"Yang Xiao, do you remember? You promised you'd grant me one request."
Xue Yi stepped forward and said to Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao froze for a moment, then it all came back to him.
When he'd agreed to fight Xue Yi one-on-one, she had indeed mentioned that he had to promise her one thing first.
At the time, however, Yang Xiao hadn't paid it much mind.
After all, he figured any issue Xue Yi might have would be something he could easily resolve.
But now, she was coming to him again.
'Could it be something else?'
His mind stirred, but Yang Xiao wasn't one to go back on his word. He asked, "What is it? Go ahead."
"I want to leave here for a while."
After a moment's hesitation, Xue Yi spoke.
"Leave?"
Yang Xiao was stunned.
He couldn't quite understand it. Xue Yi had approached him so formally, and all she wanted was to leave?
'What kind of request is that?'
"After I leave, I'm going to do something. My request is simple: you cannot stop me."
"Not stop you?"
Yang Xiao suddenly had an inkling of what she meant.
'Xue Yi must be going to do something that involves me.'
Normally, Yang Xiao would have pressed for details.
He might even investigate it himself before giving Xue Yi an answer.
But now, his most important task was to stop that woman—a being of at least the Demigod Level—from destroying the Carefree Sect and killing his father, Yun'Er, and his sworn brothers.
With his mind in turmoil, he didn't have the spare energy to deal with this.
It was just like when he had subdued the Golden-winged Roc; he had been simple and brutish about it.
And now, with Xue Yi... although he felt something was off... he still nodded. "Fine, I agree. But you'll have to wait a bit."
"Alright."
Xue Yi considered for a moment, nodded obediently, then retreated to one side.
She adopted a posture that showed she wouldn't get in Yang Xiao's way.
But she refused to leave.
She clearly didn't want to wait for too long.
Yang Xiao saw this but had no time to spare her any attention.
Instead, he turned his attention to his Golden Roc True Body.
'Back then, it was so difficult to condense my Qilin True Body from just a sliver of the Earth Fire Qilin Beast's bloodline. Even after it was formed, it was merely a Tier Four Barbaric Beast. But now, this Golden Roc True Body, right after its initial formation, already has the strength of the Peak of Small Divine Power Realm, equivalent to a Peak Tier Six Barbarian Beast King! In my hands, its power is comparable to a Tier Seven Demon Beast, and there's still enormous room for improvement!'
'A lot has certainly changed in a year.'
Yang Xiao had a sudden realization.
Whether in his first life or his second, he had never actually experienced the process of growing powerful from a mere mortal.
In his first life, he was born a god.
To him, mortals were no different from ants, not worthy of a second glance.
In his second life, he was indeed a mortal.
But he had been unable to cultivate.
Moreover, his status was noble, and he was blessed with immense fortune, allowing him to walk the path of the Human Race Medicine Ancestor. His subordinates were at least Demigods, some even powerhouses of the True God Realm.
To him, although mortals were his kinsmen, they might as well have been from another world.
Only in this third life.
He had started from nothing, reborn among the insignificant. It was precisely because of this that Yang Xiao's insights and emotions ran deeper, and why he cared so much more for his loved ones in this life.
'If I temper it with the Heaven and Earth Origin Fire, I might be able to push the Golden Roc True Body to the next level, reaching the tier of a Tier Seven Demon Beast. By then, its strength probably won't be any weaker than Golden Flame, a true Divine Beast cub. Besides, I still have to wait for my Fire God Clone to explore the Celestial Poison's Land of Inheritance.'
'Only if I can gain some advantage from it will I have a real chance to fight that woman.'
With this in mind, Yang Xiao ignored everything else.
He sat down and began to continuously temper the Golden Roc True Body with the Heaven and Earth Origin Fire inside him.
Although the Golden Roc True Body was not a Fire Attribute being, but Yang Xiao's Heaven and Earth Origin Fire possessed the Majestic Power of Heaven and Earth. Imbuing the True Body with this aura would still have some effect, even if the benefits weren't as great as those for his Qilin True Body.
On top of that, Yang Xiao's greatest talent was the ability of Attribute Revolution.
When applied to the Golden Roc True Body, it minimized any conflict between attributes.
And so, in this manner, time slowly flowed by.
A day passed.
Ten days passed.
Twenty days passed.
Soon, the three hours in the outside world would be up.
Xue Yi was still waiting patiently.
Yang Xiao, however, could no longer sit still.
'By my calculations, two and a half hours have passed in the outside world. Only half an hour remains. Can I really afford to keep waiting?'
He focused his senses for a moment.
Yang Xiao found that his Fire God Clone was still in the Celestial Poison's Land of Inheritance, the Poison King Valley, and had already traveled deep inside.
But there was still no end in sight.
Moreover, it had started to proceed with extreme caution.
It was a good thing his Fire God Clone had gone in. If his main body had entered, with his current cultivation at merely the Peak of Martial Grandmaster Seventh Layer, he likely wouldn't have lasted long at all.
This was true even though Yang Xiao's combat power was equivalent to someone at the Third and Fourth Layers of the Small Divine Ability Realm.
He could now effortlessly kill the Pure Yang Ancestor who had once suppressed him, or the once evenly-matched Xuan Tianxin.
But that level of strength was nowhere near enough inside the Poison King Valley.
'No wonder the Thousand Mechanism Eye warned me not to enter with my main body. Without this little thing, I'd probably be dead in there by now.'
At that moment, Yang Xiao thought of Yang Lin.
'That guy really did me a huge favor.'
'But right now, the most important thing is still saving the Carefree Sect from this disaster.'
'Right, the Thousand Mechanism Eye! Can I get another reading on that woman now?'
Yang Xiao focused his mind.
'It is possible, Master. The closer the time gets, the clearer the image will become. However, the power required will also be greater. You must be prepared.'
'Mm, begin.'
Once again, Yang Xiao poured True Greater Yang Fire into the Thousand Mechanism Eye within his body.
Soon, he saw it.
The scene from before appeared once again.
Only this time, it was clearer.
More complete.
Yang Xiao could even see the cold, indifferent woman, high and mighty, regarding everyone in the Carefree Sect as ants. At the same time, he saw someone else.
Xuan Tianxin!
He was smiling smugly.
'So this bastard is behind it all! In that case, this woman must be part of the same group as the so-called Immortal Lord that Xuan Tianzhan summoned!'
At this thought, the fury in Yang Xiao's heart intensified.
Nevertheless, he continued pouring True Greater Yang Fire into the eye.
Gradually, he saw them.
Yun'Er, his father, Yang Ying, and the others.
They arrived at the exact instant the woman's palm struck.
They were caught in the crossfire.
When the woman noticed their arrival, the expression on her face seemed to freeze.
It was as if she had seen something astonishing.
The power in her hand seemed to pull back by a fraction.
But the result didn't change.
The Carefree Sect was annihilated.
Yun'Er, his father, and his seven sworn brothers, including Yang Ying, all died.
Because the woman's power was simply too immense!
'True God Realm! She's definitely an expert of the True God Realm! No, I can't just sit here and wait anymore. I have to go save them! Even if I can't save everyone, Yun'Er, my father, and Yang Ying... they can't die!'
Yang Xiao was frantic.
His body blurred as he prepared to leave.
But just before he left, he remembered Xue Yi.
With a flick of his hand, a force from the Inheritance Altar pulled Xue Yi to his side. He grabbed her cold hand, and in an instant, the two of them vanished.