"What an extravagant display. This Gold Lion must have been at least a One-Star Dou Sheng when it was alive."
Inside the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm.
Hearing Xiao Qing's remark, Xiao Tian Ce nodded in agreement. Beast puppets were not made in the same way as Heavenly Demon Puppets.
Once a Heavenly Demon Puppet was created, its strength was not fixed; certain methods could be used to improve it.
Beast puppets were different. Take the Gold Lion before them: its aura was only at the peak of Eight-Star Dou Zun, but when it was alive, its strength could not possibly have been below One-Star Dou Sheng.
This was one of the main reasons so many clans had now abandoned the methods for making beast puppets.
If their strength could be improved like that of Heavenly Demon Puppets, the great Primordial Emperor Clans would surely have long since hunted down magical beasts to turn them into beast puppets.
As he pondered this, the Gold Lion charged at them, opening its blood-filled maw to reveal sharp fangs. Foul-smelling black death energy spewed from its mouth.
Facing the ferociously charging Gold Lion, Xiao Qing wore a look of disdain. She slowly extended her left hand, then abruptly clenched it.
The Gold Lion's charging body instantly stopped dead, imprisoned in midair.
"Don't destroy it. Gold Lions have already disappeared from the Dou Qi Continent. This is probably the last one left on the continent. Although it's only a beast puppet, it's still quite a rare find. We can take it back to Heaven Beyond and have it guard the gates."
Seeing that Xiao Qing was about to crush it, Xiao Tian Ce immediately spoke up to stop her.
Xiao Qing nodded, then beckoned with her left hand, drawing the Gold Lion swiftly before her. She found the control formation on its back and immediately sent her soul power surging into it, erasing the residual soul power within.
A moment later, seeing that it had stopped struggling, Xiao Qing released the Gold Lion and stored it in her spatial Storage Ring.
Just then, however, two more archways beneath the stands abruptly opened.
Immediately afterward, two beast puppets shrouded in death energy slowly emerged, just as the Gold Lion had before them.
"Earth-Splitting Demon Tigers? They've been extinct for ages! They were once among the overlords of the Beast Region. To think the Ancient Heavenly Phoenixes turned even them into beast puppets," Xiao Qing exclaimed in shock.
"Calm down. This is nothing extraordinary. Ancient Heavenly Phoenixes were savage by nature and fed upon all beasts. Even the undisputed overlords of today's magical beasts would have become their food if they encountered them in their prime.
"They're merely Earth-Splitting Demon Tigers. Isn't it perfectly normal for them to have been refined into beast puppets?
"All right, do the same as before. Erase the soul power controlling them and take them back to Heaven Beyond too," Xiao Tian Ce said calmly with a smile.
"Understood."
Xiao Qing answered, then extended both hands and clenched them, restraining the two Earth-Splitting Demon Tigers as well.
Although both Earth-Splitting Demon Tigers possessed the strength of peak Nine-Star Dou Zun, they were still no match for Xiao Qing, a peak Two-Star Dou Saint.
Following the same procedure she had used on the Gold Lion, she erased the soul power controlling the Earth-Splitting Demon Tigers and stored them in her spatial Storage Ring.
A moment later, the archways beneath the stands opened again, and Xiao Qing collected several more puppets of magical beasts that had been extinct for a thousand years.
At last, the final beast puppet appeared. Its strength was at Peak Four-Star Dou Saint, and it belonged to the Ancient Void Dragon Clan.
Xiao Qing could not handle it, so Xiao Tian Ce finally stepped in.
Had this Ancient Void Dragon still been alive, even if it had only possessed Three-Star Dou Sheng strength, its clan's astonishing physique would have made subduing it rather more troublesome.
But the Ancient Void Dragon, reduced to a beast puppet, still had a fatal weakness. Xiao Tian Ce easily restrained it with spatial power, then abruptly unleashed his soul power at spirit realm grand perfection. Just like that, he collected the Peak Four-Star Dou Saint Ancient Void Dragon puppet.
"All eight archways have opened. This beast puppet should be the last."
No sooner had Xiao Tian Ce finished speaking than the inverted dome of spatial light slowly dissipated. The stands directly ahead actually began to move, and a moment later, a passage-like path appeared before them.
Xiao Tian Ce smiled faintly, then led Xiao Qing toward the passage.
After passing through it, they found themselves before a medicinal garden densely packed with natural treasures. Even Xiao Tian Ce, an eighth-tier alchemist accustomed to all manner of precious medicinal herbs, was stunned speechless.
Ten-thousand-year rare medicinal herbs could be seen everywhere, while herbs hundreds or even thousands of years old grew like weeds along the roadside.
Suddenly, Xiao Qing pointed toward the very center of the garden and exclaimed, "Third Uncle, what's that?"
Following the direction of Xiao Qing's finger, Xiao Tian Ce looked over, and his mind instantly seemed to crash. At the very center of the garden stood an enormous Qinglian, wreathed in flames with a greenish hue.
"The Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus! The green lotus core flame!" Xiao Tian Ce exclaimed.
In the original story, the green lotus core flame was a flame found within molten lava at the earth's core. Born deep beneath the earth, it underwent countless cycles of tempering, fusion, compression, and sculpting by the earth's fire...
It gained spirituality after ten years, took shape after a hundred, and became a lotus after a thousand. Upon reaching full maturity, it turned greenish, and a cluster of green fire appeared in the lotus's heart. This was called the green lotus flame, also known as the green lotus core flame.
The power of this flame was unfathomable. Near volcanic regions, it could even trigger eruptions, unleashing nature's destructive might!
At first, Xiao Tian Ce had not been certain either. After all, this green lotus core flame was growing aboveground. Still, he was an alchemist, and his knowledge of heavenly flames exceeded that of ordinary people.
"The green lotus core flame? Third Uncle, I remember the Heavenly Flames Illustrated Record saying that the green lotus core flame ranks nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking and grows in magma at the earth's core. This flame does have a greenish color, but it's growing in this medicinal garden. It shouldn't be that flame, should it?" Xiao Qing was puzzled. This did not match what she knew at all.
Yet Xiao Tian Ce had no inclination to explain much to Xiao Qing despite her confusion.
Even with that uncertainty, and even if it could not improve his strength, a heavenly flame could still let him achieve twice the results with half the effort when refining medicine.
"I'll explain in a moment."
With that, Xiao Tian Ce abruptly vanished from where he stood, arriving before the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus in the blink of an eye.
Feeling the scorching heat radiating from the flame, Xiao Tian Ce laughed heartily. "It really is the green lotus core flame! I never imagined exploring the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm would bring such a reward. Truly, after wearing out iron shoes searching in vain, I've found it without the slightest effort!"
As he spoke, he reached out to pluck the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus platform.
However, just as his palm was about to touch the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus, something suddenly changed.
The green lotus core flame atop the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus flickered abruptly, erupting with power comparable to an all-out strike from a Dou Zun expert as it lunged toward Xiao Tian Ce.
"Third Uncle, watch out!"
At the edge of the medicinal garden, Xiao Qing hurriedly called out a warning.
Such power would indeed have been difficult for a Dou Zun to handle, but for a Mid-Stage Five-Star Dou Sheng like him, a wave of his hand was enough to block it all.
Xiao Tian Ce stood where he was without retreating an inch. After blocking the green lotus core flame's attack, he was just about to act again when the flame transformed into a child of seven or eight. The child extended a small, fair hand, pointed at Xiao Tian Ce, and said, "Who are you? Why have you disturbed my slumber?"
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