BTTH: From Genius to Invincible

A month flew by in the blink of an eye. During this time, Xiao Yan enjoyed a rare period of leisure. No longer wandering the world in search of Heavenly Flames, he lived like a graduate student about to complete his studies. Every day, he either refined and perfected his self-created Angry Buddha Lotus Flame Dou Technique, immersed himself in alchemy, or cultivated his Qi Method and Dou Techniques.

In the end, he even created his own 4th-tier pill recipe using the Core-Fire Lotus Seed as the main ingredient. This pill not only had the effect of removing fire poison from the body and clearing the mind but also allowed his cultivation to advance by one star, reaching the 4-star Dou Grandmaster stage.

What was somewhat regrettable was that his alchemy skills only reached the minimum goal he had set for himself. He achieved the peak of the 4th tier but couldn't break through to the 5th tier. Currently, with the assistance of the Heavenly Flame and the Black Demon Cauldron, he had a nearly 100% success rate in refining 4th-tier medicinal pills and often produced multiple pills in a single batch.

However, he still couldn't successfully refine 5th-tier pills, and even the weakest 5th-tier pills had never been successful.

He had also exhausted the medicinal herbs obtained from the cave of the Poison Scripture and Little Fairy Doctor's valley. Fortunately, he had taken the opportunity to loot Yao Li's storage ring and Queen Medusa's treasury back then. Otherwise, he would now be so poor that he wouldn't even have any ingredients to practice with.

Indeed, being an alchemist was both a money-making and money-draining profession! Earning money was faster than robbery, but losing money made you want to go rob.

Night fell, and darkness enveloped the land. In the sky above, the silver moon hung high, its faint moonlight gently dispelling some of the darkness. In a month's time, the Desert Metal Mercenary Company had been rebuilt. A grand pavilion now stood tall in Rock Desert City.

In the tranquil compound, the three brothers lay on comfortable lounge chairs, gazing up at the star-filled sky. Occasionally, they would lift their wine glasses, clink them together, and chat leisurely about life.

There seemed to be a tacit understanding among the three brothers—they all knew that Xiao Yan would be leaving the next day.

After downing the wine in his cup, Xiao Yan turned to look at his two slightly intoxicated elder brothers and slowly stood up.

He took four scrolls from his storage ring and gently placed them on the small table beside Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

Xiao Ding smiled and shook his head, while Xiao Li looked somewhat puzzled. Xiao Yan explained, "Here are two High Xuan Class wood-attribute and lightning-attribute Qi Methods, as well as two Intermediate Xuan Class Dou Techniques without attribute requirements—one is an agility technique, and the other is a defense technique. They happen to be suitable for Big Brother and Second Brother to cultivate."

Xiao Yan did not give them any attack-type Dou Techniques; he only hoped that his two elder brothers would stay safe and sound. If they couldn't win a fight, at least they could escape.

Even the slightly drunken eyes of Xiao Ding and Xiao Li suddenly lit up when they heard this. They immediately sat up straight.

Just a single High Xuan Class Qi Method was a priceless treasure in the Jia Ma Empire. Although Xiao Zhan had once bought a High Xuan Class 'Hurricane Chant' at an auction for hundreds of thousands of gold coins, that Qi Method had serious flaws, which was why it was left unsold until it reached Wu Tan City.

Adding two more Dou Techniques on top of that, these four ancient scrolls were valuable enough to purchase the entire mercenary company!

If Xiao Yan hadn't helped Xiao Ding and Xiao Li consolidate all the mercenary companies in Rock Desert City, he wouldn't have dared to give them such precious items.

Even someone as calm and steady as Xiao Ding couldn't help but show a trace of desire on his face in the presence of such rare treasures. As for Xiao Li, he grabbed the silver scroll the moment Xiao Yan finished speaking and couldn't put it down as he examined it from top to bottom.

But that wasn't all. Xiao Yan took out more than a dozen ornate boxes from his storage ring. Each box contained pills that were enticing just to look at.

"These are 4th-tier Hidden Spirit Pills. They can help a 9-star Dou Master break through to the Dou Grandmaster realm without any side effects. They prevent unstable Dou Qi and also increase the chance of breaking through to the Dou Spirit realm by 10% afterward."

"These are 4th-tier Detoxification Pills; these are 4th-tier Great Blood Recovery Pills for healing injuries; and these are 4th-tier Beast Strength Pills, which can temporarily enhance the user's physical strength."

"And these are peak 4th-tier Spirit Breaking Pills, which can increase the chance of breaking through to the Dou Spirit realm by 30-40%. When used together with the Hidden Spirit Pills, the chance should increase to 50-60%. It's a pity that I haven't reached the 5th-tier alchemist level yet; otherwise, I could refine 5th-tier Spirit Breaking Pills, which would allow a 9-star Dou Grandmaster to directly break through to the Dou Spirit realm."

Xiao Yan felt a bit regretful. 4th-tier pills could only increase the success rate, whereas 5th-tier pills could lead to a direct breakthrough to the Dou Spirit realm. Unfortunately, he had used up all the ingredients for the Spirit Breaking Pill and hadn't succeeded even once.

Listening to Xiao Yan's introduction, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li's mouths dropped open wide enough to fit a duck egg.

They had thought that the Qi Methods and Dou Techniques were already astonishing enough, but they hadn't expected something even more outrageous!!! Any one of these 4th-tier pills could cause an uproar in the entire Rock Desert City!

There were five types of pills. Except for the Great Blood Recovery Pills, which had six boxes, the other functional pills had two boxes each, making a total of fourteen ornate boxes!!!

Hair-raising! Extravagant!!

"And there's more..."

"You have more?!!!" Xiao Ding and Xiao Li exclaimed in unison. That's enough already!

Xiao Yan chuckled and took out two more items, "These two things aren't worth much."

"In this small bottle is a miniature Angry Buddha Lotus Flame. If you encounter an enemy you can't handle, just inject Dou Qi and throw it out. It should unleash the power of a full-strength attack from a high-star Dou Spirit." He placed two bottles containing four-colored lotus flames—red, green, black, and white—on the table.

To preserve them, the amount of flame inside was very small, only enough for refining a 2nd-tier pill, but they contained four kinds of Heavenly Flames!

"And finally, these are two Soul Communication Jade Pendants. Crush one to send a spiritual communication message."

Life-saving trump cards and emergency communication jade pendants!

Seeing these invaluable items filled with heartfelt intentions, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li picked them up with great care. Compared to the scrolls of Qi Methods and Dou Techniques and the pills, these two items were the most precious in their hearts.

"I'm truly ashamed; I have nothing to give you as your big brother." Xiao Ding shook his head with a bitter smile.

Suddenly, a cluster of green flames slowly rose from Xiao Yan's palm, illuminating the faces of the three brothers. Xiao Yan said, "This is the gift from you two brothers; I've just received it in advance."

Although Xiao Ding and Xiao Li hadn't directly helped him obtain the Heavenly Flame, he knew that if his two elder brothers hadn't kept his casual words in their hearts, he might not have been able to obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame.

The rest of the night was filled with chatter and laughter.

…

Early the next morning, Xiao Yan quietly flew away from Rock Desert City and head straight toward the capital city of the Jia Ma Empire with Hai Bodong.

Apart from occasionally stopping in large cities along the way to see if there were any medicinal ingredients for the Spiritual Recovery Purple Pill, the two of them spent almost all their time flying.

Several days later, they gazed upon the majestic city that appeared beneath the clouds and mist—that was Jia Ma Sacred City.

Suddenly, Xiao Yan's gaze suddenly shifted toward the northern part of the capital city. There stood an enormous mountain range that could only be described as majestic, lying like a giant dragon, faintly exuding an aura that soared into the sky.

That was the location of the colossal entity of the Jia Ma Empire—the Misty Cloud Sect!

However, neither the Jia Ma Empire nor the Misty Cloud Sect was significant. What truly made Xiao Yan somewhat expectant was the Hall of Souls hidden within the Jia Ma Empire!

He hadn't forgotten that the reason Hun Huzi knew about the Xiao Clan back then was because his reputation had reached the ears of the Hall of Souls in the capital at that time.

Xiao Yan guessed that the people from the Hall of Souls hidden in Jia Ma Sacred City had come to investigate the Xiao Clan and discovered something. Not daring to act rashly, they reported their findings to their superiors, which eventually led to Hun Huzi's arrival.

As for the specifics, Xiao Yan would have to personally visit the Hall of Souls in Jia Ma Sacred City to find out.

"Hall of Souls of the Jia Ma Empire, here I come. Jie Jie Jie."

"Why are you laughing so strangely?"

"You wouldn't understand; it's tradition."