"I, I... I want you dead!!!"
A hint of madness and clarity flashed in the blood-red figure's eyes. It let out a roar that was similar to Protector Xuan's, the voice hoarse and broken, clearly not in a state of sound mind.
"You still have a shred of consciousness, but don't forget, I am the one who created you."
Yan Qingshan was not afraid of this fierce soul that exuded a monstrous murderous aura. He quickly formed a seal with his hands and unleashed a cyan light that bound the fierce soul. Then, with his soul power, the last remaining consciousness of Protector Xuan was completely suppressed.
"Go on!"
Yan Qingshan used a special technique to crush the consciousness within the fierce soul and then threw the fierce soul, which now only had the instinct to kill, into Xie Bi Yan's body.
"A fierce soul combined with a magical beast-like body, and this method of refining through ten thousand poisons... This puppet refined using Xie Bi Yan's body seems to be even more powerful!"
Yan Qingshan repeated the steps he had taken with Yan Luotian's corpse, but this time he was using a fierce soul that was far superior to an ordinary Dou Ancestor as the soul form.
In the original story, Protector Xuan refined a fierce soul with the souls of four peak-Dou Emperors and some other soul forms. The refined soul power surpassed that of a normal Dou Ancestor, and even Xiao Yi Xian and Grand Elder Su Qian felt threatened.
This time, Yan Qingshan threw all the soul forms that the three Hall of Souls protectors had collected over the years into the mix, along with Protector Xuan's Dou Ancestor-level main soul, to refine a fierce soul of at least the Six-Star Dou Ancestor level.
This fierce soul itself was comparable to a Six-Star Dou Ancestor. With Xie Bi Yan and the Blood Demon Scorpion Emperor's monster core having a high compatibility, even if the Blood Demon Scorpion Emperor's monster core was slightly inferior, the resulting puppet's grade would not be lower than Earth-tier.
Yan Qingshan also used the knowledge from the Seven-Colored Poison and used Xiao Yi Xian's essence blood as a guide to refine a rare and powerful poison. He then injected it into the location of the Blood Demon Scorpion Emperor's monster core, integrating it into the new puppet's entire body, which greatly increased its destructive power and combat strength.
Ten days and ten nights. The refining process lasted for ten days and ten nights. A tall, dark silver puppet, faintly exuding a gray-purple and bloody halo, appeared before Yan Qingshan.
The puppet's hands, a pair of pincers, gleamed with cold light, and its aura was much stronger than the other one hovering around Yan Qingshan.
Its eyes were blood-red, filled with an endless intent to kill, as if it could leap out at any moment to slaughter. It had a terrifying killing instinct. The gray-purple and bloody light faintly radiated a kind of hazy quality, a strange poison that could easily claim a person's life if they were not careful.
"One with astonishing toxicity and immense killing power, I'll call it Scorpion Demon. And another with astonishing speed, I'll call it Roc Demon."
Yan Qingshan looked at the two great puppets before him and nodded in satisfaction. The Roc Demon puppet, comparable to a Three-Star Dou Ancestor, had astonishing speed. Few Dou Ancestors could be faster than it, making it convenient for both chasing enemies and protecting himself.
The other puppet, the Scorpion Demon, had astonishing combat power. It not only retained a physique comparable to a magical beast, but it also had powerful poison and a fierce soul's killing instinct. Its combat strength was on par with a Seven-Star Dou Ancestor. Whether it was a one-on-one duel or facing a large group of pursuers, it was a qualified killing machine.
"Excellent! Follow me!"
Yan Qingshan controlled the two puppets, who were like the guardians Heng and Ha. The Roc Demon puppet acted as a scout, flying around Yan Qingshan. The Scorpion Demon puppet, a bit slower, acted as a loyal bodyguard, intentionally blocking his front.
"It should be... that direction!"
Yan Qingshan arrived at the edge of the lava coast. The endless lava constantly surged like tides, and the extremely high temperature brought an unbearable heat. The hot wind from a distance alone made him sweat. In this place, no one below a Dou King's strength could stay for long.
"Roc Demon, lead the way!"
Yan Qingshan did not hesitate and directly ordered his puppet, the Roc Demon, to lead the way. The Roc Demon puppet spread its wings, and in the next instant, its body slammed into the surface of the lava lake, creating a dent before sinking in, leaving a swirling vortex. Yan Qingshan jumped in without hesitation.
Plop…
A cyan flame plunged into the lava. The fast-moving Scorpion Demon followed close behind. A flurry of bubbles emerged, then quickly burst, and the underground world fell into silence once more.
As soon as Yan Qingshan entered the lava, a scorching temperature and a powerful pressure surged from all directions. However, the Scorpion Demon and the Roc Demon were like two silver rings around Yan Qingshan, blocking most of the incoming lava, so he didn't feel much pressure.
"This direction..."
Yan Qingshan closed his eyes to sense for a moment before opening them and moving again. Like a fish entering the sea, he moved through the viscous lava. His speed grew faster and faster, and he was heading further and further away from the surface.
There was very little information recorded about this lava world. The only thing that was known was that this place seemed to be where the Fallen Heart Flame was born. As for whether this lava sea held anything else, the Inner Academy had no records of it.
In the vast, endless lava, everything was fiery red. In this fiery red world, the two silver lights hovering around the rapidly descending deep green fire figure were exceptionally eye-catching.
After an unknown amount of time descending, Yan Qingshan suddenly stopped and looked around.
This was still a fiery red world, and it didn't seem to be the end of this lava sea, but the dark red lava below him faintly exuded a kind of soul-stirring blackness. For some reason, it felt as if a secret was buried underneath.
A nearly invisible heart flame appeared in Yan Qingshan's palm. This was a portion of the Fallen Heart Flame that had been separated from the main body. The great competition in the Inner Academy was held to fight for this.
Before he went into seclusion this time, Yan Qingshan had exchanged for two portions from Grand Elder Su Qian. He gave one to Han Yue, which greatly increased her cultivation after she used it to temper her body. The other one was now showing its use.
The Fallen Heart Flame's heart flame slowly descended under Yan Qingshan's control and shone on a patch of lava not far below. A magical scene occurred. The lava slowly began to writhe, and a transparent light halo, emitting a faint glow, emerged from the lava vortex.
Inside the halo, there was nothing else. There was only a skeleton that had turned to white bone. The skeleton emitted a faint fluorescence, and a wisp of flame, transparent and seemingly invisible, hovered over it. It was almost identical to the invisible fire serpent outside.
This was the deepest secret buried in the nurturing ground of the Fallen Heart Flame, at the bottom of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower—another Fallen Heart Flame.
That's right, this was another Fallen Heart Flame. However, compared to the big one outside, this one was very weak and still in a very primitive stage. It had not yet developed a spirit and only had a few instincts.
"How dare these guys come here! Don't leave a single one alive. Kill them. Don't let the news get out."
A scorching gust of wind suddenly appeared. A creature in the lifeless lava world launched a sneak attack on Yan Qingshan. Yan Qingshan was not surprised. He just stared at another direction and gave an order to the two puppets.
About ten meters diagonally below Yan Qingshan, in the direction from which the attack came, a red figure was wandering in the lava. The figure was completely fiery red, the same color as the surrounding lava, making it difficult to spot unless one looked carefully.
The fiery red figure was like a lizard. Its body was covered in red scales, and its tail, about half a zhang long, was slightly flicking. It stood on two legs as if swimming.
Its feet were exceptionally large, and its head was round, also covered in small scales. A pair of small eyes showed a hint of ferocity, and its large mouth was slightly ajar, revealing dense, sharp teeth.
This creature looked like a lizard that could walk upright. They were fiery red lizardmen, a unique creature of this lava world. It was unknown if they were special guardian warriors for that great secret.
After the sneak attack, the lizardman's eyes shone with ferocity. It let out a piercing scream. With a flick of its tail, it charged forward, its sharp claws cutting through the lava as it tried to attack Yan Qingshan again.
This fiery lizardman's strength was decent, but the two puppets commanded by Yan Qingshan were certainly stronger. It wasn't long before it was torn in half by the Roc Demon. There was no blood, only some flesh, internal organs, and strange grease, which were quickly incinerated by the high temperature of the lava.
A fiery red bead shone with a faint, scorching light in the lava, which was then brought into Yan Qingshan's palm by his Dou Qi.
Just as this lizardman was dealt with, a large group of red figures swarmed over like a school of fish. Their ferocious eyes and mouths full of sharp teeth were not a pleasant sight.
Yan Qingshan's expression did not change. When the two puppets charged into the group of lizardmen, a one-sided slaughter began.
Although these fiery lizardmen were numerous, they were at most equivalent to a human expert at the Dou Spirit level. The two Earth-tier puppets were both comparable to Dou Ancestors, and the Scorpion Demon could even fight against a high-tier Dou Ancestor. How could these lizardmen possibly withstand them?
After leaving the two puppets to deal with the situation, Yan Qingshan had the heart flame that he had just acquired completely envelop his body, and then he flew towards the halo that had appeared earlier, entering it without any hindrance.
Just before Yan Qingshan entered the transparent halo, his storage ring moved, and he collected the two powerful puppets that were wreaking havoc and the many reddish crystals. As the surrounding lava began to writhe again, the energy halo mysteriously disappeared.
Shortly after Yan Qingshan entered the halo, several completely blood-red figures arrived at the scene like lightning. Seeing these figures, the surrounding fiery lizardmen immediately knelt down.
These blood-red figures were also lizardmen, but they were much stronger than the ones that had just attacked. They were at least at the Dou King level, and their auras were also very fierce.
These lizardmen stayed in the area for a long time, searching. In the end, they could only stare ferociously at the spot where the halo had disappeared, letting out angry roars. But there was nothing they could do. In the end, they could only retreat and disperse.