A thick dust storm blanketed the sky, and the lush green peaks surrounding it vanished almost in an instant, leaving behind a vast, empty plain within a thousand paces—so empty that not even a single larger stone remained. High in the distant sky, the colossal dragon named Tian-Long Serpent stirred, then swiftly transformed into a graceful, elegant figure. With a sweeping motion of her sleeve, a powerful gust of wind surged forth, sweeping away the dust storm entirely. As the storm subsided, a slender figure dressed in black appeared clearly before Cai Lin and Xiao Yi, both of whom breathed a deep sigh of relief upon seeing Xiao Yan unharmed. "Hmm…" Xiao Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. This was the first time he had summoned the Buddha's Fury Lotus, a fusion of five flames—its power exceeded his expectations, though the cost was staggering. Even with his current strength, he felt a subtle emptiness within after the display. Taking a deep breath, he raised his head and looked toward where the human scorpion had previously stood. Now, that spot was completely empty—no trace of any presence remained. Along with the disappearance of the figure, the essence of the human scorpion vanished entirely, as if the entire being had been reduced to nothing and completely erased from this realm. One can easily imagine the terrifying power that would unfold if Xiao Yan truly fused all five unique flames together—perhaps even capable of one strike that would obliterate even the true half-Saint-level强者, reducing them to nothing. "Are you all right?" Ci Lin and Xiao Yi's forms swiftly appeared beside Xiao Yan, quickly noticing his slightly pale complexion and asking immediately. "I'm fine," Xiao Yan said, taking a pill from his sleeve and placing it in his mouth. He shook his head. The Buddha's Fury Lotus demanded exponentially greater energy with each additional flame. Even though his strength had greatly improved, the effort required to manifest this Lotus still felt taxing. The extraordinary commotion generated by Xiao Yan naturally caught the attention of the three elders at a distance. Even the elders themselves were somewhat shaken by the devastating force previously unleashed—the power resulting from the fusion of the hetero-flames was truly astonishing. Yet, in this world, only someone who had mastered the "Burned Decree" and possessed an exceptionally strong soul could possibly control hetero-flames that were otherwise fiercely resistant to one another. Such a feat, Xiao Yan had achieved. "Third Elder?" The two scorpions were equally stunned by this sudden development, gazing at the vast plain stretching nearly a thousand zhang below. They involuntarily shivered, their eyes filled with awe as they stared at the young man in the black robe in the sky. Such overwhelming destructive power—something they themselves could not replicate—was now being wielded by this seemingly only at the peak of the Eight-Star Domain Rank? "This boy is truly extraordinary," the earth scorpion murmured, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Where's the third one?" That day, the scorpion's mouth twitched slightly, then suddenly snapped back to awareness, scanning the surroundings with urgent eyes—only to be stunned to find that he could no longer sense even the faintest presence of the human scorpion. "It seems as though he's been completely obliterated—no bones left at all..." The human scorpion's voice carried disbelief; he couldn't have imagined that a scorpion of peak sixth-tier battle sovereign rank would be reduced to such a state by the young man. Upon hearing this, the heavenly scorpion also felt a surge of astonishment. To reduce the human scorpion to nothing but dust in a single strike—despite his own full-out effort—was simply beyond what he thought possible. The young man... "Hurry! Move!" "Deep within his heart, Scorpion finally felt a surge of profound alarm, gazing at Xiao Yan with intense apprehension. If the latter were to hurl that ghostly object again at this moment, he had no absolute confidence that he could survive the resulting devastating explosion. With that, his fighting spirit waned, and he let out a low cry, turning and fleeing. Hearing Scorpion's words, the Earth Scorpion nodded in agreement—staying at this moment would surely mean certain death. "Can we make it?" However, just as the two were about to seize the opportunity to escape amidst the chaos, a sharp, elderly chuckle suddenly descended from the heavens. Instantly, a flame-like hand of tangible substance coalesced in the sky, then swiftly traversed the space, seizing the two Scorpions with a sudden grasp. "Yao Chen, don't think you're being too generous!" "Upon seeing the Ye Jiao once more launching an attack, that Day Scorpion shrieked with venomous fury. At the same time, he and the Earth Scorpion swiftly turned, unleashing a cascade of powerful qi blasts that erupted from their palms, crashing forcefully against the flaming giant hand. 'You two,' the Ye Jiao sneered, growing even more resolute in his assault. With a sweep of his sleeve, the flaming hand shattered all the techniques in its path and then slammed directly onto the bodies of the Day and Earth Scorpions. 'Boom!' The force of the impact sent the two Scorpions flying like cannonballs, hurling them backward and crashing hard into the ground, leaving behind two massive craters, each nearly several hundred paces in diameter. 'Pfft!' Within the massive crater, the two Scorpions' faces were pale, their mouths streaked with thick blood, their garments completely torn to shreds by the force of the impact. Their eyes filled with bitter resentment as they fixed upon the group of herbal elders floating above, yet they did not advance—instead, as soon as they moved, they endured their severe injuries and burst off in two separate directions. Master Yao watched coldly as the earth scorpion fled, then delivered a palm strike as swift as lightning upon its chest. The devastating qi surged into the scorpion like a tidal wave, nearly annihilating all its vitality within an instant. The turbulent internal ki rapidly dissipated, and the life spark in the scorpion's eyes faded swiftly. Eventually, its head slowly drooped—this once-famed, decadent old master of Zhongzhou, now finally fell here. Staring at the fading figure of the medicine elder, Xiao Yan also reached out and took over the storage ring in his hand. With the other palm open, another storage ring appeared—naturally, that belonged to the one scorpion. Now that both the earth scorpion and the other scorpion had perished, their soul imprints within the rings were utterly fragile. Xiao Yan merely swept his soul energy over them, clearing the imprints, then searched through the rings thoroughly, his brow furrowing in concern. "None?" Li Cai Lin asked, noticing Xiao Yan's expression. "Hmm. Perhaps it should be on the sky scorpion—he was, after all, the leader." Xiao Yan shook his head slightly, then clenched his palm, and suddenly a scroll glowing with golden light appeared in his hands. "What is this?" both Li Cai Lin and Xiao Yi were momentarily startled by the scroll, which seemed somewhat familiar. "The 'Jingliu Body' that was auctioned off at the trade fair just now—turns out it was actually secured by this earth scorpion. Hey, what a bargain for us!" Xiao Yan chuckled, holding the scroll tightly. The "Jingliu Body" was also a low-tier heavenly-level technique—he had initially been interested, but ultimately decided not to bid, and had even felt a bit regretful afterward. Now, it had simply arrived at their doorstep unexpectedly. "We didn't spend a single coin, yet we've gained so much." Xiao Yixian smiled lightly, covering her mouth. "Those three have used women as living cauldrons for their cultivation—this fate is well-deserved." Cai Lin spoke calmly. Xiao Yan nodded in agreement. These three had committed countless wrongs throughout their lives, having ruined countless women; now, this outcome truly seemed like poetic justice. "I wonder how Master is doing..." Xiao Yan lifted his gaze, looking toward where the old doctor had disappeared. "Don't worry. With the old doctor's strength, that earth scorpion won't be able to pull off anything impressive." "Little Doctor," said Xiao Yan. Just as he was about to speak, a rushing wind sounded from the horizon, and then a familiar figure sped toward them like lightning, appearing before Xiao Yan and his companions within a few flashes—none other than the herbalist who had gone to pursue the scorpion earlier. "Hah! This has truly been a thrilling encounter!" As soon as he appeared, the herbalist couldn't contain his exhilaration and burst into laughter. He and the Scorpion Demon Trio had long harbored deep grudges, and now that their conflict had been resolved, it felt like a matter finally settled. "Master?" Xiao Yan smiled and spoke. "Here you go," said the herbalist, knowing perfectly well what Xiao Yan was thinking. With a gentle gesture, he extended his hand, and an ancient, fragmented map appeared in his palm—exactly the final piece of the map! Seeing this, Xiao Yan also exhaled deeply, then gently took the ancient, fragmented map from the palm, his hands slightly trembling. For nearly fifteen years, he had been searching tirelessly to gather all the pieces of this ancient map—now, at last, his perseverance had paid off, and he had collected them all completely. "The Pure Lotus Demon Fire… you are truly mine!" Gazing at the ancient map in his hands, warmth surged deeply within his eyes.