"Yan'er, hold on a little longer. We're almost under the tree."
"Dad, you shouldn't be saying that to me. Your legs are shaking."
The father and son still had the heart to bicker as they trudged along.
After pushing on for another thousand meters, the two finally reached the foot of the tree.
At that point, the boy finally could not hold out any longer and toppled straight toward the ground. Lying faceup, he panted like a windmill.
"Son, you've still got more training to do."
Although the middle-aged man could not hold out either, his dignity as a father meant he still wanted to save some face. Rather than fall flat, he braced himself against the tree trunk to catch his breath.
These two were none other than the Xiao father and son who had left the Misty Cloud Sect to gain experience.
Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan.
"Dad, you're one to talk. Aren't you just the same?" Xiao Yan retorted after catching a few breaths, his voice somewhat hoarse from sheer exhaustion.
"Can you compare yourself to your old man? What I'm carrying is much heavier than yours. Put it on your back, and you wouldn't be able to walk at all," Xiao Zhan said somewhat helplessly, letting out a long breath as he leaned against the tree.
Hearing this, Xiao Yan shook his head with a bitter smile.
Indeed, neither he nor his father had any right to criticize the other.
They were fellow sufferers.
Not long after they left the town at the foot of Misty Cloud Mountain, Yao Lao had taken out an extremely heavy black greatsword for him to carry. Its peculiar ability to suppress Dou Qi, together with its weight, had left him hovering between ecstasy and agony.
At first, he had to use every ounce of strength to take each step.
But its effects were also extraordinarily powerful. In just a few days, he had soared from a One-Star Dou Zhe to a two-star.
Such powerful results had even surprised his father-in-law-to-be, who dropped by for a look from time to time. After borrowing it to study for a while, he had not only provided Xiao Zhan, who was accompanying Xiao Yan as his protector, with a greatsword that had the same effects, but had made it thirty percent heavier than Xiao Yan's.
This had also made Ancestor Yao Chen blush, after his earlier boast that this black greatsword was the only one on the Dou Qi Continent.
As for where his father-in-law-to-be had obtained the same thing, Xiao Yan had not dared ask.
Because the way Gu Yuan had looked at him then had been off, strongly suggesting that he might add another piece to Xiao Yan's load.
Naturally, Xiao Yan did not know that Xiao Xun'er and Nalan Yanran had fought over him after he left.
"Yan'er, Xiao Zhan, once you've rested, it's time to set off. You need to reach the nearby town tonight to rest and prepare to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range." The ring on Xiao Yan's hand glimmered, and Yao Chen's voice came from within.
The father and son, who had only just sat down and caught their breath, exchanged a glance, then rose resignedly, shouldered their respective greatswords, and trudged step by step toward Qingshan Town, over a dozen li away.
Before the sky gradually darkened, the father and son finally entered Qingshan Town with heavy steps.
With the Wolf Head Mercenary Group no longer squeezing it dry, the mercenary trade in Qingshan Town had grown increasingly prosperous.
In particular, the Myriad Medicine Pavilion was buying poisonous herbs in large quantities, drawing more and more mercenaries into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to dig up herbs.
They could not identify good medicinal herbs, but poisonous plants were easy enough to recognize.
Since no one usually wanted poisonous herbs, this had also allowed the mercenaries to make a tidy little fortune.
And once mercenaries had money, they naturally spent it right away. The large quantities of gold coins being spent attracted many people offering their services.
Xiao Yan and his father had barely walked a few meters into Qingshan Town before the greatswords on their backs drew curious looks, and two independent workers immediately crowded around them.
"Oh my, where did this handsome young fellow come from? Out working as a mercenary at such a young age! All that brute strength makes my legs go weak just looking at you. How about ten percent off tonight?"
"Shameless. You'd even go after a boy this young." A woman spat disdainfully, then swayed her barrel-wide backside and addressed Xiao Zhan. "This gentleman has the sturdier build. I'll give you forty percent off tonight, big brother."
"Pah! You shameless hussy, aren't you in heat too?"
"How am I the same as you? I'm after the big brother."
The two began arguing on the spot.
The absurd scene left Xiao Yan and his father staring at each other.
When the two women finally discussed it and said they would not mind doing it together, Xiao Yan and his father hastily declined.
After wiping away cold sweat as they passed through that stretch, the father and son finally reached a relatively normal street.
Restaurants, pharmacies, smithies, and all manner of stalls blazed with light.
The sight left Xiao Yan and his father dumbfounded.
"Damn, what's with this place? Why does it look even more prosperous than Wutan City?" Xiao Yan could not help complaining.
"There really is something unusual about this town." Xiao Zhan was also somewhat bewildered.
As one of Wutan City's former three great clans, the Xiao Clan naturally had its own supply channels.
He had personally inspected towns around the Magical Beast Mountain Range as well, but not one had ever been this prosperous.
It was far too abnormal.
The father and son exchanged a glance and immediately decided to investigate. Posing as ordinary mercenaries, they wandered around for quite some time before finally discovering that the source was a pharmacy called the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.
As it happened, Xiao Yan, who already counted as an apprentice alchemist, was very interested in rare medicinal ingredients.
He immediately entered the shop with his father.
Although it was nearly night, the shop was brightly lit and crowded. Its attendants were extremely busy, and no one greeted Xiao Yan and his father.
This gave the father and son time to survey the shop. When Xiao Yan looked toward a corner of the counter, the ring on his hand flashed faintly.
Meanwhile.
Just as Xiao Yan and his father stepped into the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.
In a luxurious guest room in the Myriad Medicine Pavilion's rear courtyard.
The familiar voice sounded once more in the ears of Xiao Han, who was refining Strange Lightning.
"Ding, major supporting characters Xiao Zhan and Yao Chen and protagonist Xiao Yan detected. Battle Through the Heavens, Please Answer: round three begins."
"Drawing upon the fortune and cultivation of major supporting characters across the Dou Qi Continent to generate the space."
"Supporting characters whose fortune and cultivation are drawn upon can simultaneously view the scenes within the space."
As the space's notification sounded, the Three Immortals of the Gu Clan, Nihility Devouring Flame, the Four Elders of the Soul Clan, the Four Demon Saints, Yan Jin, Lei Ying, Yao Dan, and the other powerful figures at or above Dou Sheng all felt a chill run through their bodies at once.
In a corner of the Central Plains.
"What's going on? Where's my cultivation?" Cold sweat poured from Nihility Devouring Flame. In an instant, he had fallen from Early-Stage Nine-Star Dou Sheng to Five-Star Dou Sheng.
Inside the Ancient Realm.
"This is bad. Someone's ambushing me." Gu Dao's expression changed as he sensed his cultivation plummeting. He instantly rushed out of his secluded cultivation site. He had just blasted through the mountain peak when he saw the other two unfortunate fellows rushing out in panic as well.
"Gu Xuan, Gu Yan, your cultivation has dropped too?" Gu Dao's face instantly turned deathly pale. A method that could evade the notice of three Seven-Star Dou Saints was something even Gu Yuan, a Nine-Star Dou Sheng, might not possess.
The Gu Clan was in peril.
Inside the Thunder Realm.
"Dad, what's wrong? Don't scare me!" Seeing Lei Ying's body shaking violently and the presence of his cultivation plunging, Lei Dong shouted to him in panic.
"This is bad! The other ancient clans must have struck us with some vicious trick. Let's fight them to the death!" The expressions of the Lei Clan's elders also changed drastically at the same time.
Before you continue