Battle Through the Heavens

The sudden loud sound of rolling-thunder appeared in the quiet mountain range that was covered in a dense, lush, green color, surprising a countless number of birds in the forest. The manner which those birds flapped their wings and flew high in the sky in all directions forboded that a great disaster was about to strike.

A mountain peak began to shake and fall at a certain spot in the mountain range. Huge rocks repeatedly rolled down from above, pressing against some of the enormous trees below until they were all broken. Numerous arm thick crack lines began to swiftly spread as the enormous rocks rolled down. Within a couple of minutes, a perfect mountain peak stopped just short of completely collapsing.

A black-robed human figure was flapping jade-green fire wings extruding from his back in the air above the mountain peak. His eyes studied the swaying mountain peak that was about to fall before he nodded his head with some satisfaction. Currently, the strength of this ‘Open Mountain Seal’ was indeed much stronger than before. Moreover, since this was only practice, the Dou Qi that was maneuvered was not at its full strength. It was difficult to imagine just how frightening the force would be if one were to unleash it to one’s full potential.

“Is this the ‘Open Mountain Seal’? It is indeed worthy of being a Di Class High Level Dou Technique.” A somewhat illusionary old figure suddenly appeared and stood suspended in the air beside the black-robed, young man. He eyed the mountain peak that was nearly destroyed below as he nodded his head with some surprise and inquired with a smile.

“Yes.” Xiao Yan nodded his head and smiled. He immediately asked, “Has teacher heard of this Dou Technique?”

“Ke ke, the ‘God Seal Technique’. How could I have not heard of such a great name? This set of Dou Technique is also not something that anyone within the clan of your little girlfriend can practice. The reason she could obtain it was most likely because of her extraordinary status. However, it is really unexpected that she was able to give you such a rare Dou Technique.” Yao Lao laughed. He immediately seemed to have recalled something and involuntarily sighed.

“Back then, I was also quite interested in this set of hand seal Dou Techniques. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain it. If one were to reach complete mastery of this set of Dou Techniques, it would not be overboard to say that one could destroy the mountains and boil the seas.”

“Unfortunately, there are only two hand seals of this hand seal Dou Technique within the scroll that Xun Er gave me.” Xiao Yan rubbed his head and replied in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

“You greedy little fellow. Just be content. Although this ‘God Seal Technique’ is a Di Class High Level Dou Technique, if one were able to practice it until the final seal and achieve the stage where each seal is connected to each other, it would likely be able to rival a Tian Class Dou Technique.” Yao Lao laughed as he reprimanded this young man. He said, “Even though the status of that little girl is extraordinary within the clan, it is likely that she has taken quite the risk by privately giving such a Dou Technique to you. That clan of hers regards these top level Dou Techniques very highly. Being able to give you two of the seals in the ‘God Seal Technique’ is likely already her limit.”

Xiao Yan let out an embarrassed laugh. He was merely careless mentioning it. Naturally, it was impossible for him to grumble about Xun Er. From the solemn expression she had when she gave him the ‘God Seal Technique’, it was obvious that she held it in extremely high regard. According to what was written on the scroll, just training the first seal, the ‘Open Mountain Seal’ would require one to at least be of the Dou Wang class. Given Xiao Yan’s current strength, he could only feel around this ‘Open Mountain Seal’. Hence, even if Xun Er had really gave him all of the ‘God Seal Technique’, it was likely that he could only salivate while looking at the seals beyond. Being able to see them but unable to practice them. This was an even greater torture.

“It has been at least half a month since I entered the mountains but there is no news from second brother’s end. Did some trouble occur?” Xiao Yan flapped the fire wings on his back and threw his gaze in the direction of the ‘Black-Corner Region’. He could not help but frown as he spoke.

“It should be fine. If something were to happen, he would definitely have sent a signal to you.” Yao Lao smiled and his face immediately became solemn as he spoke, “Now, you should place your attention on yourself. When contending with Yun Shan, it will be extremely difficult to kill him unless you have a powerful technique.”

Xiao Yan withdrew his smile when this name that was wedged deep within Xiao Yan’s memory was mentioned. He nodded slightly and mused, “Although my strength has soared during these three years, it is also impossible for that old fellow to remain at the same level. Moreover, the Misty Cloud Sect has stood in the Jia Ma Empire for so many years. It definitely possesses quite a strong foundation. The Dou Techniques that the old fellow knows will likely not be weak.”

Back then, Xiao Yan was able to barely contend with Yun Shan for a couple of exchanges by relying on Yao Lao’s strength but this was because the latter did not display many Dou Techniques. Once he unleashed Dou Techniques to accompany his originally extremely powerful strength, it was likely that Xiao Yan’s ending would be quite miserable even with Yao Lao’s help.

Currently, Xiao Yan’s strength had soared and he also possessed powerful killing weapons like the ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ as well as the ‘God Seal Technique’. However, there was still some uncertainty if he wanted to rely on them to kill Yun Shan. After all, even though the Dou Zong class could not be considered an expert that could stand at the top of the pyramid if placed in the entire continent, they were experts that were only a little below that level. If one underestimated an expert at that level, it would undoubtedly cause oneself to experience a disaster. This was especially so for someone like Xiao Yan, whose level was far below that level.

However, Xiao Yan could not accept even the slightest uncertainty to appear on this trip back to the Jia Ma Empire. Back then, he had been chased out of the Jia Ma Empire like a dog that had lost its home. After which, he had caused the Xiao clan to face such calamity. He might still be able to flee if he failed after returning this time around. However, what awaited the Xiao clan might be true extermination!

Hence, he must kill Yun Shan at all cost when he return the the Jia Ma Empire this time around!

Of course, if he were to include the two great fighting strength of Medusa and Yao Lao, it would definitely not be difficult to kill Yun Shan. Unfortunately, Xiao Yan did not have confidence to convince Medusa to help him fight against Yun Shan. Yao Lao might currently have the strength to contend with an elite Dou Zong but who could guarantee whether the Misty Cloud Sect would have a hidden super strong person?

From what Xiao Li had said, it was obvious that the Misty Cloud Sect was collaborating with the Hall of Souls. Therefore, Xiao Yan must plan for the worst. In the event of any accident occurring that would prevent Yao Lao from participating in the fight, Xiao Yan needed to be able to fight Yun Shan independently. Hence, he needed to enable himself to possess the strength to kill Yun Shan!

Yao Lao nodded slightly as he watched Xiao Yan’s face which was gradually becoming cold and stern. He slowly said, “It is indeed extremely difficult for you to have absolute confidence in killing Yun Shan with your current strength. However, it is not totally impossible to do.”

“What method does teacher have?” Xiao Yan was startled and he hurriedly inquired.

“Learn the second seal of the ‘God Seal Technique’.” Yao Lao laughed.

Xiao Yan immediately became dispirited when he heard this. He helplessly said, “Now, I have not even completely grasp the first seal. How can I master the second seal? Moreover, according to what Xun Er said, the second seal requires one to reach the Dou Huang class before one can practice it.”

“Ke ke, in that case, there remains only the last possibility.” Yao Lao smiled. He waved his hand and a dense white colored flame curled and rose. He watched Xiao Yan who was deep in thought in front of him and laughed, “Merge three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ and use the ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame!”

“An ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ that is merged from three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’...” The expression on Xiao Yan’s face changed rapidly. He knit his brows tightly. Being the creator of the ‘Heavenly Flame’ fire lotus, an attack that possessed the strongest and most frightening strength, he understood the danger and the instability of it extremely well. Back then, he had relied on his luck to control the equilibrium between two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flames’. However, he had paid the price of nearly blowing himself to pieces. The merger of three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ might appear to be simply adding one kind of ‘Heavenly Flame’ on top of it. However, the difficulty involved was something that Xiao Yan had a profound understanding of. One could unceremoniously say that the difficulty in attempting to merge three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ was not any less than practicing the ‘Open Mountain Seal’.

“If you are truly able to merge the three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ into an ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’, there will no longer be any unexpected event occurring when you kill Yun Shan.” Yao Lao smiled and spoke when he saw Xiao Yan tight frown.

“I... shall try.” Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment but he could only helplessly nod his head. It was likely that he only had this method at this moment.

Yao Lao smiled and nodded. He said, “You need not be too anxious. Merge it if you can. If you really can’t, then forget about it. At the very most, teacher will intervene at that time and kill Yun Shan.”

Xiao Yan smiled. However, his heart knew that he should work hard in order to achieve true assurance...

After he possessed an aim, Xiao Yan began to try and merge these three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ into the ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ during the remaining period of time. However, as he had expected, it was indeed extremely difficult to merge this thing. He tried a couple of experiments during this period of time but all of them ended up in failure. Moreover, he even received minor injuries during the intense explosion that was created when the ‘Heavenly Flame’ collided with one another.

Yao Lao was also helpless in the face of Xiao Yan’s repeated failed attempts. This was not because Xiao Yan lacked the talent. Instead, this ‘Heavenly Flame’ merger was indeed difficult. He even thought that even at his peak back then, attempting to merge three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ might well be an extremely difficult task. Moreover, although Xiao Yan was already in possession of two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’, the ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ did not belong to him. Even though Xiao Yan could use it, it was extremely difficult for him to reach the point where he had absolute control. However, this slight deviation in control possessed a critical consequence in this kind of merger that required extreme precision.

Yet, Xiao Yan did not appear overly anxious in the face of such repeated failures. This caused Yao Lao to put down the worry in his heart. He was actually afraid that this little fellow would come into a dead end under the pressure of time. This kind of ‘Heavenly Flame’ merger was not something that one could complete by being anxious. The calmer one was, the better the effect. If one was more anxious, one might lose more than what one would gain.

After one month of such repeated experiments without rest, there seemed to be some progress with the merger of these three kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’. However, a messenger bird came flying from the ‘Black-Corner Region’ at such a time, causing Xiao Yan to have no choice but to cease his experiment.

“Everything is in order, we can leave anytime!”

The note only had this one sentence. However this one sentence caused Xiao Yan to be silent for a long time. He immediately exhaled a long breath. He had waited three years for this day.