Battle Through the Heavens: Reap the Red Lotus Karmic Flame at the Start

Xiao Yan also made the most of the night to refine medicine. Among the medicinal materials he asked Han Chi to collect were many that he would use for refining medicine.

When traveling, money is absolutely essential.

For Zhongzhou, elixirs are a more valuable form of currency than gold coins, but Xiao Yan's entire collection has been lost. He must seize the time to quickly produce a batch of elixirs to avoid a repeat of the situation where he's short of money to give as gifts.

With Xiao Yan's current strength, refining fourth- or fifth-grade pills is a piece of cake. The temperature of the Red Lotus Heart Flame after the fusion of the three different flames is several levels higher than before, greatly shortening the time for refining medicinal materials.

The soul power gained after upgrading to an eight-star Dou Zong and the Dou Qi support provided by absorbing three different flames and evolving into a high-level Earth-rank cultivation technique allowed Xiao Yan to continue refining pills for a considerable period of time.

In just one night, five pills were produced, and just as dawn broke, Zhu Qian was already quietly waiting at Xiao Yan's door.

Zhu Qian's respectful attitude left Xiao Yan somewhat helpless, but Xiao Yan naturally didn't know the suffering of ordinary alchemists. Once they reached a certain level, there were no teachers to learn from, and they had to figure things out on their own.

Xiao Yan's path to becoming an alchemist was almost perfectly arranged by Yao Lao from the very beginning. Even without any guidance from anyone else, given enough time, Xiao Yan would be able to reach the level of an eighth-grade alchemist or even higher.

For a fifth-grade alchemist like Zhu Qian, the cost of being taught by a master of a higher grade was simply too high. The sudden appearance of Xiao Yan, who had no requirements, was like a ray of light in his life, so he didn't want to miss any opportunity to learn.

After letting Zhu Qian in, Xiao Yan stopped refining pills and allowed Zhu Qian to ask questions freely, which he then answered. Zhu Qian cherished this opportunity and threw all his urgent problems in alchemy to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan patiently answered these questions one by one. After all, even a fifth-grade alchemist has limited vision, and the questions raised were not difficult for Xiao Yan to answer.

Zhu Qian respectfully copied down Xiao Yan's instructions. The more Xiao Yan said, the more astonished Zhu Qian became. Xiao Yan's mastery of alchemy had reached a truly profound level. Many problems that had stumped Zhu Qian at the fifth-grade alchemist level seemed so simple in Xiao Yan's hands.

As time passed, Zhu Qian's expression became extremely respectful. If it weren't for Xiao Yan's repeated obstruction, Zhu Qian would have already been ready to kowtow and become Xiao Yan's disciple.

Xiao Yan was too embarrassed to accept Zhu Qian as his disciple. In terms of alchemy, Xiao Yan's own creations were very limited. He simply absorbed the teachings of Yao Lao, which is why he was able to become a seventh-grade alchemist in his twenties.

An hour seemed to pass in the blink of an eye to Zhu Qian. As he left Xiao Yan's room, Zhu Qian's eyes held both the joy of having gained a lot and the reluctance to part with Xiao Yan, who could no longer offer him further guidance.

After finishing his lesson with Zhu Qian, Xiao Yan suddenly smiled for no apparent reason. He had sensed that another person had entered his room shortly after Zhu Qian's arrival. However, after seeing that there were no hidden dangers in answering Zhu Qian's questions, the other person gracefully departed.

Although Dou Zun's actions were elusive and uncertain, Xiao Yan's seventh-grade alchemist soul power still allowed him to perceive everything.

After instructing Zhu Qian, Xiao Yan quietly left his room. Because no one was around Xiao Yan's room, there were few people around, so no one knew that Xiao Yan had left the Han family manor.

Xiao Yan's destination was the market town of Tianbei City. He had been focused on cultivation all along, but today he suddenly felt like taking a good stroll through Tianbei City and experiencing the local customs and culture of Zhongzhou.

Xiao Yan deliberately kept the Han family away from him, as the Han family's influence in Tianbei City was too great, and it would actually diminish the enjoyment of their outing.

Xiao Yan had no particular destination in mind for the time being, so he simply wandered around the market, constantly weaving through the diverse crowds. After strolling for a while, Xiao Yan also noticed that the difference between the Central Plains and the Northwest Region was that the Central Plains was far richer in all kinds of resources.

Even in these ordinary markets, there are people selling rare items like Xuan-level combat skills and fourth-tier magical beast cores!

It should be noted that even the Yunlan Sect's cultivation techniques and combat skills are only at the advanced level of the Xuan rank. Compared to the Central Plains, the Northwest Region is simply a barren land.

Not to mention, in this small Tianbei City, Xiao Yan had already sensed the presence of three Dou Zongs and more than two Dou Huangs, and this was just an ordinary Tianbei City.

In terms of high-end combat power, they are now completely on par with the Gama Empire!

Zhongzhou truly lives up to its reputation as the center of the continent; the difference is simply too great.

As Xiao Yan strolled along, he came to the end of a street, where there was a simply decorated shop selling maps.

The shop door was half-open, and there were only a handful of customers inside; business seemed to be very slow. After all, most people in Tianbei City were locals, and their need for maps was quite limited.

The simply decorated map shop reminded him of his past with Hai Bodong. In that map shop, Xiao Yan found a map of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame. Including the map he found while searching the cave with Little Fairy Doctor and the one he obtained through a double-cross in the Black Corner Region, Xiao Yan had already collected three-quarters of the map related to the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, leaving only the last part.

The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, a terrifying flame ranked third on the Strange Flame Ranking, would allow Xiao Yan to achieve a leap in strength once obtained, and his Burning Technique might even be able to directly break through to the advanced Heaven Rank!

Being able to use a flame ranked among the top three on the Strange Flame Ranking was one of the requirements that Emperor Xutian imposed on Xiao Yan. Only by possessing such a heaven-defying treasure could one have the opportunity to repair the flaws in this world.

As Xiao Yan's thoughts wandered, he searched the entire map shop. Obviously, good luck wouldn't always favor Xiao Yan; it was just an ordinary map shop.

However, Xiao Yan still bought several maps, since he was going to travel in Zhongzhou and at least needed to figure out the general direction of Zhongzhou.

Xiao Yan casually handed a third-grade pill to the shopkeeper. This was the lowest-grade pill he had, since third- or fourth-grade pills were no longer of much help to Xiao Yan, who was already an eight-star Dou Zong.

However, the owner of the map shop still thanked Xiao Yan repeatedly for the single grade three pill. After all, a grade three pill was worth over ten thousand gold coins, which was naturally a windfall for the shop.

As soon as Xiao Yan stepped out of the shop, he saw two people dragging someone past him, heading deeper into the street.

Xiao Yan recognized the two people beside him as the ones who had gone to the Han family to cause trouble with Hong Chen that day. Xiao Yan originally decided to ignore them, but as they passed in front of him, he sensed a familiar aura from the person in the middle.

That was Little Fairy Doctor's fighting spirit.