While in Battle Through the Heavens, one can pre-appoint oneself as an emperor.

Chapter 120 Life-Devouring Pill

When Su Qian returned to Canaan Academy last time, he was in a hurry to go into seclusion to break through his cultivation level, so Chen Xiao and Zi Yan didn't have a chance to catch up with him properly.

This time, taking advantage of the opportunity to bring Queen Medusa in, we can finally sit down and have a proper chat.

The change of ownership in Maple City and the shifting situation in the Black Corner Region have had some impact on Canaan Academy.

The most direct benefit is that students who went to the Black Corner Region for training can now seek refuge in Maple City when they encounter danger, greatly reducing casualties.

"This is a great thing for the academy. To be honest, I was a little worried about Han Feng when he was still around. After all, he was the only sixth-grade alchemist in the entire Black Corner Region, and the attraction of strange fire to alchemists goes without saying. Now that Han Feng is gone, I can rest assured a lot."

"Now that you have initially settled Maple City, you have enough combat power above the Dou Wang level. However, you probably don't have many mid-to-low-level personnel. Every year, a batch of students from the Inner Academy will graduate. I will tell them that if they don't know where to go, they can come and join you. In this way, they will have a place to settle down for the time being, and you will also have manpower to use."

Hearing Su Qian's suggestion, Chen Xiao nodded in agreement.

This is a win-win situation, and there's no reason to refuse.

After catching up with the Grand Elder for more than an hour, Chen Xiao left Zi Yan behind, took a batch of ancient books he hadn't read yet, and went alone to his old residence in the pavilion to visit some of his fellow residents.

Especially Cao Hui, who was a friend before, and now has the Cao family connection. If nothing unexpected happens in the future, they can basically be considered relatives.

A night of idle chatter is not worth writing about.

The next day, early in the morning.

Chen Xiao, who was cultivating, was awakened by the crunching sound of Zi Yan chewing.

Where should we go treasure hunting?

Seeing Chen Xiao open his eyes and look at her, Zi Yan quickly swallowed the pill in her mouth, wiped her small hands, put away the jade bottle, and stood up to ask.

"Tianyin Mountains!"

The mountains stretch endlessly, like giant dragons lying dormant on the earth. This mountain range is shrouded in miasma and shrouded in dark clouds all year round, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate, which makes the whole mountain range appear dark and oppressive.

The Tianyin Mountains got their name from this.

At the foot of the southeastern part of the Tianyin Mountains lies an old power in the Black Corner Region, the Tianyin Sect.

Its sect leader, Yin Gu Lao, is also a renowned five-star Dou Huang powerhouse on the Black List.

"This Yinshan Mountains seem even larger than the Monster Mountain Range of the Gama Empire. What exactly are we looking for?"

Hovering high in the sky, Zi Yan looked down at the hazy mountains below, very curious about the purpose of her trip.

"To be precise, it should be considered a legacy," Chen Xiao replied after a moment's thought.

"There's nothing I can do about that; I can only sense rare and precious materials."

Zi Yan spread her hands, indicating that she couldn't help.

Being able to sense rare and precious materials and having an innate control over the power of space is already enough to make people envious. If one could even sense things like inheritance, how would others survive?

Chen Xiao shook his head and chuckled, "It's alright, we have plenty of time to search. Just pay more attention to those hidden places, such as caves."

Finding a skeleton in the vast Tianyin Mountains is like finding a needle in a haystack for an ordinary person.

However, Chen Xiao and Zi Yan are both powerful Dou Wang level experts, and they are determined to search for it. It's only a matter of time before they find it.

Moreover, Chen Xiao had a similar experience before.

The opportunity in the cave in the Monster Mountain Range was very similar to this.

As is currently known, Xiao Li was being hunted down and fled into the Tianyin Mountains, where he fortuitously obtained the Life-Devouring Pill.

After consuming it, he jumped from a Great Dou Master to a Dou King.

Therefore, based on this information, we can first rule out the direction where the Tianyin Sect is located.

After all, with Xiao Li's strength, he simply didn't have the ability or the courage to enter the Tianyin Mountain Range from the direction of the Tianyin Sect.

Furthermore, with so many people in the Tianyin Sect, they must know the area near their sect like the back of their hand, making it highly unlikely that the inheritance is located there.

Also because Xiao Li's strength is too low, areas in the Tianyin Mountains with fourth-order or higher magical beasts can be excluded for the time being.

In this way, with a simple filter, the search range is instantly reduced by several times.

"Conceal your presence, don't frighten the magical beasts inside. We should pay more attention to the areas where low-level magical beasts are active—" Chen Xiao briefly explained the search plan to Zi Yan.

Zi Yan nodded emphatically and, as instructed, concealed her breathing.

After determining the direction, the two immediately began their search from the southwest of the Tianyin Mountains, because this direction faced the center of the Black Corner Region. Chen Xiao recalled the scene of Xiao Li being chased, and the probability of escaping into the deep mountains from this direction was the highest.

Chen Xiao originally thought that even with a lot of information, it would still take the two of them ten days to half a month to find their target.

However, the surprise came incredibly suddenly.

In less than three days, he sensed a mountain crevice in a small valley that was almost invisible from the outside and was buried by rocks.

"That simple?!"

Zi Yan smashed the pile of rocks to pieces with a powerful punch, and looked at the narrow crevice that had been revealed with a bewildered expression.

Since entering the Tianyin Mountains, the two have not encountered any threats whatsoever. The strongest magical beasts they have encountered are only at the third tier, equivalent to a human Grand Master.

In the past, even when searching for medicinal herbs in the mountains, she always had to fight those magical beasts and put in a lot of effort. Now, this sudden and unbelievably smooth harvest made her feel quite unaccustomed to it.

"Let's go in and take a look. We're not even sure if this is the place we're looking for."

Chen Xiao was somewhat prepared, after all, this was an opportunity that even Xiao Li could obtain, so the risks on the way couldn't be too high, and luck played a larger role.

Zi Yan nodded slightly, turned sideways, and squeezed into the dark cave first.

Chen Xiao took out a moonstone for illumination and followed closely behind.

The passage was extremely narrow, only wide enough for an adult to turn sideways. Fortunately, both of them were of normal build. If it had been a large, curvy woman like Queen Medusa, they probably would have been stuck at the entrance.

After walking sideways like a crab for dozens of steps, the passage gradually became normal and passable.

After winding through the passage for several more minutes, the two finally reached the end and arrived at a doorless stone chamber of about twenty square meters.

With the soft glow of the moonstone, the two were able to see everything inside the room.

A stone table, a stone chair, and a stone bed.

The stone table was empty, while a pale white skeleton sat slumped on the stone bed.

Beside the skeleton's right arm lay some miscellaneous items and two jade bottles emitting a faint red glow.

There was nothing else!

"this one?"

Looking at the simple furnishings inside, Zi Yan felt slightly disappointed.

Chen Xiao embedded the moonstone in his hand into the stone wall for illumination and stepped forward.

From the moment he saw the skeleton, he knew that this was the place he was looking for.

"Don't underestimate this guy; he's at least a seventh-grade advanced alchemist."

Chen Xiao swept away the dust with a burst of fighting spirit and rummaged through the pile of junk.

However, although the storage ring was found, Chen Xiao was surprised to discover that the contents inside were meager, not even one percent of his net worth.

The cultivation techniques and combat skills were limited to those below the Earth Rank, which were utterly insignificant. The pill formulas were all common ones.

Even the medicine cauldron, an essential tool for alchemists, was nowhere to be seen.

Apart from a blood-red scroll, there was nothing in the entire storage ring that attracted Chen Xiao's attention.

"This doesn't seem like the wealth of a high-level alchemist."

Chen Xiao felt very strange, so he immediately released his soul power and carefully explored the entire stone chamber, but still found nothing.

"Hehe, I know why. Look at this."

Just as she was wondering what was going on, Zi Yan chuckled and tossed her a notebook over.

Chen Xiao opened it, and what came into view were some notes written by the owner of the skeleton before his death.

In short, he was not from the Black Corner Region. He fled there due to some misfortune and was already severely injured. He was unable to even refine medicine to save himself. In order to survive, he auctioned off all his most valuable combat techniques, cultivation methods, and even pill formulas and cauldrons in the Black Corner Region in exchange for healing items. Unfortunately, in the end, it was still too late to save him.

The helpless owner of the journal could only accept this outcome, and in despair, he entered the Tianyin Mountains, where he eventually passed away.

"Unexpected, yet somehow reasonable."

Chen Xiao sighed softly and put the journal aside.

In the original timeline, Xiao Li arrived here by chance, and among the things he obtained, the most valuable were only two Life Devouring Pills and the Life Devouring Pill recipe.

This is far from what a high-level alchemist should be capable of. Upon closer examination, one can discover the anomaly and there must be a reason behind it.

This manuscript now offers a plausible explanation.

It makes sense that the owner of the notebook was robbed after creating the recipe for the Life-Devouring Pill, and that he took this "ominous object" underground.

As for the method of soul cultivation, it is too precious, even in the Central Continent, and no one in the Black Corner Region can afford the corresponding price.

Perhaps that's why they were able to stay.

"These two pills look very strange. They feel completely different from ordinary pills, but I can't quite put my finger on why."

Zi Yan picked up the two jade bottles on the stone bed, examined them for a moment, and frowned.

Opening a jade bottle reveals a blood-red pill, about the size of a longan. This pill looks extremely mysterious; at first glance, it resembles a transparent bead filled with blood, and faintly, it looks like a tiny eye, exuding an eerie feeling.

"This is a seventh-grade pill, the Life-Devouring Pill. It has no effect on us. Its effect lies in—"

Chen Xiao gave Zi Yan a brief explanation of the amazing uses of the Life-Devouring Pill, which amazed even Yao Chen. It had once caused quite a stir in the Central Continent.

Zi Yan didn't take it seriously after hearing it.

"Relying on this to build an army of assassins at the Dou Wang level? Are those people in Zhongzhou stupid? How can seventh-grade pills be mass-produced so easily? Rather than relying on this Life-Devouring Pill, they should use pills like the Dou Ling Pill and the Huang Ji Pill to cultivate them."

Isn't it easier?

That statement does make some sense.

However, the Life-Devouring Pill is not so useless. What is most amazing about this pill is that it ignores the talent of the user. Even if you are a pig, it can help you reach the level of a Battle King.

Although the aftereffects are significant.

"You're right. Let's go back. We've obtained two Life-Devouring Pills and the pill formula, so the trip wasn't in vain."

After ruffling Zi Yan's hair, Chen Xiao waved his hand and put away the skeleton on the bed.

The moment the skeleton entered the storage ring, it vanished like a wisp of smoke.

At the same time, a prompt for completion also came to my mind.

This cycle is even shorter than expected!