When Zi Yan and Qing Lin, riding atop the Winged Serpent King, arrived at the Blood Sect, they immediately saw Lin Yuan sitting atop the main hall, casually flipping through a blood-colored scroll.
Sensing their arrival, Lin Yuan smiled and waved at them. Then, somewhat reluctantly, he put away the blood-red scroll in his hand.
This scroll had been taken from Fan Lao's storage ring. Although Lin Yuan had no intention of cultivating its techniques, its contents had given him considerable inspiration. While Fan Lao's strength appeared rather average in Lin Yuan's eyes, the "Blood Sea" cultivation system he possessed, comprising cultivation techniques, Dou Techniques, and secret arts, formed a complete inheritance with unique merits.
Within this inheritance:
The cultivation method Blood God Art could refine Blood Dou Qi, making it stronger than ordinary Dou Qi.
The secret technique Blood Transformation could enhance speed through blood vitality.
The secret technique Blood Escape could drastically increase speed by consuming a large amount of one's own blood vitality.
The secret technique Blood Memory could extract images refined from blood.
And the Earth-class Dou Technique Great Blood Devouring Bodhisattva demonstrated an exquisite mastery over the use of blood vitality energy.
Although Lin Yuan had no intention of cultivating this unorthodox inheritance, it had significantly broadened his understanding of blood vitality energy. For someone like him, whose blood vitality was already exceptionally powerful, there were aspects worth studying and integrating to complement his own strengths.
Shaking off his thoughts, Lin Yuan looked at Zi Yan and chuckled.
"Zi Yan, I'll leave the treasure hunting to you next."
At this point, there were no longer any powerful auras left within the Blood Sect. Lin Yuan had already exterminated all the upper echelon figures, including the elders and the Young Sect Master.
As he spoke, Lin Yuan walked over to Han Feng, who was unconscious and tightly bound by the Winged Serpent King's tail. After confirming that the Heavenly Flame Seal was still functioning properly and could last for another day, he casually delivered another punch to ensure Han Feng remained in a deep coma.
Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Zi Yan puffed out her small chest and pounded it confidently.
"Hehe, when it comes to treasure hunting, of course you rely on me!"
As she spoke, she sniffed the air slightly, then pointed toward a building below.
"Over there. Follow me."
Under Zi Yan's guidance, the three not only successfully located the Blood Sect's treasury but also discovered a hidden treasure vault.
From these two locations, they obtained a massive haul of medicinal ingredients, Magic Cores, cultivation techniques, and Dou Techniques.
Among these, the most valuable gains for Lin Yuan were several medicinal ingredients required to refine the Yin-Yang Dragon Mysterious Pill, as well as the main ingredient for the Sixth-Grade pill Dragon Blood Mysterious Spirit Pill, the Blood Soul Jade Ganoderma.
Zi Yan stared at the mountain of medicinal ingredients before her, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hehe… all mine, all mine…"
Seeing this, Lin Yuan lightly tapped her on the head and laughed.
"Stop daydreaming. We still have several more places to visit."
Soon after, several streaks of light shot out from the Blood Sect and sped toward Maple City.
Not long after, within the square inside Maple City's bamboo forest.
Lin Yuan looked at the massive crimson medicinal cauldron before him. As he ran his hand over the lifelike beast carvings on its surface, a trace of heat flashed in his eyes.
"The Ten Thousand Beast Cauldron finally in my hands. Han Feng, Han Feng I really must thank you."
As he spoke, Lin Yuan stored the cauldron into his storage ring, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.
For an alchemist, a good cauldron was no different from a divine weapon. A cauldron ranked on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking was something that could only be encountered by chance, not sought after.
Lin Yuan himself had always used mass-produced ordinary cauldrons for pill refinement. He had long lost count of how many had been destroyed during his alchemy process.
This trip to Maple City, just obtaining the Ten Thousand Beast Cauldron alone made it entirely worthwhile.
What puzzled Lin Yuan was how Han Feng, who was publicly only a Sixth-Grade alchemist, had managed to obtain and keep such a treasure. After all, the number of Seventh-Grade and above alchemists far exceeded the number of cauldrons on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking.
Just as Lin Yuan was deep in thought, Zi Yan's voice rang out.
"Lin Yuan! Lin Yuan! Come quickly, I found something good!"
Hearing her, Lin Yuan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled faintly.
"No use overthinking it."
He then walked toward her.
In Maple City, the three of them obtained even greater gains than in the Blood Sect.
Within a single day, Lin Yuan led Zi Yan and Qing Lin to successively visit the Black Skeleton Sect, Heavenly Fiend Poison Sect, and Blade Shadow Sect.
He eliminated the upper echelons and experts of each faction, looted their treasuries, and took away their corpses.
Two Days Later, A Valley in the Black-Corner Region
More than a dozen corpses lay scattered across the ground.
Anyone familiar with the Black-Corner Region would immediately recognize them—these were the experts from the Dou Emperor-level factions: Blood Sect, Earth Fire Sect, Black Skeleton Sect, Heavenly Fiend Poison Sect, and Blade Shadow Sect.
Suddenly, a strange black mist drifted over and hovered above the corpses. Within the mist, a faint shadowy figure could be seen.
"Jie jie jie~"
A chilling laugh echoed from the mist, its hoarse voice filled with delight.
"My luck is incredible! The secret technique's sensing was accurate, there really are so many high-quality souls here!"
"I don't know who left these fresh corpses here, but this is truly heaven helping me. So many fresh, high-quality Dou King and Dou Emperor souls, this is enough for me to make a great contribution."
"If I encounter opportunities like this a few more times, I might even be promoted to Protector."
As the words fell, a black chain shot out from the mist, instantly piercing into one of the corpses.
Strangely, the chain passed through the body without causing any damage. Instead, it forcibly dragged out a translucent figure—the soul of Fan Lao.
Within the darkness, the Dou King-level Soul Hall envoy looked at the soul with anticipation. He was waiting for it to awaken and recount how glorious and powerful it had been in life.
Then, as always, he would respond with his well-practiced line.
"Jie jie jie no matter how powerful you were in life, once you become a soul, you are prey of my Soul Hall."
Capturing such souls and watching their shock and terror was one of the few pleasures in his dull existence.
However things did not go as expected.
The moment Fan Lao's soul saw the familiar black mist, he shouted angrily.
"You damned black mist bastards, why is it me again?!"
As if suddenly realizing something, before the Soul Envoy could speak, Fan Lao looked at him with a pitiful expression and said with schadenfreude.
"Come to think of it, you're unlucky too. You chose me? Serves you right."
Just as the Soul Envoy was confused, a silver streak flashed across the distance, and a figure instantly appeared before him.
It was Lin Yuan.
Looking at the Dou King-level Soul Envoy, Lin Yuan revealed a satisfied smile.
"That makes three. With this one, I'll have enough experimental materials for now. Keeping Han Feng alive was indeed useful, his method for locating Soul Envoys works quite well."
"You dare attack me? I am a member of the Soul Hall!" the Soul Envoy shouted as he retreated rapidly, attempting to escape.
However Lin Yuan's figure flickered, as if traversing space itself, and instantly appeared in front of him.
In the next moment, an overwhelming surge of green flame swept forward like a tidal wave, instantly enveloping the Soul Envoy within a blazing fire barrier.
With a thought from Lin Yuan, the fire barrier rapidly contracted. The black mist surrounding the Soul Envoy was burned away completely, revealing its true form, a drifting soul body.
Lin Yuan calmly took out an exquisite jade bottle and gave it a light wave.
An invisible suction force instantly drew the soul into the bottle.
With another thought, he activated the Fallen Heart Flame sub-flame within his body.
Immediately, an invisible layer of flame enveloped the jade bottle, sealing it completely.
The Soul Envoy struggled to break free, but the moment it touched the invisible flame, a shrill scream rang out. Its soul body dimmed noticeably, as if it had suffered severe damage.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan's lips curved slightly into a satisfied smile.
"Excellent, the Fallen Heart Flame is indeed extraordinarily effective against souls."
After storing the jade bottle into his storage ring, Lin Yuan returned Fan Lao's soul back into his corpse, then collected the bodies lying on the ground one by one. These corpses and souls would most likely prove useful later when researching the secret techniques and methods of the Hall of Souls.
Lin Yuan's gaze shifted toward a certain direction within the Black-Corner Region, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"The samples are sufficient. There are only three months left until the three-year agreement it's time to set out."
Not long after, the Flying Winged Snake King carried the three of them as it sped toward the Jia Ma Empire, disappearing into the vast horizon.
Chu Yun Empire Poison Swamp of the Nether Venom
The Sect Leader of the Poison Sect, the Little Fairy Doctor, had already entered the Poison Swamp for a full month. The Poison Sect's experts, stationed at the outer perimeter under orders, had also been guarding the area for the same duration.
From time to time, they glanced toward the center of the swamp, their eyes filled with both worry and anticipation.
The worry stemmed from the fact that their Sect Leader had been inside this terrifying land of lethal poison for an entire month.
The anticipation, however, came from the increasingly powerful aura emanating from the depths of the swamp, even from far away, they could vaguely sense it.
At the very core of the swamp, the Little Fairy Doctor sat quietly upon a green stone, her eyes tightly shut, her hands forming cultivation seals.
Under her guidance, the terrifying miasmic poison and vast natural energy within the swamp surged toward her like tidal waves, pouring into her body.
Once these toxin-laden energies entered her body, they were refined by a purple flame within her.
A portion was converted into pure natural energy, then transformed by her cultivation technique into refined Dou Qi, which was absorbed by her flesh.
The remaining portion, under the tempering of the purple flame, was condensed into even more potent toxic energy, which accumulated within the flame itself.
This purple flame was none other than the Nether Poison Flame that the Little Fairy Doctor had refined.
After being absorbed by a host of the Woeful Poison Body, the origin flame of the Nether Poison Flame underwent a strange transformation. Not only did its toxicity surge due to its fusion with the Woeful Poison Body, but its color also changed, from its original green to a deep purple.
During this period, the Nether Poison Flame's accumulated toxic energy, built up over thousands upon thousands of years—was gradually digested and absorbed by the Little Fairy Doctor's Woeful Poison Body, causing her strength to skyrocket.
In just one month, her cultivation had undergone a drastic transformation.
A month ago, she had only been a two-star Dou Emperor.
Now, her aura had risen to the peak of an eight-star Dou Emperor.
Such an astonishing leap was enough to leave anyone dumbfounded.
However, her growth did not stop there.
A few days later, the massive Dou Qi within her body suddenly began to boil. The purple flames burned fiercely, as if they intended to ignite the entire swamp.
Her aura surged once more, breaking through the limits of a nine-star Dou Emperor and directly reaching the peak of the Dou Emperor class.
Her body seemed to transform into a massive vortex, continuously absorbing the immense natural energy and poisonous miasma of the swamp. Under the refinement of the Nether Poison Flame and the Woeful Poison Body, these energies were converted into fuel for her cultivation, rapidly raising her realm.
However, upon reaching the peak of Dou Emperor, her advancement came to an abrupt halt.
At the same time, she sensed the thick bottleneck between Dou Emperor and Dou Ancestor ahead of her.
She understood.
Although this swamp was filled with poison and energy, it was still not enough to support a breakthrough into the Dou Ancestor class.
Realizing this, the seals in her hands shifted, and the gathering energy and miasma gradually dispersed.
"So this is as far as I go, the bottleneck from Dou Emperor to Dou Ancestor?"
The Little Fairy Doctor slowly opened her eyes. A thoughtful glint flickered within her grey-purple pupils.
"No, it's not just the bottleneck between Dou Emperor and Dou Ancestor. It's also the bottleneck from the small completion to the great completion of the Woeful Poison Body."
At this thought, her expression grew slightly complicated.
Taking one more step forward meant she would have to face the cruel fate of the Woeful Poison Body head-on.
"So be it. There's no turning back now. I'll take it one step at a time."
"Next, I'll eliminate the opposing factions and continue expanding the Poison Sect. I'll also keep gathering resources and information and see if there's a way to resolve the Woeful Poison Body."
Having made her decision, her figure flickered as she left the center of the Poison Swamp.
At the same time, she once again entered her cold, ruthless state as the Heaven Poison Woman.
She slowly stepped out from the poisonous miasma, as if merging with it, yet also standing apart, like a solitary bloom within the toxic haze.
Her white hair flowed like a waterfall, dancing in the wind, giving her an otherworldly aura.
Her slender waist and graceful figure were mesmerizing, while several purple flame butterflies danced around her, exuding both allure and danger.
Most captivating of all were her grey-purple eyes, deep and mysterious, as if they contained endless poison and power.
As she approached the crowd, her gaze swept over them, and all of them felt an unprecedented pressure.
When they sensed the powerful aura emanating from her, they could not help but gasp.
They could clearly feel that their Sect Leader was several times stronger than she had been a month ago.
That aura felt as if it could devour everything, inspiring both fear and reverence.
"Heaven Poison Woman!"
Someone shouted first, and soon everyone followed, their voices filled with fanaticism and worship.
Hearing their cries, the Little Fairy Doctor raised her fair right hand and pressed lightly downward in the air.
Instantly, silence fell.
Her cold voice rang out.
"Return to the sect. My strength has greatly advanced, it is time to continue expanding the Poison Sect."
"From now on, any who refuse to submit will be annihilated."
High in the sky, the enormous Flying Winged Snake King cut through the air, heading toward the Jia Ma Empire.
On its back, Zi Yan was fast asleep, digesting the medicinal power within her body.
A few days earlier, they had seized the accumulated wealth of six Dou Emperor-level factions in the Black-Corner Region. Among those treasures were several heavenly materials and earthly treasures well-suited for Zi Yan. After consuming them, she gained significant benefits and was now refining their effects.
Lin Yuan handed a green jade scroll to Qing Lin.
"Qing'er, familiarize yourself with this. It will be very useful for you in the future."
Qing Lin took the scroll and saw several small characters engraved on the jade shaft:
Shadow Clone — Seventh Edition
"Young Master, this is…?" Qing Lin looked at Lin Yuan in surprise and delight.
"Yes, Shadow Clone."
Lin Yuan smiled, gently patting her head.
"I know you've always wanted to learn this. Your soul strength is now nearly sufficient to cultivate it. You should be able to control one clone to assist yourself."
"I'll help you complete the initial stage of cultivation during this journey."
"That's wonderful, Young Master!"
Qing Lin's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, filled with excitement.
She had long been looking forward to learning the Shadow Clone technique.
Just like Lin Yuan in the past, she had far too many things to manage cultivation, formations, Dou Techniques, development of the Pupils, optimization of the Heavenly Network, and more.
She was constantly short on time.
Seeing her excitement, Lin Yuan chuckled softly.
"Study it first. After that, I'll teach you some key techniques. Try to master one clone before we reach the Jia Ma Empire."
Qing Lin immediately sat down cross-legged, preparing to absorb the information from the scroll.
Lin Yuan then looked toward several other figures nearby.
They were his clones, each carrying out different tasks.
One clone was fully operating the Heavenly Heart Soul Art to gather spiritual energy.
Another was studying the pill formulas seized from Han Feng.
Another was analyzing intelligence and secret techniques obtained from captured Hall of Souls envoys.
Yet another was researching the half-scroll of the Flame Mantra taken from Han Feng.
After surveying everything, Lin Yuan's main body also sat down cross-legged and entered cultivation.
----
For additional chapter's
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu