Before he knew it, another few months had passed in the blink of an eye. By his reckoning, Xiao Yan's fourteenth birthday was only a little while away. Looking back, he had left the Xiao Clan a full five years ago. It was time to return for a visit and bring Xiao Zhan and the others to the Xiao Gate while he was at it, lest they be wiped out one day.
Over these months of cultivation, Xiao Yan had advanced to Nine-Star Dou Zong. A pace of almost one star a month would have stunned most people in the outside world senseless, but it had not been particularly difficult for him. In these few months alone, he had absorbed hundreds, if not thousands, of bolts of pill lightning. With that energy helping him, such a rapid increase in strength was hardly inconceivable.
Moreover, pill lightning energy was not the only reason he had reached Nine-Star Dou Zong. Perhaps the commotion from his pill refining had been too great, for it had actually drawn out some mysterious creatures that lived in the magma. These creatures resembled humanoid lizards, and the moment they appeared, they surrounded Xiao Yan and attacked.
These lizardmen were not particularly strong, but their numbers were immense. Coupled with their special ability to manipulate magma, they would have been troublesome foes for ordinary experts. But for Xiao Yan, who possessed the netherworld poison flame, numbers were never a problem. He only needed to scatter a little poison to kill the lizardmen on the spot.
After dying, these lizardmen released crimson beads. The beads were very similar to the pill lightning beads he had condensed, containing tremendously potent fire energy. For a fire cultivator like Xiao Yan, they were ideal cultivation supplements. Although the energy within them was