After marrying Xiao Yixian, Xiao Yan's relationship with her grew even more intimate. Of course, this intimacy wasn't merely about how they addressed each other—they did try calling each other "husband" and "wife" a few times, but both found it too mushy and reverted back to calling each other by their names.
Originally, he had planned to investigate the large beast den that Ye Xiaolian had mentioned, but he decided to stay put out of concern for Xiao Yixian. Without the map, others couldn't find the place anyway, so he wasn't in a rush. Truthfully, he had almost forgotten about it himself...
As always, Xiao Yan continued refining the resistance within the Bone Spirit Cold Flame while cultivating his Dou Qi. Xiao Yixian, on the other hand, took care of his daily life with a gentle, caring demeanor—like a virtuous wife. The feeling of "home" she brought moved something deep in Xiao Yan's heart, especially since his previous life had been filled with nothing but battle and fleeing.
'This sense of home... I've never had that before.' He even thought to himself, 'Maybe staying like this a while longer wouldn't be so bad?' With that, he delayed his plan to return to Wu Tan City. After all, after a lifetime of fighting, didn't he deserve a little peace?
Through continued effort, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame had become significantly more obedient. Though there was still resistance, Xiao Yan could now handle it with ease. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated—the flame had stayed with Yao Lao for far too long, and Yao Lao's strength had far surpassed his own. It made sense that the flame remained so defiant.
Even so, Xiao Yan was confident that with enough time, the resistance would weaken entirely. Once that happened, he would refine the Bone Spirit Cold Flame using Flame Mantra. While the energy might not be enough to elevate the technique to the Heaven Rank, it should at least push it to the peak of the Earth Rank.
What surprised Xiao Yan most was that during this period of cultivation, he unexpectedly broke through to the Dou Zun realm. There was no thunderous explosion of power or massive energy storms—just a calm, natural progression, like drinking water.
'This speed is insane...' Even he found it hard to believe. Back when he was breaking through to Dou Huang, he'd spent nearly a year, and the barrier to Dou Zun was far tougher than that.
He had initially prepared himself mentally to spend months breaking through and had even thought about leveraging the Bone Spirit Cold Flame's power. But unexpectedly, his breakthrough came sooner than the flame's resistance could even be completely wiped out.
Though he had refined the Fallen Heart Flame and upgraded Flame Mantra to High Earth Rank, that alone didn't explain this sudden leap. What Xiao Yan didn't realize was that while the breakthrough wasn't due directly to the Fallen Heart Flame's acceleration effects, it was indirectly related.
After refining the flame, his body began constantly generating Heart Flame, which continually refined his Dou Qi, keeping him in an ever-active state of cultivation. More importantly, it activated and extracted remnants of energy that had long been buried deep in his body.
Back when he first started training in Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan had refined a black flame. The unabsorbed energy from that process had remained dormant. Later, when he absorbed the blood of the Black Flame Cloud Carving Beast and evolved the flame into the true Nine Nether Flame, more energy had been stored.
Added to that were residual energies from various pills and natural treasures he'd consumed, as well as the power of the Dan Thunder and the crimson pearl—energy that had remained largely untapped until now. The Heart Flame's refining properties brought it all out at once.
That massive burst of stored energy was what propelled him through the Dou Zong barrier into the Dou Zun realm.
Meanwhile, in a distant part of the continent, Nalan Yanran was earnestly training to reach the level of Five-Star Dou Zhe.
After his breakthrough, Xiao Yan relaxed his cultivation a bit and shifted his focus fully to taming the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. In his spare time, he kept Xiao Yixian company.
As for Xiao Yixian, she didn't think much about that vivid dream she had. She assumed it was just the result of hearing too many stories from Xiao Yan and her mind conjuring up a dramatic dream out of it. Even if it felt real, she chalked it up to "Heavenly Poison Woman" paying her a visit in her dreams.
Besides, upon waking, most of the dream's details had faded—except for her memories involving the Wrathful Demon Saint. She had no idea that the Heavenly Poison Woman in the dream was actually herself and that those events had once truly happened.
Xiao Yan didn't know about the dream either, though he did notice something different about her. She clung to him more tightly than before, and her behavior... felt oddly familiar. A few of her habits now bore a striking resemblance to those of the Heavenly Poison Woman from his previous life.
When he gently questioned her, Xiao Yixian told him about the dream. As she described it, Xiao Yan grew quiet. As the person who had lived that life, he knew all too well—it wasn't a dream. It was a memory. But he didn't expose her. He merely ran his hand through her hair and smiled.
"Just a dream," he said softly.
"I know it's just a dream," Xiao Yixian murmured from his arms. "But it felt so real. Do you think it might have been Heavenly Poison Sister sending me a message? But here's the weirdest part: why did the Wrathful Demon Saint in the dream look exactly like you? Did he visit me too?"
"..."
Xiao Yan remained silent. 'I don't remember having the power to appear in dreams.'
"It must be because we helped them get married," Xiao Yixian said with a giggle. "They probably came to thank me in my dreams. Say, when we name our children in the future, should we use their names to honor them?"
"No need for that..." Xiao Yan's mouth twitched. "And don't you think it's a bit early to talk about kids?"
"Better to plan ahead! If we pick names now, we can decide how many we want later!" Xiao Yixian clung to him, snuggling closer. "Say... do you think that Wrathful Demon Saint liked the Heavenly Poison Woman?"
She'd asked this once before, but now—somehow—the question felt different. Xiao Yan felt like it wasn't Xiao Yixian asking, but the woman from his past, standing in front of him once more.
This time, he didn't dodge the question.
He gave a slight nod.
"Probably."
"I knew it," Xiao Yixian beamed, her smile lighting up her entire face. She didn't know why, but Xiao Yan's answer made her heart fill with joy. And once again, he hadn't disappointed her.
(End of Chapter)
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