Whilst Yaan was busy training in the Elixir Sky Tower, a certain individual had just finished his own training elsewhere on the Blood Plane.
This individual was now sat atop a throne in the war hall of Primordial Mountain, the natural formation of epic proportions which sat at the centre of the Blood Plane!
Divine Heaven was the headquarters of the Divine Court, Primordial Mountain was the headquarters of the Primordial Alliance!
This individual on Primordial Mountain's throne was an immortal body temperer, yet multiple divinities were lined up at the sides of the war hall, stood below him, looking up at him.
Right now, this individual was weak, but nobody present dared to look down on him. His appearance alone struck fear in the hearts of countless across the Blood Plane. He looked slightly different and was much smaller compared to in the past, but there was no mistaking him…
His hair was blood red, his body muscular and thousands of feet tall, his chest was bare and his skin seemed to emit a faint bronze gleam.
Most notably, this man was surrounded by a thick air of killing intent. His red eyes seemed to pierce through the world, looking down on all things with an unbridled disdain which stemmed from his innate and overwhelming sense of pride.
This person…was the Blood Plane Lord!
If Yaan were to see this person, he would be shocked senseless, because this man looked extremely similar to the red-haired man that he encountered back in the 4th trial realm!
Back then, Yaan guessed that the red-haired man might be the creator of the inheritance. Seeing that person had also stirred deep emotions within Yaan that he could not explain. For this person to be here, in this place, the very same world plane that Yaan had been dragged to against his will, was too much for a mere coincidence!
"Congratulations lord. Your ascension to the 9-Star Immortal realm is a blessing for all beings on the Blood Plane."
A bald headed man with pure black eyes stared at the red haired man solemnly, clasping his hands in respect. As he spoke, his gaze flickered to the side briefly, landing on the small girl floating in the air besides the Blood Plane Lord.
Like the Blood Plane Lord, this girl's appearance was notorious. In many ways, she was actually more terrifying than the Blood Plane Lord had ever been…
The girl's hair was wavy and extended neatly down to her shoulders. Her eyes shone with emerald green light, and a black crystal was embedded within her forehead. Right now, she emitted no aura of any sort, but nobody dared to look down on her.
Nobody would ever look down on the Primordial Sage!
The fact that this red-haired man was able to retain the position of Blood Plane Lord despite him currently being at the Immortal Step, was largely thanks to the Primordial Sage. Even though he was arrogant to the core and truly believed that ruling the Blood Plane was his birth right, the red-haired man would not have revealed himself to the world were it not for the Primordial Sage's support. Not yet at least.
The Blood Plane Lord waved his hand dismissively, not caring about these peoples' flattering words. He knew that they were only acting this way because of the Primordial Sage's presence, he didn't want to hear them go on.
"I was in secluded cultivation for 50 years, update me on the situation in the outside world."
The various members of the Primordial Alliance began giving their updates, but there was nothing that truly caught the Blood Plane Lord's attention.
However, the Primordial Sage's voice appeared within his mind, informing him of the one matter that he truly cared about.
One minute later, the Blood Plane Lord understood that Yaan had arrived on the Blood Plane. He was informed of Yaan's existence and his whereabouts, but for now, he showed no intention of acting.
The red-haired man paid no attention to the voices of those around him, his eyes gleaming with a ferocious light as he listened to the sage's description of this child and his life.
After hearing her words, he slowly turned his head towards a certain direction, Yaan's direction, the War Flower Empire. Even though they were countless miles apart, the Blood Plane Lord almost felt as if he could feel Yaan's presence…
'So it has arrived. I will allow you to live in peace for some time….after all, I need you to grow stronger if I wish to truly overcome this tribulation, 'Fragment of Dao', hahahaha…'
Yaan had no idea that yet another terrifying being had learned of his existence.
But even if he did know, what could he even do?
Yaan knew that he was somehow entangled in some matters far beyond his understanding, but compared to the other characters involved in these affairs, he was like an ant, he could easily be stepped on or swept away in the wind.
He could only strive to become stronger.
Compared to these cultivators in the Bloody Totem Tribe, he could be considered 'strong', but Yaan knew that he was insignificant in the scheme of things.
And so, he strived to become stronger, cultivating within the Elixir Sky Tower, pushing his limits further each time he recovered from his exhaustion.
Yaan was no longer that reckless child he had once been, he carefully probed his limits before pushing himself too far, but that did not mean he had lost his resolve. He steadily pushed himself further and further, keeping an eye on his situation and monitoring his recovery, optimising this period of training to the best of his abilities.
The heart fire elixir had a duration of 100 days. Elixirs were unique in that the duration of effect was set, it did not vary at all between different people, and it was unaffected by the method of training used to extract its power. The amount of an elixir's power that could be absorbed depended on the user's ability to push themselves during its period of effect, but generally, much of an elixir's power was wasted.
Yaan was unlike others in that he could push himself past the normal limits of the body, then past the limits of the mind, sustaining himself solely with his illusion dao. On top of this, his recovery speed was extremely impressive as a Vital Qi Core realm cultivator, not to mention the golden elixir which continually provided him with a boosted rate of recovery.
The days flew by and Yaan's cultivation steadily increased, whilst his techniques were honed and he became more familiar with integrating the dao of illusions into his combat style.
During this time, the Bloody Totem Tribe rapidly digested all of the gains it reaped from the battle against the Rising Sun Tribe.
The gains came in three main forms. Firstly, there were the materials gains, including resources, treasures and even elixirs. Secondly there was the land, meaning the Rising Sun Tribe's main tribe, as well as the few outposts stationed around the main tribe, and the farm land and transportation routes between these locations. Finally, there were the people…
Even though every 4-Star Aztec body temperer had been killed, since none of those individuals would ever submit to an external force, there were still tens of millions of people remaining in the Rising Sun Tribe! Gaining control over these people was not easy, nor was cleaning up the mess left behind following the war, but the end result made everything well worth their efforts.
Whilst only two elixirs were gained, on of which was directly used by Yaan, the Bloody Totem Tribe gained possession of seven elixir trees, along with the complete formations to nourish them.
They also gained the entire stash of resources owned not only by the Rising Sun Tribe Elders, but also the treasury hoarded by the tribe as a whole! Yaan kept anything of potential use for himself, leaving over 90% of everything else to the Bloody Totem Tribe Elders to deal with and distribute appropriately.
By the time Yaan emerged from the Elixir Sky Tower 100 days later, the chaos had been quelled, the dust had settled, and…
The Bloody Totem Tribe eagerly awaited his next move.
At first, they were naturally wary of this senior who appeared out of nowhere and gained a high position of authority within the tribe. But now, things were different.
Yaan's very first action led to the accruement of an entire vassal tribe!
Not only that, but he wasn't excessively greedy with taking the loot for himself, nor did he covet more responsibilities and authority.
His actions of immediately secluding himself away within the Elixir Sky Tower made the tribe elders realise that this 'senior' didn't seem to care about worldly matters, he was truly a seeker of the dao!
Some cultivators pursued strength for riches, others for glory, others still for authority…but a rare few cultivated solely for the sake of pursuing the path of cultivation!
Individuals like this tended to go further compared to others. It was only with this sort of mindset that a person could transcend their mortal shackles, stepping into the realm of immortality!
Yaan indeed did not care about gained authority, wealth and prestige, but he understood that he needed these things in order to further his cultivation.
After listening to the tribe leader's update on all major events that had transpired these last 100 days, Yaan came to a decision after a little thought.
"Prepare yourselves. Tomorrow, we will take the Burning Lotus Tribe."