The Yao Clan might not have reached an agreement internally on the marriage alliance. When they left, they were not held back too strongly this time. Lei Qi did not care about that. He had always understood that in this world, as long as he was strong enough, what woman would not be his to possess?
Although the Soul Clan's thousand-year plan had entered its countdown, the time remaining was enough for him to rise to the same heights as Hun Tiandi.
Lei Qi had that much confidence.
After all, his greatest trump card was not his talent!
Still, overall, this trip to the Yao Clan had not been in vain.
As for pill refining, his current inability to improve was merely because no one had taught him any proper experience.
But if someone were willing to impart some experience to him, the results might be entirely different.
For now, setting everything else aside, he planned to follow Mang Tianchi to Jia Nan Academy first.
The Fallen Heart Flame within Jia Nan Academy would be of considerable help to him.
A cultivation cheat—this Heavenly Flame might not have possessed the greatest destructive power, but that trait alone made it impossible to resist.
Moreover, even if he could not devour multiple Heavenly Flames like Xiao Yan, the Fallen Heart Flame came in two flames. He could absorb one and cultivate the other. Once the two flames merged, it would surely bring tremendous gains.
As for cultivating the Flame Mantra, Lei Qi had no interest in it. At least, he was not interested for now. The black lightning within his body was clearly extraordinary as well.
After leaving the Yao Clan, they entered a spatial wormhole once more and continued onward.
With a Half-Saint like Mang Tianchi, their travel speed was naturally extremely fast.
The journey was also exceptionally smooth. After all, the one clearing the way was a Half-Saint expert. In this present world where Dou Gods no longer existed and Dou Shengs did not appear, Half-Saints and Dou Venerates were undoubtedly the heavens of the continent!
Sensing Mang Tianchi's aura, naturally no fool dared provoke them.
"Elder Mang, where have we reached? How much longer until we arrive at the Northwestern Continent?" Lei Qi asked after two days of travel.
"This is the Central Region, where the Pill Domain lies. We are within the Pill Tower's sphere of influence," Mang Tianchi replied.
"Oh? We have reached the Pill Tower?"
Lei Qi muttered, then said, "In that case, let us take a look around. I heard there are Five Great Clans here. We can capture a few talented alchemists and bring them back to teach me how to refine pills."
"Ah?"
Mang Tianchi was slightly stunned.
Although the Pill Tower was merely a Central Plains faction, it was one of the top powers on the surface of the Central Plains.
More importantly, the Pill Tower Ancestor was an old monster-level existence as well. Even Dou God Clans were unwilling to provoke him.
Under the rule that Five-Star Dou Shengs were forbidden from entering the world, the Pill Tower Ancestor was undoubtedly the number one person of the current age.
"Although my Thunder Clan does not fear the Pill Tower, such conduct may be somewhat improper," Mang Tianchi said hesitantly.
Kidnapping one or two alchemists—would that not be picking a fight with the Pill Tower?
"Relax. The Pill Tower will give us this courtesy. Besides, if they are not to my liking, I will simply let them go," Lei Qi said.
Lei Qi understood the Pill Tower—or rather, the major factions—fairly well. As long as one did not destroy their sect, they could tolerate minor matters.
Lei Qi was somewhat speechless at Mang Tianchi's tendency to overthink things.
Even if the Thunder Clan was not as uninhibited as the Soul Clan, there was no need to be this rigid, was there?
How could he not understand that Mang Tianchi feared the Pill Tower Ancestor—that high-quality Xuan Dan?
But leaving aside that the other party was not here, even if he were, so what?
Would he really dare start a full-scale fight?
"Elder, you have seen my talent for pill refining. If I had some foundational knowledge and a teacher of sufficiently high rank, would that not help me even more?" Lei Qi persuaded him again.
No matter what, since they had come here, he naturally intended to take a look.
Hearing this, Mang Tianchi was somewhat tempted.
Previously, they had wanted the Yao Clan to provide some guidance, but apparently because they were outsiders, the Yao Clan had refused to engage with them.
With Lei Qi's talent, he truly ought to find someone highly accomplished in pill refining.
But taking a master...?
"Enough. Let us go. If anything happens, I will bear the consequences myself," Lei Qi said again.
"Heh, brat, do you think this old man is someone afraid of trouble? Let's go!" Mang Tianchi had Thunder Clan blood in him, after all. Hearing Lei Qi say that, he immediately agreed.
As for any consequences, he could no longer be bothered to worry about them.
A mere youngster was unafraid, so what was there for him to fear!
Lei Qi could not help sighing inwardly. As expected, a true Thunder Clansman!
Soon, they passed through the spatial wormhole and arrived at the exit of a spatial passage in the Pill Domain.
Before them lay a vast and expansive Stone Platform. It had been forged entirely from snow-white rock and stood nearly a hundred meters high. Supporting it at such a height were more than ten enormous stone pillars beneath it!
The stone pillars held up the Stone Platform like pillars that supported the heavens. From afar, it appeared exceptionally majestic and spectacular.
The space above this Stone Platform was also vastly different from other places. It was especially chaotic here. A huge expanse of space was severely distorted, and faint black cracks even spread through it.
This was a city with a spatial wormhole, the equivalent of an airport.
Though it was merely a city on the outskirts of the Pill Domain, in terms of grandeur, even certain empires might not compare to it.
There were naturally imperial dynasties on the Dou Qi Continent. However, the status of imperial dynasties in this world was not particularly high. Many clans and factions even stood entirely above imperial authority.
This was the central region of the Dou Qi Continent.
If not for Mang Tianchi, Lei Qi, Yang Ji, and their guard Zhang Yi would have needed seven or eight days just to reach this place.
Upon arriving, Mang Tianchi looked at Lei Qi and said, "This is a city belonging to the Cao Clan, one of the Five Great Clans affiliated with the Pill Tower. It is also called Cao City. The Cao Clan is the greatest power here."
The Cao Clan?
Lei Qi's heart stirred slightly. Cao Ying, the "enchantress" with astonishing talent for pill refining, came from this clan.
He remembered that when Cao Ying had been born, her soul power had appeared with such shocking intensity that her mother had nearly been crushed to death on the spot by the spreading soul force.
At seven, she had formally become an alchemist. At fifteen, the Pill Tower had taken notice of her and made her a core disciple as an exception. After cultivating in seclusion within the Pill Tower for five years, she had become the Cao Clan's youngest Seventh-Grade Alchemist at twenty.
Then, by twenty-two, after only two years, she had already been able to refine Eighth-Rank Pills that drew Three-Colored Pill Lightning.
Without the support of any bloodline, she was unquestionably a genius in pill refining.
She had attained such achievements at twenty-two. When Xiao Yan had been twenty-two, he had only just broken through to the Dou Zong realm and become a Seventh-Grade Alchemist.
There was no reason for him not to take someone like her under his wing.
Before you continue