Chapter 22

In the cultivation room, there was no sight of sun or moon, and it was unknown how much time had passed; the moonlight stones on the walls cast a soft, white glow upon two naked bodies tangled together.

"Mm~

"

The Little Fairy Doctor, lying on Xiao Yan's chest, struggled to open her somewhat heavy eyelids; she propped herself up with both hands, intending to get up, but was hooked by someone's large hand and dragged back down.

"Ah! What are you doing! It's already noon outside!" Although the cultivation room could not see the outside, the Little Fairy Doctor could still sense the passage of time in the outside world.

"Mm—I want to sleep a little longer."

"Then you sleep, let me get up first!"

"Stay with me."

"Oh my." The Little Fairy Doctor still wanted to struggle a bit, but she seemed to have forgotten the state between the two of them, and as a result, she accidentally caused Xiao Yan to have a reaction again.

With a roll, she was pulled underneath.

"Ah!"

The joy of this moment is not to be spoken of to outsiders————————

It wasn't until the sun was about to set that Xiao Yan finally emerged from the cultivation room that had been sealed for many days.

Stretching comfortably, Xiao Yan turned his head to look at the young girl behind him.

Due to someone's beastly behavior, the Little Fairy Doctor was now having some difficulty moving; she leaned against the door frame and gave Xiao Yan a glare filled with indignation.

Xiao Yan grinned, feeling quite proud of his own strength.

Speaking of strength, this time refining the Green Lotus Core Flame had brought Xiao Yan's strength a huge improvement. Not only had his cultivation grown from a seven-star Great Dou Master to the peak of a nine-star Great Dou Master, but the Burning Mantra cultivation technique had also evolved to the level of a half-step Earth Tier. Although it was only half-step Earth Tier, the solidity of the Dou Qi, having just been tempered by the Heavenly Flame, could rival even the Dou Qi cultivated from a middle-grade Earth Tier technique.

As for why the Green Lotus Core Flame only raised Xiao Yan's cultivation by two stars, it was because Xiao Yan, in order to avoid his cultivation rising too quickly and limiting his absorption of the Green Lotus Core Flame's energy, had not wasted the excess, but stored it all in the seal that previously held the Volcanic Stone Flame. Since Gu Yuan had originally estimated that Xiao Yan would refine the Volcanic Stone Flame within five years, there was still about two and a half years left.

As for why he had to limit it, it was mainly to avoid problems with his control of cultivation and his state of mind. Especially the state of mind; if it were just a matter of control, one could advance first and then master it, but problems with the state of mind could only be endured through hardship at that level.

As for what use the state of mind actually had, Xiao Yan couldn't really say for sure. But caution is the parent of safety; a little more settling, a little more insight, might play an unexpected role in the future.

In any case, Xiao Yan's strength in terms of energy level alone was now enough to rival a Dou Ling of about four or five stars. If he added the Dou Techniques he practiced and the Volcanic Green Lotus Flame—which, after fusion, could rival the eleventh or twelfth place on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—he could even clash with a Dou Wang!

If he were to meet Hai Bo Dong now, it would be hard to say who would win and who would lose!

Speaking of Hai Bo Dong, now that he had found and refined the Green Lotus Core Flame, perhaps it was time to go find him.

"What are you thinking about?" While Xiao Yan was planning how to meet with Hai Bo Dong, the Little Fairy Doctor had overcome her physical discomfort and walked over as usual. Seeing Xiao Yan standing still, she asked with some curiosity.

"Nothing, just thinking about things on Old Hai's side." Xiao Yan walked over and naturally pulled the Little Fairy Doctor into his arms. Young people who have just tasted the forbidden fruit are always tireless in holding each other.

"Old Hai? Indeed, now that we have obtained the Green Lotus Core Flame, logically we should fulfill the original agreement, but—" The Little Fairy Doctor also naturally leaned into Xiao Yan's chest, inhaling the masculine scent from his body, and said with some worry.

"But we don't have the Sand Mandara, and we can't refine a sixth-grade medicinal pill." Xiao Yan said what the Little Fairy Doctor had left unsaid.

Xiao Yan was, after all, only a Great Dou Master now; even with the enhancement of the Heavenly Flame, if he practiced alchemy to the extreme, he could at most refine a fifth-grade pill, and there was still an insurmountable chasm to a sixth-grade pill. Even if Xiao Yan were to improve his cultivation and alchemy on the spot, there was still the issue of the Sand Mandara; was he supposed to run to the Snake-People's nest right now? He didn't think his life was too long.

"Actually, it's not completely without a way."

"You have a way?!" The Little Fairy Doctor was a bit surprised: "What way?"

Xiao Yan raised his right hand, and a cluster of green and red flames, shaped like a lotus flower, appeared on it. Although the Little Fairy Doctor only felt a warm aura, she knew this was the result of Xiao Yan's control; in reality, this was a powerful flame that even a Dou Zong could not underestimate!

"This is the Volcanic Green Lotus Flame, formed after the fusion of the Green Lotus Core Flame and the Volcanic Stone Flame. To put it bluntly, Old Hai's need is just to restore his cultivation to its peak period. As long as I use the Heavenly Flame to burn away the Snake Sealing Curse that seals Old Hai's cultivation, I can naturally meet Old Hai's requirements. The Break-Eruption Pill is actually not strictly necessary."

Although that was said, both Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor knew that things were not that simple. Back then, Xiao Yan had pretended to have a major power behind him to make Hai Bo Dong believe they could produce a Break-Eruption Pill; this was also the greatest guarantee that Hai Bo Dong would not turn hostile after the transaction was completed!

Regardless of how good the relationship between Hai Bo Dong and Xiao Yan became later in the original story, that had nothing to do with the present, and the necessary precautions could not be lacking.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how to refine the pill that turned people into children, and if he were to solve the problem with the Heavenly Flame, there was no reason to make the other party take a pill.

"What do you plan to do? How about we put Old Hai's matter aside for now, and wait until you are a Dou Wang or even a Dou Huang to fulfill the agreement? With your current cultivation speed, even reaching Dou Huang won't take ten years." The Little Fairy Doctor suggested; although this approach was a bit unscrupulous, one had to admit it was indeed a way.

"No, I plan to go help Old Hai solve this problem in a few days." Xiao Yan said.

"You trust this person that much?" The Little Fairy Doctor's body tensed up, and she said with some nervousness.

Xiao Yan stroked the Little Fairy Doctor's hair and comforted her: "Don't worry, since I dare to do this, I am naturally not afraid of the other party turning hostile."

Hearing Xiao Yan say this, although the Little Fairy Doctor was still somewhat worried, she did not continue to argue.

"Alright then, but I want to go with you when the time comes." The Little Fairy Doctor's eyes were firm, and she spoke in a tone that allowed for no bargaining.

"Uh." Xiao Yan touched his nose and looked at the Little Fairy Doctor with some embarrassment: "This, if he turns hostile after recovering his Dou Huang strength, I actually only have the ability to escape alone at most, how about—"

The Little Fairy Doctor did not speak, just stared straight at Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan originally wanted to push back, but after a while, he gave up and surrendered: "Alright, you come with me, but let's agree first: you must follow me closely, absolutely do not run around, you know?"

"Of course."

In the following days, Xiao Yan continued his seclusion, mainly to familiarize himself with the control of the new Heavenly Flame. After all, if he were to help Hai Bo Dong burn the seal, it would be bad if he didn't control it well and accidentally damaged his meridians.

In the pure black cauldron, green and red flames burned fiercely, and dozens of colorful medicinal liquids danced within.

"Condense!"

The heat in the Black Demon Cauldron gradually matured. Xiao Yan let out a sharp shout, and the dozens of medicinal liquids condensed into several clusters in the cauldron; the green and red flames suddenly flared intensely.

Before long, a medicinal fragrance wafted out from the cauldron.

"Rise!"

The cauldron lid flew off, and five white medicinal pills flew out from within, landing in the jade bottle Xiao Yan had already prepared.

"Mm, not bad, the color is round and smooth, and the medicinal fragrance is overflowing." Xiao Yan checked the pills he had refined and nodded with satisfaction.

The pill he refined this time was a fourth-grade Qi-Returning Pill that he had improved himself. As Xiao Yan's strength increased, although the original third-grade Qi-Returning Pill was not unusable, it did have flaws in emergencies, as the Qi-returning speed was not fast enough, so Xiao Yan improved the prescription himself. This kind of pill was relatively easy to refine among those of the same grade, so Xiao Yan only tried a few times before he succeeded.

However, even so, this meant that Xiao Yan had completely entered the level of fourth-grade pills.

Moreover, the success of using the Volcanic Green Lotus Flame to refine the Qi-Returning Pill this time also showed that Xiao Yan's control over the Heavenly Flame had reached an extremely profound level.

"It is time to fulfill the agreement with Old Hai." Xiao Yan muttered.

Putting away the jade bottle on the ground, as well as the remaining herbs and the Black Demon Cauldron, Xiao Yan walked out of the alchemy room.

After greeting his two older brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, Xiao Yan took the Little Fairy Doctor and flew toward Desert City in the west.

On the distant horizon, the golden morning sun was slowly rising. The warm sunlight drove away the cold of the desert night, bringing vitality to a new day. The heavy city gates slowly opened, and the mercenaries and merchants who had rested in the city for the night walked out of the gates in a messy yet orderly fashion.

On the other side, the unlucky ones who hadn't made it into the city before the gates closed yesterday also crawled out of the sand dunes outside the city one after another, walking toward the city gates in scattered groups.

Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor were also among the unlucky ones who didn't enter the city yesterday, because it was already late at night when Xiao Yan flew to the outskirts of Desert City yesterday.

However, they didn't need to bury themselves in the sand like the others; it wasn't because the clothes they wore were thicker, but because Xiao Yan possessed Heavenly Flame and wasn't afraid of the cold at all. As for the Little Fairy Doctor? Wouldn't it be fine for her to hide in Xiao Yan's embrace? A certain man surnamed Xiao expressed.

"Are you really going to fulfill your agreement with Hai Bo Dong now?" On a sand dune outside the city gate, the Little Fairy Doctor asked Xiao Yan one last time. Once they entered the gates of Desert City, there would be no chance to go back on their word.

"Of course, a man cannot stand without credibility. Since we promised him, we must fulfill it. Besides, the remaining half of the remnant map in Old Hai's hands is something I cannot give up." Xiao Yan smiled from the side and said, "Moreover, I have familiarized myself well with the Green Lotus Core Flame these past few days. Even if he wants to turn hostile after recovering his strength, he is only a Dou Huang; I can take you and escape."

Looking at Xiao Yan's confident gaze, the Little Fairy Doctor thought about the trump cards Xiao Yan had shown her on the way here, and her heart felt much more at ease. Although the price of using those trump cards was high, it hadn't reached a level that was unacceptable.

"Alright, let's go." Patting the Little Fairy Doctor's shoulder, Xiao Yan walked into the gates of Desert City first.

After entering the city, Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor followed their previous memories and walked toward the center of the city. Before long, the plaque for "Ancient Map" appeared before the two of them.

Perhaps because the sun had just risen and it was still quite early, the shop door of Ancient Map had not yet opened. Of course, it was also possible that Hai Bo Dong had hope of resolving his seal and was too lazy to open for business anymore.

However, Xiao Yan wouldn't be foolish enough to wait outside for Hai Bo Dong to wake up and open the door whenever he felt like it. He directly used a strand of Heavenly Flame to burn open the sturdy lock made of special materials, gave it a light push to open a crack in the door, and then squeezed inside with the Little Fairy Doctor.

Just as Xiao Yan closed the door behind him, Hai Bo Dong's voice rang out abruptly, carrying a trace of joy that was difficult to detect: "I didn't expect you to return so quickly."

Xiao Yan looked back and saw that on the counter, which had been empty before, the elderly-looking and neatly dressed Hai Bo Dong was already sitting there, though it was unclear when he had arrived.

"What? Could it be that Old Hai thinks we should have come later?"

"That's not necessary, but from the time you left until now, it has only been about ten days in total. I am very curious how you managed to obtain the Sand Mandala and refine the Soul-Breaking Pill in such a short time. Logically speaking, this amount of time wouldn't even be enough just to find a Heavenly Flame; you didn't just not go look for it, did you?" Hai Bo Dong asked with some vigilance. In his view, if the other party had really found a Heavenly Flame and refined the Soul-Breaking Pill in such a short time, it meant the strength behind them was far greater than he had imagined, and he couldn't afford to be anything but cautious.

"As for that, we did indeed find the Heavenly Flame, but we didn't look for the Sand Mandala."

Boom!

A terrifying cold aura instantly radiated from Hai Bo Dong's body, rapidly freezing the door behind Xiao Yan.

"Little friend, I forgot to tell you. After you left, I spent some effort to reinforce this shop. I won't claim too much, but anyone below the level of a Battle King absolutely cannot escape." Hai Bo Dong's cold voice echoed within the shop, and a chilling glint appeared in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Yan: "Little friend, you didn't come here today just to play games with this old man, did you?"

1

The massive amount of cold air caused the temperature inside the shop to drop rapidly, and the Little Fairy Doctor couldn't help but sneeze. Seeing this, Xiao Yan ignored Hai Bo Dong's murderous gaze and pulled the Little Fairy Doctor into his arms, circulating the Heavenly Flame through his meridians to dispel the surrounding cold.

Hai Bo Dong's eyes constricted. Although it was only a little, the aura Xiao Yan displayed was clearly much stronger than when he had come last time, to the point where Hai Bo Dong felt a faint sense of being unable to suppress him.

"Don't be so agitated, Old Hai. Since I came today, it is naturally because I have a way to resolve the seal on your body, which is why I came to ask you for the remaining remnant map."

Hearing that Xiao Yan had a way to lift the seal, Hai Bo Dong, who had just been overbearing, immediately changed his expression.

"Oh? Hahaha, so that's how it is. You should have said so earlier; it was this old man who misunderstood. Little brother, you came just in time. This old man was just about to have breakfast. Seeing the time you arrived, you probably haven't had breakfast yet, right? Why not join me?"

"No need. We have been cultivators for many years, so things like breakfast aren't important. Let's discuss the main business first." Xiao Yan said with a smile, not feeling any displeasure because Hai Bo Dong had almost turned hostile just a moment ago, because if it were himself, he would likely have done the same.

"I see, little friend is truly swift and decisive." Hai Bo Dong laughed and said: "I wonder what method you are referring to for lifting the seal, little friend?"

Whoosh!

A powerful blue-red flame was summoned by Xiao Yan from his body. The endless heat wave quickly swept away the cold wave Hai Bo Dong had just dispersed, leaving only wisps of water vapor that dampened the maps on the shelves.

"Could this be————Heavenly Flame?"

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