The Ancient Clan's Plans

"Small Space Binding Mirror, seal!"

A dozen deep, aged voices echoed in the dark cave at the core of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Immediately afterwards, a vast and powerful energy surged out, condensing into a colorful light screen above the distorted space. Invisible flames collided heavily with the light screen, causing both to tremble violently. Terrifying energy ripples, enough to kill Da Dou Shi on the spot, rapidly spread out, finally crashing into the four dark walls and dissipating.

The light barrier flickered and dimmed under the impact of the invisible flames, but after a period of turbulence, it remained remarkably stable.

Even that terrifying, invisible flame could not break through the barrier of light.

At this moment, outside the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, a sea of people, a dense crowd, and a cacophony of noise echoed throughout the land.

These were students who had escaped from the tower, and they were all somewhat panicked and uneasy as they talked about the changes that had occurred inside the tower. This was the first time they had experienced such a change in the tower, and although they did not know exactly what had happened, they still felt a little scared.

After all, if something had really happened inside the tower, they would probably be in grave danger by now if they hadn't run even a little slower.

Gu Qingyang and the others did not join in this meaningless discussion. Instead, they gathered together and all looked at the large section of the tower spire that was exposed above the ground.

With their strength and knowledge, it was not difficult for them to perceive the special features of this Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Gu Qingyang, the most powerful among them, was even able to sense some major actions taking place inside the tower.

"It seems that Jia Nan Academy is just so-so..."

Although the Gu Yao had experienced the wonders of the Fallen Heart Flame during this time and was well aware that the effects of this Qi Refining Tower were no less than some of the Ancient Clan's cultivation secret realms, his inherent pride still made him want to use his words to his advantage.

"It can't compare to the clan, but Jia Nan Academy's opportunities and methods are already far superior to many other forces on the continent. There's something you haven't realized yet: even with the Dou Emperor Bloodline, you didn't reach the Dou Ling when you were the same age as Xiao Yan. If that Young Master Yan were given more time and resources, it probably wouldn't be long before he caught up with us."

Gu Qingyang shook his head upon hearing this and said with a serious expression.

As Xun'er's cousin, he is, in a sense, Xiao Yan's future brother-in-law.

Therefore, he naturally wanted to know something about the person that his cousin, Xun'er, the eldest Xun'er of the clan, valued.

He doesn't need to do any investigation; he can just ask Ling Ying directly.

As the most loyal servant who secretly protected Xun'er as she grew up, Ling Ying was naturally very familiar with Xiao Yan, who was Xun'er's childhood sweetheart.

Furthermore, Xun'er didn't want the clan to be filled with opposition towards her and her Brother Xiao Yan. Therefore, Xun'er Gu Qingyang from knowing what he wanted to know. She believed that anyone who wasn't a fool could see how outstanding her Brother Xiao Yan was!

And Gu Qingyang was indeed not a fool.

He began cultivating Dou Qi at the age of three, Ninth-Stage Dou Qi at the age of ten, and broke through to become Dou Zhe.

After two years of training away from home, he had already advanced to the Da Dou Shi realm.

During this time, he moved freely in and out of the Snake-Person Tribe Sanctuary in the Tagor Desert, and managed to seize the Heavenly Flames right under the noses of Queen Medusa and the Snake-Person Tribe, and then refined it.

What's even more terrifying is that this guy became a genuine Fifth-Grade Alchemist in just two and a half years!

Furthermore, he directly won over the Medicine Gang, which had once monopolized the pill market within the Inner Academy, and persuaded them to join the Student Union. Such personal charisma is self-evident.

Moreover, it's said that this guy is a complete madman when it comes to cultivation.

Although he was surrounded by many outstanding young women, he only had time to interact with them occasionally. The rest of the time, he was either studying Alchemy or cultivating.

In Ling Ying's words, he had never seen such a hardworking and talented young man in his life.

Even Xun'er, God-Grade Bloodline from the Ancient Clan and a proud daughter of heaven, paled in comparison to Xiao Yan.

Because Xiao Yan is a true all-rounder.

He cultivates quickly, has great perseverance, is talented, can fight, can refine medicine, and can command respect.

In this light, it's not hard to understand why these outstanding young women would fall for him...

After all, as the pride of the Ancient Eight Clans, whether it was the young ladies or Gu Qingyang and others, they had seen plenty of young men who were hailed as geniuses.

But they are all among the best.

However, a simple comparison reveals that even they had no chance of reaching the Dou Wang realm before the age of thirteen.

However, Xiao Yan became Fifth-Grade Alchemist.

Looking across all races, even the Yao Clan, renowned for its Alchemy, has no one who can become a genuine Fifth-Grade Alchemist at such a young age!

This is absolutely incredible!

Gu Qingyang even felt regret.

If Xiao Yan were a member of the Ancient Clan, then with the Ancient Clan's foundation and resources, it's likely that within twenty years, the Ancient Clan would be able to have a perfect successor as the next Clan Chief leader, and under his leadership, the Ancient Clan would very likely reach even greater heights!

However, for a behemoth like the Ancient Clan, any genius is unlikely to catch their eye before they grow into a true powerhouse.

But at least for Gu Qingyang, he wouldn't provoke Xiao Yan before he could ascertain Xiao Yan's character.

Just wait and see.

After all, it seems that Xun'er is indeed in love with him, and Xun'er's competitors are all outstanding women from various races.

In a sense, it even feels like an Ancient Clans starting a contest ahead of time.

If anyone loses the right to compete with Xiao Yan, it would undoubtedly make their clan lose face.

This strange and somewhat ridiculous situation left Gu Qingyang feeling helpless.

The Xiao Clan has fallen to such a state, yet such a dazzling prodigy has emerged?

Perhaps, in his hands, the Xiao Clan will regain its greatness?

Gu Qingyang didn't know, but he felt that if Xiao Yan was really a good person, he could make friends with him and speak up for Xun'er within the clan to help her.

After all, while the elders in the clan were indeed wholeheartedly for the good of the Ancient Clan, their thoughts and ideas were somewhat outdated and corrupt. Moreover, to put it bluntly, Xun'er was the Clan Chief's only daughter, the only God-Grade Bloodline in the clan, and also his cousin. Rather than helping those elders who were destined to become the past, it was naturally better to help Xun'er, who represented the Xun'er of the Ancient Clan.

As the eldest of the younger generation of the Ancient Clan, Gu Qingyang clearly understood how to act in a way that was more advantageous to him.

As for the elders' tasks?

Under normal circumstances, he would definitely try his best to complete it.

However, Xiao Yan is clearly an exception. While he may be considered ordinary, he is not. Therefore, this task can be handled by the principle of "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure."

Although some individuals and systems within the Ancient Clan were corrupt, they had one redeeming quality: they were always fair and tolerant towards their talented members.

Gu Qingyang was able to become the eldest brother of the younger generation in the Ancient Clan not because of the elders, but because of himself!

Even if this mission is not completed well, it will not shake his position.

Gu Zhen shared similar thoughts with Gu Qingyang.

His bloodline power was mediocre, but fortunately his talent was decent, and he was also quite good at dealing with people. Apart from Gu Qingyang and the other three, no one in the Ancient Clan had better overall qualities than him.

Unlike Gu Qingyang, he didn't think that much. He only knew that with his current strength, if it weren't for his Ancient Clan background, he wouldn't have the right to disrespect a genuine Fifth-Grade Alchemist.

The reason he could think this way was naturally because his parents were not high-ranking members of the Ancient Clan. As far as he was concerned, he had no background within the Ancient Clan. Therefore, his thinking was closer to that of most people in the Dou Qi Continent who worked hard to cultivate.

As for Gu Qingyang and the others, the Eighth-Grade Alchemist in the clan would greet them with smiles, so they naturally couldn't have the same feelings and experiences as Gu Zhen.

In particular, the Gu Yao's cultivation method is more focused on killing, which has affected his temperament. This makes his already straightforward nature more rigid and blunt in his actions and speech. Naturally, he doesn't realize that as a mere young man who has just advanced to the Dou Wang level, it's fine for him to be a bit arrogant within the Ancient Clan, but outside of the Ancient Clan, he should restrain his nature.

Of course, it wasn't up to Gu Zhen to say these things. Therefore, all he could do was wait for Xiao Yan to appear and try to befriend him. That way, if Xiao Yan and Gu Yao had any conflicts in the future, he would have room to maneuver in pleading for the other side, regardless of who he was speaking up for.

Gu Xing and Gu Hua had no intention of completing the mission at all.

First of all, Gu Qingyang is excellent and reliable. With him around, this kind of thing is a piece of cake. They only need to cultivate.

Secondly, with Gu Zhen around, and this guy being a very hardworking person, he can serve as a safety net.

Finally, Gu Yao has always been a mission machine. Although the way he completes missions and the results are often less than ideal, objectively speaking, he is indeed capable of completing missions.

With triple insurance in place, isn't the mission a piece of cake?

Therefore, they naturally don't need to go to the trouble. At most, they can lend a hand when these three need help, thus getting an assist.

They've been doing this for so many years, and the five members of the Ancient Clan have come to understand each other without saying a word.

Upon hearing Gu Qingyang's words, Gu Yao fell silent.

"So what if we realize it? You know the situation within the clan better than I do. If Xiao Yan didn't possess strength far surpassing ours, how could we have silenced those old fogies?"

After a moment, he said in a cold voice.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyang and the others fell silent.

They naturally understood that the Gu Yao's words were absolutely true.

"However, if Xiao Yan can defeat me head-on, then I have no right to interfere in his affairs with Miss."

Then, the Gu Yao spoke again.

"Sigh, you'd better watch your attitude. Miss definitely won't like it."

Seeing Gu Yao's indifferent expression, Gu Qingyang shook his head helplessly.

When he was getting information from Ling Ying, he sensed that the Gu Yao was also nearby.

The Gu Yao was actually the most diligent in his cultivation among the five.

Therefore, after hearing how Xiao Yan cultivated so frantically and risked his life to seize opportunities, this guy couldn't possibly remain unmoved.

But to truly win over this arrogant fellow, one must ultimately rely on their own strength.

He is the only one among the Ancient Clan to possess such strength.

Of course, Xun'er might be able to do it after she achieves some success in her cultivation.

Xiao Yan is indeed a genius. I wonder how long it will take him to achieve that?

Even with such a commotion, Xiao Yan still hasn't shown up...

Did he actually go to the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower to cultivate?

In the crowd, Hun Li Li and Shi Xuanxuan stood side by side, glancing at Gu Qingyang and the others out of the corner of their eyes.

With her soul perception, she naturally noticed these powerful yet unfamiliar faces immediately.

However, she isn't particularly concerned about these five people right now.

In contrast, both she and Shi Xuanxuan were more concerned about something else.

They entered the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower together, so where did Xiao Yan go?

The seventh level of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Deep within the thick, crimson mist, a figure sat cross-legged, motionless.

Xiao Yan's bare upper body, with its dark red jade-like luster flickering under the onslaught of violent energy, resembled steel being forged through tempering.

Thick white smoke rose from his body, a sight caused by the instantaneous vaporization of sweat.

Within his body, the Flame Mantra was operating at high speed, the Sea Urchin Dou Crystal was spinning wildly, and one of the eight energy spikes was slowly and steadily shortening and solidifying.

Despite the surrounding energy being so violent that ordinary people couldn't absorb it at all, Xiao Yan instead absorbed the violent and boundless fire-attribute energy around him even more fiercely.

When the Great Sun Separation Fire Body technique was pushed to its limit, the Heart Fire that was powerful enough to ignite Da Dou Shi and burn him to ashes was forcibly pulled away, refined into the Separation Fire, and absorbed by Xiao Yan's body.

At the very center of this energy storm, a slender red figure, like a fish swimming upstream, quietly passed through the energy barrier between the sixth and seventh levels.

"Call..."

The moment Huo Zhi stepped into the seventh floor, she felt as if she had crashed into a viscous lava lake.

The terrifying heat made her gasp for breath, and a faint red halo automatically appeared on her body to defend against it. Faintly, fiery red lotus patterns could be seen emerging on the halo.

At the same time, an invisible "Heart Fire" appeared out of nowhere within her body, trying to ignite her.

However, as the red Fire Lotus mark between her brows flickered slightly, those Heart Fire vanished instantly!

Her sharp gaze swept across the empty, deathly silent seventh-floor corridor.

This is clearly not a place for students; there are very few training rooms, and all of them have their doors tightly closed.

Her senses, like invisible tentacles, struggled to extend amidst the turbulent flow of energy.

Suddenly, her gaze settled on a spot deep in the corridor, near the edge of the core area.

There, the energy was most violent; the crimson mist almost condensed into a liquid state, resembling a miniature vortex of fire.

And in the center of that vortex, a figure sitting cross-legged could be vaguely seen!

The figure was naked, with a muscular upper body and skin that had a strange, dark red, jade-like luster, shimmering with a resilient light under the impact of violent energy.

Thick white smoke rose from his body, only to be instantly evaporated by the surrounding high temperature. He was like a piece of stubborn iron that had been forged in a furnace, not only refusing to melt but also drawing power from the furnace to become even stronger.

Her eyes suddenly lit up.