Breaking the Masked Man

Time passed slowly like this.

……

The Black Corner Region fell completely silent with the demise of the Demon Flame Valley. Everyone understood that the current king of the Black Corner Region was the Heavenly Court, which had replaced the Demon Flame Valley. Rumor had it that the Heavenly Court was on good terms with Canaan Academy, and many students had decided to join the Heavenly Court after graduation.

With Yao Yan, a seventh-grade alchemist capable of annihilating a Seven-Star Dou Zong, the Heavenly Court's recruitment speed far exceeded Yuan Yi and others' expectations.

Neither Yao Lao nor Tian Huo Zun Zhe commented on this.

Neither of them were the type to enjoy managing power. On the contrary, Cai Lin was quite adept at it. After the initial chaos, she took over Yuan Yi's position and began to establish a series of rules and regulations and selection criteria. She eliminated all the powerful figures with less-than-honorable pasts and focused on cultivating new talents.

Compared to the people of Black Corner Region, the students from Canaan Academy are clearly more worthy of cultivation, both in terms of character and other aspects.

This day.

A dark cloud suddenly appeared above the bustling Demon Flame Valley. As the cloud gathered and pressed down, terrifying lightning power surged within it, violently pressing downwards, causing countless people to show expressions of fear.

"This is Dan Lei? The Heavenly Court Lord has refined a seventh-grade pill." Many people revealed their greed and covetousness, but it was only for a moment. They quickly suppressed their greed. If you want to obtain this pill, you have to see if you have the strength.

Moreover, this is within the territory of the Heavenly Court.

"Boom~"

Accompanied by several muffled thunderclaps, the violent lightning power began to gather, preparing to unleash a tribulation.

"brush!"

Almost simultaneously, a streak of light shot out from the depths of Demon Flame Valley, the silver light streaking across the sky and disappearing directly into the thunderclouds. The next moment, countless thunderclaps suddenly erupted in the sky, and at the same time, a silver figure was bathed in the power of thunder, the silver halo on its body becoming even more dazzling and brilliant.

"A puppet?" The old apothecary floated out, looking at the figure in the sky with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He did not expect that the puppet could absorb the power of the pill lightning. If this matter were to spread to the Pill Tower of Central State, many people would probably be interested.

Because many high-level alchemists are not very good at combat, they used to ask someone to protect them when refining pills, and they paid a considerable price for it.

Compared to asking for favors and incurring debts, nothing beats the comfort of directly using a puppet to bear the burden.

Venerable Tianhuo also showed a strange look in his eyes. He had not expected that the puppet could improve so much. Did those puppeteers deliberately hide this news back then? He had never heard of such a thing in his time.

Cai Lin glanced out the window, then lowered her head to continue dealing with matters. During Yao Yan's seclusion, she was the only one who could handle these trivial matters. Fortunately, with her experience as a queen, she was not too troublesome to deal with. It was simply a matter of formulating the reward and punishment system and the standards for selecting talents. How to handle it in the future was up to Yao Yan.

Soon, the thunderous lightning dissipated.

The silver figure in the sky quickly fell, leaving many spectators feeling somewhat disappointed.

However, this regret did not last long.

Within six days, the Pill Lightning appeared in the sky again. This time, the energy fluctuations of the Pill Lightning were even stronger. The falling lightning was like a waterfall, rushing down and enveloping the silver figure as it crashed heavily onto the mountain wall. The Heavenly Demon Puppet that was smashed down then soared into the sky once more.

The cycle repeated itself, and with the infusion of thunderous power, the silver aura around the Heavenly Demon Puppet grew increasingly dense, and its aura became increasingly violent.

This scene lasted for almost half an hour.

Then it fell silent again.

About three days later, Danlei reappeared.

Countless people were dumbfounded. When did high-grade pills become so easy to refine? Pill lightning, which used to be just a rumor, now seemed to be a sight to behold every few days. It seemed that high-grade pills had become less mysterious and rare.

"How come this kid is refining pills like he's boiling dumplings?!" Venerable Tianhuo was also a bit bewildered. Although he was not an alchemist, he could still barely refine some first and second-grade pills at his level back then. Therefore, he was very clear about the difficulty of refining pills.

Even some of the eighth-grade alchemists he knew back then couldn't refine seventh-grade pills with such ease.

One every few days, like wholesale!

If alchemy were so easy, alchemists wouldn't be so rare and respected.

"...Actually, compared to this kid's talent for cultivation, his talent for alchemy is the most terrifying." The old man stroked his beard, his eyes showing a hint of emotion, and said softly. He had witnessed Yao Yan's alchemy, and his technique already had its own style. If nothing unexpected happened, once his strength reached a certain level, it would be a sure thing for him to step into the eighth rank.

Yao Yan's foundation was extremely solid, and coupled with his talent... it can no longer be described as monstrous.

"What a monster."

Venerable Tianhuo sincerely expressed his feelings: In the vast Dou Qi Continent, there might be a few people with cultivation talent like Yao Yan, and even some with alchemy talent, but those who possess both are extremely rare. In all his years of cultivation, he has only ever seen one person like Yao Yan.

"So we two old folks have to keep an eye on him. If he doesn't go astray in the future, he should be able to break through to the Dou Sheng realm... If I remember correctly, it hasn't been many years since the Bodhi Ancient Tree was born." Yao Lao said slowly, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"The Bodhi Ancient Tree?" Venerable Tianhuo naturally knew of its existence, but he was not so lucky back then.

"However, no one knows the exact time. We can only infer it from ancient books. If Yao Yan can reach the Dou Zun level before it is born, he may be able to get the opportunity to break through to Dou Sheng!" Yao Lao said in a deep voice.

"At this kid's advancement speed, he can break through to the Dou Zong level in one or two years at most. As for the Dou Zun level... it should be around ten years. If he can obtain the Three Thousand Burning Flames from the Pill Tower, his advancement speed might be even faster!" Venerable Tianhuo said slowly, his eyes showing a hint of amazement.

The thought of a Dou Zun in his twenties is both terrifying and horrifying.

If such a monster cannot break through to the level of Dou Sheng, then no one in this world can.

do not forget.

The cultivation technique that Yao Yan practices only requires him to devour different flames to continuously advance in rank. At worst, he can continue to search for and devour different flames... If he could gather all the different flames, who knows what kind of scene that would be.

The two fell silent as they talked.

At the same time, Yao Yan also fell silent. With the disappearance of this Dan Lei, the depths of the Demon Flame Valley also fell into an eerie silence. This silence lasted for three months before it was broken by a powerful aura that soared into the sky.

A figure enveloped in azure flames soared into the air, with a pair of azure and crimson wings behind him, radiating the powerful aura of a peak Dou Huang.

"Brush~"

The next moment, the figure disappeared from the spot, and at the same time, the terrifying aura receded like the tide.

In the palace.

Cai Lin and Yao Lao and the others all saw Yao Yan emerge from seclusion. At this moment, Yao Yan's figure was even more perfect, with a faint smile on his lips, confident and lazy. His long black hair was casually draped behind him, and his eyes were burning as he stared at Cai Lin until Cai Lin looked away.

"How much has it improved?" The old apothecary ignored the couple's display of affection and asked with considerable concern.

"After absorbing the Sea Heart Flame, I've reached the advanced Earth Rank!"

Knowing what Elder Yao was concerned about, Yao Yan asked him.

"it is good!"

A glint of light flashed in Yao Lao's eyes. He was genuinely worried that the Burning Technique had some kind of upper limit. Since he could break through by devouring the Sea Heart Flame, he could at least reach the peak of the Earth Rank or even the half-step Heaven Rank after devouring the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. Then, if he devoured the Three Thousand Burning Flames of the Pill Tower, reaching the Heaven Rank should not be a problem.

Thus, one of the obstacles hindering Yao Yan's breakthrough to the Dou Sheng realm was completely removed. (End of Chapter)

Chapter 195. While it's hot.

195.

After Yao Yan completely devoured the Sea Heart Flame, the fused strange fire in his body changed from its original emerald green to sky blue, and the level of the Burning Technique also increased to the high-level Earth Rank, only one step away from the Quasi-Heaven Rank. If he were to devour the Bone Spirit Cold Fire at this moment, he would definitely be able to take that step steadily.

As for whether it can evolve to the Celestial level, Yao Yan felt it was still a bit short. Perhaps only those extremely high-ranking Strange Flames could break through this barrier.

After all, there is a fundamental difference between Heaven-rank and Earth-rank cultivation techniques; they are simply incomparable.

The fact that Heaven-rank cultivation techniques alone grant cultivators the ability to rapidly absorb the energy of heaven and earth to restore themselves is something that other cultivation techniques cannot match.

If the Burning Technique wants to completely break through this constraint, it can only rely on a more powerful source of strange fire. A strange fire like the Bone Spirit Cold Fire, which is ranked in the middle, is obviously not enough to support the Burning Technique to evolve to the Heavenly level.

Looking at Yao Yan, whose aura was restrained, Yao Lao knew that the other party had not deliberately pursued the increase of his battle qi and still had control over his battle qi. He nodded in satisfaction and asked, "When do you plan to make your move to Zhongzhou?"

As he spoke, a glint of shrewdness appeared in his eyes.

Compared to the bustling Central Continent, both the Jia Ma Empire and the Black Corner Region are considered remote rural areas. Only in the Central Continent can Yao Yan's talent be fully realized. At the same time, the cultivation resources in the Central Continent are enough for Yao Yan to rapidly improve his strength and reach the Dou Zun level as quickly as possible, in preparation for the future emergence of the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

"Let's talk about it after things stabilize in the Heavenly Court," Yao Yan replied after a moment's thought.

Before heading to Zhongzhou, he would definitely have to return to the Jia Ma Empire. Whether it was for the evolution of Cai Die's bloodline or for Ling'er, he had to go back. At the same time, he would see if he could entice the adorable little fox Ling'er to enter his body. With the source of the strange fire he now possessed, he didn't believe that the little foodie Ling'er wouldn't be tempted. If he could make Ling'er his spirit of strange fire, that would naturally be the best.

The stealth ability inherent in the Flame of Life is quite useful.

Think of this.

Yao Yan's gaze also turned to Cai Lin on the side. He smiled slightly, his eyes showing a hint of tenderness, and said, "I also need to return to the Jia Ma Empire. There are some things that need to be taken care of in advance, otherwise I won't be able to leave with peace of mind."

A hint of tenderness flashed in Cai Lin's cold and beautiful eyes, but it only lasted for a moment before she said coldly, "I thought you had forgotten about Cai Die."

"Who is Cai Die? Is she related to Sister Cai Lin?"

With curiosity in her eyes, Zi Yan asked.

“Your sister Cai Lin is my sister,” Yao Yan explained, then took out a bottle of pills from her storage ring and tossed it to Zi Yan, saying, “Take one every half month. This seventh-grade blood-nourishing pill can nourish your blood and reduce your hunger.”

Zi Yan's eyes lit up, and she caught the medicine bottle steadily, smiling as she said, "Thank you, big brother."

"You've finished crafting your puppet?" Venerable Heavenly Fire asked, circling Yao Yan with curiosity in his eyes.

Yao Yan remained silent. With a flash of his storage ring, a puppet shimmering with gold and silver appeared in everyone's sight. The Heavenly Demon Puppet's current form showed no connection to the Earth Demon Old Ghost. Its skin shone with a metallic luster, displaying a blend of gold and silver. Its eyes were blood red, empty, and devoid of any intelligence. Its fingers were sharp, and many parts had ferocious barbs, making it look extremely fierce and not to be trifled with.

"Golden and silver... Has it evolved after absorbing the power of Dan Lei?" Venerable Tianhuo had sharp eyes and made a very shrewd judgment about the Heavenly Demon Puppet's condition.

"He still has a long way to go before he fully evolves, but with his current strength, holding off a high-level Dou Zong is no problem at all. If he's willing to risk being crippled... he could probably even hold off some Dou Zun for a while."

Yao Yan raised his hand and tapped the Heavenly Demon Puppet beside him, and laughed.

The Heavenly Demon Puppet's skin is no longer hard and stiff. On the contrary, its metallic skin has unimaginable flexibility, and its defense is more than ten times stronger than when it was first forged. The power of the pill lightning not only tempered its body, but also gave it some indescribable changes.

Perhaps the word "vitality" can be used to describe it.

very special.

Just as the pills refined by a seventh-grade alchemist possess spirituality, if the art of puppetry were to develop to its ultimate form, it could probably be refined into puppets that are indistinguishable from humans.

The three thousand great paths, though different in their specific ways, all lead to the same destination and share similarities.

"?!"