Earthly Yuan Realm, Journey to Flame City

A month later, Lin Fan had gathered Yin Fiend Qi from Qing Tan four more times and finally decided to break through to the Earthly Yuan Realm.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the Yin Crystals.

The moment the Yin Crystals appeared, they emitted bone-piercing cold.

Even with Lin Fan's current physical strength, he still felt a stabbing pain.

This showed just how terrifying the Yin Fiend Qi contained within these Yin Crystals was.

The so-called Earthly Yuan Realm required one to fuse the Yuan Power within one's body with Yin Fiend Qi, making it stronger and granting it attacks with Yin Fiend attributes.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Fan directly swallowed the Yin Crystal.

The instant it entered his body, icy cold spread wildly through him.

Within only a few breaths, Lin Fan's body was covered in ice shards, and even his clothes had frozen stiff.

The piercing chill slowed even Lin Fan's thoughts considerably.

Seeing this, Lin Fan hurriedly mobilized the Yuan Power in his dantian and began wrapping it around the Yin Crystal, guiding it into his dantian.

The moment the Yin Crystal entered his dantian, streams of Yin Fiend Qi immediately spilled out and began an extremely fierce struggle with the Yuan Power within.

Yet during this struggle, they began to erode and fuse with each other.

In the end, the Yin Crystal completely transformed into Yin Fiend Qi and fused with the Yuan Power in Lin Fan's dantian.

As the two fused, the originally colorless Yuan Power within Lin Fan's body turned deep blue.

Even his Essence Seed became an icy-blue mass of qi that continuously emitted a chilling aura.

"Boom!"

At that moment, Lin Fan's body suddenly shuddered violently. He felt as though an invisible barrier had been shattered.

An unprecedented sense of power surged from the depths of Lin Fan's heart before spreading throughout his entire body.

"Buzz!"

A strange fluctuation emerged from Lin Fan's mind, projecting everything within a hundred meters into his consciousness.

"Hahaha!"

Lin Fan opened his eyes and could not help laughing. "I've finally broken through to the Earthly Yuan Realm."

As he laughed, Lin Fan suddenly remembered something.

If he wanted to continue breaking through, he would have to constantly absorb Yin Fiend Qi.

But he had no interest in the ordinary Yin Fiend Qi found between heaven and earth.

So if he wanted to keep advancing, he either had to find higher-grade Yin Fiend Qi himself or rely on Qing Tan for the long term.

Looks like I need to make a trip to Flame City.

With that thought, Lin Fan took out a piece of Jade Stone and began using his methods to inscribe a technique within it.

Shortly afterward, once Lin Fan had finished inscribing it, he changed into a set of black clothes and left.

He left the Lin Family and ran all the way toward Flame City.

Flame City was the closest city to Qingyang Town. By the time Lin Fan arrived, it was already noon.

It had to be said that Flame City was exceedingly tall and magnificent. Its walls alone stood more than three hundred meters high.

Such a towering structure was rare even in later generations.

And a city like this was something that later generations had never possessed.

After all, city walls were completely useless to people of later generations.

Lin Fan paid the entry fee before he was allowed into the city.

He first asked around for the location of the Ten Thousand Gold Auction House, then bought a black gauze Bamboo Hat.

Lin Fan had come to Flame City primarily to sell a Body Tempering Technique for some money, while also seeing whether he could buy any yin-attributed spiritual herbs.

He had no choice. Aside from selling techniques, Lin Fan could not think of any way to become rich quickly.

Although he knew that there was a Yang Yuan Stone Vein near Ironwood Village,

with his current early Earthly Yuan Realm cultivation, he had no way to mine it.

The Ten Thousand Gold Auction House had been established by the Ten Thousand Gold Commerce Guild, one of Flame City's three major powers. Its reputation was assured, and it generally would not resort to robbing its customers.

Besides, Lin Fan would not take out a technique of the Void Body Refining Art's level.

Back when Chen Beixuan battled the myriad races of the starry sky, he had obtained countless techniques and secret arts. If Lin Fan casually took out any inferior technique, it would be enough for a small place like Flame City to take seriously.

When Lin Fan arrived at the Ten Thousand Gold Auction House in the city center, he found that it was indeed incredibly bustling. Dense crowds flowed in and out like ants.

But that was hardly surprising.

Although the Ten Thousand Gold Auction House was located in Flame City, it had considerable fame throughout Celestial Capital Prefecture.

Soon, under the wary gazes of the guards, he followed the crowd inside.

Lin Fan did not head to the auction hall. Instead, he went to the Appraisal Room.

The room was somewhat spacious and empty. Only a Middle-aged Man sat in a chair, boredly dozing off.

When he heard the door open, the Middle-aged Man raised his head.

After glancing at Lin Fan, who was wrapped entirely in a black robe, the Middle-aged Man showed no particular expression. Clearly, he had seen many people dressed this way.

A professional smile appeared on the Middle-aged Man's face as he asked, "Sir, are you here to have a treasure appraised?"

"Mm."

Lin Fan altered his voice, making it somewhat rough and deep, so that he sounded like a middle-aged burly man.

After tempering his body, he had become tall and broad-shouldered, which suited the build of a middle-aged burly man.

The Middle-aged Man asked again, "May I ask what treasure you would like appraised, sir?"

Lin Fan casually took the piece of Jade Stone from his robe and gently placed it on the table.

The Middle-aged Man picked up the Jade Stone and examined it carefully. He could not help saying somewhat angrily, "Sir, this is merely an ordinary piece of Jade Stone. It cannot be considered a treasure at all!"

"Press it to your forehead and carefully sense it with your soul."

Hearing this, the Middle-aged Man skeptically placed the Jade Stone against his forehead and closed his eyes.

Not long afterward, he opened his eyes in shock. "Th-this is actually a rare and powerful body-tempering manual!"

Taking a deep breath, the Middle-aged Man carefully placed the Jade Stone back on the table and said respectfully, "Sir, with my limited ability, I cannot determine this manual's grade. I need to invite Manager Su of the auction house to appraise it!"

"Fine. Go and return quickly."

Lin Fan waved his hand, then sat down in a chair.

The Middle-aged Man nodded and hurriedly left the room.

Before long, the Middle-aged Man returned.

Behind him followed a woman dressed in a red gown.

Her skin was as fair as snow, and a dignified, graceful smile rested on her peach-blossom face, making her especially captivating.

Although she looked little different from young women in the bloom of youth, her full curves and elegant figure gave her a mature charm that was utterly enchanting.

The moment he saw her, Lin Fan recognized that she was likely Xuan Su, the younger sister-in-law of the President of the Ten Thousand Gold Commerce Guild and the manager of the Ten Thousand Gold Auction House.