Yellow-Rank High-Level Trial

"Reaching mastery could actually raise the Soul Realm to the Spirit Realm!"

The Soul Realm was an extremely important measure for alchemists.

Advanced alchemists needed to control flames, making Soul Power crucial. Especially for high-level alchemists, whose Flame Control had to reach the particle level. Refining advanced medicinal ingredients was like picking one out of hundreds of millions from a single plant—like finding a needle in the ocean.

The first requirement to become an Eighth Grade Alchemist was reaching the Spirit Realm in one's Soul Realm.

Xiao Yan had learned from alchemy books in several Storage Rings that the Soul Realm was divided into four levels: Mortal Realm, Spirit Realm, Heaven Realm, and Emperor Realm. Tier 8 Medicinal Pills were called spiritual pills because they already possessed a certain degree of spirituality.

To grant a Medicinal Pill spirituality, an alchemist's Soul Realm had to reach the Spirit Realm.

Xiao Yan knew he had come to the right place. That exceedingly rare Soul Cultivation Method was right before him! It was even a Mystic High-Rank Cultivation Method. Once cultivated to mastery, it could allow him to enter the Spirit Realm! This method was far too important to Xiao Yan. As an alchemist, he had to make his soul stronger no matter what. Xiao Yan naturally understood that his innately powerful soul only gave him an early advantage. If he did not work to improve it, he would sooner or later become a wasted prodigy of the Dou Qi Continent.

"A Mystic High-Rank Cultivation Method requires one thousand Soul Points, and only those with a Xuan Rank rating are eligible to exchange for it."

"Xuan Rank."

Soul Points could slowly be earned by selling Natural Treasures and hunting Magical Beasts for their Magic Cores, but this rating required him to reach Xuan Rank no matter what.

"I'm currently a sixteen-year-old Eight-Star Dou Zhe. The opponents in the Yellow-Rank Low-Level Trial are either equal to me in Cultivation Level or a little weaker. The Yellow-Rank Mid-Level Trial will probably feature opponents a little stronger than me, at most a One-Star Dou Shi. I can still handle that. The Yellow-Rank High-Level Trial should involve low-level or mid-level Dou Shi opponents. But to reach Xuan Rank, I'll need to fight across an entire major realm at the very least."

Xiao Yan recalled his battle with Lu Xing from the Mystic Rank Class a few days ago. Although Xiao Yan had won, it had not been an easy victory. The main reason Lu Xing lost was that his Combat Techniques and Cultivation Method were too weak.

A large part of Xiao Yan's victory had come from his powerful Soul Power, the Eight Extremities Collapse he had cultivated to mastery, and the Earth Rank Dou Technique, Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler. Those two high-level Combat Techniques had erased the gap in their Cultivation Levels.

In other words, Xiao Yan had only won because Lu Xing's Combat Techniques were too weak and poorly cultivated. But Soul Hall was far stronger than Jia Nan Academy. It even had Soul Skills. Defeating an opponent a whole major realm above him would not be so simple.

"I still have to try. Once I break through to Dou Shi, challenging a Da Dou Shi across ranks will be a dead end! Now, while I'm still a Dou Zhe, is the best opportunity." Xiao Yan understood inwardly that the further he advanced, the more impossible challenging higher ranks would become. If he wanted a Xuan Rank rating, he had to do it early! Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yan tightly gripped the token and said, "I want to continue challenging the Yellow-Rank Mid-Level Trial!"

His mind went hazy for a moment. The token before Xiao Yan flashed with white light, and the next second, when it faded, he had returned to the original trial ground.

"I was in Soul Body form just now?!" Xiao Yan noticed a little frost on his clothes. His body had remained in place the entire time. Because of this Soul Token, his soul had seemingly left his body and entered the passage behind him, arriving at the Treasure Hall! Xiao Yan had not expected the Treasure Hall to be inside the Hun Realm. Only Soul Bodies possessing Soul Tokens could pass through the Hun Realm Passage, which was why there had not been a single person in the Treasure Hall.

It was like a phone receiving a signal, except this was a soul signal. Through Soul Tokens, the Hun Realm, which existed within the void, could receive the signals of Soul Bodies from across the entire Dou Qi Continent.

The Hun Realm was unfathomable!

Xiao Yan shook his head, suppressing all those thoughts, then resolutely walked toward the next teleportation entrance.

Just as Xiao Yan had expected, the Yellow-Rank Mid-Level Trial consisted of Eight-Star Dou Zhe and Nine Star Dou Zhe opponents. The final trial was still a Magical Beast that had just reached Second Rank.

To Xiao Yan, they were merely a little troublesome and posed no threat.

Eight Extremities Collapse!

Xiao Yan leaped vertically from a towering mountain, passed through the white mist in the canyon, and used his powerful soul perception to lock onto a target within the fog. Descending from above, he drove a punch into a giant python more than ten meters tall below the cliff.

Hissss!!!!!! The eight layers of hidden force from Eight Extremities Collapse slammed into the giant python's hard scales. Ripples spread with every impact, yet the scales on its body actually dispersed the force of Eight Extremities Collapse.

"The Yellow-Rank High-Level Trial really is difficult. It took Eight Extremities Collapse head-on without suffering anything!"

The giant python hissed, endured the pain, and violently swept its tail. The snake tail came crashing toward him like a massive pillar. With a clang, Xiao Yan hurriedly pulled out the Heavy Xuan Ruler from his Storage Ring and held it across his body to block the attack.

The snake scales struck the Heavy Xuan Ruler in showers of sparks, sending Xiao Yan flying.

Twisting through the air, Xiao Yan landed steadily on both feet. He had already passed every trial in the Yellow-Rank Mid-Level Trial. Now, he was challenging the Yellow-Rank High-Level Trial, facing a Second Rank Black Steel Giant Serpent, a relatively high-level Second Rank Magical Beast.

Hiss, hiss. Rather than advancing, the giant python retreated. It did not press its advantage, instead slowly blending into the white mist. The Black Steel Giant Serpent was originally a land creature, and snakes specialized in Sneak Attacks. Delivering a fatal blow when their enemy was completely unprepared was their nature.

Xiao Yan gripped the ruler's handle with both hands, carefully guarding against the surroundings. The dense white mist over this terrain made visibility extremely low. His naked eye could barely see anything, only a vast expanse of white.

"Snakes seem to sense prey through heat. This environment is very unfavorable for me."

Whoosh! A Black Shadow came whistling toward him. Xiao Yan leaped high into the air, dodging the giant python's tail sweep.

With a massive boom, the ground suddenly split apart at that instant, and an enormous Black Shadow burst from underground. The Black Steel Giant Serpent had actually used its tail as a feint while its head burrowed underground!

Its gaping jaws opened, intending to swallow Xiao Yan whole! "Damn!"

Xiao Yan hurriedly grabbed the Heavy Xuan Ruler, curling his body into a ball and using the ruler as a shield. With a crack, the Black Steel Giant Serpent bit down on the hard Heavy Xuan Ruler. Protected by the Heavy Xuan Ruler, Xiao Yan could not be bitten to death.

The serpent's head violently flung the Heavy Xuan Ruler aside. With a rumble, it smashed into the mountain wall, and falling rocks buried Xiao Yan alive.

The Black Steel Giant Serpent once again concealed itself within the white mist, a trace of mockery appearing in its triangular pupils.

In its eyes, Xiao Yan was like a blazing flame. It could see that he had quietly emerged from the mountain wall and was hiding behind a huge boulder nearby, waiting for an opportunity to launch a Sneak Attack.

The Black Steel Giant Serpent quietly moved above the boulder, flicking out its tongue. It knew that today's after-dinner dessert had arrived!

Hissss!! The Black Steel Giant Serpent let out a cry and pounced fiercely at the source of heat. But the instant it lunged to bite, it froze! There was no human at all, only a burning piece of clothing! Where was he?! There was not the slightest source of heat nearby. Could he have died? While the Black Steel Giant Serpent searched around in confusion, boom, the ground below exploded. Xiao Yan burst from the earth and appeared at the Black Steel Giant Serpent's vulnerable spot.

"Stupid snake, I'm also an alchemist. You've never heard of the Tier 2 Pill, the Ice Heart Pill, have you?"

Eight Extremities Collapse!