Chapter 383: The Method of the Poison Elixir Is Opened

"Earth-Class Mid-Level Spiritual Soul Secret Technique?! This Soul Fusion Technique is indeed peculiar, but this forced soul-devouring Cultivation Method clearly has serious drawbacks—though it may cause rapid power growth in the short term, honestly, if you must use it, it's better to risk the Third Form of the Asura Soul-Cutting Technique. I've already reached the Spirit Realm Soul now; perhaps I won't be as vulnerable as last time. Never mind, I'll sell it."

"Seventh-Grade Demon Core? Useful, but not much."

Zi Yan watched Xiao Yan muttering to himself, saying it was useless, yet shamelessly stowed everything into his storage ring.

"Hey Xiao Yan, you can't take it all—I and Sister Xiao Yixian both contributed!" Zi Yan reached out to block Xiao Yan's final wooden box, displeased—how could he claim everything for himself?

"You can't use these Cultivation Methods or Dou Techniques—what do you want them for?" Xiao Yan said irritably. Demonic beasts have their own cultivation methods; although some Dou Techniques can be used by demonic beasts, ordinary Dou Techniques generally don't support demonic beast cultivation.

"I can trade them for Medicinal Materials," Zi Yan said with a smile.

"One."

"Three."

"Fine."

In an instant, the large and small reached an agreement: Xiao Yan gave Zi Yan three Seven-Grade Medicinal Materials, and only then did Zi Yan feel satisfied—no effort wasted.

Xiao Yan sighed and picked up the last scroll, which looked utterly ordinary.

The bamboo slip was gray-brown, its material seemingly plain, but Xiao Yan knew that anything stored here by the Old Devil of Earth couldn't possibly be ordinary.

Gently untying the fine thread binding the bamboo slip, Xiao Yan slowly unrolled it—and there, before his gaze, appeared a blood-red character, thick with cruelty, making his heart leap sharply.

"Tian Yao Kui!"

"Tian Yao Kui—is not a cultivation method nor an ordinary combat technique, but an ancient puppet art passed down from antiquity. To forge a Tian Yao Kui, three elements must be gathered: body, Spiritual Soul, and Magic Core. Use the body as the vessel, the Spiritual Soul as the guide, and the Magic Core as the heart, combining them with numerous materials to ultimately forge a Demon Puppet. Demon Puppets are divided into three ranks: Heaven, Earth, and Man. The rank depends on the materials used and the refining flame. Their power is immense, devoid of joy or sorrow, pain or injury—truly a killing machine."

Upon reading this, the Grand Elder suddenly understood: "No wonder there's a Seventh-Grade Demon Core stored here—the Old Devil of Earth must have planned to use it to forge this Tian Yao Kui."

Xiao Yan smiled. How ironic—wasn't the Old Devil of Earth's Spiritual Soul right there inside the Soul Token? And he'd even thoughtfully left behind a Magic Core for him.

Although the Old Devil of Earth's body had been turned to corpse fluid by Xiao Yixian's poison, and Mo Tian Xing had self-detonated, the corpse of the Eagle Mountain Elder still remained—though his head had been shattered by Zi Yan, it likely wouldn't matter much.

The Old Devil of Earth probably never dreamed that the Tian Yao Kui forging technique he hoarded would one day use his own Spiritual Soul as material.

"Let's go. There's nothing else. Xiao Yu, send someone from Xiao City in a few days to inventory it—leave some to donate to the Academy." Xiao Yan understood donation.

"I understand," Xiao Yu nodded.

"You brat, fine then—I'll thank the Academy's many students on behalf of them for your generosity," Grand Elder Su Qian stroked his beard, thoroughly pleased with Xiao Yan's generosity.

After Xiao Yan stepped out of the stone cave, he saw Hu Jia, Wu Hao, and others waiting eagerly. These two were veterans of Xiao Hall, and upon seeing Xiao Yan, they greeted him warmly; Xiao Yan, as host, politely attended to them all.

In the spacious, well-lit Hall, the atmosphere was slightly tense yet excited; several gazes, filled with varied emotions, converged on the young man seated in the chair at the center.

There were few people in the Hall—only a handful—and all were familiar faces. Aside from Xin Lan, the rest were those who had entered the Inner Court alongside Xiao Yan years ago; some had already graduated, like Wu Hao and Hu Jia, who had stayed on to become Elders.

Xiao Mei stood obediently beside Xiao Yan, pouring tea from a teapot with a steady stream, carefully filling the cup before him. As she bent slightly, a tempting flash of pale skin revealed itself, dazzling the eyes.

Xiao Yan kept his gaze straight ahead. When Xiao Mei finished pouring and straightened up, he glanced at her with a faint smile, then swept his eyes over the others in the Hall and said, "Everyone, sit down. We're all family—no need for such formality. How have you all been these past years?"

Instantly, everyone began chattering about their exploits over the years. When Xiao Yan heard his statue had been shattered by a single palm from Cai Lin after she left the tower, he choked on his tea and coughed, utterly speechless at Cai Lin's actions.

"Are you really the legendary Alchemist Xiao Yan?" As Xiao Yan chatted with the others about the past, Xin Lan, who had been watching him with an odd gaze, finally couldn't hold back.

"Legendary? Not quite—I'm still alive, at least," Xiao Yan laughed heartily.

Hearing this, and confirming it was truly Xiao Yan, Xin Lan bit her lower lip, as if about to say something—but just then, Vice Dean Hu Qian appeared in the Hall as if teleported.

Seeing Hu Qian's arrival, Xiao Yan—who had just been joking and laughing with everyone—instantly changed his aura; a stern, piercing Spiritual Pressure erupted from his eyes.

"I know the Elixir you're preparing isn't merely Seven Rank Low Grade. So I've discussed it with Elders Qian Mu and Bai Lie—we'll activate the Library Pavilion's protective Demonic Array. You can refine in peace," Hu Qian said gravely.

Xiao Yan bowed to Hu Qian. "Xiao Yan thanks the Vice Dean."

Xiao Yan turned to look at Xiao Yixian, quietly seated nearby. She slowly rose and nodded. She knew time was critical.

"Xiao Yan," Xiao Yu suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

"Relax, it's just refining a Pill—have you never seen me refine before?" Xiao Yan gently patted Xiao Yu's hand.

Xiao Yu had seen Xiao Yan refine Pills before, but never with such solemn expression! Was this really just ordinary Pill Alchemy?

"Sister Xin Lan, whatever you want to say, wait until I finish refining the Elixir," Xiao Yan also sensed Xin Lan had something to say, but right now he had no mental bandwidth for anything else.

Hearing this, Xin Lan, no matter how urgent her matter, understood she couldn't possibly outweigh Xiao Yixian—she nodded.

With the speed of Xiao Yan and the two others, they reached the interior of the Library Pavilion in less than half a minute.

Outside the Library Pavilion's entrance, the two old guardians, Qian Mu and Bai Lie, stood as always at the door.

"Heh, I never expected that after all these years, I'd still meet someone with the Eternal Calamity Poison Body—quite unexpected," Qian Mu remarked with a sigh.

"Alas, but unfortunately—every holder of the Eternal Calamity Poison Body ends up with nearly the same fate: born of calamity, dies of calamity," Bai Lie also sighed mournfully.

After all, the Eternal Calamity Poison Body was well-known on the Dou Qi Continent—though not for good reasons.

Xiao Yan smiled, a confident expression on his face: "Elder Qian, Elder Bai—from today on, you'll witness the second outcome of the Eternal Calamity Poison Body."

Updates are slowly resuming; aside from a bit of coughing, my health is still decent.

(End of Chapter)