Word Count: 2,826 Words
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All nine heads of the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent stared fixedly at the Nine Serene Yellow Spring below. Its eighteen inverted triangular pupils held a glint of greed and nostalgia.
In ages past, it too had been counted among the Ancient Heaven Serpent race. The Nine Serene Yellow Spring was ideally suited for serpent-type magical beasts to temper their bodies. Cultivating here would undoubtedly help it recover a significant portion of its former strength.
When Yao Xiaotian acknowledged Yao Ming's identity, many tribe leaders from throughout the Beast Region couldn't hide their astonishment.
"Holy shit?! That's Yao Ming! Didn't he disappear hundreds of years ago after suffering Qi Deviation? So he's been cultivating beneath the Nine Serene Yellow Spring this entire time!"
"Hehe, he was indeed beneath the Yellow Spring, but whether he was actually cultivating is another matter entirely. Looking at him now, it seems more like he was imprisoned."
"This is going to be quite the show. Who would've thought the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe still had this card up their sleeve? Looks like the Yan Alliance might return empty-handed after all."
"That remains to be seen."
Several Beast Region experts wore meaningful smiles, particularly those familiar with the Yan Alliance. They knew full well that the alliance still had another heavyweight in reserve.
The Yan Alliance's Xiao Yan!
Initiator of the Yan Alliance Treaty, champion of the Pill Gathering! Those who truly knew Xiao Yan were well aware that his prowess extended far beyond alchemy. His personal strength placed him among the Dou Qi Continent's absolute top-tier geniuses. He had slain Tian He Zi, a Nine-Change Dou Venerate!
And that had been more than half a year ago.
Sure enough, not long after Yao Ming emerged, the temperature within the deep chasm housing the Nine Serene Yellow Spring, originally bone-chillingly cold and damp, began climbing in an eerie, unnatural way.
"Hm?" Yao Ming frowned and turned toward the Shuttle Space Boat. Space in that direction warped and twisted, intense heat radiating outward from the vessel.
"A Dou Saint! Another Dou Saint has arrived!!"
A voice rang out from the void. "From today onward, this land belongs to the Snake-People Tribe. Your Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe can scram, or be made to scram."
A black-robed man stepped out of thin air with a faint smile and positioned himself at Cai Lin's side. He gestured toward her. "This is the true Queen of the snake tribes."
Xiao Yan's early-stage 1-star Dou Saint aura flared violently. Waves of searing heat erupted from his body, instantly shattering all the cold air enveloping the Shuttle Space Boat.
"It's Xiao Yan!" someone cried out the moment he appeared, clearly recognizing that familiar face.
"That's the initiator of the Yan Alliance Treaty?! Damn! Wasn't he only a Two-Change Dou Venerate half a year ago? Now... now his aura is actually no weaker than Yao Xiaotian, a Dou Saint!"
"Dammit... how does this guy cultivate? Breaking through to Dou Saint in such a short time should be impossible!"
A strange light flickered through the eyes of several old monsters, as though they had grasped something. One spoke in a heavy voice, "No wonder the Yan Alliance's strength has been rising so rapidly. I heard the last four factions to enter the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree were the Yan Alliance, the Hun Clan, the Gu Clan, and the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe."
"I originally thought the biggest beneficiaries would be the Hun Clan and the Gu Clan, those two Dou God Clans... Now it seems the greatest winner might actually be the Yan Alliance!"
Very little information about the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had spread beyond those involved. Even the survivors only knew that the Yan Alliance, Hun Clan, Gu Clan, and Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had been the last four teams standing. Who had reaped the greatest harvest remained a mystery.
No one would have guessed that the Hun Clan and Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had been completely wiped out, while the Yan Alliance and Gu Clan claimed the richest rewards. The Yan Alliance above all—both the Bodhisattva Heart and the Hundred Reincarnations had fallen squarely into Xiao Yan's hands, making him the biggest winner by far.
"You, my Yan Alliance can overlook. But those two must stay." Xiao Yan's gaze burned like a torch as Heavenly Flames began surging around him. Even after lending Cai Lin three Heavenly Flames and Little Fairy Doctor one, he still possessed eight separate flames. He truly deserved to be called a walking Heavenly Flame Ranking!
"Xiao Yan, don't push people too far!" Yao Xiaotian roared. He could never have imagined that even Xiao Yan had broken through to the Dou Saint realm!
Xiao Yan let out a cold sneer. "Hmph, you two aren't even people. As rulers of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, if I let you both walk away, how am I supposed to answer to the Yan Alliance disciples who died?"
These two were the decision-makers. They might not have set foot on the battlefield themselves, but they had been directing the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's every move from behind the scenes.
First Elder Yao Ce asked in a deep voice, "Xiao Yan, what exactly does your Yan Alliance want? Must you really fight my Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe to the bitter end?"
Xiao Yan considered for a moment. "Simple. My Yan Alliance wants only three things. First, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's entire treasury, including every last Spring Blood Crystal. Second, your tribe vacates this place and yields the Nine Serene Yellow Spring sacred ground. Third, the two of you submit to execution."
"In return, my Yan Alliance will spare the rest of your tribesmen."
Yao Ming listened to these conditions and quickly pieced the situation together. There was no need to ask. Yao Xiaotian must have discovered the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and coveted the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline. That had brought the tribe into conflict with this so-called Yan Alliance, and now the enemy had come knocking at their door.
"Keep dreaming!" Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce's faces darkened at once. They wouldn't have minded if Xiao Yan went on a rampage. As long as the two of them survived, what did mere tribesmen matter?
But Xiao Yan was set on taking their lives. There was nothing left to discuss.
"Xiao Yan, don't let him keep recovering his strength," Cai Lin reminded via voice transmission.
Xiao Yan gave a slight nod. He could sense that Yao Ming's strength was formidable, but after being sealed for so long, the man's Dou Qi had yet to fully recover. The Ancient Phoenix Wings unfurled behind his back. With a soft hum, the Vajra Glass Body activated and his entire form took on the luster of transparent golden glass as the Dragon Phoenix Ancient Armor materialized around him.
His figure blurred, crossing the void in a single flash to appear directly before Yao Ming. He raised his fist and struck.
Yao Ming's expression shifted the instant he sensed the sheer force packed into that blow. A human body actually rivaling a Rank 9 magical beast?!
He had been sealed away for hundreds of years. Had the world changed that dramatically? Had humans somehow turned into magical beasts?!
Thud!!
A heavy crash rang out as Yao Ming crossed both arms to block. The Vajra Glass Fist hammered into his guard, and even though his body had been greatly strengthened after spending centuries beneath the Nine Serene Yellow Spring, a wave of searing pain shot through both arms on impact.
Of course, in pure physical toughness, Xiao Yan was still far from matching a magical beast like Yao Ming. But Xiao Yan had Dou Techniques at his disposal, and that alone significantly narrowed the gap between their physical capabilities.
"Yellow Spring Finger!"
Yao Ming's eyes focused. He forced out what Dou Qi he could and with a single thought, summoned a colossal finger from the heavens, one even larger than the First Elder's. The massive Yellow Spring Finger rumbled as it swept downward. Vast swaths of space collapsed beneath its descent. The surrounding cliffs split open with deafening cracks as enormous fissures tore through the gorge. The earth shook and the mountains swayed as if struck by an earthquake.
"Your Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe really only has one move..."
Xiao Yan smiled faintly as he watched the Yellow Spring Finger's might bear down. When a Dou Saint performed a Tian Class Dou Technique, it was enough to wipe out an entire city with ease.
He stepped forward. Boundless Dou Qi surged into his right hand where a point of black light flared to life and expanded almost instantly. In the span of a few blinks, it swelled into a black halo nearly a hundred meters across. This was Xiao Yan's first time unleashing the Great Heaven Creation Palm since breaking through to Dou Saint, and its power and momentum had multiplied several hundredfold.
His journey through the Hundred Reincarnations beneath the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had granted him far deeper insight into every Dou Technique he cultivated. By now, virtually all of his techniques had reached major mastery, with many approaching perfection.
"Wuu—"
The black halo took shape and erupted with terrifying suction. The surrounding gorge split apart as massive stone pillars broke free one after another, crumbling into boulders that plunged into the halo and vanished without a trace.
"Great Heaven Creation Palm—Shatter!"
Xiao Yan raised his head and thrust his palm forward. The black halo shot through the air, appearing directly beneath the falling Yellow Spring Finger. A colossal black sphere began spinning at insane speed.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The Great Heaven Creation Palm functioned like a giant meat grinder. The instant the Yellow Spring Finger pressed down and collided with it, the rotating sphere began grinding the finger away bit by bit.
RUMBLE!
The black-hole halo spun wildly, waves of annihilating force rippling outward. The Yellow Spring Finger sank deeper and deeper into it, until, beneath Yao Ming's astonished gaze, it was devoured completely.
Yao Ming sensed Xiao Yan's strength and his eyes narrowed. His lips then parted slowly, and a streak of black light shot from his mouth, twisting through the air before morphing into a black scepter roughly half a man's height. It dropped neatly into his waiting hand.
The scepter was pitch-black from end to end. Its head was formed by two lifelike poisonous snakes coiled around one another. Between their facing maws hung a fist-sized black bead that exuded a faint, icy gleam.
"The Nine Serene Profound Scepter! That's the Nine Serene Scepter that's been lost for centuries!!" Several experts cried out in shock the moment they recognized the weapon in Yao Ming's hand.
Rumor had it that the Nine Serene Scepter had once belonged to the Ancient Heaven Serpent race. After the Ancient Heaven Serpents were driven to extinction, the scepter fell into the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's hands. It was thanks to this relic that the tribe had risen from obscurity, ultimately inheriting the Ancient Heaven Serpent's orthodoxy!
Every Nine Serene Deep Ground Python expert present felt a crushing pressure descend upon their bloodlines the moment the scepter appeared. Legend held that within the snake bead at its tip resided the purest Nine Serene royal bloodline, containing vast reserves of Ancient Heaven Serpent blood. If the present-day Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe could acquire that blood, it would undoubtedly slow the thinning of their own bloodline by a dramatic margin.
A vicious light flashed through Yao Xiaotian's eyes the moment the Nine Serene Scepter appeared. He had searched everywhere and never found it. So that was where it had been all along. Yao Ming had hidden it inside his own body!
The scepter thrummed, and a torrent of blood-red light exploded outward. At the same instant, a strange crimson radiance surged from the Nine Serene Yellow Spring below. Wisps of blood-qi poured upward like smoke, streaming into Yao Ming's body in waves and rapidly replenishing his Dou Qi and bloodline strength.
In the blink of an eye, Yao Ming's shriveled, withered frame swelled as muscles filled out and every trace of weakness fell away. A terrifying aura, more powerful than anyone else present, erupted from his body like a storm that blanketed heaven and earth.
2‑star Dou Saint!
"As expected of Tribe Leader Yao Ming! His talent surpasses Yao Xiaotian's countless times over!" The Elders and other high-ranking experts of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe were beside themselves with joy. As magical beasts, their cultivation speed couldn't match that of humans, but they possessed far longer lifespans. In the Beast Region, advancing from Half-Saint to 2-star Dou Saint in a mere few hundred years was by no means a weak pace.
"We're saved! Tribe Leader Yao Ming truly lives up to his reputation!"
Xiao Yan's brows drew together as he watched Yao Ming rapidly restore his strength by drawing on the Nine Serene Yellow Spring. Fighting on someone else's home turf really was disadvantageous.
Yao Ming, his strength now recovered, didn't attack immediately. He fixed Xiao Yan with a steady gaze and spoke in a deep voice. "Young friend, I will certainly give you a proper explanation regarding Yao Xiaotian's actions. However, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe cannot yield its ancestral ground. Please withdraw."
Xiao Yan gave him a brief glance and exhaled softly before shaking his head. "A mere 2-star Dou Saint doesn't have the qualifications to make me retreat."
He formed a hand seal. A seven-colored Clan Mark suddenly blazed to life on his forehead, its radiance as dazzling as the midday sun!
After Mao Wu had refined and absorbed the energy left behind by the Dou God, not only had Xiao Yan's Hun Clan Dou God Bloodline advanced to the Divine Grade, but even the Xiao Clan's bloodline strength had been elevated to an equally terrifying Divine Grade level!
To a Dou God, that so-called Dou God Bloodline was probably just the tip of the iceberg of their vast power, comparable to a particularly potent Tian Class Secret Technique branded into the blood!
"Clan Mark—Manifest!"
Eight Heavenly Flames merged in an instant. The Xiao Clan's Clan Mark spread across his entire body as Xiao Yan's aura began climbing steadily from early-stage 1-star Dou Saint!
A single star within the Dou Saint realm represented a gulf extremely difficult to cross. At this level, everyone cultivated Qi Methods and Dou Techniques of roughly the same grade. It was no longer like before, when Xiao Yan wielded Di Class techniques while his opponents still cultivated Xuan Class ones, making cross-realm combat relatively easy.
Now that everyone operated at Tian Class, the gap wasn't nearly as pronounced. Fighting above one's level had become far more difficult.
Even so, under the combined eruption of the Xiao Clan's Divine Grade bloodline and eight Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan's strength still surged an entire star, breaking into 2-star Dou Saint!
Yao Ming's expression finally shifted as Xiao Yan's aura caught up to his own, but it was the Clan Mark that truly unsettled him. A flicker of wariness passed through his eyes. 'That's the Xiao Clan's Clan Mark... could he be a descendant of that man?!"'
Yao Ming had been born over a thousand years ago, even before Hei Qing's time. Naturally, he knew of Xiao Xuan and had heard tales of his deeds.
Xiao Yan, of course, had no idea what was running through Yao Ming's mind. He pressed his palms together, and with a resonant hum, an Eight-Colored Fire Lotus materialized between them. A world-annihilating aura poured forth from the lotus's core.
'An Intermediate Tian Class Dou Technique!' Yao Ming's eyes flew wide. The sheer destructive power emanating from the lotus made his heart sink.
The Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's inheritance certainly included Intermediate Tian Class Dou Techniques, even High Tian Class ones. But Yao Ming had been sealed away hundreds of years ago when he had only been at the Half-Saint level, utterly incapable of cultivating techniques of that caliber!
The Eight-Colored Fire Lotus spun slowly, its flickering glow washing over Xiao Yan's face.
'A High Tian Class Qi Method really is extraordinary. Completing the Eight-Colored Fire Lotus was effortless, and it barely consumed any Dou Qi.' Xiao Yan couldn't quite suppress the smile tugging at his lips. This was his first time unleashing a lotus-type Dou Technique since Flame Mantra had advanced to the High Tian Class!
The strength of a Qi Method influenced Dou Techniques too profoundly! With Flame Mantra at this level, forming the Eight-Colored Fire Lotus was instantaneous, as easy as lifting a finger!
He slowly raised his head and met Yao Ming's eyes. Just as he prepared to hurl the fire lotus forward, Yao Ming suddenly spoke.
"Fine. I accept your conditions."