Chapter 644: Retreat and Recuperation
The ‘Black-Corner Region’ gradually became calm after the intense great battle within Feng City passed. However, the strongest alliance within the ‘Black-Corner Region’, the ‘Black Alliance’, was showing signs of being on the verge of breaking up due to the various disagreements from the divide of profits.
The members within the ‘Black Alliance’ were all strong factions within the ‘Black-Corner Region’. Most of these factions all carried some weight, and none of them were willing to submit to each other. Given Han Feng’s reputation in the past, they were still able to endure Han Feng commanding them on the account of his extraordinary refining ability. However, Han Feng was currently dead. The ‘Black Alliance’ without its leader immediately turned into a headless housefly. That Alliance Head seat was something that everyone wanted to sit on, but no one was willing to submit to the others. After a couple of disputes and even a couple of fights, the relationship of the members of the ‘Black Alliance’ became increasingly worse. It was only a matter of time before they split up.
Originally, the Gold Silver Brothers had the ability to command them. However, they lost their courage to go against the Jia Nan Academy after the matter of Han Feng. Hence, they did not dare to stand out. These two old fellows had completely disappeared the day after Han Feng’s death, leaving behind a completely chaotic ‘Black Alliance’.
Even the strongest within the alliance had spread their legs and fled. The days of this ‘Black Alliance’ were indeed numbered. Within a short five days after the battle, it completely collapsed. Thus, the largest alliance faction within the ‘Black-Corner Region’ was no more.
The Inner Academy could finally truly sigh in relief once the ‘Black Alliance’ collapsed. The fight between the Jia Nan Academy and the ‘Black-Corner Region’ had ended with complete victory for the Inner Academy!
Of course, as the person with the greatest credit for the victory in this fight, Xiao Yan’s reputation did not only become incomparable among the students of the Jia Nan Academy but also among the Elders. Even the very senior First Elder would also stop, chat, and smile with this young person from the younger generation when he saw him. The true strength that Xiao Yan had displayed in that great battle had shaken every single person!
Of course, Xiao Yan was naturally not interested in how noisy the Inner Academy currently was. Ever since he had returned to the Inner Academy, he had entered a secret chamber to undertake a retreat and recuperate. Although he had successfully killed the other party in this big fight with Han Feng, he was also quite badly injured.
His recuperation this time around took an entire seven days. Only then did the injuries within Xiao Yan’s body begin to gradually show signs of being completely healed. Moreover, this situation was because of the varying spiritual liquids that had accumulated in his body and the refining ability of the ‘Heavenly Flame’. If it was an ordinary person, one would not be able to completely recover from such injuries without half a month or a full month’s time. Moreover, one might have some long term sequelae from injuries inability to completely heal due to them being overly serious.
The Moonlight Stones that were inserted into the walls of a quiet secret chamber within ‘Pan’s Gate’ emitted a faint glow, expelling the darkness within the room. The warm light rested on the black-robed, young man who was seated cross-legged, recuperating from his injuries.
The breathing of the black-robed, young man was extremely calm. He inhaled and exhaled, maintaining a perfect cycle. Each time a breathing cycle was completed, the surrounding space would form a slight ripple. Immediately, an extremely powerful natural energy followed his breathing and poured into his body.
The natural energy poured unceasingly into the young man’s body. The latter was just like a bottomless pit that could not be filled. No matter how the energy poured in, his body did not show any sign of being completely filled.
The quiet training and recuperation lasted for an unknown amount of time. At a certain point in time, the paleness on his face was completely replaced by a healthy red. The ripples in the air around him slowly disappeared…
Xiao Yan’s eyelashes suddenly shook after the ripples disappeared. He finally opened his eyes slowly a moment later. Emerald-green flames raged in his dark-black pupils before they swiftly disappeared.
“Hu…”
A mouthful of turbid air that had lingered in his chest for a long time was emitted from his throat. It appeared grayish, but it was undoubtedly much better than the dark-black air, he had previously had which possessed a lethal poison.
“From the looks of it, the ‘Searing Poison’ that has remained in my body was also completely removed during those two years I spent underground…” Xiao Yan was startled upon seeing the faint-grayish turbid air. After which, he began mumbling with some joy. That ‘Searing Poison’ was ultimately a thorn in his heart. Although it did not cause him much harm due to it being suppressed by the ‘Heavenly Flame’, it was likely that no one would be completely reassured if such a lethal poison remained in their bodies. Therefore, it was only natural that Xiao Yan could not hide the joy in his heart upon seeing that the ‘Searing Poison’ had actually completely disappeared.
“My injuries have already fully healed. From the looks of it, I spent quite a long time in retreat.” Xiao Yan smiled slightly as he sensed the surging Dou Qi that filled his body. He immediately knit his brows and spoke softly, “Unfortunately, I am still unable to sense the barrier to breakthrough to an elite Dou Huang. Looks like there are some drawbacks that remained after my strength soared.”
Xiao Yan’s true strength was merely around that of a four or five star Dou Ling when he was dragged underground. Due to various reasons, however, his strength had suddenly soared to its current peak at the Dou Wang class. Although he had spent two years, this speed could be called frightening. Moreover, it was the first time that Xiao Yan had experienced this kind of situation where he suddenly achieved something so quickly. Hence, his control over his strength still possessed some gaps when compared with other expert Dou Wangs. If he was able to completely control his strength at the peak of the Dou Wang class when fighting with Han Feng this time around, it would have been likely that he would not have ended up being so miserable, even nearly causing his own death toward the end…
When Xiao Yan trained in the past, he had always climbed in a steadfast manner where his strength increased one star at a time. Hence, the him, who was extremely familiar with being taking things slow, felt a little lost because of the great increase in his strength this time around. A strength that had suddenly appeared was extremely difficult to control. Some unreliable increase in strength might even cause some unlucky people to remain at that level forever. However, it was fortunate that the increase in Xiao Yan’s strength this time around was not those foolish methods of forcefully pouring energy in. The growth that the corrosion of the ‘Fallen Heart Flame’ and the medicinal liquid, merged from the medicinal pills and medicinal ingredients, gave Xiao Yan was not exactly an overnight achievement from a certain point of view. His strength had slowly increased during these two years. However, during this period of increase, he had fallen into a state of suspended animation and was unaware of the changes occurring.
Even though this was the case, Xiao Yan’s strength did soar. Hence, before he could completely control the strength of the Dou Wang class, he needed to forget about trying to gain great improvement. After all, only by controlling the current strength available would one be able to take another step forward.
The deep thought on Xiao Yan’s face slowly disappeared and he sighed. He understood that he could not rush these things. Moreover, the current him did indeed need to familiarize and increase his control of many things. For example, the ‘Heavenly Flame’…
In the big fight with Han Feng, even Xiao Yan admitted that the other party’s control of the ‘Sea Heart Flame’ was much better than his. Although there was the age and experience factors involved, Xiao Yan did not wish to be weaker than him in any way. This was a kind of rivalry mentally between those who shared the same teacher. He needed to let everyone know that he was not weaker than Han Feng in any aspect. Only by doing this could he confirm that Yao Lao’s sharp eye was still present.
Of course, part of the reason for Han Feng’s better control over the ‘Heavenly Flame’ was because of his age and experience. Another part of the reason was that he could only focus on studying the ‘Sea Heart Flame’. Although Han Feng also practiced the ‘Flame Mantra’, it was an incomplete version. Han Feng might have gotten a greater understanding of ‘Flame Mantra’ through these years of practicing it, but his degree of control over the ‘Heavenly Flame’ was far inferior to Xiao Yan’s. Hence, this resulted in him being only able to guard the ‘Sea Heart Flame’ all day long. On the other hand, Xiao Yan had practiced the complete ‘Flame Mantra’ from the start. Along the way, he had split his attention and changed a couple of different flames.
Therefore, Han Feng had taken the specialized path while Xiao Yan had taken the jack of all trades path. Each of them had their own advantages, but if one were to merely discuss the degree of control over a flame, it was natural that Han Feng would be better.
“Chi!”
A cluster of jade-green flame surfaced on Xiao Yan’s hand following low, deep sound. He stared at this new flame which was born from the merger of two kinds of flame, and was somewhat absent-minded. Since this ‘Heavenly Flame’ was born from the merger of ‘Heavenly Flames’, it was likely that it was not ranked on the ‘Heavenly Flame Ranking’. After all, the ‘Flame Mantra’ was not something that everyone had practiced. Hence, Xiao Yan was not even aware of what its name was. He struggled with this for awhile, feeling great interest as he strived to give it a name.
Glazed Lotus Heart Flame!
This simple name caused Xiao Yan to feel somewhat excited. It was likely that there were not many people who possessed the qualification to give a new ‘Heavenly Flame’ a name in this world. Perhaps, in the future, this kind of flame would be ranked on the ‘Heavenly Flame Ranking’ when he became someone at the peak of the continent.
Xiao Yan was similarly uncertain about where this so-called ‘Glazed Lotus Heart Flame’ should be ranked on the ‘Heavenly Flame Ranking’. However, according to his guess, it would at the very least not be lower than Yao Lao’s ‘Bone Chilling Flame’. After all, regardless of how lousy this thing was, it was still born from the merger of two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’. Its strength could be seen from how it had firmly suppressed the ‘Sea Heart Flame’ in his battle with Han Feng.
The jade-green flame writhed repeatedly on Xiao Yan’s hand. A moment later, he abruptly pulled his hands apart, and the jade green flame was split into two clusters consisting of a green-colored flame and an invisible one. He felt extremely satisfied of the ability of this newly born ‘Heavenly Flame’ to possess the ability to transform into two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flames’ as it pleased.
“From the looks of it, I should practice my control over the flames properly in the future. Otherwise, even if I can control these two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ now, I can only use the most superficial attack.” The two flames rose on Xiao Yan’s fingers as he muttered. Compared to the exemplary and complicated ‘Heavenly Flame’ attack, his ‘Heavenly Flame’ attack would undoubtedly appear much simpler and ordinary.
Xiao Yan’s finger habitually rubbed that ‘Serene Sea Storage Ring’ on his finger. He suddenly recalled something, and he flicked his finger on the storage ring. Immediately, a dark black ancient scroll appeared in his hand.
The scroll was perfectly round, appearing just like a cylinder. He could not find any spot to open it. However, the dark, deep glow that faintly seeped out from it allowed him to know that it was extraordinary.
Seeing the scroll, it was surprisingly the thing that Xun Er had solemnly and carefully handed over to Xiao Yan when she left!
According to what Xun Er had said back then, it was something that could only be opened after one possessed the strength of a Dou Wang. Xiao Yan was extremely curious…