The Magic Core Secured

Xiao Yan had decided to use Annihilation Flame Eyes on the spur of the moment. The Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion had formidable defenses and stood an entire tier above him. Even Flame Splitting Wave Ruler could not seriously wound it, and he could not use Demon Fury Fire Lotus inside the burial chamber, so he had chosen this soul attack to deal with it.

The Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion's body was indeed extraordinarily tough, but its soul force was not particularly strong. After all, few magical beasts excelled in soul force, which was why Annihilation Flame Eyes had succeeded in a single strike. Had its opponent possessed formidable soul force or a similar soul Dou Technique, resisting Annihilation Flame Eyes at its current strength would not have been impossible.

Of course, that possibility did not apply to the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion. From the moment Annihilation Flame Eyes struck it, its death had been sealed. That was why Xiao Yan did not pursue it, instead staying where he was, taking medicinal pills to recover while waiting for the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion to die.

As he waited, he lowered his head to glance at the Heavenly Flames Armor covering his body. The armor over his heart actually showed signs of a slight dent, clear proof of just how powerful the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion's earlier attack had been.

As time passed, the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion, which had been thrashing in hysterical frenzy, finally collapsed onto the floor. Clearly, its vitality had reached its end. Xiao Yan did not hurry to approach it. Only after another incense stick's worth of time had passed, and he had confirmed that it was truly dead with no chance of suddenly rising again, did he walk over.

The Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion's shell was extremely hard and could be made into armor. Although Flame Splitting Wave Ruler had smashed parts of it, most remained intact. The creature was enormous. Stripping off its shell and combining it with some unusual metals he had previously collected would provide enough material for four or five sets of armor.

Naturally, Xiao Yan had no use for such armor. His Heavenly Flames Armor was far sturdier than this sort of inner armor. He could, however, give the finished sets to Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yi Xian, and the others. Armor fashioned from the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion's shell would likely suffer little damage even from a Dou Wang's full-powered strike.

Making armor would take considerable time, however, and Xiao Yan had none to waste here. He did not know how much longer the poisonous mist outside could hold those fellows back. He had to find the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's corpse as quickly as possible. Thus, after extracting the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion's magic core, he put its body into his Storage Ring.

Then he headed toward the final burial chamber.

The instant Xiao Yan stepped into the chamber, he felt an immensely powerful pressure. He merely furrowed his brows, and the nine nether illusion demon flame surged from his body, shutting out that oppressive aura.

Unlike the Four-Winged Sky Demon Scorpion outside, the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast was not particularly large. It could even be said to be about the size of a human. The difference was that a pair of draconic wings, found only among dragons, sprouted from its back, while its tail ended in a sharp scorpion stinger. Even though its body was already dead, the aura it gave off could still make it impossible for anyone below Dou Wang to take a single step.

Judging by its aura alone, Xiao Yan could tell that this Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast had probably reached the peak of the seventh tier while alive. Had it still been living, it would certainly have posed a threat to him as he was now. But now... it was merely a corpse.

Xiao Yan first cut off the pair of draconic wings and stored them in his Storage Ring. Only then did he summon the nine nether illusion demon flame and envelop the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's corpse in it. Under the scorching heat of the heavenly flames, the corpse rapidly shrank, eventually becoming a blood-colored lump of flesh only half a zhang across.

The instant the blood-colored lump took shape, a blood-colored magic core containing violent energy shot out of it and floated toward Xiao Yan. Having learned his lesson from the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's magic core last time, Xiao Yan did not catch it directly with his hand. Instead, he wrapped it in soul force before placing it in his Storage Ring.

Otherwise, if the nine nether flame absorbed the energy from the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's magic core as well, the loss would outweigh the gain. Clearly, however, Xiao Yan was worrying unnecessarily. Although the nine nether flame could absorb magical beasts' blood essence and the energy of their magic cores on its own, that applied only to avian magical beasts. Creatures like the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast lay outside the range of what it could absorb.

After putting the magic core into his Storage Ring, Xiao Yan did not stop refining the ball of flesh. Instead, he raised the temperature of the nine nether illusion demon flame. He knew very well that the magic core was not the only precious treasure within the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast. Its blood essence was equally valuable. Even in the Central Plains, blood essence from a magical beast at the peak of the seventh tier was exceedingly difficult to buy on the market.

Under the sustained scorching of the nine nether illusion demon flame, the blood-colored ball of flesh grew increasingly shriveled. Then drops of purple blood seeped from it. Rather than falling to the floor, the purple blood gathered together under the guidance of his soul force, finally forming a sphere that hovered in midair.

This was precisely the blood essence within the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast!

A magical beast's blood essence was formed from the essence of its life and offered great benefits to the human body. Naturally, Xiao Yan would not let such treasures slip away. After he squeezed out the final drop of blood essence, the blood-colored lump of flesh broke apart and dissipated within the nine nether illusion demon flame.

Xiao Yan paid no attention to the vanishing corpse. He immediately took out a jade bottle and placed the gathered blood essence inside before gently exhaling. With the seventh-tier Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's magic core secured, his journey to Chu Yun should come to an end. All that remained was the so-called bodhi body-transforming saliva.

In his previous life, while passing through the Black-Corner Region, he had heard that the Black Emperor Sect there had once auctioned off bodhi body-transforming saliva. Although he did not know whether the story was true, he should be able to gather information about it there.

"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Black-Corner Region..." Xiao Yan's eyes flickered slightly. If he remembered correctly, a heavenly flame had also appeared in the Black-Corner Region. Perhaps he could try his luck on this visit. His most pressing concern, however, was finding a way out of this tomb.

The entrance was out of the question. He was certain that the moment he showed his face, countless attacks would come flying at him, so he could only carve out another route. Fortunately, Xiao Yan had already decided what to do.

He returned to the area where he had fought the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast and selected a spot among the shattered floor tiles. Then he immediately summoned the nine nether illusion demon flame, condensed it into the shape of a drill, and drove it fiercely into the ground. As someone from Earth who had received nine years of compulsory education, Xiao Yan had understood one truth since childhood: there were no roads in the world to begin with, but when enough people walked the same way, a road took shape. Since he could not leave through the front entrance, he would simply dig a tunnel.