Seventh-grade Intermediate

Not long after the group entering the yin side stepped into the ruins, they all went mad. Terrifying red hair sprouted from their bodies, their minds unraveled, and they began slaughtering one another.

The Dou Emperor leading them reacted quickly and tried to break up the fighting, only to be attacked by everyone. As time dragged on, eerie changes also began to afflict the several Dou Wang experts.

In the end, they too began killing one another.

Faced with this horrifying sight, the Dou Huang expert finally dared not linger. Hardening his heart, he abandoned all his companions and fled, but even then, the eerie affliction did not leave him.

Not long after returning to his sect, red hair covered his entire body, and he became violent and bloodthirsty. When the Black Wind Sect's master discovered this, he had him imprisoned and sealed away.

Although no one in the group entering the yang side had died, those with lower cultivation were already suffering a fate worse than death.

Soon after entering, they had been infected by a peculiar aura. An unholy fire seemed to burn endlessly within their bodies.

The Dou Emperor leading them made a swift decision. Before the several Dou Wangs were infected as well, he led them in knocking the disciples unconscious, then brought everyone back to the sect.

After returning to the sect and leaving the disciples in its care, these experts also gradually began losing control of the flames within them.

At first, they wanted to grope any female disciples they saw. Later, they even wanted to pounce on handsome male disciples. Ultimately, the Black Wind Sect's master made the painful decision to lock these elite members together inside a brothel.

After seven days of group debauchery, these experts finally emerged, looking like withered husks.

Although some of the Dou Wangs had even fallen to Dou Ling as a result, at least that eerie, unholy fire had finally vanished.

"Sect Master, perhaps the treasures within these ruins are beyond our reach," the Dou Huang expert who had escaped the yang-side ruins said weakly beside the Black Wind Sect's master.

He was now skin and bones, his aura feeble, as though a gust of wind could knock him over.

Yet despite losing much of his vital essence, he had at least escaped with his life. The Dou Emperor who had entered the yin side had already gone completely mad, becoming a raging, bloodthirsty beast.

"Alas." The Black Wind Sect's master looked down at the woods below. Many disciples who had returned from the yang side were there. Because their cultivation had not yet reached Dou Wang, they still had not escaped the curse.

In those woods, they indulged freely in the most primal of acts.

Their eyes were bloodshot. Though their bodies had become emaciated beyond recognition, they still could not stop yearning to reproduce.

Every day, some of these low-level disciples died of exhaustion, yet the sect was helpless to do anything about it.

The Black Wind Sect's master had once gone to the ruins himself, only to discover that Dou Zong experts could not enter.

"Could it be that only those below Dou Zong can enter these ruins? But how could a Dou Emperor possibly withstand a curse like this...?"

The Black Wind Sect's master sighed softly. "Enough. Spread word of these ruins."

Although the Black Wind Sect held sole dominion over the Fertile Plains, ruins this vast appearing out of thin air were not something they could keep everyone quiet about. Besides, the Black Wind Sect lacked the strength to swallow such a prize whole.

News that the Dou Saint Ruins had appeared in the Fertile Plains soon spread throughout the western Central Plains, drawing countless experts. In the end, however, they discovered that only experts below Dou Zong seemed able to enter.

The appearance of these ruins made the western Central Plains exceptionally lively, and word even began spreading in other directions.

Within the Pill Tower, however, things remained as peaceful as ever.

Inside Yao Lao's residence, Xiao Yan sat with his eyes tightly shut. An invisible soul fluctuation slowly revolved between his brows. Had a high-ranking alchemist been present, they would have sensed his increasingly powerful soul.

His soul was naturally strong, and he also possessed a soul cultivation method granted by his clan. Combined with the Xiao Clan's frighteningly abundant resources and his own diligence, this had allowed his soul to reach the threshold of a seventh-rank alchemist at fifteen.

During the Pill Tower's youth competition, he had also obtained the eighth-tier Spirit-Nurturing Heavenly Pill. With its help, Xiao Yan's soul power had undergone another tremendous increase.

After a sleepless night, when the first ray of sunlight shattered the solitude of the darkness, Xiao Yan finally opened his tightly shut eyes!

His formerly pitch-black pupils had become transparent and colorless. A powerful Soul Storm swept out of his body, enveloping the entire residence in an instant and even showing signs of spreading farther.

Within the residence, servants whose cultivation was below Dou Wang fainted the instant the Soul Storm swept over them, overwhelmed by the force of its powerful soul energy.

Even some Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors paled, their heads reeling slightly under the impact of that powerful soul energy.

Just then, an even stronger soul force appeared and enveloped the entire residence, preventing Xiao Yan's soul power from spreading outside.

This soul force was far more terrifying than Xiao Yan's, already carrying a faint hint of vastness like an abyss stretching between heaven and earth.

Wen and Wu, the Two Saints, who had been guarding Xiao Yan all along, slowly materialized. They too were startled upon sensing that soul force, as vast as heaven and earth.

"With soul power this immense, Yao Chen must be close to the legendary heavenly realm," Elder Wen said, narrowing his eyes.

"If his soul reaches the heavenly realm, attaining Half-Saint cultivation will no longer be a problem. He might even enter the true Saint rank before the two of us," Elder Wu said, his expression complicated.

In all fairness, without the power of their bloodline and the Xiao Clan's immense resources, the highest achievement either of them could have reached in their lifetime might not even have been Dou Zun.

Yet Yao Chen had climbed step by step from being an outcast of the Yao Clan to where he stood today.

"Not only that. Once he reaches the heavenly realm, the continent will have another ninth-rank alchemist.

"Tsk, tsk. Those are far rarer than even Dou Sheng experts."

Elder Wen also gazed enviously at the invisible soul force in the sky.

Even the Xiao Clan had only three to five ninth-rank alchemists. The total number across the entire continent could be counted on two hands.

Within the Xiao Clan, their status was almost comparable to that of the supreme elders.

Seen in that light, the Emperor's Son truly had a razor-sharp eye for talent.

The powerful Soul Storm lasted a full breath before Xiao Yan slowly exhaled a mouthful of stale air, his colorless pupils turning pitch-black once more.

"The Spirit-Nurturing Heavenly Pill truly lives up to its reputation as an eighth-tier pill. My soul power should now be comparable to that of a seventh-grade intermediate alchemist.

"And there's even a trace of spirituality within it. Perhaps that will help me a little when I advance to the eighth tier in the future."

Feeling the fullness of his soul power, Xiao Yan's lips curled slightly.

Just then, space rippled faintly, and Yao Lao appeared.