Time passed slowly. By noon on the third day, the tightly shut chamber doors finally opened.
Under the curious gazes of Qinglin and Ziyan, Xiao Feng and Xiao Yixian were the first to step out of the chamber, followed by an elderly man in a white robe with a slightly plump figure.
Judging by the appearance of the white-robed elder, he bore at least a 90% resemblance to the soul form of the Heavenly Fire Venerable they had seen before.
Faced with the curious looks from Qinglin and Ziyan, the Heavenly Fire Venerable chuckled, stroking his beard as he said, "What? You two little girls don't recognize this old man anymore?"
"Greetings, Senior Heavenly Fire."
Hearing the familiar tone of the Heavenly Fire Venerable, Qinglin and Ziyan finally came to their senses, cupping their hands in a respectful salute.
"No need for such formalities," the Heavenly Fire Venerable said with a smile, waving his hand. "This old man has already agreed to Xiao Lunatic's request to join the Supreme Alliance as a guest elder. From now on, you may simply address me as Elder."
"Yes, Elder."
Qinglin and Ziyan nodded obediently upon hearing this.
"Ah, having a physical body is indeed much more comfortable!"
Stretching his somewhat unfamiliar body, the Heavenly Fire Venerable turned to Xiao Feng and said, "Xiao Lunatic, I'll go stretch my muscles and adapt to this new body. You don't have to wait for me. I'll meet you at the Supreme Alliance headquarters in half a month."
"Alright, then we'll await your grand arrival at the headquarters, Elder Heavenly Fire."
"Off I go!"
As soon as the Heavenly Fire Venerable finished speaking, his figure vanished into thin air.
In truth, the Heavenly Fire Venerable's so-called "stretching his muscles" was just an excuse to help Yao Lao find suitable materials for his revival.
Having just been resurrected, the Heavenly Fire Venerable's strength was only at the two-star Dou Venerate level.
Given his current power, attempting to hunt Dou Venerate-level experts or eighth-tier magical beasts could easily result in disaster.
Thus, he planned to target peak Dou Ancestor experts and peak seventh-tier magical beasts as materials for Yao Lao's revival.
The Black-Corner Region had two peak Dou Ancestor experts, but they were guardians of the Jia Nan Academy. Naturally, the Heavenly Fire Venerable wouldn't target them.
Aside from the dried corpse of a peak seventh-tier Sky Demon Phoenix, it was also rare to find another peak seventh-tier magical beast in the Black-Corner Region.
Hence, the Heavenly Fire Venerable had to leave the Black-Corner Region to seek suitable targets, which would take him at least half a month.
More than half a month later.
Jia Ma Empire, Wu Tan City.
"Whoosh!!!"
A dazzling golden light shot from the distant horizon, pausing above Wu Tan City.
As the golden light slowly dissipated, Xiao Feng, clad in a black combat suit, appeared in the sky above the city.
By this time, more than half a month had passed since the Heavenly Fire Venerable's resurrection, during which many events had transpired.
Firstly, Yao Lao successfully refined the Life Devouring Pill, triggering a peak seventh-tier pill thunderstorm once again, which boosted the strength of the Earth Demon Puppet to the one-star Dou Venerate level.
Secondly, Xiao Xun'er consumed the Life Devouring Pill, advancing from a two-star Dou Master to a one-star Dou King in just three days.
Although the pill's side effects reduced her lifespan to three years and turned her black hair white, Xiao Feng injected her with some Ghost King's Blood, instantly neutralizing the pill's effects.
Transformed into a ghost, Xiao Xun'er not only gained immortality but also saw her strength surge to three-star Dou King and awakened a bloodline ghost skill named [Sunflame].
Xiao Xun'er's ghost skill bore some resemblance to Nezuko's Blood Demon Art, summoning crimson-golden flames that burned only what she wished.
For instance, if someone were poisoned, Xiao Xun'er could use [Sunflame] to burn away the poison without harming their body.
Compared to Nezuko's Blood Demon Art, Xiao Xun'er's ghost skill was clearly more powerful, with the crimson-golden flames even surpassing Fallen Heart Flame.
Xiao Feng speculated that Xiao Xun'er's awakening of such a ghost skill, comparable to an Heavenly Flame, was likely influenced by the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame Seed within her body.
It was absolutely not for the purpose of countering Xiao Yixian's poison abilities. Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
As for whether Xiao Xun'er's transformation into a ghost would hinder the awakening of her Dou God bloodline, Xiao Feng wasn't the least bit concerned.
After all, even his incomplete Dou God bloodline could absorb the Ghost King's Blood as nourishment, let alone Xiao Xun'er's divine-level Dou God bloodline.
After resolving the pill's side effects for Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Feng used the [Dimensional Matrix] to transport Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yixian directly to the Supreme Alliance headquarters.
Once there, Xiao Yixian and the others gave Xiao Xun'er a tour of the alliance grounds before heading to Demon Flame Valley for some shopping.
Taking advantage of their outing, Xiao Feng used his Stone-Stone Fruit abilities to extract tens of thousands of tons of Blacksteel Ore from a vein, forging a large number of weapons, armor, and puppets.
Weapons and armor made of Blacksteel Ore rivaled fourth-tier magic weapons in power, with a minimum auction value of tens of thousands of gold coins.
For anyone below the Dou King level, they were precious treasures.
However, Xiao Feng didn't distribute these weapons and armor for free to the alliance disciples. Instead, he established a contribution points system for exchanging these items.
It wasn't that Xiao Feng was stingy but rather that freely given items are often not cherished.
Moreover, Xiao Feng founded the Supreme Alliance to have subordinates generate resources for his cultivation, not to hand out benefits for free.
In addition to weapons and armor, Xiao Feng also crafted a batch of Blacksteel Ore puppets.
The puppets had defensive capabilities rivaling fifth-tier magical beasts but were slightly lacking in speed and strength, making their overall power equivalent to peak Dou Spirit.
Due to their low production cost, Xiao Feng equipped the puppets with small nuclear bombs.
When faced with enemies they couldn't defeat, the puppets could detonate the bombs within, unleashing power equivalent to a full-strength attack from a Dou Emperor expert.
To prevent friendly fire, Xiao Feng implemented safety restrictions, ensuring that the puppets' nuclear bombs would only detonate when activated by their controllers. Otherwise, even if the puppets were destroyed, the bombs would remain inert.
Lastly, the Heavenly Fire Venerable returned, officially announcing his allegiance to the Supreme Alliance.
Previously, the leaders of the Black-Corner Region's various factions were subdued by Xiao Feng through brute force. Though they didn't dare rebel openly, they surely harbored resentment.
(End of Chapter)
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