Within the realm of dark consciousness, a dim, drifting awareness gently floats, seemingly devoid of any sense of time. It drifts aimlessly, like a solitary spirit without a home, profoundly melancholic. At a certain moment, a brilliant streak of jade-colored flame suddenly emerges, rising gently within the otherwise pitch-black space. The light emitted by the flame completely dispels the surrounding darkness. The flame subtly pulses, and after a while, transforms into a lotus seat of jade hue. After the jade lotus pedestal took shape, it suddenly shot through the dark space, arriving in an instant at the dimly aware consciousness beside it. A gentle glow extended forth, enveloping the consciousness within... Once the consciousness was fully enclosed, the jade lotus began to flash rapidly, the darkness retreating swiftly behind it. After a while, scattered points of white light appeared at the far end of the darkness, and the lotus pedestal, carrying this sluggish consciousness, surged forward, breaking through the boundless realm of awareness... A soft, aged laugh echoed in his ears. Gently lifting his head, he glanced at the smiling herbal elder beside him. Xiāo Yīn nodded with a smile, lightly rubbing his face. After a brief pause, he said, "Um, did the evolution succeed?" The qi vortex visible under the observer's focused attention not only spans an area ten times wider than before, but also features a deep green qi that flows through it—clearly of a superior quality compared to the previous purple qi. Likely due to the complete absorption of the Qinglian Earth's core fire, the deep green qi now subtly carries patches of green flame. With these flames adhering to it, the combat effectiveness of this green qi will undoubtedly become exceptionally formidable. On the Qi Continent, the differences between techniques hinge on several factors. One of them is the capacity of a vortex to contain qi. Should two individuals be of equal rank, yet one practice a Yellow-stage technique while the other a Xu-stage technique, the latter will undoubtedly possess significantly greater combat endurance. Second, there is a difference in the quality of qi. Under the same level, while practitioners of xuan-jie techniques expend only a portion of their qi, those practicing yellow-jie techniques must expend ten to even more times the amount in order to achieve comparable results. Third, the efficiency of absorbing and refining celestial energies into qi during cultivation is identical. If two practitioners aim to absorb the same amount of qi energy, a xuan-jie practitioner might require only ten minutes, whereas a yellow-jie practitioner would need one hundred minutes. Fourth, during combat, practitioners of yellow-jie techniques are far less capable of channeling and deploying their qi as smoothly and swiftly as those of xuan-jie techniques. Based on the aforementioned reasons, it has become clearly evident why, on the Continent of Qi, superior Qi cultivation techniques are regarded as paramount by countless practitioners. The higher the rank of the technique, the more profound and extensive the benefits it brings. Consequently, countless strong individuals have willingly sacrificed themselves—sometimes even knowing full well that they are acting like moths flying into flames—just to obtain these advanced techniques. Focusing intently on the flow of qi, Xiao Yan noticed that the pathway of the refined technique had become noticeably more intricate than before. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, although the pathway had grown more complex, the time required for the technique to complete one full cycle was becoming increasingly brief. Moreover, upon completion of each cycle, a powerful surge of energy already surged within his body, eager to be summoned at the master's command, ready to be unleashed with full force. "Um…" Watching Xiao Yan's slightly amused expression, Yao Lao nodded with a smile, sighed in admiration, and gently tapped his shoulder with his palm. "Congratulations! You've successfully proven that the Burned Technique can indeed absorb and consume hetero-flames. That means its potential is truly limitless—and so is yours." Yao Lao's words echoed in Xiao Yan's ears. Suddenly, the unexpected wave of happiness overwhelmed him, making him feel dizzy and weak. He leaned heavily against the tree trunk, his face glowing with uncontainable joy. After lingering in this state of elation for a while, Xiao Yan gradually regained his composure and stood up slowly. Closing his eyes, a moment passed, and then a steady, jade-colored qi began to rise from within him. In just a few breaths, a flawless jade-colored qi robe formed over his body. Occasionally, patches of jade-colored flames surged upward on the robe, radiating intense heat that slightly warped the surrounding space. When the Qi纱 robe was fully summoned, a fierce aura suddenly erupted from within Xiao Yan's body. As this aura surged, the jade-colored Qi on his body surged upward, reaching a height of one zhang in the air before halting. Gently lifting his head, Xiao Yan gazed at the jade-colored flame Qi that tightly enveloped his form, a faint smile playing on his lips. He then clenched his fists tightly and suddenly slammed them hard against the massive tree behind him. "Crack!" With a crisp, resonant sound, Xiao Yan's arm penetrated effortlessly into the tree's trunk. A subtle force radiated out, causing a series of crackling sounds as countless fine fissures rapidly spread across the trunk. Within a moment, these cracks expanded rapidly, and the great tree suddenly collapsed in a thunderous crash, shattering into pieces. "Thud..." Glancing over at the massive tree that had fallen some distance away, Xiao Yan chuckled softly, then closed his eyes again to sense the flow of his ki and the efficiency of its generation. After a moment, he opened his eyes, looked at Yao Lou, took a deep breath, and beamed with a bright smile, "Mid-level Xu Stage!" The Mid-level Xu Stage Xiao Yan mentioned was naturally the evolved rank of the Burned Technique after it had absorbed the Qinglian Earth Heart Fire. It seemed to have leapt from Mid-level Huang Stage directly to Mid-level Xu Stage—an almost complete leap in rank! Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Yao Lao was slightly taken aback, then nodded with relief, a great weight lifting from his heart as his tightly tensed spirit finally relaxed. He smiled and praised, "Excellent. Indeed, the Qinglian Earth-Heart Flame lives up to its reputation. Though the evolution between stages of technique requires immense energy, it seems rather achievable for the unique flames—after all, they are inherently powerful." "Hmm..." Recalling the intense pain caused when the hetero-fire had been consumed, the smile on Xiao Yan's face momentarily froze, and the rosy hue of his complexion grew paler once more. He swallowed hard, offered a wry nod, and sighed with lingering apprehension, "That pain was truly terrifying. If the hetero-fire had successfully reversed and struck back, I fear even my soul would have been incinerated, reduced to nothingness." "The Burned Technique is indeed rather strange... I can't imagine how a madman could have conceived it. Back then, we struggled so hard to find it at that dreadful place." At this point, the old doctor suddenly paused, as though holding something back. "The Seven-Colored Devouring Python goes through several stages—infancy, growth, maturity, and peak—each evolutionary phase requiring immense energy. In the past, she was merely in her infancy stage. Perhaps it's due to the Qinglian Earth-Core Fire that has been nourishing her; now, she is harnessing this vast energy to undergo transformation." The Herbal Elder gazed steadily at the seven-colored serpent, smiling. "How powerful will she become after this transformation?" asked Xiao Yan, showing slight curiosity. "Perhaps at the level of a Battle King," the Elder replied with a smile, "and when she reaches her peak stage, even a Battle Sect master would not dare to underestimate her." "Indeed, what a celestial treasure—truly worthy of admiration," Xiao Yan exclaimed, marveling and lightly tapping his lips. "Heh, such creatures are naturally rare. Maybe the Seven-Colored Devouring Python in your hands is the very last one on the entire Continent of Qi." The Elder chuckled. "If that's the case, then it truly would be a blessing." Smiling slightly, Xiao Yan carefully tucked the seven-colored Devouring Sky Python into his sleeve, then looked up at the cliff before him, his gaze fixed on the drifting clouds. He lazily twisted his neck, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke softly, "Master, how much time remains until our three-year agreement?" "Two months." The herbal elder replied calmly. "Only two months..." Xiao Yan smiled gently, lightly tapping his finger on the storage ring, causing the massive Xuanzhong Scale to reappear. He gripped the scale firmly and swiftly slashed downward, instantly shattering a large stone beneath his feet. "Nalan Yanran, in the final two months, have you prepared yourself?"