Breaking the Masked Man

But he still had to say what needed to be said: refining a strange fire was no child's play, especially one of the top-ranked strange fires.

If the Three Thousand Burning Flames were easy to refine, the Pill Tower wouldn't have allowed it to grow in the starry sky for a thousand years.

"I'm about 70% sure... But before that, I need to find a way to weaken the Three Thousand Burning Flames. I plan to ask a few more Dou Zun to help me force out its true form. That will make refining it much easier."

Yao Yan said softly that he wouldn't blindly rush forward. With the size of the Three Thousand Burning Flames, even if several Dou Zun joined forces, they might not be able to do anything to it. And this was still when it was sealed. Once it was completely released, it was estimated that no one below Dou Sheng would be able to deal with it.

With his current strength, his chances of winning against the Three Thousand Burning Flames head-on are almost zero.

Given his status as an eighth-grade advanced alchemist, it would be extremely easy for him to summon several Dou Zun for help. If necessary, he could even send people from the Soul Hall. However, once the Soul Hall intervenes, the Pill Tower would likely suffer casualties, and the situation would become uncontrollable.

“Seventy percent, that’s quite a high probability…” Upon hearing this, Venerable Feng couldn’t help but glance at Yao Yan, wondering where Yao Yan’s confidence came from.

He hesitated for a moment.

He continued, "Are you sure you don't want to wait for Yao Chen to come out of seclusion? With his strength, if he makes a breakthrough, the difficulty for you to refine the Three Thousand Burning Flames will be greatly reduced. Even if something unexpected happens, he can protect you."

"On the path of cultivation, one either advances or regresses. How can one rely on others for everything? Besides, Elder Yao is currently in seclusion to break through to the Dou Sheng realm. No one knows how long this will take. I can't wait for him to come out of seclusion before refining the Three Thousand Burning Flames." Yao Yan shook his head slightly, choosing to refuse.

On one hand, it's a matter of time; on the other hand, even if Yao Lao emerges from seclusion, he can't help him much, because once he enters the Dou Sheng realm, according to the rules among Dou Sheng, he can't act arbitrarily.

If a Dou Sheng could plunder opportunities at will, then Zhongzhou would not have remained so prosperous.

It's impossible that the Three Thousand Burning Flames have remained unrefined until now.

Even if Yao Lao helped him, he would still have to rely on himself to refine and devour the flames. Yao Lao could only help him weaken the power of the Three Thousand Burning Flames, and several Dou Zun could do the same thing.

“That’s right, let’s listen to him. He’s not some little guy anymore. He’s an eighth-grade advanced alchemist, a half-step Dou Zun… Heh, ninety-nine percent of the people in Zhongzhou can’t compare to him. Since he said that, he must have a lot of confidence.” Venerable Tianhuo spoke up for Yao Yan at this moment. Compared to Venerable Feng, he knew Yao Yan better and was full of confidence in this kid who was good at creating miracles.

“The risk is too great…” Venerable Feng was a little uneasy. If something happened to Yao Yan in his hands, he would not be able to explain it to Yao Chen.

"The path of cultivation is never smooth sailing," Yao Yan said softly.

He already knew this principle: true gold fears no fire. Only by going through these trials can one transform into a true strongman. If one dies halfway through, it only means that he is not qualified to become a strongman.

So-called luck is also a part of strength.

"Alright, since you have your plans, I won't try to persuade you any further," Venerable Wind said with a hint of helplessness.

"Since Elder Feng has agreed, let's set off now," Yao Yan said with a light laugh.

"So urgent?!" Venerable Wind was taken aback upon hearing this.

“Well, I still need to refine a pill to help refine the Three Thousand Burning Flames. I’m currently lacking some medicinal materials, so I need to go to Saint Pill City to get them.” After Yao Yan finished speaking, he took out a jade slip from his storage ring and handed it over. “Of course, if Starfall Pavilion has it, that would be even better.”

"...Starfall Pavilion doesn't have these medicinal herbs." Venerable Feng said directly after just one glance.

Yao Yan was not surprised by this. The medicinal materials he needed were the core materials for refining eighth-grade pills. Since Xingyun Pavilion did not have high-grade alchemists, it was impossible for them to keep these precious medicinal materials on hand. Just as he was about to take back the jade slip, he heard Venerable Feng's voice.

"However, there is an eighth-tier Xuanbing Toad King over in the Xuanbing Mountains."

"?!"

Yao Yan was stunned upon hearing this. He hadn't expected that such an ancient ferocious beast would still exist alive, and even grow to the eighth rank. His original plan was to use an eighth-rank ice-attribute magic core instead, but if he had the magic core of the Xuanbing Toad King, that would be even better.

Seeing the gleam in Yao Yan's eyes, Venerable Feng shook his head and said in a deep voice, "The Xuanbing Mountain Range is the territory of the Ice River Valley. It is said that this Xuanbing Toad King was raised by the Ice River Valley's ancestor. If we want to hunt it, we will surely alarm the people of the Ice River Valley."

Among the forces openly present in Zhongzhou, the most prominent are the One Tower, One Hall, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Directions Pavilion.

Glacier Valley is one of the three valleys, and its strength is self-evident.

Yao Yan felt relieved upon hearing this and chuckled, "If it were Burning Flame Valley or Sound Valley, I would be more wary. But as for Ice River Valley... if it dares to interfere, I'll chop off its claws as well. I'll have to trouble Elder Feng to contact a few Dou Zun experts to hunt down the Xuanbing Toad King for me. Afterward, I can refine an eighth-grade pill for each of them."

"I almost forgot, you are also an eighth-grade advanced alchemist, haha, with you here, we are indeed not afraid of that Ice River Valley... I have long been annoyed with that Ice River Valley!" Venerable Feng was also stunned when he heard this, but then he realized what he meant and laughed loudly.

Yao Yan is so young that people often overlook his abilities.

With an eighth-grade high-level alchemist in charge, Ice River Valley is indeed nothing special. After all, Ice River Valley is different from the other two established forces. It is a newly emerging force in the last hundred years, and its foundation is not strong. There are only two Dou Zun in the valley. In the past, even Venerable Feng would have been wary of it. Now that Venerable Tianhuo has joined the force, and he has invited two Dou Zun to help him in the name of alchemist Yao Yan, Ice River Valley would not dare to say anything even if Yao Yan defecated on Ice River Valley's head.

Venerable Feng was well aware of the significance of an eighth-grade advanced alchemist.

If Yao Chen hadn't been completely uninterested in building a power back then, Starfall Pavilion wouldn't have been ranked among the Four Pavilions. If Yao Chen wanted to, with his alchemy skills and strength, he could have created a force like Ice River Valley at any time, and even be qualified to challenge the status of the Two Sects.

"Then I'll trouble Elder Feng to gather some information and contact a few familiar Dou Zun. I still need to go into seclusion for a while to take the Yin Yang Dragon Phoenix Pill," Yao Yan said softly.

"Don't worry, I will handle these matters properly." Venerable Feng nodded in response.

Just as the group was talking, the six-colored lightning in the sky slowly dissipated, and the Heavenly Demon Puppet, bathed in the power of lightning, landed heavily. The terrifying power even caused the ground around it to crack, and the dissipated lightning power caused the surrounding space to distort, which showed the level of energy contained in the Heavenly Demon Puppet at this moment.

"What level has this Heavenly Demon Puppet reached?!" Venerable Heavenly Fire couldn't help but ask Yao Yan as he looked at the Heavenly Demon Puppet, whose power seemed to have increased dramatically again.

Yao Yan replied, "It has reached its limit, around the level of a Seven-Star Dou Zun. However, if it were to actually fight a Seven-Star Dou Zun, it would probably only be able to engage in a prolonged battle, and it might even be destroyed by the opponent in the long run... There's no way around it, due to the materials of this Heavenly Demon Puppet, it can no longer contain more lightning power. However, its resistance to lightning power is excellent. If it were to encounter a Dou Zun with lightning attributes, it would probably make the opponent suffer."

"..." Venerable Wind and Venerable Heavenly Fire both felt somewhat depressed. According to Yao Yan, this puppet was enough to overpower them both.

Although the statement was somewhat exaggerated, the power and speed that the Heavenly Demon Puppet had shown so far were enough to frighten them. If they were to actually fight, the outcome would be hard to predict, and even if they won, there seemed to be nothing to be proud of.

A puppet!

The two old men left quickly with complicated emotions, as did the little girl Mu Qingluan. She also looked at Yao Yan, this monster older brother, with a complicated gaze, feeling that he was like a great demon who would eat high-level magical beasts at the drop of a hat.

An eighth-tier Xuanbing Toad King!

That being was even more powerful than their clan leader, and contained ancient bloodline, belonging to an ancient species with an exaggerated combat power. Yet now, such a being had been targeted by Yao Yan, who even offered to take the other party's demon core.

The thrill of it is something only Warcraft can experience.

……

Yao Yan ignored the feelings of the others. He watched the Heavenly Demon Puppet slowly digesting the power of lightning, but did not put it into his storage ring. Instead, he let it continue to stand outside to dissipate the excess lightning power in its body. He then returned to the Star Tower, sat down cross-legged again, and took out an exquisite jade bottle from his storage ring. As the bottle cap was opened, a dark yellow pill floated out.

A rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire star tower, while black and white energy flowed and merged with each other, resembling the boundless yin and yang, making it look extremely mystical.

"The young lady she transformed into before was quite pretty~" Yao Yan looked at the Yin-Yang Dragon-Phoenix Pill in his hand, thinking of the figure the other party directly transformed into, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Then, he flicked his finger and threw the precious six-colored grade eight pill into his mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, without any violent medicinal power. Instead, a warm sensation flowed throughout the body, then seeped into every cell and subsided.

Yao Yan was not surprised by the drug's effect, and he was not concerned about the destructive and restorative effects of the drug.

"found it!"

Yao Yan quickly extracted that unique wisp of dragon-phoenix bloodline. This wisp of bloodline was far less than the essence that Zi Yan had swallowed, but the power it contained was enough for him to unlock a portion of the dragon-phoenix bloodline. There were some paths he was now qualified to try.

As his immense soul power enveloped the entire star tower, azure flames instantly ignited around him, covering his entire body and obscuring his figure.

At the same time, Yao Yan also activated the bloodline power of the Devouring Spirit Clan.

With that incredibly sinister power, Yao Yan's jet-black hair was visibly covered with a layer of blood, and at the same time, a black and red vertical pupil appeared between his eyebrows. As his eyes opened, an indescribable aura instantly spread out, and that power seemed to devour everything.

Violence, bloodlust, madness, destruction... almost all negative emotions are conceived within it, creating an indescribable eeriness.

As Yao Yan's bloodline of the Devouring Spirit Clan was activated, his face became strangely sinister. His originally dark eyes were covered with a layer of scarlet, and the skin on his fingers also changed. He seemed to have transformed into another kind of humanoid creature.

If it weren't for the isolation provided by the fusion with the strange fire, the aura emanating from Yao Yan's body would have been enough to alarm the entire Starfall Pavilion.

"...This bloodthirsty desire is truly intense." Yao Yan's eyes flashed red as he looked at the zombie-like fingers. Involuntarily, the descriptions of extraterrestrial demons in the Great Thousand Worlds came to mind. They were of many races, and most of them had bizarre appearances, like mutated humans.

Yao Yan remained silent for a while before beginning to control the power. As the power was compressed, the strange phenomena on his body disappeared, but the vertical pupil between his eyebrows became increasingly eerie, as if all the power had returned to that eye.

As his mind stirred slightly, the vertical pupil between his brows disappeared and reappeared in his palm.

Looking at the vertical pupil that appeared in his palm, Yao Yan fell silent.

The more you look at this thing, the more it resembles something from the Heavenly Evil God. However, compared to the Heavenly Evil God's evil eyes, his vertical pupils are of a much lower level. The only similarity is that the two powers share the same origin, and if you trace them back, they both originated from that Holy God in the past.

As the Devouring Spirit Clan's talent was fully activated, the power contained in that wisp of dragon-phoenix bloodline was quickly devoured by Yao Yan, and even wisps of evil energy entered Yao Yan's body.

In that instant, Yao Yan felt his physical body strengthen once again, and at the same time, he had a vague feeling that as long as he continued to devour flesh and blood, his body would also continuously strengthen, without any limit.

Feeling the growing evil energy within his body, he did not refine it directly this time, but instead suppressed it into his vertical pupil.

Since it cannot be perfectly controlled, let's treat it as an object!

At worst, I'll just use part of my own body as a container!

As long as his soul remains pure, recreating a physical body is not difficult for him; it simply takes some time. (End of Chapter)

Chapter 240 Itchy Hands

"Whoo~"

The azure flames slowly dissipated, revealing Yao Yan's figure. His once perfect face now had a vertical pupil between his brows, flashing with a black and red halo and filled with indescribable evil energy. If anyone looked into it, they would feel as if their soul had been devoured by it.

His vertical pupils, which had been wide open, quickly closed, turning into a purple line that was imprinted on his brow, adding a touch of wickedness to Yao Yan's originally handsome face.

"Om~"

As Yao Yan opened his eyes, a powerful force surged from his body, and tiny purplish-black scales appeared on his skin. At the same time, his bone wings unfolded, and the power of wind and thunder surged, causing his aura to increase more than tenfold in an instant, as if he had activated a unique secret technique.

"...In this state, I should be able to put up a fight against a two- or three-star Dou Zun." Yao Yan clenched his fist, roughly assessing his current strength.

Although consuming the Yin-Yang Dragon-Phoenix Pill did not grant him the body of an ancient dragon or the wings of a heavenly phoenix, the wisp of dragon-phoenix bloodline unexpectedly allowed him to master a unique combat mode. The dragon scales on his body greatly enhanced his defense and strength, while the bone wings on his back received a multiplier of several dozen times under the blessing of that bloodline.

He himself was not entirely sure of the extent to which his strength had increased at this moment.

After all, he hasn't fought many battles over the years, and none of his peers can rival him. Most of his battles are against opponents of higher levels, and those opponents rarely put enough pressure on him. The only one who can be considered a worthy opponent is the Earth Demon Old Ghost.

Thinking of this, Yao Yan looked at the Heavenly Demon Puppet guarding his side and couldn't help but smile.

"Looks like I need to find some trouble with Ice River Valley~" Yao Yan's eyes flickered slightly. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to cause trouble, but now that his strength had increased, he had no opponents to hone his skills. This feeling was obviously not good. In the past, he could hone his battle qi through alchemy, but alchemy was not as direct as fighting.

Ice River Valley is not a legitimate force, and if he remembers correctly, the Valley Master of Ice River Valley is a person with a Calamity Poison Body cultivated later in life.

This secret method for cultivating a special physique is extremely attractive to Yao Yan.

He will inevitably create his own unique cultivation method in the future, so it will be very necessary for him to study all kinds of secret techniques and cultivation methods.