Xiao Yan's Recent Situation

"Whoosh!"

The Bodhi Ancient Tree, its origin power surging greatly, let out a joyful sound. Its branches and leaves swayed wildly, and Xiao Xian could clearly sense the delight contained within.

"Hehe, well? Now you know the benefits of following me, right? As long as you're willing to follow me, you can have as much Three Lights Divine Water as you want." Xiao Xian tempted the Bodhi Ancient Tree in the voice of a wolf luring Little Red Riding Hood.

The Three Lights Divine Water was of too high a grade. Even if all the resources on the entire Dou Qi Continent were added together, they might not be more valuable than the Three Lights Divine Water. Such a treasure was what plant life craved most, and the Bodhi Ancient Tree was naturally no exception.

"Whoosh!"

In the end, the Bodhi Ancient Tree could not withstand the temptation of the Three Lights Divine Water and surrendered beneath Xiao Xian's monetary offensive.

It pulled up its roots, and its enormous thousand-zhang body abruptly shrank, dwindling until it was only ten centimeters tall. Then it happily hopped onto Xiao Xian's palm.

Xiao Xian promptly imprinted his soul mark upon the Bodhi Ancient Tree. This ancient tree, lacking much intelligence, did not resist and allowed the soul power to leave its mark upon its soul.

In an instant, man and tree established a mental connection. They no longer needed to communicate through their souls; as long as one thought of what they wished to say, the other could receive it in full.

"Enter!"

With a turn of his hand, Xiao Xian sent the Bodhi Ancient Tree in his palm into the Small World, where it took root upon the central continent.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree instantly rooted itself in the earth, and its body swelled like an inflated balloon. In the blink of an eye, it had grown to a thousand zhang tall.

Xiao Xian poured down the final two drops of Three Lights Divine Water. The Bodhi Ancient Tree greedily absorbed them, its trunk growing ever more enormous, its crown even piercing into the clouds. A vast shadow fell upon the ground, nearly blotting out half the sky.

"Pop, pop, pop..."

Countless flowers quietly bloomed amid the leaves, then swiftly completed the cycle from bloom to fall. Pale green fruits hung from the branches, every one of them emitting a faint green glow. A refreshing fragrance rushed to the nose, invigorating anyone who smelled it.

As the core of the Bodhi Ancient Tree was subdued by Xiao Xian, the space sustaining that core collapsed as well, and his body reappeared in the outside world.

The ancient tree was still the same ancient tree, but compared to before, the Bodhi Ancient Tree now retained only its body. Its core soul had already vanished, so naturally it could no longer help others undergo a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation.

In other words, from this moment onward, only two of the Bodhi Ancient Tree's three treasures remained. Its most important ability—to help people comprehend the Dao through reincarnation—was gone. Unless the ancient tree gave birth to a new soul, the Bodhi Ancient Tree's importance on the Dou Qi Continent would be greatly diminished.

"Done. The most worthwhile opportunities on the Dou Qi Continent are all in my pocket. Where should I go next? Let me think." Xiao Xian suddenly realized that he had become idle again. The feeling sat badly with him, because he had already idled away fifteen years before.

"How about stirring up the Soul Clan again?" Xiao Xian narrowed his eyes.

"No, no. The Soul Clan suffered the worst at my hands last time. They probably still haven't recovered. Even if I went to stir them up again now, there probably wouldn't be much left to squeeze out of them." He dismissed his own suggestion.

Because the Soul Clan was the greatest hidden mastermind on the Dou Qi Continent, a natural villainous faction, Xiao Xian had caused them no end of trouble. Not only had he emptied the Soul Clan's Treasure Vault, but he had not even spared the Storage Rings on the clan members' hands. Other than the clothes on their backs, everything else had become his spoils.

Although fifteen years had passed, he had plundered them too thoroughly back then. Unless the Soul Clan dared to risk extermination by starting a war with the continent's various factions ahead of time, it would have been impossible for them to amass many resources in such a short period.

The Soul Clan was no longer worth counting on, and the Medicine Clan, famous for producing alchemists, had also been badly ravaged by him. They probably did not even have the money to hold the next Alchemist Convention. Their Treasure Vault was so poor that even rats would weep upon entering.

"Forget it. These guys are all too poor. I'll let them off this time. Why not go see what Xiao Yan is doing?" Xiao Xian's eyes lit up as he finally found a way to pass the time.

If he remembered correctly, after taking leave, Xiao Yan had planned to set off for the Tagor Desert. The Tagor Desert contained the nineteenth-ranked Azure Lotus Core Flame, precisely the nourishment needed for the Flame Mantra's evolution.

The Azure Lotus Core Flame was a type of Heavenly Flame produced in regions of magma. It formed once every thousand years. The flame was azure in color and took the shape of a lotus, hence the name Azure Lotus Core Flame.

The power of this Heavenly Flame could only be considered average, yet it remained a supreme treasure dreamed of by countless alchemists. Naturally, Xiao Yan had no reason to let it slip away.

Xiao Yan, I've chosen you.

With that thought, Xiao Xian unleashed his Emperor-realm soul without reservation. It crossed mountains and rivers, finally locating Xiao Yan's position.

"Whoosh!"

Xiao Xian tore through the air in that direction. Only long after he had departed did a sonic boom erupt where he had stood, with a ring of tangible sonic clouds spreading around it.

Mo City!

This was a border city of the Gama Empire. Beyond Mo City lay the boundless Tagor Desert, where a Magical Beast race—the Snake-People Race—had lived for generations.

These Snake-People Magical Beasts had serpent tails and human upper bodies. They were a humanoid Magical Beast race possessed of high intelligence. Their monarch was known as Medusa, a female snake-person who had reached the Dou Huang Peak realm.

Recently, the situation in the Tagor Desert had become unpredictable, and the Snake-People Race seemed poised to make some major move. Any humans who dared enter the Tagor Desert during this period were either forcibly driven out by the Snake-People Race or killed on the spot, leaving countless human adventurers full of resentment.

Mo City's Magical Beast trade was highly developed. Countless merchants gathered here, waving Gold Coins as they purchased all manner of Magical Beast resources. The enormous profits drew countless people into the ranks of Demon Hunters, who killed Magical Beasts, brought them back to merchants, and exchanged them for gleaming Gold Coins.

As a result, Mo City had not only many lone adventurers, but mercenary groups also sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain. There were no fewer than a hundred mercenary groups of varying sizes, with the larger ones numbering in the hundreds or thousands, while the smaller ones had only a few members.

Because of their large numbers and considerable strength, these mercenary groups fared quite well in Mo City. They lacked neither resources nor Gold Coins, and thus had cultivated many experts.

After a long journey, Xiao Yan arrived at this land where gold lay everywhere half a month later and temporarily settled into an inn.

At this moment, he was wandering through Mo City. Following Yao Lao's instructions, Xiao Yan decided to buy a map of the Tagor Desert from a map seller. After all, it was best to be prepared; having a map was far better than blindly stumbling about in the desert.

There were only a few map sellers in Mo City. Guided by passersby, Xiao Yan arrived at a map shop called Ancient Map in a corner of northern Mo City, where he was received by an elderly man with an aged appearance.