Three days after leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Yan appeared in a rolling hilly area.
He stood atop a low hill, gazing into the distance and taking in the surrounding terrain.
Beneath their feet lay the typical barren hilly terrain found at the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. The gently undulating slopes were covered with withered yellow grass, and a few crooked trees swayed in the wind.
Xiao Yan quickly determined the direction and roughly sketched out the outline of the continent map in his mind.
From here, head southwest, traverse the hilly border region, and pass through two more provinces to reach the heart of the Star Luo Empire.
With a gentle flap of his wings, he transformed into a streak of blue and white light, hurtling towards the Star Luo Empire.
Back when he was still at the Spirit Hall, he had given Zhu Zhuqing special instructions before he left.
If the situation changes and the Spirit Hall attacks him, he should lead all the members of the Dark Hall into hiding.
Do not contact anyone proactively, and do not reveal your whereabouts.
Now, more than a year has passed.
Xiao Yan didn't know if Zhu Zhuqing was safe.
However, judging from the situation at the Spirit Hall, they probably haven't found Zhu Zhuqing.
Therefore, he could only start by investigating the places where the two of them had lived together and left their footprints together, to see if Zhu Zhuqing had secretly left any information for him in those places.
Although this path is clumsy, it is currently the safest option.
Fortunately, the eastern edge of the Star Dou Great Forest where Xiao Yan is currently located is not far from the border of the Star Luo Empire.
The Star Dou Great Forest spans two great empires. Flying southwest from the core area, across a stretch of barren hills that extends for hundreds of miles, one reaches the territory of the Star Luo Empire.
Xiao Yan deliberately avoided the outposts set up by the Spirit Hall on the border.
After taking several detours and spending five days, Xiao Yan finally entered the territory of the Star Luo Empire.
The moment Xiao Yan entered the Star Luo Empire, he sensed a subtle change.
The streets of the Star Luo Empire were still bustling, and Soul Master still came and went, but the signs and atmosphere that he once knew were now completely different.
He found a small border town, concealed his presence, and blended into the town, stopping briefly in front of a medicine shop to observe.
The shop's shelves were filled with a dazzling array of various medicines, among which a medicine labeled " Hemostatic Spirit Powder " was placed in the most prominent position.
He picked up a bottle, poured some into his palm, smelled it, and then frowned slightly.
He had originally monopolized the entire pill market in the Star Luo Empire.
More than a year ago, when he was still running the Star Luo Empire, he relied on the miraculous effects of two kinds of pills: Blood Coagulation Powder and Qi Gathering Pill.
This caused a huge stir in the entire Star Luo Empire's elixir market.
The Blood Coagulation Powder can stop most external bleeding within a few breaths, and its effect far surpasses that of any similar medicine on the market.
The Qi Gathering Pill can directly enhance Soul Master's Soul Power cultivation, although its effect is limited for high-level Soul Master.
However, for Soul Master below the Soul Ancestor, a single Qi Gathering Pill is equivalent to several months of arduous training.
With these two pills, Xiao Yan made a fortune in the Star Luo Empire, accumulating enough funds and resources in just a few months to support the initial operation of the Dark Hall.
Even the Star Luo Imperial Family took the initiative to send people to him and reached a long-term cooperation agreement.
Even Dai Weisi, who was later chosen as the crown prince, took the initiative to curry favor with Xiao Yan, all for the sake of the elixir in Xiao Yan's possession.
To Xiao Yan's surprise, he found it in the medicine shops of several cities along the way.
Even now, drugs similar to Blood Coagulation Powder, which can quickly stop bleeding, are still popular in the Star Luo Empire.
The names of those drugs were varied and numerous—" Hemostatic Spirit Powder," " Rapid Wound-Healing Powder," and " Blood Coagulation Miracle Medicine."
The medicinal properties and formula seem to be closely related to the Blood Coagulation Powder that Xiao Yan refined back then, which clearly indicates that an alchemist is imitating the Blood Coagulation Powder formula.
However, imitation is still imitation, and its medicinal properties are far inferior to those of the original Blood Coagulation Powder.
Xiao Yan rubbed a little " Hemostatic Spirit Powder " between his fingertips in his palm, feeling the distribution and purity of its medicinal power, and then made a rough judgment in his mind.
This medicine does use part of the formula of the Blood Coagulation Powder, but it is missing several key medicinal ingredients, and the refining method is much cruder. Its hemostatic effect is only about 60% of the original Blood Coagulation Powder.
Even the price has doubled.
However, the force that still engages in the trade of these elixirs today is still the largest herbal medicine merchant in the former Star Luo Empire — Hundred Herbs Pavilion.
Xiao Yan did not reveal his whereabouts, but secretly checked the situation in the major cities of the Star Luo Empire.
He spent no more than an hour in each city, basically just walking around the main street to observe the atmosphere and changes in the elixir market.
He discovered that in just over a year, nothing major had happened in the Star Luo Empire.
The only change is that the Blood Coagulation Powder, which was once popular in the Star Luo Empire and almost everyone had a bottle, has suddenly disappeared.
Instead, Hundred Herbs Pavilion has launched a new series of imitation pills.
Although these pills have different names, their formulas are undoubtedly derivatives of the Blood Coagulation Powder.
As for the Qi Gathering Pill, which can directly enhance Soul Power, that's something Hundred Herbs Pavilion can't offer.
After all, both of these pills were originally Xiao Yan's exclusive techniques.
Although Hundred Herbs Pavilion had partially deciphered the formula for the Blood Coagulation Powder through reverse engineering, only Xiao Yan knew the core refining techniques and key ingredient ratios for the Qi Gathering Pill.
No matter how skilled the pharmacists at the Hundred Herbs Pavilion are, they can't possibly replicate the Qi Gathering Pill out of thin air, since it was an improvement made by Xiao Yan based on pills from the Dou Qi Continent.
Along the way, they gathered intelligence on the Star Luo Empire, searching for any clues that the Dark Hall members might have left behind.
It took Xiao Yan nearly ten days to return to Kapale Province and arrive at Star Chasing City.
This city was the first place he and Zhu Zhuqing settled in the Star Luo Empire, and the place where the prototype of the Dark Hall was born.
If Zhu Zhuqing wanted to leave him a message, this was the most likely place.
However, if the Spirit Hall wants to ambush them, this is also the most dangerous place.
Xiao Yan stood in a grove of trees Star Chasing City, gazing at the familiar outline of the city in the distance, and immediately concealed his aura.
He could sense several faint fluctuations of Soul Power patrolling around Star Chasing City.
There were at least three or four Soul Master of the Soul Ancestor or above stationed near the city gate.
That's not the most troublesome part; the real problem is the faint, even more powerful aura emanating from within the city.
Xiao Yan estimated that it was at least a Soul Douluo- level expert.
Despite knowing that entering Star Chasing City would be extremely dangerous, Xiao Yan still had no choice but to take the gamble.
He had considered giving up on Star Chasing City and looking for clues elsewhere, but that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
After the Dark Hall went into hiding, all traces of its activities were erased. Without a clear clue as a starting point, he might not be able to find Zhu Zhuqing for half a year.
Doing his utmost to conceal his aura, Xiao Yan stabilized his Soul Power fluctuations at around level 30.
Soul Master of this level are not conspicuous in Star Chasing City and will not attract much attention.
She then used a simple disguise technique she had learned in the Dou Qi Continent to change her appearance and attire.
He made himself look like a country Soul Master who had come to the city to sell medicinal herbs.
He suppressed his aura to the extreme, even adjusting his breathing rhythm to be no different from that of an ordinary person, before slowly walking towards the Star Chasing City.