The back mountain of the Xiao Clan.
In the vast mountains and forests, the lush trees cover the landscape like an ocean, stretching as far as the eye can see.
Deep in the mountains, on a cliff, a young man in black robes sat upright on a boulder, his face calm. He raised his hands to his chest, his fingers moving in unison, forming a series of profound hand seals. A moment later, the young man thrust his hands forward and let out a roar.
" The Eight Emperor Seal Techniques, the Mountain and River Seal!"
As soon as the shout fell, the powerful palm print, carried by the formidable Origin Qi, shot straight into the void ahead. Dozens of feet away, the young man's mind stirred, and the palm print that had shattered the void exploded with a bang. The astonishing energy released swept away a surrounding forest, creating a huge clearing on the ground below. Soil flew, and trees were uprooted. Even the aftershocks were so powerful; if it were a full-force attack, how earth-shattering it would be!
Looking down at the vast clearing in the forest below, Xiao Yan finally showed a satisfied expression. After several days of cultivation, he had finally mastered the Mountain and River Seal, the last three seals of the Eight Emperor Seal Techniques. He had only used 30% of his strength to achieve such results, which was quite remarkable.
Withdrawing his hand, Xiao Yan slowly exhaled, but instead of rushing to continue cultivating, he stood up, looked towards the Xiao Clan's location, and prepared to leave.
After several days of repeated practice, the Mountain and River Seal has yielded remarkable results. The coordination between the Origin Qi and the hand seals has reached its peak, making further breakthroughs extremely difficult. As for the other two seals, Xiao Yan does not plan to cultivate them until he has fully digested and become familiar with the Mountain and River Seal. After all, one should not rush things. While short-term efforts may indeed produce miraculous results, if one relentlessly pushes the limits without knowing when to slow down, the adage "things will turn into their opposites" may become a reality.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Xiao Yan didn't hesitate any longer. He lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaped into the air, and flew back in the direction he had come from.
However, at that very moment...
"Buzzing..."
The Storage Ring between Xiao Yan's fingers suddenly trembled violently, and a powerful force burst forth from it, making the Storage Ring seem on the verge of exploding!
This sudden change caused Xiao Yan's expression to change drastically. With a thought, he discovered that his Storage Ring was out of control. He quickly mobilized his Spiritual Strength to probe inside and, after a rapid search, retrieved a broken jade box from it.
"This... this is..."
Upon seeing the jade box before him, Xiao Yan's expression froze instantly. This jade box was none other than the one containing the fusion pill!
And the riot at this moment clearly originated from this!
The next moment, the instant Xiao Yan opened the jade box, an astonishing energy, as if breaking through the final restraint, suddenly swept outward from within. Xiao Yan was the first to be hit, and was forced back a hundred feet by this astonishing energy before he steadied himself with a solemn expression. He then immediately looked up at the place where the energy had swept out.
"Drink!"
As Xiao Yan looked up, an astonishing energy wave, like black mist, swept across the area once more. Wherever it passed, the once lush forest was quickly covered in a layer of pitch black. Large swathes of trees turned black in an instant, and then shattered like charcoal. Even some trees that were farther away gradually turned yellow until they became dead wood.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Yan's eyes immediately flashed with shock. As his expression changed, Heavenly Flames suddenly appeared in the void in front of him, burning all the black mist rushing towards him into nothingness.
Then, as the black mist dissipated, revealing what was inside, Xiao Yan could see clearly that the one exposed to the air was none other than Bai Hua!
" Bai Hua! You're still alive!"
Upon seeing Bai Hua, Xiao Yan's expression first lit up with joy, but then his brows furrowed, his expression changed, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, his solemnity increasing rather than decreasing, and his heart tightened.
At this moment, Bai Hua still looked the same as before, but his white clothes were completely black. Except for his pupils, which showed an eerie, eerie white color, there was not a trace of white on his body. Even his demeanor and temperament were completely different!
Upon realizing this, Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat. In an instant, he seemed to understand something. He stared in disbelief at the Bai Hua trees above the mountains, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. Even the movements of his hands involuntarily froze.
At this moment, the Bai Hua resembled a monster with its body on its back!
Apart from this seemingly familiar body, everything within it—whether it be the soul or the aura—no longer belongs to Bai Hua. The one before him is the monster that is most familiar to Xiao Yan!
"How so..."
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Xiao Yan's face turned deathly pale. He stared blankly at the body, his mind completely blank.
He couldn't believe it, couldn't believe it, that someone so important to him would end up like this.
"Laugh!"
However, compared to Xiao Yan at this moment, Bai Hua no longer contained any emotion. If there was any emotion, it was only cold-blooded killing!
The moment the void shattered, ' Bai Hua ' appeared directly in front of Xiao Yan, his five fingers together, covered with a dark and eerie energy. A sharp sound of wind breaking rang out, tearing through the void and fiercely stabbing towards Xiao Yan's throat!
Even at this moment, Xiao Yan was still lost in his own emotions.
The image of Xiao Yi Xian and Bai Hua when they were together, the feelings and passion of that time, and the deep affection of the past gently surfaced in my mind. At the same time, I could only let that merciless hand stab fiercely.
"Laugh!"
Almost simultaneously, when the palm was still inches away from Xiao Yan's throat, a golden barrier suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Yan. The fiercely thrusting palm also abruptly stopped at that moment. Bai Hua's body stood frozen in mid-air, his fingertips less than an inch from the golden barrier, and then...
"Bang!"
The barrier was pierced by the dark palm, and Xiao Yan behind it was gently pushed backward by a palm. At the same time, another hand landed on Bai Hua's chest, and the palm force burst out slightly, knocking him back in one fell swoop.
Sunlight streamed down, revealing a handsome face—it was none other than Xiao Xuan.