Chapter 115: Relying on Connections

A black figure flashed across the landscape in the still desert night. A few seconds after the black figure had passed at extreme speed, a sharp sonic boom suddenly rang out.

There was no doubt that Xiao Yan's speed had already surpassed the speed of sound.

Just as his figure disappeared, another black figure followed close behind. This figure glided through the air with the grace of a floating willow leaf, combining speed and elegance seamlessly.

Yun Yun was worthy of being an elite wind attribute Dou Emperor. She was gradually closing the distance between herself and Xiao Yann, even without exerting her full strength.

'Shit! Yun Yun, you didn't put in this much effort when fighting the Amethyst Winged Lion King. Why are you pursuing me so relentlessly now?' Xiao Yan ranted inwardly.

Suddenly, Yun Yun's clear voice transmitted into his mind: "Sir, the Heavenly Flame does not belong to you. If you persist in this folly, don't blame me for taking action."

Xiao Yan turned his head to look back and saw that Yun Yun was already gripping her thin sword. He hadn't forgotten that it was this very sword that had sliced open the Amethyst Winged Lion King's belly, leaving a wound deep enough to see bone!

With a buzz, a wind vortex condensed around the thin sword in Yun Yun's hand as she locked onto Xiao Yan not far away, preparing to launch an attack.

Xiao Yan's scalp went numb under the pressure of being locked onto. He couldn't increase his speed any further. In a rush, he took something out of his storage ring and threw it behind him.

Yun Yun's brow furrowed slightly as she saw the object flying toward her. With a flick of her finger, a gentle breeze rolled up the incoming object.

! ! ! ?

"This is!" Yun Yun's mind jolted the moment she saw what it was. It was a scroll, and the words 'Exploding Steps' were written on it!

The 'Exploding Steps' agility-type Dou Technique wasn't considered too precious, it was only a copied version from the Misty Cloud Sect, not the only one in existence. However, Yun Yun understood many things from it.

'Yao Yan?! It's him!'

Yun Yun certainly hadn't forgotten seeing Xiao Yan being captured by Yue Mei a day ago. She had thought Xiao Yan was caught by coincidence and had already escaped.

But now, it seemed that Xiao Yan wasn't captured at all. He had intentionally allowed himself to be caught, planning to infiltrate the Mei Snake Tribe. This third party was clearly Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan was at his wit's end. His meridians could barely withstand the power of the Core-Fire Lotus Seed any longer. He needed to stop and circulate the Flame Mantra to transform it into Dou Qi as soon as possible.

He could only rely on connections now, hoping that Yun Yun would let him go for the sake of their acquaintance.

Yun Yun's expression changed. After pondering for a moment, she put away her thin sword and ceased her pursuit, watching Xiao Yan disappear into the horizon.

A gust of wind blew over, flipping up the hood of the black robe, exposing that exquisite, calm, fair face that stood out stunningly amid the raging sandstorm.

'He has truly become much stronger, actually managing to escape from Gu He's hands.' Recalling how Gu He had been thwarted by Xiao Yan, Yun Yun couldn't help but smile for some reason.

Sensing that Yun Yun was no longer chasing him, Xiao Yan could no longer hold on and directly crashed into the yellow sand. He hurriedly sat on the lotus platform and rapidly circulated the Flame Mantra.

The terrifying energy from the Core-Fire Lotus Seed had already severely burned the meridians within his body. If he had been a little slower, it might have spread to his organs.

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes after half an hour of circulating the Flame Mantra. He discarded a portion of the remaining Core-Fire Lotus Seed energy to Mao Wu, while the Flame Mantra transformed the other portion into Dou Qi.

He bent down to pick up the Exploding Steps scroll from the ground. Yun Yun had arrived while he was circulating his Qi Method, but she hadn't taken the lotus platform. She had only left the scroll before departing.

'Alas, I've judged a noble heart with my own petty mind.' Xiao Yan slowly opened the lotus platform, inside which not only hid the Green Lotus Core Flame but also Mao Wu.

If anyone had taken his lotus platform, Mao Wu would have detonated the Essence Flame of the Green Lotus Core Flame the moment it was opened.

This was Xiao Yan's backup plan. Even if Gu He had gotten the lotus platform, it would have been useless, and he might even have been killed by his trap. Of course, this would have destroyed the lotus platform, and even Mao Wu would have suffered some damage.

Xiao Yan dusted himself off and muttered softly, "I'll find a way to return this favor to you in the future."

With that said, Xiao Yan wasted no more words. Holding the Green Colored Lotus Platform in his hand, he turned around, his wings fluttering slightly as he quickly soared into the sky and flew away without looking back.

He needed to find a safe place to refine the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Standing dazedly on the sand dune, Yun Yun blankly gazed at Xiao Yan's receding figure until it became a mere dot in the distance. After a long while, she shook her head with a bitter smile and said, "Who needs your favor."

…

After resting for a period in the middle, Xiao Yan flew for over half a day before finally reaching the outskirts of the Tager Desert. He now needed an extremely secluded environment where he wouldn't be disturbed.

Lush greenery once again appeared in Xiao Yan's vision. With a slight flutter of his wings, his figure turned into a streak of black light, shooting straight toward a majestic mountain range in the distance, and diving into a cave.

At this point, even his Soul Robe was covered in a layer of fine yellow sand, and his hair was filled with grit.

Xiao Yan slowly put down the lotus platform to the side and sat cross-legged. He began circulating the Flame Mantra to recover his Dou Qi and the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique to restore his Spiritual Strength.

He cultivated for a full two hours until his Dou Qi and Spiritual Strength were completely restored.

'This won't do. When I reach the imperial capital, I must exchange for a proper Soul Skill from the Hall of Souls no matter what. This Soul Impact will kill me sooner or later.' Xiao Yan truly felt lingering fear.

Soul Impact was indeed very useful. Even Queen Medusa had been caught off guard by it. Moreover, the vast majority of people on the Dou Qi Continent had extremely weak Spiritual Strength.

Except when fighting against alchemists, his Spiritual Strength basically crushed his opponents by a whole major level.

However, no matter how weak the opponent's Spiritual Strength was, using Soul Impact still caused some backlash that resulted in damage to his own Spiritual Strength.

Xiao Yan had made up his mind. He had to exchange a Tian Class Soul Skill for Yao Ao's soul body.

If utilized well, Soul Skills could be fatal when catching someone off guard.

Turning his head to the side, Xiao Yan gazed at the beautiful Green Colored Lotus Platform on the ground, his lips tightly pursed.

What surprised Xiao Yan was that, if counting Mao Wu, this was actually the third Heavenly Flame!

He had only been out of Jia Nan Academy for half a year, yet he had already obtained three kinds of Heavenly Flames!

However, the Seed Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame and the Ten Thousand Beast Flame were both due to the Hall of Souls. Only the Green Lotus Core Flame before him was obtained through his own luck, effort, and strategy.

'My Flame Mantra has barely reached the High Xuan Class. I wonder if refining the 19th ranked Green Lotus Core Flame can evolve the Flame Mantra to the Di Class!'

Xiao Yan had not the slightest doubt about the energy contained within a Heavenly Flame. Although the evolution between Qi Method ranks required a terrifying amount of energy dozens of times greater, he believed that the Green Lotus Core Flame definitely possessed this capability!

'Before refining the Green Lotus Core Flame, I should deal with this snake first.'

Xiao Yan opened the lotus platform. By now, the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python had long since awakened. It was seen extending its forked tongue to lick the Green Lotus Core Flame in the center as if eating ice cream.

Looking at Mao Wu lying on the lotus platform like a little black cat taking a nap, and the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python raising its body to lick the flame, Xiao Yan thought, 'Great, it looks like I've become a beast tamer.'