After leaving the medicine shop, Fan Tian did not linger. He headed straight out of the alchemists' trading district. He had never been interested in pills; he had only come to soak in the Pill Tower's rich atmosphere of alchemy.
On the Dou Qi Continent, strength reigned supreme.
Alchemy was, at most, a supporting profession, and achieving anything in it demanded enormous amounts of time and effort. Meanwhile, cultivating Dou Qi only grew harder the further one progressed. True experts had to know what came first and what came second.
Besides, taking too many pills surely had side effects and could even harm one's potential. The original story had barely touched on that simply because its protagonist was an alchemist.
He was the chosen one, after all. Understandable.
Fan Tian was not the chosen one. Xiao Yan's path did not suit him.
All he knew was that, among the many experts at the pinnacle of nine-star strength on the Dou Qi Continent, very few were alchemists.
The Yellow Springs Demon Saint, the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint, the Burning Flame Ancestor, Gu Yuan, Xiao Xuan, Hun Tiandi, the Old Dragon Emperor-all these dazzling talents proved that strength was strength and talent was talent. Everything else was a lesser path.
The Medicine Emperor had become a Dou Di without a bloodline and founded the Yao Clan. His descendants were the continent's finest alchemists, blessed with a Dou Di bloodline to boot, so why had they failed to produce even a single eight-star Dou Sheng, only to have their entire clan wiped out in the end?
Likewise, if Heavenly Flames were truly that important, the top powers would have monopolized them long ago. How could anyone else have gotten a turn?
Fan Tian recalled a saying: if an elixir of immortality existed, even Ma Yun would not make the first hundred in line. If your turn came, that proved it was no elixir of immortality at all.
Fan Tian wandered around for another half day, then swaggered out of Sacred Pill City. Two dark figures silently followed behind him, like maggots clinging to his bones, impossible to shake off no matter what he did.
Of course, Fan Tian was putting on a convincing show. People from the ancient clans might be wicked, but that did not necessarily mean they were incompetent.
Above a dense forest, a figure in green suddenly swept through the air, stirring ripples in his wake.
The two dark figures behind him had initially followed at a distance. Now, they openly revealed themselves and pursued Fan Tian without the slightest attempt at concealment.
"You two have followed me all the way from Sacred Pill City. Is there something you wish to tell this Ye?" Fan Tian stopped, turned around, and stood upon empty air as he spoke coolly.
"Heh. You offended Ling Feng. If we let you slip away, we'd be in trouble ourselves." In an instant, the two figures appeared a thousand feet from Fan Tian.
"One of you is an early-stage Three-Star Dou Zong, the other a middle-stage Three-Star Dou Zong. Neither of you is weaker than Ling Feng. Are you really that afraid of him?" Fan Tian narrowed his eyes. These two were no pushovers, and they came from a powerful clan. A bloody battle was unavoidable today.
"Boy, you're about Ling Feng's age, yet you're already a late-stage five-star Dou Zong. At your age, we were still muddling along as Dou Wangs. A pity, such a pity. Did you really think someone like you could covet Miss Yao Ling? Don't blame us for being ruthless today."
Fan Tian studied them closely. The two before him looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, seven or eight years older than him and Ling Feng. Though they were still outstanding talents of the younger generation, they clearly fell short by comparison.
"When you left home to gain experience, didn't your elders tell you who you could offend and who you couldn't?" The gloomy-faced, short-haired young man carefully rolled up his sleeves as he spoke offhandedly.
"Of course, you can call for help too-if you have a Spatial Jade Slip made by a Half-Saint!"
"Summon a Dou Zun, invite a Half-Saint, or even have a Dou Sheng Expert come in person. Any of those will do!"
The two exchanged a glance, then looked at Fan Tian contemptuously as they spoke.
"No matter whom you call, I guarantee you won't have as many as us, and yours certainly won't be as strong!"
Fan Tian curled his lip and said nothing.
There was no denying it-the Spirit Clan really did have the capital to act so arrogantly.
"Big Brother, this brat was so cocky earlier. Don't tell me he doesn't even have a Spatial Jade Slip!" the short-haired young man asked.
"It's possible. Only a Half-Saint can make a Spatial Jade Slip, and you can count the powers with Half-Saints in the Central Plains on one hand. There are only those few. At most, this fellow has a few eight- or nine-star Dou Zuns backing him," the long-haired young man said after a moment's thought.
"Then why waste any more breath on him? This brat's been puffing himself up like a big-tailed wolf. We'll cut out his tongue and gouge out his eyes in a moment."
"Mm, exactly. Even if he has a few tricks, how could he compare to the two of us? No need to wait for Ling Feng. Let's cripple him now."
The short-haired young man said no more and shot toward Fan Tian. Dou Qi surged wildly within him, even twisting the space around him. Three stars against five-the advantage was his.
Watching the figure rush toward him, Fan Tian curled his lip. Without the slightest hesitation, he let out a fierce shout, and an even mightier torrent of Dou Qi erupted from his body. His powerful aura blasted every leaf and scrap of debris around him outward. There was nothing hollow about his five-star Dou Zong might.
Bang!
The two immense auras closed in on each other in an instant, and their palms collided in a blunt, brutal clash. Countless streams of Dou Qi lashed outward from the two of them. Even the long-haired young man a thousand feet away had to circulate his Dou Qi to shield himself.
Then one figure shot backward in a somewhat sorry state. As he retreated, space itself tore slightly, exposing pitch-black fissures.
When the energy storm dispersed, Fan Tian stood where he had been, shook his fist, and disappointedly shook his head.
"You've got a long way to go. Come at me together!"
His calm voice slowly reached their ears. The short-haired young man gradually rose, snorted, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva before rasping, "You think being a five-star Dou Zong makes you so great?"
"A frog at the bottom of a well, yet you dare croak so loudly."
The long-haired young man joined the battle. They intended to bring Fan Tian down together.
An ethereal, milky-white radiance rippled over their bodies.
The two rapidly formed seals in a strange posture. Clan marks flickered between their brows, as though pieced together from countless spiritual runes. Their Dou Di bloodlines seemed to awaken briefly, and their auras immediately began to soar.
In just a few breaths, their cultivation surged from Three-Star Dou Zong to late-stage Six-Star Dou Zong.
Fan Tian licked the corner of his mouth, a flicker of madness appearing deep in his eyes. "So this is a Dou Di bloodline. It really does have something to it."
"Spirit Adamantine Annihilation!"
"Fallen Spirit Hand!"
The two high-level Dou Techniques devoured the energy of heaven and earth before roaring toward Fan Tian.
"Fuck, high-level Earth-tier Dou Techniques? Going straight for your strongest moves-you're not leaving me any way out!" A chill ran down Fan Tian's back.
Locked on by their auras, he had no time to think. Fan Tian could only meet them head-on. He instantly activated the Sound Valley Secret Art, and his aura likewise rose to the level of a late-stage Six-Star Dou Zong.
"Heaven-Shaking Great Hand Seal!"
Fan Tian roared. Sound Valley's high-level Earth-tier Dou Technique was no ordinary technique either. Given his opponents' level, they probably had not yet learned the Spirit Clan's Heaven-tier cultivation methods or Dou Techniques. That was precisely why Fan Tian had dared to stop and fight.
The three high-level Dou Techniques, bearing vast quantities of energy from heaven and earth, collided violently. In an instant, the heavens collapsed and the earth split, and a terrifying energy storm swallowed the entire area.
At the heart of the storm, the three figures were still locked in fierce combat, neither side willing to yield. Fan Tian's combat experience far surpassed theirs, and amid this life-and-death struggle, he only grew fiercer as he fought.
The two from the Spirit Clan showed no fear either. Bolstered by their Spirit Clan marks, their Dou Qi surged wildly, and countless streams of it bombarded Fan Tian.
Yet unlike Fan Tian's reckless, all-out fighting style, each of the two tried to make the other bear the brunt of his attacks whenever they struck.
Before you continue