Chapter 293: The Old Friend Arrives

"Sigh, this Emperor Seal Decision really isn't meant for mortals to cultivate."

Xiao Yan sighed and shook his head; no wonder Dou Emperor families required Dou Emperor bloodline to learn their Dou Techniques—even though this Emperor Seal Decision had been weakened and modified, its cultivation difficulty far surpassed that of the Five Wheel Flame Method, especially for Xiao Yan, who possessed the Burnt Decision, making the Five Wheel Flame Method far easier.

Just to form the first seal, the Mountain Splitting Seal, one must unblock three specific meridians before forming the hand seal and channeling Dou Qi to activate the technique.

The human body's meridians are as numerous and intricate as stars in the sky, countless in number; some are tiny and hard to locate, extremely fragile—not only is unblocking them difficult, but even a slightly stronger energy impact can shatter them, and the three specific meridians required for the Mountain Splitting Seal lie precisely in three obscure spots within the right arm, which took Xiao Yan half a month to unblock.

This was still under the premise that Xiao Yan's physique and Soul Force were exceptionally formidable.

Dou Techniques requiring the unblocking of specific meridians are typically either terrifyingly powerful or belong to legendary tiers; back when Xiao Yan cultivated the Flame Division Devouring Wave Ruler and the Eight Extreme Collapse, he never had to specially unblock any meridians—clearly, the Emperor Seal Decision was utterly unique.

Especially the excruciating pain during meridian unblocking made Xiao Yan wonder: could the true Emperor Seal Decision even be cultivated by a human?

No wonder those without Dou Emperor bloodline couldn't cultivate it—this path of cultivation would be sheer folly unless one's body was extraordinary.

After a month of stumbling and struggling, Xiao Yan barely managed to make the Mountain Splitting Seal resemble something functional, thanks largely to Xun Er's extremely detailed explanation of the Emperor Seal Decision, plus guidance from the Heavenly Flame Elder, and Xiao Yan's own powerful Soul Force.

The Heavenly Flame Elder stroked his beard, watching Xiao Yan sweat profusely and grit his teeth while cultivating the Emperor Seal Decision—it made him feel much better.

"That's more like it; Earth Rank Advanced Grade Dou Techniques aren't that easy to cultivate."

Clearly, the Heavenly Flame Elder had automatically ignored that Xiao Yan was cultivating the Emperor Seal Decision while simultaneously cultivating the Five Wheel Flame Method—and even then, he'd barely managed to enter its threshold, a talent surpassing his own.

Merely in terms of cultivation talent, Xiao Yan's current ability had already surpassed that of a Dou Zun.

Xiao Yan himself hadn't noticed that since receiving a trace of Xiao Clan Dou Emperor bloodline from his Ancestor within the Life and Death Gate and integrating it into his SpiritFlesh, cultivating Dou Techniques had become far more effortless.

His talent had improved!

Xiao Yan stood atop a massive rock, his expression grave; his right hand swiftly formed a strange hand seal, then he roared: "Mountain Splitting Seal!"

As his voice fell, his robes stirred without wind; intense light surged onto his palm, and as the light appeared, he thrust his palm forward—but the moment his hand moved, the brilliant light vanished like a fleeting dream, and the thrusting seal merely stirred a faint gust of wind, producing a soft *puff* as it blasted a small crater into the ground.

Looking at the crater, Xiao Yan sighed; the Mountain Splitting Seal was indeed worthy of its Earth Rank Advanced Grade status—if not for his Burnt Decision reaching Heaven Tier Low Grade, the energy required would be beyond even a Dou Wang's capacity to bear; even a peak Dou Wang could use it only once at maximum.

"This Mountain Splitting Seal is so hard to cultivate—and this is just the first seal; I can't imagine how terrifying the next four seals will be?" Xiao Yan muttered bitterly, wondering if other families' Dou Techniques clashed with each other.

Xiao Yan's Mountain Splitting Seal still showed little progress; its cultivation difficulty far exceeded his imagination. To unleash its normal power, the movement of his internal Dou Qi and the formation of the hand seal must be perfectly synchronized in a single instant—otherwise, as before, the energy would vanish instantly due to imperfect coordination, reducing its power to a pitiful level.

"Hey, Xiao Yan, it's time to go!" Zi Yan shouted at Xiao Yan atop the rock.

One month remained until the next reduction of the poison barrier in the Shen You Valley; Xiao Yan would detour to Jia Ma Empire to visit his father and check on the Yan Alliance's progress, then enter Chu Yun Empire from its border.

After the Heavenly Flame Elder transformed into a streak of light and entered Xiao Yan's storage ring, Xiao Yan slowly leapt down from the rock.

"Huh? Your aura seems to have improved a lot." Xiao Yan had been cultivating for a month and only knew that Zi Yan and the Lion King had once gone out to "conquer territory."

The Lion King had been away from the Mo Shou Shan Mai for over three years, nearly four; its den and territory had long been seized by other beasts.

Xiao Yan had heard that the Lion King, accompanied by the young Lion King and Zi Yan, had gone to reclaim their former den.

Normally, if humans forcibly seized beast resources and territory, it might provoke the mountain's dominant force to restore ecological balance—if a Seventh-Stage Beast emerged, disaster would be certain.

But since the Lion King, the young Lion King, and Zi Yan were all beasts, and the Lion King had originally been the region's old dominant force, this became an internal power struggle between old and new dominators.

With Zi Yan, the brute-force king, joining, the Lion King had no doubt successfully reclaimed its former territory.

"Hehehe," Zi Yan giggled mischievously, then suddenly tensed, glancing warily at Xiao Yan: "Don't even think about taking my medicinal materials this time—these are all mine."

Clearly, Zi Yan had profited greatly—likely, the beast that had seized the Lion King's territory had collected many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures over the years, now all falling into Zi Yan's hands.

"Cough, cough—what do you mean 'taking your medicinal materials'? I was just thinking of refining them into tastier forms for you; isn't it fair for me to charge a little labor fee?" Xiao Yan smiled, grinning.

Zi Yan pouted, thought it over, nodded, then reached into Space and pulled out some medicinal materials: "Refine these into candy pills for me, and I'll give you one Dou Wang Herb."

The Void Swallowing Flame's offspring could also store items in Space, and Xiao Yan guessed that if Mao Wu continued growing—or once Xiao Yan reached Dou Huang or Dou Zong—he could use the Void Swallowing Flame's power to open wormholes!

He had already set Soul Markers at Jia Nan Academy and this Small Valley; once Mao Wu matured, he could warp Space, fold it, and achieve the feat of stepping from one end of the world to the other!

Then he wouldn't have to fly back and forth between Jia Ma Empire and the Black Horn Region—it'd be such a hassle.

"Hey, Zi Yan, these are all Six-Grade medicinal materials—you're only giving me one Dou Wang Herb? That's unreasonable; you should give me some too."

"Dream on! These materials are for my growth—this is all I've gathered after a month's effort."

"With your treasure-finding talent and the Lion King's den harvest, you only got this much in a month? I don't believe you. Final offer: four Six-Grade medicinal materials."

"Dream on! One."

"At least three!"

"Two. No more bargaining—if you won't help, I'll take it back!" Zi Yan held up two fingers, expression firm, clearly implying: fine, don't help me then.

"Fine, fine—but I'm taking these two." Xiao Yan took no mercy, grabbing the two most precious main ingredients.

Seeing Zi Yan pouting, slightly angry, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and smiled: "I'm doing this to quickly improve my Pill Alchemy so I can refine a Transformation Pill for you."

Hearing Xiao Yan planned to refine a Transformation Pill, Zi Yan's expression brightened considerably.

Xiao Yan's eyes flickered—he suddenly remembered how Gu He had once traded with Mei Du Sha for the Lotus Earth Core Fire, using a Transformation Pill.

"I'll find a chance to trick Gu He and get my hands on that Transformation Pill." Poor Gu He had no idea that even after retiring and vanishing from the cultivation world, someone was still scheming against him!

Soon, Xiao Yan refined all of Zi Yan's medicinal materials into smooth, round candies. At that moment, Xiao Yixian slowly walked from the distant herb garden; from afar, dressed in a small floral dress and carrying a basket, she looked like a rustic village girl who had just finished gathering herbs.

Seeing Xiao Yan staring curiously at her, Xiao Yixian blushed and said: "I can't refine pills, but I can grow herbs. The environment here is excellent—I'm trying to cultivate some medicinal materials."

"That's great—grow more. When I need them for refining, I'll just come here to take them."

Xiao Yixian gave him a withering look—she'd worked hard growing these, and he just wanted to take them without a word?

"Dream on. Let's go—you still have things to do in Jia Ma Sheng Cheng, and there's still a month left until the Shen You Valley."

Xiao Yixian and Zi Yan sat on the back of the Lion King, while Xiao Yan now sat atop the five-rank young Lion King, silently beginning to circulate the Burnt Decision to enhance his cultivation.

Xiao Yan had spent the past month cultivating Dou Techniques, so his time spent on the Burnt Decision naturally decreased—but even with less time, the Heaven Tier Low Grade cultivation method's speed remained terrifying; Xiao Yan already felt on the verge of breaking through to Star Seven Dou Wang.

This time, Xiao Yan didn't stop again—only rested briefly in Wutan City, ate a meal, and glanced at the old Xiao Clan courtyard.

Wutan City was unquestionably under Xiao Clan control; though the Xiao Clan's main base had moved to Yun Lan Sect, some disciples still managed its industries.

Flying straight along the familiar route, Xiao Yan recalled past memories—after all, Jia Ma Sheng Cheng held many people and events.

Jia Ma Empire, west of the imperial capital.

A vast estate stood here, grand and imposing, perfectly matching the Miter Clan's status within Jia Ma Empire.

Deep within the estate, beside a tranquil, clear lake, a woman in a light purple brocade robe stood elegantly; though her face was unseen, just her silhouette—the curves of her figure—was enough to stir vivid imagination.

The woman's eyes, like gemstones, gazed absentmindedly at the shimmering ripples on the lake; her face, a classic oval beauty, was alluring and graceful. Her slender body, wrapped in an opulent brocade robe, clung tightly to her curves as the wind blew, revealing a figure full of curves, exuding the seductive scent of a ripe peach.

"Heh, thinking about that little brat?"

Suddenly, a mocking, aged voice sounded behind her. The woman startled and turned quickly, seeing the old man walking toward her with a smile. Hearing him mention that person, her cheeks instantly flushed with a faint blush, and she pouted, "Hai Lao, you're teasing Ya Fei again."

Without doubt, this woman was Ya Fei, who had once been closely tied to Xiao Yan; the blue-robed old man was none other than Ice Emperor Hai Bodong—the very man Xiao Yan had tricked out of the Demon Fire Map, forced to serve as his bodyguard for years, and swindled out of half his merchant guild!

Hai Bodong walked closer with a smile, gazing at the rippling water stirred by the breeze, then stood with his hands behind his back, staring at his reflection in the water. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "I wonder how that little brat is doing. It's been about two years since he left the Jia Ma Empire."

Before leaving, Xiao Yan had crafted a Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill to restore Hai Bodong's strength to Six-Star Dou Huang. Two years have passed; though he hasn't risen as terrifyingly as Xiao Yan, Hai Bodong has now advanced from Six-Star Dou Huang to Seven-Star Dou Huang.

He is now the second strongest in the Jia Ma Empire, just below Jia Xingtian.

Ya Fei nodded gently and smiled, "It's been two years, but that fellow has the Medusa Queen with him, and he's only going to Jia Nan Academy to study—he shouldn't be in danger."

Hearing this, Hai Bodong chuckled bitterly. "I'm not worried about him getting into trouble—I'm worried he'll go around stirring up chaos. Wherever he goes, nothing good happens."

At Hai Bodong's words, Ya Fei covered her mouth with her hand and giggled softly. "That's true. Back then, he turned Yun Lan Sect upside down, and then, out of nowhere, some mysterious faction showed up and killed Yun Shan and many of Yun Lan's Elders, nearly destroying the sect."

"Hmm, but I heard recently that Xiao Yan sent word back." When Xiao Yan seized Feng Cheng, he had sent messengers to Yun Lan Sect to notify Xiao Zhan and the others, urging them to send someone with administrative experience to manage Feng Cheng.

Ya Fei naturally knew of this. Over the past two years, all communication and cooperation between the Miter Clan and the Xiao Clan had been handled entirely by her—she had certainly heard that Xiao Yan had captured a city in the Black Horn Region two months ago.

Even basic materials, carpenters, and laborers were provided by the Miter Clan. The Miter Clan had already planned to open another Mitel Auction House in Feng Cheng, competing with other auction houses in the Black Horn Region, gradually drawing the region's resources into the Jia Ma Empire to strengthen it.

As Xiao Yan's figure flashed through her mind, Ya Fei's lips slowly curved into a faint smile.

Seeing Ya Fei's eyes, soft with longing, Hai Bodong did not disturb her. After all, which young woman doesn't dream of love—especially for a man as outstanding as Xiao Yan?

Suddenly, Hai Bodong's expression changed, and he snapped his gaze toward the distance.

"Hai Lao? What's wrong?" Ya Fei sensed the sudden surge in his aura and asked.

"Two powerful auras are approaching Shen Cheng at high speed—a Sixth Rank beast and a Dou Huang, both formidable." Hai Bodong's eyes flickered. This was no time for peace.

Before he finished speaking, Hai Bodong unfurled his Ice Wings and flew toward the source of the auras.

(End of Chapter)