Chapter 724

"Even a Dou Sheng would find it hard to survive here." Xiao Yixian looked around; if not for Xiao Yan, who had temporarily erected a barrier with Dou Qi to isolate them from the surroundings, her cultivation realm would have made survival impossible.

Without that special space channel just established, a Dou Sheng entering the heavens would be walking into death—any random space turbulence or heavenly storm could kill them; only a Dou Emperor might possibly leave the Dou Qi Continent and venture into the heavens to seek a new world.

"Let's search," Xiao Yan said, having tried to extend his Soul Force, only to find that his Imperial Soul Force, once capable of covering half the Dou Qi Continent, was suppressed here by countless times.

Entering the heavens would likely suppress Soul Force even further, and space here is far more solid than on the Dou Qi Continent—ordinary Dou Zuns absolutely cannot tear open space here; only a Dou Sheng might have a chance.

"Mm." Xiao Yixian nodded and split up with Xiao Yan to begin searching.

The entirety of Space was vast beyond measure; though the Xiao Realm had completely fallen, many things had broken off during its descent—ruins of buildings and massive rocks floated like meteorites and space debris.

Xiao Yan scanned the floating ruins, but the Xiao Clan had been destroyed a thousand years ago, and before the Xiao Realm fell, the Soul Sovereign had likely already looted everything, so Xiao Yan held no real hope.

Xiao Yan turned his gaze to the endless void around him; if the destroyed channel truly existed within the Xiao Realm, the Soul Sovereign—lacking a Dou Emperor at the time—might not have discovered it.

"Hm? This is…" Xiao Yan stared at a spot where a black crystal was embedded in space.

The black crystal was translucent and most peculiar—it had grown directly from space itself.

Xiao Yan teleported to the crystal's location, examined it closely, and discovered it contained a trace of space energy—a fine forging material.

"This is a treasure! Perfect for upgrading the Heavenly Tomb into a vessel capable of withstanding cosmic storms." Xiao Yan's eyes gleamed with delight; he had been pondering what material to use to upgrade the Heavenly Tomb into a spaceship to cross the universe and reach the Great Thousand World.

Crossing by sheer physical body would be far too dangerous.

He had long struggled with material shortages, yet here was an unexpected windfall—these black crystals had formed after millennia of erosion from cosmic storms and space turbulence, making them highly effective at resisting such forces.

Xiao Yan curled his fingers into a claw, gripping the black crystal and exerting force—but the crystal didn't budge. With his current physical strength, even without any Dou Qi, he could lift a ten-thousand-zhang mountain, yet he couldn't pull free even a tiny fragment?!

Xiao Yan's lips curled slightly; since becoming a Dou Emperor, he had rarely encountered anything challenging. Instantly, his power surged higher, and the entire space began violently trembling.

"Interesting…" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, then he activated the Burning Scripture; every cell in his body pulsed with Dou Qi, his strength mounting until it surpassed Nine-Star Dou Sheng Peak.

Crack, crack, crack—as Xiao Yan's power surged, the black crystal, originally no larger than a palm, slowly began to extrude outward, pulled bit by bit by his force.

"Hmph! Come out!" Xiao Yan unleashed his Dou Qi to its peak, seized the protruding black crystal with his right hand, and yanked violently—BOOM! The space shattered, and a conical mountain of black crystal nearly a kilometer long was ripped free by Xiao Yan!

Just the tip of the iceberg!

The palm-sized portion exposed was merely a fraction—the true bulk lay hidden beneath!

The instant Xiao Yan pulled the crystal free, an endless torrent of dark storm erupted from the gap, as if he had just uncorked a beer bottle—sealed space turbulence burst forth.

This was the fissure between the Dou Qi Continent and the heavens—this sudden space storm could obliterate an entire realm.

"Xiao Yixian, catch!" Xiao Yan hurled the colossal black crystal toward Xiao Yixian, who was rushing over.

Xiao Yan roared—after more than two years, he felt his blood boiling again. He formed a hand seal, and the Burning Scripture surged within him; streams of Spiritual Flames erupted from his Nalings!!

"Flame Emperor Seal!"

Instantly, five Spiritual Flames appeared—the last-ranked ones: Xuan Huang Flame, Ten Thousand Beasts' Spiritual Flame, Yin-Yang Twin Flames, Nether Venom Flame, and Green Lotus Earth Core Flame—forming a seal.

Though the Flame Emperor Seal was inspired by the Ancient Emperor's Ancient Emperor Seal, it was also Xiao Yan's original creation; now that he was a Dou Emperor, his self-created Dou Technique automatically upgraded to Emperor Grade.

The five seals formed in an instant. Facing the black dragon-like space turbulence that could tear apart all things, Xiao Yan stepped forward and slammed his palm forward!

BOOM!!! A deafening explosion erupted—five Spiritual Flames instantly formed an array; flames and Emperor Might surged skyward, turning the endless, pitch-black void into brilliance. In an instant, unimaginably terrifying power exploded outward!

As the explosion roared, boundless light burst forth, and an immensely powerful energy surged from Xiao Yan's palm—the Flame Emperor Seal—swallowing everything instantly!

A terrifying stream of Spiritual Flame energy blasted out, burning all space turbulence to nothingness; a monstrous flame lance shot straight into the heavens.

BOOM! The Flame Emperor Seal's beam struck a barrier like a protective shield—but even Xiao Yan's Flame Emperor Seal could not pierce the invisible wall; the beam shattered on impact, scattering into countless fire rains.

The terrifying Spiritual Flames burned everything around to nothing, yet still could not break through the heavens' barrier.

Gazing at the invisible wall, Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly; though his Flame Emperor Seal had failed to pierce it, he had seen something.

"So that's why. No wonder ordinary Emperor Grade Dou Techniques can't break through this barrier." That explained why, for fifty thousand years, the Dou Emperor Families had been unable to leave the Dou Qi Continent.

It wasn't just because space was perilous and Dou Shengs couldn't cross the heavens—there was this powerful barrier sealing the entire Dou Qi Continent.

After the Dou Emperors vanished, the Dou Emperor Families should have joined forces to seek the path to becoming a Dou Emperor; since the Dou Qi Continent lacked Source Qi, they should have looked beyond it.

Xiao Yan's Flame Emperor Seal was classified as low-tier Emperor Grade, yet even it couldn't break through—how much less could others?

The ancient passage to the Great Thousand World must lie behind this barrier, which is why the Ancient Dou Di Families had never found it.

Xiao Yixian floated over slowly and asked, "Can't you break this barrier?"

Xiao Yan shook his head. "If I unleashed the full Buddha Fury Lotus or the Henggu Chi, I might be able to split the barrier."

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yan turned and left with Xiao Yixian; he had confirmed the location of the ancient passage and found the material to upgrade the Heavenly Tomb into a spaceship—his journey had yielded immense rewards.

But Xiao Yan wasn't ready yet to shatter the barrier—he must first transform the Heavenly Tomb into a vessel capable of traversing space.

His journey to the Great Thousand World was drawing near!

The two returned to Zao Hua Gu with the mountain-sized black space ore. Gazing at the colossal crystal, Xiao Yan frowned inwardly: "I have the material—but I don't know how to forge."

"Not so fast—the Stone Clan possesses forging techniques, and isn't the Gu Clan the one who makes space vessels?"

All materials are ready!

Xiao Yan nodded silently; now that he had the craftsmen too, upgrading the Heavenly Tomb was merely a matter of time.

Xiao Yan's nose twitched, and he turned to see Xiao Yixian approaching with a tray—upon it rested pastries made from Medicinal Materials and some medicinal flower teas.

"Mm! Your tea-making skills have improved again." Xiao Yan picked up a cup of hot flower tea, sipped it, and was instantly enveloped by the intertwining scents of flowers and herbs—he couldn't bear to stop.

ROAR ROAR ROAR!! Suddenly, a streak of Purple Light slashed across the sky, followed by a deafening beast roar. A few wingbeats later, the massive Lion King appeared before Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian.

ZOOM—the Lion King shrank, transforming into a young boy with short purple hair. He sprinted up to Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian, grinning. "Dry Dad, Dry Mom."

Seeing the Lion King run over, Xiao Yan ruffled his head and laughed. "Before I knew it, you've grown so big—and you've even broken through to Dou Zun."

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King had once saved Xiao Yan greatly—he was the one who helped Xiao Yan obtain his first matured Spiritual Flame. Back in the cave, Xiao Yan had promised him, besides the Transformation Pill, one additional favor if he helped distract YaoLi's bodyguards.

Naturally, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King later used that promise to make the young Lion King adopt Xiao Yan as his Dry Father.

"Eat slowly," Xiao Yixian handed the Lion King a cup of flower tea.

The Lion King grabbed the pastries with both hands and devoured them like a ravenous beast—soon, every last bite was gone.

"You didn't eat?" Xiao Yan gave him a disapproving look—he hadn't even eaten a few pieces himself!

The Lion King licked his lips, still savoring the taste, and grinned. "They're delicious! And I just came out of cultivation."

Suddenly, the Little Lion King seemed to remember something and said directly: "By the way, Dry Father, when I just arrived, I seemed to sense some change in the Forbidden Land."

!!?

Hearing the Little Lion King's words, Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed, then his expression darkened, and he sighed.

The Mo Shou Shan Mai indeed has a Forbidden Land, which belongs to the territory of the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King; no one, not even the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King himself, may enter it—not even Xiao Yixian.

The only ones who ever go to that place are Xiao Yan and Yun Yun.

(End of Chapter)