After leaving the Pill Gathering, Xiao Yan first used the gathering's fame to refine pills for others, thereby obtaining cultivation resources and improving his alchemy. In just over a year, he reached the peak of eight-star Dou Zong. Then news arrived that a Heavenly Flame had emerged in the Extreme Yin Land, and Xiao Yan went there as well, hoping to obtain it. However, the entire Extreme Yin Land was merely a place arranged by the Pill Tower and Soul Hall. How could outsiders possibly obtain the Heavenly Flame? With Yao Chen's help, Xiao Yan sensed a terrifying battle erupting near the Abyss of the Extreme Yin Land and was immediately frightened away, leaving that troublesome place.
After leaving the Extreme Yin Land, perhaps because he had been provoked, or perhaps because his cultivation had reached the necessary point, he broke through to nine-star Dou Zong.
Afterward, Xiao Yan continued refining pills for others to gather cultivation resources. More than half a year later, he felt that his cultivation had stabilized and that he was close to the peak of Dou Zong. He also heard that a Dou Sheng's Cave Mansion would emerge in about a year. Wanting to contend for a stroke of fortune there, he grew impatient to break through. He found a mountain range with rather dense energy and entered its depths to cultivate.
However, breaking through to Dou Zun was hardly so simple. Even Gu He, with the help of the Devouring Flame, had spent more than a year gathering Spiritual Energy before completely breaking through into the Dou Zun realm. Given Xiao Yan's circumstances, breaking through to Dou Zun within a year through normal cultivation would undoubtedly be pure fantasy.
After cultivating for nearly two months, he had only managed to completely stabilize his cultivation