Word Count: 3,033 Words
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"Master, you really have it good." Nalan Yanran looked at Yun Yun with undisguised envy and genuine joy in her eyes. A Dou Saint. Who on the Dou Qi Continent wouldn't long for that?
It was not merely a matter of strength. Once one stepped into the Dou Saint realm, their lifespan far surpassed that of a Dou Venerate. A thousand years at the very least, and some Saints who cultivated special Qi Methods could even possess lifespans of ten thousand years.
The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had not extended her that same preferential treatment. It had allowed her to undergo a 'very realistic' experience, from which she had benefited greatly, but as for pure energy, there had been none. That realistic experience had probably consumed all of it.
In an era without a Dou God, Dou Saints stood at the pinnacle. With Nalan Yanran's temperament, her desire for strength was not much weaker than Xiao Yan's.
Xiao Yan picked up his empty teacup and turned it idly between his fingers, his tone light. "Isn't it just entering the Dou Saint realm? Handle this matter properly for me, and helping you break through to Dou Saint will be nothing more than lifting a finger."
Across the entire Dou Qi Continent, the number of people who dared speak those words could be counted on one hand. Xiao Yan happened to be one of them.
Nalan Yanran could not help glancing at him. She pursed her lips, a faint light of yearning and temptation flickering in her beautiful eyes.
Who didn't want Xiao Yan's pills? Forget the pills themselves; just the people lining up to beg Xiao Yan to refine for them could probably circle the Central Plains ten times over!
Even Hun Tiandi was a 'fan' of Lord Pill Saint Yan!
That was how exalted Xiao Yan's standing as an alchemist had become. Even though he had vanished into the Demon Flame Space for two years, and even though the agreement between the Dou God Clans had been revoked so that the Yao Clan could once more walk freely across the Dou Qi Continent, producing a Yao Tian who loudly proclaimed himself a super-genius alchemist capable of refining tier 9 pills, the continent's alchemists still did not acknowledge Yao Tian as the 'Pill God.'
No matter how the Yao Clan's members boasted, alchemists across the land would all respond with the same line: Tch. If Xiao Yan were here, what would this Yao Tian amount to?
Xiao Yan himself probably never expected that after disappearing for two years and doing nothing at all, he would, purely thanks to the Yao Clan's posturing, quietly become the Medicine God in the hearts of the continent's alchemists, worshipped like a deity.
"Hmph. S-since you've put it that way, it's not like I can't listen to you this one time." A faint blush crept across Nalan Yanran's cheeks as she turned her head away. She pressed her lips together, then still could not help sneaking a quick glance at him.
For Xiao Yan to personally help someone break through to the Dou Saint realm was a treatment enjoyed by very few on the entire Dou Qi Continent. It was not that he lacked the ability; it was that the price for his assistance was far too steep. Almost no Dou Venerate could afford it.
And Nalan Yanran could earn that favor simply by fighting one battle with Feng Qing Er. There had to be something special behind that.
Whether it was because of Yun Yun, because of the past engagement and the ties between the Nalan Clan and the Xiao Clan, or for some other reason entirely, only the heavens and Xiao Yan himself knew.
Yun Yun could not help revealing a soft smile as she watched Nalan Yanran's pursed lips and charmingly flushed face. Perhaps hidden beneath that smile there was even the faintest trace of jealousy.
"Then what do you want me to do? Do you want me to deliberately lose this duel?" After a brief pause, Nalan Yanran went straight to the point.
She did not like 'fixing matches,' but since she had agreed to listen to Xiao Yan, she would follow his arrangements.
Xiao Yan slowly shook his head, a meaningful smile touching his lips. "No need for anything special. You just have to accept the challenge. Feng Qing Er possesses the Wind-Lightning Physique. At the same cultivation level, her strength is far from weak. You might not necessarily win."
No one knew Feng Qing Er's background better than Xiao Yan. The awakening of her Wind-Lightning Physique had been arranged by his own hand, after all. Although it did not quite compare to Cai Lin's Heavenly Flame Serpent Body, it was far from inferior in its own right.
"Hmph. I won't lose to someone at the same level." Nalan Yanran let out a cold snort. Her time within the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had indeed granted her profound insight.
When she had entered the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, her cultivation had been even lower than the Bodhisattva Ancient Saint's when he had visited it in the past. She had only just stepped into the Dou Venerate realm. The less one knew, the deeper the comprehension one could obtain.
"Oh?" Xiao Yan glanced at the confident Nalan Yanran, and a playful thought suddenly rose in his mind. It seems it's time to update the combat power unit.
…
In the Divine Tree Space of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe, a magnificent, resplendent palace stood suspended among branches of gold and emerald.
A woman sat upon the Phoenix Chair at the palace's heart. She wore ceremonial phoenix robes, her bearing dignified and noble. Although her beauty was sufficient to topple cities, her imperial might was unmatched. The solemn expression upon her face inspired instinctive awe.
In the two years since Xiao Yan's disappearance, Feng Qing Er had firmly taken hold of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's reins of power. Two of the Heaven Demon Three Phoenixes had perished, and the remaining Feng Huang supported her unconditionally. Within the tribe, Feng Qing Er's status was now truly that of 'one person below, ten thousand above.'
Her position as the next Tribe Leader was all but decided.
After Huang Tian exited seclusion, Feng Qing Er had concealed nothing. She recounted Kun Huang and Ying Huang's deaths in full detail, even speaking candidly about Xiao Yan and openly opposing sending troops to support the three Dragon Islands.
By rights, her actions could be considered meritorious. But Huang Tian's final decision had not changed in the slightest. Even if Xiao Yan was still alive, he had no intention of backing down. There was no possibility he would allow the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe to sink back to the state it had occupied during the ancient era.
"Qing Er, how do you plan to handle that challenge post?"
Feng Huang, the sole surviving member of the Heaven Demon Three Phoenixes, walked in slowly and looked at Feng Qing Er seated upon the Phoenix Chair.
Feng Qing Er hurriedly rose to her feet and bowed respectfully. "Qing Er greets Supreme Elder Feng Huang."
"Sigh. Qing Er, there is no need for such formality between the two of us." Feng Huang shook her head with a bitter smile. There was no trace of her past domineering arrogance in her gaze. She no longer looked anything like a late 2-star Dou Saint super expert.
There was no helping it. Anyone who had witnessed Xiao Yan's terrifying strength would find their Dao Heart shaken. She had not been able to endure even a single move before being defeated by Xiao Yan, whose cultivation had been lower than her own at the time. Kun Huang and Ying Huang, her companions of a thousand years, had been blasted into blood mist by Yellow Spring Divine Anger right before her eyes.
And all of that could have been avoided. Feng Qing Er had even risked openly exposing her own betrayal for Xiao Yan's sake, yet in the end…
"Yes, Supreme Elder."
Feng Huang's gaze shifted to the scarlet challenge post resting on the table, worry clouding her expression. "This challenge post…"
Had it come from another clan's experts, even from a Dou God Clan, they would not have been so troubled. After all, duels, wagers, and arranged battles were far from rare on the Dou Qi Continent.
When it came to contested territories in particular, both sides often wished to avoid a full-scale faction war. They would send out powerful experts to settle things with a one-on-one duel, minimizing casualties to the greatest extent possible.
The challenge post the Yan Alliance had sent was precisely of that sort: a gambling duel with territory as the stake, between participants of comparable cultivation levels.
Feng Qing Er possessed the Bodhisattva Seed Xiao Yan had gifted her. Although its energy was extremely pure, it was nowhere near sufficient to let her break through to the Half-Saint realm, let alone reach Dou Saint.
As for the Bodhisattva Pills Xiao Yan had refined, those had naturally never been meant for her.
Both sides' strength could be called the very top tier beneath the Dou Saint level. A Nine-Change Dou Venerate like Tian He Zi simply was not their match.
Feng Qing Er had her own pride. Back then, she had even dared to challenge Xiao Yan himself. Whatever could be said of the outcome, she at least possessed the courage (even if she had been defeated in a single move).
She did not fear Nalan Yanran. What troubled both of them was the Yan Alliance that Nalan Yanran represented.
Over the last two years, the Yan Alliance had kept a low profile because Xiao Yan and the others were trapped in the Demon Flame Space. Only after Venerable Tian Huo advanced to the Half-Saint realm and Yun Yun broke through to Dou Saint did they begin to counterattack, reclaiming quite a few territories they had lost.
Some time ago, Huang Tian had exited seclusion as well. His cultivation had reached the late phase of the 5-star Dou Saint stage, surpassing Zi Yan by a full tier. The Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's morale had soared accordingly. Territorial disputes were inevitable wherever their borders pressed against the Yan Alliance's, and several clashes had already broken out.
Xiao Yan's deterrent force had indeed faded considerably. Two years ago, before he was trapped in the Demon Flame Space, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe would never have dared come into open conflict with the Yan Alliance.
Feng Qing Er's delicate brows drew together slightly as she picked up the fiery red challenge post. The content was very simple and clear: "Three days from now. Myriad Bone Plains."
After that came the terms of the wager, followed by the signature and official seal of the Misty Cloud Sect's Sect Leader.
"On the surface, this gambling duel is perfectly normal and aligns with the Yan Alliance's interests. They want to reclaim that portion of the Yellow Springs Mountain Range, which is entirely reasonable. But… I don't know why. I keep feeling there is some ulterior motive behind this challenge post." Feng Qing Er examined the few short lines carefully. There was nothing wrong with the post itself. No poison, no trace of Spiritual Strength probing from the ink. It was just an ordinary challenge letter.
Yet some invisible intuition gnawed at her, leaving her faintly ill at ease.
"Xiao—"
Before Supreme Elder Feng Huang could even finish the name, the single syllable 'Xiao' was enough to send a slight tremor through Feng Qing Er's body. Her pupils contracted sharply.
Those two characters were a genuine nightmare to her.
"The Demon Flame Space has been closed for over two years now. Throughout history, entering the Demon Flame Space has almost always meant more bad luck than good. For thousands of years, who knows how many experts and geniuses have entered? Once the Demon Flame Space closes and they haven't emerged, it is absolutely impossible for them to return. Perhaps he has already…"
"Impossible."
Feng Qing Er's beautiful eyes lifted to meet Supreme Elder Feng Huang's gaze. Her voice carried a firm, cutting certainty. "He couldn't have fallen just like that. Leaving the Demon Flame Space is only a matter of time. Didn't the Xiao Clan's ancestor, Xiao Chen, return as well?"
Xiao Chen's situation was no secret. The Yan Alliance had never tried to hide it. It was largely thanks to Xiao Chen's presence that the Yan Alliance had remained stable in Xiao Yan's absence. They had not expanded outward to seize more secret realms; they had only lost some relatively unimportant border cities, territories, and resources.
As for anyone daring to attack the Xiao Clan's ancestral land, or even to fight their way into the Jia Ma Empire, that was simply unthinkable.
Feng Huang was silent for a long while before she finally spoke. "But if Xiao Yan can only return a thousand years from now, when the Demon Flame Space descends again, then it will mean nothing to us."
Their lifespans might be long, but matters a thousand years hence held no meaning for the present. One had to remember that the Hall of Souls had not even existed for a thousand years, and the Xiao Clan itself had only been destroyed a thousand years ago.
What had both of them so troubled and indecisive now was the dilemma pressing in on them from all sides.
Not long after Huang Tian exited seclusion, the Northern Dragon King had come to seek him out.
They had only learned of this very recently. It had been kept entirely secret. Even Feng Qing Er and Feng Huang had known nothing until some days ago, when Huang Tian summoned Feng Huang and finally told her.
The Northern Dragon King had been covertly in contact with Huang Tian all along, the two of them plotting a scheme against Zi Yan.
Xiao Yan being trapped in the Demon Flame Space had undoubtedly been the fuse that set off a chain of reactions.
The party most directly affected was, of course, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. Back then, the reason the three great Dragon Kings had failed was precisely because Xiao Yan, this 'Dragon Emperor,' had turned Yao Ming to his side, then faced six Dou Saints alone, killing two and holding the remaining Dragon Kings back long enough for Zi Yan to unleash the Dragon Slaying Sword.
In other words, without Xiao Yan, Eastern Dragon Island would have been annihilated, and Zi Yan's fate would have been unimaginably tragic.
Now Huang Tian had emerged and Xiao Yan was trapped. One side's strength had risen while the other's had fallen. How could the Northern Dragon King not harbor schemes? The three Dragon Kings and Huang Tian were already riding a tiger they could not dismount. They knew with absolute clarity that once Zi Yan completely mastered the Dragon Slaying Sword, their doomsday would arrive. The same was true for the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. If the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe fully revived, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe would be reduced to nothing more than food.
All of this had inevitably drawn Feng Qing Er into the storm. She was a hidden card, one that Xiao Yan had personally planted within the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. She had completely submitted to him, becoming his servant. But all of that rested on a single premise: that Xiao Yan was still alive!
The premise was that Feng Qing Er truly believed Xiao Yan could defeat Huang Tian. As long as Huang Tian remained standing, it would never be her turn to truly rule the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe.
Now Feng Qing Er had to choose a side once more. She could return to what she had been at the very start, back to the 'original Feng Qing Er,' devoted solely to the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. If Eastern Dragon Island fell, the three Dragon Kings would become the true orthodox Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. In that case, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe would not be reduced to food. They might even stand side by side with the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe after obtaining the Dragon Phoenix bloodline.
Or she could maintain her current position.
And at precisely this moment, the Yan Alliance had sent a challenge post naming her. It was impossible for Feng Qing Er not to let her thoughts run wild.
If she chose the wrong side, her entire Feng lineage would be erased from existence. Her tribesmen would be damned for eternity. The only way for the Feng lineage to survive was to choose correctly.
One could easily imagine the weight of the pressure bearing down on Feng Qing Er's shoulders.
"Sigh. Regardless, I am still the Saintess of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. There is no reason for me to shrink away from this challenge." Feng Qing Er's eyes narrowed slightly. If she retreated now, it would look far too suspicious. Whether the Yan Alliance truly meant to challenge her, or whether Xiao Yan had already revealed her secret to the Yan Alliance's upper echelon and they intended to activate her as a hidden card, she had to go in person either way.
…
Three days flew by.
Without question, the topic discussed most fervently across the entire Central Plains and the Beast Region was the gambling duel between Nalan Yanran and Feng Qing Er.
On one side stood Nalan Yanran, Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, one of the Yan Alliance's Four Great Pillars. The Yan Alliance itself was famed alongside the Pill Tower and the Hall of Souls as one of the 'Three Ones' of the Central Plains. On the other stood Feng Qing Er, Saintess and presumptive next Tribe Leader of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe, one of the three great Magical Beast Tribes of the Beast Region.
Both were illustrious, seemingly invincible figures. Not only was their beauty renowned across the continent, but their strength and battle records were equally dazzling.
Amusingly, the two women shared one particular blemish on their otherwise brilliant histories.
Both of them had once lost to Xiao Yan.