BTTH: From Genius to Invincible

Two days later, Xiao Yan followed the spiritual map in his memory and ventured deeper into the Magic Beast Mountains. He leaped over a ravine and slowly approached a steep cliff face. After carefully selecting for quite some time, he finally picked a cave about four to five meters above the ground.

Cautiously climbing the somewhat damp and slippery rocks, he moved agilely like a monkey and quickly entered the cave he had previously selected.

"This place isn't bad."

The inside of the cave was slightly cool but spacious enough for one person to live comfortably.

Xiao Yan finally felt at ease after using his powerful Spiritual Strength to explore the area and confirming there were no traces of magical beasts nearby. He dragged a large rock from below the cliff to block the entrance of the cave. Then, he took a blanket and pillow from his storage ring and constructed a simple single bed using a few wooden sticks. Utilizing a special glowing gemstone to provide light, he created a simple yet functional living space in the cave.

Xiao Yan hadn't arbitrarily chosen this place as his base. The spiritual map from the Hall of Souls had marked three places where the Ten Thousand Beast Flame was believed to be. All of them were not far from this location. He could use this cave as a central point to gradually explore these three areas.

Although his current location was not yet at the deepest part of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, he had already encountered Rank 3 magical beasts, thus forcing him to proceed with caution.

Xiao Yan gradually circulated the Flame Mantra. The Flame Mantra that had refined the Seed Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame had now reached the Low Xuan Class Qi Method, allowing his Dou Qi to condense at a faster rate.

'I'll cultivate the Flying Dou Technique first; it's better to master a means of escape.'

Xiao Yan flipped his palm, and a black scroll appeared in his hand. It was the High Xuan Class Flying Dou Technique he had acquired.

Flying! What young man has not dreamed of soaring through the skies?

Holding the scroll in both hands, Xiao Yan licked his lips and carefully untied the finely bound string before slowly unfolding it.

"The name of this Dou Technique is Eagle Wings, also known as Purple Cloud Wings. It took me, the author, and a few friends three years to successfully capture a Purple Cloud Black Fire Eagle. Then, using a secret method to obtain both wings, we were finally able to create this scroll that allows one to learn a flying Dou Technique. Toward the end of my life, I used Dou Qi to create this Dou Technique. Remember, it can only be learned by one person!"

Xiao Yan discovered that the pair of Purple Cloud Wings depicted in the Dou Technique scroll had a soul embedded within them. The prerequisite for cultivating this Dou Technique was to be able to withstand a spiritual attack from the wings and successfully integrate the Purple Cloud Wings into one's own soul.

After reading the entire scroll of the Dou Technique, Xiao Yan felt as if this flying technique was tailor-made for him; entering its initial phase seemed far too easy. He slowly extended his hand and touched the pattern on the scroll. Immediately, the scroll unleashed a burst of Spiritual Strength that struck him.

'Playing soul games with me?' Xiao Yan let out a cold laugh as a spiritual attack erupted from his body.

Having cultivated the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique and a Soul Skill, he effortlessly subdued the fragmented fierce soul that had been sealed within the scroll for who knows how long in just a few exchanges.

The Purple Cloud Black Fire Eagle also had no choice but to submit to his powerful Spiritual Strength.

Once the eagle submitted, a warm current gathered on his back, and a pair of black eagle wing tattoos appeared there.

He slowly circulated his Dou Qi, gathering it all onto his back. Then, accompanied by searing heat, a pair of dark, Dou Qi wings, about one and a half meters long, appeared behind him.

'To enable the Purple Cloud Wings to fly requires a considerable amount of Dou Qi; fortunately, the Flame Mantra has already evolved to the Xuan Class.'

Xiao Yan controlled the wings to flutter slightly, creating a small lifting force beneath him. As he injected more Dou Qi, the thrust gradually increased, allowing him to float in the air.

With the Dou Qi of his current Dou Master realm, his full-speed flight was roughly equivalent to the speed of a small car, about eighty kilometers per hour.

Xiao Yan's eyes hardened as he cried out in his heart, 'Fire, arise!'

Whoosh!!! Black flames suddenly replaced the purple-black colored Eagle Wings. The Nihility Devouring Flame surged out of his Acceptance Soul, coursed through his meridians, and gathered at his back to form a pair of exceptionally large dark fire wings.

They made him look like a demon lord.

Boom! Like a jet emitting black flames, the terrifying thrust caused Xiao Yan to completely lose control. It sent him crashing headlong into a rock wall, resulting in a large bump.

'Ouch, ouch, ouch. The power has indeed increased greatly with the addition of the Nihility Devouring Flame, but the consumption of Dou Qi is just as terrifying.'

After ceasing the input of Dou Qi, the Purple Cloud Wings clung to his back again and transformed into a pitch-black eagle wing tattoo. More practice would be needed to master the flight distance, power, and turns.

Xiao Yan took out the mysterious fragment map and the Heavenly Flame Ranking catalog from his storage ring after applying some ointment to the large bump on his forehead.

Meow! The previously listless Mao Wu suddenly became aggressive upon seeing the fragment map, baring its teeth and clawing at the air. Xiao Yan noticed a faint pink lotus pattern on the fragment after following Mao Wu's gaze.

If Xiao Yan wasn't mistaken, this faint lotus pattern was likely branded with a Heavenly Flame, which explained why it aroused such hostility from the Nihility Devouring Flame.

In fact, only a few Heavenly Flames could provoke such animosity from it.

"Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. Ranked 3rd in the Heavenly Flame Ranking. It has the special effect of purifying all things. The demonic flame takes the shape of a lotus and is light pink in color. Could this fragment map be a treasure map for the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame?!"

Meow!!!

"Do you think so?"

Meow~

"Too bad it is only a fragment; the complete map would be ideal."

Xiao Yan stretched lazily and pushed aside a rock at the entrance of the cave, allowing the gentle sunlight to bathe the land. From the cliff, he looked out at the distant, endless expanse of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, which resembled a massive green dragon.

He could even imagine the wild, primitive-like life he was about to lead.

He had set three goals for himself. The first was to explore three locations identified on the spiritual map where the fire attribute energy was exceptionally dense. The second goal was to cultivate his Soul Training Method, the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique, to a minor level of mastery, elevate his Spiritual State to the Intermediate Mortal State, and ensure he could reliably refine 3rd-tier medicinal pills. The third goal was to cultivate the Flame Splitting Tsunami and the Mad Lion Chant, with the latter needing to reach at least a major level of mastery to be effective.

With a whoosh, the Purple Cloud Wings appeared behind Xiao Yan. He kicked off with both feet, wings unfurling as he glided down the cliff and flew toward the wilderness of the Magic Beast Mountain Range below.

"Woo-hoo! Magic Beast Mountain Range, here I come, Xiao Yan!"

Roar, roar, roar! Seeing a figure descending, the Rank 2 magical beast, Giant Bear, roared and stood up, swinging its massive paw at him.

"Ha ha ha, it looks like bear paw is on the menu tonight! I haven't had stewed bear paw in a long time!"

"Octane Blast!"

...

Time flew by, and more than four months had passed, leaving just over half a year until Xiao Yan's duel with Nalan Yanran.

In the deep silence of the night, Xiao Yan was crouching behind a rock, his gaze fixed on the massive mountain not far away. At the top of the mountain, a huge cave entrance was partially visible, obscured by branches.

"What a hassle. The last location turns out to be the lair of the Amethyst Winged Lion King." Xiao Yan cautiously peered at the mountaintop from behind the rock, careful not to alert any creatures inside that someone was spying on their lair.

In the past four months, thanks to reaching the Xuan Class with his Flame Mantra and a fortuitous encounter with a Fire Attribute Xuan Fruit, Xiao Yan had advanced from a 1-star Dou Master to a 3-star one.

He had also investigated the two nearest locations marked on the spiritual map, only to find that both of them were nothing but bullshit.

One was an underground magma river that had formed a vein of Xuan Fire Crystals, which could be used as fuel. The other was caused by the death of a Rank 5 fire attribute magical beast.

Now, only one location remained on the map, but what made his head hurt was that the cave was completely inaccessible!

The Amethyst Winged Lion King, a Rank 6 magical beast with strength comparable to a Dou Emperor, was still very much alive! Even if the Ten Thousand Beast Flame was inside its lair, what could he do? He couldn't possibly defeat this 'dungeon boss' at all!