Gifts of Pills, the Entrance Found!

"Why did I hear Yanran's voice? Didn't I send her to Black Rock City to exchange for the Ice Spirit Cold Spring?"

It seems I miss Yanran too much. I even hallucinated her voice, Yun Yun thought.

Her thoughts wandered further. Why didn't I hear Xiao Huo's voice? It would be nice if I could hallucinate his voice too. At least it wouldn't feel so unbearable~

Listening to the faint, indistinct calls by her ear, Yun Yun gave no response. She merely leaned against the wall and slowly sat down.

In the neighboring cell.

Receiving no response, Nalan Yanran assumed no one was imprisoned next door. After muttering a few words, she fell silent. As though sharing a mutual understanding, she too leaned against the wall and slowly sat down.

Master and disciple sat back to back like this, separated by a wall, neither aware of the other.

Shimo City, Desert Iron Mercenary Group headquarters.

After shouldering the duties of the group leader, Xiao Yan experienced the power of being a leader.

To be honest, he did not like it much.

Power was certainly intoxicating, but it was also a restraint, especially for someone like him with such a strong sense of responsibility.

So Xiao Yan simply became a hands-off manager and delegated his authority to a woman named Xue Lan.

This woman was not only a beauty who had appeared a few times in the original story.

She was also the only one among the mercenaries Xiao Yan had first rescued who dared to sound out his intentions, worrying that he might harm Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

Thus, with Xue Lan assisting him, Xiao Yan spent two relatively leisurely days.

Once the two days passed, both Xiao Ding and Xiao Li awakened, their physical constitutions greatly enhanced.

When they first woke up, the mere act of getting out of bed and leaving the room directly demolished the house.

Demolished it in the literal sense.

Each brother bumped into a load-bearing pillar, snapping both of them. The house collapsed, burying the two inside.

Fortunately, their physical constitutions were formidable. Aside from being covered in more dust, they suffered no other problems after being buried.

"Cough, cough~ Someone, bring Big Brother and me some new clothes!" Xiao Li shouted as he crawled out of the 'ruins.'

Xiao Ding also got to his feet, but he was too embarrassed to shout. He only kept wiping the dust from his face, unwilling to let the mercenaries see him in such a sorry state.

In the courtyard, Xiao Yan looked at his two brothers emerging from the ruins of the house and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, Big Brother, Second Brother, what family's fallen young masters are you dressed up as?"

Xiao Ding sighed, while Xiao Li feigned anger. "Third Brother, this disaster was clearly caused by your pills being too effective, and you're laughing at us? You have to take responsibility!"

Xiao Yan did not argue and nodded repeatedly. "Sure, sure. Consider it payment for the wonderful show Big Brother and Second Brother put on for me."

As he spoke, he flicked out a Storage Ring and tossed it to Xiao Ding. "Big Brother, there are some Tier Three, Tier Two, and Tier One pills I refined inside. There are healing pills, pills that temporarily boost strength, and pills that increase cultivation speed. The variety is complete, so you and Second Brother can use them as you please."

Xiao Ding caught the Storage Ring instinctively. Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, his expression immediately changed. "No, no. Your Second Brother was only joking. Why are you taking it seriously?"

Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head. "Of course I know he was joking. I already wanted to give these pills to you and Second Brother. I merely used that as an excuse."

"These low-grade pills won't take much of my time."

"Use these pills to raise your strength as quickly as possible. The family's troublesome matters in the future will all depend on you two."

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li no longer stood on ceremony with Xiao Yan. They nodded, their eyes filled with approval.

The three brothers walked together and embraced one another, with everything left unspoken.

It was fine when the two hugged Xiao Yan. His body was so strong that even if they attacked with all their might, they could not break through his defenses.

But when Xiao Ding and Xiao Li hugged each other, neither could control his strength, leaving the other grimacing in pain and covered in bruises.

That was because both of them possessed physical strength on the level of a Tier Four Magical Beast. If they hugged anyone else and tightened their arms, it would already be fortunate if they did not squeeze that person into pulp.

Xiao Yan rubbed his forehead. "Sigh, looks like I'll have to fill in for another two days."

Over the next few days, Xiao Yan continued managing the mercenary group.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li sparred against each other, gradually bringing their surging strength fully under control.

During that time, Xiao Yan also asked Yao Lao for two low-level Earth Rank cultivation methods suited to their attributes and gave them to the brothers.

Besides that, Xiao Yan selected two suitable low-level Earth Rank Dou Skills from his vast inheritance of Dou Skills and gave them to them as well.

With this equipment, his two brothers' strength could rise another level. Even Dou Ling experts might not necessarily be their opponents.

It was worth mentioning that,

while they were mastering their strength,

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li very carelessly fought their way into the Sand Mercenary Group's territory, and the aftershock very carelessly killed their leader and a large number of upper-ranking members.

After learning of this, Xiao Yan strongly condemned his two brothers, yet 'helplessly' sent people to take over the Sand Mercenary Group's properties and wealth.

As for the Storm Mercenary Group, ranked third in Stone Desert City, after witnessing the vastly increased strength of Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, they directly sent people to surrender.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had grown much more ambitious after their strength increased. Knowing that the Storm Mercenary Group's conduct was far better than the Sand Mercenary Group's, they accepted them as well.

Of course, another reason was that they truly lacked manpower now.

After all, Xiao Yan had not come to the Tagor Desert merely to visit his family. Heavenly Flames were his true objective.

And to quickly find the entrance from the original story, the more manpower they had, the better.

Of course, Xiao Yan knew that the Green Lotus Core Flame had long since been taken by Medusa. However, the Earth Lotus Platform and lotus seeds deep within that magma were also extremely valuable treasures.

They were treasures that could drive even Dou Emperor experts mad with desire.

More importantly, those Earth Fire Lotus Seeds were fire-attributed natural treasures.

If he absorbed them with his Fire Spirit Body, the improvement would certainly be immense.

If he consumed them all, Xiao Yan was confident he could directly break through to the Dou Wang realm!

Once his cultivation reached Dou Wang and the weakness in his Dou Qi was further remedied, his endurance in battle and his upper limit in pill refinement would both receive a considerable boost.

Therefore, Xiao Yan was determined to obtain the Earth Fire Lotus Seeds and the Earth Fire Lotus Platform.

As for the Heavenly Flame, he was not anxious in the slightest.

Medusa was merely using the Heavenly Flame to evolve rather than devouring it, so there was no conflict with him.

He could even use the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame to help Medusa evolve, then exchange it along with other resources for the Green Lotus Core Flame.

If she evolved with the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, even the danger would likely be greatly reduced.

Perhaps even those side effects from the original story would not appear.

"The Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python's essence blood... it can barely be used to awaken a talent. If I can awaken a devouring talent similar to the Heaven-Swallowing Python's, then devouring talent plus Fire Spirit Body plus Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra plus Burning Mantra... when I devour Heavenly Flames in the future, tsk tsk, the image is too beautiful to imagine."

Xiao Yan sat in his chair, fantasizing about his wonderful future. Beside him, Qing Lin thoughtfully massaged his shoulders, occasionally bringing a grape to his lips.

Just then, a mercenary from the Desert Iron Mercenary Group rushed in to report, his face full of delight. "Report! Acting Group Leader, the entrance you were looking for has been found! It's in the eastern area outside the city!"