The Incomplete Earth-Tier Combat Technique

Waving to Xiao Xun'er and the others, Xiao Yan left the square with Old Man Huo amid the blazing gazes and sounds of admiration from all around.

Before long, the two returned to the cauldron-shaped building. They went straight underground and stopped before a bluestone door.

Xiao Yan examined it closely. Fluorescent light flowed over the stone door. Though its radiance was not as intense as that of the stone door in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, its energy was drawn inward, and the arrangement upon it was anything but ordinary.

Old Man Huo took out a jade tablet from his Storage Ring and pressed it into a recessed spot on the stone door. At once, all the fluorescent light receded like the tide into the jade tablet. With a gentle push, the stone door opened.

Treasured light burst forth, painting Old Man Huo in a dazzling array of colors.

"The things in this room are my collection from many years. Some are curious trinkets I acquired in my youth, while others are peerless treasures gained through the passing years. Feel free to choose whatever you like."

Xiao Yan smiled and nodded, then entered the stone chamber.

Before him stood rows upon rows of Magic Core weapons—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, and every other kind. Judging by the flowing light upon them, even the lowest-quality ones were embedded with third-tier Magic Cores.

After sweeping his gaze across them, Xiao Yan spotted a broadsword fitted with a sixth-tier Magic Core among the weapons, the same type as the weapon he currently used.

Unfortunately, it was a water-attributed Magic Core weapon, conflicting with his own attribute.

In the end, Xiao Yan stood before that wall of weapons and clicked his tongue as he looked them over for a while.

These weapons alone were worth at least tens of millions of gold coins. The collection of an alchemist who had lived long enough was truly terrifying.

Xiao Yan wanted many things, but in this stone chamber, he only hoped to find a fourth-rank pill formula, a fifth-tier medicinal cauldron, a sixth-tier Beast Flame, or an Earth-Tier combat technique.

Only during today's refinement of the Beast-Strength Pill had he realized that, without noticing it, his Alchemy Art had already reached the level of a Fourth-Rank Alchemist.

Since that was the case, if he found a new fourth-rank pill formula to study, he could begin refining it as long as the ingredients were complete.

If he wanted to refine higher-grade pills, naturally his medicinal cauldron needed an upgrade as well.

Old Man Huo's consideration of changing circumstances was quite reasonable.

Xiao Yan did not know how many medicinal herbs and Magic Beasts had vanished so far, but one substance beyond even Old Man Huo's comprehension was indeed gradually disappearing from the Dou Qi Continent, producing an enormous impact.

Origin Qi—the substance that helped one break through to become a Dou Emperor—was now exceedingly scarce, making the already difficult Dou Emperor realm even harder to reach.

Alchemists who could come into contact with this level had yet to find a substitute. Only the Hun Clan possessed a bloody method: using the lives of the ancient Lineages and more than half the living beings of the Central Plains to ripen an Emperor-Grade Nascent Pill containing a trace of Origin Qi, thereby breaking through to Dou Emperor.

The gradual extinction of medicinal herbs and Magic Beasts, even Origin Qi itself—those were all matters for the future. Xiao Yan still felt that the present was what mattered. Medicinal cauldrons, pill formulas, flames, and the like were what he needed most right now, so he should just search for those.

Xiao Yan turned and walked toward the rows of wooden shelves on the right, where many strange objects had been placed.

There were rare metals, excellent materials for forging weapons, armor, and medicinal cauldrons; there were also valuable jades and other such items. They were of little use for cultivation, but made fine ornaments to display and admire...

Xiao Yan looked as he walked, and he did discover some very good medicinal herbs along the way. However, they were enough to refine sixth-rank pills. Though extremely valuable, they were of no use to him in his current state. Besides, with the Palm-Heaven Bottle, ripening seeds that were not difficult to find could not have been easier.

"This is... Beast Flame!" After walking for some time without finding what he wanted, Xiao Yan fixed his eyes on an emerald jade box.

Through its green jade walls, a flame flickered within, its color seeming even more verdant than the box itself.

Seeing that none of his treasures had caught Xiao Yan's eye, Old Man Huo had been secretly muttering to himself, wondering whether his collection was too poor or whether a genius like Xiao Yan simply had standards too high.

Now that Xiao Yan had finally found something that seemed to move him, Old Man Huo smiled and introduced it. "This is the Beast Flame of the sixth-tier Magic Beast, the Moon-Howling Azure Wolf. It will no longer improve me much, but if you fuse with it, it will bring you considerable benefits."

With his eyesight, he had long seen that the Beast Flame Xiao Yan used was the Lionheart Sacred Flame of a fifth-tier Blazing Male Lion. It was not bad, but it would not be of much help when Xiao Yan refined fourth-rank and even higher-grade pills in the future.

"It's actually the Beast Flame of a Moon-Howling Azure Wolf." Delight surfaced in Xiao Yan's eyes. He had heard of this Magic Beast; it was said to possess a strange ability to control trees and was immensely powerful in forests.

Xiao Yan smiled. "Old Man Huo, I'll choose this as one of my items."

Old Man Huo nodded with a smile. "Then you can only choose one more item."

After placing the emerald jade box into his Storage Ring, Xiao Yan left the wooden-shelf area and headed straight for the other side, where scrolls were stored. He wondered whether there might be any fine pill formulas or combat techniques there.

If there were a suitable Earth-Tier cultivation method, it would also be worth choosing. After all, the Scripture Pavilion held so many things that he might not necessarily obtain the Ninefold Phoenixfire Art.

What disappointed Xiao Yan was that there were no pill formulas here at all, only cultivation methods and combat techniques. Moreover, they were all around the Profound Tier. There were very few suitable for fire-attributed Dou Qi cultivation, and those were of the lowest grade.

Xiao Yan patiently searched through every nook and cranny until he found an Earth-Tier combat technique scroll. Once it was in his hands, he had no intention of putting it down again.

This was the first time he had held this scroll, yet the contents upon it gave him a strangely familiar feeling.

Old Man Huo spoke at this point. "This scroll is indeed a rare Earth-Tier combat technique, but because it is incomplete, its quality is only average among Earth-Tier combat techniques. Quite a few students from the Alchemy Department, even I myself, have tried cultivating it, and all ended in failure. Without the preliminary cultivation contents, mastering it is nearly impossible."

"Earth-Tier combat techniques are rare. This kid wants to give it a try." Xiao Yan rolled up the scroll.

Old Man Huo pondered for a while before saying, "With your talent... I hope you can master it."

Xiao Yan put it into his Storage Ring. Though he had some guesses in his heart, he was greatly delighted.

Previously, he had thought that the First Sun Scorching Sky combat technique Xiao Xun'er had produced was an Ancient Clan inherited combat technique similar to the Emperor's Seal Technique—one whose subsequent contents would gradually become accessible as her strength increased. It was extremely practical.

But now, that did not seem to be the case.

First Sun Scorching Sky might merely have been an incomplete combat technique collected by the Ancient Clan. At the level of Advanced Profound Rank, and being a fire-control method, it had ended up in Xiao Xun'er's hands.

The scroll Xiao Yan had just obtained came from the same lineage as First Sun Scorching Sky. It was precisely the subsequent content of First Sun Scorching Sky.

Though he did not know whether it was completely intact, if he cultivated it, then this combat technique that Old Man Huo had called exceedingly difficult to practice would become far less difficult for him.

After putting away the scroll, Xiao Yan left the stone chamber with Old Man Huo.

Old Man Huo closed the stone door and set up the restrictions again.

After thanking him for his gift, Xiao Yan left the cauldron-shaped building carrying the Earth-Tier combat technique and the Beast Flame.

With these two items, he would have a much better chance of winning the upcoming Fire-Energy Hunting Competition.