Xiao Yan’s body slowly landed on the top of the back mountain. He looked at Yao Lao, who was seated on a large stone and smiling at him. Cupping his hands together, he said, “We have fulfilled our expectations!”
Feng zun-zhe by the side involuntarily let out a heavy sigh when he heard these words of Xiao Yan. He lifted a thumb towards Xiao Yan and laughed, “Good.”
“Are you alright?” Yao Lao smilingly inquired.
“It can be summarized to have been full of surprises but no danger.” Xiao Yan spread his hand and summarized the matter within the remains.
“It is the Hall of Soul again...” Yao Lao nodded slightly. A chillness surged within his eyes.
Xiao Yan smiled. He flicked his finger and a wooden box appeared in his hand. After which, the wooden box was suspended in the sky before gently landing in front of Yao Lao. It was automatically opened. Golden light shot out of it before revealing that baby like golden fruit within the box.
“It is indeed the Soul Baby Fruit. Moreover, it is the best quality golden grade Soul Baby Fruit.” Even with Yao Lao’s calmness, his eyes involuntarily displayed some joy when he saw this golden fruit.
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded. The Soul Baby Fruit had two grades. They were the silver grade Soul Baby Fruit and the golden grade Soul Baby Fruit. The former was of a lower quality while the latter had a stronger medicinal effect. The Soul Baby Fruit that Xiao Yan had found within the ancient forest was the latter type.
“With this golden grade soul baby fruit, it is likely that all of the essence spiritual aura that you have exhausted will be completely replenished.” Feng zun-zhe fondled his beard and laughed.
“Teacher, you should undertake a retreat today and try to replenish your essence spiritual aura as quickly as you can. That way, we can begin to refine a body...” Xiao Yan said.
Yao Lao nodded slightly. His eyes looked towards Xiao Yan before he spoke softly, “Little fellow, do you miss your father?”
Xiao Yan was startled when he heard Yao Lao suddenly speaking about this manner. Immediately, he became silent. He pressed his lips tightly and a deep guilt was present within his eyes. Xiao Zhan was his father. The same bloodline flowed within their bones. The latter’s doted on him greatly when he was young. Even during the time when he was at the lowest point of his life, that love did not diminish because of any reason. This was because they were father and son.
The two simple words represented a blood relation that nothing could remove.
If he counted the time, the time that his father had fallen into the hands of the Hall of Soul was even longer than Yao Lao being here. When his father was captured back then, Xiao Yan was merely a tender youth, who charged up the Misty Cloud Mountain with his stomach filled with anger. Xiao Zhan had a great expectation for Xiao Yan since the latter was young. He ultimately believed that Xiao Yan would change the Xiao clan and allow this clan, which was continuously declining, to truly become powerful.
The current Xiao Yan had already become a renown top tier expert in the Central Plains. With his Dou Zun class strength, it was sufficient for him to become a legendary like existence within the Jia Ma Empire. From a certain point of view, it appeared that he had reached the expectations Xiao Zhan had of him back then. Unfortunately, the latter was unable to see his son soaring moment.
“I will rescue my father. This is my promise to elder brother and second brother. I do not have the face to return and see them if I cannot rescue father...” Xiao Yan softly said. His voice was a little hoarse. This large mountain known as the Hall of Soul had been pressing on his shoulders since he was a tender youth. Fortunately, it did not cause him to collapse. Instead, he had grown rapidly under this kind of pressure until he had reached this stage today.
“Teacher will help you... even if the price is this old life of mine.” Yao Lao gently patted Xiao Yan’s shoulder and laughed. “If your father is aware that the little boy back then had already become an independent expert, it is likely that he will be very happy.”
Xiao Yan smiled. He blinked his eyes and endured the somewhat sour feeling. He immediately asked, “Is teacher aware of where father is being imprisoned in the Central Plains?”
“It is not anywhere in the Central Plains.” Yao Lao shook his head and said.
Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this. He frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”
“I am also uncertain why the Hall of Soul values your father so greatly. I can only guess that it should be because of the ancient jade that is with you...” Yao Lao knitted his brows slightly and said, “The Gu clan has the Gu Realm while the strength and foundation of the Hall of Soul is not inferior to the Gu clan...”
“Teacher, you mean... the Hall of Soul can also create their own realm?” Xiao Yan was slightly startled as he said.
“Soul Realm...” Yao Lao nodded gently and replied softly, “However, those experts who are aware of the Soul Realm are only a few even in the Central Plains. As for the entrance to the Soul Realm, even I am not aware of it...”
“My father... has been imprisoned in the Soul Realm?” Xiao Yan demanded in a deep voice.
“Yes.”
The fist under Xiao Yan’s sleeves tightened slightly. His finger gently rubbed his Storage Ring. An ancient jade with an ancient aura quietly appeared in his hand. Tou She Ancient God’s Jade, the target of the Hall of Soul. However, was unable to sense just what use this thing was after having possessed it for so many years. Other than when he was training deep under the tower of the Jia Nan Academy back then when this ancient jade showed some unusual activity, it had never appeared for a second time even after so many years.
“The Hall of Soul faction is huge and mysterious. Base on my investigation, it is rumoured that the Hall of Soul had another name a long time ago...” Yao Lao narrowed his eyes slightly and softly said. “Hun clan.”
“Hun clan?”
The hand, which Xiao Yan was using to hold the ancient jade, trembled. He said, “Could it have been passed down from the ancient times just like the Gu clan?”
“I am not too certain about this... however, that little girlfriend of yours might be aware of some news.” Yao Lao shook his head and sighed. The more he came into contact with the Hall of Soul, the more he sensed the mysteriousness and unusualness of this faction that was intertwined across the continent.
“Xun Er huh...” Xiao Yan nodded slightly.
“I can only tell you this much. However, regardless of how the relationship between you and the Hall of Soul will become, teacher will ultimately stand behind you, even... if I have to stake this old life of mine.”
Yao Lao smiled slightly. He patted Xiao Yan’s shoulders. After which, he held the wooden box, placed his hands behind him and slowly walked down the mountain.
Xiao Yan smiled as he watched Yao Lao’s and Feng zun-zhe’s back. He inhaled a deep breath and looked towards the sky. A determination gradually surged up his face.
“Father, regardless of how powerful the Hall of Soul is, I will still rescue you. Wait for me...”
Yao Lao chose to quickly undertake a retreat after having obtained the Soul Baby Fruit. Only if his essence spiritual aura was replenished would he be able to truly regain his peak strength. Moreover, he might even possess the potential and hope of advancing to the Dou Sheng class in the future.
After Yao Lao undertook a retreat, Xiao Yan group had first rested for a couple of days. Mu Qing Luan and the others had hurriedly rushed back to the Falling Star Pavilion during these few days. They heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that the mission was successful.
After resting for a couple of days and regaining his peak strength, Xiao Yan once again had a headache. This time around, his headache was due to the poison within Qing Lin’s body.
The Emperor Python Heart Eroding Poison was an extremely famous poison on the Central Plains. This type of poison was rumoured to be without antidote. However, Xiao Yan had also said that there was no poison without an antidote in this world. It was just that the antidote had not been found. Due to this, he had buried his head in the many medicine books that Yao Lao had left behind, he had even borrowed the Seven Coloured Poison Book that Little Fairy Doctor had obtained back then to study.
Although this lethal poison gave him a headache, it was fortunate that the heavens rewarded those who put in the effort. After searching for four to five days in this complete darkness, Xiao Yan had finally grope a method to remove the poison.
There was a quiet and cool mountain cave in the back mountain of the Falling Star Pavilion. At the middle of the cave was a small pool that was built with stones. At this moment, clear water was bubbling within the pool. It appeared as though the pool was boiling.
Xiao Yan would occasionally take out some medicinal powder or liquid as he stood by the side of the pool. After which, he would pour them into the pool. The clear water within the pool had gradually turned into a pale red colour. Only then did he stop. He flipped his hand and a small jade bottle flashed and appeared. The interior of the jade bottle contained a rich substance like pure energy.
“Oww...”
Seeing this jade bottle, the snow white small beast in Xiao Yan’s chest immediately let out a grown. Currently, the expression of the little bast was extremely sluggish. Even its fur had become paler. It caused one to feel a heartache when looking at it.
“Rest assured that I will compensate you after this.” Xiao Yan laughed bitterly. He took out a couple of pills from his Storage Ring and stuffed them into the mouth of the Pill Beast. Only then did the latter recover a little.
Xiao Yan sighed in relief when he saw this. He had really spend a great effort in order to get this fellow to contribute some blood.
“Blup blup!”
The jade bottle was tilted and the silver liquid slowly dripped downwards. Finally, it landed in the pool. Immediately, an ear-piercing sizzling sound was emitted. After the liquid was dripped into it, a wave of extremely pure energy ripple immediately spread out from within the pool.
“Qing Lin, remove your clothes and enter the pool. If you can absorb all of these energy, it should be able to completely stabilize your strength at the Dou Zun class.” Xiao Yan kept the jade bottle, turned his head and smilingly spoke to Qing Lin by the side.
Qing Lin was initially startled when she heard this. A bright redness immediately surfaced on her face.
“I understand...” Xiao Yan also smiled when he saw this manner of hers. He turned around and said, “Due to the need to always add various medicinal powder, I’m afraid that I cannot leave.”
“Yes...”
Qin Ling’s face was red as she acknowledged in an ant like voice. After which, she quickly removed her clothes. With a ‘splash’ she had leaped into the small pool in an agile manner.
Xiao Yan turned his head only after hearing the sound was water splashing. His gaze looked towards the pool, only to see Qin Ling revealing only her head above the water. Her long hair became wet and adhered onto her face, adding an alluring enchantment to her.
“Enter your training state and absorb the medicinal strength within the pool.” Xiao Yan spoke gently.
The embarrassment and anxiety in Qin Ling’s heart gradually weakened a little when she heard this soft and gentle voice of Xiao Yan. She stabilized her mind as she shut both of her eyes and slowly entered into her training mode.
Xiao Yan smiled slightly when he saw Qin Ling successfully entering her training state. He was just about to get up when his eyes suddenly landed on the smooth back that Qin Ling exposed over the surface of the water. When the water fog of the pool rose, a mysterious tattoo also vaguely appeared on her back. This tattoo appeared just like an entrenched large python if one was to look at it carefully. However, this large python appeared to possess nine heads...
During the time that Xiao Yan was observing the mysterious tattoo in a stunned manner, the shut snake eyes of one head of the nine headed snake were suddenly opened at this moment. Immediately, a brutal feeling surged within Xiao Yan’s heart without forewarning, causing his eyes to immediately turn blood red.
“Hu...”
Xiao Yan became cautious after the brutalness appeared for an instant. His body swiftly pulled back and his eyes also hurriedly turned away from that tattoo.
Xiao Yan’s eyes gradually recovered to normal after shifting his eyes away. He gently swallowed a mouthful of saliva. His heart was filled with shock. Why was there such a ferocious thing on Qing Lin’s body?