Battle Through the Heavens: Obtaining the Extraction System

After explaining everything, Xiao Ling left with Qing Lin. He had Qing Lin return to her room to pack her luggage while he headed to Zi Yan's bedroom.

Seeing that Zi Yan was still asleep, Xiao Ling had no intention of going in to disturb her.

As though she had sensed Xiao Ling's presence, Zi Yan slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze turned toward the doorway, where she saw Xiao Ling leaning against the doorframe and studying her with interest.

She hesitantly greeted him, "Xiao Ling... good... morning."

Seeing Zi Yan in such a groggy state, Xiao Ling smiled and said, "I'll wait for you in the living room. Remember to tidy yourself up after you get out of bed. I'm introducing you to a new friend."

With that, Xiao Ling turned and returned to the living room, taking a seat on a wooden chair.

Taking out the Cola Bottle, Xiao Ling poured himself a full cup and drank deeply, immediately feeling much more refreshed. However, the cola he poured out was room temperature, which left him rather dissatisfied.

"Too bad I can't use Ice Attribute Dou Qi. Otherwise, on the edge of this scorching desert, a cup of iced cola would be truly refreshing. Once we reach Desert City, I'll have to ask Hai Bodong for help."

He put the cola away into the System Space, then suddenly noticed an inconspicuous item within it.

With a thought, a somewhat ancient map appeared in his hand. It was the Dou Venerate Relic Map he had drawn from the system before.

When he had first obtained this relic map, Xiao Ling had only been a Dou Zhe, and his Soul Realm had been incapable of opening the restriction placed upon it.

Now, his Soul Realm had surpassed Mortal Realm Grand Perfection and reached the Spirit Realm. He had long since met the requirements to open the restriction on this map.

Since he happened to have some free time, Xiao Ling decided to break the restriction directly and see what information was recorded inside.

Soul Power surged from between his brows and crashed toward the restriction on the map.

Just as Xiao Ling's Soul Power tried to enter the map, a white barrier suddenly spread out from within it.

The Soul Power Xiao Ling had just released was directly shattered and dissipated into the air.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling grew intrigued. This thin white membrane was neither formed from Dou Qi nor a purely soul-based restriction. It was extremely unusual.

He released his Soul Power once more. Unlike the previous attempt, this wave of Soul Power carried a trace of spirituality.

Once one's Soul Power reached Mortal Realm Grand Perfection, the released Soul Power would contain a trace of Spiritual Energy. Once that Soul Power had transformed to possess spirituality, one had reached the Spirit Realm Soul.

When the Soul Power he released again touched that barrier, it was like ice meeting flame. The barrier gradually began to disperse. Before long, the scattered particles of light fell onto the ancient map and formed four bold, vigorous characters.

"Turtle Spirit Venerate."

Seeing this, Xiao Ling became even more interested. When he had first obtained this relic map and seen the medicine cauldron depicted on it, he had merely assumed it belonged to a Dou Venerate expert skilled in Alchemy Art.

Now that he had broken the restriction, the words "Turtle Spirit Venerate" had appeared. They were clearly the title of that Dou Venerate expert.

Rubbing his chin, Xiao Ling pondered, "Using Turtle Spirit as his title... could it be that this Dou Venerate expert refined a Turtle Spirit Earth Flame?"

On the Dou Qi Continent, once one reached the Dou Venerate realm, one could become a mighty figure even in the vast Central Plains. Even among the major factions, they would be honored guests.

In this era, when no cultivator could advance to Dou Emperor and Dou Saint experts had hidden themselves from the world, Dou Venerate experts represented the ceiling of power ordinary people could encounter. Thus, every Dou Venerate expert was respectfully addressed as a Venerate.

Some Dou Venerate titles came from attributes they excelled in, such as Thunder Venerate, the Pavilion Master of the Wind Thunder Pavilion, one of the Four Directions Pavilion in the Central Plains.

Others came from the weapons they specialized in using, such as Sword Venerate, the Pavilion Master of the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion, one of the Four Directions Pavilion in the Central Plains.

There were all kinds of such titles, but they all had one requirement: they had to be related to the person themselves.

Using Turtle Spirit as a title was neither a weapon nor the name of a cultivation technique. The only possibility Xiao Ling could think of was that this Dou Venerate expert had subdued a Turtle Spirit Earth Flame.

At that thought, Xiao Ling could not help but grow excited. The cultivation technique he practiced was Fen Jue, which could evolve rapidly by devouring Heavenly Flames and could also increase the quality of the technique.

If this Dou Venerate expert had subdued a Turtle Spirit Earth Flame during his lifetime, then that Turtle Spirit Earth Flame might still be within the relic he had left behind after his death.

With a thought, he activated his Soul Power, and the ancient map drifted toward the space between Xiao Ling's brows. He intended to find out exactly what it recorded.

As the map touched his forehead, a mass of golden light burrowed from the map into Xiao Ling's mind.

The moment his consciousness entered his mind, dazzling golden light shot toward him. Looking around, he found himself in a world almost entirely filled with golden light. Before him, countless characters condensed from golden light assembled together, eventually twisting into a light screen suspended in the air. Large golden words shone upon it, making Xiao Ling's eyes ache slightly.

"My name is Wang Yanqing. The world calls me Turtle Spirit Venerate..."

After a while, Xiao Ling quickly finished reading the contents of the light mass.

The person who had left behind the map was named Wang Yanqing. He had been a Dou Venerate expert a thousand years ago, as well as an Alchemy Grandmaster capable of refining Eighth-grade four-colored Pills.

Based on Wang Yanqing's original talent, without some great opportunity, he would have been unable to break through to the Dou Venerate realm in his lifetime.

However, after breaking through to High-level Dou Ancestor, Wang Yanqing had encountered a Turtle Spirit Earth Flame by chance. After absorbing and refining it, his cultivation talent improved, and it also greatly aided his Alchemy Art, causing his skill as an Alchemist to rise steadily.

After several decades of cultivation, Wang Yanqing broke through to become a Three-star Dou Venerate. By chance, he received news that a Dou Saint Relic had appeared in the territory of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan in the Beast Region. In order to obtain some opportunities, Wang Yanqing refined Eighth-grade four-colored Pills for others in exchange for inviting two Three-star Dou Venerates to explore the relic with him.

In order to compete with others for opportunities within the Dou Saint Relic, Wang Yanqing came into conflict with them. Although he ultimately obtained the opportunity, he also paid a terrible price.

The two Dou Venerate helpers he had hired died on the spot. His opponent used a Secret Art that consumed life force to attack Wang Yanqing, leaving him severely wounded with little time left to live.

Although Wang Yanqing relied on his Alchemy Art to refine many pills to alleviate his injuries,

the life-draining move was extremely strange. Wang Yanqing held on for several decades, but he still eventually died from his illness.

Because he had no descendants and had never taken a disciple in his life, Wang Yanqing constructed a relic in the final moments of his life in order to pass down all his abilities. He stored his entire fortune within it.

The map to the relic was sent back to his family in the Northwest Continent. Since no one in his family apart from himself had broken through to Dou Zong, there were only a few Dou Emperors.

Wang Yanqing hoped that whoever inherited his entire fortune would surpass the achievements he had attained in life, so he set up this soul restriction. Those who were not exceptionally talented or powerful would be unable to break it.

A thousand years had passed. The map had not been opened by anyone else, yet it had fallen into Xiao Ling's hands. Either the family had been destroyed, or Wang Yanqing's descendants had failed to produce anyone capable of meeting his requirements.

This Dou Venerate relic was located in a Magical Beast forest within the Falling Goose Empire.

After placing the map that recorded the Dou Venerate relic into the System Space, Xiao Ling took a deep breath.

After calming his somewhat excited emotions, Xiao Ling muttered inwardly, I never expected this Dou Venerate Relic Map to bring me such a tremendous surprise. The entire fortune left behind by a Dou Venerate expert who could refine Eighth-grade four-colored Pills in life—and the Turtle Spirit Earth Flame he refined should also be inside that Dou Venerate relic.

Turtle Spirit Earth Flame was a Heavenly Flame ranked thirteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. It was a strange brown flame shaped like a giant turtle, covered in sharp fire spines, with blade-like fangs filling its savage maw.

In the original work, Yao Tian of the Yao Clan, one of the younger generation of the Eight Ancient Clans, possessed a Turtle Spirit Earth Flame.

Since Turtle Spirit Earth Flame was not one of the top three Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, it was not unique. As long as the conditions for its birth were met, duplicate Heavenly Flames could be born over long periods of accumulation.

Even so, Xiao Ling was still somewhat worried. He did not know whether that Turtle Spirit Earth Flame was the inherited Heavenly Flame of the Yao Clan. Hopefully, it was not the same Turtle Spirit Earth Flame possessed by Yao Tian in the original work.

Perhaps they had simply been lucky. Xiao Ling himself, or perhaps some elder within the Yao Clan, might have discovered Wang Yanqing's relic. With their strength, no matter how well Wang Yanqing had hidden his relic, it would not have escaped their investigation.

Once he had settled matters in the Jia Ma Empire, he would head to the Falling Goose Empire and search for Turtle Spirit Venerate's relic.

At present, Xiao Ling had already grasped the whereabouts of Turtle Spirit Earth Flame, ranked thirteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking; Fallen Heart Flame, ranked fourteenth; and Sea Heart Flame, ranked fifteenth. These three consecutively ranked Heavenly Flames were all within his grasp, and there were even two Fallen Heart Flames.

If he could devour all these Heavenly Flames, not only would his cultivation rise tremendously, but the grade of Fen Jue would also increase significantly.

At that thought, Xiao Ling could barely wait to set off.

"Creak—"

Just then, the door beside him was pushed open, and Zi Yan emerged unsteadily from the bedroom, her hair still somewhat messy.

"Yawn... Xiao Ling, help me fix my hair." Zi Yan yawned before speaking to Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling shook his head helplessly and muttered, "You're so old already, yet you still need someone else to tie your hair. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Though his words carried some complaint, Xiao Ling still slowly took out a hair tie from his Ring, walked behind Zi Yan, and skillfully began tying up her hair.

Back in the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy, whenever Zi Yan's hair became messy, she often sought out Xiao Ling or Han Yue to fix it for her. By now, Xiao Ling was thoroughly familiar with the task.

Although Xiao Ling's muttering had been quiet, Zi Yan was at the peak of Dou Wang, and her senses were extremely sharp. Naturally, she heard his complaint.

She waved her fist at the air, and two white ripples blasted from it with piercing whistles, directly causing the space ahead to distort slightly.

"Hmph." Zi Yan smugly raised her little fist and said proudly, "By Magical Beast lifespans, I'm still a minor. If you dare complain again next time, believe it or not, this auntie will give you two BAM BAM punches."

Standing behind Zi Yan and fixing her hair, Xiao Ling saw that her casual punch had actually distorted space.

Still shaken, he could not help sucking in a breath of cold air. An Ancient Void Dragon truly is terrifying. I'd better spoil this little dragon girl in the future.

Looking at Zi Yan, Xiao Ling thought inwardly, She should already be able to tear through the void at will. Ancient Void Dragons truly possess astonishing talent in the path of space. When I have time, I can have Zi Yan teach me some techniques related to it. If I can master Space Power early, it will definitely be a great help in battle.

As Xiao Ling gathered Zi Yan's hair into a bun, he asked curiously, "From the looks of it, your strength should have improved somewhat. Are you about to break through to the Sixth Rank?"

Hearing Xiao Ling's question, Zi Yan nodded proudly and said smugly, "Miss Zi Yan is only one step away from becoming a Sixth-Order Magical Beast. Once I eat some more medicinal ingredients, I'll break through to Dou Emperor. Little Ling, you'd better work hard and catch up to me."

Hearing Zi Yan's smug tone, Xiao Ling curled his lips and reluctantly said, "Yes, yes, you're the best. In the future, you can just protect me when we're outside."

Yet inwardly, he muttered, Enjoy your smugness while it lasts. Once I devour the Green Lotus Core Flame and take the Dou Ling Pill, I'll become a Dou Emperor soon enough. After I devour a few more Heavenly Flames, my cultivation will quickly surpass yours. Let's see how you show off in front of me then.

After a round of playful banter, Xiao Ling finished tying Zi Yan's hair. He also roughly explained Qing Lin's situation to Zi Yan.

Although Zi Yan, being a Magical Beast, had no interest in such human affairs, after hearing Xiao Ling describe what had happened, she also felt some sympathy for Qing Lin's plight.

"I thought my own origins were miserable enough. I never expected there to be someone even more miserable than Miss Zi Yan." After hearing Xiao Ling's account of Qing Lin's situation, Zi Yan sighed.

Just then, the room door was pushed open, and Qing Lin, dressed in green, entered Xiao Ling and Zi Yan's sight.

Seeing that Qing Lin had already packed her things, Xiao Ling smiled at her, pointed at Zi Yan, and said, "Qing Lin, let me introduce you. This is Zi Yan, my companion."

Hearing Xiao Ling introduce her, Zi Yan nodded along. Seeing Qing Lin's petite figure, she spoke in the tone of an adult, "That's right, little girl. I'm Zi Yan. Your name is Qing Lin, right? From now on, you're Zi Yan's friend. Whoever dares bully you, I'll give them a fierce lesson."

After a slight pause, she continued, "I've been with Xiao Ling at Jia Nan Academy for five years, and the two of us are very close. Since you're her little sister, you're my little sister too."

Looking at the little girl before her, who was about the same size as herself yet wore the manner of a little adult, Qing Lin could not help smiling.