Battle Through the Heavens - chapter-492

Xiao Yan eyed the lush green color outside as he walked out of the
tower’s door. He felt the warm sunlight that scattered down from the
sky and involuntarily had an introspective feeling. He opened both his
arms before he suddenly laughed bitterly. It was really unexpected that
this retreat, which was not even a month long, nearly caused his mind to
be overly sensitive.

Since the Heavy Xuan Ruler had basically become Xiao Yan’s signature
item at this moment, he did not frequently carry it on him in order to
save some trouble. Although it would affect his training this way, it
also caused Xiao Yan to have much less of a need to worry.

Xiao Yan followed the road and walked for nearly half an hour before he
returned to the new student residence area of ‘Pan’s Gate.’ He eyed
those guards standing as straight as a pen at the entrance and
involuntarily praised quietly. It was really indeed as Xun Er had said.
This ‘Pan’s Gate’ was basically undergoing changes like day and
night. By observing the aura of just these few guards of ‘Pan’s
Gate,’ it was likely that they were all around the peak of the Dou Shi
class. Clearly, quite a number of members of ‘Pan’s Gate’ were
training within the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ during this one
month. Moreover, it appeared that the effects of the tower were quite
beneficial.

Xiao Yan slowly walked toward the entrance. Those few guards on sentry
duty actually still remembered Xiao Yan’s face. After being initially
startled, some excitement swarmed onto their faces instantly. When the
former walked closer, the few of them pulled their throat as they shouted
in unison, “Chief!”

The loud and clear voices pulled over the gazes of some of the people
coming and going. Xiao Yan parted his mouth, and smiled foolishly at the
few of them and helplessly shook his head. He walked forward, patted one
person on his shoulder before swaying leisurely as he walked into the new
student area. He left behind the guard whose face was shocked from being
favored due to Xiao Yan’s actions.

“Hee hee, after not having seen him for one month, Chief’s strength
appears to have advanced quite a lot. Looks like an elite Dou Ling will
appear in our ‘Pan’s Gate’ very soon. At that time, we will not
need to watch other people’s expressions to do things.” The guard,
whose shoulder was patted by Xiao Yan earlier, could not help but part
his mouth and speak with a smile as he eyed the partially visible back of
Xiao Yan.

“Che, who is the chief afraid of now? All of you have also recently
been training frequently within the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.’
Don’t tell me that you have not even heard of that incident? Hee hee,
shocking a four star Dou Ling until the latter lost his fighting strength
with just one strike. How many people in this Inner Academy can do this
kind of thing?”

“I have also heard of that incident. Ha ha. Now, no other faction look
down on us, like in the past, upon hearing that we are members of
‘Pan’s Gate’ while we are training in the tower. This is mostly
because of Chief!”

Xiao Yan was naturally unable to hear the conversation of these guards.
However, since he had entered the new students area until now, the
occasional members of ‘Pan’s Gate’ coming and going would be
initially startled upon seeing him before they immediately gave way.
Their gazes were filled with respect and fear as they eyed Xiao Yan who
walked past them with some doubt.

Xiao Yan walked back to the small pavilion home. After he entered the
door, he discovered that Xun Er, Hu Jia, and Wu Hao were present. Even
that Lin Yan was also unexpectedly in the hall.

Xun Er was the first among the four people in the hall to discover Xiao
Yan in the doorway. However, the one who had the most intense reaction
was Lin Yan. One could see him jumping from the chair like a rabbit as
his body moved toward Xiao Yan’s side in a lightning-like manner. After
which, he grabbed Xiao Yan’s sleeves under the latter’s stunned gaze
and frantically scolded, “You, little fellow, are finally back. Hurry
up. The ‘Ice Spirit Pill’ and the ‘Marrow Washing Cold Spirit
Liquid’ have all been used up. I have already waited for you for three,
maybe four days. If you did not return by tomorrow, I wanted to go into
the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ to look for you.”

Xiao Yan used all his might to pull back his sleeve which was pulled by
Lin Yan. He rolled his eyes and said, “Why are you in such a hurry? You
won’t die just because the poison isn’t expelled for one or two more
days…”

Xiao Yan ignored Lin Yan after he said this. He walked into the hall and
sat on a chair before speaking with a smile toward Xun Er and the two
others, “How is it? Have there been any problems with ‘Pan’s
Gate’ recently? That ‘White Gang’ did not make any movements,
right?”

“Ah, originally, there were still members who said that they had met
some people from the ‘White Gang’ coming to find trouble while they
were training in the tower during the first one to two days of your
retreat. However, thanks to your recent prestige within the ‘Blazing
Sky Qi Refining Tower’ after that, now the ‘White Gang’ does not
dare to be too presumptuous. They reduced some of those small actions. I
think that your deterrence had some effect.”

“Moreover, there are currently quite a number of older students who
were free agents that want to join our ‘Pan’s Gate.’ After some
assessment, the current size of ‘Pan’s Gate’ is around a quarter
larger than before your retreat. Moreover, the strength of those older
students was not bad. Most of them have the strength of the Da Dou Shi
class.” Xun Er personally poured a warm cup of tea for Xiao Yan as she
pursed her mouth and smiled.

“Oh?”

Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this. He immediately smiled in a
stunned manner and said, “I only used Lei Na’s matter to serve as a
warning because I wanted to make it so that no one would disturb me
during my retreat. It is really unexpected that there were these kinds of
benefits…”

“Hei, there is indeed some benefit. However, there is also quite a lot
of disadvantage. You caused Lei Na to become bald. Now, he will grit his
teeth upon mentioning you. Moreover, you even offended Liu Fei, that
woman who is all chest and no brains. Originally, offending her is
nothing. However, you should not forget what kind of person her older
cousin brother is. Tyrant Spear Liu Qing. This name is not some nameless
individual within the Inner Academy. Hee hee, if he wants to speak for
Liu Fei, perhaps even your green-purple fire lotus could do nothing to
his ‘Mountain Splitting Spear.’” Seeing Xiao Yan returning, Lin Yan
also calmed down his anxiety. He crossed the hall and coldly laughed.

“How strong is that Liu Qing?” Xiao Yan could not help but frown as
he inquired upon hearing the name Liu Qing once again.

“You can ask Wu Hao. Recently, he has lingered around the Fighting
Arena frequently and should have some understanding of Liu Qing.” Lin
Yan shrunk back into his chair. He felt that explaining this kind of
thing was the most troublesome. Hence, he merely curled his lips toward
Wu Hao.

Wu Hao shook his head helplessly when he saw Xiao Yan’s gaze shoot
over. He mused for a moment before saying, “Tyrant Spear Liu Qing is a
top expert among the top ten of the ‘Strong Ranking.’ One can count
the number of students in the Inner Academy who are able to defeat him
with one’s fingers. Additionally, in the Fighting Arena, he was one of
the few extremely strong people who had once maintained eight consecutive
victories. There are quite a number of people in the Inner Academy who
view his name with reverence.”

Xiao Yan took a shallow sip of tea from the teacup in his hand and
quietly nodded. With Wu Hao’s strength, he still lost more than he won
in the Fighting Arena where strong people were as numerous as the clouds.
Hence, Xiao Yan could vaguely guess just how difficult the so-called
eight consecutive victory was. It appeared… that this Liu Qing was
indeed a person that was extremely difficult to deal with.

“However, you can rest assured that that fellow doesn’t have the time
to help speak out for Liu Fei for the time being. In another half a
year’s time, it will be the Inner Academy Grand Competition that is
held once every five years. He is currently spending every day behind
closed doors. Even if he occasionally has the time to come out from the
tower, it would be to practice his Dou Skill in the Fighting Arena. Thus,
he will not come and find trouble with you before the Grand Competition
is over. After that, however… hee hee, it will be hard to say.” Lin
Yan gloatingly spoke with a smile.

“Inner Academy Grand Competition?” Xiao Yan’s brows formed a
straight line as he asked feeling surprised, “There is this
Competition? Why is it that I have never heard any news of it before?”

“This Grand Competition has nothing to do with you… this is a
competition between the experts on the ‘Strong Ranking.’ Ordinary
people can only watch the fun from below. Hence, all of you naturally
don’t have the qualifications to know about it.” Lin Yan curled his
lips and said, “As long as one is able to enter the top ten in this
competition, one will have the qualifications to become someone that can
be chosen to become an Elder. Moreover, one would even obtain the
qualification for a chance to enter the ninth level and receive the
forging of one’s body by the source of the Heart Flame!”

“Do you know what the source of the Heart Flame is? Simply put, if one
was to receive the forging of one’s body by the Heart Flame’s source,
one would obtain a pass that leads one to advance to the Dou Wang class
provided that one was not someone who is so dreadfully unlucky. Do you
understand if it is said in this manner?”

“A direct pass to the Dou Wang class?” When these few words entered
their ears, the eyes of Hu Jia and Wu Hao became instantly hot. In the
training of Dou Qi, the Dou Wang class was basically a watershed class
that nearly opposed the heavens. Countless numbers of people, who had
quite good training talent, were stuck at the edge of the Dou Ling class
and were unable to take that one step forward for a long time.

“Heart Flame’s source?”

Compared to the two of them, Xiao Yan placed his focus on this other
vocabulary instead. Source… could it be that it is saying… the
original body of the ‘Fallen Heart Flame?’

The teacup in his head trembled slightly. Some of the tea splashed out.
Xiao Yan forcefully suppressed the shock in his heart as he slowly placed
the teacup on the table. He raised his head and asked Lin Yan, “What
requirement must one have in order to enter the ninth level?”

“You can forget about having such hope.” Lin Yan rolled his eyes and
replied faintly, “Putting it simply, it is impossible for the students
to enter deep into the ninth or tenth level. Only the Elders of the
Academy have such qualifications. Therefore, most of those fellows who
can graduate and leave, instead stay in the academy with the intention of
becoming an Elder. This is because only by becoming an Elder will one be
able to enter the ninth or even tenth level to train. This way… it
would enable them to swiftly touch the barrier to the Dou Huang class.”

“A strong Dou Huang…” Xiao Yan gently sighed. He exchanged glances
with Wu Hao by his side and saw a shock within the other party’s eyes.
This class could enable one to become an imposing authority of a group
even when placed within the entire continent. It was really unexpected
that some fellows within the Inner Academy actually had such ambition.

“That ‘Grand Competition’… is it a competition that only those
who have entered the ‘Strong Ranking’ can participate?” Xiao Yan
gently tapped his finger on the table and asked softly.

“Yes. After all, even if one were to lower the competence level, do you
hope that some of those new students, the ones who entered the academy
recently, are able to possess the qualification to be potentially
selected as an Elder?” Lin Yan’s words were still that direct. He
appeared to have forgotten that the four people in front of him were
novices who had entered the Inner Academy less than two months ago.

Xiao Yan could only helplessly shake his head at the vicious tongue of
this fellow. He raised his head slightly and eyed the ceiling. The glow
in his eyes was flickering indefinitely. This was perhaps… an
opportunity.