The Gears of Fate Began to Turn

Xiao Yan gently wrapped his arms around Xiao Yi Xian's slender waist and smiled faintly.

Within the Sea of Bitterness, flames flowing through the Life Spring surged upward. Activating the still-incomplete Fire Release, Xiao Yan's body was enveloped in a streak of fire as he sped toward the cave.

In less than a breath, the firelight dissipated, and the two had already arrived at the cave entrance. Xiao Yan gently set Xiao Yi Xian down.

"You can actually fly?!" Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened.

"It's just a special flying Dou technique." Xiao Yan smiled bashfully, indicating that it was nothing worth mentioning.

To use it at full power, he first had to ignite the Samadhi True Fire, link the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit, then briefly transform his body into a fiery state much like Dou Qi.

But this move had yet to be fully developed. It consumed too much, achieved too little, and was difficult to execute.

"Hey, stop staring. It's time to go in." Seeing Xiao Yi Xian staring fixedly at him, Xiao Yan chuckled and waved a hand before her face. He tilted his chin toward the deep, dark cave, and only then did Xiao Yi Xian come back to her senses.

"Are you even human..." Xiao Yi Xian murmured dazedly. Xiao Yan was absurdly strong—he could wipe out Dou Zhes while still in the Dou Qi stage. She did not dare imagine how strong he would be once he became a Dou Zhe.

"Listen to yourself." Xiao Yan rubbed his nose. Just as Xiao Yi Xian raised her hand to swat his away, he swept that hand forward.

Whoosh!!!

A streak of pure white fire shot from Xiao Yan's fingertips into the cave. Accompanied by a soft hum, the walls on both sides silently shifted, and one ancient, imposing lamp after another condensed along them, white flames flickering atop each one.

In but an instant, the flames illuminated the entire cave, making it as bright as day and leaving nowhere to hide.

The first-rank magical beast Rock Snake, which had been hiding in the cave and waiting to ambush them: Please enter text.

Xiao Yi Xian looked at the long rows of true flames on either side, then at the enormous Rock Snake trembling in the middle of the cave. Her lips twitched.

Why did this guy seem so miserable?

"This snake isn't poisonous, but you can take it as a little supplement." Shaking his head, Xiao Yan made no move and simply walked forward. Seeming to sense a threat to its life, the Rock Snake opened its huge jaws and let out a hiss. Yet at the instant it opened its mouth, Xiao Yan's lips curled up.

Puff—

Tiny sparks seemed to splash from the lamps on either side onto the Rock Snake's body. Like sparks falling into grease, they rapidly spread across its massive form in a blazing wildfire. In an instant, the enormous snake body was refined away.

A fingernail-sized piece of Beast Soul Essence, along with its magic core and flesh essence, was carried by the flames into Xiao Yan's palm.

Holding up two fingers in a gesture that would enrage Korean men, Xiao Yan blinked.

Sure enough, magical beasts didn't have much brainpower. Their souls were too weak. He still had to fight stronger monsters if he wanted more experience.

He casually fed the essence to the Ancient Ring, then handed the flesh essence and magic core to Xiao Yi Xian.

After returning from the world of Shrouding the Heavens, he had only digested the tip of the iceberg of that immense source essence. Once it was fully refined, not only would his Dou Qi transform, but his progress in the Wheel Sea Secret Realm would also rise substantially.

Xiao Yan had a feeling that Xiao Yi Xian's constitution was about to undergo a transformation. It was better for her to hold onto these things for now.

Besides, they would be entering the mountains to train later. Killing any third-rank magical beast would yield who knew how many times more than this.

After roughly explaining how to use the items, the two continued deeper inside.

Before long, a heavy stone door blocked their path, and Xiao Yi Xian's eyes lit up.

She took a small bundle from her clothes, intending to show off before Xiao Yan. She knew Mechanism Arts!

But before she could even take out her tools, she heard a creaking sound. Looking up, she saw that Xiao Yan had somehow already placed a hand gently against the stone door.

The stone door was refined away in an instant, its mechanisms dismantled one after another, and the door slowly opened.

Before the ultimate enhanced version of Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, such crude mechanisms had no strength to resist.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're not much good at this." Xiao Yan raised a brow, then lightly exerted force with one palm beneath Xiao Yi Xian's bewildered gaze.

The stone door, which could not be broken except by a high-level Dou Master, instantly turned to dust.

He then strode into the depths of the cave, leaving Xiao Yi Xian alone in a complete daze.

Too shocked by Xiao Yan's strength to dwell on it, Xiao Yi Xian hurriedly followed him inside, only to be stunned by the scene beyond the stone door.

It was an exceptionally spacious stone chamber. At its center, a skeleton sat upright upon a stone chair.

Before the skeleton were three stone boxes. One of them made Xiao Yi Xian's body tremble faintly, as though it was the very thing that had triggered her constitution's unusual reaction.

After hesitating, Xiao Yi Xian did not choose to open it directly. Instead, she followed closely behind Xiao Yan.

There were also hundreds of thousands of gold coins' worth of gold, silver, and jewels in the chamber, but neither of them spared those things a glance. Xiao Yan did not care, and neither did Xiao Yi Xian.

They were merely worldly riches—vulgar beyond words.

On both sides of the stone chamber lay herb gardens, lush with all sorts of precious medicinal plants.

"Starfall Grass, Blazing Flower, Nine-Section Bamboo, Ice Spirit Flame Grass..." Xiao Yi Xian counted the names of those valuable herbs one by one.

"He was probably a poison master." Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and extended his soul perception. There were no pill formulas anywhere in the chamber. Given the tomb owner's generous nature in leaving behind gifts for later generations, he would not have hidden any pill formulas if he had possessed them.

Then he could only have been either a physician or a poison master.

Xiao Yan was more inclined toward the latter.

He left Xiao Yi Xian to collect the herbs one by one, while he walked to the skeleton. The smile faded from his face as he solemnly cupped his hands in salute. Then, with a gentle pull, a string of keys and a tiny scroll flew from the skeleton's finger into Xiao Yan's hand.

"What's that?" Xiao Yi Xian rested her head on Xiao Yan's shoulder and rose onto her toes.

"A key, and the source of the Heavenly Flame aura I sensed." Xiao Yan toyed with the tiny scroll before showing it to Xiao Yi Xian.

He had discovered its location earlier when probing with his soul power.

It seemed to be a fragment. Sensing the faint fiery aura upon it, Xiao Yan stored it in the Ancient Ring.

He had already heard Yao Chen's surprised voice in his mind, so he would let the old man study it first.

The two then exchanged a glance and, without needing to speak, walked together to one of the stone boxes.

It was precisely the box that had stirred Xiao Yi Xian earlier.

"Open it?" Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yi Xian. The gears of fate should have begun to turn.

"Open it." Xiao Yi Xian nodded. She had some idea what might be inside.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan said nothing more. With a flick of his finger, a flame wrapped around the medicinal key and opened the stone box. The rising flames burned away the dust, then carried the lid aside.

Nothing unusual happened. Everything remained as it was.

After his soul power sensed what was inside, Xiao Yan raised a brow. Could this ruin have belonged to someone with a Woeful Poison Body? Or perhaps it belonged to that fire-attributed friend who had been close to one?

The next moment, two heads leaned over to peer inside the stone box.

Within lay a seven-colored scroll, bearing four large characters.

Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

"Girl, your opportunity has arrived." Xiao Yan smiled faintly.

At the same time, his soul perception detected that one of the landmines he had left atop the cliff had been triggered.