Battle Through the Heavens: The Road to Rise Begins at Canaan Academy

Inside the secret chamber, Qin Chen raised a hand and waved. More than ten rare medicinal herbs flew out of his storage ring and hovered silently in midair.

Bang!

With a dull thud, the medicinal cauldron landed on the ground. The Green Lotus Core Flame suddenly surged, and Qin Chen tossed the medicinal herbs into it one after another.

Qin Chen could naturally have refined the Seven-Illusion Green Spirit Saliva directly into a liquid for Yao Lao to consume, but doing so would greatly diminish its effects.

After all, Protector Wu was a four-star Dou Zong. In the original story, after Yao Lao consumed the medicinal liquid refined by Xiao Yan, he had only been able to fight Yun Shan, who had just entered the Dou Zong realm, to a standstill.

With Soul Hall's strange methods, if Yao Lao possessed only the strength of a one-star Dou Zong, wouldn't Protector Wu capture him alive in a single exchange?

Failing to catch Protector Wu would be the least of their worries. If they drove him into a corner and he directly devoured Yao Lao's soul to perish together, who would be able to leave alive?

Therefore, Yao Lao's strength had to reach at least the three- or four-star Dou Zong level. Only then could they prevent Protector Wu from succeeding and ensure that Qin Chen did not lose the initiative.

Under the tempering of the azure flames, a rich medicinal fragrance quickly filled the entire secret chamber.

Breathing in the refreshing fragrance, Xiao Yan immediately felt the soul exhaustion caused by refining the Brand Poison vanish completely. His eyes lit up. Teacher can finally recover!

In truth, the Battle Qi Continent had no shortage of heavenly treasures capable of rapidly restoring an exhausted soul. However, their uses and rarity varied, so their effects naturally differed as well.

What Qin Chen was refining this time was also a medicinal liquid. If classified by pill grade, it would be roughly a fifth-tier pill. The refining process was not complicated, and it barely consumed any of his energy.

As time passed, Qin Chen gradually fused a cluster of brilliantly colored medicinal liquid into shape. It radiated vigorous life force.

Qin Chen turned and signaled to Xiao Yan. The latter immediately understood, flicking his finger as the black ring in his hand traced a graceful arc through the air and flew into the colorful medicinal liquid.

The moment the two came into contact, the medicinal liquid instantly boiled and rapidly adhered to the Ancient Flame Ring, seeping into it bit by bit.

At the sight, Xiao Yan was overjoyed. He could already vaguely sense that familiar soul power slowly awakening.

Black light flickered continuously from the Ancient Flame Ring, as though something was about to burst forth from within.

"Since you have already awakened, Senior, please show yourself." Qin Chen smiled, leaving Yao Lao no chance to attack.

The ring visibly paused. Then a faint glow flashed, and Yao Lao's illusory figure slowly drifted out from the Bone Flame Ring.

Compared to when Qin Chen had first seen him, Yao Lao's soul power was undoubtedly much more solid now.

"Teacher!" Xiao Yan's face was filled with delight upon seeing Yao Lao appear again.

"I am fine now." Yao Lao smiled at Xiao Yan, then turned to Qin Chen and said solemnly, "Little friend Qin Chen, thank you for this time."

Although he had fallen asleep, he had not lost his awareness of the outside world. He knew about Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran as well.

But Qin Chen could not be blamed for that matter. After all, he had put in considerable effort to awaken him. If others learned of it, it would only make Yao Lao, the Medicine Venerable, seem petty.

"There is no need for such courtesy, Senior. We each got what we needed." Qin Chen shook his head and smiled. "I have already invited the experts who will accompany us to the Misty Cloud Sect."

Qin Chen did not say who they were. He believed Yao Lao already knew.

Yao Lao nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Senior." Qin Chen's expression turned serious as he said in a deep voice, "Since we will be facing someone from Soul Hall, I believe it is necessary to discuss our strategy beforehand."

"Mm." Yao Lao nodded and chuckled. "If this old man is not mistaken, you must have learned some important information?"

"Senior truly has sharp eyes."

Qin Chen grinned and continued, "Through Yun Yun, the sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, this junior did learn several important pieces of information. One of them is that the Soul Hall protector is a four-star Dou Zong."

"A four-star Dou Zong..." Yao Lao's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had not expected the opponent to be evenly matched with his current self. Without the medicinal liquid Qin Chen had refined, he truly might not have been a match for him.

"That is right." Qin Chen nodded. "According to Yun Yun, he is preparing something, and it seems he has already detected Senior's whereabouts."

"What?" Yao Lao's expression changed. "Little friend, do you know the details?"

"This junior does not know the reason behind it." Qin Chen shook his head, then shifted his gaze toward Xiao Yan. "However, I think part of the reason lies with Brother Xiao."

"Me?" Xiao Yan, who had been idling at the side, looked utterly confused.

How could he possibly be connected to that Soul Hall protector?

"That is right." Qin Chen smiled softly and looked at Yao Lao. "Think about it, Senior. Battle Qi vanishing for no reason for three years, then rapidly advancing from Battle Qi to Dou Practitioner within a year and a half—would that happen to a native of the Northwestern Continent?"

"Not to mention that the Xiao Clan is merely a small family within the Jia Ma Empire."

After a moment of silence, Yao Lao nodded. "You have a point."

During his escape after his physical body had been destroyed, the last Soul Hall protector he had killed had been in the Northwestern Continent. Soul Hall must have strengthened its search in this region.

Soul Hall was detestable, but it had to be said that this faction was extremely powerful and deeply rooted. People in the Northwestern Continent could not guess why Xiao Yan's Battle Qi had mysteriously vanished, but concealing it from a prepared Soul Hall protector was another matter entirely.

Moreover, Xiao Yan had gone from Battle Qi to Dou Practitioner in just over a year. With his own talent and the Jia Ma Empire's local alchemists' use of heavenly treasures, that was simply impossible. It was not difficult to infer that a high-level alchemist was helping him from behind the scenes.

The local alchemists of the Jia Ma Empire could never have refined pills effective during the Battle Qi stage.

Just like Qin Chen, who had guessed his identity the moment they met. Although the Bone-Chilling Spirit Flame had played a role in that, merely deducing that Xiao Yan had an expert behind him—and one from the Central Plains—was enough. There was surely no shortage of rewards within Soul Hall for information on him, the Medicine Venerable.

What he had not expected was that Soul Hall's reach extended so far that even the impoverished Jia Ma Empire bore traces of them.

The Alchemist Grand Assembly Begins

At the Mittel Family headquarters, inside a concealed underground secret chamber.

"Teacher, I..."

Listening to the two of them, Xiao Yan suddenly felt his nose sting, and intense guilt surged within him.

If not for his youthful impulsiveness and reckless acceptance of Nalan Yanran's absurd three-year agreement, he would not have drawn Soul Hall's attention and placed his teacher in such danger.

"It is fine. You need not blame yourself." Yao Lao stroked his beard, a carefree smile on his face. "This matter was mainly due to your teacher's lack of foresight. Besides, we have not yet reached the end of the road."

He had struggled against Soul Hall for centuries and long understood the conduct of those sinister creatures. Combining the fragmented intelligence Qin Chen had brought, Yao Lao had already formed a rough picture of the situation.

Greed had long been carved into the bones of those neither human nor ghost.

Since they knew of his whereabouts yet had not dispatched a large force to surround and eliminate him, the leading protector must have been greedy for merit and rashly intended to monopolize this immense achievement.

After all, Yun Shan, the former sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, was a genuine Dou Zong. In that Soul Hall protector's eyes, two Dou Zongs joining forces would naturally be more than enough to deal with him, a weakened soul body.

In that case, the man would most likely choose to wait at the Misty Cloud Sect for him, the Medicine Venerable, to walk into the trap himself.

Unfortunately, no matter how carefully that protector calculated, he had not accounted for the fact that Yao Lao's soul power had already recovered by more than half. Nor had he accounted for the several experts now aiding him.

Since that was the case, they might as well go all the way!

As long as they could keep that protector here for good, his whereabouts as the Medicine Venerable would not leak in the slightest.

With that thought, Yao Lao turned to Qin Chen, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "You are right. This matter truly requires careful planning. Let this old man first share his thoughts."

"Please do, Senior." Qin Chen nodded with a smile.

Half an hour of discussion passed in the blink of an eye. After much deliberation, the three finally devised a largely complete plan. Xiao Yan and Yao Lao then left the secret chamber first.

Only after their figures had completely vanished did Qin Chen slowly return to his room.

The night was deep, and winter's chill seeped through the window lattice in thin strands.

Qin Chen removed his outer robe and gently took the little Heaven-Swallowing Python wrapped around his arm. The little fellow was sleeping soundly, her delicate little face full of innocent charm.

He shook his head helplessly and chuckled softly. "Little fellow, all you do all day is eat and sleep. What an easy life!"

He carefully placed Xiaocai at the head of the bed, then leaned against the soft pillows. Before long, he fell into a deep sleep, faint snoring slowly echoing through the quiet room.

With his cultivation as a Dou Huang, he no longer needed sleep to nourish his body. Still, taking a brief nap every now and then was a rare comfort.

"Hiss..."

Not long after Qin Chen fell asleep, the little Heaven-Swallowing Python beside his pillow suddenly trembled, and her tightly closed eyelids slowly opened.

The usual innocence and confusion had faded from those enchanting vertical pupils, replaced by cold beauty and majesty. It was not difficult to tell that the one controlling this body was now the Medusa Queen!

A barely perceptible flash of colored light appeared. The little Heaven-Swallowing Python's body floated lightly into the air and settled above Qin Chen's chest.

Her pointed tail playfully supported her chin, her tiny snake head tilted slightly, and her eyes quietly examined Qin Chen's sleeping face.

Although Medusa's soul often slumbered, she was not entirely unaware of the outside world.

Over the past month or so, she had witnessed nearly everything Qin Chen said and did. Considering everything that had happened since they met, a thought in her heart became increasingly clear.

This man was absolutely not as simple as he appeared!

He was playing a grand game, and the board was far from limited to the tiny Jia Ma Empire. His target was certainly not merely a single Soul Hall protector!

There was also something else Medusa could not understand.

Qin Chen clearly knew that she could sense the outside world, so why did he dare keep her by his side with such ease?

"Could it be..."

"Am I one of his targets too?"

The instant the thought emerged, Medusa's heart jolted.

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Uh...

At least, not for now!

According to the rules passed down by generations of Medusa Queens, the queen's husband had to be stronger than the queen herself!

Medusa forcefully suppressed the inexplicable restlessness in her heart and thought this to herself. Yet in the next instant, another strange idea quietly surfaced.

The spouses of past Medusa Queens had all been powerful Snake-People experts.

But Qin Chen was merely a "delicate-skinned" alchemist. Perhaps...

Special circumstances could be treated specially?

After all, the strength spoken of on the Battle Qi Continent had always referred to overall strength, not merely one's cultivation realm.

Medusa remembered Qin Chen mentioning during a casual conversation that, with his current alchemy skills, he could already refine seventh-tier pills.

The only reason he had not done so was that refining seventh-tier pills would cause too great a commotion, and there was no immediate need for them.

A seventh-tier alchemist held a status on the continent comparable to a high-level Dou Zong!