With Jia Nan Academy's full effort, seizing the opportunity before the major forces could react, they swiftly conquered several cities, all of which were once renowned existences in the Black-Corner Region.
The Black-Corner Region was shaken.
Jia Nan Academy's actions astonished the desperadoes of the Black-Corner Region.
Many years later, Jia Nan Academy once again demonstrated its strength as a hegemonic power to the people of the Black-Corner Region.
Some people who didn't know the truth even thought that Jia Nan Academy had gone mad. Wouldn't Jia Nan Academy's actions provoke retaliation from the masters of these forces?
However, when news of the deaths of the leaders of these major forces arrived, everyone was incredulous.
Especially after learning that Earth Demon Lao Gui, the founder of Demon Flame Valley and a Seven-Star Dou Zong, had fallen, they were even more speechless with shock.
Since then, after the ten strongest individuals on the Black-Corner Region's Black List had successively perished...
The forces of the Black-Corner Region fled in droves, fearing that if they ran too slowly, they would be completely eradicated by Jia Nan Academy.
Black Emperor Sect, Blood Wolf Gang, and even Maple City, which had rapidly expanded within a year, lost all fighting spirit after learning of their leaders' deaths. They were so terrified that they didn't even have time to loot their treasures and simply fled.
From then on, Jia Nan Academy, which was already difficult to provoke, had its danger level raised by several more tiers by the people of the Black-Corner Region.
At the same time.
Jiang Yun and Zi Yan also set foot on Demon Flame Valley's territory. After Earth Demon Lao Gui and the three Grand Elders of Demon Flame Valley fell, the remaining elders of Demon Flame Valley posed no obstacle to the two of them and were easily killed.
Looking at the desolate Demon Flame Valley, Jiang Yun felt no ripples in his heart. The law of the jungle was fully evident here.
Jiang Yun looked at Zi Yan beside him and said, "Zi Yan, it's up to you now. Find the location of Demon Flame Valley's treasure vault!"
Zi Yan tilted her small face, smiled smugly, and excitedly said, "Heh, just watch me!"
She then quickly closed her eyes. After a while, Zi Yan slowly opened her eyes and happily said, "Xiao Yun, follow me!"
With a movement of her body, Zi Yan flashed towards the depths of Demon Flame Valley. Jiang Yun, seeing this, sighed in admiration, confirming that the Treasure Hunting Dragon was indeed worthy of its reputation, and unhurriedly followed her.
Following behind Zi Yan, they passed through several winding tunnels within the valley. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at a desolate area overgrown with weeds.
Jiang Yun looked at the uncarved natural stone wall and the surrounding overgrown weeds. If there wasn't a professional leading the way, finding this place would have taken quite an effort!
Indeed, an old fox, the longer it lives, the more cunning it becomes. This Earth Demon Lao Gui had some tricks up his sleeve. But then again, if he wasn't a bit cunning, he wouldn't have been able to build such a vast foundation in this man-eating Black-Corner Region.
Zi Yan walked to a stone wall, clenched her long, fair hand into a fist, and her delicate body suddenly tensed before she fiercely smashed it forward.
In an instant, the surrounding void slightly twisted, and the air seemed to become viscous. Zi Yan's pure physical strength was terrifying!
Jiang Yun secretly compared his own pure physical strength to that of the naturally gifted Ancient Void Dragon, and found himself still a step behind!
Should he find a body refining technique to practice?
"Bang--"
The entire mountain valley's rock wall trembled slightly, and the stone wall at the center of Zi Yan's power burst had already collapsed with a roar. As rubble splattered, a deep, ten-meter-long, dark tunnel appeared.
Zi Yan then turned around, pointed at the deep tunnel, and excitedly said to Jiang Yun, "Xiao Yun, hurry, the good stuff is in here!"
Hearing Zi Yan's shout, Jiang Yun stopped pondering and walked towards the passage with Zi Yan.
Beside the passage was a long, deep stone staircase leading downwards, dark and Mysterious, with no end in sight. They walked unimpeded to the end of the stone staircase, arriving before a dusty stone door.
"I'll do it!" Zi Yan excitedly went to the stone door, let out a delicate shout, and threw a punch. The fierce punch heavily smashed into the stone door.
"Bang--" After a loud bang, the stone door exploded!
As the stone door shattered, a fierce gust of wind attacked. Jiang Yun chuckled, but had no intention of intervening, instead watching Zi Yan with amusement.
"You're really impatient!"
"Presumptuous!"
Feeling the approaching creature, Zi Yan's purple eyes flashed. With a low shout, a terrifying dragon's might surged from her body, pressing down on the attacking magical beast.
"Hiss--"
The magical beast let out a terrified shriek, its body suddenly stopped, and it looked at Zi Yan's 'petite' body with fearful eyes, its body trembling uncontrollably, not daring to be presumptuous in the slightest.
This was a Rank 5 snake-shaped magical beast. Against Zi Yan, a Rank 6 Ancient Void Dragon, just the bloodline pressure alone made the opponent dare not act presumptuously.
"Why aren't you rolling away!" Seeing the magical beast with a look of pleading, Zi Yan's eyes flashed as she reprimanded.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!!!" Upon hearing this, the opponent was as if granted a great pardon, nodding and bowing to Zi Yan repeatedly in gratitude, then ran outside without hesitation, not daring to linger for a moment.
This was just a small interlude that neither Jiang Yun nor Zi Yan paid attention to. The two walked hand in hand into the storeroom.
"There's a lot of good stuff!"
On the surrounding wooden shelves, there were countless Dou Techniques, cultivation techniques, weapons, demonic cores, and medicinal herbs. However, Jiang Yun had no interest in these. Now, probably only special Dou Techniques and cultivation techniques could pique his interest.
"Take them back to the Grand Elder!" After collecting a few medicinal herbs for refining Rank 5 and 6 Pills, Zi Yan no longer paid attention to the remaining items.
She had no objections to Jiang Yun's suggestion!
After plundering the items inside, Jiang Yun and Zi Yan continued deeper.
Eventually, they acquired an Earth Rank Mid-grade cultivation technique: Rushing Thunder Mirror, Earth-rank Dou Techniques: Startled Thunder Method, Playing with Flames Technique, a Rank 7 Demonic Core, and the refining method for the Sky Demon Puppet.
"Sky Demon Puppet: Using the deceased's body as a vessel, the soul as a guide, the demonic core as the core, and various other materials, ultimately creating a demonic puppet. It is divided into Heaven, Earth, and Human grades. The difference in grade depends on the refining materials and the refining flame. Once refined, its power is immense, and it feels no joy, sorrow, pain, or injury. It is truly a killing machine..."
Playing with the refining method for the Sky Demon Puppet in his hand, Jiang Yun secretly pondered. With the characteristics of his Holy Heavenly Demon Flame, even Pill Lightning above Seventh Grade Pills would be merely supplying energy in the future.
Logically speaking, he shouldn't need this item, but if his other plan went smoothly, this item would be quite useful!
Moreover, if a Sky Demon Puppet were refined and sold in the Pill Domain of Central Plains, it would be a highly sought-after item.
"Let's go. We've plundered all the good stuff. After we deal with a few more things back at the academy, it's time to bid farewell to the Grand Elder and the others. We should also embark on our journey to explore the continent!"
After putting away the refining method for the Sky Demon Puppet, Jiang Yun looked at Zi Yan, who was beaming with smiles, and slowly said.
"Are we finally going to the continent!" Upon hearing this, Zi Yan's face immediately showed a look of surprise. She had already wreaked havoc around Jia Nan Academy, and she had long been bored.
Now that Jiang Yun had finally decided to go to the continent, her heart immediately stirred with excitement.
"The outside world isn't that wonderful. When we get there, you're not allowed to mess around."
"What do you mean? Am I that unreliable?"
"What do you think?"
"..."
The lowest level of the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower.
With the destruction of various major forces, Jiang Yun and the others, having thoroughly plundered, also returned to the Inner Court.
This wave of sudden wealth made even Su Qian, with Jia Nan Academy's affluence, grin widely.
As for Jiang Yun, after taking a few items, he once again arrived in the magma world. After sending away the Fallen Heart Flame that came to'snuggle', Jiang Yun looked at the items before him, his eyes gleaming.
Before Jiang Yun, a Bodhi Tree, Bodhi Transformation Saliva, a remnant map of the Demonic Flame, and a mummified magical beast corpse were floating.
Jiang Yun had seen the dried corpse before; it was one from the secret realm back then. He hadn't expected it to be taken by Tungsten Iron and now, with the latter's demise, it had fallen into his hands again.
"These things, rarely seen in the outside world, you've obtained in a short time!" Qing Ming's figure slowly appeared, and he said with a hint of teasing.
"Killing and arson brings wealth. The ancients truly didn't deceive me!" Jiang Yun chuckled, saying it somewhat playfully.
"Although the pure qi of this Bodhi Tree has been used up, its inherent material can still be refined into a good item for calming the soul and nourishing qi, which has a good effect on soul power below the Spirit Realm." Qing Ming looked at Jiang Yun with a wry smile, then turned to look at the Bodhi Tree that had lost its various oddities, "However, for you, it's no longer necessary."
"Indeed!" Jiang Yun nodded, then took out a meter-long, vibrant green piece of deadwood from his storage ring. Its rich herbal fragrance around it proved that it was no ordinary item.
This was a Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood, which had the effect of enhancing soul power. Jiang Yun's soul power had long reached the peak of the Mortal Realm and had already begun absorbing spiritual energy. With just another year or two of accumulation, he could smoothly break through to the Spirit Realm.
However, now he could speed things up a bit!
Jiang Yun turned his gaze to the remaining items, muttering, "I don't need you for now, but this Heavenly Demon Phoenix can be disassembled first."
With a swipe of his palm in the air before him, the Bodhi Tree, Bodhi Transformation Saliva, and the remnant map of the Demonic Flame were put away again. Over a dozen small jade boxes then floated before him, and at the same time, with a clang, a crimson medicinal cauldron appeared on the giant rock.
The crimson medicinal cauldron was covered with various strange patterns. On its body, lifelike images of ferocious beasts were carved, with their terrifying mouths wide open.
If one listened closely, they could faintly hear some strange roars emanating from within the medicinal cauldron. This was the myriad beast cauldron, listed on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking.
Another golden legend from Han Feng's experience pack!
With a flick of his finger, the dozen jade boxes opened, and waves of exotic fragrance immediately permeated the air, making one feel refreshed.
The main ingredient for concocting the soul-enhancing medicinal liquid was the Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood, with all other medicinal herbs serving as auxiliary ingredients. For this, he had to once again thank his old friend Han Feng.
The prescription and many soul-related auxiliary herbs were his prized possessions. No wonder he was so favored by the 'protagonist'; he was indeed a top-tier gift package.
Heavenly Flame, medicinal cauldron, pill recipes—one could say that an ordinary Grade 8 Alchemist might not even be as wealthy as Han Feng.
He lightly tapped his finger, and a wisp of white flame transformed into a streak of fire and appeared inside the medicinal cauldron. The flame surged wildly within the cauldron, continuously releasing terrifying temperatures. However, no matter how much these temperatures soared, the crimson medicinal cauldron remained completely still.
"It's indeed a good item!" Jiang Yun exclaimed, simultaneously tossing over a dozen auxiliary herbs into the medicinal cauldron.
With Jiang Yun's current control over flames, refining so many auxiliary herbs at once was effortless. The flame in the cauldron instantly split into over a dozen wisps, enveloping and calcining the auxiliary herbs that had been thrown in.
The refinement didn't take much time; in just over ten minutes, all the medicinal herbs within the cauldron were refined, transforming into liquid medicinal essence.
Seeing this, Jiang Yun threw in the Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood. Although the Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood was more difficult to refine, cracks soon appeared on its surface before Jiang Yun's eyes. Faintly, an extremely subtle scent wafted out from it, and under this scent, Jiang Yun's soul immediately felt a refreshing sensation.
As time passed, the Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood was also successfully refined. Jiang Yun then added the remaining auxiliary herbs in sequence.
As the medicinal herbs were added, the dark green paste began to become clear and transparent, subtly radiating a sense of vitality. When all the medicinal essences were fully incorporated, the paste had transformed into a jade-green, viscous liquid, and a primal craving emanated from the depths of Jiang Yun's soul.
"The quality is quite good!" This craving was still within Jiang Yun's control. Jiang Yun looked at the medicinal liquid before him with satisfaction, opened his mouth, and inhaled, and the liquid flowed down Jiang Yun's throat into his abdomen.
A moment later, a cool energy directly drilled into Jiang Yun's glabella, intertwining with the soul power swirling within.
Jiang Yun only felt his head suddenly buzz. The soul power at his glabella, at this moment, swelled abruptly as if it had consumed a catalyst.
At the same time, the surrounding heaven and earth energy seemed to be stirred by something strange in that instant. And amidst the turbulence, wisps of extremely faint airflow quietly seeped out from space, then surged overwhelmingly towards Jiang Yun's glabella.
"It's here!"
Noticing the abnormality in his soul power, Jiang Yun was not flustered. Instead, he calmly circulated the soul cultivation technique passed down from his clan, absorbing the spiritual energy that was gathering from the outside world.
As spiritual energy continuously poured into Jiang Yun's glabella and was refined, it finally merged with the soul power residing there.
After half an hour of such absorption, an invisible fluctuation, imperceptible to the naked eye, quietly spread out from Jiang Yun's glabella, finally passing through the bottom of the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower and extending to the distant sky.
No one noticed any of this!
"Is this the Spiritual Realm Soul of the Dou Qi Continent? How interesting!" Qing Ming watched Jiang Yun's spreading soul power with an unperturbed gaze, saying with amusement.
Every world has its own names for realms. For him, the names weren't important; as long as Jiang Yun became powerful, that was enough.
Moreover, the hierarchical division of the Dou Qi Continent was extremely novel to Him. A Lower plane that had produced a Heavenly Sovereign was indeed worth exploring.
Soon, when the soul power returned to Jiang Yun's glabella again, his body also trembled slightly, and the pervasive soul pressure completely dissipated at this moment.
At the same time, Jiang Yun's tightly closed eyes also trembled slightly, then slowly opened.
It's coming, it's coming! More to follow!