Chapter 153: Yao Clan
Chapter 153: Yao Clan
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--- Chapter 150 ---
Baek Ain and Qing Lin rode a winged serpent in the sky, roaming toward the Yao Clan of the Eight Ancient Clans. After all, this clan is the nearest to the Nine Serene Mountain Range.
"Is this one of the Secret Realm's rulers?" Baek Ain curiously asked while gazing at the winged serpent.
This Rank 9 magical beast is over five hundred meters, with blood-colored scales and bat-like wings. A few bumps seemingly grew under its serpentine body as if it would spurt out claws.
Qing Lin nodded and answered, "Her name is Linlin."
"She was the guardian of the Serpent Dragon Grave, a mutation of Scarlet Moon Python. After experiencing the baptism of the Serpent Dragon, she's pretty much a variant between a snake and a dragon."
"I evolved into Blood Scales Flood Snake-Dragon, my lady." A voice suddenly escaped the serpent's mouth. It was gentle and filled with politeness.
Qing Lin giggled, "Hehe, my bad."
"Anyway, Linlin has the potential to become a Divine Beast just like any other top Beast Tribes. The only problem is that she needed a massive amount of Life Force like me."
"Like you? Wait, I forgot to ask you about the inheritance in the Secret Realm." Baek Ain recalled Qing Lin's status page a week ago.
Qing Lin smiled and answered, "It's the inheritance of the Divine Serpent Dragon. Even though the Divine Serpent Dragon is a sub-species of True Dragon, it rivaled Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python as it fully merged Azure Dragon's Essence Blood in the past."
"Its Serpent Ancestry is Ancient Heaven Python."
"Ancient Heaven Python." Baek Ain shook his head when hearing this.
Is it just Baek Ain's feelings, or Cai Lin and Qing Lin "literally." destined to be a rival?
After all, Ancient Heaven Python is the ancestor of most Snake-Type Magical Beasts. Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python is more powerful, but its reputation is barely noticeable because of its scarce number, and many thought it was just a myth.
But Azure Dragon's Essence Blood leveled its playing field.
Or maybe not because Cai Lin also possessed the Mother's Earthsouls Behemoth's Bloodline.
Thinking about it, Baek Ain couldn't help but sigh bitterly at his harem's fate.
"Qing Lin, do you want my Behemoth's Essence Blood? It could speed up your Cultivation Speed." Baek Ain proposed the idea.
Qing Lin shook her head gently and refused, "Thanks, hubby. But no."
"I have yet fully mastered my inheritance, so having more would create an imbalance in my Cultivation Path."
"Think of it like a glass cup, it is currently full and cannot afford another liquid, or its content will get spilled."
"In this scenario, my glass cup will get cracked or worse case... Exploded due to the overload."
"I see..." Baek Ain sighed helplessly.
Qing Lin leaned on Baek Ain's chest and whispered bashfully, "I-I might not be able to take your Blood Essence, but I can get overloaded by your other essence..."
'Damn, girl!' Baek Ain gave her a surprised look.
Faking a cough, Baek Ain sternly asked, "Who taught you to speak like this?"
Qing Lin blushed and replied, "I-It's Elder Sister Yi Xian..."
"..." Baek Ain.
"Of course it's her!" He facepalmed himself.
Far away, Yi Xian and Lan Rou landed in the grand-looking city near the Pill Tower.
"My Ain's senses are tingling!" Yi Xian suddenly said, rubbing her hips solemnly.
Lan Rou stared at her sister weirdly and commented, "There is no such a thing."
"Stop joking around, and visit the Pill Tower."
"Eeeh, but my Ain's sense is never wroooong~!" Yi Xian complained, causing Lan Rou to drag her anyway.
The two beauties caught attention quickly, yet no one dared to approach them because of the freezing aura around Lan Rou.
Back to Baek Ain and Qing Lin, they finally arrived at the border of Yao Clan's Territory. They changed their appearances slightly to execute this operation with the help of their parasites, entering the area as the pair of Husband and Wife.
Yao Clan is a Clan that mainly focuses on Alchemy.
For ancient clans, the quality of Dou Di Blood mattered the most. They are descendants of the Dou Gods, so their standard is always strict and high.
Ironically, the appearance of Yao Chen as an Alchemy Genius is like a slap in the face for them. After all, they kicked him out due to his lack of Dou Di Blood.
He proved that Dou Qi Blood's quality doesn't fully determine one's talents.
As they entered the nearest city, a guard who was at the 9-Star Dou Spirit Realm stopped Baek Ain and Qing Lin.
"Name, age, and background?" He stated sternly.
Baek Ain smiled and answered, "Lin Feng, 21, Broken Blade Clan."
Qing Lin hugged Baek Ain's arm and added, "Lin Qing, 19, Broken Blade Clan."
"Occupation?" The guard raised his brows, feeling somewhat annoyed by their lovey-dovey atmosphere.
"Alchemist and Blacksmith."
"Beast Tamer."
The guard frowned when hearing their answers and sneered, "If you two want to scam someone, you better go away. Yao Clan isn't something you could afford to offend."
"Pfft, not to mention Alchemist and Blacksmith? You don't look like someone who could do this field." He mockingly added.
Baek Ain shook his head helplessly because his disguise did make him look humble. He wore an ordinary-looking brown robe and pants with a black sash tied around his waist. Of course, these clothes were his parasites.
The same goes for Qing Lin as their facial features and body structures changed slightly.
Baek Ain snapped his finger lightly and summoned 10% of Gnome's Flame, causing a bright brown-golden flame to burst.
BOOM!
The searing heat melted the city's wall and the defense formation, making the guard fall and pee his pants. Well, it immediately dried off due to the heat.
'That's stronger than I expected.' Baek Ain thought to himself.
Gnome has grown because of the support from the Heavenly Flames and Golden Crow's Divine Flame, but this firepower is no lower than Golden Crow's Divine Flame itself and maybe more controllable.
Its heat is somewhat lacking. Nonetheless, not many fires could rival it in this world.
A thousand miles away, in the Yao Realm, a group of elders and the clan chief discussed the disappearance of Hall of Souls' Western Branch.
The clan chief Yao Dan rested on his main seat with a solemn expression.
His usual friendliness is "seemingly." replaced with solemnness.
"Do you think Gu Clan wiped the Hall of Souls' branch?" He asked the elders.
A bald elder with an unreadable expression shook his head and replied unsurely, "I'm not sure either, chief. The Gu Clan always lead, but they are usually never this aggressive."
Another elder scoffed and returned, "Of course, they are never this aggressive before. No one dared to steal before their eyes and injured so many of their clan members."
"The ending of Heavenly Gathering Clan's Auction isn't secret, after all."
Yao Dan suddenly opened his mouth again and mentioned, "Soul-Recovering Medicine. 9th Tier Pill with effect rivaling 10th Tier Pill."
"Unfortunately, the pill was stolen by a youth named Xiao Yan."
"If we could get our hands on this pill, Yao Clan will have a way to break through our ancestor's limits."
"How unfortunate, how unfortunate." He sighed helplessly.
The elders listened to their chief's mutters and sighed helplessly too.
Their clan's specialty is alchemy, and they participated in the Heavenly Gathering Clan's Auction as well, but they are not fated to obtain it, even with their seemingly endless wealth.
Thud!
"Hmm?" Everyone in the room suddenly becomes silent.
They gazed into the distance, feeling the presence of fire.
A Heavenly Flame.
No, this is not Heavenly Flame!
"Let's go, might as well check it." Yao Dan said, walking off his seat.
The elders nodded and followed after the clan chief.
At the entrance of the now melting city' walls, Baek Ain unsummoned Gnome and waited.
"Y-You! The Yao Clan won't leave this matter peacefully!" The guard pointed his finger at Baek Ain.
Baek Ain chuckled and returned, "That's my plan in the first place."
"And yup, we are waiting for the same group of people."
Yao Dan and the elders arrived at the city, seeing the shivering city guard, a white-haired man, and a green-haired woman.
Yao Dan frowned inwardly, sensing the presence of the weird fire from the white-haired flame.
Since he didn't sense any ill intent from the white-haired man, Yao Dan asked, "Who might you be?"
Baek Ain cupped his hands and smiled, "My name is Lin Feng."
"And I'm here to challenge Yao Clan's Alchemy Masters."
The elders felt weird as one shouted, "Who do you think you were? How ridiculous!"
"Our clan doesn't accept challenges from unknown persons!"
Yao Dan hasn't said anything further and senses that this Lin Feng fellow is a Half-Saint Expert. Weirdly, his Spiritual Sense couldn't detect his Spiritual State.
There are two possible reasons.
He possessed a treasure that concealed one's Spiritual State.
Or his Spiritual State is just stronger than him.
'A Tier 9 Alchemist? I have never heard of someone like him in the Central Plains.' Yao Dan firmly believed in the first reason, but the latter part was not too far-fetched.
He's a cautious person, after all.
Baek Ain acted calmly before these people and suddenly said, "Even if I possessed the recipe for Tier 10 Pill?"
Yao Dan's expression and the elders froze on the spot.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN FOOL US! SUCH THING DOESN'T EXIST-!" Before the elders could finish, Baek Ain had already pulled a scroll of ancient beast hide from his inventory.
He opened it slightly, revealing the ancient aura.
Five words were "neatly." written at the top, but these words were enough to shock Yao Dan and the elders.
"Dou Di's Blood Purifying Pill."
"How is that even possible?!" They were speechless.
Baek Ain closed the scroll and made them gasp.
"Why did you close it!!" They looked at Baek Ain grimly.
Baek Ain grinned and teased, "What do you think I am? An idiot?"
"This is my bargaining chip. Do you think I'd let you see it without completing my goal?"
Yao Dan cleared his throat, "Cough, Fellow Alchemist Lin Feng. You said you want to challenge my Yao Clan, correct?"
"Yes." Baek Ain nodded casually.
"Then, let me invite you to a banquet first." Yao Dan smiled, landing beside Baek Ain and giving him an inviting gesture.
"Hehe, sure." Baek Ain laughed, accepting the invitation.
"But wait, I remembered someone made it hard for me to enter this city earlier. If I don't summon my magic flame, he'd have bullied me, you know?"
The guard trembled like no tomorrow, 'No!'
[Poor guy] Alicia commented.
Baek Ain, Qing Lin, and Yao Dan flew up, entering the Yao Realm.
The bald elder used his telepathy and asked, 'Should we do something to this man?'
'No.' Yao Dan replied earnestly.
'Why not?' The bald elder was confused because their target was only a Half-Saint Realm.
Yao Dan glanced back and gave his clan's elders a meaningful look, 'You guys aren't strong enough to defeat him.'
No one but Yao Dan could feel it. The deadly presence came from Baek Ain's body.
Even Yao Dan, a 7-Star Dou Saint, couldn't help but question if he could defeat Baek Ain in a death battle.
It feels like one wrong step is enough to slaughter them all.
Yao Dan watched Baek Ain's back and solemnly added, 'This man is a monster...'