"Tell me, Brother Yan. What exactly did you come to find me for?"
Seeing Xiao Yan's speechless expression, Xiao Ting let out a light laugh and steered the topic back to business.
With Xiao Yan's personality, he wouldn't come looking just to complain or purely to eat a good meal. Well… maybe when he was acting up, but definitely not when Xiao Ting was spending time with Xun Er and the girls. Xiao Yan had always been good about boundaries, so coming at this time definitely meant real business.
"It's about the Green Lotus Core Flame." Xiao Yan cleared his throat and stated his true purpose. "I want to retrieve it first. Leaving such a rare treasure outside makes me uneasy."
This idea coincidentally aligned with Xun Er and the girls' plan.
Seeing Xiao Ting look thoughtful, Xun Er spoke: "That's true as well. Rare treasures like Heavenly Flames should be taken into one's possession as soon as possible. We shouldn't repeat Queen Medusa's mistake."
On the surface, the Green Lotus Core Flame had originally been discovered by Queen Medusa first. They were the latecomers, but because of Ling Yue's superior strength, it ended up belonging to them.
"Indeed." Xiao Ting nodded slightly, going with the flow. "Then let's retrieve the Heavenly Flame first. But it won't be easy."
"Teacher said he can take action. As long as you're willing to help, Brother Xiao Ting, the problem isn't big." Xiao Yan said immediately.
Bringing the Green Lotus Core Flame back first had been Yao Lao's suggestion. As the owner of Bone Chilling Flame, he was quite eager to witness a second Heavenly Flame.
"How do I help?" A perfectly timed look of confusion appeared on Xiao Ting's face.
Xiao Yan scratched his nose: "At that time, Teacher will borrow your body. With your current high-level Dou Grandmaster cultivation, you should barely be able to display strength close to a Dou Ancestor expert. Taking the Green Lotus Core Flame shouldn't be a problem."
If it were his own body, Xiao Yan would agree without a second thought and wouldn't feel any issue. But persuading Xiao Ting to let Yao Lao control his body gave him a strange feeling.
"Senior Yao Lao possessing my body?" Although he had already guessed it, Xiao Ting's eye corner still twitched slightly.
…
[The most powerful Di-tier Dou Technique in the BTTH… turns out I'll be the first to experience it.]
…
The women holding copies: !!!
Di-tier Dou Technique?
…
"How is that possible!"
In a large city near a certain exit of the Pill Realm, shock surfaced in Yao Ling's lively, beautiful eyes. With her current Dou Ancestor strength, cultivating Heaven-tier techniques and learning Heaven-tier Dou Techniques was already impossible. Xiao Ting was only at Dou Grandmaster level. There was no way he could possibly display a Di-tier Dou Technique above Heaven-tier. Wouldn't he be sucked dry?!
…
[Di-tier Dou Technique: "Ghost Possession"]
[Also known as: "Give Me Your Body"]
[Also known as: "Teacher, Lend Me Your Power"]
[The learning method is extremely simple. You only need a soul body at Spirit State or above to lend you soul power, then mobilize external natural energy of the same attribute for amplification. This allows your strength to skyrocket—enabling even a Dou Grandmaster to fight a Dou Ancestor.]
[If Yao Lao possesses my body, taking the Green Lotus Core Flame will be effortless.]
..
The women: "..."
So that was what the Di-tier Dou Technique was.
…
"So this is an Di-tier Dou Technique, huh."
Seeing the usage method of this Dou Technique, Huo Zhi, who was in a certain mountain range on the Northwest Continent, inexplicably felt like laughing. But thinking carefully, it really was a powerful Dou Technique. Not to mention anything else, her aunt Huo Ling's soul state was extremely profound, having already reached Heaven Stage Great Perfection. With just her soul, she could fight some 3-star or even 4-star Dou Saint experts. Huo Ling had said that if one's soul realm could reach the legendary Di State, the soul's combat power would not be inferior to some 7-star Dou Saint experts.
Right now she was only a 1-star Dou Venerate, but if she could raise Huo Ling's soul, she could even slay half-Saint experts.
"Little Zhi Er, your mood suddenly seems much better?"
A burst of firelight appeared as Huo Ling materialized before Huo Zhi.
"I thought of something happy."
The information on the Journal could not be revealed, so Huo Zhi immediately changed the subject: "Aunt, did you gain anything here?"
"I actually did." Huo Ling stretched out her hand. Yellow flames danced upon it.
Huo Zhi's Red Lotus Karmic Flame inside her body immediately responded. Her pitch-black pupils brightened: "This is Mysterious Yellow Flame?"
"Correct. I didn't expect it to really be here." A look of reminiscence appeared in Huo Ling's eyes as she sighed: "The last time I saw this kind of flame was a thousand years ago in Xiao Xuan's hands. He forcibly subdued three Heavenly Flames with his own strength and even created a secret technique that allowed the three Heavenly Flames to produce wonderful synergy with each other. At that time, he was already the man closest to Dou God. Your father said that if he could obtain three of the top five Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, he might really succeed."
"Xiao Xuan… is he the ancestor of the Xiao Clan who failed to break through to Dou God?" Huo Zhi asked.
"Correct, that's him." Huo Ling withdrew her gaze and sighed: "Back then, Xiao Xuan was publicly recognized as the strongest below Dou God. But the Xiao Clan had no second 9-star Dou Saint. If he didn't go all out, the Xiao Clan's Dou God bloodline would probably dry up in another hundred years. Then inheritance issues would arise, and the clan's Dou Saints would suffer in strength. All the Ancient clans succeed because of their Dou God bloodlines and fail because of them too. In another few hundred years, our Yan Clan will face the same problem. The Lei Clan, Gu Clan, and other Ancient clans aren't much better off."
None of the Ancient clans had produced a new Dou God in over ten thousand years. Excluding those who used methods to leave the Battle Qi Continent, bloodline exhaustion was already imminent.
"Do we need a new Dou God?" Huo Zhi visualized the Journal copy. Flames rose in her eyes as she said confidently: "I will do it."
Huo Ling was quite surprised inwardly.
Dou God bloodlines were graded from 1st to 10th tier, with 1st being the lowest and 10th the highest. The 10th tier was called Divine-grade bloodline. Owners of Divine-grade bloodlines had cultivation talent and comprehension infinitely close to direct descendants of a generation Dou God. They faced no bottlenecks even when breaking through to Dou Saint. Within the Ancient clans, bloodline owners above 6th tier received heavy cultivation and were qualified to participate in the coming-of-age ceremony to receive a personal clan tattoo. They were core clan members. Those above 8th tier were Dou Saint seeds.
When Huo Zhi began cultivating at age four, she was tested to have only 4th-tier bloodline—very ordinary among Ancient clan descendants. As the daughter of the clan leader, it was quite embarrassing. Because her bloodline was too low-tier, her cultivation speed had always lagged behind those around her, and she learned Dou Techniques slower than others. Over time, she became somewhat self-conscious and quiet.
It was only after she awakened her special physique and gained recognition from the Red Lotus Karmic Flame—causing her physique to undergo another sublimation and her talent to rival 8th-tier bloodline owners—that things began to improve.
This matter was not a secret among the Ancient clans. So when she received news that Gu Clan's Gu Yuan had secretly sent away his daughter, Huo Ling had teased her own brother: "Look how much he dotes on his daughter. Unlike you."
What Huo Ling hadn't expected was that Huo Zhi now actually had the confidence to break through to Dou God. This wasn't confidence—it was bordering on arrogance.
"Little Zhi Er, Aunt is very curious." Huo Ling curled her lips: "Where does this confidence of yours come from?"
…
…
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