// Hey everyone!
Quick heads-up: the new fic has already passed 35 chapters, and you can find it right on my profile. If you have a moment, I'd really appreciate it if you could swing by and leave a review!
I'm trying to hit at least 10 reviews so the story can finally get a rating, which would go a long way in helping new readers discover it.
Every review counts. Thank you all so much for the support!
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Word Count: 3,355 Words
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The great battle had drawn to a close.
Xiao Yan's injuries could be called severe, yet also not severe. For an ordinary person, being besieged by three Dragon Kings like that would have meant grass already growing several meters high over their grave. But for Xiao Yan, who possessed the Three Thousand Burning Flame and a body that could almost be called undying, these wounds healed completely within a single day.
'Phew... it's fortunate I fused a bit of Zi Yan's Dragon Phoenix bloodline into my body. Without that, the Dragon King power invading me would've been truly troublesome to purge.'
He exhaled a long breath. At the Dou Saint realm, recovery ability was simply terrifying. For precisely this reason, most Tian Class Dou Techniques and the Dou Qi of Dou Saints carried special powers designed to prevent opponents from simply healing back to full.
Xiao Yan's own Dou Qi contained the power of Heavenly Flames. If his attacks left a target seriously wounded, ordinary means would find it extremely difficult to heal them. A residue of fire poison would linger within the body, and it would require a high-level alchemist to purge it.
Naturally, the attacks of the three Dragon Kings also carried a special force. However, as luck would have it, the thread of Dragon Phoenix bloodline Zi Yan had given him perfectly countered the strength hidden in their strikes.
He lifted his head and slowly exhaled a mouthful of viscous breath. The turbid air condensed before his lips and transformed into a single droplet that fell into the pile of Cold Jade powder below. Light rippled across its surface as the powder fused together once more, condensing into a square stone platform. Faintly, shockingly powerful energy fluctuations now radiated from within the reformed stone.
Xiao Yan expelled one last long breath and rose to his feet. His fingers curled lightly into a fist, and a sensation of fierce, overwhelming strength erupted from every cell in his body like streaking lightning.
'Late-stage 2-star Dou Saint... still a bit short of 3-star.'
He calculated silently. More than half a year remained before the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame would emerge. That span was more than sufficient for him to break through to 3-star Dou Saint.
Even if he did nothing but cultivate with the Flame Mantra, the High Tian Class Qi Method's cultivation speed alone would push him past that final barrier.
Of course, Xiao Yan had no intention of idling. With his current strength, he was finally qualified to visit a certain place. A place that, in some sense, was filled with danger for him.
The Small Pill Tower!
It almost sounded absurd. A Pill Gathering champion, a 9th-tier alchemist, facing danger when visiting a holy land for alchemists? Truly absurd. Yet that was the reality.
Because he was also the Tenth Tianzun of the Hall of Souls!
Pill Saint Yan of the Hall of Souls!
Only now did he dare set foot in the Small Pill Tower. He possessed not merely the combat power of a late-stage 2-star Dou Saint but also wielded a Heaven Seed Flame. If his identity were exposed, even if he couldn't defeat the Pill Tower's Old Ancestor, escape would still be well within his grasp.
Just as Xiao Yan prepared to leave seclusion, intending to check the extent of Zi Yan's life-force depletion and refine tailored pills to replenish it, his brows suddenly knitted together. A familiar aura had appeared outside Eastern Dragon Island.
An aura that was both expected and unexpected.
Sure enough, Hei Qing appeared outside his secluded chamber before long and reported respectfully, "Grandmaster Xiao Yan, we've captured a member of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe outside Dragon Island. She insists on seeing you and claims to be an acquaintance of yours."
Feng Qing Er.
Xiao Yan had already heard Feng Huang mention it. He could more or less deduce that Feng Qing Er had sold him out, informing Huang Tian and the Heaven Demon Three Phoenixes about his relationship with Zi Yan.
His eyes narrowed slightly. The Three Phoenixes of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had attacked Eastern Dragon Island, an act that undoubtedly crossed his bottom line. If Zi Yan didn't still have the unification of the three Dragon Islands weighing on her shoulders, and if he himself didn't need to prepare pill recipes and arrangements for the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame...
He would likely have already marshaled the forces of the Yan Alliance and Eastern Dragon Island, perhaps even summoned the Hall Chief and Deputy Hall Chief of the Hall of Souls, and swept across the entirety of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe.
Thirty years east, thirty years west. Xiao Yan was never one to leave vengeance for the next day!
He considered briefly, then spoke in a calm voice. "Bring her here."
…
Soon, Feng Qing Er was escorted over by Hei Qing like a criminal awaiting judgment.
She still wore that seven-colored long dress, but compared to their first meeting, all her former arrogance had evaporated. She now looked every bit the condemned prisoner.
Within the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, countless eyes glared at her with naked hatred. Some Elders, Zhu Li among them, even let their Saint pressure bear down on her, looking as if they wished to crush her into paste with a single palm.
The Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe hadn't actually managed to inflict significant damage on the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. Shortly after the battle began, Xiao Yan's single shout had slain two of the Three Phoenix Saints. Yet they had chosen to stand with the three Dragon Kings, and that alone marked them as enemies.
Now the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's Saintess stood before them. No matter how innocent this girl might personally be, there was still such a thing as cutting weeds and pulling up the roots.
"Come in." Xiao Yan's voice drifted from within the chamber.
Only after hearing those words did Hei Qing dispel the spatial imprisonment. Here on Eastern Dragon Island, no one feared that a mere Dou Venerate could stir up any storm.
Once the restraints vanished, Feng Qing Er drew a deep breath and swallowed hard. Only then did a trace of color return to her deathly pale face.
She already knew. The three Dragon Kings had been crushed. Xiao Yan had stood alone against six Dou Saints and killed two Phoenix Saints.
She had still underestimated him.
She had thought her assessment generous before, yet it still fell far short!
Late-stage 2-star Dou Saint in just a year and a half meant one thing: back then, Xiao Yan hadn't even refined the Bodhisattva Heart! He had refined it in the Azure Skies Heaven Realm!
A soft creak sounded as she slowly pushed the door open, and she was immediately greeted by that familiar side profile.
The door fell shut behind her with a quiet thud. Only then did Xiao Yan slowly turn his head.
The instant his gaze focused, in the split second his eyes locked onto her, a dull thud echoed through the room. Feng Qing Er's body moved before her mind could register it. Her legs buckled; she collapsed to her knees, prostrating almost flat in a full kowtow.
"Why are you kneeling? It's not like I'm dead." Xiao Yan glanced at her with mild indifference.
"Master, I beg you to spare the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe." Feng Qing Er's voice carried boundless pleading, and she even forced out the title she had always loathed most.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Xiao Yan brewed tea with slow, unhurried motions, not even looking her way. "You can call me Grandmaster Xiao Yan. You can call me Little Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan. You can even call me Tenth Tianzun. But I don't recall ever having a name called 'Master.'"
Those words drained what little color remained from Feng Qing Er's complexion. Her body trembled so violently she could barely stay upright. Her teeth sank into her lower lip until blood welled up, bright and red.
For someone as proud as she was, an unfamiliar emotion rose, burning and sour in her chest. It was regret.
Back then, she had insisted on removing the Asura Slave Seal. Yet now that the seal was gone, it meant there was nothing binding her to Xiao Yan. She didn't even have the basic qualification to plead with him!
But even with the seal intact, there would have been no room for negotiation. Feng Qing Er knew very well that what her Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had done was something that could not be forgiven.
Even knowing that coming to Eastern Dragon Island might mean her death, and that her chances were vanishingly slim, she had to come and beg. She couldn't just watch the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe be wiped out!
She slowly lifted her head. A thread of blood slid down from her bitten lip and traced a line over her jade-white chin. Her proud shoulders had slumped, and her spine bowed low in supplication. The neckline of her gown had slipped during her kowtow, exposing the pale, quivering swell of her chest as it rose and fell in short, irregular breaths.
It was a posture that would have driven most men mad.
Xiao Yan, however, concerned himself only with the tea in his hands. His gaze never once drifted.
He slowly poured himself a cup of tea, then poured a second and set it before her. His tone remained flat. "I know you didn't take part in the battle. For the sake of our past acquaintance, drink some tea and leave. I won't make things difficult for you."
"As for the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe... that isn't for me to decide."
Every injustice had its perpetrator; every debt had its debtor. Xiao Yan understood why Feng Qing Er had come, and he knew she hadn't joined the attack. He had no intention of slaughtering the innocent.
"This time, the order to assist the Northern Dragon King came from the Tribe Leader. My... my Feng Clan never intended to become your enemy, Master." Feng Qing Er forced the words out. Her voice was hoarse and unsteady, as if the plea were being dragged out of a throat lined with blades.
"Mm?"
Xiao Yan finally let his gaze fall on her again. His eyes swept over the woman kneeling and begging on behalf of her clan, and a faint, humorless smile tugged at his lips.
He extended one finger and lifted her exquisite chin. Her vermilion lips were like banked embers, blazing with color. She was undeniably stunning. Those delicate, full lips looked soft enough that a single bite might draw sweet nectar. The smear of blood at the corner of her mouth only intensified their temptation.
His eyes, however, remained ice-cold. "If memory serves, the leader of the Three Phoenix Saints, Feng Huang... is one of yours, isn't she? A member of your Feng Clan."
"I-I... Elder Feng Huang, she..." Feng Qing Er's tongue seemed to knot itself.
"Get out before I change my mind."
Xiao Yan's voice turned utterly flat. His eyes were like frost-coated blades. Looking at him now, one could easily believe he was a ruthless, venomous man who would slaughter any enemy to the last, painting rivers and mountains with blood.
In reality, his attention was already drifting somewhere else entirely as he watched the tiny whirlpool forming in his teacup. His thoughts had wandered to the Xiao Realm.
Feng Qing Er's arrival had sparked an excellent idea: move the Xiao Realm directly into the Beast Region!
He was a Dou Saint now. The Ancient Wasteland Region lay right beside the Beast Region; the two domains were practically adjacent. It would not be a difficult move.
Originally, Xiao Yan had planned to carve out a small world like the Pill Tower's Pill Realm somewhere within the Jia Ma Empire, then place the Xiao Clan within it. But finding a location in the Jia Ma Empire large enough to house the entire Xiao Realm was nearly impossible, and even if one were found, its natural energy would likely be pitifully thin.
Worse still, a small world required constant maintenance.
Xiao Yan could certainly open one using the power of the Nihility Devouring Flame, but that didn't mean he had the time to maintain it every day. If he went into seclusion, was the little world supposed to just collapse on its own?!
The entire Xiao Clan didn't have a single Dou Saint capable of shouldering such responsibility!
'If Zi Yan unifies the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, and the Yellow Springs Mountain Range remains under Cai Lin's Snake-People Tribe... and if I settle the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe as well... wouldn't the whole Beast Region fall under my influence?'
On the surface, Xiao Yan's expression remained cold and severe. Within, however, his thoughts had come alive with excitement!
The entire Beast Region was within his grasp. With the Xiao Realm settled there, he would be no different from a local emperor presiding over his own kingdom. The Beast Region was an incomparably vast domain in its own right, and of all the factions dwelling within it, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe held the largest swath of territory.
If he seized every last stretch of their land, especially considering that Cai Lin was his wife, the Xiao Clan would effectively command the overwhelming majority of the Beast Region. Only then could the Xiao Clan truly be said to have risen again!
And when the day came to accompany Xun Er back to her maiden home, he could finally face his ancestors with his head held high!
Right now, his face was a mask of icy indifference, yet inwardly he was grinning from ear to ear!
Feng Qing Er, however, had no way of glimpsing what stirred behind that frozen mask. All she perceived was his callous expression and the chill in his voice, and that alone was enough to drag her heart into an abyss.
She slowly forced herself upright. Xiao Yan never once lifted his eyes from his teacup. Her face drained of every last trace of color, and utter despair bled into her beautiful eyes.
She had never imagined that someone as greedy for life and afraid of death as she had once been could discover this kind of desperate courage buried within her. Now that her tribe truly faced annihilation, she found herself willing to go to any lengths, to surrender every last shred of caution, if only to prevent it.
Perhaps this was simply the weight of responsibility to one's own blood.
Gritting her teeth, Feng Qing Er spoke, her voice carrying a bleak, fractured resolve. "Xiao Yan... if you leave my Feng Clan a way to live, a single patch of earth for them to call home, then I will serve you with every fiber of my being!
My body, my soul, my pride... I will surrender all of it! I will be your slave, your plaything. Whatever you desire, I will become it!"
A low hum shivered through the air as multicolored light flared around her. The seven-colored dress she wore dissolved, scattering into radiant, rainbow-hued feathers that drifted down like a slow, mesmerizing rain to expose her snow-white, crystalline skin.
Stripped of every barrier, she stood completely bare under the soft lamplight. Her full, heavy breasts were drawn taut by the cool air and the sheer humiliation coursing through her. Their rosy peaks stood stiff and trembling with every shallow breath. Her slender waist narrowed before flaring into the generous curve of her hips and the firm, rounded swell of her buttocks. Her long, perfectly sculpted legs pressed tightly together in a last, useless instinct for modesty; her toes curled against the cold stone. With each shuddering inhale, her flat stomach tensed and the soft, weighty fullness of her chest quivered in time.
Tears slid silently down her cheeks, though she did not dare let a single sob escape. Her head bowed low, her chin nearly tucked into the deep valley between her breasts. Her small fists clenched until her knuckles turned stark white. Glistening teardrops traced unbroken lines down her face and dropped soundlessly onto the bed of scattered feathers beneath her bare feet.
This was nothing like the day she had been taken captive. Back then, there had still been slips between cup and lip, still a sliver of hope that the wheel of fortune might turn.
This time, she had walked herself to the cliff's edge and leapt of her own accord, selling every last piece of herself to buy a single breath of mercy for her people. In stepping across this line, she understood clearly that she was forfeiting her freedom for the rest of her days, consigning herself to be nothing more than his absolute possession.
Xiao Yan sucked in a sharp breath. Feng Qing Er's naked self-sacrifice had genuinely shaken him. His eyes went wide and he swallowed hard.
He swore to the heavens, he had only ever intended to eliminate Huang Tian, the one who had issued the order! As for the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribesmen who had taken no part in the fighting, the thought of butchering them had never once crossed his mind.
He was hardly some lunatic bent on indiscriminate slaughter!
Even setting aside his own position as an outsider, not even Zi Yan would command her people to massacre the countless millions of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. Such an act would violate the Heavenly Dao and every standard of human decency. At most, they would simply dissolve the tribe.
Yet dissolving them carried risks of its own. There was no guarantee that some fanatic wouldn't emerge from the ruins, dreaming of restoring their fallen glory and bringing endless trouble to the Xiao Clan and the Snake-People Tribe.
At this moment, Xiao Yan honestly did not know where to let his gaze settle. A trembling, breathtaking masterpiece of a woman stood bared before him, and he swore once more that this was absolutely not what he had wanted!
Then, abruptly, inspiration struck.
'Rather than dissolving the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe outright, wouldn't it be far wiser to install a puppet Tribe Leader? That alone would prevent any vengeful remnants from rising, and it would spare me from slaughtering millions and staining my hands against the natural order.'
'If the tribe were thoroughly disbanded, chaos would inevitably sweep the Beast Region. That holds a hundred harms and not a single benefit for the Xiao Clan. But if I control the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe from the shadows, it could help the Xiao Clan members grow rapidly.'
'As things stand, the Xiao Clan would find it nearly impossible to survive in the Beast Region alone.'
His gaze swept over Feng Qing Er's trembling form, and a thought involuntarily crossed his mind.
'I have to admit, Feng Qing Er's body really is—'
Ptui!
'I have to admit, this Feng Qing Er would make the perfect candidate for a puppet Tribe Leader!'
Naturally, he couldn't let the faintest trace of his true thoughts surface. A sinister sneer instantly curled the corner of his lips as the aura of the Tenth Tianzun settled over him like a second skin.
"Jie Jie Jie. The ancients said a good bird chooses a fine tree to roost in. It seems they did not deceive me."
"Feng Qing Er, you truly are quite the fine bird." Xiao Yan slowly produced a pill and held it casually between two fingers. The instant she saw it, Feng Qing Er's pupils shrank to pinpricks. She knew exactly what it was.
"You still have a chance to turn back." His voice was drained of all warmth. "But understand this: there is no medicine in this world that cures regret."
Feng Qing Er slowly closed her eyes. A single clear tear slid down her cheek. She reached out, took the Asura Slave Pill from his grasp, and swallowed it. This time, it was entirely of her own volition. There would be no undoing it.
"Understood, my Master."