BTTH: From Genius to Invincible-Chapter 560: The Great War Begins

Word Count: 2,947 Words

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Xiao Yan walked over to Little Fairy Doctor and looked at the pitch-black Pill Beast nestled in her arms. Though far weaker than himself, this little fellow was significantly stronger than the shoddy Ancestral Soul the Flood Serpent Tribe had summoned. After all, this one was actually alive.

A Pill Beast’s strength was intrinsically linked to its alchemist’s skills. The stronger the alchemist and the higher the quality of pills and medicinal ingredients fed to it, the more formidable the Pill Beast became after evolution.

And this fellow Tuan Tuan had lived for over a thousand years. Saint Zhao Hua had spared no expense, feeding it an entire forest of medicinal ingredients and countless pills. One could only imagine the sheer volume of treasures it had consumed throughout the millennia.

On top of that, Xiao Yan had once fed it a Bodhisattva Seed. Its successful evolution had been a certainty from that moment.

From Hun Huzi, Xiao Yan had learned that the Pill Tower’s current Old Ancestor was actually a being transformed entirely from a medicinal pill. Not only could he cultivate Dou Techniques, but he possessed extraordinarily high intelligence. Rumors even claimed he wasn’t far from reaching the realm of a Tier 9 Golden Pill.

Little Fairy Doctor hugged Tuan Tuan close, gently wiping the charred soot from its fur as she soothed it softly. "Be good, Tuan Tuan, don’t cry. I’ll give you some spiritual fruits and tier 8 medicinal pills in a while."

As for where those tier 8 pills would come from? From Xiao Yan, naturally!

The moment it heard ’tier 8 pills,’ Tuan Tuan shivered with excitement. It shook its body vigorously, sending the pitch-black ash cascading off its fur, and its large eyes sparkled with undisguised delight.

Xiao Yan chuckled at her words. "You’re quite skilled at coaxing children."

A faint blush colored Little Fairy Doctor’s pretty face as she shot him a sidelong glance. Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and deftly changed the subject. "Since Tuan Tuan already possesses Dou Saint-level strength, conquering the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe shouldn’t pose much difficulty."

Tuan Tuan’s eyes went wide with disbelief. Though it hadn’t spoken a word, its gaze conveyed everything: Are you a devil?! I’ve been a Tier 9 Pill Beast for all of five minutes, and you’re already sending me to war?!

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. "You’re older than everyone here. Quit acting like a baby."

Realizing Xiao Yan was utterly impervious, Tuan Tuan immediately turned to Little Fairy Doctor, its large, watery eyes cranking up the cuteness to maximum.

Little Fairy Doctor’s gaze softened instantly. Adorable, fluffy little beasts like this were her ultimate weakness. She had absolutely no resistance whatsoever.

"Xiao Yan..." She looked up at him, her voice carrying a note of pleading, hope shining in her eyes.

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes skyward in utter helplessness. So in the end, he was the one stuck footing the bill!

"Fine, fine, fine. After we deal with the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, I’ll refine a peak tier 8 pill for you." Against Little Fairy Doctor, his defenses crumbled just as easily.

The instant it heard ’pill,’ Tuan Tuan leaped onto Xiao Yan’s head. Deal!

Xiao Yan plucked the Pill Beast off his head and tossed it aside with disdain. Cuteness had no effect on him. "Since everything’s settled here, I’ll go check on Qing Lin."

"Mm, be careful," Little Fairy Doctor cautioned. With an ancient mutated ferocious beast like the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent, no one could predict what might happen.

"Relax. If it doesn’t know how to behave, I’ll help it learn some manners." Xiao Yan chuckled and waved his hand, tearing open a wormhole.

Just before stepping through, a sly glint flashed through his eyes. He suddenly spun around, wrapped an arm around Little Fairy Doctor’s slender waist, and pulled her soft body against his chest. His other hand slid to the nape of her neck as he tilted her chin and captured her lips in a deep, lingering kiss.

Little Fairy Doctor’s delicate body trembled. She subconsciously clutched at his robe, the faint, unique fragrance of her skin filling his lungs. He pried her lips apart with practiced ease, his tongue tangling with hers and stealing her breath away bit by bit.

"Mmph...!"

A muffled sound slipped from her throat. Her cheeks flushed an exaggerated crimson, the rosy color spreading all the way to her ears. She pounded weakly on his chest with her small fists, but there was no strength behind the blows. In the corner, Tuan Tuan covered its eyes with its little paws, leaving narrow slits to secretly peek through.

Only when Little Fairy Doctor was thoroughly flushed and breathless did Xiao Yan finally release her. With a satisfied, roguish laugh, he stepped into the wormhole.

If she wanted him to refine pills, she had to pay something in return!

...

Qing Lin slowly stirred awake when Xiao Yan arrived at the undersea volcanic secret realm once more. A joyful smile spread across her face the moment she saw him. "Young Master Xiao Yan."

"Tsk tsk tsk. It’s only been half a year, and you’ve already reached the peak of a Two-Change Dou Venerate?" Xiao Yan eyed Qing Lin with undisguised envy.

Qing Lin’s strength simply couldn’t be measured by cultivation alone. As long as she could control increasingly powerful serpent-type magical beasts, her combat power soared accordingly. More crucially, Qing Lin had barely cultivated on her own at all; the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils alone allowed her to continuously absorb the cultivation of her snake servants.

"It’s all thanks to Young Master Xiao Yan," Qing Lin said softly.

Xiao Yan shook his head. There was no point envying what he couldn’t replicate. He walked to the volcanic crater where the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent rested, and the sight that greeted him was nothing like before. Not only had the serpent itself transformed completely, but the entire undersea volcanic secret realm had changed with it.

Nine hideously terrifying heads hung low as though in slumber. Wisps of pitch-black poison gas seeped from their tightly closed jaws, reeking beyond measure. The once-boiling undersea volcano had been transformed into a toxic swamp!

The poison gas the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent exuded had thoroughly contaminated the entire volcano. Toxic bubbles gurgled ceaselessly to the surface, a testament to just how devastating this serpent’s poison truly was.

Gone was the skeletal form of before. Jet-black scales now covered its entire body, each one gleaming with a cold luster, hard as bedrock. Its massive serpentine body lay hidden beneath the toxic swamp. Though considerably smaller than when Xiao Yan and Cai Lin had first discovered it, its size remained staggeringly enormous.

Xiao Yan probed it with his Spiritual Strength. The Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent measured at least ten thousand meters in length, and its strength had not merely recovered to Dou Saint but had reached intermediate 1-star Dou Saint.

The Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent’s cultivation in life had definitely exceeded this level. Its body had shrunk significantly, and Xiao Yan had consumed much of the essence blood from its Monster Core. Even so, there was no denying that this fellow remained incomparably terrifying. Its strength was not to be underestimated.

Xiao Yan gazed down at the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent and spoke slowly. "So, are you going to keep pretending to sleep, or pretending to be dead?"

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The entire secret realm shook violently the instant his words fell. The ground cracked apart, torrents of poisonous gas gushing from the fissures.

The Sea Heart Flame blazed forth the moment the poison erupted. Seawater burned wildly around them, incinerating every wisp of surging poisonous gas into nothingness.

Hiss hiss hiss!!!

RUMBLE!

The gargantuan nine-headed monster serpent burst through the crater, triggering a volcanic eruption. Endless poisonous magma spewed skyward from the shattered caldera.

The ten-thousand-meter Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent nearly blotted out sky and sun. Eighteen scarlet, inverted-triangle pupils glared hideously at Xiao Yan and Qing Lin, and the terrifying might of a Dou Saint sent the entire sea region into continuous tremors.

"What’s happening?!"

In the distance, the Flood Serpent tribesmen who had survived in Dragon Palace City were shaking like leaves in the wind.

"Look over there! What in the world is that monster?!" One tribesman spotted the colossal Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent and pointed with a trembling hand.

Xiao Yan raised his head calmly, studying the serpent from head to tail with an air of disdain. "What? Just revived and already so full of yourself you can’t tell north from south?"

Buzz!

Qing Lin’s brows knitted. Her eyes flickered with a faint green light. On the forehead of each of the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent’s nine heads, a pattern of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils slowly surfaced. Green radiance spread from those marks and flowed across the serpent’s entire body.

The Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent felt the binding force of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and finally withdrew its overwhelming might. A dense cloud of poisonous mist wrapped around its body. Within that shroud, the giant serpent’s form began to shrink, compressing until it stood only about as tall as a nine-story building.

Deep down it was unwilling, but the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent knew that resisting now was tantamount to seeking death. Leaving aside the possibility that Xiao Yan’s strength might even surpass its own, the contract power of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils alone left it no room to struggle.

The central head of the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent lowered before Xiao Yan and Qing Lin. Xiao Yan smiled, took Qing Lin by the hand, and leaped up onto the serpent’s skull. They settled down cross-legged atop it.

A low hum resonated through the water. The fully resurrected Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent bit down on empty space and tore open a wormhole. Bearing Xiao Yan and Qing Lin upon its head, it plunged through the spatial passage, leaving the sea region behind and heading straight for the Yan Alliance.

No one in the entire Central Plains knew that a great war, one that would reshape the direction of the entire region, was about to begin.

...

Three days later, while the Central Plains remained outwardly calm and peaceful, a massive ancient ship suddenly shot out of the void above the Profound Sky Sect. It was incomparably huge, stretching a full ten miles in length. The shadow it cast on the earth below when it emerged from the endless void was astonishing to behold.

This was the Gu Clan’s Space Shuttle Boat, personally delivered by Gu Qing Yang some time ago. After all, Xun Er was still undergoing the Gu Clan’s highest-level inheritance and had not yet emerged from seclusion.

This was nothing like the small Space Shuttle Boat they had used to enter the Gu Realm back then. This vessel was the Gu Clan’s war-type Space Shuttle Boat, a colossal mobile fortress that breathed ancient radiance.

The formation patterns carved along its hull flowed ceaselessly with light, releasing powerful energy. Without a doubt, this Space Shuttle Boat could not only travel freely through the void but could also withstand powerful attacks.

Such was the depth of the Gu Clan’s foundation!

Xiao Yan: proudly sponsored by soft rice!

Naturally, the Gu Clan was not formally interfering in this war. Xiao Yan had obtained this vessel simply by leveraging his relationship.

Aboard the Space Shuttle Boat, powerful auras surged like rainbows. The weakest among those on board were Dou King-level experts, with Dou Emperors and Dou Ancestors too numerous to count.

After all, in wars between factions, it was impossible to field an army entirely composed of Dou Venerates.

BOOM!

A gigantic ice pillar slammed into the Sect Guardian Formation protecting the Profound Sky Sect’s mountain gate. The formation held, but the pillar still froze an entire stretch of space solid.

"Who dares attack my Profound Sky Sect!!"

As the Space Shuttle Boat loomed outside the Profound Sky Sect, alarm bells erupted throughout the mountains, their peals warning every disciple that enemies were at the gates!

The entire Profound Sky Sect was thrown into turmoil. Not only the Elders and Protectors, but even the Supreme Elders in secluded cultivation were jolted awake. One by one, they broke out of seclusion, unable to remain seated any longer.

A blue banner bearing a fire lotus embroidered with snake patterns and clouds was raised high on the ship’s mast, its imposing aura completely unconcealed. This was clearly no friendly visit. It was a provocation. It was a declaration of war!

Tian Ming Zi, the Profound Sky Sect’s Sect Leader, saw that banner and his face darkened at once. Across the Central Plains... no, across the entire Dou Qi Continent, there was not a single person who did not recognize that flag.

The Yan Alliance!

Naturally, cities large and small dotted the region surrounding the Profound Sky Sect. The moment the gigantic warship appeared, numerous independent cultivators hurried into the sky to get a clear look.

"Holy heavens, that’s the Yan Alliance’s banner!"

"That’s... Nalan Yanran, the Misty Cloud Sect’s Sect Leader!"

The graceful figure at the ship’s prow, dressed in silver moon robes, was indeed Nalan Yanran.

With Xiao Yan and Cai Lin absent and Yao Ye commanding from the rear, who else could serve as overall commander on the frontline but Nalan Yanran?

Her gaze was as sharp as a drawn sword. Standing at the very prow, she seemed like an unsheathed blade herself. Nalan Yanran was now the Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, and the Misty Cloud Sect was one of the Yan Alliance’s four founding powers. One could only imagine how high her status stood.

"Not just her. Yun Yun is here as well!"

Beside Nalan Yanran, Yun Yun stood with poise and elegance. Unlike Nalan Yanran’s razor-sharp presence, she carried a mature, enchanting grace, alluring yet refined. That noble elegance, born of innate kindness, created an inimitable temperament.

Yun Yun appeared around thirty, her bearing exceptional. Her mature, noble charm was laid bare for all to see.

When Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran stood side by side, they were undeniably the most beautiful scenery beneath the heavens. Two graceful figures at the prow of a warship. For a time, many of the onlookers were utterly entranced, forgetting entirely that a great war was about to break out!

One sect leader’s expression shifted. "Nalan Yanran hasn’t really campaigned since she became the Misty Cloud Sect’s leader, has she? For even Yun Yun to appear this time... is the Flower Sect joining forces with the Yan Alliance?!"

"There’s Jia Xing Tian and Hai Bodong too! Empress Yao Ye of the Jia Ma Empire is here as well!"

"The leaders of two of the Yan Alliance’s founding powers are personally leading troops?!"

The Space Shuttle Boat’s arrival naturally drew the attention of some reclusive experts as well. When they saw the warship hovering outside the Profound Sky Sect, those hidden powerhouses exchanged glances, secretly taken aback.

Friction between the Yan Alliance and the Profound Sky Sect was no secret. In a Central Plains with so many factions, who didn’t have some friction or conflict with another?

Most of the time, though, it amounted to nothing but minor skirmishes. The most intense clash had been the one involving the Flood Serpent Demon Venerate.

This time, however, everyone realized this was no minor scuffle. Half of the Yan Alliance’s founding powers had come to the field!

"Personally marching against the Profound Sky Sect... have they reached the point of fighting to the death?!" one sect master muttered, his expression changing. Many major figures found their thoughts racing.

When a faction’s founders personally led a campaign, it meant they had gone all in. It meant either you die or I perish. There was no room left for compromise!

Tian Ming Zi led a group of top experts into the sky. The sight of the gigantic warship made his expression change dramatically. His gaze snapped first to Nalan Yanran, then to Yun Yun beside her, and he roared, "Sect Leader Yun Yun! What is the meaning of this from your Flower Sect?!"

From the Profound Sky Sect’s perspective, the power they truly feared was not the Yan Alliance but the Flower Sect, their fellow member of the Two Sects. As for those who knew Xiao Yan’s current strength, they were either standing on that Space Shuttle Boat or already dead. The Profound Sky Sect had absolutely no sense of just how terrifying the Yan Alliance’s power had become!

A cold wind blew past, whipping Yun Yun’s robes and making them snap sharply. The curves of her stunning figure swayed gently beneath the fabric, shaking the minds of those watching until their eyes went slack.

Before Yun Yun could speak, the 9-star Dou Venerate Elder who had entered the Ancient Wasteland Region with her snorted coldly. "Hmph! In the Ancient Wasteland Region, your Profound Sky Sect ambushed our Flower Sect, killing Elder Qing and leaving us gravely injured. There must be an explanation for this!"

The Profound Sky Sect experts stood dumbfounded. Their Deputy Sect Leader had yet to return and was likely dead. Who knew what he had done in the Ancient Wasteland Region?!

The Flower Sect Elders understood perfectly well that their participation was somewhat contrived. Without Xiao Yan’s personal request, Yun Yun would never have come.

As for the other Elders’ thoughts, they were far simpler:

Hug the mighty thigh!

Even if Yun Yun hadn’t wanted to come, they would have dragged her along.

This was a rare opportunity to board the great ship that was the Yan Alliance!