With a beckoning gesture, Jiang Yun drew two Storage Rings from their corpses. He extended his soul power into them, and at the sight of their abundant collections, a smile finally appeared on his lips.
I'm rich! I'm rich! As an alchemist, he was embarrassingly poor, with no legitimate excuse for it. He had no pill formulas and had to work everything out himself. Even his medicinal ingredients came from Zi Yan's aid, and he wished he could split each batch into two to refine.
Now, however, all those problems had melted away. Leaving Fan Lao aside, Yuan Yi, as the master of the Eight Gates, owned an auction house and possessed all manner of strange and unusual things.
Jiang Yun spotted more than a dozen pill formulas, all of them fourth tier or higher!
Only formulas this precious would have been kept on his person. In the Black-Corner Region, something was safest only when you carried it yourself.
But that meant Jiang Yun now reaped all the benefits!
"Xiao Yun, we're rich!" Just then, a cheerful voice rang out. A purple figure raced toward Jiang Yun, excitement written across her face. He took a closer look.
She was carrying a pile of Storage Rings in her arms.
Jiang Yun had dealt with Fan Lao and Yuan Yi, while Zi Yan had handled their subordinates. With her strength at the peak of the fifth rank, and no Dou Emperor among them, it had been nothing short of-
A slaughter!
The Storage Rings nearly overflowing from her arms were proof enough!
"You weren't hurt, were you?"
Glancing at the Storage Rings in Zi Yan's arms, Jiang Yun raised a hand to clean the grime from her hands and asked softly.
"No." A white holy flame brimming with vitality shone in Jiang Yun's palm. Its soothing warmth made Zi Yan narrow her eyes in comfort, her voice turning soft and languid.
She startled herself. At that moment, she felt as though she had fallen ill, as though her heart no longer belonged to her. She pulled her hand out of Jiang Yun's palm as if shocked by electricity, forcibly suppressed the strange feelings inside her, and declared smugly.
"How could those rotten fish and spoiled shrimp possibly give me any trouble?"
Jiang Yun found Zi Yan's reaction a little odd, but did not dwell on it. He put away the Storage Rings and looked at the somewhat dimmed black token. Around them, the Great Demon Refining Formation, which had displayed such tremendous might moments earlier, had already lost its luster.
The scouring of countless years had nearly worn it away. The single attack Jiang Yun had forcibly unleashed through it today had exhausted all its remaining power.
"Xiao Yun, that fellow called Han Feng snatched the Bodhi Body-Transformation Saliva. Should we chase him?" Having finished counting the medicinal ingredients in the Storage Rings, Zi Yan bounced cheerfully over to Jiang Yun and asked.
Jiang Yun turned, an inscrutable gleam in his deep eyes. After a moment, he answered, "No need. Let Han Feng keep it safe for us for a while!"
Zi Yan gave the cryptic Jiang Yun a puzzled look and nodded with only a vague understanding. Whatever the case, listening to Xiao Yun was the right choice. Just then, Jiang Yun spoke softly.
"Zi Yan, do you want to see this Secret Realm's true appearance?"
"Hm?" Zi Yan tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Is this a fake Secret Realm?"
"To be precise, this is only the outer region of the Secret Realm. The true Secret Realm is concealed deeper inside!"
"Yes! I want to go!" Zi Yan's eyes immediately lit up. If even the outer region had so many good things, what would the inner region hold?
Zi Yan voiced her excitement.
Jiang Yun nodded, placed the token in his palm, and formed a seal with one hand. An obscure, concealed fluctuation immediately rippled outward.
Rumble-
A rumbling sound arose. Before Jiang Yun and Zi Yan's eyes, the surrounding space shattered, and a milky-white ring of light faintly took shape within the fractured space.
"Once we're inside, hold tightly to my arm and don't wander off. Understand?" Although he was completely confident, Jiang Yun still could not help giving her a warning before they entered.
"Understood!" Seeing Jiang Yun's serious gaze, Zi Yan refrained from fooling around for once and answered just as seriously.
Jiang Yun nodded and spoke within his mind. Sorry for the trouble, Grandpa Qing Ming.
"Hehe! I'm curious about what's down below myself." Qing Ming's figure slowly appeared, a faint smile on his face and irrepressible curiosity in his eyes.
A faint azure light poured from Jiang Yun's chest and wrapped tightly around them both beneath Zi Yan's curious gaze.
"Let's go-"
As his words fell, Jiang Yun moved, turning into a streak of light that carried Zi Yan into the ring with lightning speed.
The instant their bodies entered the ring, the skin all over them suddenly tightened. The light before their eyes blurred slightly, and their surroundings changed.
Where's Zi Yan? Jiang Yun immediately realized Zi Yan was missing and felt a jolt of alarm. But when he saw the milky-white flames around him, he understood.
"To think I still fell into your trap, even with all that!" Feeling the scorching heat within the space, Jiang Yun sighed in wonder.
"But I have no time to waste!" At a thought from Jiang Yun, a fissure abruptly opened between his brows, and a terrifying eyeball slowly emerged.
"Break-"
A quiet shout rang out, and an eerie black light swept across the surrounding space, shattering it at once.
Jiang Yun slowly opened his tightly closed eyes and immediately saw Zi Yan, whom he was still holding. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her expression was pained.
It seemed she was experiencing something unpleasant!
"Wake up!" Jiang Yun held Zi Yan by both shoulders and pressed his forehead against hers. A low shout sounded as a purple-black marking slowly emerged between his brows.
Terrifying soul fluctuations were mixed into his shout. The sound waves entered Zi Yan's ears directly and finally slammed hard into her soul.
Her tightly closed eyes snapped open at that moment.
"Xiao Yun." As soon as she opened her eyes and saw Jiang Yun beside her, Zi Yan's eyes reddened.
"It's all right. None of that was real!" Knowing that Zi Yan's illusion could not have been anything pleasant, Jiang Yun rubbed her head and comforted her gently.
Under Jiang Yun's gentle reassurance, Zi Yan gradually regained her composure and said angrily, "What a bastard, making me see something like that! Xiao Yun, let's hurry. I'm going to tear apart the tomb of this Secret Realm's owner!"
"Hehe-" Seeing Zi Yan fuming, Jiang Yun chuckled softly and led her slowly forward by the hand.
As they advanced, illusory scenes appeared before their eyes, one after another.
A man sat serenely atop an enormous lotus that radiated an uncanny aura, gazing into the distance with deep eyes.
Beneath him seemed to be a city. Its inhabitants appeared to be enduring all manner of suffering, for every face wore an expression of profound pain.
Countless more scenes followed, all depicting the man's life. From his weakest beginnings to the pinnacle of the continent, Jiang Yun and Zi Yan witnessed the life of a supreme powerhouse together.
Jiang Yun already knew the man's identity. From the moment he saw that uncanny flame lotus, it had ceased to be a secret.
He was none other than the Half-Emperor who had towered over an entire era, the Demon Saint Jinglian!
The scenes continued to shift until a peculiar image appeared!
A black-clad figure radiating towering evil energy suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. He stood in midair as an aura resembling that of a ruler of heaven and earth slowly spread from his body.
Under the influence of that aura, even heaven and earth began to seem insignificant.
"The Outer Realm Evil Clan!" Jiang Yun could not have been more familiar with this aura. It belonged to the Outer Realm Evil Clan, though he could not yet determine which race. "It seems this is the Secret Realm's owner!"
"He should be a member of the Soul-Eating Clan!" Just then, Qing Ming's voice slowly sounded.
"The Soul-Eating Clan?" Jiang Yun was puzzled. The Outer Realm Evil Clan comprised far more than the Thirty-Two Great Clans; there were countless other races as well. The Different Demon Clan that had invaded the Heavenly Profound Continent, for instance, did not even possess a Heavenly Sovereign. It was an insignificant minor clan, and the Evil Clan had countless such clans.
"The Soul-Eating Clan's strength doesn't rank among the Evil Clan's top hundred, but their innate talent is rather terrifying. They can devour others' souls to cultivate and are extremely bloodthirsty. They treat not only the people of the Great Thousand World this way, but their own people as well. That makes them rather unwelcome within the Evil Clan."
Faced with Jiang Yun's questions, Qing Ming patiently explained.
Understanding appeared on Jiang Yun's face, and he said coldly, "They certainly deserve to die!"
Because of the Evil Spirit Clan's awkward circumstances, Jiang Yun had little affection for beings who slaughtered their own kind.
"What a disgusting aura!" Unlike Jiang Yun, Zi Yan seemed to possess an inborn hatred of the Outer Realm's evil energy. She frowned slightly, disgust showing in her eyes.
"Xiao Yun, this fellow is so strong!" Rubbing her palms together in discomfort, Zi Yan tugged Jiang Yun's sleeve and pointed at the black-clad figure in the scene.
"He should be the Secret Realm's owner. He's a Dou Sheng!" Jiang Yun turned and explained softly to Zi Yan.
"So he's a Dou Sheng!" Zi Yan looked at the black-clad figure in astonishment. She had never expected this to be the legendary Dou Sheng.
Zi Yan studied the dark figure closely. Although it was only an image, its aura made even her soul tremble.
"Rooar-" Just as Zi Yan began to feel unwell, before Jiang Yun could intervene, a brilliant purple light erupted from her body, accompanied by a faint Dragon Roar.
"Zi Yan!" Jiang Yun looked at her in alarm. He had not expected her bloodline to be stimulated into awakening at this moment.
"Xiao Yun!" Jiang Yun's call brought the dazed Zi Yan back to her senses, and she looked at him in confusion.
"Zi Yan, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Looking at the somewhat anxious Jiang Yun, Zi Yan replied in puzzlement, "No!" She rubbed her swollen-feeling head and continued, "It just feels like there's something new in my mind."
Jiang Yun immediately understood. The Ancient Dragon Inheritance within Zi Yan had likely been unexpectedly stimulated into awakening, though he did not know how much had awakened.
"It's a good thing. Don't think about it for now. Explore it after you've stabilized!"
"Mm!" Zi Yan nodded lightly, then suddenly cried out, "Look! That lotus man from earlier has appeared!"
Lotus man?
Jiang Yun looked with an odd expression at the Demon Saint Jinglian, who had just been given a nickname. If the man knew a junior was making such remarks about him, would he be angry enough to come back to life?
In the scene, the Demon Saint Jinglian appeared and fought the Soul-Eating Clan member. Both were at the Peak Dou Sheng level. Although the Soul-Eating Clan member unleashed an endless array of methods, he still could not withstand the Demon Saint Jinglian's Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.
In the end, the Demon Saint Jinglian slew him. Yet the Evil Clan's tenacious resistance to annihilation was laid bare. Even after death, the Soul-Eating Clan member continued to emit evil energy, polluting the Dou Qi Continent.
If left unchecked, the Dou Qi Continent would likely be assimilated years later.
Forcing his wounded body onward, the Demon Saint Jinglian found an emerald-green tree a thousand zhang tall, wreathed in pure energy.
"The Bodhi Ancient Tree!" The instant he saw it, Jiang Yun exclaimed in shock. The only enormous tree he could think of with such a sacred appearance was the Bodhi Ancient Tree, ranked third on the Heavenly Treasures Ranking.
"So it's a bodhi tree!" At the same time, Qing Ming's voice rang out in understanding.
Hm? A bodhi tree! Jiang Yun pondered. A bodhi tree and the Bodhi Ancient Tree were two different things. Although their names differed by only one word, the gulf between them was as vast as heaven and earth.
Bodhi trees might emerge from time to time in the world, but from ancient times to the present, there had only ever been one Bodhi Ancient Tree.
Through accumulation over long ages, the Bodhi Ancient Tree gradually formed a Bodhi Heart capable of allowing someone to become a saint on the spot. A bodhi tree lacked such tremendous ability. The Bodhi Body-Transformation Saliva was the "Bodhi Heart" condensed by a bodhi tree.
"What? What? What's all this about bodhi trees and the Bodhi Ancient Tree?" With her keen hearing, Zi Yan caught Jiang Yun's muttering and eagerly asked.
He gave little Zi Yan another basic lesson on the difference between the two, leaving her practically drooling.
Meanwhile, the images kept shifting. With the bodhi tree in hand, the Demon Saint Jinglian used it as the formation's core and laid out a great formation, using its pure energy and the passage of time to wear away the Soul-Eating Clan member's evil energy.
After arranging everything, he seemed unable to hold on any longer. He hurriedly left behind a token, a portion of Bodhi Body-Transformation Saliva, and an Incomplete Map before departing.
The images ended there. Jiang Yun guessed that what followed was probably the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's backlash.
With the Demon Saint Jinglian at full strength as a Half-Emperor, the inherently rebellious Purifying Lotus Demon Flame would never have dared betray him.
The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame and the Nihility Devouring Flame ranked third and second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, respectively, and their quality and strength were closely matched.
Even with the Hun Clan's help, the Nihility Devouring Flame had taken ten thousand years to reach Nine-Star Dou Saint. The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, that unlucky fellow who had been refined by the Demon Saint Jinglian as soon as it emerged, certainly lacked the strength to turn against him at his peak.
But the Demon Saint Jinglian's grievous wounds had given it an opening!
Perhaps the Demon Saint Jinglian had sensed this, which was why he had left behind one quarter of the Incomplete Map as a contingency, while also hoping a suitable successor would emerge in a later generation.
Someone who could help him resolve the matters of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame and the Soul-Eating Clan's demonic energy once and for all!
After piecing everything together, Jiang Yun said to Zi Yan, "Let's go and see whether Senior Demon Saint left anything behind!"
"Let's go, let's go!" Zi Yan's eyes immediately lit up, and she raised her hand excitedly. Now that she knew the Demon Saint Jinglian's strength, she understood that even a few scraps left by such a great figure would be enough to keep both her and Jiang Yun well fed.
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