The middle-aged man looked at Xiao Yan, a complicated expression crossing his face. He sighed and finally nodded, saying to Xiao Yan:
"In that case, I won't say anything more. Let's begin. First, let me introduce myself. You don't seem to have any impression of me. My real name is Liu Feng. Fifteen hundred years ago, I was the deputy sect master of the Chaoyang Sect, one of the five great sects of the southwestern region. My Heavenly Severing Steps were unmatched beneath the heavens, and people called me the Wind Emperor. But sadly, the Chaoyang Sect suffered a great calamity twelve hundred years ago. Tens of thousands throughout the sect met violent deaths, and its disciples scattered in all directions. In the end, only my Liu Clan remained. Come to think of it, it truly was one of my greatest failings!"
At this, Liu Feng seemed to recall some sorrowful events from the past. He sighed softly, looked up at Xiao Yan, and forced a smile before continuing:
"But let's not speak of those things today. I should give you the inheritance I promised you!"
Xiao Yan's eyes lit up with excitement at those words, and he stared at Liu Feng with shining eyes. Seeing this, Liu Feng smiled faintly. The seals in his hands changed ceaselessly as he formed one set of mysterious hand seals after another. The space before him twisted and shifted in response, sending out ripples like waves on water. Xiao Yan grew increasingly excited. Strength was what he cared about most, and now that a heaven-sent opportunity lay before him, how could he not be excited?
Suddenly, Liu Feng spoke up to warn Xiao Yan as he continued forming seals:
"Let me warn you first. Today is the first time I've awakened in all these years, and this inheritance has fused with this remnant soul of mine. Separating it completely will probably be very difficult, and there's a considerable chance of failure. You should prepare yourself." As soon as he finished speaking, he returned his full attention to the seals without waiting for Xiao Yan's reply. Xiao Yan's expression turned somewhat grave, and he spread all his Soul Power around Liu Feng to protect him. If they failed, the loss would be no small matter, so Xiao Yan had no choice but to put caution first.
As time slowly passed, the seals in Liu Feng's hands grew increasingly intricate and complex. His previously composed expression began to turn solemn, and his solid body gradually became indistinct and ethereal. Yet the spatial fluctuations around him grew ever more violent. Traces of a terrifying presence emerged, making the surrounding void tremble incessantly as tiny spatial cracks spread through it. Liu Feng knitted his brows, his gaze growing increasingly grave as he looked at the seals in his hands. Xiao Yan's heart hung in suspense beside him. He had never imagined that merely removing an inheritance intact from someone's body would be so difficult. This time, he had really fallen into this old man's hands!
Xiao Yan smiled helplessly and shook his head, thinking no more about it. He could only sit cross-legged where he was and wait quietly for Liu Feng. An hour later, Xiao Yan's half-closed eyes finally opened slowly. He moved in a flash to stand before Liu Feng, a brilliant, relieved smile on his lips as he looked at him with a hint of excitement in his eyes.
Liu Feng's figure was now insubstantial, and his once rosy face had turned deathly pale. He looked utterly drained, like an old man in his twilight years. Yet a relieved smile rested on his pale face as he spoke to Xiao Yan in a somewhat weak voice:
"I didn't fail you. In the end, I finally succeeded. I hope this inheritance will be of some help to you."
Xiao Yan knew that what Liu Feng had done had not been easy, so he said little and turned his gaze to a fist-sized, pale cyan ball of light formed from energy, floating in the void before Liu Feng. The moment he saw it, Xiao Yan was deeply drawn to it. His eyes shone even brighter, as though he meant to pull the ball straight into them. He steadied himself slightly, his throat moving as he swallowed. He had never expected to encounter such a great gift so soon after arriving in this other world. How could he not be excited and thrilled? Earlier, he had still been anxious about whether he could obtain the Heavenly Severing Ancient Emperor's inheritance, but now the Ancient Emperor's inheritance was right before him, within his reach. How could such a dreamlike feeling not stir excitement in Xiao Yan's heart?
Without another thought, an illusory palm formed from Spiritual Strength reached forward. A vast surge of Spiritual Strength poured from its center, enveloping the ball of energy in an instant and drawing it into his hand. At that moment, Xiao Yan felt his heart pounding as though it might burst out of his chest, and an almost irresistible excitement welled up from the bottom of his heart. Liu Feng could not help laughing at the sight, and that laugh seemed to restore a little color to his pale face. He glanced at Xiao Yan's irrepressibly excited expression, smiled faintly, and shook his head. His already ethereal body faded until he finally vanished from this world. Xiao Yan looked up at the place where Liu Feng had disappeared, then back at the ball of energy in his hand. A smile appeared on his lips, and he sat cross-legged in the void and began refining it.
Sitting cross-legged in the void, Xiao Yan calmed his surging emotions, withdrew his presence, and relaxed completely. Once he had brought his body and soul to their best condition, he turned his palm over and swallowed the ball of energy in one gulp. With the sound of his swallow, the body formed from Spiritual Strength suddenly radiated a dazzling cyan light. It spread in every direction, blotting out the sky and the sun. The vast world conjured within the Gold-Inscribed Plaque instantly fell apart, leaving only a small patch of mountain forest, with everything else reduced to Void Space. A vast power rose within Xiao Yan. Though his body had been formed from his soul, he could still feel it swelling. He swiftly withdrew his Spiritual Strength and fled from the Gold-Inscribed Plaque.
"Boom!"
As soon as Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength returned to his body, a vast Dou Qi fluctuation erupted from him, forcing Liu Huabai and the Liu Clan's grand elder and the others to retreat swiftly from the bamboo grove outside the library. At the same time, the vast Dou Qi fluctuation bursting from Xiao Yan became an enormous wave that swept outward. The bamboo grove was reduced to ruins in an instant, and dust filled the air, obscuring what was happening within. The waves rolling outward also prevented everyone from entering. Though uneasy, they could only stand obediently outside and wait in silence, while stopping other clan members from coming to watch the spectacle. Seeing this, the other clan members could only suppress their curiosity and watch helplessly from a distance.
Everything had erupted into an uproar outside, and things were naturally no different where Xiao Yan was.
Wave after wave of fierce, tyrannical energy burst from him, and his expression turned extremely grave in an instant. Inside him, a fist-sized cyan ball of energy floated slowly within his Qi cyclone. The seemingly harmless ball was releasing streams of energy that made his heart tremble. Its fierce, domineering power slammed into his meridians, making them swell like balloons filled with air, as though they might burst at any moment. Xiao Yan clenched his teeth, his eyes seeming ready to split. Enduring the waves of agony within him, he abruptly swept the hand that had been resting on the Gold-Inscribed Plaque. An energy barrier shot from his hand and enclosed him tightly. The pain in his body forced him to brace that hand against the ground, and he looked ready to collapse. Unable to worry about anything else, he forced himself upright and turned his attention inward. His expression abruptly grew grave. The ball of energy had already ravaged the inside of his body. If his Heavenly Flames had not protected him, he would probably have been severely injured by now.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan hurriedly circulated the Dou Qi within him, completely enveloping the power from the ball of energy and steadily compressing it toward one point. The power within the ball was formidable, however, and it broke through Xiao Yan's Dou Qi blockade several times, inflicting considerable injuries inside him and causing him immense pain. Fortunately, after enduring several assaults from the ball, Xiao Yan finally surrounded it with Dou Qi. Layer upon layer of flame Dou Qi enclosed the fist-sized ball, and all the Heavenly Flames within him surged out, wrapping around it and beginning to refine it.
The Heavenly Flames burned fiercely at the ball of energy, while it fought back with all its might, trying to repel their refining fire. Xiao Yan was quite surprised by its resistance. For a considerable time, the ball actually withstood the Heavenly Flames' refining fire, and no matter how they burned and refined it, they had no effect whatsoever. Fortunately, the Heavenly Flames were divine wonders of heaven and earth. How could this man-made energy contend with them, especially when it was an ownerless thing with no one controlling it? Given enough time, the Heavenly Flames naturally gained the upper hand. The once fist-sized cyan ball became a pale blue ball the size of a chicken egg, and the terrifying energy it continually released was completely refined by Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames, becoming part of his strength. Xiao Yan's presence also grew steadily stronger. It seemed he would break through before long. Long ago, Old Gu had told him that his strength was roughly at Peak One Star Half-Emperor, and that he needed only an opportunity to truly break through. Everything was ready; all he lacked was the east wind. Now that the opportunity had arrived, the Ancient Emperor's inheritance would naturally help Xiao Yan break through. Once the time came, the breakthrough would follow as naturally as water flowing into a channel. No one could change it; even Xiao Yan himself would probably be powerless to do so. But why would Xiao Yan stop his own strength from advancing? So all that remained was to wait for him to break through.
There was no counting the days in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed, and everyone had long since grown impatient from waiting. Even Liu Huabai, the Liu Clan's head, and the grand elder and the others had begun to frown in concern. Liu Huabai and the grand elder paced together to the edge of the bamboo grove. It had now become a forbidden area of the Liu Clan, and no one was allowed there except the clan head and a handful of others. The two men stood outside the grove, frowning deeply as they looked at the bamboo forest that had long since been reduced to ruins. In the distance, they could see a white speck of light before the library at the center of the grove. It was Xiao Yan, for whom Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng had been waiting expectantly for half a month. The two sighed, shook their heads, and walked back. From the signs of life Xiao Yan gave off, they could be certain he was still alive. But as for whether he could live until he finished refining the inheritance, the two could do nothing.
Not long after the two left, Xiao Yan's less-than-imposing body suddenly shuddered before the library deep in the bamboo grove. A towering presence instantly swept across all of Qingyang City, and an incomparably fierce presence burst from Xiao Yan, shooting straight into the heavens, toward the firmament.
"Ha!"
Xiao Yan threw back his head and let out a long roar. So domineering was that cry that it resembled a dragon's roar and a wild bellow, yet it stunned all beneath heaven!
It shook the magical beasts within several thousand li into prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to make the slightest movement. They could only let out low, submissive growls, leaving everyone utterly puzzled.
The long roar even caused several magical beasts deep within the Ancient Desolate Forest to slowly open their tightly shut eyes, a profound solemnity appearing in their gazes.
Xiao Yan's whole body shuddered, and a crisp series of pops and cracks rang out from his joints. He stretched his hands and feet, laughed aloud, and flew out beyond the ruins to meet Liu Huabai and the others, who had come after hearing the sound.