Breaking the Masked Man

"Young master, are you interested in this treasure map?"

The mercenary who was setting up a stall naturally noticed Yao Yan and the little green fox in his arms, and immediately offered his greetings.

With his discerning eye, it was not difficult for him to see that Yao Yan's identity was extraordinary. After all, ordinary people could not wear such fine brocade robes, let alone keep a second-tier Green Wood Fox as a pet.

"This little guy is interested; perhaps he wants to take it back as a blanket."

Yao Yan patted the little green fox in his arms and chuckled. Then he simply walked over, squatted down, took the ancient fragment of the map into his hands, and examined it with curiosity.

"May I ask about the origin of this incomplete map?"

The mercenary boss's eyes flickered slightly, and he boasted, "...I obtained it from the cave where a Dou Zong senior was in seclusion. Many brothers sacrificed themselves to get it. If you want it, just give me a reasonable price."

"The price is too high, so forget it. It's just a fragment. If it were complete, I might consider it."

Yao Yan remained expressionless and spoke softly.

"Woo~"

As the fragment of the map drew closer, Yao Yan clearly felt that the Green Wood Fox in his arms was becoming increasingly vigilant, its fur standing on end as if it had sensed danger. This made him feel increasingly strange, and at the same time, he became more and more interested in the fragment of the map.

"A Grade 4 Azure Spirit Pill with three patterns!"

"Boss, you're really asking for a high price. A grade four Qingling Pill with three patterns is worth as much as some peak grade five pills."

Yao Yan was amused and reached out to comfort the little green fox in his arms, while laughing.

The mercenary boss clearly knew his asking price was a bit outrageous, and chuckled dryly, saying, "Young master, are you from the Medicine Clan?"

"Being from the Medicine Clan is not a reason to be taken advantage of."

Yao Yan looked at the other party, shook his head, and continued, "Not to mention that I don't have a Grade 4 Azure Spirit Pill with three patterns, even if I did, I wouldn't use it to trade for a fragment of a map. If you really want to trade, I'll only offer a Grade 4 Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill at most."

"make a deal!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the mercenary boss agreed immediately, his eyes fixed intently on Yao Yan, practically drooling.

Yao Yan fell silent. He felt like he had been taken advantage of, but since he had agreed to the deal, he naturally wouldn't go back on his word. He took out a bottle of pills from his storage ring and threw it to the other party. At the same time, he put the incomplete map into his storage ring and said, "Now that the deal is done, can you tell me where this incomplete map came from? I want to hear the truth."

"...I don't know its exact origin either; I bought it from someone else."

The mercenary boss looked helpless.

"Bullshit, it must have been stolen..." Yao Yan cursed inwardly. He didn't think the other party was a good person. However, since he couldn't get any information, he gave up and prepared to leave. He would then find a restaurant to study the remaining map properly.

Just then, the vendors who had set up stalls all around looked at Yao Yan with great interest, taking out all sorts of treasure maps one after another, their gazes as if they were looking at the foolish son of a landlord.

"Young master, I also have fragments of maps here, and even a treasure map that records the cave dwelling of a senior expert. Do you need it? All you need is one Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill!"

"Young master, I have some too. I only need one ordinary Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill!"

"Son..."

……

This scene made Yao Yan speechless. Did he really look like an idiot?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 21 Spirit Clan Blood Essence

Inside a room in the restaurant.

Yao Yan was staring at the little green fox with a puzzled look on his face. He scanned the little green fox with his soul power, trying to find out what was special about this little guy. Unfortunately, he had done this several times before. The other party seemed to be just a little green fox with a slightly mutated fur. Apart from that, there was nothing special about its body. In fact, it was even a little too ordinary.

Perhaps the most valuable parts of this little fox are the second-tier magic core in its head and its nice-feeling fur.

"嘤嘤~"

The little green fox had its ears drooping and its front paws neatly huddled together. It looked pitifully at Yao Yan, seemingly wondering why Yao Yan was being mean to it.

"Is it an illusion?"

Seeing this scene, Yao Yan couldn't help but mutter to himself. He felt that there was something wrong with this little fox, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a moment, he could only calm himself down, take out the incomplete map from his storage ring, and move it closer to the little green fox.

"Woo!"

The little green fox immediately lost its pitiful expression. Its fur stood on end, its ears perked up, and it stared warily at the incomplete map, as if the map contained something that it greatly feared.

When Yao Yan saw this scene again, he frowned and then focused his soul power on the fragment. With his soul power, he could not see anything special about this fragment, and could not even sense any energy aura. Not to mention battle qi, soul power, or even a trace of heaven and earth energy, it was just an ancient and old fragment.

"Little guy, what's so special about this thing?"

Yao Yan looked at the little green fox, waved the incomplete map in his hand, and asked curiously, trying to glean something from the little green fox.

But Little Green Wood Fox shook its head, baring its teeth at the incomplete map while adopting a defensive stance, not allowing Yao Yan to approach it with the incomplete map.

This scene is quite interesting.

I studied it for a while.

Yao Yan couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he put the incomplete map back into his storage ring. However, he put it in a different storage ring than the one he had placed with Hun Xuzi's contact jade token. Then he took out the map he had just bought that day, intending to memorize some important map information. In addition, he also planned to confirm the location of the Jia Ma Empire.

Based on the location of the Black Corner Region, finding the Gama Empire should not be difficult.

"Whoo~"

Just then, a wisp of black flame appeared in the medicine storage ring, which immediately made the little green wood fox bristle. However, as a large amount of black flame surged out, the surrounding space instantly solidified, and the little green wood fox immediately became weak. With a 'whoosh', it hid under the bed and trembled.

Upon seeing this, Yao Yan immediately stopped her research and, without hiding anything, allowed the map to be displayed openly in front of Hun Xuzi.

"Wow~"

Soon, the black flames condensed into a human form. Hun Xuzi's transparent body, surrounded by the black flames, floated in mid-air like a ghost. He glanced at the little green fox hiding under the bed, then his gaze fell on Yao Yan. He frowned and said, "Can the Vajra Indestructible Body be cultivated to the first level?"

"The first level has been completed, and the second level is being cultivated."

Yao Yan remained calm and reported the situation in a low voice.

Hun Xuzi's eyes flashed with black flames and red light as he examined Yao Yan and slowly said, "Let's see how you use it."

Yao Yan nodded, took a deep breath, and then clenched his fists. His blood and qi surged, and without using his battle qi, his skin instantly turned bronze. An indestructible aura flowed around his body, making his aura even more profound and powerful, as if he possessed immense strength.

"Not bad, it seems you haven't slacked off these past two months."

Hun Xuzi nodded in satisfaction, his coldness subsiding. He was well aware of the difficulty of cultivating body-refining combat techniques. Even though Yao Yan had already devoured the bloodline power of the Stone Clan, it would still require a considerable price to cultivate to the first level so quickly.

Yao Yan was quite satisfied with his self-discipline in cultivating to the first level so quickly without being monitored.

He smiled and continued, "This little thing won't grow big. Even if you really want to raise it, the resources required are enormous, making it not worth it. If you really want to raise a magical pet, I can find you a suitable magical beast cub in the future."

Yao Yan explained, "I kept this as a pet out of boredom, please don't be offended, Master."

Hun Xuzi stopped pressing the issue with the little green fox. His gaze fell on the map on the table, especially the map of the Black Corner Region. He raised his hand, pulled the map into his hand, glanced at it, and asked with a slight glint in his eyes, "What, do you want to leave the Shennong Mountains?"

“It’s a bit boring to stay in the Shennong Mountains to cultivate. I’ve heard about the Canaan Academy in the Black Corner Region from the clan school, so I have some ideas.”

Yao Yan then voiced the excuse she had prepared long ago.

Upon hearing this, Hun Xuzi pondered for a moment before speaking, "Canaan Academy? There is a Fallen Heart Flame there, but it's unfortunately related to the Thunder Clan, otherwise it would be very suitable for you."

The most powerful aspect of the Fallen Heart Flame is its ability to cultivate autonomously and increase the cultivation speed of the person refining it. However, in Soul Void's eyes, that boost is negligible. Although it has value, it is only useful in the early stages. For true powerhouses, it is as useless as chicken ribs, and in the long run, it is far less valuable than the Void Devouring Flame.

Yao Yan understood what Hun Xuzi meant: if it weren't for the Lei Clan's connection, the other party could have easily taken it.

pity.

Because of the Thunder Clan, Hun Xuzi couldn't resort to violence directly. It was clearly unnecessary to attract the Thunder Clan's attention for a single Fallen Heart Flame. Moreover, for the Soul Clan, the value of a different kind of flame wasn't very high. The Void Devouring Flame could produce a large number of sub-flames, and the value of each sub-flame far exceeded that of an ordinary different kind of flame.

Furthermore, for a Dou Sheng (Battle Saint), ordinary strange fire cannot bring an increase in combat power, so the desire to pursue it is naturally greatly reduced.

By contrast.

The allure of the soul's essence is even greater for the Soul Clan, especially for the souls of powerful alchemists.

Hun Xuzi looked down at Yao Yan, black flames swirling in his eyes, and said in a low voice, "If you want to go, you can, but before that, you have to finish dealing with your own business."

"...I have never forgotten the hatred for my parents."

Yao Yan's face instantly turned cold, his fists clenched, and he said in a deep voice.

Hun Xuzi chuckled softly and said, "Heh~ Your current strength is sufficient. I will arrange an opportunity for you to take revenge. At that time, you will be able to leave the Medicine Clan. Afterward, I will personally take you back to the Soul Clan and help you activate the Soul Clan bloodline within you."

"Thank you teacher."

Yao Yan bowed respectfully to Hun Xuzi and said in a very solemn manner.

Hun Xuzi raised his hand to support Yao Yan, and an invisible soul force lifted him up. He continued, "No need for further words, I am your teacher."

Yao Yan nodded and said nothing more.

"Let's not talk about that anymore, let's see the gift your teacher brought for you."

Hun Xuzi chuckled, raised his hand, and used the Void Devouring Flame to distort space, retrieving three drops of amber-like essence blood. He explained, "This is the essence blood of a Spirit Clan Dou Di. Originally, I intended to abduct a Spirit Clan junior, but unfortunately, the Spirit Clan's talented juniors are too scarce. This generation doesn't even have a single member with a sixth-grade bloodline. I had no choice but to settle for second best and refine a Spirit Clan Dou Zun. The energy contained within has already been devoured by the Void Devouring Flame, leaving only the purest bloodline power."

As he spoke, he pushed three drops of blood essence in front of Yao Yan, his eyes filled with fervor and anticipation.

Damn it, this old bastard isn't trying to make me devour the bloodlines of the Dou Di from all the races, is he...? Yao Yan felt a chill run down his spine. He increasingly felt that the path he was on had completely turned dark. In the future, apart from the Soul Clan, how could any other race tolerate him? This was clearly a blatant conspiracy, leaving him with nowhere to go.

The Dou Di families are all incredibly domineering, and he has unwittingly offended all of them.

Clearly, Yao Yan's assessment was too simplistic.

Hun Xuzi continued, "No rush, let's take it slow. We'll have the power of the bloodlines from the various magical beast families later..."

Alchemists tend to be somewhat obsessive and have obsessive-compulsive tendencies.