The sudden charming yet cold voice made Xiao Yan roll his eyes. He transmitted back, "I say, Queen Medusa. The path of cultivation isn't just about fighting and killing; it also involves interpersonal relationships. Is this how you rule as queen? Threatening others at every turn? No wonder your Snake-People Tribe is in decline."
Suddenly, a wave of chilling killing intent emanated from the Green Lotus within his storage ring. Clearly, Xiao Yan had angered this queen of the Snake-People Tribe!
Sensing Queen Medusa's icy killing intent, Xiao Yan remained unfazed. He continued walking as he said, "Don't threaten me. Not only am I not someone who yields to threats in the first place, but even if I were, you wouldn't be able to intimidate me."
At this moment, Xiao Yan's confidence was through the roof! With his Spiritual Strength reaching the level of a 6th-tier alchemist, he now feared the not-yet-fully-recovered Medusa even less.
Medusa needed the Spirit Fusion Pill not only to resolve that unknown soul contract but also because during her evolution, Xiao Yan had injured her soul. She required the Spirit Fusion Pill to heal.
Her soul was still injured. What the hell was he still afraid of?
Xiao Yan quickly pondered inwardly when he saw Medusa's lack of response, 'Medusa is still digesting the Core-Fire Lotus Seed. It seems she really needs this Spirit Fusion Pill. I'm probably only a hair's breadth away from reaching the tier 5. If I require Medusa's assistance again in the future, perhaps this Spirit Fusion Pill could serve as a bargaining chip.'
If Medusa truly reconstructed her body and broke through to the Dou Ancestor realm, then with a single tier 6 Spirit Fusion Pill, he could enlist the aid of a Dou Ancestor. This was a profitable deal no matter how one looked at it.
Xiao Yan immediately made up his mind. Clasping his hands together as if in prayer, he muttered to himself, 'Apologies to all the favorites to win the Alchemist Grand Meeting. I really didn't want to participate originally, nor did I want to crush your hopes of victory. But alas, that wicked woman Medusa covets the recipe for the Spirit Fusion Pill. If you want to blame someone, blame her. The grudge has a source, the debt has an owner. If you wish to curse someone, curse her.'
After this moment of penitent reflection, Xiao Yan instantly felt much more at ease. He decided to join the Alchemist Grand Meeting and show those pitiful, helpless 'favorites to win' what true competition looked like.
…
Upon returning to the Nalan Mansion, Xiao Yan informed Nalan Jie about his intention to participate in the Alchemist Grand Meeting.
"Heh heh, an alchemist possessing a Heavenly Flame, huh? In all the previous editions of the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Grand Meeting, I don't think there's ever been one. This year's tournament will surely be interesting," Nalan Jie said with a chuckle as he stroked his beard.
Xiao Yan, however, replied with little enthusiasm, "I think it will be rather boring."
"Hahaha, that may be so," Nalan Jie laughed heartily.
After bidding farewell to Old Master Nalan Jie, Xiao Yan returned to his room and took out the black jade piece to study it.
But no matter whether Xiao Yan used his Spiritual Strength or applied force to it, it remained completely unresponsive.
'How is this thing supposed to be used? It's different from typical soul tools.'
Usually, soul tools only needed to be activated with Spiritual Strength or by applying external force. The reason no one had discovered the uniqueness of this black jade piece was that it couldn't be activated by conventional means.
If it weren't for the strange throbbing from the depths of his soul when he first found it, Xiao Yan would have thought this was just an ordinary black jade pendant.
'Could it be that it needs to be burned with fire?'
Xiao Yan gazed at the black-colored jade in front of him. He could vaguely sense a hint of warmth emanating from within.
With a whoosh, a small wisp of Green Lotus Core Flame appeared on his fingertip. He gently touched it to the jade pendant, but the result left him astonished.
Although it was just a small wisp of the Green Lotus Core Flame, it was still a Heavenly Flame after all! Yet surprisingly, it failed to leave even the slightest mark on the jade pendant!
'Interesting. Let's see how much you can withstand.'
His heart rate quietly accelerated a bit. Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he focused his thoughts, and suddenly, a surge of green flames burst forth from his fingertips.
With a wave of his hand, the jade piece was immediately engulfed by the green flames gushing from his fingers.
As time passed, the black substance on the surface of the jade pendant began to slowly vaporize.
'So it was this black substance obstructing Spiritual Strength; it can only be burned away with flames.'
'Why does this feel like some sort of trial?'
The moment the black substance on the surface of the black jade piece completely disappeared, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from within.
Xiao Yan's eyes were quick, and his hands were swift; he instantly used his Spiritual Strength to seal off the surroundings, preventing the light from leaking out.
In an instant, the light nearly eclipsed all illumination in the room. Although the light was dazzling, it didn't cause Xiao Yan to close his eyes, because the moment the green light appeared, countless streams of textual information automatically arranged themselves in the air and formed a special cultivation method!
His gaze swept over the light screen suspended in the air and finally stopped at the few large words at the very top. When he saw them clearly, his pupils instantly contracted as he exclaimed in shock, "Skyfire Three Mysterious Change?!!!"
Xiao Yan's expression changed dramatically! He had seen this Skyfire Three Mysterious Change before—in the Tian Class Treasure Hall of the Hall of Souls!!!
Moreover, it was even labeled as a High Tian Class Secret Technique back then??!!
'How could this be? How could something from the Hall of Souls appear in the Jia Ma Sacred City? No, wait, the Hall of Souls does have a presence in the Jia Ma Sacred City... but still, would the Hall of Souls' Tian Class Secret Technique end up in the Jia Ma Empire? Was that man earlier from the Hall of Souls?'
For a moment, countless speculations swirled through Xiao Yan's mind.
Narrowing his eyes, he quickly grasped the essence of the cultivation method after a brief read-through. However, his frown deepened, because the level of this Secret Technique was nowhere near Tian Class, let alone High Tian Class!
It absolutely couldn't reach Tian Class! Xiao Yan estimated it barely qualified as Di Class at most.
In the mysterious storage ring, there were also Secret Techniques, but none of them were suitable for him to use, which was why he hadn't learned them. However, this Skyfire Three Mysterious Change happened to be just right for him.
This was because this Secret Technique worked by erupting flames within the body to temporarily enhance one's Dou Qi.
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yan infused his Spiritual Strength into the words floating in the air. Sensing his Spiritual Strength, all the words instantly transformed into a stream of spiritual information that surged into his mind.
The massive influx of information slammed into his mind. Xiao Yan's face twitched rapidly as he fought against the discomfort. He quickly sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to digest the information containing the Secret Technique's cultivation method.
'How strange. Although this is only the first change of the Three Mysterious Changes, the cultivation method for the first change is complete. Yet, its effects are far from being of Tian Class... Could something be missing? Or did the Hall of Souls make a mistake?'
'Impossible. With the Hall of Souls' capabilities, misjudging a technique's level is out of the question. Could it be that the latter two changes elevate this Secret Technique to High Tian Class? That seems even more unlikely.'
Xiao Yan was thoroughly puzzled. Logically speaking, it was implausible for there to be such a vast disparity in power levels. For a Secret Technique with three stages like this, one needed to cultivate one stage at a time, and the difficulty of the next stage shouldn't exceed the previous one by too much; otherwise, it would be impossible to connect them and progress.
'Back then, the scroll in the Hall of Souls introduced it as a Secret Technique created by a peak elite expert of a certain Dou God Clan. It can trigger the eruption of Heavenly Flames within the body, thereby explosively increasing one's strength for a short period. This technique consists of three changes, each requiring a different kind of Heavenly Flame. When all three changes are activated together, it can change the color of the sky and earth.'
'But now, the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change in this jade pendant can be used with any flame; it's just that the power will vary. Could the level of the Secret Technique be influenced by the kind of flame used? Using three kinds of Heavenly Flames could elevate it to High Tian Class?'
'Is it really that simple?'
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