Chapter 466: Tian Dian! (Requesting Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets!)

!?

"This is…"

Xiao Yan's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at his body; yellow Profound Yellow Qi curled around him, and what surprised him was that this flame differed from ordinary Strange Fires—it wrapped around him like blood qi, taking on an airy, gaseous form.

"Heaven and Earth, Profound and Yellow… Could this Profound Yellow Qi bring Qi Circulation? A human flame?" Xiao Yan's expression was puzzled, uncertain.

He had this suspicion for a reason—he had refined Ten Thousand Beasts Spiritual Flame, which was a monster's Strange Fire, the flame of a monster's life force, capable of enhancing a monster's bloodline and aiding physical tempering; regions inhabited by monsters with Ten Thousand Beasts Spiritual Flame thrived endlessly.

Originally, Mo Shou Shan Mai was the mountain range with the greatest variety of monsters across the entire Jia Ma Empire, even the entire Northwest Region; even now, Mo Shou Shan Mai remains the Sacred Range of the Snake People Empire, whose new Shen Cheng lies within Mo Shou Shan Mai.

Not only do monsters possess monster flames—plants have them too.

The fifth-ranked Strange Fire on the Strange Fire Ranking: Life Flame!

A green flame like liquid surged violently in the wind; the Green Liquid Flame Sea spread out, and layers of mist rose, within which countless strange Medicinal Materials slowly grew, exuding a moving aura of life.

Life Flame is a plant's flame; its birthplace can be anywhere with plants—even an ordinary wild grass by the roadside could be Life Flame.

It is said that when this Strange Fire spreads, if you toss a Medicinal Material's seed into it, the seed will rapidly sprout and grow.

In other words, with this Strange Fire, you need not bother searching for Medicinal Materials at all—as long as you possess enough seeds, you can continuously obtain any Medicinal Material you desire, incredibly miraculous.

And this Profound Yellow Qi is a human flame—or rather, it should be called the Emperor's Flame!

Even on Xiao Yan's former Blue Star, there were tales of human fortunes: three declines and six prosperities, feng shui and destiny, dragon veins altering Qi Circulation.

Profound!

"This is truly… mysterious." Xiao Yan sensed it—he could now see the yellow aura of the Profound Yellow Qi wrapping around his body like Qi Circulation.

But this Profound Yellow Qi could not be used for Battle; yet Xiao Yan knew this thing must have great utility!

Qi Circulation is intangible and elusive, but if Profound Yellow Qi truly could enhance Qi Circulation, Xiao Yan would laugh in his dreams!

"A wonderful thing… but why is there no record of this on the Heavenly Flame Ranking? Could it be that refining Profound Yellow Qi requires its recognition—and only a human can do it?"

Xiao Yan was momentarily speechless—he recalled that just before refining it, he had spoken a few words acknowledging the Profound Yellow Qi. Could it really be because of that!

Are you a child? Do you need someone else to recognize you!?

But then again, it's understandable—Profound Yellow Qi is far too weak; had Xiao Yan not refined many Strange Fires and known that Strange Fires possess extraordinary Shen Mi Zhi Yi, anyone judging solely by temperature and power would have looked down on it, thinking it unworthy of the name Strange Fire!

"It seems I still have some fortune." Xiao Yan gazed at the yellow flame, coiling like a golden dragon—were he to ascend the throne and don a dragon robe, it would not be an exaggeration.

Xiao Yan licked his lips and began activating the Burn Scripture for Spirit Refining, to see if this fortune upon him might bring him some surprises.

The remaining days, Xiao Yan lived more leisurely, spending his days refining Pills and Cultivation; after obtaining Profound Yellow Qi, he entered Enlightenment once more—though this time it was not as dramatic as during the Pill Gathering, where he produced a Single Origin Pill in a single day, it still improved the speed and quality of his Pill Alchemy.

Of course, there was also taking care of the child.

There was no choice—his mother was in seclusion for Cultivation; he couldn't leave all child-rearing to Qing Lin.

As a father, he needed to properly spend time with his child.

Happy time always passes quickly—the Soul Hall's ritual ceremony was approaching soon. Xiao Yan had originally hoped to wait for Cai Lin's emergence from seclusion, but unfortunately, he could not wait.

Xiao Yan arrived at a stone chamber in Mo Shou Shan Mai, a place teeming with life, ideal for monster Cultivation—Cai Lin was in seclusion here.

Without disturbing Cai Lin, Xiao Yan leaned against the stone chamber, slowly closed his eyes to rest, and revealed a serene smile, as if asleep.

Inside, Cai Lin, in seclusion, seemed to sense something—her stern, icy expression slowly softened; though separated by a single door, they felt as if embracing each other, sensing one another's presence.

Unaware of the passage of time, until the Soul Token in Xiao Yan's space ring emitted a faint glow, causing him to slowly open his eyes and stand up.

"Be careful."

Cai Lin's cool voice came from outside the Stone Gate—though cool, her warning was warm-hearted.

"Don't worry."

Xiao Yan waved his hand, and a Space Wormhole appeared; one step carried him a thousand li, instantly arriving at Yun Lan Mountain.

The moment he landed, Xiao Yan slowly narrowed his eyes, his expression sharpening; he took out a Soul Robe from his space ring, donned it, pulled up the Hood, and a flicker of unusual light passed through his gaze.

It was time—the Soul Hall's ritual ceremony!

This ritual was no ordinary gathering; every ten years, on this day, all Soul Hall Dou Zun who had been invited or earned merit across the entire Dou Qi Continent would appear; additionally, some Guardians who had rendered great service would be invited and granted the title of Venerable by special decree.

Only because Xiao Yan was personally selected by Hun Xu Zi as an Alchemist and not fully subordinate to the Soul Hall's Lord could he be directly elevated to Venerable.

The activation of the Soul Token was also personally bestowed by Hun Xu Zi.

Throughout the entire Soul Hall—at least for now—only the Soul Hall Lord has cultivated the Emperor Soul Scripture, and activating the Soul Token requires the Emperor Soul Scripture.

This ceremony is also an award ceremony—status may be elevated based on contributions to the Soul Hall, granting special rewards.

For example, the Soul Jade for preserving one's life—nearly every Heavenly Venerable possesses a life-saving item; killing a Soul Hall Heavenly Venerable is extremely difficult, as such a Venerable often has even stronger beings behind them.

Additionally, Xiao Yan had heard that the Soul Hall collects Spiritual Souls from across the Dou Qi Continent and refines them into something called Spiritual Origin.

Spiritual Soul is the foundation of all living beings; all things under Heaven and Earth possess a Spiritual Soul, and deep within the Spiritual Soul lies a trace of Spiritual Origin—the very root of the Spiritual Soul's birth, and arguably the purest form of strange energy in the universe.

This Origin energy can be extracted from Spiritual Souls to enhance Spiritual Force; the dust on the copper fragment discovered by the Heavenly Flame Venerable was similar.

But the Soul Hall collects Spiritual Souls and extracts the Origin from them.

Spiritual Origin can elevate Spiritual Force from the Spirit Realm to the Heavenly Realm—and across the entire Dou Qi Continent, only the Soul Hall—or rather, the Soul Sovereign—possesses this method of extracting Spiritual Origin!

A hum sounded as Xiao Yan stepped into the Space Lock.

"Hail Heavenly Venerable of Yan!"

Boom—the moment Xiao Yan entered the Soul Hall, rows of Soul Envoys clad in black robes knelt on one knee in unison, bowing their heads and shouting.

At the very front of this sea of black-robed figures stood over a dozen Guardians in Guardian robes—all were the Guardians and Soul Envoys of Xiao Yan's Soul Hall.

In addition, at the very front were three figures: Xiao Li, the Heavenly Flame Venerable, and beside them, Qinghai Venerable!

After the Ice River Valley battle, Qinghai Venerable had abandoned resistance; let alone opposing Xiao Yan, given Xiao Yan's current status, he was now merely Xiao Yan's subordinate.

And this time, Qinghai Venerable was also going to Tian Dian.

Although the Heavenly Flame Venerable possessed sufficient strength, he did not hold the rank of Soul Hall Venerable, and thus had no qualification to attend this ceremony.

"Rise."

"Thank you, Heavenly Venerable!"

Xiao Yan walked up to the Heavenly Venerable of Yan and said solemnly, "Old Yao, while I'm away, I'm counting on you to watch over the Yan Alliance."

"Rest assured, I won't let the Yan Alliance suffer so much as a scratch," the Heavenly Venerable of Yan nodded heavily; he was now a hidden asset of the Yan Alliance, rarely acting unless necessary, guarding the alliance's main base.

Xiao Li stepped forward and embraced Xiao Yan tightly, thumping his back hard, and warned, "Third brother, be extremely careful."

"Don't worry, Second Brother, I will."

After releasing the embrace, Xiao Yan nodded to the Qinghai Venerable beside him, and the Qinghai Venerable led the way ahead.

Compared to Xiao Yan, Qinghai Venerable was a veteran of the Soul Hall, naturally more familiar—he had received an invitation ten years ago to attend the ceremony, and it was then he became a Soul Hall Venerable, granted the Soul Token by the Hall Master.

"Heavenly Venerable of Yan, this way," Qinghai Venerable bowed his head respectfully, fully aware of his own status.

There were three Tian Gang Halls—Heaven, Earth, and Man Halls. The Man Hall lay deep within a mountain range called Zang Shi Shan Mai, at the junction of the southwestern Earth Domain and Zhong Zhou, governed by the Nine Heavenly Venerables of the Soul Hall.

Only those who reached the level of the Nine Heavenly Venerables could know of the Di Dian.

But the place Xiao Yan was going this time was not the Di Dian—it was the main hall of the Soul Hall: the Tian Dian!

As for where the Tian Dian was located, only the high-ranking members of the Soul Sovereign likely knew, for entering the Tian Dian required the Soul Sacrifice Altar to open the Soul Passage; the Soul Path had no fixed destination—only those invited by a Soul Token could be guided to the Tian Dian.

Rumor had it that the Tian Dian lay somewhere within the ethereal Soul Realm, but whether this legend was true or false, Xiao Yan did not know—he'd have to ask Hun Xu Zi.

As they walked, they arrived before the Soul Sacrifice Altar; every Soul Hall had such an altar, used not only to imprison Soul Bodies but also to open the Soul Path.

Xiao Yan and Qinghai Venerable each drew out their Soul Tokens; with a hum, both emitted a pulse of Soul Force, though Xiao Yan's was far stronger.

Boom—Boom!! The entire Soul Hall trembled; thick black mist surged from the Soul Sacrifice Altar, writhing, and soon a black passage appeared.

This was not Xiao Yan's first time seeing a Soul Passage—he had seen many at the Soul Sacrifice Old Shop and entered it several times.

With a hiss, their Soul Tokens flew into the Soul Passage and soon transformed into a small black boat floating upon the Soul Path.

Of course, if you called it a coffin, you wouldn't be wrong—it was perfectly square.

"Heavenly Venerable of Yan, the journey to the Tian Gang Hall will take some time; the Soul Path is also an excellent place to cultivate Soul Force—you may sit on your Soul Token and train," Qinghai Venerable immediately offered his experience—he had only learned of this halfway through his first trip and wasted the earlier time.

The Soul Path contained abundant Soul Power.

"Oh? That's quite good," Xiao Yan smiled; his Soul Force was just short of Ling Realm Late Stage—he hoped this Soul Passage would give him a boost to break through.

Both leapt onto their Soul Tokens, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating their Soul Cultivation Technique; the black Soul Token-turned boat automatically glided forward along the Soul Path.

As the Tai Yi Soul Art activated, slender threads of Soul Light—slightly larger than usual—flowed into his third eye. As Qinghai Venerable had said, the Soul Light clusters within the Soul Path were stronger and more numerous, truly ideal for Soul cultivation.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye; a mass of black mist appeared at the end of the Soul Path.

"Heavenly Venerable of Yan, we've arrived," Qinghai Venerable reminded.

Slowly opening his eyes, Xiao Yan still felt unsatisfied, even though his Soul Force had smoothly risen to Ling Realm Late Stage.

He suspected these seven days were part of the Soul Hall's reward—not because the journey to the Tian Dian required seven days, but because one was granted only seven days within the Soul Path; whether one seized the opportunity depended entirely on oneself.

"No wonder the Soul Hall's ceremony occurs only once every ten years—even the journey here is a reward," Xiao Yan couldn't help but admire; truly, they were rich beyond measure—this Soul Path likely couldn't even be created without Heaven Realm Great Perfection Soul Force.

It might even require an Imperial Soul!

The Soul Tokens flashed back into their hands as beams of light; Xiao Yan leapt forward, piercing through the black mist.

As Xiao Yan passed through the mist, his eyelids twitched violently at the sight before him: "So the Tian Dian really is in the sky."

Looking around, Xiao Yan was stunned—this was the true depth of a major Faction!

Occasionally, a few white clouds drifted past Xiao Yan's face; looking down, he saw he was standing atop clouds, an image of utter ease and beauty.

Of course, if your strength hadn't reached Dou Wang, you'd die instantly if you fell—and even Xiao Yan didn't know how high up they were. The clouds beneath his feet weren't clouds at all—he was merely standing on Space.

Thus, to observers, Xiao Yan and Qinghai Venerable appeared to be standing atop white clouds.

After passing through the mist, the scenery changed: before them stretched a floating landmass suspended in the Sky, dotted with rolling mountains and lush green peaks.

But what caught Xiao Yan's eye most was a massive black hall standing at its very center!

Both were Dou Zun; in a few steps, they stood before the black hall.

The Tian Dian was enormous; from outside, it radiated an ancient, dignified aura—a temple forged by countless ages.

Outside the Tian Dian, there were no ornamental decorations—only stone pillars, black stone walls, and several unknown statues; ancient murals adorned the four walls, depicting all manner of creatures—birds, beasts, and more.

If Xiao Yan wasn't mistaken, this Tian Dian was likely built during ancient times, before the Dou Emperors vanished, by the Soul Sovereign himself—the murals showed the Grand Void Dragon, the Ancient Heaven Phoenix, and the Devouring Python.

These depicted the ancient dominant beast races! As for the human figures—if Xiao Yan was right—they were either ancient masters or former ancient Dou Emperors!

The Soul Sovereign's history was incredibly ancient!

With a hum, a beam of Soul Light shot from Xiao Yan's Soul Token; a deep, grinding creak echoed as the enormous stone gate slowly opened.

Only after entering the Tian Dian did Xiao Yan realize how vastly different it was from his expectations of the Soul Hall.

Far from being dark and terrifying, the entire hall was brilliantly lit, more like stepping into an art-filled temple.

Around him stood countless statues and murals; the murals seemed to tell stories, drawing one into the ancient past—when warlords clashed, when dominant beasts ravaged the land, when Beast Wars and Dou Emperor Wars raged, stirring the soul.

"Is this the depth of a Dou Emperor Family?" Xiao Yan wondered inwardly—had the Xiao Clan once been like this? Did the Xiao Realm contain a place like this?

Of course, these questions could only remain mysteries.

Inside the Tian Dian, there were more than just Xiao Yan and Qinghai Venerable—many figures clad in Soul Robes were present; without exception, all were Dou Zun.

Even those wearing Guardian robes possessed Dou Zun strength; they had come to this ceremony to receive the Hall Master's Soul Token and become Venerables.

At the Venerable level, Soul Robes weren't necessarily black—Qinghai Venerable's, for instance, was blue-green.

The Black and White Heavenly Venerables who attacked Sheng Dan Cheng wore black and white robes; the Star-Plucking Heavenly Venerable's robe shimmered with starlight; the Nine Heavenly Venerable Mo Yu's robe was blue, laced with mist; and the Fourth Heavenly Venerable Xue He, stronger even than Xuan Kongzi, wore a robe like flowing blood.

Xiao Yan could change his Soul Robe's color, but he was too lazy—he kept it black.

"Qinghai, you made it to this ceremony again? You've earned quite a few merits," said a handsome man, walking over with a smile.

Qinghai Venerable removed his hood and smiled back: "Heh, Heavenly Venerable Shouli, long time no see."

Though both had removed their hoods, Xiao Yan knew their true appearances were certainly not these—they could alter their looks via the Soul Token; Mu Gu had done exactly that during the Pill Gathering.

Xiao Yan could do the same, but he preferred to keep his hood on—it was simpler.

"Who is this?" Heavenly Venerable Shouli curiously glanced at Xiao Yan.

Qinghai Venerable quickly said, "This is the Heavenly Venerable of Yan."

"Heavenly Venerable?!"

The Beast Power Venerable's exclamation drew the attention of everyone present, who could not help but scrutinize this unfamiliar Heavenly Venerable of Yan.

To attend the Grand Ceremony means having earned merit within the past decade, and a Heavenly Venerable must naturally have achieved merit befitting his status!

Capturing an eighth-rank Alchemist with mid-Spirit Realm Soul Force, surrendering a Heavenly Rank Dou Technique, or completing a corresponding mission—yet no matter which, all are of extremely, extremely high difficulty!

And Qinghai Venerable's presence this time was truly thanks to Xiao Yan, for it was Mu Gu's Soul Body that he received.

"Yan? Has anyone here heard of him from the previous generation?"

"No, at least not a Heavenly Venerable from the last thirty years—could he be an old-timer?"

"No, this old man has never heard of the title Heavenly Venerable of Yan."

For a moment, all the Soul Hall Dou Zun present began whispering among themselves, their gazes sharp as torches as they studied this "Heavenly Venerable of Yan"!

(End of Chapter)