29: Chapter 29 Fighting Spirits

Early morning, Mo Tie Mercenary Group.

Xiao Yan held an earth fire lotus seed in his hand; this substance, known as the Essence of the Fire Spirit, only forms once every hundred years and contains an immense amount of energy.

Today, Xiao Yan intended to use it to achieve a Breakthrough to Dou Ling, and then head deep into the desert to steal the Green Lotus Core Flame.

"Whew!" Xiao Yan exhaled and swallowed the earth fire lotus seed in one gulp.

The moment the earth fire lotus seed entered his mouth, a massive and pure surge of fire-attribute energy began to pour frantically into Xiao Yan's body.

With a flushed face, Xiao Yan forcibly digested the fire-attribute energy within his Meridians.

The blazing energy of the earth fire lotus seed was even more massive than imagined, but under Xiao Yan's control, it steadily followed the Flame Mantra's cultivation path, rushing rapidly into the Dou Zhi Qi cyclone and accelerating its rotation.

However, Xiao Yan's incredibly resilient Meridians and his far-beyond-average Dou Zhi Qi cyclone were still able to withstand this pure energy.

As the Dou Zhi Qi cyclone refined it, the dense green fire-attribute energy was continuously refined into liquid, entering the dou crystal within Xiao Yan that was several times larger than a normal person's.

As the energy gradually flooded in, the diamond-shaped dou crystal began to deform, trembling incessantly as cone-like structures sprouted out, turning the dou crystal into a "sea urchin" shape.

Within the cyclone, the sea urchin dou crystal emitted a blinding purple light and continuously made a pulsing sound similar to a heartbeat; when the pulsing sound synchronized with Xiao Yan's own heartbeat, an extremely powerful ripple of Dou Qi suddenly expanded outward.

It passed through the cyclone, through the Meridians, through the skin, and then suddenly erupted!

"Boom!"

The room was instantly wrecked by this energy ripple, leaving a complete mess!

Yet, there was still residual energy from the earth fire lotus seed.

Xiao Yan was indifferent to the changes around him, continuing to refine the earth fire lotus seed: one-star, two-star, three-star, four-star...

Xiao Yan frowned slightly; the Dou Qi of a three-star Dou Ling was relatively solid, but by the time it reached four-star, it became somewhat unstable and superficial.

"Get back down!"

Xiao Yan exhaled a breath of air, purple tinged with a bit of green—that was the energy from the earth fire lotus seed that hadn't been fully converted yet.

Only after compressing it back to a three-star Dou Ling did Xiao Yan slowly exhale.

He stood up and stretched his limbs vigorously.

"Hmm~ I'll set out in a bit."

Pushing open the door, the scorching sun shone on Xiao Yan's face; he looked up at the blazing sun and then walked slowly toward the meeting hall.

In the meeting hall, Xiao Yan called for Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin.

"Little Yan, are you leaving already?" Xiao Li asked.

"Yes, since I already know where the Heavenly Flame is, I naturally have to go and take it back!" Xiao Yan said with a determined gaze.

"That is the Queen of the Snake-People, Queen Medusa. Little Yan, you... remember to act with caution," Xiao Ding said, hesitating before finally speaking.

"Haha, don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Xiao Yan said with a light laugh.

Taking out dozens of bottles of top-grade healing medicine and Qi-replenishing Medicinal Pills from his storage ring, Xiao Yan continued, "If there are no accidents, the first group from the Xiao Family will arrive in three months at most. Prepare in advance, and then settle a portion of them in other countries. Specific arrangements will be handled by someone who will come to meet you then."

"No problem, I will arrange a place for them in advance," Xiao Ding said with a serious face. Although he didn't know why Xiao Yan was making such arrangements, seeing Xiao Yan's performance over the past few days, this was definitely not child's play!

"Yes, I will come back after some time to refine a batch of spare Medicinal Pills. Take this money and prepare a batch of Materials first," Xiao Yan said, taking out a pale gold card.

Turning his gaze to Qing Lin, Xiao Yan thought for a while and said, "Qing Lin, although you didn't help me find the Heavenly Flame, you did find clues and precious items I could use. Therefore, my previous promise still stands. Tell me whatever wish you have, and I will fulfill it to the best of my ability."

Hearing this, Qing Lin lowered her eyelids and stammered, "Young Master Xiao Yan, Qing Lin doesn't have any wishes..."

Xiao Yan frowned at her words. If Qing Lin remained here, she would attract the capture of the Mo Family, and then people from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion would also get involved, bringing a certain level of risk to this place.

Therefore, Qing Lin could no longer stay in Stone Desert City. Not only that, if Qing Lin cooperated enough, she could also provide an extremely solid barrier for the Xiao Family.

Thus, Xiao Yan said beyond dispute, "Then let's do this: follow me for a while, and when you've thought of a wish, tell me then."

"Ah? Young Master... Xiao Yan..."

"What, are you unwilling?" Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, his tone becoming somewhat unfriendly.

Xiao Ding watched from the side and shook his head, while Xiao Li slapped his forehead. Little Yan, when did you learn to threaten a girl?

"No, it's not that, Young Master Xiao Yan. Qing Lin just finds it a bit unexpected..." Qing Lin lowered her head and whispered.

"Don't worry, I won't take you with me when I go to find Queen Medusa this time, and I will find a suitable place for you to Cultivate," Xiao Yan said, his expression softening as he saw Qing Lin lowering her head, not daring to speak.

He would first settle Qing Lin with Hai Bodong. If the Mo Family discovered Qing Lin, then Hai Bodong and Qing Lin could at least escape; if it was the Heavenly Serpent Mansion that found her, then he would simply let them take her away.

After finalizing the plan, Xiao Yan said, "Time is short, let's set out now."

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li saw Xiao Yan out of Stone Desert City, and Xiao Yan had Qing Lin summon the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake to serve as a mount.

"Haha, that little fellow is really surprising now. It seems we have to work hard too, or else we'll only hold him back in the future..." Xiao Ding said as he watched Xiao Yan and Qing Lin depart.

"Indeed, the current Little Yan is truly mysterious. I wonder what he has actually gone through. But what does it matter? He's still that same little fellow!" Xiao Li also remarked, watching Xiao Yan's figure.

In front of the gate, the two looked at each other and laughed out loud.

...

After chatting with Qing Lin along the way and having his fill of riding her pet, Xiao Yan headed deep into the desert without stopping. That place was the territory of the Snake-People tribes and the location of Queen Medusa.

The harsh weather in the desert was unpredictable; even though Xiao Yan was now a Dou Ling expert, he still spent nearly half his time walking.

After all, flying in such a massive sandstorm made it easy to lose one's direction, so it wasn't a good choice.

"This hellish weather, it's my first time encountering it. It would be great if I had a mount," Xiao Yan couldn't help but complain while facing the filling yellow sand.

Xiao Yan took out a map and carefully compared his position, his finger moving slowly past several red dots representing danger, before stopping at another red dot that also represented danger.

This safe main route also had Snake-People experts, so he needed to take a detour.

"Sigh, bad luck, the water simply isn't enough." Xiao Yan was somewhat helpless; even though he had prepared plenty of water in advance, only a few flasks were left.

There was only one oasis nearby. Xiao Yan knew that a Snake-Person Dou Wang would likely be bathing there, but since his current timing was a few days off from the original plot, it shouldn't be such a coincidence.

After some thought, Xiao Yan decided to go get water. Within a five-hundred-mile radius, this was the only place to get water; if he missed it, he might have to go rob a Snake-Person tribe.

Haha, robbing water from a Snake-Person tribe would be far too disgraceful...