BTTH: From Genius to Invincible

Word Count: 2,156 Words

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Seeing that Lin Yan was on the verge of tears, Xun Er decided to be considerate and softly said, "Xun Er should get back to cultivating; otherwise, the gap with Xiao Yan ge-ge will only widen."

Xiao Yan affectionately stroked her silky hair and then cupped her delicate face in his hands. A warm sensation spread from his palms. Gazing at Xun Er's rosy lips, he couldn't help but swallow.

Xun Er's cheeks flushed crimson. She lowered her head slightly and murmured, "Xun Er will head back first."

Before Xiao Yan could speak, Xun Er, giving him no chance to misbehave, swiftly dashed back to her courtyard.

Xiao Yan gave a faint smile as he watched Xun Er run away shyly. Indeed, public displays weren't appropriate, and besides, that fellow Ling Ying was watching.

Meanwhile, Lin Yan stood to the side, staring blankly at Xiao Yan. Big brother, there's still someone else here! Could you be a bit more mindful!!

Glancing at this third wheel, Xiao Yan said, "Come with me."

…

Inside Xiao Yan's room.

Xiao Yan began examining Lin Yan, who was seated before him, and asked, "How long has the fire poison been accumulating in your body?" He needed to understand the situation clearly before helping to expel the poison.

Lin Yan's expression turned somewhat grim as he replied, "Around a year and a half." The fire poison had already deeply affected his mind, making him extremely irritable.

"Back then, I was desperate to improve my strength, so I went into closed-door cultivation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for one or two months at a stretch. The fire poison kept accumulating and, by the time I realized it, had become tightly intertwined with my Dou Qi and couldn't be separated."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but look down on Lin Yan. Isn't it just closed-door cultivation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for one or two months?

Xiao Yan said calmly, "In a moment, bear with it. I'll use flames to enter your body and burn away the fire poison."

Lin Yan was stunned.

I'm afflicted with fire poison, not ice poison! You're adding more fire? Isn't that like adding fuel to the fire?!

Xiao Yan noticed Lin Yan's skeptical look and replied flatly, "If you don't trust me, you can still choose to take four hundred days' worth of Fire Energy. I can give it to you right now."

"Heh heh, how could I not trust you? I trust you, I trust you." Lin Yan had no other choice. Even if he had the Fire Energy, he wouldn't be alive to use it. Right now, Xiao Yan was his only lifeline.

Turning his back to Xiao Yan, Lin Yan nervously asked, "Brother Xiao Yan, what's your success rate?"

Placing his palm on Lin Yan's back, Xiao Yan said with a confident smile, "Someone asked me the same question before, and my answer is still the same."

Whoosh!

A burst of energy shattered Lin Yan's robe into powder, exposing a muscular body.

"One hundred percent."

Xiao Yan instantly activated the Flame Mantra. The Nihility Devouring Flame flowed through his meridians to his palm, and with his immensely powerful Spiritual Strength, he guided the black flame to drill into Lin Yan's body.

With a thud, Lin Yan's body suddenly trembled. His already muscular physique swelled as if inflated, doubling in size! His entire skin turned bright red, resembling a cooked prawn.

"Ahhh!!!" Even a madman like Lin Yan who disregarded his own life couldn't help but let out an agonized howl at this moment. Clenching his teeth tightly, despite his crazed willpower, he couldn't suppress his screams.

"Bear with it. Relax your Dou Qi; don't use it to resist." Xiao Yan shook his head with a smile. This Lin Yan didn't seem as tough as the Inner Academy made him out to be. Even the old man Nalan Jie could endure better than him.

Lin Yan's fire poison was similar to the Searing Poison. The poison invaded his meridians, internal organs, flesh and blood, bones, and even skin.

Therefore, to completely remove it, the Nihility Devouring Flame had to thoroughly sweep through his entire body without missing a spot, devouring all the fire poison.

The terrifying, high temperature of the Nihility Devouring Flame caused pain to surface on Lin Yan's face, and his hands clenched tightly with blue veins bulging on his arms.

However, the current Xiao Yan was not the same as when he helped Nalan Jie expel the Searing Poison at the Nalan Mansion. Not only had the Nihility Devouring Flame's Seed Flame become stronger, but his own Spiritual Strength was also incomparable to what it had been before.

Moreover, Heavenly Flames inherently attracted each other. Wherever the Nihility Devouring Flame passed, the fire poison of the Fallen Heart Flame was revealed. The black flame devoured it all like a greedy serpent.

After about thirty minutes, Xiao Yan retracted all the black flames. Lin Yan looked as if he had been through an ordeal, lying on the table with vacant eyes and panting heavily, his whole body limp and motionless.

Xiao Yan exhaled and said, "It's done. Put your clothes back on and go home."

"Is it... done?! Just like that??" Lin Yan hurriedly sensed the condition inside his body. Sure enough, he found that all the fire poison had disappeared!

"You're making a fuss over nothing. It was just a small poison." Xiao Yan opened his palm and raised an eyebrow, signaling that Lin Yan should pay the treatment fee.

Only then did Lin Yan snap out of his astonishment. A bit embarrassed, he said, "Well, I'm not sure if the fire poison has been completely expelled. If by any chance..."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but recall that old fellow Hai Bodong, who also tried to weasel out of payment, "Why are you all like this? Fine, fine. I don't think you'd be foolish enough to skip out on paying. I'll give you seven days to assess your condition properly."

After sending Lin Yan off, Xiao Yan counted on his fingers and muttered to himself, 'Now I still need the Asparagus Ice Fire Fruit and a Rank 6 ice-attribute Monster Core.'

'There's just over half a year until the Strong Ranking Grand Competition. I must refine the Ground Spirit Pill within this time.'

Xiao Yan suddenly felt a surge of pressure because he only had one set of materials for the Ground Spirit Pill; failure was not an option.

'I'll focus on practicing alchemy these days.'

…

As expected, seven days later, Lin Yan cheerfully handed over the Green Wood Celestial Vine to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan shifted his focus to alchemy during the ten-day period. Fortunately, he had collected some main ingredients for tier 6 pills from the Misty Cloud Sect and the treasury of the Snake-People Tribe back then, enough for him to practice with.

Utilizing the powerful abilities of the Black Demon Cauldron and after wasting seven sets of medicinal ingredients, he finally succeeded in refining a tier 6 healing pill on the ninth day. With more practice to improve his success rate, he would become a 6th-tier alchemist!

On the tenth day, Zi Yan finally emerged from the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. After informing Xiao Yan, she immediately ventured into the deep mountains to search for heavenly treasures.

With the No. 1 cultivation room now available, Xiao Yan halted his alchemy practice and proceeded to the No. 1 cultivation room on the seventh floor to start cultivating.

Passing through the central rest area on the seventh floor, a series of spacious cultivation rooms appeared in his view. As he walked closer, he could faintly sense the pure energy overflowing from these rooms.

Along the way, he noticed the room numbers on the doors, starting from twenty. The further he went, the more potent the warm energy that permeated from the rooms became. By the time he reached rooms numbered within ten, he could even see wisps of pale red energy drifting in the air like fine threads. This bizarre sight left him secretly amazed.

His footsteps halted outside a spacious cultivation room at the deepest part. This cultivation room was somewhat strange. While the other rooms had robust energy spilling out, here it was completely empty. Standing outside, he couldn't sense the slightest bit of energy within.

'Tsk tsk, this No. 1 cultivation room even requires a barrier to seal it to prevent energy leakage,' Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength clearly sensed that a barrier existed outside the cultivation room. One could imagine how terrifying the No. 1 cultivation room was.

Under the dumbfounded gazes of the experts on the Strong Ranking, Xiao Yan took out a token given by Zi Yan, pressed it against the door, and pushed it open. With a creaking sound, a burst of pale red light suddenly erupted.

When he saw the crimson fire-attribute energy inside that resembled a sea of flames, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "This energy is truly astonishing. I wonder how much more incredible the Heavenly Flame space where the Fallen Heart Flame's essence resides must be."

Xiao Yan didn't waste time after entering the cultivation room. He took out a Fire Crystal Card and tapped it.

'Thirty... truly an astronomical price, but worth every bit.'

With a flash of green light, the Green Lotus flew out from his storage ring. The snake-bodied Medusa poked her head out from the lotus platform and looked around, "The energy here is much denser."

"The price is quite steep too. You should first absorb the Heavenly Flame energy to condense your snake body. On the last day, I'll use the Ten Thousand Beast Flame to help you refine the Heavenly Flame energy."

"Mm."

Not wasting any more time, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the stone platform and began frantically circulating the Flame Mantra to cultivate. Medusa coiled atop the Green Lotus and greedily absorbed the fire-attribute energy floating within the No. 1 cultivation room.

One person and one snake became like two vortices, voraciously absorbing. Large clusters of Heart Flame appeared within Xiao Yan, being purified into strands of exceedingly pure Dou Qi.

Cultivation knew no day or night. In the blink of an eye, twenty days passed. The terrifying environment of the No. 1 cultivation room allowed Xiao Yan to advance another star in just twenty days, reaching the 6-star Dou Spirit stage!

By now, the Heavenly Flame energy within the No. 1 cultivation room had visibly thinned; fortunately, this was the No. 1 cultivation room, so the energy replenished quickly.

Sitting cross-legged on the stone platform, a ball of blood-red flames continuously refined under Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength. Through that special soul contract with Medusa, he transmitted the Heart Flame drawn from the stone platform to her, using the pure Heart Flame to accelerate the formation of her Heavenly Flame Snake Body.

'This time, Medusa should achieve Dou Ancestor-level combat strength.'

Although Medusa's body had not yet grown to its complete form, the Heavenly Flame Snake Body Xiao Yan was refining for her had brought her strength close to the Dou Ancestor realm.

Just as Xiao Yan was secretly delighted at soon having a Dou Ancestor-level ally, an unexpected change occurred!

Boom! Boom! Boom!!! Suddenly, the entire cultivation room began to tremble.

"What's going on? Is the Fallen Heart Flame acting up? No, this is—!" Xiao Yan's eyes sharpened as he looked at the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python within the Ten Thousand Beast Flame. He sensed that this tremor was caused by its energy outburst.

"Energy rampage?! Hey, Medusa, are you alright?!" Xiao Yan's heart tightened. He had never used a Heavenly Flame to help someone condense a physical body before, and he had no idea what might happen!

Suddenly, the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python within the Ten Thousand Beast Flame opened its eyes and stared fixedly at Xiao Yan. Its eyes glowed with a blood-red intensity, just like Lin Yan's.

'You've got to be kidding me! How did someone at the Dou Emperor level get fire poisoned!!' Xiao Yan was greatly alarmed. He could handle Lin Yan, but how was he supposed to deal with a Dou Ancestor-level Medusa!!

A seven-colored divine light abruptly erupted from the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's body. An immense force violently flung Xiao Yan away, and with a heavy thud, his entire body slammed against the wall.

Shaking his head to clear his dizziness, Xiao Yan found his hands suddenly seized and pinned against the wall before he could react. In his bewildered state, he felt something soft press against his lips.

Xiao Yan's entire body jolted! His pupils widened dramatically. It was as if he had been struck by lightning. His body went rigid as he stared at the blushing beauty before him. He let out a muffled, (My first time is meant for Xun Er!) tragic wail…