Word Count: 2,998 Words
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Thump.
Xiao Yan's heart slammed against his ribs. His pupils contracted, his blood roared in his veins, and the Dou God Bloodline within him surged wildly, on the verge of breaking free.
This was the most basic, inescapable instinct of a man!
He could not restrain it. He did not even want to restrain it!
Xun Er becoming a Dou Saint meant she had already inherited the Gu Clan's entire legacy. Her natural-born Divine Grade Bloodline had completely matured, becoming the Gu Clan's most flawless Divine Grade Bloodline. It was now even more perfect than that of Clan Head Gu Yuan himself!
In other words, no restrictions remained upon her.
Faint bloodshot lines crept across Xiao Yan's eyes. His breathing grew rough and uneven, each ragged exhale stirring the soft hair at Xun Er's ear.
Xun Er simply possessed that kind of fatal allure. Even with his perfected Heavenly State Spiritual Strength, two Divine Grade Bloodlines, and countless brushes with life and death behind him, Xiao Yan still found it almost impossible to rein in the impulse crashing through his chest!
The Fallen Heart Flame—no, the Mysterious Yellow Flame began to stir inside him, its heat rising in slow, deliberate waves. For one wild instant, Xiao Yan honestly felt that the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame was not all that important. It could wait another thousand years for all he cared. Right now, all he wanted was to sweep Xun Er into his arms, whisk her straight back home, and 'enforce the house rules' right then and there!
Off to the side, Gu Qing Yang and the Gu Clan's Supreme Elder, Gu Nanhai, could only exchange helpless, wry smiles.
Was this still the Gu Xun Er they knew?!
That Gu Clan princess who kept others a thousand miles away, cold and steady and aloof? The flawless bearer of the most perfect Divine Grade Bloodline?!
Among the representatives of the Dou God Clans, those bearing high-grade Dou God Bloodlines all wore peculiar expressions. The veiled Huo Zhi's pretty face, in particular, had flushed a faint, telling red.
As high-grade bloodline holders themselves, how could they fail to understand what Xun Er's 'Dou Saint' truly implied? Though they themselves need not reach Dou Saint, they still required at least Dou Venerate, perhaps even Nine-Change Dou Venerate, before their bloodlines would fully stabilize and mature, before they could engage in certain... indescribable activities.
Hun Feng gave a cold snort, and a flicker of jealousy sparked in his eyes. As a fellow Divine Grade Bloodline holder, he naturally believed his own other half ought to possess a Divine Grade Bloodline as well. Among all the Dou God Clans, Xun Er was the only woman who qualified. Hadn't even the Lei Clan's Young Clan Leader, Lei Dong, once proposed marriage to the Gu Clan on precisely those grounds?
Pressed against Xiao Yan's chest, Xun Er could clearly feel his pounding heartbeat and the increasingly uneven rasp of his breath. Her cheeks burned scarlet, and she buried her face deeper into his embrace. In a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, she whispered, "Xiao Yan ge-ge... wait until the Demon Flame matter is over. Then we can..."
Her shy murmur finally drew the edge off the fire raging in Xiao Yan's chest. Indeed, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame was still important. Proper business came first. The land of tenderness could wait until everything else was settled. He drew a slow breath, nodded, and reluctantly loosened his arms, letting the two of them ease apart.
"Then? Then what?" Zi Yan tilted her head, confusion written all over her small face. "Are you two hiding something from me? What does 'then we can' mean?"
Qing Lin shook her head as well, equally lost. Cai Lin, who understood all too well, simply turned her head and shot Little Fairy Doctor a sidelong, meaningful glance. Beneath that gaze, Little Fairy Doctor's eyes flickered with a trace of evasion.
She too was already a Dou Saint!
Following the poison recipes of the Saint Sky Quiet Poison, and after absorbing the cold toxin contained within an enormous quantity of Spring Blood Crystals, she had completely stepped into the Dou Saint realm. Even the Heavenly Flame Pill Beast inside her body had broken through, so Little Fairy Doctor now commanded three Pill Beasts in total. Her strength was by no means inferior to Qing Lin's Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent.
It also confirmed that the Woeful Heavenly Flame Poison Pill Xiao Yan had created could indeed fully suppress the toxin of the Woeful Poison Body. Even poison at the Dou Saint level posed no problem, and no backlash followed.
Of course, Little Fairy Doctor's temperament was something everyone knew well. She had never liked putting herself forward, always standing quietly behind Xiao Yan and giving in silence. She was, by nature, the passive sort.
If Little Fairy Doctor were as proactive as Xun Er, they would probably be doing it like rabbits by now!
"Xiao Yan ge-ge, this is Elder Gu Nanhai of my Gu Clan." Xun Er's smile was radiant as she gestured to the blue-robed old man behind her. "He accompanied me out this time to investigate the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame."
"Oh? So your Gu Clan is also interested in the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame?" Xiao Yan's gaze turned to the elder, and his heart tightened in quiet vigilance. The old man did not radiate the unfathomable depth of the Hall Chief of the Hall of Souls, but his cultivation should still sit somewhere in the intermediate to late 4-star Dou Saint.
The foundations of these ancient clans truly were astonishingly deep.
"Hehe, I imagine there isn't a soul on the Dou Qi Continent who would not be interested in a divine object like the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. Obtaining it, however, is far from simple. We are here this time merely to try our luck."
Gu Nanhai smiled. He made no effort to lean on his seniority. His tone was that of a man speaking with a peer, calm and even, without a trace of the deliberate difficulties those Gu Clan Elders had once piled on Xiao Yan.
Of course, that courtesy stemmed largely from the fact that Xiao Yan's current strength and standing were by no means weak.
"The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame has emerged before, in the past, but in the end no one has ever managed to subdue and refine it." Xun Er's smile turned faint. "The spatial seal here was laid down by the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint, and it is exceedingly mysterious. Even when the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame breaks it for a short while, the moment the flame pauses to gather itself, the seal draws in the energy of this realm and repairs itself, continuing the imprisonment."
"However... the Hun Clan has always eyed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame covetously. Every time it appears, they come fully prepared. I wonder what they are planning this time."
Her bright eyes lingered on Xiao Yan for a long moment as she finished. She naturally knew of his entanglement with the Hall of Souls. Yet whatever shared interests he might have with the Hun Clan would not affect the bond between them. The Dou God Clans were, by their very nature, mutually entangled webs of interest. Today's enemy could very well be tomorrow's friend.
Just like now. Xiao Yan wanted the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. The Gu Clan, the Yan Clan, and others all wanted it too, or at the very least, they did not want anyone else to obtain it. Ideally, no one would get it. That alone was enough to set them on a collision course with him.
Xiao Yan understood at once. The reason the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame had remained unclaimed all this time was not only its own terrifying might. There was another factor as well. Among the Dou God Clans, no one could bear to see another succeed, and in the shadows they constantly worked to undermine one another.
Take the Yan Clan's party. Huo Zhi was a low-level Half-Saint, Huo Xuan a high-level Half-Saint, and Elder Huo Yao only at early 4-star Dou Saint. Without exception, all three already possessed Heavenly Flames. It was fundamentally impossible for them to claim the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame as well.
After all, not everyone cultivated the Flame Mantra.
So the Yan Clan had come to the Demon Flame Space this time for one reason alone. They were here to spoil things. No one was allowed to have it. If necessary, they would even trigger their own Heavenly Flames to collide and use the resulting explosion to obliterate the Demon Flame Space entirely.
The Gu Clan, the Hun Clan, and Xiao Yan, on the other hand, were the ones truly determined to stake everything on seizing the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. Naturally, the experts they had dispatched were of an entirely different caliber.
"Hehe, Elder Huo Yao, I didn't expect the Yan Clan to send you out this time." While Xiao Yan turned the balance of factions over in his mind, Gu Nanhai's gaze suddenly slid toward the three Yan Clan figures who had stood in silence since their arrival, and he spoke with a light smile.
The purple-robed elder's brows twitched. A flicker of wariness surfaced in his eyes before he answered evenly, "The Clan Head has ordered that it is best to let the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame remain ownerless. That way, it is good for everyone."
Gu Nanhai could only shake his head with a bitter smile. "Elder Huo Yao, surely you don't also believe the Ling Clan's disappearance was the work of my Gu Clan?"
Huo Yao fell silent. Huo Xuan and Huo Zhi exchanged a glance and likewise held their tongues.
Xiao Yan and the others stayed quiet as well.
After a long pause, Huo Yao finally spoke, his voice low and slow. "This matter cannot be verified, but the Gu Clan and the Hun Clan bear the greatest suspicion. A measure of caution is necessary. My Yan Clan has no desire to share the Ling Clan's fate."
With that, he waved a hand and turned, sweeping away to one side. Huo Xuan could only spread his hands at Xiao Yan in a helpless gesture before following after.
"Sigh."
Gu Nanhai watched Huo Yao depart, his brows knitting tightly together.
'It seems the Ling Clan's disappearance has driven quite a wedge between the ancient clans. Is this also one of Hun Tiandi's schemes?'
Xiao Yan's thoughts drifted inward. By his reckoning, the Ling Clan affair was eighty or ninety percent the Hun Clan's doing. They possessed the Nihility Devouring Flame, after all, a power capable of devouring an entire realm.
But who could truly say? Was the Gu Clan's hidden foundation really inferior to the Hun Clan's? Who knew what terrifying methods they kept concealed? Gu Yuan stood among the absolute peak experts of this age, and the Gu Clan was every bit as capable of carrying out what the Hun Clan supposedly had.
Of course, another possibility remained. The Ling Clan, weakest in strength and with their bloodline nearly run dry, might have moved first to avoid the fate of the Xiao Clan. They could have abandoned the Ling Realm of their own accord, taking their people and their ancient jade into hiding.
Yet as to who had actually done the deed, even Xiao Yan could not say. Without evidence, no one could be certain. The Hun Clan, naturally, cried injustice at the top of their lungs.
The Dou God Clans were practically playing a live-action game of Werewolf. No one knew which face hid the wolf. The Lei, Yan, Yao, and Shi Clans seemed unlikely to possess the capability, yet their suspicion could not be ruled out entirely. Who could swear they had not stumbled onto some artifact, some hidden power?
Even Xiao Yan's Yan Alliance fell under their scrutiny. The Xiao Clan had once been a Dou God Clan in its own right, and for a stretch of years the strongest among them. Though the Hun Clan had destroyed his line, Xiao Yan had risen since, and risen far too quickly to escape suspicion. It was hard not to wonder whether the Xiao Clan had left some hidden means behind.
Back then, when the Xiao Clan's legacy had been divided, the Ling Clan had taken their share. The Xiao Clan absolutely had motive to take revenge.
Of course, the Ling Clan possessed the Tou She Ancient God's Jade. Speak of motive, and every single Dou God Clan had one.
Dou God itself was the motive.
'It seems the Hun Clan... no, Hun Tiandi has already bared his fangs, yet the other Dou God Clans are still busy tearing at one another.' Xiao Yan shook his head with quiet resignation. Evidence might be lacking, but judging from motive and gain alike, the likeliest culprit still pointed squarely at the Hun Clan.
After all, Xiao Yan was the alchemist Hun Tiandi had 'invited.' For that alchemist to be of any use, every last ancient jade had to be gathered first.
…
Terrifying heat surged outward in waves from the fractured space ahead. The milky white radiance flickered with increasing frequency. Down below, the desert began to grow viscous. The grains of sand, bit by bit, were melting.
As the desert slowly turned to magma, the sound of wind tearing across the sky grew ever more frequent. More and more experts were drawn here by the strange phenomenon, and within half an hour the sky overhead had filled with countless figures. Most kept well away from the shattered space. Only true experts dared approach within ten thousand feet of the rupture, as Xiao Yan and his companions had.
While they waited, the Lei Clan and the Shi Clan, two of the eight ancient clans, arrived one after another. Yet when they caught sight of Xun Er and the Hall Chief of the Hall of Souls, they did not come closer. After a brief hesitation, they pulled away to a careful distance from both groups.
The Ling Clan's disappearance had clearly seeded an extra measure of wariness in their hearts, toward Gu Clan and Hun Clan alike.
Xun Er and the others could only shake their heads at the response. They had no evidence to prove the Ling Clan's disappearance was Hun Clan's doing, and against suspicion that descended from nowhere, they were powerless to clear their names.
The Gu Clan cried injustice. The Hun Clan cried injustice. What then could anyone do? No one could prove an innocent heart.
Time drifted on, and roughly half an hour after the Lei and Shi Clans had taken their positions, the wind on the horizon stirred again. Mingled within it now was the faint, unmistakable fragrance of medicine.
"The Yao Clan?"
Catching that distinctive aura, Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed, and his gaze swept toward the distance. His relationship with the Yao Clan could only be called twisted and bizarre.
He had set foot on the path of the alchemist because of Yao Chen, the discarded son the Yao Clan had cast aside. The first soul body he had ever harvested had belonged to the Yao Clan. His journey as an alchemist bore no direct connection, yet the Yao Clan's shadow fell over every step of it!
As he watched, space rippled in the far distance. Three figures shot forth and, with a single flicker, appeared above the assembled crowd in plain view of all.
To Xiao Yan's surprise, the Yao Clan's arrivals were three strangers. Human Medicine, the figure he had encountered during the trip to the Heavenly Tomb, was nowhere to be seen.
One man, one woman, one elder.
The young man wore a magnificent brocade robe. His features were handsome, threaded with a faint feminine delicacy, and his thin lips carried a cold, cruel set at their corners.
The young lady possessed long, lustrous, dark blue hair that framed her face elegantly before falling straight down her back. Her face was exquisitely carved, with features so refined and delicate they seemed to have been sculpted by a master artisan. She had a flawless, porcelain complexion, smooth and radiant, paired with soft, striking dark eyes that held a calm, piercing depth. Despite her breathtaking beauty, a sense of serene detachment lingered upon her face; she carried an air of effortless grace, like an ice sculpture brought to life, flawless, captivating, yet utterly distant.
The last figure was an old man robed in the garb of an alchemist. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, his eyes narrowed to slits, and now and then a sharp glint of light flickered in their depths.
Xiao Yan needed no introduction to recognize the young man as Yao Tian, the most gifted of the Yao Clan's younger generation, said to be capable of refining Tier 9 Treasure Pills.
What stirred a furrow in Xiao Yan's brow, however, was not Yao Tian but the young lady at his side. She actually awakened a thread of caution in him. The unease had nothing to do with cultivation. It came from a strange power coiled within her soul.
In fact, aside from Xiao Yan himself, the strongest Spiritual Strength in the gathering belonged to that woman. Like him, she had reached the perfected Heavenly State!
'A low-level Half-Saint whose Spiritual Strength has touched the perfected Heavenly State?' Xiao Yan couldn't help his astonishment. Her soul cultivation was more 'Hun Clan' than the Hun Clan's own members!
Xun Er's slender fingers slipped to Xiao Yan's waist and gave a small, pointed pinch. "Xiao Yan ge-ge mustn't let his eyes wander."
Her voice was warm as honey, her smile soft and flawless. Beneath that gentleness, however, her beautiful eyes had sharpened into blades. For at that very moment, the young lady of the Yao Clan had swept her gaze across the crowd and fixed it firmly on Xiao Yan.