The Pill Pavilion's Beauty Rescue: The Truth of the Twin Flames Burning Souls and the System Puppet

The basement of the Heaven Pill Pavilion was thick with the stench of rotting medicinal herbs. The stone walls were covered in the Soul-Devouring Insect array patterns of the Soul Clan, and Xiao Yi Xian was suspended upside down on the central System Modification Platform, her limbs bound by glowing blue code chains. Her Woeful Poison Body was being forcibly converted into a dark purple "System Venom," and the mechanical blue light in her pupils was a stark contrast to the lively green glow Xiao Yan remembered.

"Subject 037, toxin conversion rate at 92%, template assimilation nearing completion." The Soul Clan alchemist turned the gears on the console, his voice laced with a sickly excitement. "Once you become 'Venom 03,' every alchemist in the entire Jia Ma Empire will become a puppet of the Soul Clan!"

"Let her go!" Xiao Yan's roar shook dust from the stone walls as his Dual Flame Heart Fire transformed into a blade, cleaving the stone door asunder. The alchemist turned to flee, but Xiao Feng's Emperor Flame Chain coiled around his throat. The flames spread along the chain, instantly burning through his System Robe to reveal a chest riddled with insect nests.

"Son of Xiao Zhan... how dare you disrupt the system plan!" The alchemist grinned hideously and bit into a poison sac hidden between his teeth. The System Badge on his chest exploded, and countless Soul-Devouring Insects surged out like a black mist. Xiao Feng had been prepared; his Emperor Flame Domain erupted, the orange-red flames washing over the swarm like a tide and refining them into nothingness. Only a single jade slip engraved with the character "Soul" fell to the ground.

Xiao Yan leaped onto the modification platform and saw the "System Core Seal" on Xiao Yi Xian's neck; the rune was emitting a shrill alarm in sync with her heartbeat. He reached out to touch the seal, only to be repelled by a barrier made of code, while a system prompt exploded in his sea of consciousness:

Ding! Host Xiao Yan detected attempting to sabotage a system puppet. Initiating "Soul Formatting" procedure!
Warning: Target soul imminent destruction. Countdown: 00:03:00

"Third Brother, help me stabilize her soul!" Xiao Yan turned and roared, pulling three "Truth-Breaking Pills" from his storage ring—secret medicines refined with Emperor Flame and his own heart blood. "I need three minutes to melt the seal!"

Xiao Feng nodded, and the Emperor Flame dancing at his fingertips transformed into a transparent shroud, enveloping Xiao Yi Xian. He channeled "Soul Movement Three Thousand" to forcibly invade her sea of consciousness, only to find it locked behind layers of code barriers. Suspended in the center was a black cube—the "Data Cage" used by the system to imprison souls.

"Xiao Yi Xian, do you remember our first battle in the Magical Beast Mountain Range?" Xiao Feng's soul power transformed into sound, transmitting into the cage. "You used your Woeful Poison Body to protect me, saying, 'Brother Xiao Yan, run'—now it is my turn to protect you."

Ripples spread across the surface of the cage, revealing a sliver of green light—Xiao Yi Xian's lingering consciousness. Xiao Feng seized the opportunity to send a spark of Emperor Flame into the cage, the fire acting like a key to unlock the first layer of code.

Simultaneously, Xiao Yan injected his Dual Flame Heart Fire into Xiao Yi Xian's meridians, attempting to soften the seal. However, the seal suddenly split into countless code-insects that burrowed into her heart. Xiao Yi Xian snapped her eyes open, the blue light in her pupils flaring violently. She raised a hand to grip Xiao Yan's throat, a mechanical voice spilling from her lips: "Threat target detected. Initiating purge procedure."

"Xiao Yi Xian, it's me!" Xiao Yan gritted his teeth against her strength, pressing both palms to her chest. "Look closely, I am the Xiao Yan who grills magical beast meat for you!"

Ding! "Emotional Resonance" hidden mechanism triggered. System program vulnerability detected!

Xiao Yi Xian's fingers trembled slightly, and the blue light in her eyes faded a fraction. Xiao Yan seized the moment to condense his Dual Flame Heart Fire into the shape of a lotus and pushed it into her chest: "Fire Lotus: Heart Purification!" The moment the flames exploded, the code-insects let out a series of shrill shrieks, only to be refined into Clarity Pills engraved with the words "Burn Away the False." These pills traveled through Xiao Yi Xian's meridians, purging the remaining system code.

When the last insect was incinerated, Xiao Yi Xian coughed up black blood, and the seal on her neck turned to ash. She looked at the green poison mist in her palm, now crystal clear once more, and tears welled in her eyes: "Brother Xiao Yan... your flames are warmer than in my memories."

Xiao Yan smiled and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth: "That's because this time, I used the Emperor Flame and the Dual Flame Heart Fire of the Flame Emperor—a Clarity Pill refined specifically for you, and I burned the Soul Clan's insect nest while I was at it."

The ground suddenly shook violently as hundreds of "System Guards" armed with code-blades flooded into the basement. Xiao Feng swung his blade, unleashing "Emperor Flame: Space Splitter." Wherever the flame-blade aura passed, the steel blades melted into iron, and the guards' system armor cracked, revealing the controlled faces of mortals beneath. Xiao Yan took the opportunity to distribute the Clarity Pills to them. The pills dissolved upon contact, and the men awoke as if from a long dream, kneeling one after another to express their gratitude.

"Thank you, Young Master Xiao, for saving our lives! We... we actually helped the Soul Clan refine puppets!" One guard looked at his arm, still covered in insect nests, his eyes filled with remorse.

Xiao Feng nodded, his gaze falling on the "System Terminal" in the corner. The screen was scrolling through the Soul Clan's "Mass Production Plan": "Use system templates to assimilate all alchemists on the Douqi Continent, converting them into puppets capable of automatically refining Soul-Devouring Insect pills." Xiao Yan crushed the terminal and sneered: "The Soul Clan wants to turn the continent into a puppet factory? They'll have to ask my flames if they agree first."

Xiao Yi Xian struggled to her feet, the poison mist at her fingertips automatically condensing into the shape of a flower: "I can feel it. Under the scorching of the Dual Flame Heart Fire, my Woeful Poison Body has evolved—the poison mist can now directly identify system code." She turned to look at Xiao Feng: "Brother Xiao, your soul power..."

Xiao Feng shook his head, signaling her not to speak—when he had invaded the system's sea of consciousness, his Emperor Scale patterns had been scorched by the code and were throbbing with pain, but he was more concerned with the information in the jade slip. Unfolding it, he saw the Soul Clan's infiltration plan for the Misty Cloud Sect: the arena for the "Three-Year Agreement" had been transformed into a "System Death Array," and Nalan Yanran was locked at the "Broken Engagement" node, serving as the key to trigger a plot kill.

"Xiao Yanzi, it seems we must head to the Misty Cloud Sect ahead of schedule." Xiao Feng burned the jade slip to ash. "The Soul Clan wants to use the system template to complete a 'Plot Kill' on the Xiao Clan, but they have forgotten—"

Xiao Yan gripped the Heavy Xuan Ruler tightly, the dual flames dancing in his palm: "Our flames have always been used to break the plot."