The Fallen Grounds generally remained open for a month once activated. However, Xiao Yan and his group had withdrawn in less than a single day. This caused quite a few factions in the Black-Corner Region to snicker in private. 'Tch, nouveau riche will always be nouveau riche. Just because they've gained a bit of fame, they think they can carve up a piece of a place like the Fallen Grounds? Must've run into some major force inside and got taught a harsh lesson, huh? That explains their pathetic retreat.'
Especially when they saw Xiao Yan returning with a pale face and blood at the corner of his lips—he looked severely injured. This seemed to confirm everyone's assumptions. For a while, the leader of the Xiao Sect became a laughingstock throughout the region.
But when a full month passed and many powerful faction leaders still hadn't returned from the Fallen Grounds, people began to feel that something was off.
During this period, the Xiao Sect had launched a relentless campaign to seize territory across the region. With the elite members of these major factions all inside the Fallen Grounds, their forces left behind were powerless to stop Xiao Sect's expansion. Though many of them were defeated, they still clung to one hope and cursed the Xiao Sect's leader bitterly in their hearts.
"Just you wait! Once our boss comes back from the Fallen Grounds, you're all finished!" That sentiment echoed across many minds.
But as time dragged on and none of those leaders returned, a sense of unease began to grow. Everyone knew that Xiao Yan wasn't stupid. He'd built Xiao Sect from the ground up with bare hands. For him to so brazenly encroach on other territories, he must have had confidence backing his actions. But where did that confidence come from?
Many began to suspect the truth, though they were reluctant to accept it—it was simply too outrageous. And yet, as more time passed, that "ridiculous" possibility became harder to deny. The final blow came when a Xiao Sect member recognized a dark-blue spatial ring on Xiao Yan's finger as the very same one that used to belong to Han Feng, the Alchemy Emperor. That revelation confirmed the growing rumors.
At last, a single survivor managed to stumble his way back to the Black-Corner Region, bringing with him news that shook the entire land.
He had been one of the last Dou Wang experts to flee the Fallen Grounds. By sheer luck, he had been carrying a rare medicinal herb capable of resisting the neurotoxin of the Nine Nether Illusion Flame, allowing him to narrowly escape death. He had no idea that Xiao Yan had intentionally poisoned the area with that very flame. He simply assumed that his allies died from accidentally wandering into a dangerous area.
But what he did know, and shared, was enough to stun the region—Han Feng, the Gold and Silver Brothers, and many other elite experts had been slain personally by the Xiao Sect leader.
The impact of this statement was like a bolt from the blue.
Previously, some had guessed that those leaders had died at Xiao Yan's hands, but assumed it had been through underhanded tricks or traps. But now they were being told it happened during head-on combat? In direct confrontation, he'd defeated all of them?
If that were true, then… didn't that mean the Xiao Sect leader was a Dou Zong?
The implications left the entire Black-Corner Region in a stunned silence.
Ordinary top-tier factions relied on merely a single Dou Huang to dominate. And now this new force, Xiao Sect, had a Dou Zong at its head—who also happened to be a high-tier alchemist? That meant Xiao Sect was undoubtedly now the most powerful faction in the region.
Oddly enough, the person most rattled wasn't a rival faction—but Hai Bodong.
He had lost count of how many times he'd secretly thanked himself for not falling out with Xiao Yan when they first met. If they had become enemies… Hai Bodong didn't even want to think about how he might have died without even knowing it.
Those Dou Huang powerhouses buried in the Fallen Grounds were all at least as strong as he was. And yet Xiao Yan had wiped them out with seemingly little effort. That meant he could probably finish off Hai Bodong in just a few moves…
When Xiao Yan had returned from the Fallen Grounds and casually told Hai Bodong to prepare for taking over enemy territories, the old man had thought he was crazy.
Now it was obvious—he had been the one out of his mind.
Thanks to Xiao Yan's rampage through the Black Rankings, where he eliminated many of the region's top-ranked powerhouses, the entire ranking had to be updated. Unsurprisingly, Xiao Yan was now listed as number one.
Whether due to the fact that he had single-handedly slain the top three experts or because of his overwhelming victories, his position at the top was indisputable.
Though it was said that some hidden powerhouses remained within the Black-Corner Region, few could match Xiao Yan's performance in that battle. And considering he hadn't even gone all out, it was fair to say he was now the strongest presence in the region.
Of course, Xiao Yan himself paid little attention to all this fanfare.
After returning from the Fallen Grounds, he had rarely shown himself, instead entering his secret chamber to resume closed-door training.
Though he had successfully acquired the Sea Heart Flame, he didn't immediately attempt to refine it. Instead, he entered another period of seclusion.
Ranked fifteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, the Sea Heart Flame possessed astonishing energy. According to Xiao Yan's calculations, refining it now might allow him to leap to an eight- or nine-star Dou Huang, perhaps even touch the peak of the Dou Huang level. But breaking through to Dou Zong? That would be asking too much.
Xiao Yan's real goal was to harness the Sea Heart Flame's energy to catapult himself directly to Dou Zong. The jump from peak Dou Huang to Dou Zong was typically grueling. So he decided on a different strategy—rather than crawl slowly from the peak, he would instead build himself up from the mid-ranks and rocket upward.
His current strength was at the peak of two-star Dou Huang. Thanks to the recent intense battles and more than a month of focused training, he was now just a hair away from advancing to three-star. Once that happened, he planned to consume an Imperial Polar Pill, boosting his power another step before refining the Sea Heart Flame.
Mighty Huang Pill was a rare medicinal pill somewhat similar to the Dou Spirit Pill—it directly elevated one's cultivation. But unlike the Dou Spirit Pill, Mighty Huang Pill was specially formulated for Dou Huang-class experts.
Taking it granted a solid chance of advancing one or even two stars. Moreover, it came with additional effects: fortifying the meridians and tempering the bones. It was considered one of the safest and most efficient ways for a Dou Huang to push their cultivation forward.
Since his reincarnation, this would be Xiao Yan's first time consuming a pill meant to forcibly raise strength. He had never touched things like the Dou Spirit Pill, Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill, or even basic Energy Gathering Powder. He feared that relying on such pills would create lingering complications.
But Mighty Huang Pill was different. Its effects were closer to the Lotus Flame Seed, and it wouldn't cause instability or side effects. That made it perfect for the moment.
Soon, Xiao Yan would break through to three-star Dou Huang, swallow Mighty Huang Pill, and then refine the Sea Heart Flame.
And when that happened—the title of Dou Zong would no longer be out of reach.
(End of Chapter)
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