After renting a fairly large courtyard, Xiao Yan told Little Fairy Doctor to rest while he sat cross-legged on the grass in the backyard, carefully organizing his thoughts.
Over the past half year, he had studied numerous pill formulas. He was now thoroughly familiar with pills that enhanced human cultivators' strength, such as the Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill, Dou Ling Pill, and Emperor Extreme Pill.
Having recently reviewed his knowledge of medicinal materials, Xiao Yan had a general idea of how to create pills to enhance the strength of magical beasts.
Magical beasts were different from humans. While they had incredibly strong physical bodies, they lacked cultivation techniques to guide their growth.
Humans, on the other hand, needed to build a foundation by cultivating Dou Qi, making it difficult to find suitable pills for them early on. Only after becoming a Dou Practitioner could they withstand the impact of medicinal power.
Therefore, pills for magical beasts didn't need to worry too much about theviolent nature of the medicinal properties. In fact, this violentnature was desirable, as long as it was within the beast's tolerance, as it could accelerate absorption and refinement.
Since alchemists could create Transformation Pills, which were effective for magical beasts, it was possible that in ancient times, there were pills specifically designed to enhance the strength of magical beasts.
However, over time, these formulas had been lost.
As night fell, Xiao Yan, who had been deep in thought, slowly opened his eyes.
"Did you sense it? Someone's here!" Yao Lao, standing on a tree branch, said.
"Not even a Dou Ling among them," Xiao Yan muttered before closing his eyes again.
Although the shop owner hadn't planned to rob or kill anyone, the news of the shop being completely cleared out had spread throughout Rotbone City. Any powerful faction in the city would have heard about it.
A young boy and girl, new to the city and seemingly not very strong, spending so extravagantly, naturally made them prime targets.
While the shop owner didn't dare to act, the major factions in Rotbone City had set their sights on Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor.
The Five Poisons Sect, the Iron Fork Association, and the Ghost Demon Cult each mobilized their elite members, surrounding Xiao Yan's courtyard.
On the wall, a thin man with colorful patterns painted on his face said, "Sect Leader, let's attack! Our brothers' poison pets are already itching for action."
As he spoke, a strange black bee landed on the hand of the old man beside him.
The old man looked at the bee and nodded slightly, storing it away before saying in a deep voice, "Do you think we're the only ones here?"
"You mean the Iron Fork Association and the Ghost Demon Cult are here too?" The thin man's face turned grim. "Those two factions have always been at odds with us. They've been causing trouble over trivial matters, and now they want to take this fat prize from us too!"
The old man chuckled darkly, "Let's wait. Let them make the first move, and then we'll deal with them all at once."
On the other two sides, the Iron Fork Association and the Ghost Demon Cult had also detected each other's presence through their own methods and were in no hurry to act.
The three factions, as if by unspoken agreement, stood guard around Xiao Yan's residence.
By midnight, Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes.
[You have deduced from Yao Lao's collection of pill formulas and gained insight. You have comprehended the Random Thoughts on Magical Beast Cultivation.]
[Random Thoughts on Magical Beast Cultivation: A collection of pill formulas suitable for magical beasts from the first to the sixth tier.]
Shortly after Xiao Yan's epiphany, a blue figure streaked across the sky and landed beside him.
It was Little Lan, who had been hiding outside the city.
"A flying magical beast!" Niu Desheng, the leader of the Iron Fork Association, exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "This kid actually has a flying mount!"
"Leader, how do you know it belongs to him?"
Niu Desheng replied, "Isn't it obvious? Rotbone City is filled with poisonous air. There hasn't been a flying magical beast entering the city in a hundred years. This Blue Eagle didn't land anywhere else but this courtyard."
"Enough talk. Let's charge in and not let this fat pig escape," Niu Desheng said, flexing his wrists. "I've always wanted a flying mount, and now I've found one."
Tang Chuan of the Ghost Demon Cult frowned when he saw the Blue Eagle. "Could it be that this kid has noticed us and is planning to escape?"
"Sect Leader, the Blood Bats have sent word that the Iron Fork Association has already made their move. We can't let them take the advantage."
Tang Chuan raised a strange black box in his hand. "With the power of our mechanisms, we'll take down both the Iron Fork Association and the Five Poisons Sect today."
The two factions moved almost simultaneously, and within moments, they had surrounded Xiao Yan and Little Lan.
Seeing the aggressive crowd, Little Lan let out a sharp cry.
Niu Desheng chuckled, his eyes filled with satisfaction as he stared at Little Lan's spread wings. "Little eagle, stop crying. You'll soon be my mount."
"In your dreams!" Tang Chuan roared, triggering the mechanism in his black box.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Over a dozen arrows shot out like lightning.
Niu Desheng swung his iron fork, deflecting the arrows. He glanced at the grass on the ground, which had withered instantly from the poison on the arrowheads.
"Damn it, these ghostly tricks again! Your Ghost Demon Cult is useless, always relying on these gimmicks. Can they even break through my Dou Shi's Dou Qi armor?"
As he spoke, Niu Desheng's body shook, and a set of dark green armor appeared around him.
"You dare insult the Ghost Crossbow I created? It seems you're seeking death today!" Tang Chuan infused his poison Dou Qi into the crossbow in his hand.
The black box now revealed a dark green orb—it was a weapon embedded with a poison-attribute magical core.
Niu Desheng said, "Since both of us are here, that old monster from the Five Poisons Sect won't sit idle. If we fight now, he'll be the one to benefit. I'll take the Blue Eagle, and you can have everything else on him."
Watching the two groups dividing the spoils, Xiao Yan crossed his arms and said, "Hey, are you two done dividing the loot? There's still someone breathing here, you know."
Tang Chuan frowned and immediately aimed his Ghost Crossbow at Xiao Yan, pulling the trigger without hesitation. "Kid, since you're in such a hurry to die, I'll send you on your way!"
With the infusion of poison Dou Qi, the Ghost Crossbow shot out sixteen green poison arrows.
So fast! Niu Desheng gasped inwardly. If those arrows had been aimed at him, he might not have been able to block them all.
"Flame God…" Xiao Yan shouted, and the flame mark between his eyebrows began to flicker as if it had come to life.
A surge of fiery red energy enveloped Xiao Yan's body, instantly transforming him into a giant flame figure, towering like a small mountain.
A wave of scorching heat swept out, knocking most of the people from both factions off their feet.
The sixteen arrows melted into molten metal the moment they touched the surface of the flame giant.
"Do my things look easy to steal?" Xiao Yan asked calmly, looking at the man still standing with his iron fork.
Niu Desheng was stunned, his mouth hanging open as if struck by lightning.
The leader of the Ghost Demon Cult, along with his elite disciples, had been reduced to ashes in an instant when this strange flame giant appeared!
What kind of power was this?!
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Naruto: Starting with Tsunade-san]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Soul Land 2: Golden Dragon King]."
"If you want an early access join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"