Hearing the commotion, Yuan Qing emerged from his recovery. He looked at Xiao Yan standing nearby, rose to his feet with gratitude written all over his face, cupped his hands, and bowed to Xiao Yan with great respect. "Thank you for saving my life, sir. I, Yuan Qing, cannot thank you enough."
Yuan Qing could naturally guess that Xiao Yan had been hiding nearby all along, but since Xiao Yan had saved him, he could hardly say anything about it. Instead, he asked, "May I have your name, sir?" Before he had finished speaking, he felt that asking so directly was inappropriate. He hastily added, with a hint of flattery, "I believe this old man knows the descendants of quite a few great clans on this continent. But seeing that you have reached such a realm of strength at so young an age, I was truly curious which faction you came from. Please forgive my impertinence."
Xiao Yan smiled in response to Yuan Qing's thanks. Hearing his question, he said with a smile, "Hehe, you flatter me, brother. To tell you the truth, I am Xiao Yan, and I only just arrived here. I sensed Dou Qi fluctuations and came to investigate out of curiosity. Then I saw that fellow, neither man nor ghost, trying to kill you, so I stepped in and drove him back. It was merely a small favor, nothing worth mentioning."
Yuan Qing thought nothing of it. After all, they had only just met, and it was good enough that Xiao Yan had not taken advantage of his predicament. The two exchanged a few flattering remarks, and that was the end of it. But when Xiao Yan gave Yuan Qing his name, Old Ghost Yan Mo, who had just emerged from the pile of rocks, heard him as well.
Old Ghost Yan Mo's eyes flew wide, and he stared at Xiao Yan in shock. He panted heavily through his mouth and nose, while greed and bloodlust shone in his scarlet eyes.
Old Ghost Yan Mo fixed his wide, scarlet eyes on Xiao Yan, as though afraid he would run away. "Xiao Yan? You said your name was Xiao Yan, right? Jie jie jie jie! You've finally come. You've really kept me waiting! Jie jie jie jie!" he shouted, his voice brimming with bloodlust.
"Waiting for me? I don't think there's any connection between us, is there?"
Xiao Yan frowned at those words. For some reason, the moment he heard them, he felt as though he had stepped into an enormous trap. A faint sense of danger welled up deep inside him, and, for reasons he did not understand, he found himself thinking of Hun Tiandi, whose soul had long since scattered. It gave Xiao Yan a strange feeling, as though the road ahead of him had already been planned out by someone. His gaze toward Old Ghost Yan Mo grew colder of its own accord.
"Jie jie jie jie! Xiao Yan, die!"
Old Ghost Yan Mo moved, flashing to Xiao Yan's left in an instant. He thrust his palm fiercely at the top of Xiao Yan's head. Xiao Yan swung his right fist back to meet the attack head-on.
Boom!
Xiao Yan's fist collided with Old Ghost Yan Mo's palm, and rolling waves of force spread from the point of impact. Fine spatial cracks appeared in the void, while the ground beneath their feet shattered inch by inch. A circle of spiderweb-like fissures spread several zhang across, and even the towering mountain to one side trembled slightly.
Their fist and palm separated upon contact. Xiao Yan remained where he was, but the ground beneath him had been reduced to a thick layer of loose earth. His feet sank deep into it whenever he stepped down, so he had no choice but to stand in the air. Old Ghost Yan Mo, on the other hand, was driven back several hundred steps before he forced himself to stop. He watched Xiao Yan standing in the air where he had been, his expression grave. In that exchange, he had been on the defensive from beginning to end. He had indeed struck first and seized the initiative, but when he felt the force behind Xiao Yan's fist, he understood what that advantage amounted to. Against Xiao Yan's absolute strength, even joining forces with Yuan Qing might not be enough to defeat him.
Old Ghost Yan Mo thought it over again and again. Finally, as though making a momentous decision, he roared, "Mysterious Nether Soul-Devouring Palm!"
His gaunt figure suddenly darted upward, flashing into the sky. His hands formed seals as swiftly as lightning. As waves of energy rippled outward, the black mist around him, most of which had been dispersed by the blows, rose once more. It gathered around his body, forming a thick shield that enclosed him completely.
But it was not over. Old Ghost Yan Mo's hand seals kept changing, though this time his fingers moved far, far more slowly than before. Somehow, however, he brought them back up to speed in an instant. His constantly trembling body showed just how steep the price was. When Xiao Yan sensed the faint Dou Qi fluctuations emanating from the seals, his expression instantly turned grave. Clearly, this was an immensely powerful Dou Technique.
Unfortunately, although Xiao Yan was not far from Old Ghost Yan Mo, given the latter's speed, he would probably have a feast ready and waiting by the time Xiao Yan rushed over.
Looking at the Dou Technique that was about to succeed, Old Ghost Yan Mo curved his lips into a cruel, bloodthirsty smile. The next moment, he hurtled down toward Xiao Yan and Yuan Qing.
As Old Ghost Yan Mo drew closer, the gravity on Xiao Yan's face abruptly vanished, replaced by worry and concern. Xiao Yan glanced at Yuan Qing, whose face had gone deathly pale. With a movement, Xiao Yan vanished from the spot with Yuan Qing, reappearing ten zhang away and raising a Dou Qi shield in front of them.
Yuan Qing studied Xiao Yan, whose white robes were as pristine as snow, bewilderment filling his mind. What was the difference between being here and where they had just been?
The next moment.
Boom!
Old Ghost Yan Mo, less than a zhang from Xiao Yan, suddenly halted in midair. The hand seals he had been changing continuously fell into disarray. In an instant, a wildly violent storm of energy, mixed with a trace of soul power, slammed into the Dou Qi shield Xiao Yan had erected. The shield trembled and hummed repeatedly. Yet just as Xiao Yan was about to remove it and inspect the situation outside, something unexpected happened.
A piercing pain erupted from the depths of his Soul Origin, making Xiao Yan feel as though his head would split open. Huo Yi, whom Xiao Yan had taken into his body, emerged from within him at that moment. Both clutched their heads and cried out in pain.
Xiao Yan was, after all, an expert whose soul power had entered the Emperor Realm, and he was also a medicinal alchemist. Once he recovered his wits, he quickly dispelled the pain with his formidable soul power.
Seeing Huo Yi and Yuan Qing lying on the ground, crying out in pain, Xiao Yan frowned and swept his sleeve. A vast surge of soul power struck them both, and they gradually recovered. Before Yuan Qing had fully regained his senses, Xiao Yan took Huo Yi back into his body. Huo Yi was a spirit born of heaven and earth, after all, and if others learned of this, trouble would be hard to avoid.
But when Yuan Qing came to his senses, Xiao Yan was greatly astonished. Yuan Qing now had an intangible, ethereal quality about him. If Xiao Yan's soul power had not been so immensely strong, he might have mistaken him for Yuan Qing's avatar.
Xiao Yan stared in amazement at Yuan Qing, who looked as though his soul had left his body. He knew, of course, that this was not a soul leaving its body. For a cultivator, there was no such thing. If one insisted otherwise, it could only refer to the soul power a cultivator could release to perceive his surroundings. As for Yuan Qing's current state, he was either an avatar like those produced by Xiao Yan's Nine Revolutions Avatar Art, or he was in the state of a soul leaving its body that occurred when certain powerful cultivators' physical bodies died while their Soul Origins remained intact. Xiao Yan was just about to ask Yuan Qing something when Yuan Qing hurriedly took a jade bottle from his Storage Ring. With a movement, he vanished into it.
Xiao Yan stared blankly at everything from beginning to end. Only when Yuan Qing had vanished from sight, leaving a jade bottle behind, did he blink several times. The bottle then flew toward Xiao Yan of its own accord and landed in his hand. A somewhat weak voice came from within. "Fellow Daoist Xiao Yan, I hope you can keep my soul in your Storage Ring for the time being. Thank you." Without waiting for Xiao Yan to reply, the voice fell silent again, and Yuan Qing's soul temporarily sank into slumber.
"Uh?" Xiao Yan stared with wide eyes for a long while, wanting to say something more. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly. He tucked the jade bottle into his robes and gave it no further attention, then turned to look at the black figure lying amid the rubble.
Boom!
With a crash of shattering rock, Old Ghost Yan Mo appeared once more. No sooner had he emerged than he spat out several mouthfuls of blood. His whole body swayed unsteadily, as though he might drop dead at any moment.
Old Ghost Yan Mo's scarlet eyes fixed venomously on a figure of black flame lying motionless on the ground only three zhang from Xiao Yan. It was Hei Yan, who had arrived even earlier than Xiao Yan. It was this fellow's sudden appearance that had caused Old Ghost Yan Mo's Dou Technique to fail, leaving him gravely injured by its backlash.
Now Xiao Yan was unharmed, while Old Ghost Yan Mo himself was too badly injured to continue fighting. Capturing Xiao Yan alive and taking him back in exchange for a reward was almost impossible. He could only pass the news of Xiao Yan's arrival to the Ghost Fiend Gate first and see whether he could exchange it for something useful.
With that thought, Old Ghost Yan Mo took advantage of the moment while Xiao Yan was checking Hei Yan's injuries. Full of resentment, he fled the area at top speed.
(Please give me recommendation votes! Please give me recommendation votes! Recommendation votes! Recommendation votes!!! I'm on my knees begging for recommendation votes!!!!!
Let me stress this: I'm on my knees begging for recommendations! On my knees begging for recommendations!)