The Butterfly's Wings Were Flapping

"This Soul Ring of yours was merely left behind after the death of an Eighth Grade alchemist. Besides, the soul seal on this Storage Ring has already vanished, and the soul inside the Soul Ring has perished completely. I, Hun Xuzi, am the number one alchemist on the Dou Qi Continent. You say I'm not qualified?"

Xiao Yan remembered a treasure appraisal compendium inside the ring that cataloged all sorts of rare treasures on the Dou Qi Continent. It had an entry on Soul Rings.

So-called Soul Rings were upgraded versions of Storage Rings. Aside from being able to store lifeless objects like Storage Rings, their greatest function was that they could preserve souls!

The souls of powerful alchemists were already extremely strong. When they encountered fatal danger, they could let their souls leave their physical bodies and hide within a Soul Ring to preserve them.

And since this Soul Ring could even preserve the Bone Chiling Flame, there was no doubt that it was an extraordinary treasure.

At first, Xiao Yan had thought this ring was an inheritance his mother had left him. Now, after hearing what Hun Xuzi said, it seemed his mother must have obtained this Soul Ring from somewhere.

The original owner of the Soul Ring had met with a fatal crisis, left his body, and hidden inside the Soul Ring, but in the end, he still had not managed to hold on. His soul had dispersed, and the Storage Ring and Bone Chiling Flame had become ownerless objects.

Hun Xuzi looked at Xiao Yan, revealing an icy smile as he said, "Heh, since you say I'm not qualified, then I'll let you see what Alchemy truly is!"

With a whoosh, Hun Xuzi reached toward the Bone Chiling Flame floating in midair and pinched at empty space with his Soul Power, drawing out a thread of fire as thin as needle and thread from within the Bone Chiling Flame.

His fingers waved like a conductor's, and the bone-white threads of Bone Chiling Flame seemed to thread a needle, swiftly passing through several stalks of medicinal herbs.

It happened almost in an instant. As the fire threads passed through the herbs, they peeled them apart layer by layer, and his incomparably powerful Soul Power drew out all the required herbal essence. The remaining herbal impurities instantly turned into piles of ash that fell to the ground.

Finally, the fire threads rolled the essences together and turned them into a purple-white Medicinal Pill.

It had formed almost instantly! Although those few medicinal herbs were not particularly high grade, completing the refinement of a Medicinal Pill in the snap of a finger was like something out of a fantasy. Who would believe it if told? "Kid, that goading trick of yours is far too immature."

With a whoosh, Hun Xuzi flicked his finger, and the Medicinal Pill turned into a streak of light that forcibly poured down Xiao Yan's throat.

"Urgh!" Xiao Yan immediately tried to make himself vomit and spit out the Medicinal Pill, but it was already too late. A surge of medicinal power spread throughout his entire body, giving Xiao Yan no chance to react at all.

"What did you make me eat?!"

"Heh heh heh, nothing more than an ordinary Poison Pill. If you can neutralize this poison, then you'll be qualified to become my disciple. Take my token to the Soul Hall in the Royal Capital. If you can't, heheh. In your next life, remember not to use goading tactics so casually."

A black token engraved with the character "Hun" appeared on the table. Hun Xuzi tore open space and vanished.

After Hun Xuzi disappeared, Xiao Yan's originally furious expression instantly returned to its former calm, and his bloodshot eyes slowly recovered as well. Everything just now had seemed as though Xiao Yan had done it deliberately! When he guessed that Hun Xuzi would not kill him, Xiao Yan had already formed a plan in his heart.

He lacked the guidance of a powerful alchemist. Even if that person only refined a Medicinal Pill once for him to watch, it would be enough. That was why Xiao Yan had deliberately used a goading tactic.

And the reason Xiao Yan had fixed his gaze on the Bone Chiling Flame was also to draw Hun Xuzi's attention to the Bone Chiling Flame. Xiao Yan needed to protect a certain Cultivation Method from being discovered.

Fen Jue, a Yellow-Rank Low-Level Cultivation Method, could evolve endlessly by Devouring Heavenly Flames. This was also the Cultivation Method Xiao Yan himself practiced.

Xiao Yan had many Cultivation Methods to choose from, but in the end, he had still chosen this strange and mysterious Cultivation Method.

There were two reasons. The first was that Xiao Yan's Soul Ring possessed the Bone Chiling Flame. The materials were already there, and Xiao Yan did not even need to search for them, so naturally he chose this Cultivation Method.

The second was that this Cultivation Method was indeed powerful. Ever since he had reached Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan had begun practicing the Flame Mantra. From only being able to smell the Bone Chiling Flame from afar at the very beginning, he could now approach within three meters of the Bone Chiling Flame and absorb the wisps of Flame it released.

The current Flame Mantra had already evolved to Yellow Middle Grade, proving that this Cultivation Method truly could Devour Heavenly Flames and achieve endless evolution.

As for that Poison Pill, Xiao Yan did not take it to heart at all. Not to mention that Heavenly Flames themselves had the effect of neutralizing poison and burning away toxins, as long as Xiao Yan could use the Flame Mantra to Devour the Bone Chiling Flame, he would be able to neutralize the poison.

Moreover, Xiao Yan already knew how to neutralize it.

Xiao Yan crouched down and collected all the medicinal herb powder left over from Hun Xuzi's Alchemy. Once mixed together, these powders were the antidote.

The medicinal herbs Hun Xuzi had used for Alchemy had all been picked by Xiao Yan himself, so he naturally knew what they were. Those stalks were all medicinal herbs, not poisonous herbs; they were beneficial.

The most basic step in Alchemy was purification: removing excess impurities and toxins from medicinal herbs while retaining the purest medicinal properties.

As the saying went, all medicine was part poison. The reason medicinal herbs were beneficial was not that they were inherently non-toxic, but that their medicinal properties outweighed their toxicity, so they were medicinal herbs. Poisonous herbs were the exact opposite—their toxicity outweighed their medicinal properties.

Therefore, the antidote to that Poison Pill was the leftover powder from the medicinal herbs.

After Xiao Yan mixed all the powder with water and drank it, the chill and pain inside his body instantly disappeared. The excess medicinal power even caused Xiao Yan's Dou Qi to increase a little.

"Ancient Jade. What exactly is its origin that it's worth someone like Hun Xuzi coming to seize?"

"How could my Xiao Clan possess something like that?"

Xiao Yan picked up the black token on the table. What had happened today had far exceeded the scope of Xiao Yan's knowledge.

Before long, a knock came from outside the door. "Xiao Yan Gege, are you free tomorrow? Can you accompany Xun Er to the market?"

Xiao Yan put everything into the Soul Ring, gently wiped the bloody tears from his cheeks, and opened the door.

"If Xun Er needs Gege to be her flower guardian, Gege naturally won't refuse."

When he saw Xun Er, Xiao Yan could not help thinking. Could it be that the reason Hun Xuzi did not dare kill him was because of Xun Er? In an alternate space on the Dou Qi Continent called the Hun Realm, the insufferably arrogant Hun Xuzi was actually kneeling on one knee behind a man.

The man wore a white robe and looked gentle and refined. He held some Fish Feed in his hand and was feeding the fish in the pond. He liked watching those fish fight desperately to be first for food.

Only after the man had finished feeding out all the feed did he slowly turn around and say calmly, "Rise."

"Yes, Clan Leader."

The man asked unhurriedly, "How was it?"

Hun Xuzi said with utmost respect, "Reporting to the Clan Leader, the Xiao Clan's Ancient Jade has likely already fallen into the hands of the Ancient Clan."

"Mm?" Hearing Hun Xuzi's reply, Hun Tiandi, Clan Leader of the Hun Clan, furrowed his brows. This was bad news.

Hun Xuzi continued, "Within the Xiao Clan of the Jia Ma Empire, there is a maiden who possesses a Sub-flame of the Golden Emperor Burning Flame. Although I did not probe that maiden, I used my Soul Power to search the entire Xiao Clan and did not discover the Ancient Jade."

Hun Tiandi's gaze turned cold. He knew that the Golden Emperor Burning Flame, ranked fourth on the Heavenly Flames Ranking, was the inherited flame of the Ancient Clan. Only important members of the Ancient Clan could possess a Sub-flame of the Golden Emperor Burning Flame.

Since people from the Ancient Clan had been discovered in the Xiao Clan, the whereabouts of the Ancient Jade were already obvious.

"You were right not to use Soul Power to investigate. That maiden should be Gu Yuan's daughter. If you had accidentally triggered the measures on her, you would certainly have been reduced to ashes." Hun Tiandi knew just how terrifying Gu Yuan's strength was. Gu Yuan could not possibly have casually tossed his own daughter to such a distant place. Even from ten thousand miles away, Gu Yuan could easily destroy the entire Jia Ma Empire.

"Well played—while the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits. In the end, the Xiao Clan's Ancient Jade still fell into your hands, Gu Yuan."

Hun Xuzi asked, "Clan Leader, should we capture that maiden and bring her back to exchange for the Ancient Jade?"

After thinking for a moment, Hun Tiandi shook his head and said, "My injuries from the battle with Xiao Xuan back then still have not healed. Now is not the time to go to war with the Ancient Clan. Have the Soul Hall speed up its collection of powerful Soul Bodies. It must be completed before the Ancient Clan obtains the remaining Ancient Jades. We cannot allow the Ancient Clan to obtain even more Ancient Jades."

"Yes, Clan Leader!"

The butterfly gently beat its wings, and the timeline of fate underwent a tremendous change.