Battle Through the Heavens - chapter-368

In the dense forest where tall trees stood, there would occasionally be
spots of light that trickled through the gaps of the lush canopy of
branches and leaves that shielded the earth from the hot sunlight. The
light shone in bits and pieces onto the ground, forming a totally natural
picture made of specks of light, appearing beautiful.

It was completely quiet within the forest. Occasionally, there would be a
low roar emitted by an unknown Magical Beast in the distance. It would
pass through the hindrances of the dense forest, and would reverberate
unceasingly throughout the forest.

“Suo.”

The undergrowth of the quiet forest suddenly moved. Immediately, a black
figure shot out. His feet gently pressed against a tree branch which
horizontally extended from the trunk. After which, he pushed his body off
the branch and landed on another tree branch a few meters above the
ground. His sharp, eagle-like eyes scanned everything below him in detail
before he sighed in relief. He was also a little doubtful as he muttered
softly, “The mountain range behind the Misty Cloud Mountain is
connected directly to the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Logically
speaking, the current me should have charged into the Magical Beast
Mountain Range, right? But, why is it that until now, I have yet to meet
any Magical Beasts trying to stop me?’

“That is due to the ‘Heaven Swallowing Python’ in your sleeves.”
An old laughter sounded in Xiao Yan’s heart, “The ‘Heaven
Swallowing Python’ is an Ancient Unique Beast. An ordinary Magical
Beast would feel fear within their hearts upon smelling its scent.
Moreover, the ‘Heaven Swallowing Beast’ currently possesses the
strength of a Dou Wang class. Which ordinary Magical Beast would dare to
reveal itself in front of it?”

“So it is this little fellow’s blessing.” Xiao Yan suddenly
understood upon hearing this. He gently patted his sleeves and laughed
softly.

“But the Misty Cloud Sect’s groups that have come to search for you
aren’t as lucky. From what I can tell, they were attacked by at least
three waves of Magical Beasts in just this short distance. Although they
were not hurt, their chasing speed has been reduced by quite a large
amount.” Yao Lao smiled and said gloatingly.

Xiao Yan laughed coldly. His gaze once again swept across his
surroundings, but he had yet to find the best hiding spot. He knit his
eyebrows together immediately and shook his head helplessly. As he
pressed his feet gently against the tree trunk, his body became like a
large bat that spread its wings as it passed through the dense forest,
moving past the branches of the trees within its path. He continued to
head forward and flee while searching for the best place to hide.

In a forest that was filled with huge trees and Magical Beasts, wanting
to find a spot to hide from danger that was also free from any
disturbance was undoubtedly somewhat difficult. However, Xiao Yan was
considered quite lucky. As the sky gradually darkened, he finally found a
good spot.

Xiao Yan was passing through a large area of dense foliage when a
dangerous ravine, that was around ten meters wide, appeared in his sight.
He slowed his speed and slowly walked toward the edge of the ravine.
Lowering his head, he glanced at the dark chasm that seemed to be
bottomless. He then lifted his head and slowly swept his gaze at the
precipitous mountain wall on the other side. A moment later, his gaze
suddenly stopped on a dark mountain cave. This mountain cave was around
ten plus meters from the top of the mountain. It did not appear to be
created by a human. Instead, it seemed to be forcefully made by a kind of
sharp-clawed Magical Beast.

“This place is an excellent one. It’s even covered by fog. Even if
there are people flying over, they will have great difficulty discerning
anything.” Xiao Yan’s expression carried joy as he studied the
position of that dark mountain cave. On that precipitous mountain wall,
there were quite a number of mountain caves which were similar to this
dark one. However, only this mountain cave had such an excellent a
position when compared to the rest. Xiao Yan stood by the edge of the
ravine and eyed the mountain cave. If one did not examine it closely,
they would only see a faint fog rising from deep within the ravine.

After inspecting it for a while, Xiao Yan’s shoulders trembled
slightly. A huge pair of Purple Cloud Wings sprung out. He leapt forward
and jumped into the ravine; wild wind blew past his ears. Xiao Yan
flapped his wings and he swiftly arrived in front of the mountain cave.
He stayed suspended in the air in front of it instead of going in
immediately. The dangers of the Magical Beast Mountain Range were
peerless, with danger lurking everywhere. If one was not cautious in
dealing with them, they wouldn’t even know how they died.

Xiao Yan lifted his sleeves gently and the ‘Heaven Swallowing Python’
flashed out. His finger pointed toward the mountain cave. The latter
appeared to have understood. It let out a hiss and turned into a
seven-colored flash, which shot directly into the cave.

When he saw the ‘Heaven Swallowing Python’ flash into the cave, Xiao
Yan hurriedly withdrew some distance away. After which, he quietly waited.

The wait merely lasted for less than a minute when a shady wind came
sprinting out from within the cave. A huge black figure quickly shot out.
It was a flying Magical Beast with a fierce appearance that was terrified
as it flew out from within. It immediately emitted an awful scream and
shot directly into the sky, finally disappearing over the horizon.

“Hu, good fellow. It was actually a Winged Lion Beast. This is a rank
three Magical Beast that can contend with a Da Dou Shi.” Xiao Yan was
stunned as he watched the huge Magical Beast which had shot into the sky.
He shook his head and laughed bitterly, “It is fortunate that I have
the help of the ‘Heaven Swallowing Python’. Otherwise, with my
current state, it would be likely that I would have had to exhaust a
great amount of strength in order to oust it from the cave.”

Not long after the Winged Lion Beast fled, the ‘Heaven Swallowing
Python’ flew out from within the cave. It stayed suspended in front of
Xiao Yan, hissing while flicking it snake’s tongue in front of Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan lifted his hand and the ‘Heaven Swallowing Python’ returned
into his sleeve. Only then did he flap his wings and fly into the cave
while feeling assured. His feet landed on the hard mountain rock and a
wave of pale color surged up onto his face. He let out a few intense
coughs. Following his coughs, the Purple Cloud Wings on his back also
automatically turned back into tattoos and shrunk onto his back.

“I am indeed severely injured, ah. After only using the Purple Cloud
Wings for a mere few minutes, the interior of my body has already turned
into this state.” Xiao Yan wiped off the thread of blood that had
flowed from the corner of his mouth as he spoke softly with a bitter
smile.

Xiao Yan slowly walked into the interior of the cave which was quite
spacious. Although the stench that faintly lingered caused Xiao Yan to
frown slightly, the current him, who was faced with being encircled from
all directions, naturally was not in the mood to bother about such
trifling matters. He flicked his finger and a couple of Moonlight Stones
shot out from within the space ring. They landed steadily within the gaps
on the mountain wall and their faint light immediately shone and
permeated throughout the cave.

Xiao Yan eyed the well-lit interior of the cave and then took a look at
the sky outside which had already become completely dark. He thought
quietly for a moment before coming to the entrance of the cave. He used
all his strength to push a large rock over, which coincidentally blocked
over half of the entrance, which prevented the well lit cave from being
too obvious in the darkness of night.

After finishing all of these tasks, Xiao Yan finally let out a long sigh
of relief. At that moment, the fatigue from fleeing for nearly an entire
day slowly rose from deep within his heart, and actually caused his
eyelids to become a little heavy.

“Now is not the time to rest.” Just as Xiao Yan could no longer
resist and was about to plant his head on the ground and fall into a deep
sleep, Yao Lao’s gentle cry suddenly rang out, giving Xiao Yan a start.
His eyelids which were about to be folded were hurriedly opened. With a
bitter laugh, he quickly took two steps back and found a clean stone
platform where he sat cross-legged.

The moment Xiao Yan sat down, the dark black ring shook gently. Yao
Lao’s illusionary body slowly floated out.

“Teacher.” Xiao Yan scratched his head and smiled awkwardly as he
watched Yao Lao appear.

Yao Lao shook his head helplessly. He beckoned with his hand and the
storage ring on Xiao Yan’s finger left the latter’s hand. Finally, it
was suspended above Yao Lao’s palm.

“You should first recuperate from the mess within your body. I will
refine some medicinal pills that can help to speed up the recovery of
your internal injuries. You must recover at the fastest pace possible.
Otherwise, it will be too dangerous.” Yao Lao’s Spiritual Strength
swept across the interior of the storage ring as he ordered.

“Ah.” Xiao Yan nodded. He ceased speaking any nonsense and his hands
formed the training seal in front of him. He closed his eyes and his
originally hurried breathing gradually became calm and slow.

Yao Lao nodded in satisfaction when he saw that Xiao Yan had abandoned
his distracting thoughts and entered into his training state so quickly.
He flicked his finger slightly and medicinal ingredients flashed and
appeared from within the storage ring one after another after which they
levitated around Yao Lao.

“This little fellow has really stored quite a lot of medicinal
ingredients. It really saves me the trouble of going to search for
medicine.” As Yao Lao studied the medicinal ingredients that were
suspended by his side, he nodded slightly before waving his hand.
Immediately, a thick white-colored flame soared and burned. He waved his
finger and the medicinal ingredients were orderly yet swiftly thrown into
the flame one after another. Compared to the method which Xiao Yan had
used to refine the medicinal pill at the Alchemist Grand Meeting, Yao
Lao’s smooth refining method that was like a drifting cloud and flowing
water which caused everyone to truly understand what an Alchemist
Grandmaster was.

The faint glow from the Moonlight Stones the darkness from creeping into
the cave past the entrance. Only the crackling of the medicinal
ingredients within the flame could be heard within the quiet interior of
the cave. The two people within the cave had their labor clearly divided
and were busy doing what they needed to.

The silent training continued for nearly two to three hours. Only then
did the eyelids of Xiao Yan, who had his eyes tightly shut, tremble
slightly. He then slowly opened his eyes. After three hours of
recuperation, his originally pale, white face had some additional
rosiness which represented vitality.

Xiao Yan let out a long breath of pent up air that had been lingering in
his chest for a long time. His expression became a little brighter. He
lifted his head and eyed Yao Lao, who was standing at the entrance of the
cave, observing the movement outside after completing the refining a long
while ago. He smiled gently and said, “Although my injuries are quite
serious, the disorderly condition in my body is suppressed. What teacher
said is true. The force and blood in my body is rising in an unstable
manner. It was indeed a prelude to my strength rising.”

Yao Lao smiled and nodded. He turned his body and gently flicked his
finger. A medicinal pill that was emerald in color shot toward Xiao Yan.
The latter agilely grabbed it.

“Consume it. With this, the injuries within your body should be able to
completely heal. The medicinal effect of the ‘Three-Line Green Spirit
Pill’ that you consumed was extremely strong and you were unable to
completely absorb all of it. Most of the medicinal effects were deposited
within your body instead. It is not good for your body to leave it in
your body like that. I have mixed the ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ within
this medicinal pill. You may feel a little pain after consuming it.
However, it is able to evaporate and release all the medicinal effects
that have accumulated within your body. This time around, you can use
this opportunity to absorb them. It really depends on your luck just how
much your strength can be raised.” Yao Lao shook his head and said,
“Quite a number of defects have appeared in your body during the time
that I wasn’t around. That ‘Searing Poison’ is also vicious stuff.
Once you have recuperated from your injuries, I will think of a way to
help you settle it.”

Xiao Yan’s heart felt warmth as he heard the great number of words that
Yao Lao rumbled on about. He nodded slightly. He was finally much more at
ease with his teacher beside him. That feeling was like a child finding a
dependable support, causing him to rest assured.

Xiao Yan stuffed the medicinal pill into his mouth and once again closed
his eyes. His mind sunk into his body and began this great advancement!

Yao Lao smiled and nodded as he saw Xiao Yan close his eyes and once
again begin his training. He sat by the entrance to the cave and
carelessly played with and twisted the storage ring which he had taken
from Xiao Yan’s hand. A long while later, his finger trembled slightly
and a soft ‘huh’ sound was emitted from his mouth.

“Huh?”

Yao Lao flicked his finger and a broken, black-colored jade piece
suddenly appeared in Yao Lao’s hand. His palm gently rubbed this
damaged jade piece and his gaze became somewhat fixated.

This piece of black-colored jade was surprisingly the cheap item that
Xiao Yan obtained back at the Alchemist Association when searching for
treasures.