Heavenly Scorpion Tomb Mansion

After successfully devouring the netherworld poison flame, Xiao Yan did not rush to leave the Chu Yun Empire. Instead, he stayed a while longer. To deal with that skeleton earlier, he had used a wisp of life transformation fire that he had painstakingly nurtured to fuse the Demon Fury Fire Lotus. Now, little of the life transformation fire remained within him. If he wanted to use it again, he would have to keep nurturing it.

Fortunately, he had already condensed the seed of the life transformation fire, so he only needed to keep feeding it beast flames. Beast flames were not particularly difficult to find in the Chu Yun Empire. Although the empire was famous for its poisons, it also had many alchemists, whose standing was every bit as prestigious as that of the poison masters.

Xiao Yan vaguely remembered that, in his previous life, an alchemist from the Chu Yun Empire had infiltrated the Jia Ma Empire to enter its Alchemist Competition and won the championship, leaving the Jia Ma Empire with its reputation dragged through the dirt. Although it had later been confirmed that this Chu Yun alchemist was actually the Vice President of the Chu Yun Empire Alchemist Guild in disguise, the face they had lost could never be recovered.

However, Xiao Yan had no intention of restoring the Jia Ma Empire's dignity. Leaving aside the fact that this had happened in his previous life, he himself felt no particular sense of imperial pride. Of course, if the Jia Ma Empire could offer him a heavenly flame in exchange for his help, he would not mind doing them that favor. But he doubted the empire had the means.

After buying several more kinds of low-tier beast flames from a trading company, Xiao Yan was about to find somewhere to nurture his life transformation fire when the owner suddenly called out to him. "Young fellow, you must have come for the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range too, right? Would you like to buy a map of the mountain range?"

"No need. I'm not going to the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range." Xiao Yan shook his head decisively. He had already visited the place once while searching for the netherworld poison flame. Since he had no reason to go there now, he certainly would not waste money on it.

"What? You didn't come for the Heavenly Scorpion Tomb Mansion?" the shopkeeper asked in surprise.

"Tomb mansion? What tomb mansion?" Xiao Yan paused. When he had arrived at the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range several months ago, he had not found any tomb mansion.

"It seems you haven't been keeping up with the news lately, young fellow." The shopkeeper smiled. "Just a month ago, someone discovered a tomb mansion near the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range. They say it's where a high-tier Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast died. That beast possessed great intelligence during its lifetime. Worried that others would dig up its corpse, it specially built this tomb mansion so it could rest in peace."

"A Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast?" Xiao Yan could not help feeling surprised. Naturally, he knew something about this kind of magical beast. The Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast reportedly belonged to a race of magical beasts called the Scorpion Dragon Clan. It carried a trace of the Ancient Void Dragon bloodline, making it exceptionally powerful. What he had not expected was that there would actually be a dead Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast in the Chu Yun Empire.

Most importantly, one of the ingredients required by the Poison Pill Method for controlling the woeful poison body was the magic core of a seventh-rank Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast! Although Xiao Yan's strength had increased greatly, if he truly encountered a seventh-rank magical beast, he could only turn tail and run-and he might not even escape. But a dead one was another matter entirely.

Since it had been able to build a tomb mansion for itself, this Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast must have attained human form during its lifetime. In other words, it had been at least a tier 6 magical beast! Although the magic core of a tier 6 Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast did not meet the requirements, it was still the same kind of material and could help to some extent. Besides, this might be his only chance to obtain a Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's magic core before heading to the Central Plains.

"But you said that Heavenly Scorpion Tomb Mansion was discovered a month ago. Wouldn't there be nothing left but scattered feathers by the time I got there?" Suddenly recalling the shopkeeper's earlier words, Xiao Yan frowned slightly.

He was just about to ask whether the shopkeeper knew who had obtained the magic core when the man said with a chuckle, "Not at all. The tomb mansion has a seal laid down by that Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast, so nobody could open it before. Over the past few days, though, reports have kept coming in that the seal is weakening. I think the tomb mansion will open very soon. If you hurry over now, young fellow, you might still have a chance to claim the opportunities inside."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been able to establish a seal that kept all these people from the Chu Yun Empire out, then the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast that had built the tomb mansion was probably a seventh-rank magical beast. That would make its core exactly what the Poison Pill Method required.

After confirming that the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast had been at least seventh rank, Xiao Yan took out a bag of gold coins and bought a detailed map. He had visited the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range once before, but the terrain there was extremely complicated. Even if he went again, he might not recognize the way. Buying the map meant being prepared against any mishaps. Besides, the man had given him so much useful information that he ought to offer something in return.

After leaving the shop, Xiao Yan found another inn. He had originally intended to leave the Chu Yun Empire after collecting the beast flames, but now it seemed he would have to delay his departure again. Since he was going to the Hundred Poisons Mountain Range to seize the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast, he would have to prepare thoroughly. After all, such a beast held a tremendous allure for the people of the Chu Yun Empire.

The pills Yao Lao had prepared earlier had nearly all been used up recently, so Xiao Yan intended to take this opportunity to replenish his supplies. Fortunately, he had gathered plenty of medicinal ingredients in the Small Valley earlier. Otherwise, he would have had to spend time buying them in the city.

Xiao Yan devoted the entire night that followed to refining pills. With his increased strength and the netherworld poison flame he had devoured, his success rate had improved greatly. Even his success rate with fifth-grade pills was quite high. After a night of painstaking refinement, his Storage Ring was filled with jade bottles of every size.

The consequence of all this intensive refining was that the Medicine Cauldron Xiao Yan used was ruined outright. Still, he did not feel particularly sorry about it. After all, the cauldron had never been of much quality and was only suitable for beginners. Lasting this long was already a respectable achievement.

"Looks like I'll have to get a better Medicine Cauldron when I return this time." Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly. As he was now, he had a measure of confidence even in refining sixth-grade pills. A low-grade cauldron like this clearly could no longer meet his needs.

He had already made up his mind to visit the Black-Corner Region once he finished his business here. He should be able to obtain some high-quality Medicine Cauldrons there-at the very least, one that could withstand his refining sixth-grade pills.