Interlude

"This is the Sixth Floor, and it's divided into grades too. But unlike the floors above, which are divided into high, middle, and low levels, this one is ranked by numbers. The smaller the Cultivation Room number, the more it helps your cultivation. Mine is Number One, the highest grade! Nom!" Zi Yan marched proudly ahead of Liuli, hugging a bottle of pills as she ate and explained.

"Then, have you been below the Sixth Floor?" Liuli blinked and asked.

"Below the Sixth Floor?" Zi Yan rested a small hand against her head and thought for a moment before answering, "There seem to be three more floors below. One is where those old men go into seclusion, one is for the top ten of each year's Inner Court Grand Competition to cultivate once, and the other seems to be some kind of passage."

"A passage?" Liuli was startled. That passage should have been the entrance to the underground Magma World, where the Shetuo Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion, sought desperately by every clan, was located.

"Mm. I only took one look from the cave entrance on the floor above, but there's a Great Fire Snake down there. I didn't dare go down." Zi Yan pouted. "Once I get stronger, I'm definitely going down there to beat it up. Those old men have all suffered terribly because of it."

Then, the girl turned to look at Liuli again, a strange glimmer flashing through her purple eyes.

"You're very strong. In the Inner Academy, only Elder Su Qian is stronger than you. And there's an aura inside you that's very similar to the Great Fire Snake's. If you came for that thing, you should give up. I've seen how violent it gets. You'll be burned to ashes, and your family won't even be able to collect your body." Zi Yan spoke calmly, then poured another pill from the bottle into her mouth, turned around, and continued forward.

Liuli paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly.

Was this little girl worried about her?

Of course, she would not take the Fallen Heart Flame. It was a divine tool for Xiao Yan to improve his strength. She would not steal the protagonist's opportunity.

Liuli stepped forward and caught up with Zi Yan.

"My Cultivation Room is almost here. Do you want to come in and take a look?" Zi Yan asked.

"I'm going to the Seventh Floor. Elder Su Qian has already spoken to the Tower Guard Elder below, so they'll let me pass." Liuli smiled and took another bottle of pills from her Storage Ring, stuffing it into Zi Yan's arms.

"Why do you have so many pills? Are you an Alchemist?" Zi Yan did not refuse. Delight filled her blinking eyes, though it was tinged with a little doubt and wariness.

"I'm not. These are for the guardian Magical Beast at my home, so I carry some with me." Liuli lied without changing expression.

Naturally, she had specially refined these pills. Their main purpose was to build a good relationship with Zi Yan. The girl before her was far from ordinary. Her father, Zhu Kun, was the Dragon Emperor of the Primordial Void Dragon Clan, a peak Nine-star Dou Saint. Thus, Zi Yan possessed the genuine royal bloodline of the Primordial Void Dragon Clan. Building a good relationship with her meant being on good terms with the Primordial Void Dragon Clan in the future. Moreover, she would become one of Xiao Yan's friends. Once Xiao Yan came to Jia Nan Academy, Liuli could use her relationship with Zi Yan to get close to him.

The reason she lied was that the first step in the friendship between Xiao Yan and Zi Yan was for the former to refine pills for the latter. If she took over that role, their friendship might never develop.

"Alright, then how much more of this do you have? I can trade things with you for it. This is delicious, and it can make me stronger too. It's really great!" Zi Yan's gaze dimmed slightly, but she quickly perked up again and asked carefully.

Liuli smiled knowingly and raised her hand, showing Zi Yan the Storage Ring on it. "The Magical Beast at my house is quite large and eats a lot, so I stocked up on plenty. If you run out, just come to my dormitory and get some."

"Really?" Zi Yan's eyes lit up at once, and excitement covered her face. Yet the next moment, she grew wary again and asked suspiciously, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Mm, good question." Liuli nodded with feigned seriousness, then gently removed the conical hat covering her head and pinned it to her chest. Revealing a warm smile, she said, "I want to be friends with Zi Yan. Isn't that reason enough?"

"Friends..." Zi Yan froze, trying hard to understand the weight of those words.

"Is that not okay?"

"No!" Zi Yan hurriedly shook her head and murmured softly, "I've never had friends before..."

Ever since she became conscious, she had lived alone in mountains filled with Magical Beasts. Back then, she was very weak, yet she possessed bloodline power unlike that of ordinary Magical Beasts, allowing her strength to grow rapidly. Furthermore, when facing Magical Beasts of similar or even greater strength, that bloodline power could faintly suppress them. Yet possessing a treasure invited disaster. The higher one's bloodline, the more fatally attractive it was to certain powerful Magical Beasts. Thus, most of the time, Zi Yan hid from the pursuit of Beast Kings and Beast Emperors while gradually growing stronger.

When she reached the Fifth Rank, she stumbled upon a Shaping Grass by chance and swallowed it by mistake. From then on, she remained in the form of a human child. Later, she encountered Su Qian, who brought her back to Jia Nan Academy, where she became a special student.

Among the students, her strength, comparable to a Dou Wang, quickly made her one of the Academy's most famous figures. She seized first place on the Inner Court Strength Ranking in one stroke and had held it ever since. This terrifying strength, completely at odds with her appearance, weighed upon the students like a mountain. Therefore, nearly every student feared her and kept their distance. No one dared get close to her. Instead, some of the Academy's Elders showed her a measure of affection.

"Mm, then I'll take that first time~" Liuli giggled, bent down, and pinched Zi Yan's smooth, tender cheek.

"!!" Zi Yan was startled and hurriedly backed away, covering her face as she looked at Liuli warily. Her little face reddened slightly as she muttered, "You can't touch my face!"

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Take me to the entrance to the Seventh Floor!" Liuli said with a smile.

Although she could find the entrance by sensing the difference in the density of energy around her, she still decided to let Zi Yan lead the way.

She had to make her feel like she had helped a friend~

"Okay." Zi Yan answered, then turned and continued leading Liuli toward a corner of the Sixth Floor.

Mountain region near Wutan City, Jia Ma Empire.

An old man and a woman stood beside a massive crater, carefully examining the traces of battle around it.

The old man wore a coarse robe, his hair streaked with white, yet his face did not look aged. There was a hint of imperial majesty between his brows. The woman was quite young, her hair arranged into a phoenix-shaped ornament. Her beautiful features were calm and serene, and though she wore plain clothing, she still exuded an impossible-to-hide air of grace and nobility.

"Old Jia, have you reached any conclusions?" the woman asked calmly, her voice as clear as a mountain spring.

The old man shook his head, a hint of gravity appearing in his eyes. "I know more or less the fighting styles of the strong individuals near the Empire. But the aura left behind by this battle is extremely unfamiliar. They should not be strong individuals from this region. And destruction on this scale could only have been caused by at least two High-tier Dou Huangs fighting."

"Two High-tier Dou Huangs!" The woman was startled. Within the Jia Ma Empire, every Dou Huang was a mighty figure, one of the supreme overlords of this land. The number of Dou Huangs in the Jia Ma Empire did not exceed five. Now, two had appeared one after another and fought fiercely within the Empire. If word got out, it would likely stir up no small amount of trouble.

The old man touched the soil beside the crater. A stream of scorching, sharp Silver Dou Qi emerged from it and actually began attacking his palm. His expression changed, and earth-yellow Dou Qi emerged from his fingers, wrapping around his hand and preventing the Silver Dou Qi from entering his body.

"What domineering energy. It resembles metal-element Dou Qi, yet it carries the scorching sensation of fire-element Dou Qi. The strength of the person who unleashed this attack is certainly not below mine, perhaps even greater!" the old man said gravely.

Seeing this, the woman also covered her hand with Dou Qi. She bent down and ran her pale fingers across the ground, picking up some charred soil and sensing the energy within it.

"This energy is very pure. Combined with destruction on this scale, it had to be at least an Earth-tier Dou Technique, and not a low-grade one either... At the very least, if our Sect's Extreme of Wind faced it, it would probably be blasted apart." The woman spoke calmly and scattered the soil in her hand with Dou Qi.

"There are bloodstains here as well!" The old man descended into the center of the crater, crouched down, and examined them carefully. "This blood should belong to the Dou Huang who was severely injured by the Dou Technique that created this crater. Furthermore, it carries a faint pressure. It should have come from a strong individual of a major power or family, possibly someone with an inherited bloodline."

"One is a strong individual from a major power, while the other is a Dou Huang with a Dou Technique of terrifying power..." The woman sank into thought.

For the past century, the Jia Ma Empire had maintained a relatively balanced situation, with the Royal Family, the major families, and the Sect led by the Misty Cloud Sect forming a three-way balance of power. This situation existed because all three sides possessed Dou Huang experts.

Among the ten strongest individuals of the previous generation in the Jia Ma Empire, Old Jia, Jia Xingtian, was the Royal Family's guardian; the Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong, was a Grand Elder of the Mite'er Family; and her Master, Yun Shan, was the previous Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect. The balance among these three great figures had kept the Empire stable.

However, with the Ice Emperor's disappearance and the gradual aging of the previous generation's strong individuals, the Empire's family powers had begun to decline, and this stable situation was gradually being broken.

Most importantly, the Misty Cloud Sect had produced her, a second Dou Huang, and an exceptionally young one at that. This allowed the Misty Cloud Sect to shed its former low profile and begin expanding on a large scale, gradually developing into a behemoth capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Royal Family. With the Nalan Family's Young Miss, Nalan Yanran, joining the Misty Cloud Sect, a message was indirectly sent as well: the various powers of the Empire had begun choosing sides!

The Royal Family and the Misty Cloud Sect had long lost their former close relationship. They had even begun secretly obstructing and suppressing one another in certain matters. After all, no one would allow something capable of threatening their position to slowly grow stronger.

Now, two mysterious Dou Huangs from unknown powers had appeared one after another within the Jia Ma Empire. This would undoubtedly cause no small upheaval in the Empire's already turbulent situation.

"There won't be many peaceful days ahead," Jia Xingtian murmured with a hint of helplessness.