A Battle Between Dou Zong

Time hurried on, and another half year passed in the blink of an eye.

A year and a half had passed since Fan Tian left Sound Valley.

He was now almost twenty, and his cultivation as a seven-star Dou Zong was passable enough.

Cao Ying and Dan Chen had also made rapid progress over the past year, reaching eight-star Dou Emperor and six-star Dou Emperor respectively.

In a sense, Dan Chen's cultivation was drawing ever closer to that of the Cao Family's Demoness. Her constitution was extraordinarily unusual: she could actually absorb the surrounding soul power passively. At just seventeen or eighteen, her soul power had already reached the middle Spirit Realm, something exceedingly rare among Alchemists her age.

Of course, this special constitution came at a price. Every use overdrew her vitality. The girl's face was perpetually pale, leaving her looking sickly and timid.

Fan Tian was anxious.

After dealing with Han Feng, he decided to give the sea heart flame to Dan Chen.

Although the sea heart flame ranked below the fallen heart flame, its unique nature-a flame with the qualities of water-could strengthen one's foundation, nourish one's meridians, and enhance vitality. Its effects were similar to those of the life spirit flame, ranked fifth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

Crack!

In the Heavenly Mansion's rear courtyard, a crack first appeared across the Purple Cocoon. It gradually widened until the cocoon finally crumbled to dust.

Fan Tian and the Pill Tower's Twin Beauties craned their necks to watch. The two women had never heard of a magical beast advancing this way.

The young woman stretched lazily. Her waterfall of long purple hair now reached her waist, and her exquisite features carried an air of majesty. Deep within her eyes, purple-gold light occasionally flashed.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"This is the Heavenly Mansion in Black Seal City. You were badly injured, and I saved you!" Fan Tian said, narrowing his eyes.

Zi Yan was no longer the little girl she had been before. She had become a graceful young woman with a shapely figure, every movement radiating nobility.

After all, the Old Dragon Emperor had been imprisoned for at least ten thousand years. In the original novel, Zhu Kun had said that in his day, the Hun Clan and Gu Clan were still minor clans he had never even heard of.

The "old" in Old Dragon Emperor was no empty title, and magical beasts were mostly egg-laying creatures. Zi Yan had once been a dragon egg. Without the Old Dragon Emperor's care, the egg had suffered an innate deficiency. Even after she finally managed to hatch, Zi Yan remained severely malnourished.

That was why Zi Yan had always stayed so small and short.

Now that she had swallowed two seventh-grade pills, she had replenished some of what she lacked. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, she had transformed from a little dragon girl into a mature beauty.

"The Heavenly Mansion? You saved me?" Zi Yan stared blankly at Fan Tian with wide eyes. Dimly, she seemed to sense that this man had stayed beside her, protecting her throughout the past half year.

"But I don't have any gold coins to give you."

"I could steal some medicinal ingredients to pay you back!"

Fan Tian's cheek twitched.

"There's no need to pay us back. Jia Nan Academy has already sold you to us." Struggling to keep a serious face, Fan Tian took out the written agreement Hu Gan had given him and held it before Zi Yan.

"This... those bastards..."

As Zi Yan read the agreement, her expression shifted from bewilderment to shock, then to dejection.

"I only stole a few pills and medicinal ingredients from you, and you went and treated me like this..."

Fan Tian stepped forward and gently took Zi Yan's delicate hand.

"It's all right, Zi Yan. The Heavenly Mansion will be your home from now on. I'll never abandon you."

"You..."

"I..."

"I eat quite a lot..."

Zi Yan looked at Fan Tian and stammered.

Fan Tian chuckled, took a Storage Ring from Cao Ying, and tossed it to Zi Yan.

"This is full of first- through fourth-grade pills. They aren't high-grade, but there are enough to fill your belly, and every one was carefully selected by the Pill Tower. The quality is guaranteed. You can eat them as snacks. Every month, I'll also give you fifth- and sixth-grade pills as treats. There'll even be seventh-grade pills."

Zi Yan swept her gaze over the hundreds of jade bottles inside the Storage Ring. The dragon girl was dumbstruck. She hurriedly opened a bottle, took out a pill, and popped it into her mouth to taste it.

"Wow, it's delicious! You're so much better than those stingy people at Jia Nan Academy."

"Of course. Stick with me, and as long as I have a bite to eat, I'll never let you go hungry."

Watching Zi Yan cheer and leap with joy, Fan Tian felt a pang in his heart.

"Did you really mean what you just said?"

"Every word!"

"I won't eat your food for nothing. I'm really good at fighting."

"I'll stand in front of you."

"I can find treasures, too."

"I'll go with you."

"If you ever think I eat too much, I can eat less. But could you please not leave me behind?"

Tears suddenly streaked Zi Yan's face, and her spirits sank. Perhaps her joy had tipped over into sorrow, reminding her of the days she had wandered alone, fighting other magical beasts for food, and being chased everywhere by the academy's elders after stealing things.

Fan Tian smiled and pulled Zi Yan into his arms.

"This Mansion Lord has already told you: this is your home, and I'm the person closest to you."

The war between Jia Nan Academy and the Black Alliance had lasted a year. Not long ago, Han Feng and Hu Gan had broken through to Dou Zong one after the other, and the stalemated war between the two factions began to change.

"Su Qian, things aren't what they used to be. Withdraw now, and for the sake of the fallen heart flame, I'll let bygones be bygones." Dressed in blue, Han Feng stood in midair, flames surging around his body.

"Heh, Han Feng, even if you've broken through to Dou Zong, you're only a mere one-star. Yet you dare threaten me?"

The two sides plunged into battle once more.

Despite having also broken through to Dou Zong, Hu Gan was actually being suppressed by the Gold and Silver Elders, who were still in the Dou Huang Realm. His beard bristled with fury as he desperately hurled Dou Techniques at them.

With their combined technique, the Gold and Silver Elders could briefly trade blows evenly with Su Qian, a peak two-star Dou Zong. Having only just broken through, Hu Gan suffered quite a few setbacks in the opening exchanges.

Meanwhile, Su Qian grew more alarmed with every exchange against Han Feng. After several dozen rounds, he was actually on the verge of being overwhelmed and defeated.

After devouring the fallen heart flame, Han Feng had finally raised his cultivation technique to the middle Earth tier. Several high-level Dou Techniques from the Starfall Pavilion were no longer constrained by his cultivation technique, allowing him to use them repeatedly.

And after taking a Sect Breaking Pill and successfully advancing to Dou Zong, his soul power had finally broken through from the mortal realm peak to the early Spirit Realm.

With the sea heart flame and fallen heart flame at his command, Han Feng could now even fight a five-star Dou Zong.

In the original novel, Xiao Yan had exchanged blows with Fei Tian of the Wind Lightning Pavilion, a peak Dou Zong, just after breaking through to Dou Zong himself.

Not only had First Elder Su Qian failed to suppress Han Feng, he had instead been injured by those terrifying heavenly flames. For the moment, the Dou Qi within him would not flow smoothly.

Han Feng actually became this formidable after breaking through to Dou Zong. It's as though he's become a different person, Su Qian thought, panting heavily.

"High Earth-tier Dou Technique-Starfall Palm!"

After successfully merging with his second heavenly flame, Han Feng's state of mind seemed to have ascended as well. Much of the gloom from murdering his master for the Flame Mantra had been washed away. For a moment, he seemed to have become that spirited young master of the Starfall Pavilion once again.

Watching the palm imprint laced with two heavenly flames rush straight at his face, Su Qian's pupils dilated, and his entire body trembled.