The Strange Flame Rekindles in Battle Through the Heavens

Chapter 2 Transmigrating into Xiao Yan

With twinkling stars and moonlight like water, the mountains and forests under the night sky appear exceptionally serene and tranquil.

Xiao Yan stood atop the cliff behind his clan's mountain, gazing at the distant, cloud-shrouded mountain range—the Magical Beast Mountain Range. The Magical Beast Mountain Range teemed with countless magical beasts, fraught with peril. However, danger and opportunity coexisted. In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, one could hunt magical beasts to obtain magical cores, and also acquire rare medicinal herbs. If one was lucky enough, one might even obtain legacies left by their predecessors, containing elixirs, fighting techniques, and cultivation manuals—things that could grant ordinary people meteoric rises to power.

"Sigh! Fourteen years! I wonder how much longer it will take before I'm able to explore this magical mountain range." Xiao Yan let out a deep breath. Every time he climbed the back mountain of his family and looked at the majestic magical beast mountain range in the distance, the adventurous genes in his body would be instantly activated, and he would have a strong desire to enter it and fight powerful magical beasts, and to explore the hidden caves for treasure.

Looking at the jet-black ring on his right hand, he knew it was left to him by his deceased mother, and he had always worn it. He knew what was inside—something that could change his destiny. Although it would come at a price, it was all worth it.

As for why Xiao Yan knew so much about all this, it's because he was a transmigrator. In his previous life, Chu Li was a programmer on Earth, under immense work pressure, working 24/7 every day. The meaning of life was to buy a car, a house, earn a dowry, get married, have children, and then continue working hard to earn money to raise the kids, support the family, and pay off the mortgage. This was the life of most Earthlings, a life of constant busyness and intense competition!

On Earth, Chu Li returned to his rented apartment at 1 a.m. after a long day of work. He quickly made himself a bowl of instant noodles with boiling water. After eating, he turned on the water heater and waited for it to heat up. Due to years of working overtime, his hair and body were extremely oily, and he couldn't fall asleep without showering. After taking a hot shower, Chu Li lay in bed and turned on the TV. Seeing a recommended video of "Battle Through the Heavens," he casually clicked play. However, after watching only the first episode, an unsurprisingly, a payment pop-up appeared: "To continue watching, please subscribe to VIP service. Subscribe now?"

He casually picked up the remote and turned off the TV, then rested his head on his hands and sighed, "Modern people work overtime like crazy, barely making any money, and on top of that, they get fleeced and exploited every day. Life's worse than a dog's. Thinking back to the original story, Xiao Yan was just an ordinary 955 worker, yet he could marry a rich and beautiful woman and reach the pinnacle of life after arriving in the Dou Qi Continent. Modern life is so competitive; I bet anyone who transmigrated to the Dou Qi Continent could easily crush Xiao Yan!"

Just because he made a few sarcastic remarks, he woke up the next day to find himself transported to the Dou Qi Continent, becoming Xiao Yan. Knowing he'd transmigrated into the future Flame Emperor Xiao Yan, Chu Li was quite happy, because there were so many beautiful girls! However, Xiao Yan's early life was rather miserable. Due to the inexplicable disappearance of his Dou Qi, he was frequently subjected to insults and ridicule from his family. Even worse, he was later about to be publicly jilted by Nalan Yanran, and the thought of being publicly rejected made Chu Li's face burn with embarrassment.

In order to reach the level of Dou Zhe earlier, Chu Li began cultivating at the age of three, a year earlier than Xiao Yan in the original novel. Therefore, he successfully condensed the Dou Qi vortex at the age of ten and became a Dou Zhe.

Of course, after reaching the Dou Zhe level, his Dou Qi vortex vanished overnight, and his Dou Qi continued to diminish. However, knowing the plot well, he didn't become discouraged. Instead, he cultivated even more diligently, striving to awaken the soul within him as soon as possible. After all, being labeled a good-for-nothing was unpleasant. In any case, he only needed to invest a maximum of three years of Dou Qi to receive Yao Lao's meticulous guidance. He could also obtain the Burning Technique, become an alchemist, and acquire countless high-level Dou Techniques—it was practically a guaranteed win.

However, the ring still hadn't reacted at all, causing Xiao Yan to frown slightly. "If Yao Lao doesn't show up, won't my three years of Dou Qi be wasted? Why is he being so unfair? Please don't stand me up!"

"Fine, I'll give you one last meal. If you still don't show up..." He sighed deeply, somewhat disappointed, and sat cross-legged on the boulder. He slowly closed his eyes, formed strange hand seals, and entered a meditative state.

At the summit of the cliff, the air was fresh. Puffs of pale white Dou Qi continuously rose from the air, entering Xiao Yan's body through his mouth and nose, strengthening his bones and tendons. Dou Qi has the effect of strengthening the body, so early-stage cultivation is of paramount importance and cannot rely on any external force, otherwise it will only backfire.

Xiao Yan used to focus solely on cultivation, reaching the Dou Zhe level at the age of ten. However, upon entering the Dou Zhe realm, he discovered that while Dou Qi was powerful, its ability to nourish the body and bones was far inferior to that of Dou Qi. If nothing unexpected happened, Xiao Yan's ultimate achievement would likely be similar to that of other Dou Huangs in the Jia Ma Empire—unable to break through to Dou Zong, stuck at the peak of Dou Huang, and silently awaiting death.

But as the Dou Qi vortex disappeared, Xiao Yan gradually relaxed. He could finally use Dou Qi to nourish his bones and meridians again, laying a solid foundation for further progress.

As the last wisp of pale white gas entered Xiao Yan's mouth and nose, he slowly opened his eyes, a fleeting glint of light flashing within them. Feeling the Dou Qi he had just refined abruptly vanish again, Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly.

"Hmm?" Xiao Yan stared intently at the grove of trees ahead. Although his Dou Qi was only at the third level, his soul perception was exceptionally strong.

"Hehe! I really don't know where you get such high alertness from?" Shaking his head helplessly, a middle-aged man in gray clothes with a rather burly build walked out of the woods with a smile.

Upon seeing that it was his father, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan was stunned. He had thought it was that little girl!

Xiao Yan stood up, dusted himself off, and said with a smile, "Father, why aren't you asleep yet so late!"

"Hehe, you're still awake too. Has your cultivation of battle qi disappeared again?" Xiao Zhan frowned slightly and asked with concern.

"It's alright, Father! Entering the Dou Zhe realm too early isn't beneficial. Once the Dou Qi disappears, it's gone; you can just train again," Xiao Yan said nonchalantly.

"You're quite magnanimous! But..."

Seeing his father's hesitant expression, Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have the three elders come to see Father again?"

"Those three old fogies can only talk the talk. I am the clan leader, and no one can kick you out before your coming-of-age ceremony," Xiao Zhan said with considerable authority.

Seeing his father's protectiveness, Xiao Yan was deeply moved. Although he wasn't as cold towards Xiao Zhan as the Xiao Yan in the original story when they were young, their interactions were still quite awkward, after all, Xiao Yan was no longer young after two lifetimes. To avoid awkwardness, Xiao Yan often avoided his father, Xiao Zhan.

However, unlike in other novels where Xiao Yan deliberately avoided him and lost his cultivation talent, Xiao Zhan didn't either treat Xiao Yan coldly, ignore him, or even worse, expel him from the family. Instead, he became even more concerned about Xiao Yan. This completely dispelled the lingering awkwardness in Xiao Yan's heart, and he truly accepted this father figure.

"I've caused Father a lot of trouble these past years..." Thinking of how his father had often been hindered by the three elders of the family because of him, Xiao Yan felt somewhat guilty.

Seeing how sensible Xiao Yan was, Xiao Zhan patted Xiao Yan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Yan'er, don't be impatient! Take your time! You're only fourteen years old now, and you're still a long way from adulthood! As long as you can reach the seventh level of Dou Qi by the time you're sixteen, that's enough."

Each major family has strict clan rules. Those who lack cultivation talent at their sixteenth birthday coming-of-age ceremony are expelled from the family's core territory and sent to remote areas to manage the family's assets until they die of old age. Of course, some have extraordinary encounters and eventually return, but such people are extremely rare, practically one in ten thousand.

However, Xiao Yan wasn't doing this because of his family's coming-of-age ceremony! He was doing it because Nalan Yanran would be coming to the Xiao family a year later to annul their engagement. If he hadn't even reached the Dou Zhe level by then, he would be helpless against Nalan Yanran's insults. But if he had reached the Dou Zhe level, he could directly retaliate against Nalan Yanran's annulment, and wouldn't need to endure humiliation for three long years.

"Father! I will definitely work hard and strive to reach the seventh level of Dou Qi as soon as possible, to bring you glory." Xiao Yan said with great determination.

"Good! Good! Good! I believe in you, my son. You are the best. It's getting late, go back and rest!" Xiao Zhan laughed heartily and strode away.

Watching his father's departing figure, Xiao Yan sighed deeply, touched the ring on his hand, and then went down the mountain.

Back in his small hut, Xiao Yan touched the ring on his hand again, his eyes hardening. He went out, fetched a basin of water, took a bath, and casually removed the ring, placing it aside. Xiao Yan was a decisive man; since Yao Lao was still unwilling to come out, he wouldn't indulge the old man any longer and simply took off the ring.

He went back to bed and began cultivating cross-legged. As Xiao Yan cultivated, the pale white Dou Qi in the air once again entered his body through his mouth and nose, slowly being refined by him and eventually returning to his Qi Sea. Feeling the Dou Qi gradually filling his body, a smile appeared on Xiao Yan's face, and he then cultivated even more diligently.

(End of this chapter)