Breaking the Masked Man

Everything seemed unchanged.

……

The Mittel family residence, in a quiet courtyard.

When Yao Yan returned from outside, Cai Die had already fallen asleep with Ling'er in her arms. She knew nothing about Yao Yan's outing because he had used alchemy as an excuse to enter the alchemy room. His secret visits to the Xiao family these past few days were also conducted in secret, using his soul power to shield his aura, so he wasn't worried about Cai Die discovering anything.

He glanced at the sleeping butterfly with his soul power, then turned and entered the alchemy room. At this moment, his previously anxious and tense emotions finally relaxed, and a surge of joy and excitement welled up in his heart.

He finally obtained the Burning Judgment and the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade!

"Whoo~"

Yao Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his ecstatic and excited emotions. When he opened them again, his dark eyes gradually became calm. He took out the black ring from his pocket first.

Its jet-black color was seamless, and from the outside, the ring was unremarkable. Even spiritual power could not detect its special features. It was like a roadside stone, utterly worthless.

Who would have thought that this item was actually the Bone Flame Ring of the Medicine Venerable of Zhongzhou, containing not only his collection of hundreds of years, but also his soul and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame.

"Om~"

Yao Yan looked at the ring in his hand, and a surge of soul power surged from between his brows, supporting it as it slowly floated up. He then tried to inject a portion of his soul power into it, but was immediately met with strong rejection, which bounced his soul power back.

He wasn't surprised by this. All high-level storage rings can have a soul imprint set on them. In this way, even if someone else is lucky enough to get the storage ring, they must first erase the soul imprint if they want to take anything from it. And in this way, the owner of the storage ring will sense it.

At the same time, this soul imprint will also repel the soul power of others, creating a self-protective function.

This is an ability almost exclusively found in high-level storage rings.

The old doctor was not dead, and was still inside the storage ring. The Bone Flame Ring was made of the extremely rare 'Soul Warming and Spirit Absorption' material, and its effects were very special. It could not only shield soul power, but also nourish the soul.

It's hard to say to what extent Yao Lao's soul has recovered after so many years of nurturing.

However, in the original novel, Yao Lao should awaken ten years later!

Since he hasn't woken up yet, everything is easy to handle!

Yao Yan's eyes flickered slightly. After hesitating for a moment, a fierce soul power surged out and rushed into the Bone Flame Ring in the most brute force, attempting to break through the soul imprint on it. However, the moment the two made contact, a cold power that froze even the soul power surged out from the Bone Flame Ring.

"puff"

A ball of pale white flame appeared, instantly freezing Yao Yan's soul power into nothingness. And it was not willing to give up, aggressively following Yao Yan's soul power towards him.

Yao Yan decisively severed the soul force. There was no surprise in his eyes, only solemnity. He had long guessed this possibility. The Bone Spirit Cold Flame had followed Yao Lao for hundreds of years and had long become a part of him. Now that Yao Yan wanted to erase the soul imprint on Yao Lao's storage ring, it would naturally protect its master and fight back.

Strange fire is a rather violent thing!

With its object of burning gone, the pale white flames surrounding the Boneflame Ring quickly receded, leaving it ordinary again, and it fell to the ground.

"It just won't work!"

Yao Yan thought to himself, he knew that the Burning Technique wouldn't be so easy to obtain.

Looking at the Bone Flame Ring, whose soul imprint could not be forcibly broken with soul power, his eyes grew colder. He had no intention of directly waking up Yao Lao. In the original work, Yao Lao's trust in Xiao Yan was formed after three years of observation and repeated training.

After such a painful betrayal, it's easy to imagine that Yao Lao was extremely wary. He couldn't possibly gain the other party's trust with just a few words. In fact, the Burning Technique that the other party presented might have been modified to deliberately trap him.

Moreover, he has many problems that are impossible to explain, and he does not meet the conditions for Xiao Yan to become his disciple.

It involves my own future.

Yao Yan could not possibly entrust her fate to Yao Lao's hands.

He raised his hand and released a gentle burst of energy, tossing the Bone Flame Ring into a medicine cauldron on the side. Then he took out dozens of dark-colored plants from his storage ring. These plants were a kind of poisonous grass called Soul-Eating Grass, which had an unimaginable corrosive effect on soul power. Even alchemists were unwilling to touch these things.

It's more than enough to corrode the soul imprint of a storage ring.

The Bone Spirit Cold Flame is now just a strange flame that no one controls. Its priority in protecting its master is definitely to protect Yao Lao's soul, rather than the soul imprint of the Bone Flame Ring. The time difference between the two is enough for him to slowly wear away the soul imprint of the Bone Flame Ring!

Yao Yan looked extremely serious. He raised his hand and used the Illusory Gold Fire to ignite the medicine cauldron. Then he threw a Soul-Eating Grass into it. As the flames burned, the Soul-Eating Grass quickly turned into drops of pitch-black liquid, which dripped onto the Bone Flame Ring below.

"Chichi~"

The moment the two came into contact, the Bone Flame Ring emitted wisps of white smoke, as if something inside was being corroded. The next moment, a ball of icy, bone-chilling white flame surged out of the Bone Flame Ring again, burning away all the dripping venom.

The terrifying chill caused the golden flames inside the medicine cauldron to freeze instantly, and even the medicine cauldron itself was covered with a layer of ice crystals!

The domineering nature of the strange fire is obvious at a glance.

"efficient!"

A fleeting smile crossed Yao Yan's lips. Once the Bone Spirit Cold Flame had dissipated, he tossed another Soul-Eating Grass into the cauldron...

P.S.: Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be released on February 1st. I'm a newbie here, so please subscribe! Also, I probably won't be able to do a big update on February 1st, but I can do it on February 2nd. I can only guarantee that I won't be updating anytime soon. I'll be out of town for the next few days, just letting you know in advance.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 81 Cultivating the Burning Technique

A chilling aura rose, turning the entire alchemy room into an ice cellar. Even the surrounding walls were covered with a layer of ice crystals, but Yao Yan remained unaffected.

His dark eyes remained calm and indifferent as he watched the eerie white flames rising continuously within the cauldron. The terrifying chill and violent power raged forth, even distorting the space itself under that destructive force.

The medicine cauldron, covered in ice crystals, trembled incessantly. Under the repeated bursts of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire, this ordinary medicine cauldron was clearly no longer able to withstand it.

Grotesque cracks spread across its surface, and they continued to multiply.

If Yao Yan hadn't stabilized it with his soul power, it would have exploded by now.

Fortunately, the soul imprint on the Bone Flame Ring was also nearing its limit. Under the repeated erosion of the Soul-Eating Grass, the speed at which the Bone Spirit Cold Flame reacted was getting slower and slower.

Yao Yan patiently waited for the Bone Spirit Cold Fire to finish erupting, then calmly threw in another Soul-Eating Grass, dripping drops of poison onto the Bone Flame Ring. As a few bits of corrosive green smoke disappeared, the Bone Spirit Cold Fire did not erupt for a long time, allowing the poison of the Soul-Eating Grass to completely submerge and envelop the ring.

Seeing this, Yao Yan's gaze narrowed slightly, and he thought to himself, "Did it work?"

"puff"

As if to confirm Yao Yan's guess, this time the Bone Spirit Cold Fire erupted even more terrifyingly, burning even hotter and colder. The two opposing temperatures strangely combined, making its destructive power even greater. It almost instantly annihilated the poison around the ring, and then slammed into the medicine cauldron, causing the already overburdened cauldron to completely shatter.

Yao Yan remained composed, easily catching the shattered fragments of the medicine cauldron with his powerful soul force. Looking at the bone spirit cold fire burning aimlessly before him, a faint smile flashed across his lips.

Ultimately, it was just a strange fire that no one controlled; no matter how terrifying its power, it posed no real threat.

Soon, the eruption of Bone Spirit Cold Fire ended, receding like a tide.

The Bone Inflammation Ring turned into an ordinary ring again and fell from mid-air.

Yao Yan used his soul power to make contact with it, and then tentatively poured a stream of soul power into it. This time, he did not encounter any obstacles and poured in the soul power very smoothly. At the same time, an incredibly vast space appeared in his mind. In terms of space alone, the Bone Flame Ring was larger than that of a typical high-level storage ring.

All I can say is that it is indeed a high-level storage ring specially crafted by the old master.

The Bone Flame Ring not only has a huge storage space, but it also has the power to nourish the soul. Even just wearing it has a certain effect, which is why Xiao Yan's mother left this ring in the original novel.

Yao Yan left a soul imprint on the Bone Inflame Ring, and instantly the entire storage space appeared in his mind.

The mountain of prescriptions, martial arts techniques, fighting skills, and other strange and unusual items, all piled together, were enough to dazzle anyone who looked at them.

These are clearly the collections that the old doctor has accumulated over hundreds of years.

At the same time, an aged soul came into view. It was extremely weak at the moment, and its soul was almost transparent. It was in a deep sleep. In its soul form, it might continue to sleep indefinitely without items to replenish its soul power.

Even if one stays in the Bone Flame Ring, it would take decades to awaken.

Clearly, when the Soul-Eating Grass corroded the soul imprint of the Bone Inflammation Ring, Yao Lao's soul was also injured.

Yao Yan glanced at Yao Lao and then searched his storage ring. Soon, a black, nameless cultivation technique appeared in his palm. Upon contact, the technique instantly transformed into a stream of information that flooded into his mind. He did not resist, and a low-level Yellow Rank cultivation technique that required devouring a strange fire to evolve was displayed in his mind.

At the beginning of its cultivation, this technique is not special at all, and is even more ordinary than other low-level Yellow Rank techniques. It is completely unremarkable. However, by cultivating it, one can devour all kinds of flames to evolve its rank. Furthermore, one can integrate the special abilities of various flames into the technique, making them one's own characteristics.

According to the description of the technique, it has almost no upper limit; the only limitation is the strength of the flames it absorbs.

"Execute by burning!"

Yao Yan knew that this nameless martial arts manual was the Burning Technique, which was named by Yao Lao in the original novel!

"Finally got it..."

He took a deep breath and looked at the alchemy room covered by ice crystals. Golden Illusionary Flame appeared around him, and within a few breaths, it dispelled all the cold air around him, melting the ice crystals that were attached to the walls. As the temperature of the alchemy room rose, he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes to recuperate, and prepared to directly replace the Three Flowers Gathering Fire Technique in his body with the Burning Technique.

Both are low-level Yellow Rank techniques and both are fire-attribute, so there is no conflict when they are combined.

Yao Yan has already mastered the Three Flowers Gathering Fire Technique, and the three fires have been condensed. Switching to other techniques now will not have any impact. Moreover, this technique is mainly for foundation building, focusing on strengthening one's essence, energy, and spirit, and laying the groundwork for cultivating more powerful techniques in the future.

The only drawback is that the current Burning Technique is only at the low-level Yellow Rank, and switching to another technique will cause some damage to the body.

According to the Foundation Establishment method of the Medicine Clan, the change of cultivation method is usually considered when one is at the Battle Spirit stage. At that time, the cultivator's control over their own Battle Qi will be extremely perfect. By simply changing to a Ground-rank cultivation method, one's strength can advance by leaps and bounds. In fact, due to the great accumulation in the early stage, one can directly break through to the Battle King stage, saving countless efforts.

Fortunately, Yao Yan possesses the bloodlines of both the Stone Clan and the Spirit Clan, making him unafraid of this ordeal.

As the incineration process began.

The nature of Yao Yan's internal fighting spirit began to change. The originally condensed fighting spirit crystals began to shatter, and the surging fighting spirit contained within them began to rampage through his body. At this moment, even his body could not withstand it. Intense pain swept through his entire body, and his meridians began to rupture under the violent circulation of fighting spirit.

Fortunately, the bloodline of the Spirit Clan's Dou Di gave him powerful vitality, and the ruptured meridians healed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, allowing Yao Yan to focus on this aspect without having to be distracted.

He activated the Burning Technique with all his might, and it wasn't until several hours later that the battle qi within his body condensed into a light yellow spirit crystal once again.

At this point, all the fighting energy within his body had been converted.

"My strength hasn't changed much, and my body has already adapted to the Three Flowers Gathering Fire Technique. Absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has long become instinctive. This is perhaps the greatest benefit of cultivating the Three Flowers Gathering Fire Technique. Unfortunately, very few people can cultivate it to its full potential..."

Yao Yan sensed the changes in the fighting spirit within his body and instantly made a judgment. Then, his gaze fixed on the Illusory Golden Flame within his body.

This beast fire was nurtured by him with battle qi from the very beginning, and it is almost an integral part of him.

He really wanted to try out the feeling of the Burning Technique devouring flames, and using the Illusionary Golden Flame would be the best way to practice!