Word Count: 3,040 Words
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Yao Xiaotian, Yao Ce, the Flood Serpent Demon Venerate, and every serpent-kin forcibly enslaved by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils seemed to have been waiting for this exact moment.
The sight of all that towering resentment did not surprise Xiao Yan in the least. In this world, no power came without cost. Strength always demanded a price.
Over the years, who knew how many serpent-kin Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had enslaved? The negative emotion accumulated within them was terrifying beyond measure.
"Heavenly Flame Dou Technique, Purifying World Lotus Flame."
Xiao Yan formed a hand seal, and his Dou Qi and Spiritual Strength poured into the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.
"Yi!"
Little Yi opened its tiny mouth and spat out a mass of milky-white fire. Unlike the flame within the Demon Flame Space, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame had become utterly sacred after being refined. Its white fire radiated a pristine, beautiful aura, as though its very existence could cleanse the soul.
Yaaaa!!
Aaaaaah!!
The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame enveloped the still-sleeping Qing Lin, and the terrifying fire began purifying the negative energy surging through her.
Under Xiao Yan's control, the flame split into countless thin strands that drilled into her body and merged with her soul. From there they followed the flow of her Dou Qi until they reached the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame possessed the strongest purifying power on the Dou Qi Continent. The negative energy hoarded within those pupils was nothing before it. Even if Xiao Yan faced the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree again and contended with the negative energy of a Dou God, he could now cleanse all of it without relying on a single Bodhisattva Seed.
Before long, every trace of that accumulated darkness had been burned away. A delicate, jade-white body with a striking figure then fell from the air.
There was a crisp smack as Xiao Yan caught the falling Qing Lin in both arms.
"Young Master Xiao Yan?"
With the negative energy gone, Qing Lin slowly opened her eyes. Xiao Yan's gaze fell upon her pupils, and his expression shifted. The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had changed, faintly but unmistakably. The three flower-shaped patterns within them seemed to be blooming.
The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils could grow even stronger!
Confusion filled Qing Lin's beautiful eyes for an instant, then broke into delight as she recognized him. "Young Master Xiao Yan, you've returned from the Demon Flame Space! Qing Lin isn't dreaming, is she?"
"This isn't a dream." Xiao Yan kept his gaze locked firmly on her joyful face. He did not dare let it drift even slightly lower. If Qing Lin kept bouncing with excitement in his arms, the consequences of looking anywhere else would be disastrous.
Watching him wield the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame had jogged something loose in Cai Lin's memory. Back then, at the bottom of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, this fellow had used a Heavenly Flame to temper her body. The situation had been exactly the same!
Then it had been the Fallen Heart Flame. Now it was the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.
Good fellow. No wonder he had been so eager to send the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent away. He had planned this from the very start!
The most powerful Heavenly Flame Dou Technique was probably called 'Clothes Burning.'
Qing Lin curled instinctively closer in Xiao Yan's arms. A heartbeat later she felt the cool mountain air against her skin, and realization struck all at once. She slowly looked down.
Her pretty face drained of color, then flooded scarlet.
Her clothes were gone!
And they were not in a room. They were out in the open mountains!
"Y-Young Master Xiao Yan... c-could we go back to the room first? Qing Lin wants... wants to take a bath..." Her voice was barely a whisper, soft and stuttering, every word carrying an unintentional sweetness.
"Hm?!!!"
The shy request struck Xiao Yan like a thunderbolt. He looked down, and the sight nearly drove his soul from his body. Qing Lin's entire body was flushed crimson, curled up tight in his arms like a freshly cooked shrimp, her snow-white fingers clutching his robe with desperate force. Her mind had clearly gone blank long ago. That bold little sentence had slipped out on pure instinct, bypassing rational thought entirely.
Even Xiao Yan felt heat rise through him. He hurriedly withdrew the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, set Qing Lin down, and pulled a black robe from his storage ring. He draped it over her shoulders and explained in a rush, "Qing Lin, you've misunderstood. Your clothes were burned away by the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame."
The words had scarcely left his mouth when her cheeks, red as ripe peaches a moment before, lost every trace of color. A faint sheen of tears gathered in her beautiful eyes. She looked at him with such quiet misery and despair that his chest ached, and her lips trembled as she forced out a single question. "Young Master Xiao Yan... do you not want Qing Lin?"
The question rooted him to the spot.
He had known Qing Lin since he was eleven or twelve. From the Sky Serpent Mansion to the Yan Alliance and then to the present, she had always stayed by his side, carrying out her duties without a word of complaint. She had always placed herself at the very lowest position. In her own heart she was nothing more than an orphan whom Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had once taken in, a maidservant of the Xiao Clan.
But over ten years ago, Xiao Yan, with a cultivation that could only be called weak, had crashed alone into the Sky Serpent Mansion and fought a faction far stronger than himself just to drag her out of that deep, lightless corner. From that day on, Qing Lin had understood something.
She was not the Xiao Clan's maidservant.
She was Xiao Yan's maidservant.
Xiao Yan was the white moonlight in her heart, the one person she had looked up to through all these years. It was only natural that such feelings had given rise to a small, trembling hope within her.
Xiao Yan pulled the hood of the black robe over her head, then drew her into his arms and gently patted her hair. "Silly girl. How could your Young Master ever not want you?"
"Give me some time. Once I've handled everything, you'd better have this impatient little body of yours scrubbed spotless and waiting for me."
The words were shameless enough to set her ears burning, yet Qing Lin felt not the slightest offense. Warmth spread through her instead, and the fear that had gripped her moments ago dissolved like mist under sunlight. She nodded hard.
Once the Dou Saint promise had been fulfilled, what naturally followed was a Dou God promise!
Of course, Xiao Yan did not mean that he would become a Dou God himself. He meant that he would refine a God Pill.
The Dou Qi Continent truly needed a Dou God now. It did not matter in the slightest who that Dou God turned out to be. Even Hun Tiandi would do.
Cai Lin came walking over from the side. Xiao Yan, still holding Qing Lin, stiffened the instant he sensed her approach. Qing Lin panicked as well. She slipped hurriedly from his arms and retreated to stand slightly behind Cai Lin.
Her posture made her meaning clear. She had no intention of competing with Cai Lin for anything and remained willing to stand behind her. It was difficult not to like someone so tactful and considerate.
Cai Lin patted Qing Lin's shoulder lightly and looked at Xiao Yan. "Xiao Yan, if you treat Qing Lin poorly in the future, then as her older sister, This Queen will never forgive you."
Hearing that permission granted aloud in front of Xiao Yan, Qing Lin truly became Cai Lin's little sister. She edged behind her domineering Queen of an older sister, caught hold of her sleeve, and stole a glance at Xiao Yan.
The two women had clearly settled everything between themselves long ago. Only Xiao Yan, the supposed master of the household, had known nothing at all.
Xiao Yan stared at the two women in astonishment. Cai Lin stood before him with her mature grace and noble bearing. Her beauty was capable of toppling kingdoms, while her every movement carried a natural, seductive charm. Behind her stood Qing Lin, wrapped in his oversized black robe, which could hardly conceal the ripe, alluring lines of her figure. Yet her eyes still held that trace of purity and innocence.
One was a queen with charm woven into her marrow. The other was the gentle maidservant who had grown into a breathtaking beauty.
Even with his current mental fortitude, Xiao Yan could not help swallowing.
Father, your son really has made it. White Snake on one arm, Green Snake on the other...
Xu Xian only dared marry one!
[TL/N: Xu Xian is the protagonist of the Legend of the White Snake, who married a snake spirit (Bai Suzhen).]
The Mysterious Yellow Flame he had barely managed to suppress began stirring again.
He had only just returned from the Demon Flame Space!
Xiao Yan vaguely felt that he needed to raise his physical cultivation another level. It was not only because that cultivation had stagnated for so long. There were plenty of other reasons as well.
The Three Thousand Burning Flame and the Ten Thousand Beast Flame were both beginning to feel insufficient.
…
Once Qing Lin's affairs were settled, Xiao Yan remained in the Yellow Springs Mountain Range for a time, most of it spent with Xiao Xiao and Xiao Cai. He could hardly leave Cai Lin to raise the children on her own.
Of course, he did more than keep his daughters company. He also quietly gathered information about the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe.
He had been missing for two years. Counting the time, Huang Tian, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's Tribe Leader, should have emerged from seclusion long ago. Xiao Yan also had no idea how Feng Qing Er was faring, and that hidden card mattered enormously to the wider situation across the Beast Region.
The matter of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe made it more pressing still. Zi Yan would have little difficulty unifying Dragon Island by force. The true problem lay in the chain reaction that would follow.
As the Little Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan, how could Xiao Yan not understand? To the Magical Beast Tribes, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe was what the Xiao Clan was among the Dou God Clans. No Dou God Clan wished to see the Xiao Clan return and grow strong again. Even the upper echelons of the Gu Clan had no desire to watch their former ally reappear and rise.
The Ancient Void Dragon Tribe was without question the Xiao Clan of the Magical Beast world, and in some respects the problem ran deeper. After all, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe was the only true superpower among the Magical Beast Tribes. If Zi Yan managed to unify Dragon Island without meeting a single obstruction, that would be the strange thing.
Even the Dou God Clans might reach out a hand to interfere.
For now, the news of Xiao Yan's return had yet to spread, and he had kept it that way deliberately. It was a test aimed at the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. No, more precisely, it was a test aimed at Feng Qing Er.
Throughout the two years Xiao Yan spent inside the Demon Flame Space, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had been extremely active across the Beast Region. Once Huang Tian emerged from seclusion, their advance turned unstoppable. They seized territory everywhere and even stretched their reach into the Demon Flame Plains of the Central Plains to contend for Demon Flame Rocks.
Zi Yan and Cai Lin were both 4-star Dou Saints, while Huang Tian had come out of seclusion at the late phase of the 5-star Dou Saint stage. With that kind of strength behind them, how could the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe not parade their might and grow arrogant?
The lands the Snake-People Tribe had once ceded to them no longer satisfied the tribe at all. They wanted more, and they were already stirring restlessly.
Territory itself did not concern Xiao Yan. He could take it back whenever he pleased. Moreover, Feng Qing Er remained the Saintess of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe in name, so she could not openly cooperate with the Yan Alliance, and certain orders from the tribe she had no choice but to obey. What Xiao Yan wanted to test was which side her heart truly leaned toward.
If she genuinely believed he had died in the Demon Flame Space, if she had begun sleeping soundly and thinking Huang Tian invincible, if she had quietly passed information along to Huang Tian or even started plotting against Zi Yan, then he would show no further mercy.
His cultivation now surpassed Huang Tian's, and he possessed a Flame Mantra evolved to the God Class. What was that motley bird worth? It would hand him the perfect excuse to march troops against the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe.
If Feng Qing Er still remembered where she stood, however, then Xiao Yan would honor his own promise. He would spare the innocent among the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe, help her become their new Tribe Leader, and through her take hold of the entire Beast Region.
…
On the third day after Xiao Yan's secret return from the Demon Flame Space, an explosive piece of news swept across the Central Plains and the Beast Region.
Nalan Yanran, Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect and one of the four great powers of the Yan Alliance, had issued a challenge to Feng Qing Er, Saintess of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe!
The wager was the portion of the Yellow Springs Mountain Range that had once been ceded away. If Nalan Yanran won, that territory would be reclaimed. If Feng Qing Er won, another third of the Yellow Springs Mountain Range would be handed over.
"Why did you have me challenge Feng Qing Er?!!"
On the small mountain peak where Yun Yun resided within the Flower Sect, Nalan Yanran stood in her silver-white Sect Leader robes, her beautiful eyes wide with shock. Xiao Yan sat nearby, calmly drinking tea.
That challenge had not come from her. She had only learned of it moments ago.
Someone had impersonated her!
And that someone was Xiao Yan!!
Xiao Yan set his teacup down and cast her a sidelong glance. He had not seen Nalan Yanran since their journey to the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree. Perhaps it was the enlightenment she had gained beneath that tree, but he found her far more pleasing to the eye than before.
Her silver-white robes were embroidered with pale cloud and blossom motifs, and a soft sash cinched tight at her waist, drawing out every graceful curve for anyone to see. Her face was like a peach blossom brushed with the first color of spring, and compared to before, her whole being seemed to brim with vibrant life. Her cheeks looked soft enough to bruise under a breath, her beauty striking beyond compare.
It was as though some knot in her heart had come undone, leaving her radiant.
"Can't you learn a little from your Master? Making a fuss all day long. Use your head more."
"You!!! You impersonated me to issue a challenge, and now you're blaming me for making a fuss?" Nalan Yanran was dumbstruck, her beautiful eyes gone perfectly round. The way he said it, it almost sounded as though she were the one in the wrong.
Yun Yun, seated on a stone chair beside them, laughed softly, gentle as flowing water.
Set beside Nalan Yanran, Yun Yun's mature elegance stood out all the more. She was not merely lovely to look at. Her beauty was refined rather than gaudy, noble without being cold, and that calm, unhurried air of hers only deepened her charm.
Xiao Yan's sudden return had given her quite a start as well.
"Your real target is Feng Qing Er, isn't it?" Yun Yun poured Nalan Yanran a cup of floral tea and gestured for her to sit.
"Feng Qing Er?" Nalan Yanran frowned. "You want to use my hand to kill her?"
Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and laughed. "If I wanted her dead, would I need to borrow your hand? What are you thinking?"
"There's no other reason I came to you. Your cultivation simply happens to match hers. You're both Nine-Change Dou Venerates, and neither of you has reached Half-Saint." He glanced at Yun Yun. "Originally I intended to ask you to go. I just didn't expect you'd already broken through to Dou Saint."
Even Xiao Yan found that strange. Two years ago, when he entered the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's space, Yun Yun had only reached peak Nine-Change Dou Venerate, and all he had left behind were a few Bodhisattva Pills. Her foundation was excellent, and back at the Flower Sect he had used the Fallen Heart Flame and various pills to strengthen it further.
Even so, a direct breakthrough to Dou Saint should have been just beyond her reach. Two years of seclusion with the Bodhisattva Pills should have brought her to the intermediate or high-level Half-Saint at most.
Yun Yun knew what he was thinking. A jade-like finger brushed a strand of dark hair from her forehead. "Speaking of that, I should thank you. The Bodhisattva Pills alone truly weren't enough to carry me into the Dou Saint realm. But when I meditated beneath the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, it left a strand of pure energy behind for me. That energy pushed me through. I suppose it was simply a stroke of fortune."
Xiao Yan remembered the energy the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had given him when he helped refine the Bodhisattva Seeds. That energy had raised his own cultivation considerably.
That Bodhisattva boss even bought life insurance for the families of departed employees. What an unparalleled, god-tier employer!