Yao Clan

Shennong Mountain Range.

This place lay in the southernmost reaches of the Central Plains. Strictly speaking, it had already fallen outside the boundaries of the Central Plains, making it rather remote.

But as the old saying went: a mountain need not be high; with an immortal, it became famous.

Though the Shennong Mountain Range lay in a barbaric wilderness, where Poisonous Insects ran rampant and ferocious beasts rare in the Central Plains emerged without end, it was the Yao Clan's territory. This made the region exceptionally lively. The mountain range also produced all kinds of Rare Medicinal Materials, and many alchemists traveled thousands of miles to search for ingredients for pill refinement, making the Shennong Mountain Range immensely popular.

Of course, these alchemists only dared search for herbs around the outskirts. They did not dare set foot casually in the core regions within.

Because that was Yao Clan territory.

The Yao Clan was one of the Ancient Eight Clans. Taking medicine as their surname, they considered themselves unrivaled in the art of alchemy. From top to bottom, even those who were not alchemists could speak a word or two about pill refinement, while their ability to appraise pills was peerless.

After countless years of development, the clan had produced innumerable experts and an endless number of high-rank alchemists. Their power was immense.

Pill Cauldron City, one of the cities within the Medicine World.

At the central plaza stood a bronze pill cauldron nearly three meters tall. Lifelike Pill Patterns were carved across its surface, and a faint medicinal fragrance filled the surroundings, leaving one feeling relaxed and happy. Beside it stood three figures.

At the front were two solemn-faced elders, both watching the youth with his palm pressed against the pill cauldron's surface.

The youth wore simple, ancient-style robes, his long black hair loosely tied behind him. His slightly raised face was quite handsome. His eyes were shut as though he were sensing something. As time passed, the Pill Patterns on the cauldron abruptly lit up.

A moment later, three Pill Patterns slowly shone with light, like stars.

Seeing the three Pill Patterns illuminate, the slightly older elder spoke indifferently. "Yao Yan, twelve years old, a Six-Star Dou Zhe. Rank 3 Bloodline. His talent is acceptable."

"Unfortunately, it falls a little short."

The Middle-aged Man beside him sighed, seemingly dissatisfied with the result.

As a clan with a Dou Di Bloodline, the importance of bloodline was beyond question. The Yao Clan had been passed down to the present day, and its population had long exceeded ten million. Many among them came from intermarriage with outsiders, accepted disciples, relatives by marriage, or families attached through maternal relations.

Regardless of their origins, anyone who could live in Yao Clan territory was a member of the Yao Clan and shared inseverable kinship with it. They were merely known as branch lineages.

Only those whose bloodline rank reached Rank 4 or above were core clan members, entitled to the clan's focused cultivation and supplied with abundant Natural Treasures to nurture their Bloodline Power.

The youth before them clearly fell far short and could not meet the Yao Clan's standards.

Though branch lineage and main lineage differed by only one word, they were worlds apart.

"You are still young. By the time you come of age, your bloodline rank may reach Rank 4 or above. Even if it falls a little short, sufficient achievement in alchemy can make up for it. Our Yao Clan does not judge people solely by bloodline rank. Boy, work hard and strive to leave your name on the Clan Monument once you come of age."

The older elder looked sternly at the boy, Yao Yan, and advised him.

He was an Elder at Pill Cauldron City's clan school, responsible for instruction and talent selection there. He had some impression of Yao Yan, a junior with fairly decent talent, so he said a few extra words.

"Yes, Elder!"

Yao Yan opened his eyes and cupped his hands without servility or arrogance. Then he glanced at the towering stone monument rising into the sky, his face filled with longing.

That stone monument, located who knew how far away, was the Yao Clan's Clan Monument. Only those who had contributed to the Yao Clan could have their names recorded upon it. Virtually every Yao Clan descendant regarded it as their goal and took pride in it.

Yao Shan saw Yao Yan's expression and nodded approvingly. "You may go."

Yao Yan respectfully bowed to the two of them, then turned and walked toward the edge of the plaza.

Today was the day of the bloodline test, and the area around the plaza had long been packed with people. Quite a few of them knew Yao Yan.

A dark-faced uncle in armor saw Yao Yan's dejected expression and could not help comforting him. "Kid, don't be discouraged. A Rank 3 Bloodline is already pretty good. You can still become a captain in Uncle's Iron Guard someday."

The Iron Guard was the Yao Clan's army dedicated to protecting the safety of its territory. They were responsible for driving away ferocious beasts and outsiders around the cities, guarding the cities' security.

"Okay, Uncle Tie."

Yao Yan forced a smile in reply, though traces of disappointment still showed on his face.

"Don't talk nonsense. Little Yan's Alchemy Talent is quite good. There aren't many in this batch stronger than him."

"Right, right, look at this brain of mine. I nearly forgot. Hahaha."

Yao Yan politely responded to everyone's comfort, his face still carrying a dejected look as he slowly headed home, seeming utterly crestfallen.

Seeing this, no one stepped forward to continue consoling him. They saw scenes like this every year.

Not everyone was a Heaven's Favorite.

There were many cities within Yao Clan territory, each with a population of several hundred thousand. Every city had schools, and all Yao Clan descendants could enroll in them. From a young age, they could come into contact with alchemy techniques that ordinary people outside would find difficult to access. That was the foundation of an ancient great clan.

One could imagine how difficult it was to stand out from among them.

Not to mention the core clan members. Compared to those monsters, people like them could only be considered ordinary.

Once he left the plaza, the dejection on Yao Yan's face faded considerably. In truth, he was not disappointed at all. He was not even surprised by the result, because his parents, who had passed away in this life, had only been a Dou Wang and a Dou Ling. His father had not even possessed Yao Clan Bloodline. He had expected this outcome long ago.

In fact, the Rank 3 Bloodline had even surprised him a little.

It was higher than expected.

After all, in the Dou Di Clans of this world, Bloodline Inheritance was ironclad. If the parents' Bloodline Concentration was insufficient, the difficulty of producing a descendant with a powerful bloodline was about the same as winning a game lottery—it was entirely a gamble on mutation.

Ordinary Yao Clan descendants had neither powerful bloodlines nor Natural Treasures to nurture them from childhood. How strong could their Bloodline Power be?

Yao Yan had never considered himself a Special Case, even though he had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated while still in his mother's womb. Not long after arriving in this world, his father had died in the Shennong Mountain Range, supposedly at the hands of a pack of fourth-rank Magical Beasts. His mother had also passed away soon afterward, leaving him alone as a helpless child. It was as if it proved that saying: the parents of transmigrators had a high-risk profession.

Yao Yan felt rather sorry about that.

He did not know whether it was coincidence or something else.

For a time, Yao Yan had even wondered whether he was the so-called Protagonist, with a system at his side. In the end, he discovered that he did not have one. His only advantages were perhaps Soul Power much stronger than that of his peers and familiarity with the plot. These let him absorb new knowledge more quickly from a young age, which was why his talent in alchemy was fairly good.

After several years of effort, at twelve years old, he was already a Rank 2 Alchemist capable of refining more than a dozen Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills.

Yes, it was that exaggerated.

Outside, this was practically heaven-defying. Yet within the Yao Clan, it could only be considered excellent, far from qualifying as genius-level or monstrous.

For Yao Clan descendants, refining low-rank pills truly was not difficult. From childhood, they had ample medicinal ingredients to practice with, as well as alchemists teaching them hand in hand. Thus, Yao Clan members were generally Rank 3 or Rank 4 alchemists by adulthood, even the guards.

For them, the difficult part was breaking through to Rank 6 and above.

"It's fine for my Bloodline Concentration to be average. At least it won't draw attention."

Yao Yan silently comforted himself. He had actually been worried that his Bloodline Concentration might be too high, causing the Yao Clan to focus on nurturing him. If that happened, he would truly be finished—he would not be able to run even if he wanted to, and might even be targeted by the Soul Clan.

That was right. Over the past few years, he had already begun planning his escape.

Because there was truly no future in staying with the Yao Clan, and the future ahead was even darker.

In the Original Work.

Other than a handful of people, the entire Yao Clan had been refined by Nihility Devouring Flame. This included tens of millions of branch lineage members, all of whom became nourishment for Hun Tiandi's ascension to Dou Di. The written account had been incomparably tragic. Had Xiao Yan, the Original Work's Protagonist, not been among them, probably not a single person would have escaped.

In truth, from the moment Yao Yan learned that he had transmigrated into this world, he had been considering the path he would take in the future.

As for changing all of this... without the strength of a Dou Di, what could he use to fight the Soul Clan?

The Soul Clan was the most powerful force on the entire Dou Qi Continent.

Especially Hun Tiandi, that ruthless figure. To break through to Dou Di, he had plotted for a thousand years. In the end, he directly sacrificed half the Central Plains and several Ancient Families, slaughtering hundreds of billions of living beings. If Xiao Yan, the original protagonist, had not appeared, he would certainly have been the final victor.

Compared to him, the Clan Leaders of the other Ancient Clans were utterly unremarkable, all content to muddle along within their comfort zones.

Perhaps this was why Hun Tiandi had only regarded Xiao Xuan highly. At least Xiao Xuan had dared to take a gamble, staking the strength of his entire clan on one attempt.

At that thought.

Yao Yan could not help thinking of the Flame Mantra.

Having transmigrated into the world of Battle Through the Heavens, how could he not have thoughts about the Flame Mantra? Even though the risks of cultivating it were no different from swallowing a gun to kill oneself, it was the only cheat in Battle Through the Heavens. The risks in the early stages were extremely high, but the later rewards were absurdly great. It was a path straight to Dou Di.

As for the path of the Emperor Pill... without the strength of a peak Nine Star Dou Sheng, one was not even qualified to cast it a glance.

Thus, a few years ago, Yao Yan had asked around about Yao Chen. On one hand, it was because of the Flame Mantra; on the other, he wanted to determine the timeline.

The name Yao Chen was rather taboo within the Yao Clan. He had been cast out by the clan, and in his youth, he had clashed with Yao Wangui, an Elder of the Yao Clan Punishment Hall. Yet he had made an enormous name for himself in the outside world. Not only had he won the championship of the tournament held by Danta, he had also founded a power like Starfall Pavilion.

His own strength had even reached the Dou Zun realm, and he was known as Venerable Yao.

This string of events was quite exciting to ordinary Yao Clan members. Everyone loved gossip, especially gossip involving an Elder.

So Yao Yan had obtained news of him quite easily.

About a dozen years ago, Yao Chen had suffered a backlash while refining pills and died...

That was right, died.

Clearly, Yao Chen's "good disciple," Han Feng, had already turned against him and stabbed the teacher who had treated him like a son in the back. The gears of the plot were rumbling forward.

As for Xiao Yan, he had not yet appeared.

Unfortunately, Yao Yan could not obtain an exact timeline from this. To determine it, he either had to find out how old Gu Xun'er was now or travel to the Jia Ma Empire. Neither was possible for him at present.

"There's no point thinking so much."

Yao Yan sighed softly. For now, the proper path was to build up his strength within the Yao Clan. Only with strength would he be qualified to plan for the future.

After all, in this world of Battle Through the Heavens, strength decided everything.