Chapter 129: Heavenly Flame Evolution, Elder Yao's Shock

Moreover, his strength was on the verge of breaking through its shackles to reach the Dou Huang level, requiring an immense amount of heaven and earth energy.

Breaking through to Dou Huang was fundamentally different from previous realms.

Even a genius cultivating with an Earth Tier technique might need to absorb heaven and earth energy for about a year—a common occurrence.

This alone showed just how vast the energy required to advance to Dou Huang was.

After his initial shock, Scorpion Bi Yan revealed a sinister grin.

The more talented Xiao Yan was, the happier he became. The fall of such a genius wasn't something just anyone could witness.

As more and more heaven and earth energy gathered, the air atop Ten Thousand Scorpion Mountain grew oppressively heavy. Fortunately, only the four of them remained on the mountain—any ordinary person present would have suffocated to death.

Focusing inwardly on the Demon Poison Spot within his body, Xiao Yan carefully probed it with his soul power and found himself extremely satisfied with this energy.

In truth, while purging the forces of the Chu Yun Empire, some desperate individuals had also unleashed Demon Poison Spots at him.

But the poison Dou Qi condensed by those Dou Lings and Dou Wangs was incomparable to the Demon Poison Spot unleashed by Scorpion Bi Yan—it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

With a thought, Xiao Yan pushed the power of the Netherworld Poison Flame within his Dou Qi to its limits, fiercely burning away the black threads rampaging through his meridians.

Under the violent tempering of the dark green flames, the black threads writhed intensely, and a thick, black, viscous Dou Qi began to be roasted out of them.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan had mastered the Netherworld Poison Flame and had the assistance of the Little Fairy Doctor's Heavenly Poison Sacred Body, allowing the Netherworld Poison Flame to reach full maturity.

An ordinary Heavenly Flame might have been able to extract the Dou Qi from the black threads, but its speed would have paled in comparison to the Netherworld Poison Flame, which thrived on absorbing potent toxins.

Faced with this vast, inky-black viscous energy, Xiao Yan willed the dark green flames to envelop it completely, further refining it.

Amidst a series of sizzling sounds, streams of toxic Dou Qi were further purified and began circulating through his meridians according to the pathways dictated by the "Flame Star Art."

After completing one full cycle, the toxic Dou Qi was absorbed and converted by the Netherworld Poison Flame—part of it strengthened the flame itself, while the rest significantly boosted Xiao Yan's overall Dou Qi reserves.

Gradually, the surface of Xiao Yan's body grew scorching hot, his entire form wreathed in flames so dark they were nearly black-green.

With this layer of flame shielding him, the vast heaven and earth energy entering his meridians was purged of most impurities, saving Xiao Yan a great deal of effort in refinement.

"This guy… he actually plans to refine the Dou Qi within the Demon Poison Spot for his own use?!" Witnessing this, the Little Fairy Doctor's beautiful eyes flashed with astonishment.

Now, she understood why Xiao Yan had pushed her away earlier—he had planned this from the start.

However, while they had previously used potent toxins to accelerate their cultivation, those toxins were far less concentrated than the Demon Poison Spot and could be absorbed gradually, benefiting them without harm.

The Demon Poison Spot, however, contained the full Dou Qi of a cultivator—especially a Dou Zong powerhouse. Even with her toxin-absorbing physique, if she were struck by it, she would need a long recovery period to refine such energy.

In the end, the gains wouldn't outweigh the losses compared to their usual cultivation methods.

Realizing Xiao Yan's goal, the Little Fairy Doctor shot him a slightly reproachful look for his boldness, though she also felt a wave of relief.

"A Demon Poison Spot condensed from a Dou Zong powerhouse's lifetime of toxic Dou Qi—if Xiao Yan successfully refines it, he'll definitely break through to the Dou Huang level. This guy's courage is truly outrageous!"

Elder Yao soon discerned Xiao Yan's intentions as well, but he wasn't overly worried. With his current Dou Zong-level strength, even if Xiao Yan were truly ambushed, he could turn the situation around single-handedly.

What truly captured his attention was the terrifying flame enveloping Xiao Yan's body!

After more than two years apart, the Heavenly Flames Xiao Yan cultivated seemed to have undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

Given his experience and understanding of Xiao Yan, Elder Yao easily recognized that the current flame surrounding Xiao Yan was primarily the Netherworld Poison Flame. The Profound Yellow Flame, the Yin-Yang Twin Flame, and even the Three Thousand Burning Flame paled in comparison to this toxic-infused Heavenly Flame.

"The Netherworld Poison Flame, ranked twentieth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—what Xiao Yan possesses now is undoubtedly the real deal. It might even be approaching the strength of the nineteenth-ranked Green Lotus Core Flame!" Elder Yao muttered in shock.

Though Elder Yao hadn't voiced his thoughts on Xiao Yan's ambition to enhance his Heavenly Flames, he hadn't held much hope for it.

In his mind, elevating those flames to the level of fifth or sixth-tier Beast Flames was likely Xiao Yan's limit—he hadn't expected any greater achievements.

While the Heavenly Flames on the ranking were exceedingly rare, they weren't entirely untraceable on the Dou Qi Continent.

However, for most people, those traceable Heavenly Flames might as well not exist.

The factions that possessed them were invariably terrifying entities.

To give a simple example—Elder Yao himself, who wielded the eleventh-ranked Bone Chilling Flame, was the master of the Starfall Pavilion, one of the Four Pavilions of the Central Plains.

And above the Starfall Pavilion was the Blazing Flame Valley, one of the Three Valleys, which housed the twelfth-ranked Nine Dragon Lightning Flame.

The Heavenly Flames were in their hands, but seizing them was no easier than finding a wild Heavenly Flame.

Compared to the Blazing Flame Valley, Elder Yao hadn't possessed his Heavenly Flame for very long, so his mastery over it was naturally inferior to that of such an established faction.

Yet he knew for a fact that the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame in the Blazing Flame Valley had remained unchanged in power all this time.

It was worth noting that the Blazing Flame Valley's influence in the Central Plains was second only to "One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects"—placing it among the top five powers.

Compared to such behemoths, the current Xiao Yan seemed insignificant.

For entities of that magnitude to fail at what Xiao Yan was accomplishing—Elder Yao had found it hard to believe that Xiao Yan could push his Heavenly Flames to their limits.

Now, witnessing firsthand the miraculous effect of fully nurturing a Heavenly Flame to the point of breaking its ranking constraints, Elder Yao's heart was roiling with shock.

If Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames could continue to grow like this, Elder Yao could scarcely imagine how terrifying they would become.

Having obtained the Bone Chilling Flame himself, he had gained a tremendous advantage in Dou Zong-level battles.

Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames were no longer bound by their original rankings—they would inevitably grow to rival, and perhaps even surpass, the Bone Chilling Flame.

As Elder Yao repeatedly drew shocked breaths, Xiao Yan was rapidly absorbing and refining the energy within the Demon Poison Spot. The increasingly vast fluctuations of his aura caused the heaven and earth energy throughout the Scorpion Mountain Range to tremble violently.

(End of Chapter)

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