Chapter 923: Sky Demon Puppet

A faint light curtain covered the bookshelf. This light curtain might appear thin and weak but it contained a strong energy.

“Huh?”

Xiao Yan’s gaze cautiously swept over the light barrier. A moment later, he suddenly emitted a surprised sound. He had discovered that the surroundings of this light barrier contained some spatial traces that were difficult to notice.

“This light barrier should be something placed by the Old Ground Demon Ghost. It contains some spatial strength within it. Although it is not very strong, it is likely that any forceful attempt to destroy it would damage the items inside.” Su Qian by his side also discovered the uniqueness of this light barrier. He immediately frowned a little and spoke somewhat awkwardly. These treasures and secret books usually possessed some restrictions. If one were to make a mistake, they would be destroyed and one would return empty-handed.

Xiao Yan nodded slightly. He flicked his finger and jade-green flame wisp appeared on its tip. It gently made contact with the light curtain.

“Chi chi...”

The light curtain began to fluctuate after the flame made contact with it. Circular ripples spread out from the point of contact. Suddenly, the space outside of the light barrier began to distort. Xiao Yan frowned slightly when he noticed the change. The flame on his finger slowly scattered. Although this light barrier might seem weak, the energy that was contained within it would suddenly explode if it was forcefully destroyed. That explosive force might not be powerful, but it should not be much of a problem to destroy the scrolls with it.

Seeing Xiao Yan withdraw his hand, Su Qian and the others understood that this light barrier was not as easy to undo as they had imagined. They all descended deep into thought.

“The Old Ground Demon Ghost is indeed worthy of being a seven star elite Dou Zong. Even a seal that he has left behind is so troublesome...” Su Qian sighed as he spoke. This kind of feeling of being able to see a treasure but being unable to take it was awful.

Xiao Yan gently knit his brows. He suddenly turned and faced Zi Yan, who was hopping back down having finished off the Magical Beast. A joy immediately flashed onto his face. He had almost forgotten that Zi Yan seemed to have a natural immunity to these energy seals. Back then, she had been able to break through the dense energy seal within the Inner Academy without it posing any obstruction.

“Hmph, what are you thinking of doing?” Zi Yan immediately became cautious. She snorted after seeing Xiao Yan’s smiling manner upon her return.

“Take out all the things on this shelf and I will return all of the medicinal ingredients that you have deposited with me. Moreover, I will help you refine all of them into flavors that you like the most...” Xiao Yan softly laughed.

Zi Yan’s gem-like eyes immediately brightened when she heard this. However, she acted in a calm manner and walked in front of the bookshelf. She glanced at the light barrier outside of the bookshelf and immediately said, worried, “You must keep your word...”

Xiao Yan smiled and nodded.

Seeing this, Zi Yan finally turned her body and extended her small hand into the light barrier. After which, she reached the bookshelf without any obstruction in front of the group’s shocked faces. She began to pull out the four wooden boxes one at a time.

“The strange ability of this girl really amazes people. Not only does she possess a great strength, but she also has the special ability to sense rare medicinal ingredients. Now, she even possesses an immunity to these energy barriers...” Su Qian involuntarily shook his head, watching as Zi Yan removed the four wooden boxes without much effort. His tone was filled with astonishment.

Xiao Yan nodded his head while sharing the same thought. He immediately took the four ancient wooden boxes from Zi Yan’s hands and opened them one after another.

Two silver-colored scrolls were placed within the first box. The material of these scrolls were quite strange, appearing just like a kind of strange crystal. Their surface even possessed a slight lightning that roamed around like silver snakes.

Surprise flashed across Xiao Yan’s eyes when he saw these extraordinary looking scrolls. After which, he took one out and slowly pulled it open.

“Rushing Lightning Mirror, Di class Middle level, lightning affinity Qi Method...”

The surprise in Xiao Yan’s eyes grew even denser when he saw the introduction written on the scroll. Lightning affinity Qi Methods were quite rare. Such high class ones were even harder to find. It was unexpected that they would find one here.

“Second brother, this is something good...” Xiao Yan raised his head and smiled to Xiao Li. After which, Xiao Yao then tossed the scroll to him. Xiao Yan belonged to the fire affinity. A lightning affinity Qi Method had little use to him.

Xiao Li hurriedly opened the scroll after receiving it. Joy immediately surfaced on his face as he excitedly said, “It is actually a Di class Middle level lightning affinity Qi Method. Ha ha, looks like I did not come in vain this time around.” After muddling around the ‘Black-Corner Region for such a long time, he naturally understood just what kind of commotion a lightning affinity Qi Method of this class would create if auctioned.

Of course, he was naturally not foolish enough to take this ‘Rushing Lightning Mirror’ out to auction. He was of the lightning affinity. If he had this ‘Rushing Lightning Mirror,’ it was likely that he would be able to charge to the Dou Haung class within an extremely short amount of time.

Xiao Yan also smiled as he looked at the excited Xiao Li. He took out the other silver-colored scroll within the wooden box. He laughed softly, “Shocking Dormant Lightning Method, Di class Middle level Dou Skill. It is a Dou Skill that forms a set with the ‘Rushing Lightning Mirror.’ Ke ke, looks like second brother’s acquisition today is going to be fantastic...” Xiao Yan tossed this scroll to Xiao Li as he spoke. Xiao Li hurriedly and carefully grabbed it before involuntarily laughing out loud.

“Looks like this Old Ground Demon Ghost is also unwilling to take such a Qi Method out to auction. Hence, he ended up storing them here...” Su Qian glanced at the laughing Xiao Li and smiled as he spoke.

Xiao Yan nodded. He once again opened a wooden box and a somewhat familiar bright-red scroll appeared in his eyes.

“Flame Creation Skill?”

Xiao Yan was immediately startled when he saw this scroll and ended up saying the words out loud. A helpless expression immediately surfaced in his face. He had already obtained this ‘Flame Creation Skill’ from Fang Yan and the other two Elders. However, he had yet to practice it even now. He did not expect another to appear at this moment.

Xiao Yan took the scroll and slowly pushed it open. The three large words, ‘Flame Creation Skill,’ were imprinted into his eyes. This caused the helpless look on Xiao Yan’s face to become even greater. It seemed that this thing did not have much use...

“Huh?”

Just when Xiao Yan was planning to randomly store it away, his hand, that was slowly pulling open the scroll, suddenly paused. His gaze immediately paused on an exceptionally bright-red word that was written behind the three large words, ‘Flame Creation Skill.’

“Real!”

“Real? Flame Creation Skill, Real?” Xiao Yan was immediately stunned when he saw this ‘real’ word. He immediately knit his brows. Could it be that the Flame Creation Skill that he had obtained from Fang Yan and the other two Elders was fake?

While he frowning intently, Xiao Yan swiftly pulled open the scroll and carefully read the words on it.

“This Flame Creation Skill is something that the old me has spent many years of effort to improve. In the past, the Flame Creation Skill might have been strong, but it required at least three people to practice it in order to agglomerate and form a kind of ‘Fake Heavenly Flame.’ Moreover, each time it is agglomerated, one would pay a heavy price. However, this skill is one level higher. Practicing it by oneself will also allow one to successfully form a ‘Fake Heavenly Flame.’ Moreover, its strength far exceeds the former. The backlash is also much weaker. Although the training method is even more complicated, it can be considered a flaw that can be ignored when compared to what one can gain...”

Xiao Yan was involuntarily affected as his gaze slowly swept over it. The reason why he did not practice the Flame Creation Skill was because of the great backlash that came from the agglomerated the ‘Heavenly Flame.’ This kind of backlash was something that he had difficulty accepting. However, it was unexpected that the Old Ground Demon Ghost was actually able to improve it to such perfection. If one were to talk about it, he really did possess a great ability...

“Once I successfully master this Flame Creation Skill, would I be able to form a kind of ‘Fake Heavenly Flame’ on my own in the future? If that is the case... the Elimination Fire Lotus would no longer have its only restraint. It would be a great help to me in my venture to the Central Plains. This Old Ground Demon Ghost has really helped me out.” A faint joy flashed across Xiao Yan’s face when he thought to this point. This trip today was indeed not wasted.

Su Qian and the rest smiled when they saw the joy on Xiao Yan’s face. After which, their gazes were thrown to the remaining two ancient wooden boxes.

Xiao Yan also laughed when he saw their gazes. After which, he opened the two wooden boxes together.

The wooden boxes were opened, revealing two items within. One was a fist-sized fiery-red round bead while the other was a grayish-brown ordinary-looking bamboo scroll.

The gazes of Xiao Yan’s group were first gathered on the fiery-red bead. They could sense that it contained a wild and violent fire affinity energy.

“This is... a Monster Core?” Xiao Yan’s eyes firmly remained on the fiery-red bead as he spoke somewhat uncertainly. This was the first time that he had seen such a high rank Monster Core.

“Yes, it is indeed a Monster Core... However, its rank is quite high. Moreover, it likely belonged to a high rank Magical Beast that can already transform its body. Otherwise, it’s unlikely that it would possess such a color and energy.”

Su Qian fondled his beard. Surprise flashed across his eyes as he said, “According to my guess, this Magical Beast should be a rank 7 fire affinity Monster Core. It is unexpected that the Old Ground Demon Ghost even possessed such an item...”

Rank 7 Magical Beast. That was equivalent to the Dou Zong class. The Monster Core that was formed within the body of a Magical Beast of such a rank was extremely valuable. Moreover, the intelligence of a Magical Beast at this rank was not inferior to that of a human. If it was really forced to a dead end, it would self-destruct its Monster Core and would not allow its enemies to get anything. Hence, there was seldom anyone who could obtain a Monster Core of such a rank.

Xiao Yan nodded his head. His surprised eyes paused for a moment on the fiery-red bead. After which, he turned to the extremely ordinary bamboo scroll...

The bamboo scroll was a grayish-brown color. Its material also appeared extremely ordinary. However, Xiao Yan knew that something kept here by the Old Ground Demon Ghost would not be ordinary.

Xiao Yan slowly pulled the bamboo scroll open after gently cracking a tiny line on it. After which, some blood words that contained a ruthless violence appeared in front of his sweeping gaze, causing his heart to leap abruptly.

“Sky Demon Puppet!”