Chapter 307: Bountiful Harvest

Xiao Yan didn't rush forward; instead, he deliberately let the Little Lion King fly upward, exposing the entrance to the eager Poison Masters.

Xiao Yixian said nothing about Xiao Yan's actions, merely sitting quietly, utterly unafraid these Poison Masters would acquire anything valuable.

Because this guy Xiao Yan put on the Soul Robe specifically to make it easier to loot and plunder later.

This treasure site must hold many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures; here, everything is ownerless, governed by the most primal jungle law: those with strength take it!

Those without the strength to claim good things will only invite disaster. Xiao Yan certainly wouldn't talk about benevolence or morality with these people.

Just now, the Poison Sect and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate spoke with some reason—those who didn't contribute couldn't enter. But Xiao Yan knew well: that Space Lock was opened by themselves, unrelated to them at all.

The Poison Sect and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate merely found a flimsy excuse to monopolize everything; they never expected to run into Xiao Yan, this ruthless brute who answers with fists, not logic.

Had they simply stepped aside, Xiao Yan might've let it go. But using such petty tricks to block him? He had no intention of being polite anymore.

Moreover, the Yan Alliance and the Poison Sect, the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate were already enemies—natural rivals. Killing one more Dou Huang means fewer disciples dying in the Yan Alliance.

As the one who initiated this agreement, the greater my ability, the greater my responsibility.

"Let's go, Little Lion King. Zi Yan and the others will need some time—leave a mark for them to follow. We'll go in first and scout the situation." Xiao Yan lightly patted the Little Lion King's fur.

Roar! (Good!), the Little Lion King let out a deafening roar to the sky—chances to act on his own were rare.

"Oh, by the way, Zi Yan, remember to bring back the corpses of those two Dou Huangs. Don't shatter their Spiritual Souls." Xiao Yan used Soul Resonance, then the Little Lion King violently flapped its wings and plunged into the Space Lock.

"Why are you collecting Dou Huang corpses?" Xiao Yixian glanced at Xiao Yan in confusion—collecting corpses was usually the practice of evil heretics.

"A Dou Huang's Soul Body can be exchanged for Medicinal Materials." Xiao Yan spoke casually. Don't you harvest materials from wild monsters?

Xiao Yixian tilted her head. A Soul Body exchanged for Medicinal Materials? How does that even work?

As Xiao Yan passed through the Space Lock, a surge of vitality rushed toward him. After the light faded, towering ancient trees filled his view—the entire space within the Lock teemed with life. This was, without doubt, the most vital place Xiao Yan had ever seen; the last one was the Small Valley discovered by Xiao Yixian.

"This place's Life Force is incredibly vigorous," Xiao Yixian marveled with her beautiful eyes—she knew how to cultivate herbs, and this place was perfect for it.

Sitting atop the Little Lion King, Xiao Yan looked out: mountains rose and fell, rivers wound through the land, dense forests stretched endlessly, a single river cutting through the expanse. Uninformed outsiders might think they stood within some vast forest of the Chu Yun Empire.

"Don't run away!"

"Quick, summon the Elder! I found a Four-Grade precious Medicinal Material!"

"Hah! Even beasts dare block me!"

Birds soared and beasts roamed here; the woods were thick, yet powerful Demon Beasts were not absent. Xiao Yan saw many living here—even plants that attacked people!

"Dou Wang Grass?" Xiao Yan looked down from above and spotted a Five Rank Demon Beast guarding a spiritual herb—he instantly recognized it as the main ingredient for Dou Wang Pills: Dou Wang Grass.

Xiao Yan merely shook his head and didn't rush down to seize it. Dou Wang Grass had some value, but for Xiao Yan now, even Dou Wang Pills held little interest, let alone the grass.

Unless it was a Heavenly Material or Earthly Treasure of Six-Grade or higher, Xiao Yan had no interest at all—his sole focus now was the Strange Fire and the Qing Hun You Lan.

Some of the Poison Masters and wandering cultivators who followed Xiao Yan inside were clever enough—no grand ambitions, just wanting to earn a little money. They avoided the deep mountains and instead gathered low-grade medicinal herbs near the entrance.

This Earth Domain's vitality was so vigorous, it naturally produced abundant Spirit Herbs and Pill Herbs. The deeper one went, the higher the Rank of the Medicinal Materials—but the stronger the Demon Beasts guarding them became.

Thus, for wandering Poison Masters or disciples of small sects, staying outside the depths was safe.

Though Medicinal Materials grew in such abundance here—so plentiful you could bend over and pick up gold—Xiao Yan didn't pause a single step. He stopped flying and walked deeper with Xiao Yixian and the Little Lion King.

In fact, not just Xiao Yan wouldn't stop—any cultivator with stronger Cultivation Realm, or disciples of Dou Huang sects, wouldn't linger here either.

Their goal, like Xiao Yan's, wasn't merely seeking high-grade Medicinal Materials—it was the legacy of a Dou Zun and even more precious resources.

How could they waste precious time on ordinary Spirit Herbs and Pill Herbs?

As Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian advanced deeper, the Spirit Herbs and Pill Herbs appearing in the mountains grew increasingly rare and precious. Once they entered a certain depth, Six-Grade rare Medicinal Materials began to appear.

"Is that Water Lotus Lingzhi?!" In a small pond, a sky-blue Lingzhi grew—strangely, it floated in the water like a lotus flower. Xiao Yixian couldn't help exclaiming in delight.

Just as Xiao Yixian moved forward to examine it, suddenly—splash! The pond, centered on the Lingzhi, became a vortex. From within, countless skeletons surfaced. Most eerie of all: these skeletons moved—their skull eyes glowed with blue flames.

!!!!

"What is this?!" Xiao Yixian's beautiful eyes widened; instantly, she clutched a ball of Poison, ready for battle.

Skeletons revived?! How is that possible?!

Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened slightly; his Soul Force swept through—and he suddenly understood: "Those blue flames are a special fungus. It must be the Water Lotus Lingzhi—it parasitizes these white bones."

As an Alchemist, Xiao Yan knew: Lingzhi was essentially a fungus that took decades, even centuries, to form. Every unique Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure had its own way of protection.

"Shall we leave?" Xiao Yixian asked.

"Leave? This Water Lotus Lingzhi is the main ingredient for the Sixth-Rank Mid-Level Pill: Water Revival Pill. It rapidly heals injuries below Intermediate Dou Huang and temporarily enhances water-element Dou Qi. It's quite valuable." Xiao Yan didn't have water-element Dou Qi, but he had Hai Xin Flame.

Hai Xin Flame, this dual-element Strange Fire, could manifest as both fire and water—burning even underwater, incredibly Shen Mi Zhi Yi.

Whoosh—the Hai Xin Flame floated atop Xiao Yan's palm. The two exchanged glances, instantly understanding each other.

Roar!! Xiao Yixian leapt lightly onto the Little Lion King's back. The Little Lion King didn't hold back—he concentrated purple fire in his mouth and spat it at the countless skeletons surging from the water.

Even the Purple Fire of the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King couldn't scare them—having soaked here for so long, their bones carried a special moisture that effectively resisted flame attacks.

Facing the horde of skeletons enveloped in purple fire, Xiao Yixian lightly raised her palm—a cloud of Poison transformed into a storm, sweeping up countless skeletons.

Thanks to Xiao Yan's warning, Xiao Yixian now knew how to deal with these eerie skeletons: kill the fungus, and the skeletons lose mobility.

With Xiao Yixian's Eternal Calamity Poison, she was perfectly suited to handle large numbers of enemies.

Of course, Xiao Yan took advantage of Xiao Yixian's distraction to harvest the Water Lotus Lingzhi.

Harvesting Water Lotus Lingzhi differed from ordinary Lingzhi: its true medicinal effect wasn't the flower-like cap above water, but the root beneath—the part you had to dive underwater to retrieve.

Hum—the Hai Xin Flame wrapped around Xiao Yan's entire body. Plop—he dove into the water like a swimming dragon.

The underwater scene startled even Xiao Yan. From above, the pond looked small—a mere puddle. But once submerged, he realized it was vast beyond measure, bottomless, pitch-black. A vortex rose from the pond's base, dragging up skeletons one by one—deeply chilling.

"Of course there's a guardian." Xiao Yan, wrapped in Hai Xin Flame, narrowed his eyes and followed the long vortex downward.

Sure enough, seated cross-legged at the root was an old man. Unlike the white bones, this old man didn't look dead at all.

The instant Xiao Yan's Soul Force swept over him, the old man's eyes snapped open. The pond erupted violently—a Dou Huang's Spiritual Pressure exploded outward.

Ordinary Lingzhi fed on dead wood; Water Lotus Lingzhi fed on living corpses.

"Perhaps another Dou Huang in this water couldn't touch you—but unfortunately for you…" Xiao Yan smiled faintly, the Fen Jue spinning wildly, accelerating Hai Xin Flame with furious Dou Qi.

Instantly, Hai Xin Flame rose and spread like clear seawater, gentle ripples shimmering like water waves.

Hoo!! The next second, the Dou Huang's corpse suddenly burst into fierce flames in the water!

Burning through water—here in the water, Sea Heart Flame acted as if it were in its natural element; water did not extinguish it, but instead allowed it to burn opponents directly through the liquid.

Gulu gulu, the old man's body was mostly burned away, revealing a torso devoid of any internal organs, his bones densely covered in blue mycelium—utterly bizarre and repulsive.

Boom! The old man revealed a grotesque, terrifying face and charged toward Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, drew his Xuan Heavy Ruler, and Sea Heart Flame surged violently through the water, faintly taking the shape of a dragon-like jiao.

"Let's warm up first."

After about ten minutes of battle, the old man was finally reduced to ashes by Sea Heart Flame, sinking to the bottom of the pool; Xiao Yan sheathed his Xuan Heavy Ruler, dug up a fruit, and left.

What Xiao Yan found regrettable was that the old man's Soul Body had long since dispersed—not even fit for cat food.

"You're so slow," Zi Yan sat on a rock, looking impatient as she saw Xiao Yan surface from the water.

"Didn't I wait for you?" Xiao Yan was decent enough—he tossed Zi Yan a fruit. After all, they were a team; he couldn't hoard everything.

Zi Yan's face lit up instantly; she stored it in her Space Storage, planning to ask Xiao Yan to refine more once her candy pills ran out.

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King didn't need medicinal materials—he needed the Transformation Pill more. He was acting as Xiao Yan's enforcer now just to gather all the ingredients for the Transformation Pill, so Xiao Yan could refine it.

"Your turn now—don't slack off," said Swallowing Flame, having devoured the two Dou Huang corpses Zi Yan placed on the ground, and absorbed their Soul Bodies into the Soul Talisman.

The Soul Bodies inside Yan Zunzhe's Soul Talisman were slowly accumulating—each one a performance metric.

At this, Zi Yan immediately perked up.

Since Zi Yan had broken through to Sixth Rank, her treasure-finding ability had seemingly upgraded—even if hidden hundreds of meters underground, she could sense them.

She ignored all Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures below Sixth Rank.

"Sixth Rank Pill's Soul-Recovering Pill's main ingredient—Soul-Recovering Three-Leaf Flower! Take it!"

"Sss! Green Wind Fruit! That's a good one!"

"Golden Maple Flower, Vermilion Dan Fruit, Hundred Herb Leaves! Grab them!!"

The deeper they went, the more precious Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures appeared; Xiao Yan and Zi Yan suddenly acted like country bumpkins—no matter what rank of beast guarded them, even a Sixth Rank Peak beast couldn't resist their assault.

Xiao Yixian shook her head—these two were truly bandits; they didn't even spare medicinal materials seized by Dou Huang Poison Masters. Anything they laid eyes on, they seized—perfectly demonstrating that might made right.

"Xiao Yan, there's strong energy fluctuation over there," Zi Yan suddenly pointed far off, her eyes gleaming.

As they approached, they discovered a strangely shaped flower growing on the back of a giant black spider—the flower resembled a ghostly face, and the spider's back bore an identical ghostly face.

"Ghost-Face Flower?! The main ingredient for refining a Seventh Rank Intermediate Yin-Yang Soul Pill!" Xiao Yan's eyes widened in shock.

To forge an Infernal Flame Body and resurrect Yan Zunzhe, one needed not only a body above Dou Zong and Three Infernal Flames, but also a Seventh Rank Peak Bone-Melting Blood-Blending Pill.

For Xiao Yan, refining a Seventh Rank Peak, nearly Eighth Rank Bone-Melting Blood-Blending Pill was still too early—even he dared not claim he could accomplish it anytime soon.

But resurrecting Yan Zunzhe didn't necessarily require the Bone-Melting Blood-Blending Pill; there was a lower-tier substitute: the Yin-Yang Soul Pill.

The Yin-Yang Soul Pill was only Seventh Rank Intermediate, with the effect of merging souls and restoring life—its potency was similar to the Bone-Melting Blood-Blending Pill, though weaker. It could still resurrect Yan Zunzhe, but it would impair his post-reincarnation cultivation recovery, preventing him from fully regaining his former strength.

And the Ghost-Face Flower was one of its main ingredients!

Xiao Yan whispered into his storage ring: "Yan Zunzhe, the Ghost-Face Flower is the main ingredient for the Yin-Yang Soul Pill. This time, it's your turn to act."

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, a terrifying Soul Power suddenly surged from within the pale white storage ring, merging into Xiao Yan's body and elevating his cultivation to Star Seven Dou Huang.

"Boy, lend me the Falling Heart Flame—I'll show you the power of the killing technique that once made me famous across the Dou Qi Continent!" Yan Zunzhe roared with mighty pride.

(End of Chapter)