Heh Heh

Yao Yan's home was south of Pill Cauldron City.

It was a modestly sized courtyard, fully furnished with everything he needed, even a Pill Refining Room. If necessary, several beautiful maids could be arranged to serve him at any time. In truth, a direct-line seed like Yao Yan, who possessed the Yao Clan's Dou Di Bloodline, was quite sought after among the Yao Clan's branch families.

Even if his talent was lacking, he could still serve as a breeding stud. His parents' Bloodline Concentration might not have been high, but what if a genius emerged among their descendants?

In other words.

Yao Yan would not lack beautiful wives in the future. The clan would arrange them for him.

Of course, that was assuming the Yao Clan still existed.

Unfortunately, the Soul Clan was too ruthless, and Hun Tiandi was too formidable. Otherwise, Yao Yan really wanted to shout, The Soul Clan and I cannot coexist under the same sky!

Yao Yan pushed open the gate and glanced at the silent courtyard. After pausing briefly, he headed toward the Pill Refining Room. Ever since his mother had passed away, he had lived alone. Some people had wanted to adopt him during that time, but he had refused. He simply could not bring himself to call anyone else Father or Mother.

Living alone was far more comfortable. Besides, with Dou Qi protecting him and the soul of an adult, he had no need for anyone else to Take Care Of him.

The Pill Refining Room was extremely empty.

At its center stood a person-tall pill cauldron, dark yellow throughout, with a meditation cushion beside it.

This was where Yao Yan spent most of his days.

Over the past twelve years since transmigrating, he had either cultivated or immersed himself in pill refining. He rarely interacted with his peers at the clan school. Compared to playing in the mud with children, cultivation and pill refining were clearly far more interesting. That was also why he ranked near the top of the clan school.

Hard work would eventually be rewarded.

Yao Yan performed a Palm Flip. As Dou Qi flowed into it, a streak of light flashed across the Storage Ring on his index finger, and two bottles of medicinal pills appeared in his hand: a second-tier Essence Stabilizing Pill and a first-tier Mind Cleansing Pill. The former strengthened one's foundation and nourished the body and Dou Qi. It could be used together with the Yao Clan's inherited Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill to lay a foundation for the body.

According to the Yao Clan Elders, everyone below the Dou Wang realm was still in the foundation-laying stage of the Dou Qi path. Only after reaching Dou Wang could one truly step onto the road of the strong.

The strength of one's foundation would also determine one's future path.

Some people were too eager for quick success in the early stages and barely forced their way into the Dou Wang realm, only to exhaust all their potential and stagnate from then on. They would need External Objects, such as medicinal pills, to break through, yet every step would still be incredibly difficult. Reaching the Dou Emperor level would be their limit. As for Dou Zong and Dou Zun, they could only Look Up To them. This showed just how important one's foundation was.

It was said that the clan's core direct-line descendants would remain in the Dou Qi stage for a long time, constantly using Natural Treasures to deepen their potential until their talent and potential reached perfection.

They did not care in the slightest about the speed of advancement in the early stages.

Of course, that was how direct-line descendants played. Yao Yan naturally did not have such qualifications. However, the Yao Clan's inherited skills had similar effects, with the Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill being the best among them. Its Cultivation Speed and early-stage power were inferior to the other two open-access skills, but in terms of foundation laying, it possessed incomparable advantages.

It was said that this was also because of Yao Chen.

The Yao Clan had three major open-access foundation-laying skills, all of which had been passed down by the clan: the Condensing Fire Skill, the Prairie Fire Skill, and the Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill.

The first two skills made it easy to cultivate powerful Fire Strength for pill refining, but the Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill was different. Every step of cultivation was exceptionally difficult. Some clan disciples who cultivated it remained stuck at a single realm for years without making any progress. Thus, most people cast it aside, until Yao Chen emerged a hundred years ago and changed things.

Although this skill's Cultivation Speed was slow, and even the pill-refining Fire Strength it condensed was not powerful, it excelled in stability. It could lay a perfect foundation without the nourishment of Natural Treasures. Once cultivated to mastery, the richness of one's Dou Qi, physical strength, Soul Power, and other aspects would all far surpass those gained from the first two skills.

At first, Yao Yan had been half-convinced and half-doubtful. Only after practicing it himself did he discover this skill's uniqueness. He even suspected that it was related to the Yao Clan's Pill Emperor.

This skill was merely a low-grade Yellow Rank Skill, yet during cultivation, it could absorb the thin spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth and nourish the body's Essence, Qi, and Spirit. It actually possessed the effects of a Soul Skill. Unlike Soul Skills, which could only nourish the soul, the Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill could nourish the body's Essence, Qi, and Spirit all at once.

Spiritual energy was different from the Heaven and Earth Energy of the Dou Qi Continent.

The Dou Qi cultivated in the world of Battle Through the Heavens was formed by absorbing and transforming Heaven and Earth Energy, while spiritual energy was a higher-level power that belonged to the Great Thousand World beyond Battle Through the Heavens.

At present, no one in the entire world of Battle Through the Heavens knew this, nor did anyone understand the uniqueness of spiritual energy.

Yao Yan had only discovered this by chance. It was thanks to his Soul Power, which far exceeded that of his peers. Perhaps it was also related to the fact that his soul had transmigrated. In any case, he could sense the subtle changes in the surrounding energy. Combined with the information he knew, he had deduced these things.

Perhaps this skill had been left behind by the Pill Emperor after he went to the Great Thousand World.

Unfortunately, it was ultimately just a Yellow Rank Skill meant for laying foundations. Reaching the Dou Ling realm was already its limit, and no one knew how long that would take. Only because Yao Yan was a member of the Yao Clan, residing within the Heaven and Earth Energy-rich Shennong Mountain Range, and had access to large quantities of medicinal pills...

If it were the outside world, such as the Jia Ma Empire, you simply could not afford to cultivate this way.

Cultivation had always been a battle against the heavens, a struggle against the earth, and a race against time. No one had the patience to slowly cultivate a low-grade Yellow Rank Skill.

That was why, even after the incident involving Yao Chen, not many people in the Yao Clan chose the Three Flowers Gather Fire Skill.

He swallowed the two medicinal pills. As the Dou Qi within his body circulated, Yao Yan quickly entered cultivation. With every breath, the spiritual energy filling Heaven and Earth flowed into his body, accompanied by dense Heaven and Earth Energy that enveloped him as though he were bathing in white mist.

Time flew by, and before long, the sky darkened.

When Yao Yan opened his eyes, the night outside was already filled with stars, and the crescent moon hung like a hook.

"After becoming a Six-Star Dou Zhe, my Cultivation Speed has gotten slower and slower."

Yao Yan could not help frowning. Even though he knew this skill was special and focused on building up strength before unleashing it, this snail-like pace was still hard to endure. Which young person was not full of drive? Who would like such a slow cultivation skill, crawling along like a little turtle while helplessly watching their peers surpass them one by one?

Just imagining others already breaking through to Dou Shi and even Da Dou Shi while he was still crawling along at the Dou Zhe realm made the contrast obvious.

Most importantly.

He had no idea how long he would have to grind away at this stage.

"If only there were a progress bar..."

Yao Yan shook his head helplessly. He was not an old man, after all. His young body naturally brought with it the mindset of youth. Everyone had a competitive streak, and he could not remain completely emotionless and indifferent toward everything.

"Maybe I should find a way to get some Natural Treasures."

Hesitation appeared in Yao Yan's eyes. Though he was a member of the Yao Clan and did not lack low-grade medicinal ingredients or pills, he had no way of obtaining those Natural Treasures capable of nourishing the body. Such items had always been scarce despite their high prices. Especially in a place like the Yao Clan, even slightly higher-grade Natural Treasures had almost all been monopolized by the direct line.

With Dou Zong and even Dou Zun experts searching for them, how much scraps could possibly be left over?

Unless he went somewhere farther away, but the danger there was not something Yao Yan's tiny arms could withstand. He had no one who could help him search for such Natural Treasures.

For a moment, Yao Yan felt conflicted.

"Heh heh, little fellow, are you unwilling to accept this?"

Just then, a strange laugh entered Yao Yan's ears. That peculiar laughter instantly froze his expression, and an expletive nearly slipped from his mouth.

How the hell is this possible?!

This is the heart of the Yao Clan's territory!!

How dare they?!