Nine Nether Flame

Beyond the increase in his strength, what delighted Xiao Yan even more was the enhancement of his Purple Cloud Wings. The original wings had been made from only a fifth-rank Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle and, in terms of grade, should have counted as a Black Tier mid- or high-grade Dou Technique. Their flying speed could not match true Dou Qi Wings, either. Now, however, the enhanced Purple Cloud Wings could deliver speeds that were definitely no slower than those of a true Dou Wang expert.

Although the Purple Cloud Wings had become much faster, the Dou Qi required to use them had also multiplied several times over. Xiao Yan was not worried about supplying that Dou Qi, though. He was an Alchemist himself and could refine Qi Recovery Pills. Moreover, when he checked just now, he discovered that his Flame Mantra had evolved by another minor grade.

Just as he had guessed earlier, the black flame was indeed evolving. After absorbing the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's blood essence, its power had increased considerably, which in turn had raised the Flame Mantra from Profound Tier Low Grade to Black Tier Mid Grade-enough to sustain the Purple Cloud Wings' lavish consumption.

Of course, that only applied to flights over normal distances. Relying on the Purple Cloud Wings for a long journey was still rather unrealistic, unless his Flame Mantra evolved to Earth Tier or his strength broke through to Dou Wang. Then again, once he became a Dou Wang, he would naturally use the more economical Dou Qi Wings.

After the black flame finished evolving, a strange piece of information also appeared in Xiao Yan's mind. Only then did he learn the origin of the black flame in his possession. It came from a magical beast called the Nine Nether Sparrow. Calling it a magical beast was actually somewhat inaccurate, because it was not a creature of this world, but had drifted to the Dou Qi Continent from another world.

According to that information, the Nine Nether Sparrow was merely the initial form of its species. If it continued evolving, it would become a supreme divine beast known as the Primordial Undying Bird, while the Nine Nether Flame would also evolve into a stronger flame as its strength increased.

Xiao Yan was not a Nine Nether Sparrow, so naturally, he could not evolve into some Primordial Undying Bird. However, judging by how the Nine Nether Flame had devoured the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's blood essence earlier, it seemed capable of absorbing the blood essence of other magical beasts to continue evolving. The catch was... they had to be avian magical beasts.

"Even a seventh-rank magical beast's blood essence only brought it to its initial form. To evolve it into this so-called Undying Flame, I'd probably have to find a Dou Di-level magical beast, wouldn't I?" After reviewing the information, Xiao Yan could not help laughing at himself. Although he coveted the Undying Flame, achieving that goal was clearly far beyond his current strength.

In fact, the Nine Nether Flame had only managed to evolve this time because the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle possessed a trace of Ancient Phoenix bloodline. Otherwise, even a seventh-rank magical beast would not have been able to make the Nine Nether Flame transform.

The benefits he had gained from the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle did not end there. Xiao Yan's Soul Force had also improved, and its progress was far greater than that of his Dou Qi. After all, he had directly refined the Soul Body of a seventh-rank magical beast. By his estimate, his current Soul Force could be considered at the pinnacle even among Sixth-Rank Alchemists.

In terms of soul realms, his soul should now have reached the peak of the mid Mortal Realm, only a single step away from entering the late Mortal Realm.

It was only because Xiao Yan's strength was still insufficient to support refining high-rank pills that he had not already become a true Sixth-Rank Alchemist.

After sensing all the improvements he had gained this time, Xiao Yan even felt an urge to build a temple for the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle. The benefits had been so generous that even he felt a little embarrassed. But after considering whether Brother Eagle's departed spirit might unleash a torrent of curses at him, he abandoned that rather impractical idea.

Yao Lao was also greatly surprised when he learned of the changes in Xiao Yan. Although he was a Dou Zun expert, he had never heard of anything so peculiar. Of course, Xiao Yan did not reveal the Nine Nether Flame's origins, merely giving a brief account of the Black Flame's changes and improvements.

In the days that followed, Xiao Yan did not take things easier after breaking through to Da Dou Shi. Instead, he became even busier. This breakthrough had once again amounted to relying on outside power, and although no hidden problems had emerged, Yao Lao was still somewhat uneasy. He therefore assigned Xiao Yan the task of hunting down ten third-rank magical beasts a day.

This was partly to temper the Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body and partly to gather the final ingredient needed to refine a Blood Lotus Pill. Xiao Yan added another task for himself: collecting as much blood from fire-attribute magical beasts as possible.

This brutal hunting regimen lasted only a month before Yao Lao called a halt. The reason was simple: Xiao Yan's month-long killing frenzy had caused the magical beasts above the third rank in the Magical Beast Mountain Range to band together, and fourth-order magical beasts had even appeared several times. Although Xiao Yan had ways to contend with fourth-order magical beasts, Yao Lao knew that continuing like this would sooner or later draw even higher-rank magical beasts. Then they would truly be in trouble.

During the battles, Xiao Yan also discovered that a faint phoenix cry had somehow become mingled with his voice. He suspected that absorbing the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's blood essence had caused him to inherit the trace of Ancient Phoenix bloodline within it. Under these circumstances, finding a Soundwave Dou Technique to complement it would undoubtedly give him another trump card. As luck would have it, among the pile of Black Tier Dou Techniques in the cave's final box, there was a Soundwave Dou Technique suitable for him to practice.

Aside from that Soundwave Dou Technique, Xiao Yan also devoted his energy to another matter. During this period of hunting, he had collected several Beast Flames. In his spare time between training sessions, he began using them to practice a move called the "Flame-Tending Mantra." This was one of the Demon Flame Valley's finest Dou Techniques. Although the process was somewhat troublesome, it could produce a Pseudo-Heavenly Flames called "Life Transformation Fire."

This was another trump card Xiao Yan had prepared for himself. It was not merely preparation for his journey to the Chu Yun Empire, but also a precaution against other eventualities. He even practiced it behind Yao Lao's back. Besides not wanting to explain where it had come from, he had another reason: this technique itself was a safeguard against Yao Lao.

Even now, Xiao Yan still could not fully trust Yao Lao. It was not that Yao Lao had treated him badly, but the experiences of his previous life made it difficult for him to trust others. That was why he had taken this measure. He had to ensure that if Yao Lao turned out to be like that fellow from his previous life, he would at least have the confidence to protect himself.

If he could successfully condense Life Transformation Fire, Xiao Yan would be able to use it to unleash the self-created move he had been proudest of in his previous life-the Demon Fury Fire Lotus.