After a flurry of activity leaving the Nalan family, just as Xiao Yan was about to head back to his hotel, he suddenly stopped, transforming the Seven-Phantom Qing-Ling Saliva into a liquid—something that naturally required a medicinal cauldron. Yet his cauldron had already exploded during the grand assembly. With a sigh of resignation, Xiao Yan hesitated briefly before once again rushing off toward the Mitel Auction Hall, driven by fear of encountering Ya Fei and delaying his schedule. He had merely purchased a cauldron of comparable quality to the one he'd used before, and then hurried back to the hotel without stopping. He returned to the hotel in a rush, entered his room, closed the door firmly behind him, and quickly moved into the inner chamber. After taking several deep breaths, he finally removed the "Seven-Phantom Qing-Ling Saliva" and placed it on the table. Sitting by the table, Xiao Yan stared straight at this magnificent plant, his gaze fixed for a long while before finally exhaling deeply. After all this effort, he had finally secured it—though he still didn't know whether it would prove useful to his teacher. Calming his turbulent emotions, Xiao Yan gently closed the window and walked to the table, focusing intently on the seven-harmony blue-spirit sap, whose colors shifted constantly. With a simple hand gesture, a red medicinal cauldron materialized on the table. He then lightly pressed his palm against the jade basin containing the sap, allowing a subtle inner qi to build up before suddenly expelling it. A crisp "crack" sounded, and fine cracks spread across the basin like a spider's web. With a quick finger tap on the fractured surface, the basin shattered completely, revealing the seven-harmony blue-spirit sap roots wrapped in soil beneath. Gazing at the moist soil, Xiao Yan paused slightly, then pressed his palm against it again. A gentle jade-like flame emitted a warm, intense heat, quickly drying the damp soil. As he lightly tapped his palm, the soil wrapped in the Seven-Phantom Azure Spirit Saliva detached itself automatically, revealing the undamaged root base beneath. With a slight curve of his palm, a gentle suction lifted the Seven-Phantom Azure Spirit Saliva and carefully transferred it into the medicinal cauldron. Rotating his palm slightly, the jade flame pulsed and contracted at the center, and with a quick finger snap, the flame surged swiftly into the cauldron, spiraling around the Seven-Phantom Azure Spirit Saliva several times. With the emergence of the sapphire flame, its inherent scorching heat caused the originally jade-like Seven-Phantom Qing Ling Yan to rapidly wither. Though the leaves grew increasingly dry and brittle, the seven-hued blossoms grew ever more vibrant. When the leaves finally turned to ash and scattered, the color was so vivid it nearly stung the eyes. Simultaneously, a rich, deep fragrance—like a fine wine long buried beneath the earth—gently seeped out from the mouth of the medicinal cauldron. "Hm," Xiao Yan focused his gaze into the cauldron, gently moving his fingers. The jade-blue flames swirling outside the seven-colored blossoms surged suddenly, rushing in to fully envelop them and begin intense combustion. As the flames danced and swayed, Xiao Yan kept his eyes fixed on the cauldron. Suddenly, he murmured softly in surprise—he noticed that as the flames began to sear the Seven-Phantom Qingling Xian, the constantly shifting seven-colored radiance was actively countering the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire, striving to preserve itself within the heat. "Hmph, this indeed isn't an ordinary substance. It can withstand the temperature of the rare fire for so long—though, that's about all." With a light smile, Xiao Yan observed that as the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire continued to rise, the seven-colored radiance was gradually weakening. It seemed the energy of the seven-colored glow had its own limits. With a gentle flick of the hand, another surge of emerald flame erupted from his fingers and poured into the cauldron, instantly raising the temperature of the flame to an even greater intensity. After a moment, it finally completely absorbed the resistant hues of seven colors, swallowing them whole. The seven-colored dew droplets shot forth, gently hovering half an inch above Xiao Yan's palm, subtly pulsing as faint, shimmering hues of rainbow light gently expanded and contracted. "Hmm... how do I use this?" Xiao Yan blinked in curiosity. Having previously scanned the dew droplets with his soul energy, he had indeed detected a rare, soul-stirring energy within them—something truly remarkable. Yet... how could he get this energy absorbed by the old doctor? Shifting his right hand slightly, Xiao Yan brought the hovering droplets closer to the dark-colored ring on his left hand, chuckling lightly. "Won't I just simply drop it in like that?" Xiao Yan knew well that this dark ring possessed storage capabilities similar to the Naji ring, but it seemed to respond only to the old doctor's commands—his own soul energy simply couldn't penetrate it. After frowning and pondering for a while, still utterly at a loss, Xiao Yan carefully positioned the seven-colored dew droplets against the dark ring, pressing them gently into contact. As the distance between them grew closer, Xiao Yan suddenly noticed that the once ancient and solemn black ring had begun to glow slightly! "Indeed useful..." With this observation, Xiao Yan was overjoyed and immediately moved his hand, swiftly bringing the seven-colored dew droplet into contact with the ring. Upon contact, the dew droplet did not slide off but instead adhered strangely to the ring, causing the once dark ring to appear as though transformed into a vibrant array of seven colors. As the vibrant hues of light bloomed, the once-dark ring gradually emitted a deep, inner black glow. Under the illumination of this black light, the seven-colored radiance seemed to be gradually being absorbed, dimming visibly to the naked eye. As the seven-colored light weakened, the black glow intensified, growing ever more profound. Xiao Yan's question went unanswered, and the black ring drifted silently, yet no image of the medicine elder appeared as he had expected. "What's going on?" Xiao Yan murmured, slightly bewildered. Just as he reached out to retrieve the ring, the previously still ring suddenly trembled—then, a vast and terrifying surge of spiritual power erupted outward in rippling waves, exploding violently from the center of the ring! The sudden burst of spiritual energy sent Xiao Yan's face pale with shock. This powerful wave of spiritual force—if it struck him directly—could instantly shatter his soul. With his eyes tightly narrowed, he fixed his gaze on the spreading waves of spiritual energy, bracing against his growing panic. For such a wide-ranging attack, he had no chance of escape. And yet, he firmly believed that the medicine elder would not harm him. The ripple of spiritual energy surged forth like a lightning bolt, yet as it was about to make contact with Xiao Yan's body, the ripple suddenly trembled and vanished instantly. The spiritual shock wave then leapt over Xiao Yan and surged violently upward toward the ceiling. "Plush…" On the otherwise empty ceiling, the ethereal spiritual waves did not shatter any objects. Yet, beneath a patch of shadowed darkness, a figure was suddenly launched out from the shadows, gasping as a mouthful of blood spilled forth. Moonlight fell upon the face, revealing a weathered, slightly darkened, elderly countenance. "By the gods! That man has woken up again… I can't come near him like this anymore. This stubborn fool—knowing I had no ill intent, he still dealt such a heavy blow!" The figure wiped blood from his lip, muttering under his breath. With a light tap of his foot against the void, he flickered several times and vanished into the distant darkness. Far beyond the imperial capital, on a remote country road, Hai Bo Dong silently gazed at the humanoid ice sculpture below. He casually tossed a leaf toward it, which drifted gently and settled slowly. "Let's go," he said, lifting his head and smiling at the two silhouettes on the branches. "Yes," Fang Ma and Jia La nodded slightly, just as they were about to move. Suddenly, their expressions changed, and they both turned sharply, their eyes fixed on the vast imperial capital in the distance. "What a powerful soul!" an exclamation rang out simultaneously from both of them. They exchanged glances, each reading a sense of gravity in the other's eyes. "How has the capital suddenly produced such a strong one? Why didn't we hear a single word about it?" Jia La asked, his voice low. As a guardian of the royal family, he had to be the first to know of any strong presence appearing in the capital. "I don't know. This soul is simply overwhelming—far beyond our capabilities," Fang Ma murmured, a hint of awe subtly present in his tone. On another tree, Hai Bo Dong also turned his gaze toward the Imperial Capital, his mouth slightly open, a growing sense of surprise shining in his eyes. "This spiritual energy... it seems to be from Xiao Yan's little one. Has he... regained his strength?" "Come on, let's go and check!" Hai Bo Dong narrowed his eyes, choosing not to reveal the origin of this spiritual energy to Fang Ma and his companion, simply saying that and then flashing into the air, heading swiftly toward the Imperial Capital. "Yes," Fang Ma and his companion nodded in unison, rising to follow closely behind.