Chapter 117: Relying on Connections (Fifth watch complete

In the dead of night within the Desert, a shadow flashed into view. Seconds after the shadow streaked past at extreme speed, a sharp sonic boom suddenly rang out.

Xiao Yan's speed had unquestionably surpassed the speed of sound.

The instant Xiao Yan's shadow vanished, another black shadow followed close behind. This black shadow's figure as it swept through the air was like a drifting willow leaf—a perfect union of speed and grace.

Yun Yun was indeed worthy of being a wind-attribute Dou Huang powerhouse; without even going all out, she had already gradually closed the distance to Xiao Yan.

"Damn! Yun Yun, this woman—when fighting the Lion King I didn't see her try this hard, why is she chasing so desperately now!" Xiao Yan cursed wildly inside.

Suddenly, Yun Yun's clear, ethereal voice reached Xiao Yan's mind: "Sir, the Heavenly Flame does not belong to you. If you remain obstinate, then don't blame me for acting."

Xiao Yan turned his head to look back and saw that Yun Yun already had a slender sword in her hand. Xiao Yan had not forgotten—it was this very sword that had sliced open a wound deep enough to expose bone on the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's belly!

With a hum, a wind vortex condensed on the slender sword in Yun Yun's hand, locking onto Xiao Yan not far away as she prepared to launch her attack.

Feeling himself locked on, Xiao Yan's scalp instantly went numb; he could no longer increase his speed. In a frantic hurry, he pulled something out of his storage ring and hurled it behind him.

Seeing something thrown at her, Yun Yun's delicate brows knitted slightly. With a light flick of her finger, a clear breeze swept up the incoming object.

!?!?

"This is!" The instant Yun Yun clearly saw what it was, her mind jolted sharply awake. Because that thing was a Scroll, with the words "Explosive Step" written upon it!

This Explosive Step Body Technique scroll wasn't all that precious, and it was a copied version of a Yun Lan Sect technique—not unique. But Yun Yun understood many things from it.

"Yao Yan?! It's him!"

Of course Yun Yun hadn't forgotten. A day ago, she had seen Xiao Yan captured by Yue Mei. She had originally assumed Xiao Yan had been caught by coincidence and had already escaped.

But looking at it now, how could Xiao Yan have been captured? He had deliberately allowed himself to be caught, planning to infiltrate the MaiSheTribe. This third-party Faction was clearly Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan was out of options now. The power of the Earth Core Fire lotus seeds had nearly overwhelmed his Meridians; he needed to stop quickly and circulate the Burning Art to convert Dou Qi.

He could only rely on connections, hoping Yun Yun would let him go for old time's sake.

Yun Yun's expression shifted. After pondering for a moment, she sheathed her slender sword, ceased the pursuit, and watched Xiao Yan disappear over the horizon.

A gust of wind blew past, lifting the Hood of her black robe. That beautiful, composed, fair-cheeked face was somewhat stunningly exposed amid the raging sandstorm.

"He's truly grown much stronger—to actually escape from Gu He's grasp." Recalling Gu He suffering at Xiao Yan's hands, Yun Yun couldn't help but smile for some reason.

Sensing that Yun Yun had stopped pursuing, Xiao Yan could no longer hold on and crashed headfirst into the yellow sand. He hurriedly sat on the lotus platform and rapidly circulated the Burning Art.

The terrifying energy of the Earth Core Fire lotus seeds had already severely burned the Meridians within Xiao Yan's body. Even a moment slower and it might have spread to his organs.

The Burning Art circulated. Half an hour later, Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes. Part of the remaining Earth Core Fire lotus seed energy was directly discarded by Xiao Yan and tossed to Mao Wu, and another portion was converted into Dou Qi by the Burning Art.

Xiao Yan bent down and picked up the Explosive Step Scroll on the ground. While he had been circulating his Cultivation Method, Yun Yun had come, but she had not taken the lotus platform—merely left the Explosive Step Scroll behind before departing.

"Sigh, I was narrow-minded to judge a noble heart by my own measure." Xiao Yan slowly opened the lotus platform. Hidden inside was not only the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire; Mao Wu was also hiding to one side.

If anyone had taken his lotus platform, then the moment it was opened, Mao Wu would detonate the Origin Flame Seed of the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire.

This was Xiao Yan's contingency. Even if Gu He had obtained the lotus platform it would be useless; he might even be killed by Xiao Yan's trap. The only cost was that it would destroy the lotus platform, and even Mao Wu would sustain certain injuries.

Xiao Yan brushed off his rear, muttering softly to himself: "If there's a chance in the future, I'll repay this favor to you."

Saying so, Xiao Yan wasted no more words. With the Green Lotus platform cradled in his palm, he turned around. His wings on his back trembled slightly, and he swiftly shot up into the air, then, without looking back, violently streaked toward the distance.

To Refining the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire, he needed to find a safe place.

Standing dazedly atop the sand dune, Yun Yun stared blankly at Xiao Yan, who had become a black speck. After a long while, she gave a bitter smile, shook her head, and said: "Who wants your favor."

After resting midway for a period, Xiao Yan flew for the better part of half a day before finally gradually reaching the outer perimeter of the Ta Ge Er Desert. He now needed an extremely remote environment where he could not be disturbed.

Lush green once again appeared within Xiao Yan's vision. With a slight tremor of his wings, Xiao Yan's body transformed into a streak of black light, shooting straight toward the majestic mountains in the distance, and burrowed into a Cave.

By now, even his Soul Robe had been coated with a fine layer of yellow sand, and his hair was full of sand as well.

Xiao Yan slowly set the lotus platform aside, sat cross-legged, and began circulating the Burning Art to restore his Dou Qi and circulating the Spiritual Heart Soul Gathering Art to restore his Soul Force.

Xiao Yan Cultivation for a full two hours before finally completely restoring his Dou Qi and Soul Force.

"No good. Once I reach Wang Du, I must exchange for a real Soul Technique from the Soul Palace no matter what. This Soul Shock thing will eventually crash me to death." Xiao Yan was genuinely filled with lingering fear.

The Soul Shock was indeed very useful—even the Medusa Queen had been caught off guard and hit by it. Moreover, the vast majority of people on the Dou Qi Continent had extremely weak Soul Force.

Apart from when fighting an Alchemist, Xiao Yan's Soul Force basically crushed opponents by more than an entire Rank.

But no matter how weak the opponent's Soul Force, using Soul Shock to ram it would still cause some backlash, resulting in damage to one's own Soul Force as well.

Xiao Yan had already resolved: YaoAo's Soul Body must be exchanged for an Earth-Rank Soul Technique.

A Soul Technique, if used well, could be lethal to someone caught off guard.

Turning his head, Xiao Yan gazed at the beautiful Green Lotus platform on the ground, his lips pressed tightly together.

What Xiao Yan hadn't expected was that, counting Mao Wu, this was actually the third Heavenly Flame!

It had only been a little over half a year since leaving Jia Nan Academy, yet he had already obtained three Heavenly Flames!

It's just that both the Swallowing Flame sub-flame and the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Flame were obtained because of the Soul Palace. Only the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire before his eyes was obtained through his own Qi Circulation, effort, and scheming.

"My Burning Art has barely reached Heavenly Grade Advanced Technique. I wonder if Refining the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire, ranked nineteenth, can evolve the Burning Art to Earth Rank!"

Xiao Yan harbored not the slightest doubt regarding the energy contained within a Heavenly Flame. Although the evolution between Cultivation Method grades required dozens of times the terrifying energy, Xiao Yan believed the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire absolutely possessed this heaven-shaking capability!

"Before Refining the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire, I still need to deal with this snake first."

Xiao Yan opened the lotus platform. By now the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent had long since awakened. The Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent stretched out its forked tongue and licked the Green Lotus Earth Core Fire in the middle, as if eating ice cream.

Looking at Mao Wu, who was like a little black cat lazily napping on the lotus platform, and at the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent raising its body to lick the flame, Xiao Yan thought: "Oh no, I think I've become a Beast Tamer."

(End of this chapter)