The Road to Becoming an Emperor

Xiao Yan knew that a Rock Snake magic beast might be hiding in the cliff face, so he remained extremely cautious and alert. His strength was far inferior to Xiao Zhan's and Xiao Tie's, but his soul perception was exceptionally keen.

Xiao Zhan and Xiao Tie looked around vigilantly. In this cliffside environment, where they could not fly, their strength was greatly restricted. If there really was some unusual magic beast, it would be best to discover it early and deal with it accordingly.

Just as they were about to reach the pile of strange wood, Xiao Yan sharply sensed that a section of the rock wall seemed to come alive and slowly writhe.

Rock Snake! Thinking of this kind of magic beast that could hide within stone walls, Xiao Yan immediately shouted, "Father, your chest!"

Xiao Zhan's heart tightened. Rich green Dou Qi spread over his palm as he fiercely struck forward.

Only beneath the green glow from his palm did Xiao Zhan discover that a section of rock at his chest had transformed into a ferocious snake head, lunging at him with a mouthful of cold, venomous fangs.

Had Xiao Yan not warned him, and had he not pointed out the exact location, merely saying there was a magic beast, Xiao Zhan would have searched blindly and still been bitten in the chest. The poison would have gone straight to his heart, causing him to lose strength and fall from the cliff.

Xiao Zhan's expression hardened, and his hand moved even faster. His green-glowing palm slammed viciously into the snake head, crushing it against the rock wall. Then he clenched his five fingers hard. The sound of bones breaking came from his palm, and the snake was dead beyond doubt.

"There's really a magic beast!" The four people atop the cliff heard the commotion and rushed to the edge, looking down in astonishment at Xiao Zhan holding a snake-like magic beast.

The snake's skin was nearly the same color as the cliff face. If it lay still in ambush, it truly would have been difficult to spot.

"It's a Rock Snake." Xiao Tie, who was closer, saw more clearly and identified its species from its flattened, elongated body.

This was a magic beast that lived on rock walls. Most were around the first tier. Their flat, elongated bodies allowed them to glide through the air, while their mutated earth attribute made them impervious to blades and spears.

Upon hearing the name of the magic beast, the four people atop the cliff all sucked in a cold breath. Rock Snakes loved ambushes and were difficult to deal with. For Young Master Xiao Yan to detect one so early, his perception was truly formidable.

After being ambushed, Xiao Zhan became even more vigilant. Though the remaining distance was short, it demanded far more concentration than the long stretch before them.

They reached the pile of strange wood and debris without further incident. With a foothold at last, Xiao Zhan gripped the Rock Snake's corpse with both hands and tore it open. After rummaging through it a few times, he delightedly dug out a crystal core that resembled a stone.

"It's an earth-attribute Magic Core!" Xiao Tie's eyes widened.

When mercenaries and adventurers killed magic beasts in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, they often paid a terrible price in casualties only to return empty-handed. Thus, a single Magic Core was extremely valuable, worth at least four or five hundred gold coins. Earth-attribute Magic Cores were even rarer and cost no less than two thousand gold coins.

Xiao Yan was also quite surprised. The Rock Snake had ultimately fallen to its death below the cliff, so he had not known whether it possessed a Magic Core. He had not expected to gain such a fine reward before even entering the cave.

"I'll use Dou Qi to clear the cave entrance. Be careful." Xiao Zhan handed the Magic Core to Xiao Yan. After giving the warning, a large amount of Dou Qi spread over both his palms.

After gathering himself briefly, Xiao Zhan swept his arms to either side. A fierce gale surged forth, immediately blowing the strange wood, bones, shattered rocks, and other debris over the cliff, revealing the pitch-black cave that had been hidden beneath them.

There really was a treasure cave! Looking at the entrance leading to an unknown destination, Xiao Zhan was greatly astonished. Then a broad smile appeared on his imposing face.

The three took out the Moonlight Stones they had prepared and cautiously entered the dark, silent cave.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Xiao Yan and the other two stopped before a stone door that emitted a faint yellow glow.

Xiao Tie stepped forward, touched it, and tested its solidity. Turning back, he said, "This stone door is ordinary. Someone with the strength of a Dou Practitioner can force it open."

Xiao Zhan shook his head. "We're here to search for treasure. If we have to smash open a door as soon as we arrive, that probably isn't appropriate."

Xiao Yan felt along the stone door and said, "This is a type of earth-attribute mechanism. If we find the trigger, it will be easy to open. Otherwise, it would be terribly inconvenient for the owner here to smash the door every time he entered or left."

"A mechanism?" Xiao Zhan and Xiao Tie were somewhat surprised. Then they began searching as Xiao Yan did. Both were much taller than Xiao Yan, so they searched upward along the stone door.

After feeling around for a while, Xiao Yan crouched down. Based on what he remembered, he quickly found a small protrusion beneath the stone door. He pressed it lightly with his finger, and a creaking sound immediately rang out through the cave.

The mechanism turned, and the stone door slowly rose. Light shone from within, driving away all the darkness nearby.

Xiao Zhan and Xiao Tie were both surprised and delighted. They cautiously entered the stone chamber and scanned their surroundings.

In an instant, their eyes were filled with dazzling gold, and they stood frozen in place.

So much gold and treasure! Xiao Zhan was deeply shocked. By rough estimate, these things were worth at least several hundred thousand gold coins. Though he was the Xiao Family's patriarch, he had never personally seen so much wealth.

Xiao Tie was equally stunned. The Xiao Family only earned around one hundred thousand gold coins in profit each year. Accumulating such wealth would take several years. No wonder those who fell from cliffs and stumbled into caves could become powerful experts.

Xiao Yan reminded them, "Father, these valuables are only the most superficial treasures. The truly valuable things are in those three stone boxes. You and Uncle Tie should use the Storage Rings to collect the gold coins first. I'll look for the keys to the stone boxes, and then we'll dig up the medicinal herbs together."

Recovering his senses, Xiao Zhan looked at the stone boxes on the stone table ahead and the small medicinal garden in one corner of the chamber. Smiling, he said, "When we return to Wutan City, I'll buy you a Storage Ring as well."

A Storage Ring made from storage stone contained its own pocket of space. Even the lowest-grade Storage Ring cost seventy or eighty thousand gold coins. The entire Xiao Family possessed only two, one held by him and the other by the First Elder.

Now that they had obtained several hundred thousand gold coins at once, no one could object to buying one for the family's genius who had discovered all this.

After assigning the tasks, Xiao Yan began searching around. He soon reached the skeleton behind the stone table and reached for the string of keys hanging from its arm bone.

He tugged hard, and the already loose arm bone was immediately pulled off.

Xiao Yan crouched to pick it up. Concealed by the stone table, he swiftly pulled out the fragment of a map hidden inside the arm bone and tucked it into his sleeve.

This fragment of a map was connected to the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, ranked third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. On the surface, it pointed toward a location, but once assembled, it formed a landscape painting rather than any true map.

In truth, the painting itself held no meaning. The remnant soul imprint of the Pure Lotus Demon Saint contained within it was what truly mattered. It was a great aid in refining the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame.

On a deeper level, after subduing the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, one could use it to open the entrance to Tou She Ancient God's inheritance and break through to become an emperor.

In the current Dou Qi Continent, there were two ways to break through to the Dou Emperor realm. One was to perfect the Emperor-Grade Nascent Pill and consume the Emperor Pill to advance. The other was to open Tou She Ancient God's inheritance with either the Nihility Devouring Flame or the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and advance through that inheritance.

However, the Emperor-Grade Nascent Pill possessed extraordinary strength. Without the Pill Transformation Divine Art controlled by the Nihility Devouring Flame, as well as the Tou She Ancient God Jade required to perform that divine art, even four or five nine-star Dou Saints would struggle to subdue it, let alone perfect it.

The Nihility Devouring Flame ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. With the Hun Clan's aid, it had already broken through to the nine-star Dou Saint realm, making it extremely difficult to refine.

Xiao Yan possessed the Palm-Heaven Bottle. By accelerating the growth of medicinal herbs, he had hope of continuously refining tier-nine medicinal pills, rapidly increasing his strength, and catching up to the era's foremost experts.

Yet compared to competing with Hun Tiandi and the others for the Emperor-Grade Nascent Pill, refining the Nihility Devouring Flame, subduing the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, and opening the entrance to Tou She Ancient God's inheritance was undoubtedly the simplest path to becoming an emperor.