Black-Domain Great Plain

As for Han Feng's Sea Heart Flame, in the eyes of Xiao Jie, it was already as good as his own.

Whether it was his peak Dou Emperor cultivation or his status as a Tier 7 Alchemist, neither posed a threat to him.

In this Black-Corner Region, a place governed by profit and filled with chaos and slaughter, no one would avenge a dead Tier 7 Alchemist, nor would they offend a young peak Tier 6 or even Tier 7 Alchemist for the sake of a corpse. The only thing that required caution was that Soul Hall Protector.

This Han Feng had some connection to the Soul Hall, or rather, he was being used. Once his utility was squeezed dry, he would be killed and his soul extracted. Unless he could break through to the Dou Venerate realm or become a Tier 8 Alchemist, his value to the Soul Hall was limited; only by maintaining his usefulness could he stay alive.

Therefore, Xiao Jie only needed to keep an eye on Han Feng, ensuring he did not leave the Black-Corner Region, or snatch the Sea Heart Flame before the Soul Hall could kill him.

Currently, as far as the Soul Hall Protectors in this Northwest Continent were concerned, only he knew there were two peak Dou Ancestors. However, they were operating separately; one was likely in this Black-Corner Region, while the other might be at the Misty Cloud Sect. As for whether there were others, it remained unknown.

As long as he did not expose his Heavenly Flames, he would be safe for the time being. After all, he was a peak Tier 6 Alchemist protected by a Dou Ancestor and several Dou Emperors; it would not be easy for a single Protector to kill him.

If he were to reveal that he possessed Heavenly Flames—especially several of them—he would essentially be courting death. Two peak Dou Ancestors were a force no power in this Northwest Continent could contend with.

Thinking this way, Xiao Jie felt it was better to collect Heavenly Flames discreetly. Yet, if he didn't stir up trouble in the Black-Corner Region, Han Feng would never go to snatch the Fallen Heart Flame from Jia Nan Academy. It was a vicious cycle; if Han Feng didn't go, Xiao Jie would find it difficult to seize it in the open.

If he dragged this out until Xiao Yan arrived at Jia Nan Academy and obtained the Fallen Heart Flame first, the gap between himself and Xiao Yan would only narrow.

This seemed to be a turning point for both him and Xiao Yan; it all depended on who could obtain this Fallen Heart Flame and Han Feng's Sea Heart Flame first. Once he secured these two flames, his future would be smooth sailing, turning every danger into a blessing.

Xiao Jie needed the fortune contained within these Heavenly Flames to eliminate the targeting of the world's will. As long as Xiao Jie's fortune surpassed that of Xiao Yan, the original child of destiny, perhaps this world would favor him instead.

The distance between the Jia Ma Empire and the Black-Corner Region was vast, requiring one to cross several small nations before reaching the borderlands of the Black-Corner Region.

At such a distance, if one were to travel on foot or by horse, it would take over half a year to reach the outskirts of the Black-Corner Region from the Jia Ma Empire, and that was assuming the journey was completely unobstructed.

After all, within the territories of these small nations, due to various reasons involving terrain and power struggles, these factions were essentially locked in daily skirmishes for profit.

Furthermore, whenever they ran out of money, these mercenary groups would turn into notorious bandits. Any caravan passing through their territory without the protection of a powerful expert would likely be stripped of their wealth and women, meeting a tragic end.

Xiao Jie's group, with the exception of Qing Lin, were all Dou Emperor-level experts, so no short-sighted faction dared to block their path.

They traveled by constantly using Dou Qi Wings to fly. Although this consumed a significant amount of Dou Qi, Xiao Jie, as a peak Tier 6 Alchemist, had plenty of pills to recover his energy, so there was no need to worry too much.

However, they still stopped to rest every few days, primarily to look after Qing Lin, who hadn't even reached the Dou Practitioner level yet, allowing Xiao Jie and the others to adjust their states.

As Xiao Jie's group flew, no one dared to obstruct three experts above the Dou King level. After flying for over thirty days, the monotonous, rolling mountain ranges below suddenly began to thin out.

This sudden change made Xiao Jie pause slightly. He looked toward the distance and saw, at the very edge of his vision, a pitch-black plain emerging, like a black line separating the outside world from the inside.

"Is this the Black-Domain Great Plain?"

Xiao Jie watched the black line expanding in his vision and said with some pleasant surprise.

After more than a month of flying, Xiao Jie felt exhausted, but in that instant, he became invigorated and let out a long sigh of relief.

"This endless black plain is exactly as described for the gateway to the Black-Corner Region. Once we cross this, we should arrive."

Hai Bodong also breathed a sigh of relief; this month-long flight had been truly exhausting.

"Let's rest for a while and recover our state before moving on."

Xiao Jie sensed his surroundings and, finding no danger, took out a Qi Recovery Pill, swallowed it, and entered a meditative state. Hai Bodong and Qing Lin did the same, while the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor found a spot to stay on its own.

As Xiao Jie entered meditation, faint energy fluctuations began to seep from his body. A subtle suction force pulled the energy from the surrounding space into his body, refining it and pouring it into the sea of Dou Qi in his Dantian. The sea of Qi, which had been less than half full, gradually began to rise as the energy was injected.

This quiet cultivation lasted for nearly half a day before the faint energy fluctuations around Xiao Jie began to weaken, eventually disappearing completely.

His tightly closed eyelashes trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes, a flash of deep cyan light vanishing within his dark pupils.

He opened his mouth slightly and exhaled a breath, the slight fatigue on his face vanishing, replaced by a faint, jade-like luster.

After this period of rest and adjustment, he had finally recovered some strength; this long journey was truly no easy task.