Chapter 205: Winds Rising, Clouds Surging!
Time flowed slowly. At this moment, Yun Yi's body roared crazily. Berserk flame power transformed into a furious flame dragon, rampaging wildly through his body.
Before him, invisible barriers of extreme hardness were effortlessly broken through one after another. Once those barriers were shattered, the furious flame dragon transformed into rolling, pure Dou Qi, merging into Yun Yi's body.
In the void, Yun Yi sat cross-legged within the pitch-black flames, eyes tightly shut, expression solemn. As his strength rose, faintly, the energy of heaven and earth began to stir, eventually gathering above this plain. From afar, it resembled the peculiar spectacle of an energy tide.
To trigger an energy tide of heaven and earth with one's own Dou Qi—such strength was possessed by only a handful of individuals in this world.
With Yun Yi's current strength, he naturally couldn't match the grandeur of Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi. The energy tide he caused was countless times weaker than the ones those two had triggered.
However, for Yun Yi to be able to do this at his current level was already quite remarkable.
Right now, he had only broken through to the early stage of six-star Dou Sheng by drawing upon the endless bloodline descendants of the three clans.
The commotion Yun Yi caused naturally attracted the attention of the Hun Clan's experts. Looking up and seeing the miniature energy tide in the sky, even they couldn't help but show expressions of shock.
"Young Master Yun Yi is truly a heaven-sent genius. When he first came to our Hun Clan, he was merely a Dou Wang. Although he defeated a Dou Huang by leapfrogging levels, it was still small-scale..."
"Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he'd already advanced to Dou Sheng? And after entering the Dou Sheng level, he continues to advance triumphantly, now even breaking through to six-star Dou Sheng. Such speed is simply terrifying. Perhaps in the future, he really can reach the level of Lord Nihility, or even the Clan Head..."
"Heaven truly blesses our Hun Clan..."
Only after advancing to Dou Sheng did the onlookers realize just how astonishing Yun Yi's rate of improvement was. Let alone any talk of how many resources the clan had given him—even if they were given the same resources, none dared to confidently claim they could achieve what Yun Yi had achieved now.
Thus, as the crowd conversed, their words were filled with amazement at Yun Yi's talent. Gazing at Yun Yi's figure in the sky, their eyes were filled with deep reverence. Yun Yi's current achievements were far beyond their reach, leaving them no choice but to be completely convinced.
The surging energy tide lasted for a full ten days before gradually weakening. After another two days, the energy tide finally dissipated completely.
"Rip!"
Just as the energy tide dissipated, a pillar of black flame light suddenly shot straight up into the sky. Seen from afar, it seemed to pierce through heaven and earth, an extremely spectacular sight.
As the black flame light pillar soared into the heavens, a figure slowly rose from within it, then stepped through the void and lightly landed on the ground.
As his feet touched the earth, the light pillar also rapidly dimmed, finally vanishing between heaven and earth.
Yun Yi raised his head, looking at the now completely dissipated energy tide in the sky. His expression was calm, bearing a nonchalant and composed look. Only within his pitch-black eyes did various colors of flame radiance flicker from time to time. After a moment, they returned to calm, leaving only a profound, ultimate blackness, possessing a peculiar oppressive feeling.
"Six-star Dou Sheng..."
Yun Yi sensed the condition within his body. His face showed neither joy nor sorrow; no ripple stirred in his heart, as if the one whose strength had just taken a great leap wasn't himself.
This level made one a high-ranking existence even within the Hun Clan and Gu Clan. In slightly weaker clans like the Yan Clan or Lei Clan, he would rank within the top five.
Of course, if it truly came to a fight, Yun Yi was confident that even the older generation experts like the Hun Clan's Four Demon Saints or the Gu Clan's Three Immortals would be no match for him.
Even against the Black Annihilation King, Yun Yi had the confidence to contend.
"Nihility, it seems your judgment back then was excellent!" Atop a mountain peak, a figure stood with hands clasped behind his back. He raised his head to look at the breaking through Yun Yi and smiled faintly.
Clad in a white robe, he stood out starkly in this space whose main theme was a gloomy, black tone. Yet, no one questioned this incongruity. The gazes of the famous Hun Clan experts behind him, as they looked at him, were filled with fanaticism and awe.
One who addressed Nihility Devouring Flame so casually, and was treated with such reverence by the Hun Clan experts, could naturally only be the Hun Clan's Clan Head—Hun Tiandi.
"Haha..."
Beside Hun Tiandi, Nihility Devouring Flame, dressed in black, couldn't help but roar with laughter towards the sky. His gaze fell upon Yun Yi, and he laughed, "You also share credit for this, Hun Tiandi. Without your full support, he probably wouldn't possess his current strength."
To this, Hun Tiandi smiled noncommittally. He turned his head to gaze into the distance. Within his indifferent eyes, a trace of heat suddenly rose as he said, "News from within the Gu Clan says Xiao Yan has emerged from seclusion. It's time to gather all eight ancient jade pieces."
"He finally came out?" Nihility Devouring Flame licked his lips, then his tone shifted, speaking teasingly, "But I'm afraid you'll still have to wait a bit longer..."
"Why?" Suddenly, Hun Tiandi erupted with a terrifyingly cold aura. At this very moment, he felt that his thousand-year cherished wish was almost within reach.
Yet, Nihility Devouring Flame had chosen this exact time to tell him it wasn't yet the moment. Instantly, a terrifying killing intent rose in Hun Tiandi's heart.
Even if this person was Nihility Devouring Flame, if he obstructed his path to becoming a Dou Di, he would not let him off.
Sensing Hun Tiandi's shift, Nihility Devouring Flame inwardly shivered. However, he continued unhurriedly on the surface, explaining, "Those old fellows like Hun Sheng Tian expended quite a bit of vitality dealing with the Yan Clan last time and haven't fully recovered yet. At the fastest, it will take a month before they have enough vitality to set up the Death Realm Grand Array."
After hearing Nihility Devouring Flame's explanation, Hun Tiandi's expression instantly changed. The killing intent in his eyes vanished completely in the blink of an eye. Replacing it was a smile as pleasant as a spring breeze, "So that's it. A month's time, I can still wait."
Nihility Devouring Flame nodded, but inwardly, he couldn't help feeling a chill. Sure enough, Hun Tiandi could no longer contain his urge for the temptation of becoming a Dou Di. He himself needed to prepare a fallback plan.
Thinking this, Nihility Devouring Flame looked at the distant Yun Yi, his eyes flickering with an uncertain light.
"Right, the soul origin within the descendants of the three clans is almost refined. These should be more than enough to make up for the thousand-year deficit of the Soul Hall. Nihility," Hun Tiandi then looked at Nihility Devouring Flame and smiled, "You can finally reach the Emperor Realm soul."
"We can use this one-month gap to raise your strength a bit more. That way, our odds of victory will be even greater."
"Haha."
Hearing this, Nihility Devouring Flame's expression immediately changed, and he couldn't help but let out a great laugh. For an existence like him, generally speaking, cultivating the soul to the Emperor Realm soul was extremely difficult.
However, thanks to the Soul Hall refining so much soul origin over the years, he could use that immensely vast power of origin to forcibly push himself up.
Although this method incurred an enormous price, Nihility Devouring Flame held an extremely high position within the Hun Clan. If he was to enjoy such treatment, no one could say anything about it.
"Boom—"
Suddenly, a rift split open in the distant great hall. In the next instant, sphere after sphere of light continuously drifted out from within.
The color of these light spheres tended towards transparent and colorless. However, within them surged pure energy that could make anyone's expression change. These light spheres were none other than the soul origin the Hun Clan had collected over a millennium!
Just one sphere was enough to create an expert at the Heaven Realm Great Perfection soul level. Yet the light spheres here numbered at least a hundred...
"Jie Jie..."
Staring fixedly at the soul origin in the sky, Nihility Devouring Flame grinned. Overwhelming black flames surged violently from his body. As suction force churned, it directly pulled those numerous soul origin spheres up and into him.
The moment these soul origins touched the black flames, they were immediately devoured. As more and more soul origin was forcibly swallowed by Nihility Devouring Flame, a terrifying soul fluctuation gradually emanated from within that black figure.
"Roar!"
This fluctuation grew increasingly intense. Later on, it was practically tangible, causing the surrounding space to distort. A low roar came from Nihility Devouring Flame's mouth. Then he abruptly stood up. Instantly, a heaven-soaring soul fluctuation erupted like a volcano, overwhelmingly spreading out.
"Congratulations to Lord Nihility on entering the Emperor Realm soul!"
Sensing that heaven-soaring soul pressure, the countless black figures below immediately prostrated themselves. Voices of reverence, resonant like a landslide, echoed through this space, causing the very ground to tremble slightly.
Amidst the crowd, Yun Yi watched the high-altitude Nihility Devouring Flame with a deep, profound gaze...
Within a grand hall of the main pavilion of Starfall Pavilion, Yao Chen, Xiao Yan, and the others sat in assigned seats. Xiao Yan quietly listened as Yao Chen, Venerable Feng, and the rest recounted the events of the past two years, one by one...
"The Hun Clan..." Even though he had already learned of the Hun Clan's movements over the past two years in the Gu Clan, hearing it again, Xiao Yan still felt a heavy pressure bearing down on him.
"Since we're going to war with the Hun Clan, even with the three-clan alliance, as the holder of the ancient jade, you must have your own voice within the three clans. This matter of allying with the Pill Tower that you mentioned..."
"Is feasible." Yao Chen nodded after thinking it over, essentially approving Xiao Yan's idea.
"Over the years, the Soul Hall has committed numerous heinous acts to collect souls. In the past, out of fear of their strength, the Pill Tower didn't dare to wage full-scale war. Now, with the three clans leading the charge, it's unlikely the Pill Tower will refuse," Xiao Yan said with a smile.
"Aside from the Pill Tower, the Flower Sect and the Burning Flame Valley are also good choices. Both hold extremely high prestige in the Central Plains. If they join the alliance together, they'll certainly bring many other sects persecuted by the Soul Hall into the fold. Combined, this power is quite formidable," Yao Chen mused for a moment before slowly speaking.
"Then I'll have to trouble Teacher in that regard!" Xiao Yan's expression stirred, and his tone turned somewhat teasing as he looked at Yao Chen.
At his current level, even if Yao Chen didn't bring it up, he had heard some rumors about Yao Chen's past romantic entanglements.
"You little rascal..." Hearing this, Yao Chen's face darkened, and he cursed with rare embarrassment and irritation.
"Hehe..." Xiao Yan, seeing this, subconsciously protected his head. But when he saw Yao Chen wasn't about to strike, he chuckled sheepishly.
Seeing this, Yao Chen laughed in spite of himself, "I do have some ties with the Flower Sect; it won't be difficult to resolve. Within the Burning Flame Valley, there is still an old ancestor. That old fellow suffered a severe injury in his youth, leaving behind lingering effects. If we can resolve this problem, knowing his temperament, getting the Burning Flame Valley to join the alliance won't be difficult either."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan slowly nodded, a glimmer of enthusiasm in his eyes. The stronger the alliance, the greater their chance of defeating the Hun Clan. This made Xiao Yan's heart surge with excitement, and he couldn't wait to speak, "No time to lose, let's set out immediately!"
"Wait... Your teacher just recalled that there's another person to consider regarding the Pill Tower," Yao Chen suddenly reached out to stop the eager Xiao Yan and spoke in a serious tone.
"Who?" Xiao Yan suppressed his excitement upon hearing this and looked at Yao Chen curiously.
"Jiang Yun!" Yao Chen slowly uttered a name both familiar and strange to the group.
"It's him!" Xiao Yan's expression stirred. He murmured the name of this peerless prodigy who had once dominated the continent. It had been several years since any news of him; he wondered where he was now.
What was his strength?
However, feeling the surging power within his body, Xiao Yan was confident that he was now inferior to no one.
"According to Xuan Kongzi, although the Pill Tower hasn't had news of him for several years either, the Pill Tower Ancestor asserts he's still alive. That being the case, given his talent, his current strength must have reached an extremely profound level. He also wields significant influence in the Pill Tower. His stance must be taken into consideration," Yao Chen nodded and slowly added.
"Teacher, your disciple is confident he is inferior to no one!" Xiao Yan's voice was light and calm, yet contained a powerful self-assurance.
Yao Chen was taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled, his aged face full of gratification. Having a disciple like this, heaven had not treated him poorly.
At the top floor of the Pill Tower, the three great heads of the Pill Tower were gathered. Xuan Kongzi looked at the letter in his hand, turned to Xuan Yi and Tian Leizi, and said, "Yao Chen wants to form an alliance. The three imperial clans together will deal with the Hun Clan."
"An alliance... This matter is somewhat troublesome. You know how stubborn a few of those old fellows are," Tian Leizi frowned after hearing Xuan Kongzi's words.
"Those old fellows are just pedantic. With the three clans allied, even if the Hun Clan had three heads and six arms, they'd inevitably meet defeat. If we don't seize this opportunity to avenge the alchemists who have died over the years, what face does our Pill Tower have left to call itself a sacred land of alchemy?" Xuan Yi retorted with disdain, clearly scornful of those Tian Leizi mentioned.
"In a war of this level, even a Dou Sheng can only barely protect themselves... This matter is of grave importance. We should ask the ancestor to decide," Xuan Kongzi and Tian Leizi exchanged glances and smiled wryly, shaking their heads. Finally, Xuan Kongzi spoke with a solemn expression.
"What matter actually requires disturbing the ancestor?"
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I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation for a rather rare fandom. It's a crossover based on Mondaiji (Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?)
Mondaiji: Am I A Dragon Species? https://www.webnovel.com/book/36661423108025005