The pressure on the mountain stockade was immediately reduced when the troops from the ‘Black Alliance’ scattered in defeat. The large intense battle had ended in an anticlimactic way with Xiao Yan’s imposing pressure. It must be said that the strength of a ‘Heavenly Flame’ was really too terrifying.

Of course, to be precise, it was the special effect of this ‘Fallen Heart Flame’ to summon heart flames that was too terrifying. The moment he summoned the heart flame against an opponent who was stronger or similar in strength as him, he might not be able to cause them to self-ignite, but he would be able to distract while they attempted to suppress it. This way, their fighting strength would be slightly weakened. If he were to meet an opponent who was much weaker than him, the heart flame would become the lock that took their lives. Those people from the ‘Black Alliance’ who self-ignited and turned into ashes were the best example.

The threat to the stockade was resolved as the troops from the ‘Black Alliance’ scattered in retreat. Many black figures flashed and appeared from the stockade, and began to clean up the messiness following the great battle.

Xiao Yan, Xiao Li, Zi Yan, and the others were sitting in a large hall in the middle of the stockade. Although everyone was to some extent a little tired, this was all suppressed by their excitement from that intense big battle earlier.

“I didn’t expect you to be so vicious. You actually really did finish off Fan Lao. He was an elite Dou Huang. If this news were to spread, it would likely cause the ‘Black-Corner Region’ to shake violently.” Lin Yan was stunned for quite a while after hearing the news that Fan Lao was killed by Xiao Yan before he finally smacked his lips and spoke.

Xiao Yan smiled, but did not continue to be entangled with this topic. He cupped his hands to everyone and said with a smile, “Xiao Yan thanks everyone here for the favor this time around. If there is an opportunity in the future...”

Xiao Yan had yet to finish speaking when Lin Yan interrupted, “We have already known each other for so long. Forget about these boring words. If I meet any trouble in the future, I will come and look for you even if you didn’t open your mouth.”

Xiao Yan was dumbfounded before he immediately smiled and nodded his head. This fellow’s character was as straightforward as it had always been.

“Hey, Xiao Yan, I have also contributed a lot. You better not forget.” When Zi Yan at the side saw that Xiao Yan had only thanked Lin Yan, she immediately muttered unhappily.

“Relax, little girl. I will not forget your ‘Body Transformation Pill’.” Xiao Yan patted Zi Yan’s head as he smiled and flattered Zi Yan until she smiled.

“I don’t think I need to be that polite to the both of you right?” Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward Wu Hao and Hu Jia at the side and spoke with a smile.

The two of them smiled and nodded. Including these two years, the three of them could be considered old friends. From not seeing eye to eye back in the day to the day they had joined hands to establish a faction like ‘Pan’s Gate’, the friendly feelings between the three had grown increasingly mellow. Wu Hao was a little stiff when dealing with issues, but it was extremely difficult for him to be disloyal once he recognized someone as a friend. Hu Jia was very clever, and was also a genuine person who did not hide her feelings. Her relationship with Xiao Yan was similarly quite good. Hence, she did not mind those meaningless words of thanks.

Everyone thanked one another before Xiao Yan finally turned his gaze toward Xiao Li who was in the leader’s seat in the hall. Due to them being pressed for time earlier, Xiao Yan did not observe Xiao Li in detail. Now that he had quietened down and took a look, his eyebrows had also become slightly knit together.

The two years had added some coldness to Xiao Li’s face. However, the faint death aura that lingered between his brows was extremely obvious in the eyes of someone like Xiao Yan whose Spiritual Strength was extremely strong.

“Second brother, what happened to you during these two years?” Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment before involuntarily opening his mouth to inquire.

Xiao Li’s face, which was originally smiling as he watched Xiao Yan converse with his friends, suddenly became dull when he heard this question. His smile was also slowly withdrawn as he became silent.

The originally somewhat joyous atmosphere of the large hall gradually quietened down following Xiao Li’s silence. Everyone looked at the expression of the former before looking at each other’s eyes. All of them had some doubt. Finally, Hu Jia, who was more sensitive as a female, gave Wu Hao and the others a look with her eyes before quietly withdrawing from the hall. She even gently shut the door when she left.

Xiao Yan’s gaze watched the silent Xiao Li intently. He did not open his mouth to stop Lin Yan and the others from leaving. From the death aura that was lingering over Xiao Li’s brows, it was as though he was a person whose death was imminent. This kind of situation did not allow for the slightest negligence on Xiao Yan’s part.

After a long while under Xiao Yan’s continuous tense gaze, Xiao Li finally let out a long sigh. He revealed a bitter smile toward Xiao Yan and slowly said, “Xiao-yan-zi, you are the most outstanding person in our Xiao clan. Before I arrived, big brother had told me that I can die but you cannot! I do not have the slightest disagreement with this point.”

Xiao Yan’s face twitched slightly. Even with his mental strength, his nose could not resist the urge to turn sour at these words.

“After I had learned of your death in the Jia Nan Academy back then, I had wanted to directly go and find those people who had participated in the sneak attack to engage them in an all out fight because of the great vengeance of the Xiao clan.” Xiao Li recalled the despair and craziness in his heart when he learned of the news. His fist involuntarily tightened. “If you were to really die, it was likely that the Xiao clan would be completely destroyed.”

“I have endured this despair for around two months or so before I finally suppressed the impulse to go and find these fellows to fight within my heart. Since you were no longer around, the burden could only be carried by second brother.”

“However, I knew that given my training speed, it is likely that I would not be able to achieve the strength that is able to take revenge on the Misty Cloud Sect in the foreseeable future. However, it was fortunate that the Heavens do not leave one with a path that leads to a dead end. Around half a year after the news of your death had been spread, I had fled into the deep mountains while being chased. By chance, I obtained something.”

A fiery heat suddenly surged into Xiao Li’s eyes when he spoke until this point. Xiao Yan’s emotions had also become slightly tensed. He could sense that the reason for his second brother turning into this manner must be due to the thing that he had obtained.

“Among the things that I obtained, there was one bottle of medicinal pills with two red-colored medicinal pills within it. According to the information that was written on the bottle, this kind of medicinal pill was able to forcefully raise the strength of someone who was around the Da Dou Shi class all the way to the Dou Wang class. However...

Once such a medicinal pill is used, one could only maintain one’s life for three years. In other words, this medicinal pill basically used all of one’s remaining life to exchange for a Dou Wang strength for three years!”

A giddiness suddenly swarmed into Xiao Yan’s head. He churned all the memories in his mind before finally finding a medicinal pill that was similar to the one that Xiao Li had just mentioned.

“Life Devouring Pill!”

Xiao Li was also somewhat surprised by Xiao Yan’s ability to call out the name of this medicinal pill which had long been lost on the continent. However, he finally nodded his head.

Xiao Yan immediately sat weakly in his chair when he saw Xiao Li nodded. He scratched his head with both his hands. His face was dark and gloomy. This medicinal pill was something that Yao Lao had mentioned to him during their travels. Even his voice was filled with endearment and admiration when he spoke of this kind of medicinal pill.

‘Life Devouring Pill’. It was a medicinal pill that had once shook the entire continent many years ago. It could be considered to be at the peak of the seventh tier. The creator of this kind of medicinal pill was an alchemist grandmaster who possessed quite a great reputation. The most frightening aspect of this medicinal pill was that it was able to create many expert Dou Wangs!

One could imagine, just how willing people would be when this one pill was able skip all of the tribulations of training they had to undergo in order to climb to this level. Although this kind of temporarily borrowed strength was obtained by squandering one’s life, which of those people who could truly rely on normal training to reach the Dou Wang class did not have outstanding training talent? How could this talent be something that everyone possessed?

Hence, it aroused the craziness of a countless number of people the moment this kind of medicinal pill was born. Some of the first rate factions in the continent possessed an extreme greed for it. After all, whoever was able to obtain it might be able to create expert Dou Wangs. Just think, who could defeat a faction if it had a thousand or a ten thousand Dou Wang army?

However, this kind of craziness did not continue for long before it was gradually annihilated. This was because the alchemist who created the ‘Life Devouring Pill’ had disappeared overnight along with the medicinal formula for the ‘Life Devouring Pill’.

There were still some people who did not give up and looked for him everywhere during the short period after he disappeared. However, as more time passed, the craziness that had shook the entire continent gradually calmed down. That so-called ‘Life Devouring Pill’ had gradually disappeared in the long river of time. It even reached the extent that it was foreign to many alchemists today. Had Yao Lao not occasionally told him pertinent information, it was likely that even Xiao Yan would not know some of these secrets of the alchemist world from a long time ago.

Of course, the current Xiao Yan did not have the mood to bother about just how great the ‘Life Devouring Pill’ was. He only knew that it had nearly been two years since Xiao Li consumed the medicinal pill. In other words, it meant that he only had around one year left to live!

Xiao Yan’s expression was a little pale. His eyes were filled with threads of blood. A moment later, he could not resist raising his head and crying out angrily, “You clearly know that this thing overdrafts your life in exchange for strength. Why did you eat it?”

Xiao Li helplessly shook his head in the face of Xiao Yan’s angry voice. He said, “You had already died. What else could I do? If I didn’t do this, just how many years later would it be before I could avenge you?”

Xiao Yan was startled before he immediately came to a sudden understanding.

“Ke ke, you need not be too worried. You being alive is the best thing that can happen. Second brother is not important. The Xiao clan can only rely on you!” Xiao Li smiled as he looked at Xiao Yan’s dispirited face. He patted the former’s shoulders and mused for a moment. With a flip of his hand, a somewhat strange and transparent bottle appeared in his hand.

He carefully placed the bottle on the table. Xiao Li looked left and right before suppressing his voice and said, “Third brother. This is that so-called ‘Life Devouring Pill’. This may well be the last one in the entire continent.”.

Xiao Yan was slightly startled. He turned his head over and immediately focused his gaze on the blood-colored round medicinal pill within the jade bottle!