"Cousin Xiao Yan."
Xiao Zha slowly raised his head, met Xiao Yan's gaze, and greeted him first with a faint smile.
His eyes remained calm. His blue outer robe, paired with the two traces of shadowy red in his eyes, lent him an even more sinister allure.
"Xiao Zha... Cousin."
Xiao Yan suppressed his doubts, then let his gaze drift unobtrusively toward the four black-robed figures.
"These people are...?"
"Oh, friends from outside."
Xiao Zha's voice remained unruffled. He raised a hand and spoke rather casually.
"I met them recently. They're... quite interested in our Xiao Clan."
At his gesture, one of the black-robed figures raised an arm and offered a cupped-fist salute. Yet the movement seemed slightly stiff, with a distinct hint of awkwardness.
A breeze lifted a corner of the black robe concealing the figure's face, revealing a deathly pale chin beneath the shadow of a bamboo hat.
"Where's the attendant who always accompanies you? I remember the two of you were inseparable, Cousin Xiao Zha."
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly at what he saw, but he still returned the salute before addressing Xiao Zha.
"Oh, he isn't a member of our Xiao Clan. He went to look for his family recently."
Xiao Zha smiled with narrowed eyes as he explained, paying no heed to Xiao Yan's strange, scrutinizing gaze.
"With the Three-Year Agreement with the Misty Cloud Sect fast approaching, I won't disturb your cultivation, Young Clan Leader. Farewell."
Xiao Zha cupped his fists with a soft chuckle, then turned to leave. The four figures in loose robes followed him.
"Boy, those four fellows don't have the slightest soul fluctuations."
As the group receded into the distance, Yao Chen's voice suddenly rang out in Xiao Yan's mind, making him stiffen.
"No souls? What does that mean? Don't tell me they're dead?"
Warm, gentle sunlight shone on Xiao Yan's face. He frowned slightly and voiced his doubts.
Yet Yao Chen's next words sent a chill rising from the soles of Xiao Yan's feet straight to the crown of his head-
"Judging by their stiff limbs, strange behavior, and that icy aura devoid of any blood vitality, they're either puppets or walking corpses!"
"Puppets?"
Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. The term was rather unfamiliar to him.
At this point, Yao Chen's voice grew somewhat hoarse as he said gravely:
"The latter is unlikely. As for the former... they're walking husks refined from living people!"
"Their souls are extracted and annihilated, their bodies controlled and refined. They retain some of the Dou Qi cultivation they possessed in life, but their bodies no longer hold even a trace of awareness..."
"This is my first time seeing such things, too. This ancient refinement technique was lost long ago. Had I not read a few scattered words about it in an ancient book, even I would have struggled to recognize them."
As he listened to Yao Lao's explanation, Xiao Yan's heart grew heavy.
Why did this puppet-making method sound less and less like something a decent person could have devised?
"You needn't worry. Countless years ago, the continent teemed with talented people. Beyond pill refinement, artifact refinement, puppet refinement, formations, and many other arts abounded. Most have simply been lost."
"Since Xiao Zha possesses this skill, he presumably obtained some ancient inheritance. If you're interested, you can test him yourself after some time."
Yao Lao's soul slowly drifted out of the Storage Ring. He gently stroked his beard as he gazed in the direction Xiao Zha had left, his expression laden with meaning.
Watching Yao Chen appear in soul form, his transparent body resembling a wandering ghost, Xiao Yan suddenly felt that even if puppets and walking corpses really appeared, they would not be all that difficult to accept.
"As for you, your most pressing task is naturally to break through as soon as possible."
Yao Chen turned around, briefly assessed Xiao Yan's current condition, and continued.
"With the Rotation-Speed Pill's assistance and the tempering of Burning Blood, you should be able to advance to Dou Shi within half a month."
[Target: Xiao Zha] [Cultivation: Two-star Dou Zhe] [Fortuitous opportunity: Profound Yin Art] [Fortune value: 322] Profound Yin Art: A supreme demonic art from another world. Beyond its core cultivation method, it also includes numerous powerful and bizarre secret arts (Dou Techniques).
"..."
Gazing in the direction Xiao Zha had departed, Xiao Lin, whose main attention had returned to the Xiao Clan, fell into silence.
"Cultivating the Profound Yin Art will affect your temperament to some degree. It all depends on how you use it..."
"I don't care about anything else, so long as you don't kill everyone in the Xiao Clan and refine them into puppets."
Ten days later, in the mountains behind the Xiao Clan.
Inside a secluded cave, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged, Dou Qi surging around him like the tides.
His face was flushed, and veins bulged on his forehead. Clearly, he had reached the critical moment of his breakthrough.
Several days earlier, to avoid arousing suspicion from the Mittel Auction House and Ya Fei, Yao Chen had taken him to a town neighboring Wutan City. There, they had sold or auctioned off all the treasures from the Jia Lie and Aoba clans' Storage Rings and storehouses.
They had kept only the mysterious hammer technique.
Along the way, they had also purchased a batch of low-grade medicinal ingredients and bought a wondrous mask at an auction, refined from the hide of a third-rank magical beast, the Illusion-Faced Fox.
Once worn, it could not only alter one's appearance and features, but even conjure small illusions to block probing.
Anyone without a powerful soul would struggle to see through it.
Now, under Xiao Yan's intensely focused scrutiny, he could vaguely discern that some flowing liquid seemed to be emerging within his Dou Qi Vortex.
His original Dou Qi compressed and condensed frantically, eventually turning into drops of liquid energy that flowed into his meridians.
The vortex began spinning in reverse. Pure energy streamed outward, continuously nourishing his meridians, bones, and flesh. As though undergoing a metamorphosis, his flowing Dou Qi gradually grew mighty and dense.
A moment later, a fierce aura several times stronger than before radiated from his body as though awakening, blasting the loose stones at the cave entrance in every direction!
Dou Shi!
Scarlet Dou Qi abruptly appeared across the surface of his body, then drew inward again. Several breaths later, it slowly settled over Xiao Yan's clothes, seemingly forming a layer of Dou Qi protection!
The Dou Qi Gauze Robe, the signature skill of a Dou Shi.
Xiao Yan's eyes snapped open. Two streaks of scarlet fire shot from his hands, leaving charred scorch marks in the wall with a sizzling hiss.
In the blink of an eye, the flames writhed and spread as though alive. The wall was burned and corroded into a hollow, and wherever the fire passed, the rock crumbled into drifting ash!
"Not bad."
Yao Chen's spectral soul drifted out, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"I never expected the fatal flame to not only complement Burning Blood cultivation and double its effects, but also possess such tremendous offensive power, complete with a burning effect!"
"Together with the Rotation-Speed Pill accelerating your Dou Qi cultivation, you advanced to Dou Shi in ten days. That's even faster than I anticipated."
Xiao Yan rose and gently clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within him. An incomparably refreshing sensation from his breakthrough instantly spread throughout his body.
"Not only does controlling the flames feel more effortless, but my Soul Force seems to have grown, too. My pill refinement should go more smoothly as well."
An irrepressible fighting spirit and confidence welled up in his eyes. Xiao Yan felt his blood boiling.
"Nalan Yanran, Xiao Tian... look forward to it! Look forward to fighting me!"
"But before that, I'll go meet this Xiao Zha..."
"Be my first touchstone after this breakthrough!"
Before you continue