The remaining members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group crept through the night, their boots rustling through withered yellow grass. The man leading them bore a vicious scar across his face. He was the deputy leader who had narrowly escaped the "accident" Xiao Yan had engineered. Now revenge burned in his eyes, and the curved blade in his hand gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.
"Remember, once we reach the Xiao Clan's rear courtyard, fire the flaming arrows. Burn that useless brat's courtyard first!" Scarface lowered his voice, his tone vicious. "The Mo Family said that as long as we kill Xiao Yan, they'll wipe the slate clean and pay us a fortune!"
The mercenaries behind him nodded, greed and ferocity flashing in their eyes. They had witnessed Xiao Yan's "good luck" in the Magical Beast Mountain Range firsthand, yet they still believed he had merely stumbled into a pile of dog-shit luck. How could a useless brat at Dou Qi Third Stage deserve to leave them in such a sorry state?
But they failed to notice that the grass beneath their feet was drying at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye. A faint, elusive heat spread along the ground.
Just as they were about to climb over the Xiao Clan's rear wall, Scarface suddenly stopped and twitched his nose. "Something's wrong. I smell something burning..."
Before he could finish, several tongues of green flame shot up from the ground and wound around their trouser legs like venomous snakes! The flames looked weak, but they possessed an uncanny stickiness. Once they caught, nothing could extinguish them, and their clothes ignited instantly.
"Aah!"
Screams tore through the night sky. The mercenaries struggled amid the flames, trying to put them out, only to discover that the fire seemed to have eyes, burrowing straight into their flesh. Agony drowned them like a surging tide.
Horror seized Scarface. He slashed off his burning trouser leg and turned to flee. But after only two steps, he felt the ground sink beneath his feet. A fissure split the dry earth, and a scorching blast erupted from it, flinging him through the air. He landed heavily beside the blaze.
"It's Xiao Yan! That useless brat must be behind this!" Scarface roared through the agony, his eyes filled with disbelief. How could a cultivator at Dou Qi Third Stage command such bizarre flames?
An even fiercer blaze answered him. The green flames gathered as though alive, forming a tiny Green Lotus before his terrified eyes. Then, with a soft pop, it burst apart and swallowed the last of his consciousness.
In the small courtyard of the Xiao Residence, Xiao Yan slowly withdrew his outstretched soul power. He watched the fire lighting up the distant night sky, his face expressionless. Since those men had dared to come, they should have been prepared to face the consequences. He had not acted directly, merely triggered the wisp of fiery force he had planted earlier. Combined with the dry surroundings, it created the appearance of an "accidental fire," eliminating a hidden threat without exposing his strength.
"Clean and efficient," Yao Lao said beside him. "But with such a commotion, I doubt you'll keep it from that Misty Cloud Sect elder."
Xiao Yan picked up the teacup on the table and gently blew across the foam. "I want him to see it."
"Oh?" Yao Lao raised an eyebrow. "You want him to know you did it?"
"Not know. Suspect." Xiao Yan sipped his tea. "What will he think when he sees the Wolf Head Mercenary Group burned to death near the Xiao Clan? Could a useless brat at Dou Qi Third Stage pull that off? Obviously not. But what if an expert is guiding me from behind the scenes?"
He set down his cup, a sly gleam flashing in his eyes. "His earlier probing convinced him I was nothing more than a lucky good-for-nothing. Now I want him to reassess things. Just how powerful is the 'expert' behind me? If that person dares act right under his nose, is it because they have nothing to fear, or because they're deliberately provoking him?"
Such an indistinct threat often inspired more apprehension than a direct display of strength. The Misty Cloud Sect elder already harbored doubts about Xiao Yan because of the Black Iron Token. Adding this incident would only make him more cautious and less willing to act rashly.
"Using your own weakness to sow doubt in your opponent?" Yao Lao stroked his nonexistent beard and smiled. "Interesting. But when do you plan to leave Wutan City? This little pond can no longer hold you."
Xiao Yan looked out the window. Wutan City's hazy outline in the darkness resembled an enormous cage. "Soon. Once I finish one last thing, we'll leave."
That "last thing" was the feud between the Xiao Clan and the Mo Family. After all his maneuvering, the Mo Family had suffered a devastating blow and fallen out with the Misty Cloud Sect elder. This was the perfect time to settle matters once and for all.
Three days later, the people of Wutan City discovered that the Mo Family's base had suddenly been deserted. Only a patch of scorched ground remained before its doors, as though a great fire had swept through. Some said the Mo Family had offended someone they should never have crossed and been wiped out by a mysterious expert; others said they had packed up their fortune and fled.
Only Xiao Yan knew that the Mo Family had not been exterminated. Instead, he had used his soul power to plant Phantom Flame Marks on them, guiding them in their sleep to an abandoned mine outside the city. When they awoke, they became a band of amnesiac wanderers who could never threaten the Xiao Clan again.
He had chosen this bloodless method of cutting off future trouble at the root after careful consideration. The system's "assassination restriction" prevented him from killing at will, but it had never said he could not use other means to render his enemies harmless.
With the Mo Family dealt with, nothing remained to hold him in Wutan City. When Xiao Yan bid Xiao Zhan farewell, his father was reluctant to let him go, but knew that his son's ambitions reached far beyond home. In the end, he agreed, though he pressed a Storage Ring packed with pills and gold coins into Xiao Yan's hand and repeatedly reminded him to take care of himself.
The skies were clear on the day Xiao Yan left Wutan City. Without alerting anyone, he slipped through the city gates with only Yao Lao accompanying him and headed toward the Tagor Desert.
"Why are we heading back to the desert?" Yao Lao asked, puzzled. "Didn't we just return from there?"
Xiao Yan gazed at the rolling dunes in the distance, anticipation shining in his eyes. "Because there's still something there we need."
He took a map from his Storage Ring. A location had been circled in red: an oasis deep within the Tagor Desert. It was also one of the clues he had found in his memories as an Otherworlder. Supposedly, a record concerning the "Heavenly Flame Origin" was hidden there.
When he had subdued the Green Lotus Core Flame in the desert before, he had been focused on concealing his strength and had not explored further. Now that he had left Wutan City, he could stop by and investigate along the way.
After entering the desert, Xiao Yan no longer deliberately suppressed his strength. His Peak Dou Ling aura seeped out faintly, sending ordinary magical beasts fleeing far away and sparing him considerable trouble.
After roughly half a month of travel, they finally reached the oasis marked on the map. Unlike the seas of windblown yellow sand elsewhere, this place boasted abundant water and lush vegetation. Several unusual flame flowers even bloomed beside the lake, their pale red petals resembling burning flames.
"There really is a trace of Heavenly Flame aura in the spiritual energy here." Yao Lao closed his eyes and carefully sensed their surroundings. "Very faint, but very pure. It doesn't resemble any known Heavenly Flame."
Xiao Yan walked to the lakeside, crouched, and touched the water. It was bone-chillingly cold, yet carried a strange, gentle warmth, as though it could nourish the soul.
"This water..." Something stirred within him. He circulated the Flame Mantra to absorb the energy in the water and immediately felt the Green Lotus Core Flame in his dantian tremble slightly, as though it had encountered something born of the same source.
"It looks like the rumors were true." Xiao Yan stood and turned his gaze toward the towering ancient tree at the center of the oasis. Its trunk was thick, its branches and foliage lush. Strangest of all were its flame-shaped leaves, which glimmered gold beneath the sunlight.
"The record of the Heavenly Flame Origin is most likely in that tree." Yao Lao floated over and touched its trunk. "This tree has been around for quite some time. Probably over a thousand years."
Xiao Yan walked beneath the tree and looked up. Near its crown was a hollow, with something resembling a scroll barely visible inside. He circulated his Dou Qi and leaped, landing easily at the top before retrieving a roll of beast hide from the hollow.
The beast hide was even older than the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map. Dense symbols covered it, written in a long-lost script, with several crude illustrations beside them. They depicted an enormous lotus surrounded by nine differently colored flames, as though all heaven and earth burned beneath its radiance.
"This is..." Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. Though he could not read the script, he could sense the information contained within the hide. This was not a record of a single Heavenly Flame, but an account of the origin of them all!
According to legend, when the Dou Qi Continent first came into being, only one primordial flame existed between heaven and earth. After countless millions of years of evolution, it split into the many different Heavenly Flames. That enormous lotus was the source of them all.
"If the account here is true..." Yao Lao's voice trembled slightly. "Then wouldn't gathering all the Heavenly Flames allow us to..."
"Return them to their source and recreate the original 'Chaos Flame,'" Xiao Yan finished, a burning gleam flashing in his eyes. "At that point, the Flame Mantra might break through the shackles of Dou Di and reach an unprecedented realm!"
This discovery was more precious than any Heavenly Flame Fragment Map! It not only revealed the origin of the Heavenly Flames, but also pointed the way toward the Flame Mantra's ultimate evolution!
Just as Xiao Yan was lost in his delight, the dunes surrounding the oasis began to shift with a rustling hiss, as though some enormous creature was approaching.
"Trouble! Something's coming!" Yao Lao's expression changed, and his soul power instantly spread outward.
Xiao Yan put away the beast hide and tightened his grip on the Heavy Xuan Ruler, scanning their surroundings warily. He could sense a powerful aura drawing near. Its strength was at least at the Dou Wang level!
"Roar!"
A deafening roar thundered from behind a dune. An enormous desert lizard burrowed out of the sand, dark golden scales covering its entire body. Its eyes resembled two red lanterns as it stared fixedly at Xiao Yan and Yao Lao.
"It's the desert's overlord, the Golden Sand Giant Lizard!" Yao Lao said gravely. "Judging by its size, it's lived for at least five hundred years. Its strength is probably close to Peak Dou Wang!"
The Golden Sand Giant Lizard clearly regarded them as intruders. It abruptly opened its massive jaws and spat out a golden pillar of sand, which swept toward them with the force of mountains toppling and seas overturning.
Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened. Instead of retreating, he advanced, green flames coiling around the Heavy Xuan Ruler. "Perfect. Let's test the Green Lotus Core Flame's power!"
He neither used his Emperor Realm Soul nor revealed his true strength. Instead, he met the attack with early-stage Dou Wang Dou Qi, at the same rank as the Golden Sand Giant Lizard, combined with the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame.
The instant the green flames collided with the golden pillar of sand, a sizzling hiss rang out. Scorched by the flames, the sand swiftly turned to ash, though the fire's momentum weakened somewhat as well.
What powerful defenses! Xiao Yan was inwardly startled. The Golden Sand Giant Lizard's scales were not only hard, but could also resist the scorching of Heavenly Flames. It truly deserved its title as the desert's overlord.
Seeing its first attack fail, the Golden Sand Giant Lizard roared furiously. Its enormous tail swept toward him like a steel whip, whistling through the air and forcing Xiao Yan to retreat again and again.
"I can't meet it head-on." Xiao Yan swiftly assessed the situation. With such thick hide and tough flesh, a frontal clash would gain him nothing. "Teacher, hold it back for a moment!"
"No problem!" Yao Lao's soul power erupted instantly, forming an invisible barrier that temporarily blocked the Golden Sand Giant Lizard's assault.
Seizing that opening, Xiao Yan rapidly formed seals with both hands and shouted in a low voice, "Earth Core Flame, take form!"
The Green Lotus Earth Core Flame in his dantian surged, transforming into a green fire dragon that circled the Golden Sand Giant Lizard. Wherever it passed, the air temperature soared. Even the surrounding sand began to melt, turning into a dark red, glasslike substance.
Sensing the threat, the Golden Sand Giant Lizard twisted frantically, trying to escape the fire dragon's coils. But the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame clung like maggots burrowing into bone, adhering tightly to its scales and scorching its skin.
"Now!" A sharp light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He gathered all his Dou Qi into the Heavy Xuan Ruler and hurled it!
The heavy ruler whistled through the air and struck precisely between the scales on the Golden Sand Giant Lizard's neck—the weakest point on its entire body.
Squelch!
Most of the Heavy Xuan Ruler sank into its flesh, and golden blood gushed out. The Golden Sand Giant Lizard let out a shrill scream. Its enormous body crashed to the ground, twitched a few times, then lay still.
Xiao Yan retrieved the Heavy Xuan Ruler and looked at the Golden Sand Giant Lizard's corpse, breathing slightly hard. He had deliberately suppressed his strength during the fight, so victory had not come easily, but it had also made him more proficient in using the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame.
"Quite a haul." Yao Lao floated over and pointed at the Golden Sand Giant Lizard's core. "This five-hundred-year-old Golden Sand Core is an excellent ingredient for refining a Foundation-Stabilizing Pill."
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded. He was about to collect the core when he suddenly noticed a dull metal fragment beside the Golden Sand Giant Lizard's corpse. Flame patterns resembling those on the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map were engraved on it.
Something stirred within him. He picked up the metal fragment and compared it with the Fragment Map in his Storage Ring. Sure enough, it was another piece of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map!
"I wore out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without any effort at all." Xiao Yan fitted the newly acquired Fragment Map piece together with the earlier one. Though it was still incomplete, the spatial coordinates on it became much clearer, pointing farther to the east.
"It seems the Tagor Desert really is our lucky place," Yao Lao said with a smile. "Not only did we obtain the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame, we also found a second piece of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map."
Xiao Yan put away the joined Fragment Map and looked toward the eastern horizon. "Our ties with the desert end here. Next, we're going to the Jia Ma Empire's capital—the Holy City of Jia Ma."
A wider world awaited him there, along with stronger opponents and the resources and information he needed. The headquarters of the Misty Cloud Sect, where Nalan Yanran belonged, stood near the Holy City. Sooner or later, he would have to fulfill their three-year agreement.
After packing his belongings, Xiao Yan took one final look at the vast desert, then turned and set out eastward with Yao Lao.
Windblown sand rose and concealed their footprints, but it could not conceal the sharp gleam in the young man's eyes. The fall of the curtain on the Tagor Desert was merely a beginning. A far grander, more tumultuous journey awaited him ahead.
The curtain had only just risen on Xiao Yan's legend.
Before you continue