's body like lightning. The two streaks traveled up his spine, forcibly pulling open two extremely fine branch meridians across his back.

The pain of forcefully opening his meridians caused Yan Qingshan's expression to shift, but he did not struggle or vent it. He continued sitting cross-legged and cultivating the Indomitable Lionheart Forging Method, treating the pain as nourishment for his strength.

An hour later, Yan Qingshan opened his eyes, looking as though he had been soaked in water. When he pushed himself up with the Stone Table, his legs nearly gave out beneath him. Yet his grin was wide, and his face was full of excitement. "Two-star Dou Practitioner. As expected of a Profound-tier High-grade Cultivation Technique."

During the Dou Qi training stage before becoming a Dou Zhe, a warrior's physique was still comparatively weak, leaving few methods for improvement. For most cultivators, raising their Dou Qi by one stage in a year already made them geniuses.

After becoming a Dou Zhe, however, cultivation speed was much faster than during the Dou Qi stage due to factors such as cultivation techniques, resources, and environment. For a Dou Zhe with excellent conditions, breaking through several stars within a year was no problem.

Yan Qingshan did not have a teacher's guidance or medicinal pill support like the original protagonist, but the cultivation technique he practiced now was a Profound-tier High-grade Cultivation Technique, five tiers above the Yellow-tier Low-grade Fennel Art he had started with.

Even if it did not perfectly suit his physique and could not reach maximum efficiency, the unrestricted-attribute Lionheart King's Art would not suffer from excessively low compatibility.

A Profound-tier High-grade Cultivation Technique should be enough to offset factors such as pills and resources. Taken together, Yan Qingshan's cultivation speed in the early stages should still be faster than Xiao Yan's had been, at least before Xiao Yan first evolved his cultivation technique.

Filled with excitement, Yan Qingshan stood up. After taking a deep breath to calm himself and sort out his thoughts, he walked to the seated skeleton and bowed once more. Then, he carefully removed the Demonic Flame Remnant Map from within the skeleton's arm bone.

"Ding... Unrecorded knowledge detected. Recording and analysis initiated... Creating folder... Parsing progress: 0.0001%..."

When his palm touched the Demonic Flame Remnant Map, something that left him utterly stunned happened: his Dawn Database actually began operating.

This Demonic Flame Remnant Map was also a database that recorded knowledge. However, unlike the cultivation techniques, Dou Skills, and Poison Scripture deliberately passed down for others to easily understand, the relevant data hidden within this remnant map had to be parsed.

"Could it be... that this remnant map contains an inheritance left behind by the Pure Lotus Demonic Saint?"

This thought surfaced in Yan Qingshan's mind. He understood the true nature of this remnant map better than most. It was a backup plan left behind by the Pure Lotus Demonic Saint after he had suffered backlash from the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. It contained a remnant soul of the Pure Lotus Demonic Saint, capable of erasing the current consciousness of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame.

Since this Demonic Flame Remnant Map contained a remnant soul of the Pure Lotus Demonic Saint, it naturally also held some of the Demonic Saint's memories and information—unknown knowledge discovered by the Auxiliary Brain. It was simply hidden within the sleeping remnant soul and would not reveal itself voluntarily.

It was only because that remnant soul had fallen asleep that Yan Qingshan had this opportunity. Otherwise, prying into someone's memories like this would have been a guaranteed death wish. Yet the sleeping remnant soul of the Demonic Saint had given Yan Qingshan a chance.

Since Shuguang indicated that it could be parsed, that meant he might be able to obtain the knowledge within. This was undoubtedly excellent news for him. After all, this was the remnant soul of a Half-Emperor. Even a tiny trickle of what it possessed would be an enormous opportunity for a mere Dou Zhe like him.

On the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, a figure with a rope tied around his body stumbled through the air beyond a cliff. The Purple-Black Wings on his back looked exceptionally demonic, but his movements were cautious and awkward, like a complete beginner.

This continued for quite some time. Only when the sun hung high overhead and the hottest part of noon arrived did he untie the rope and begin testing his flight with far greater agility, soaring freely through the sky.

"The consumption of flying is really no joke. Even with my current Three-star Dou Practitioner cultivation, I can only maintain top speed for around ten minutes. Without Dou Master cultivation, sustained travel is impossible."

Yan Qingshan landed carefully. After slowly exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he recovered a little Dou Qi. The recovery speed of a Profound-tier High-grade Cultivation Technique was equally astonishing.

Just like now, Yan Qingshan, a Three-star Dou Practitioner, had consumed over half his Dou Qi while using the Purple Cloud Wings. Yet simply by walking and regulating his breathing, his Dou Qi had already recovered seventy to eighty percent. This was nothing like the ordinary mercenaries in his memories, who needed a great deal of time to recover after every battle.

He was far stronger than they were. No wonder everyone pursued higher-grade cultivation techniques.

"Shuguang, analyze the data!"

Host: Yan Qingshan

Cultivation: Three-star Dou Practitioner

Cultivation Technique: Profound-tier High-grade Lionheart King's Art

Dou Skills: Profound-tier High-grade Roaring Lion's Roar (Beginner), Profound-tier Low-grade Phoenix Soaring Steps (Beginner)

Strength: 2.9

Status: Healthy

Agility: 2.7

Mental Power: 17

(Data collection target: average One-star Dou Practitioner. The median value for all attributes of a One-star Dou Practitioner is 1.0)

The Lionheart King's Art truly deserved to be called a Profound-tier High-grade Cultivation Technique. Although he was only a Three-star Dou Practitioner, all his data was comparable to that of an Advanced Dou Practitioner, and his explosive power even approached that of a Nine-star Dou Practitioner. One had to know that even a Nine-star Dou Practitioner's overall data was only around 3.0, while he was already close to that figure.

"It has been nearly a month since I entered the mountains. If I don't go back soon, Xiao Yi Xian will probably worry. Besides, I can barely be said to possess some ability to protect myself now. It's time to return."

Yan Qingshan turned and gazed in the direction of Qingshan Town. He had always been a man of decisive action, so once he made up his mind, he moved immediately. Reaching the cliffside, he packed up the things he had left behind when he had set up camp and carried them with him again. He was still dressed as he had been when he arrived, though the pack on his back was much fuller.

He had no intention of placing his things into the Storage Ring, because he had to maintain an appearance appropriate to his current identity. He had never worn the Storage Ring openly. It had always been hidden close to his body and altered with certain methods, so its appearance gave nothing away.

The journey back was not particularly difficult. Prepared in advance, Yan Qingshan traveled quickly. Perhaps because his gains had been considerable, he seemed to have undergone a transformation after this journey. He had become more confident, and his steps were much lighter.

The cliff where the treasure had been hidden was still technically in the outer region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range and not too far from Qingshan Town. With light steps, Yan Qingshan soon reached the edge of the outer region. He was about to leave this perilous place, and his mood was quite good. He even had the leisure to hum a tune.

"Hmm..."

As Yan Qingshan walked, his brow suddenly furrowed. He turned toward the direction diagonally behind him to the right. Hurried footsteps were approaching, mixed with cries for help. In the brief moment he took to turn around, the disturbance became even clearer, and he could vaguely make out what seemed to be fleeing figures in the forest in that direction.

"These are... herb gatherers who entered the mountains during Snow Season... This is bad... They did it deliberately. Bastards, they must have lured over something difficult to deal with..."

Yan Qingshan narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance at several rapidly approaching figures crying out to him for help. Faint beast roars could be heard behind them. These people seemed to have noticed Yan Qingshan as well, and they screamed wildly as they ran toward him.

Without a second thought, Yan Qingshan turned and ran. He had no relation to these people and no reason to stay. Besides, the moment they saw him, they deliberately started shouting loudly and even ran in his direction. They were obviously trying to use him as a shield. He had no intention of staying to help them.

Yan Qingshan had never been some saintly figure. He would never involve himself in something that was clearly going to bring trouble upon himself. Forget about saving people from death—he was only a small-time Dou Zhe. On the Dou Qi Continent, he was not some impressive figure and had no right to play the hero.

Moreover, he understood the nature of these herb gatherers better than anyone. If you wanted to survive in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, you had better keep a few extra tricks up your sleeve. Otherwise, you would not even know how you died. This was experience that the seniors had paid for with their lives.

Just like these people now. The moment they saw Yan Qingshan, they began calling for help and rushed toward him. They were not hoping for assistance—they were dragging someone else into the water to use as a shield.

Those who sincerely sought help would never lead danger toward others. Instead, they would change direction and deliberately create an opportunity for others to help them.