Word t: 3,363 Words

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  Xiao Yaated no longer and stepped into the Space Lock.

  A wave of Spiritual Strength swept over his Soul Robe as he entered. Subsequently, a character 'Yan' formed by Spiritual Strength appeared on his robe.

  Soul Envoys did not have titles; only those at the Protector rank and above were qualified.

  A Protector's Soul Robe would not dispy their title when outside. Only upoering the Hall of Souls would the title, written in Spiritual Strength, appear on the Soul Robe for ve identification.

  'There's quite a differeween the branch hall at the Misty Cloud Sed this one in the Bck-er Region,' Xiao Yan surveyed his surroundings. pared to the branch hall built atop the mountain at the Misty Cloud Sect, this one was established on vast pins.

  There were no obstrus as far as the eye could see. Apart from the colossal bck Hall of Souls in the distahere was nothing else, not even a siree.

  However, the branch hall in the Bck-er Region was 'thriving with activity.' Visible to the naked eye were numerous bck-robed Soul Envoys holding bck s, each binding a soul body.

  Some high-star Dou Spirits could produce soul bodies. Generally, Soul Envoys and Protectors without Soul and Tokens would use Soul s as the standard method to capture soul bodies.

  These s, fed using special methods, could not only seal Spiritual Strength to harm soul bodies but also make escape impossible once bound.

  A rge number of murders occurred every day in a chaotid wless pce like the Bck-er Region. Such a pce was undoubtedly the favorite hunting ground for the Hall of Souls.

  "Yan? A Protectreetings to Protector Yan!"

  Xiao Yan passed by a Soul Envoy preparing to head out. The Soul Envoy saw the title on his Soul Robe and immediately dropped to one knee, bowed his head, and called out.

  Hearing the excmation, several small teams of Soul Envoys who were preparing to go out hunting soul bodies, or directly kill people to seize their souls, all turo look at Xiao Yan.

  When they saw the spiritual character on his Soul Robe, they too k dower another, bowed their heads, and shouted:

  "Greetings, Protector Yan!!"

  Wherever Xiao Yan passed, those Soul Envoys who usually hunted soul bodies during the Bck Storms all k and called out, losing their usual arrogance.

  Xiao Yan said nothing and merely walked through the crowd, unhurriedly making his way to the grand doors of the Hall of Souls.

  With a creaking sound, the doors opened automatically, and Xiao Yan stepped inside.

  Those kneeling Soul Envoys finally stood up oer another when they saw Xiao Yaer the Hall of Souls. Each of them revealed traces of fear and doubt.

  "Isn't this branch hall uhe charge of Protector Xuan? How is there another Protector here?"

  "Perhaps it's a friend of Protector Xuan who happeo pass by."

  "Yan... I wonder what rank this Protector Yan is and what he's here for."

  There were also some Soul Envoys exging soul bodies for Soul Points ihe Hall of Souls. What surprised Xiao Yan was that this branch hall not only imprisoned a rge number of soul bodies but even had a Dou Emperor-level soul body bound.

  'Even a Dou Emperor's soul body... If it's a branch hall where a Heaven Grade Protector resides, wouldn't they even have Dou Aor-level soul bodies?!' Xiao Yan pondered inwardly.

  'There are no alchemists here; perhaps it's because the Bck-er Region itself doesn't have an Alchemist Association.'

  Xiao Yan walked toward the innermost Soul Altar while the situation of this branch hall. Oar, an elderly man with a weathered face was sitting cross-legged, cultivating.

  The Soul Altar emitted waves of soul light. Xiao Yan sensed with his Spiritual Strength that these soul lights were densed from tiny specks in the air. This was equivalent to accelerating the cultivation of the Soul Trainihod.

  The old man slowly opened his eyes upon sensing Xiao Yan's arrival. "Yan? Are you a newly promoted Human Grade Protector of this branch hall?"

  Xiao Yan sneered coldly and took out a Soul and Token from his ste ring. A 'Heaven' character shot out from the token.

  "A Heaven Grade Protector!! And possessing a Soul and Token!!" Protector Xuan was shtehat he hurriedly desded from the Soul Altar.

  "This subordinate didn't know of Your Excellency's arrival. Please five my ck of a proper wele." Protector Xuan immediately bent his waist at y degrees, knowing when to yield.

  He khat generally, a Heaven Grade Protector who possessed a Soul and Token was close to being promoted to an Honorable Elder. Only exceptionally outstanding Heaven Grade Protectors would be granted a Soul and Token in advance.

  "May I ask the purpose of Your Excellency's visit?" Protector Xuan forced out an ugly smile, slightly raised his head, and inquired.

  Xiao Yan lowered his void said slowly, "Nothing much. I'm gathering some Soul Envoys to help me attack a pce."

  Protector Xuan's expression ged dramatically upon hearing this. He stammered, "Could it be that Your Excellentends to attack Jia Nan Academy?!"

  Only Jia Nan Academy was qualified to make the Hall of Souls take a iire Bck-er Region!

  "It's not Jia Nan Academy. The pce I want to attack is the Blood Sect. I need a high-star Dou Emperor and five Dou Kings."

  "Blood Sect??" Protector Xuan looked puzzled. A mere fa with a Dou Emperor—he could easily wipe them out himself. Why would a Heaven Grade Protector o borrow people?

  Xiao Yan had already thought of an excuse and calmly said, "The Blood Sect is hiding some things. I 't make a move casually, or it would arouse suspi from other fas."

  "So that's how it is. If Your Excellency doesn't mind, this subordinate is willing to tribute to destroying the Blood Sect."

  Xiao Yan was overjoyed in his heart. Oh boy, the people of the Hall of Souls were really aodating.

  He had initially sidered asking Queen Medusa for help, but thinking she might not be willing, he ultimately chose to seek assistance elsewhere.

  "Mm, if this matter succeeds, I will record it as a merit for you."

  "Thank you, Your Excellency!"

  …

  Half a day ter, at the location of the Blood Sect.

  Within the Bck Storm, the densely packed bck-robed figures formed a terrifying force that caused Fan Lao's face to turhly pale. Especially when he saw Protector Xuan beside Xiao Yan—that sinister and ferocious face made his plexion almost as white as frost.

  "A Dou... Dou Aor!!"

  "Why is this happening? Just why!"

  Great battles erupted daily in the Bck-er Region. Even a Dou Emperor-level fa like the Blood Sect could be wiped out if they were careless.

  But Fan Lao couldn't uand where he had erred to actually bring about the joint attack of a Dou Aor and so many experts!

  When he saw Protector Xuan shatter the sect's protective grand formation with a single palm, Fan Lao realized that if they engaged in a frontal battle, the Blood Sect had no ce of victory.

  "Hand over that tattered cloth. It's not something you possess."

  Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Fan Ling and Fan Lao suddenly uood—they had offended someohey absolutely could not afford to offend.

  The final oute held no surprises. Even though Fan Lao desperately tried to help his sohrough and escape, there was no possibility in the face of the Hall of Souls' encirclement.

  Xiao Yan naturally did not sympathize with the Blood Sect. On his way here, he had seen just how vile the interior of the Blood Sect was. Their Qi Methods were evil aical teiques that required human blood to cultivate.

  The interior of the Blood Sect was like a living hell.

  Finally, Xiao Yan found the third fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Fme map in the secret chamber of the Blood Sect.

  'Only one piece left...' Xiao Yan looked at the three map fragments in his hand. Pieced together, they revealed that only the st er was missing.

  As long as he found the st map fragment, he might actually be able to locate the Purifying Lotus Demon Fme before those Dou God s and obtain it ahead of them!

  In the end, Xiao Yan tossed 10,000 Soul Points to Protector Xuan auro Jia Nan Academy.

  'With just 10,000 Soul Points, I easily annihite a Dou Emperor-level fa. The power of the Hall of Souls is truly enough to make people lose themselves.' Xiao Yan shook his head, deeply uanding the terrifying nature of the Hall of Souls. No wohose Soul Envoys desperately capture soul bodies to advao Protectors, and Protectors strive to asd even higher.

  With a light flick of his ste ring, a cold jade brocade box taining the Yin-Yang Mysterious Dragon Pill and a scroll of its pill recipe appeared in his palm.

  'Why is there a recipe for the Yin-Yang Mysterious Dragon Pill ie ring? What is the retionship between the person who refihis pill and the owner of the ring?'

  The Yin-Yang Mysterious Dragon Pill was a tier 7 medial pill. Even in the mysterious ste ring, tier 7 pill recipes weren't many, so Xiao Yan remembered eae clearly.

  In the end, he couldn't find any e between the Yin-Yang Mysterious Dragon Pill and the pill recipe, so he simply swallowed the pill in one gulp.

  After all, the medial effects of this kind of pill would remain dormant, waiting for the day of metamorphosis ah.

  'Ugh, it tastes a bit bitter. Maybe the pill recipe could be modified to add some sugar…'

  In the days that followed, Xiao Yan did not leave Jia Nan Academy again, nor did he go stirring up trouble. Instead, he settled down and cultivated early, waiting for the start of the Inner Academy Qualifying petition.

  …

  Time flew by, and more than half a month passed quickly. As one of Jia Nan Academy's gras, the so-called Inner Academy Qualifying petition naturally attracted a great deal of attention. Moreover, those who were usually renowned figures in the academy would all make an appearan this petition. This was undoubtedly a huge attra for those male and female students wharded these people as their idols and objects of admiration.

  Therefore, even though the academy had long prepared the rgest pza for the event, it was still packed to the brim. tless Jia Nan Academy students squeezed their way into the seats in the pza. Looking out from the stands, all one could see was a dense mass of bck heads and the cmorous hat soared into the sky.

  This enormous pza was circur in shape. Around the pza, stoeps extended upwards tinuously, f an arena-like structure. The sea of people seated around the pza could clearly see the entire grounds.

  The css led by Instructor Ruo Ling was naturally among them.

  "Sigh, you should be the instructor from now on," Instructor Ruo Ling said helplessly as she looked at the young man beside her. She truly never imagihat in just four months, Xiao Yan had really raised the strength of Xiao Ming, Xiao Yue Liang, and Xiao Mei to a level capable of entering the Inner Academy.

  The qualifying petition had already begun. The first round oints-based petition with random pairings for one-otles.

  To prevent capable students from being eliminated early by entering strong oppos, each person in the first round was randomly matched with three oppos. Winning two out of three matches would qualify them to ehe Inner Academy.

  Xiao Ming, Xiao Yue Liang, and Xiao Mei all won their first-round matches.

  In just four short months, they had increased their cultivation to high-star Dou Masters, and their strength was remarkably formidable. This left Instructor Ruo Ling feeling somewhat ashamed.

  Even Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu had reached the Dou Grandmaster realm. Their fierce attacks defeated their oppos in one move, winning excmations and cheers from the audience.

  Xiao Yan chuckled sheepishly and said, "Instructor Ruo Ling is joking. I'm just a humble alchemist. If you hadn't id a solid foundation for them, no matter hoills I had, it would have been useless."

  At this moment in the pza, two figures, one male and one female, fshed past each other, their palms g aing with fierce Dou Qi fluctuations, causing excmations of amazement from the surrounding stands from time to time. However, it was clear that more than half of the gazes iands were fixed ohe figure in the light dress, whose graceful movements were light ahereal.

  The two figures crossed paths once again in a perilous exge. The light figure suddenly paused, golden light bursting forth between her palms, trag a ray of light that accurately struck the young man's chest. The powerful force directly sent him retreating out of the battle circle.

  "Senior, thank you for letting me win!" Having repelled her oppo with orike, the green-cd young dy smiled slightly and gave an impeccable bow to the handsome young man.

  "Junior Sister Xuruly lives up to being the most promising student of this year's cohort. I admit defeat." Although he was defeated, the handsome young man remained amiable. He smiled, gazed deeply at the girl as graceful as a green lotus, and then gracefully withdrew.

  "In this match, Xiao Xun Er wins!"

  Xiao Yan looked toward the young dy in the arena upon hearing the referee's annou. Clearly, Xun Er's cultivation had already reached the Dou Grandmaster realm, even close to Dou Spirit, but her kied nature led her to deliberately suppress her strength. She exged over a dozen moves with her oppo before defeating him.

  "Xiao Yan ge-ge." Xun Er walked over slowly, smiling sweetly. Her delightful smile made those around feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.

  However, when they saw Xun Er sittio Xiao Yan, chatting and ughing, that spring breeze instantly turned into a bloody gale. They silently mouthed curses toward Xiao Yan.

  If looks could kill, Xiao Yan would have died a thousand times over.

  At a well-positioned spot iands, a white-robed youth looked gloomily at Xiao Yan and said fiercely, "I will defeat him to prove he's unworthy of Xun Er."

  This white-robed youth was her than Bai Shan, who had previously obstructed Xiao Yan. He romi figure among the younger geion of the Outer Academy, with momentum not much weaker than Xun Er's, and a strong tender for the top five positions.

  "Tch, so this is the guy Xun Er keeps talking about? He doesn't look like much, and his strength doesn't seem impressive either. Following such a guy is worse than following me. What's so good about these stinkihey all think with their lower halves." At another prime spot iands, a girl in a red dress leaned against an iron pilr with her arms crossed over her chest. Her alluring curves were atuated by the straight pilr, making her extremely entig. At this moment, she couldn't help but curl her lips and sneer with some disdain as she looked toward where Xiao Yan was.

  Clearly, Xiao Yan had also bee something of a celebrity.

  "Little Witch, sit properly. How you be so unruly in public? Where are your manners?" Beside the red-dressed girl, an old man with white hair and beard saw her posture and unventional words and couldn't help but scold her, his beard bristling with anger.

  The Deputy Headmaster g Xiao Yan, his eyes showing a trace of peculiarity as he muttered, "Strange, I 't see through his cultivation level. There's a very strong Spiritual Strength blog me. Is that a treasure or..."

  The red-dressed girl gave this elderly man, who obviously held a high position in Jia Nan Academy, a disdainful look and snorted coldly, "To think you're the Deputy Headmaster of the Outer Academy. If it were me, I would have kicked that Xiao Yan out of the academy long ago. He disappeared for over a year and tended a single css. How he still be a student of our Jia Nan Academy?"

  The Deputy Headmaster looked at his granddaughter and said, "Don't be sant. That boy's strength may not be weaker than yours. He's the same age as you, and didn't you cim to be invincible among your peers? I don't think you easily defeat him."

  "Heh, yiving him too much credit. Only Xun Er is qualified to pete with me." The Little Witch wore a look of disdain. In her eyes, only Xun Er mattered.

  The matches in the arena tinued. Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength swept across the entire area, his brows slightly furrowed as he looked toward three dires in the pza.

  'This Jia Nan Academy does have some talents. The cultivation levels of these three are higher than Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning. It's a bit troublesome. Should I secretly elimihem?' Xiao Yan pursed his lips, hoping he could enter these three in the first round.

  But Heaven didn't always grant one's wishes. Xiao Yan's first-round oppo was a young man at the 9-star Dou Master stage.

  "So you're Xiao Yan? Hmph, let me see if you have the strength to be worthy of Junior Sister Xun Er!" A long spear was drawn with a g.

  "Casg Waves!"

  "Scram." Xiao Yan g him, flicked his finger, and a ball of red fme shot out. With a loud boom, the fme exploded, directly bsting the person out of the arena.

  Xiao Yan didn't even bother to look bad directly jumped off the battle ptform. He's not Xun Er; dealing with these Outer Academy students, taking more than one move would t as his loss.

  He left behind a dumbfounded referee and an audience full of shocked faces.

  Xiao Yan had never showcased his strength in Jia Nan Academy before, only his sharp tongue. Everyone's impression of him was that of a lecher, a sdrel, and someone who lived off women.

  "S!"

  "Is that real fire!! Has he reached Dou Spirit?!"

  "Not necessarily. One doesn't o be a Dou Spirit or a 4th-tier alchemist to use real fire. Some fire-attribute Dou Qi cultivators refine fire seeds to borrow fire."

  "But he defeated him in one move..."

  Iands, except for those who knew Xiao Yan like Xiao Yu and the others, the rest who didn't know him all had their mouths slightly agape, staring in astonishment at the youth who had jumped down from the battle ptform after a sirike.

  Many girls with budding feelings couldn't help but have stars in their eyes. Who could have imagihat Xue Beng, whose strength was at the 9-star Dou Master stage, would be defeated in just one exge—no, in just a face-off—even after using his stro Dou Teique, beaten by a mere flick of a finger!

  Even the referee fot to annouhe end of the match, resulting in this oute that left everyone dumbfounded.

  Oher side of the stands, Bai Shan stood with his arms crossed, frowning slightly as he gazed at the bck-robed youth standing straight in the pza. After a while, he slowly exhaled and said with a faint smile, "Not bad. He indeed has some skill. Now you're finally worthy of being elevated to a position where I take you seriously. If there's a ce, I'd like to test you myself."

  Faced with the excmations and discussions from the entire pza, Xiao Yan remained deaf to it all. At this moment, he was solely focused on how to get his members into the Inner Academy, or even directly occupy the top five positions and cim the reportedly generous rewards.

  'I wonder if using medial pills is allowed.'