Chapter 23: Counterattack

"It's actually quite nice-looking," Xiao Yan remarked with a smile, touching the flame mark on his brow as he gazed into the mirror.

"Is this about looks?" Yao Lao finally couldn't hold it in. "Do you even realize how much heavenly energy you absorbed last night? That enormous amount could have been enough for a Dou Practitioner to advance in rank!"

"I was genuinely afraid you'd explode mid-cultivation and not even know how you died. That would have been such an unjust way to go."

Xiao Yan's smile faded as he replied earnestly, "Whether it's reviving you, Teacher, or rebuilding the Xiao Clan's strength, these are things I must accomplish. Xiao Yan will not fall so easily. You don't need to worry about me too much."

This kid, Yao Lao thought, clearly wasn't entirely unaware of that little girl's situation. Having such a goal could indeed push his potential and drive his cultivation. But aiming for that height wasn't something easily achieved.

A glimmer of light flickered in Yao Lao's eyes before he raised a hand to dismiss the mirror formed by his Bone Chilling Flame. "Who's worried about you, brat? I'm just feeling sorry for myself."

"Even if I had a physical body, having a jumpy disciple like you would probably scare me into losing a hundred years of life," Yao Lao sighed deeply.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, picked up a nearby water pouch, and took several gulps before calmly explaining the flame mark's origin.

"While cultivating the low-level Huang-class Burning Technique, I started thinking about how to solve the issue of insufficient Dou Qi. The root of the problem lies in the technique's low grade, which isn't something that can be resolved overnight.

So, I thought of creating a second Dou Qi Cyclone within my body. Then, it worked. I named it the Flame Seal!

Of course, when you want people to believe a lie, it should always have at least seventy percent truth in it.

Currently, the Flame Seal is essentially just a second Dou Qi Cyclone. But in the future, it has the potential to evolve further."

"A second Dou Qi Cyclone?!" After Xiao Yan's explanation, Yao Lao studied the flame mark on his brow again, a worst-case scenario forming in his mind.

As Xiao Yan's strength grew, it was inevitable that he would cross paths with the Hall of Souls. While Yao Lao could hide for now, he couldn't hide forever.

If the day ever came when the Hall of Souls captured him, the Bone Chilling Flame and Bone Flame Ring would serve as tools to help Xiao Yan grow strong enough to oppose them.

And Xiao Yan's brow would then be the ideal place to store the Bone Chilling Flame's essence.

For someone like Yao Lao, who had controlled the Bone Chilling Flame for years, this arrangement wasn't difficult.

But who could have anticipated that Xiao Yan would manage to create a second Dou Qi Cyclone in that special location within just a single day?

For Xiao Yan, it was likely a matter of necessity.

The Burning Technique required Heavenly Flames for evolution. Many people spent their entire lives searching for one, only to never even glimpse a shadow of it.

For prodigies, their cultivation journey typically began with high-level Xuan-class techniques, so they never needed to worry about Dou Qi depletion. On the other hand, ordinary practitioners would likely struggle to even comprehend their basic techniques, let alone think about creating a second Dou Qi Cyclone.

Even for a genius who did think about the Dou Qi Cyclone issue early on, it would likely take years of comprehension to make any progress.

In Yao Lao's experience, creating a second Dou Qi Cyclone would take at least three years of effort to even form a foundation.

That Xiao Yan had managed to accomplish it in just a single day was a testament to his extraordinary talent—a truly heaven-defying level of comprehension!

Yao Lao's heart was in turmoil, as if a storm had been unleashed within, and it took him a long time to calm down.

After a while, Yao Lao finally said, "Go gather medicinal ingredients. If you're lucky enough to get two second-tier fire attribute magic cores and the rest of the materials, I can refine something to help your cultivation within the next couple of days."

"Teacher, there's no need to go through all that trouble. Someone has already prepared everything for us," Xiao Yan said, rubbing his hands together with a smile.

Even Yao Lao was momentarily stunned before he understood what Xiao Yan meant.

"You mean those mercenaries from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group?!" Yao Lao looked at Xiao Yan in shock before letting out a bitter laugh. "I'm starting to feel sorry for those mercenaries—they've run into a calamity like you."

Xiao Yan shrugged nonchalantly. "If it weren't for that Fire Bomb yesterday, and if I didn't have you as my trump card, those mercenaries would have easily dealt with me—a mere two-star Dou Fighter. They wouldn't have spared me. Strength is what gives you the opportunity to be merciful."

Yao Lao nodded approvingly and closed his eyes to sense the mercenaries' location.

After a brief moment, Yao Lao opened his eyes and said, "Their camp isn't far from here. There are about a dozen of them, all Dou Fighters, and their overall strength is quite formidable."

"If you had fought them suddenly yesterday, you could've had the upper hand due to their carelessness. But now that they know how strong you are, those mercenaries—who live with their lives on the line—will fight desperately. Even with your newfound tricks, the outcome isn't guaranteed."

"Nothing in this world comes with absolute certainty," Xiao Yan replied. "Opportunities come and go quickly. Once these mercenaries leave, trying to obtain a large amount of resources in one go will be much harder. Besides, knowing that the opponent is strong isn't always a disadvantage."

With that, Xiao Yan stepped out of the cave and headed toward the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's camp.

Yao Lao, whose soul had returned to the Bone Flame Ring, said one last thing, "I'm looking forward to your victory, little one. Just don't come begging for my help later. I've already told you—I won't intervene unless you're at death's door. If I'm even a second too late, your little life could be snuffed out..."

Ignoring Yao Lao's warnings, Xiao Yan's eyes remained resolute, and his pace quickened.

With the Flame Seal now at his disposal, Xiao Yan no longer needed to worry about running out of Dou Qi, which reignited his desire to evolve his cultivation technique.

After all, the low-level Huang-class Burning Technique wasn't just the reason for his limited Dou Qi; it was also why his cultivation speed had been so slow.

To fully resolve this issue, he needed to tackle the root cause.

Typically, evolving the Burning Technique required the use of Heavenly Flames for a significant power boost.

However, Xiao Yan's current strength was too weak, and he lacked the necessary tools to fuse with a Heavenly Flame.

Even if he knew the location of a Heavenly Flame, attempting to fuse with it now would be impossible and utterly futile.

That said, while a major upgrade was out of the question, a minor improvement was still achievable.

Beast Flames—unique flames born within magical beasts—were far inferior to Heavenly Flames but much safer to fuse with, making them the best option for now.

Furthermore, fusing with a Beast Flame would only be the beginning.

The infamous Earth Demon Elder of the Magic Flame Valley had used his insight to create a scroll called True Flame Technique.

Though its name might sound generic, it could produce "pseudo-Heavenly Flames" with power comparable to the real thing.

Xiao Yan believed that with enough focus, he could devise a method to create a true Heavenly Flame, which wasn't an entirely unreasonable goal.

The Earth Demon Elder had spent his entire life attempting this and never even came close to reaching the Dou Venerate stage, which spoke volumes about his limited comprehension.

Xiao Yan, however, was confident that his unparalleled aptitude far surpassed that of a Dou Emperor. If he couldn't surpass what the Earth Demon Elder had created, then his so-called talent might as well be considered useless.

(End of Chapter)

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