As one of the Luotian Three True Wondrous Techniques, the Luotian Sea-devouring Python was actually quite a decent magic.

It was just a water-element magic, so it wasn’t very suitable for him to cultivate.

However, he could keep this specially made Jade Talisman for later. Based on the reinforced Spirit Seal on it, he deduced that the talisman wouldn’t expire before the new year.

Additionally, there was another Cultivation Technique called the Luotian Sword Sacrifice Secret Skill.

This was the very technique Elder Wang had used to control his Small Sword, an auxiliary secret method designed specifically to increase the speed of sword-like Magical Artifacts.

The technique itself was quite effective, but it unfortunately required a sacrifice of Essence Blood, making it of little practical value to Xiao Chen.

And finally, there was the most useful prize of all.

It was, of course, the Soul-Collecting Gourd looted from Elder Wang.

’Just as I thought. After twenty thousand years, a considerable amount of Evil Qi has accumulated here again.’

Xiao Chen looked at the nearly full gourd, extremely satisfied. ’Good thing I got here in time.’

His luck was truly excellent this time.

Had he arrived two months later, there probably would have been nothing left.

The two from the Luotian Sect had collected most of the Evil Qi in the gourd, which actually saved him a great deal of time.

Using his Qi Observation Secret Technique, he briefly sensed the location of the remaining Evil Qi.

Xiao Chen made his way into the cavern and began to absorb the nearby Heaven-Burning Fiend using the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique.

.

The speed of collecting Evil Qi was not the same as absorbing it.

Furthermore, the techniques used for collection varied greatly.

Therefore, even though he was working alone, Xiao Chen’s collection efficiency actually increased three- to fourfold.

Evil Qi was nasty stuff. Once it invaded a cultivator’s body, it could easily lead to all sorts of negative consequences.

The Heaven-Burning Fiend posed two primary dangers.

First, it could incinerate a cultivator’s Magical Power.

Second, it would ignite a cultivator’s Heart Fire, making them agitated, restless, and easily angered.

At first, Xiao Chen relied on the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique to suppress these two harmful effects.

However, he gradually discovered that the Divine Protection Veil was more effective against such negative effects. It granted him direct immunity, saving him the trouble.

Therefore, he simply abandoned the defensive measures within the secret technique and focused entirely on absorption.

This doubled his absorption speed once more, and in just seven days, he had absorbed all the remaining Evil Qi in the basin.

Next was the Evil Qi inside the Soul-Collecting Gourd.

Since it had already been collected, the refinement process was much more convenient, and his cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds.

As large quantities of the Heaven-Burning Fiend flooded into his body, Xiao Chen gradually began to feel the surrounding Fire Spirit Power growing increasingly active.

This change was precisely one of the benefits brought by the Heaven-Burning Fiend.

A common characteristic of the Five Elements Evil Qi was its ability to increase a cultivator’s affinity for the corresponding Spiritual Power, or to increase the corresponding Magic Power.

The specific effect depended on the Yin Yang Attribute of the Evil Qi itself.

According to the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique, the Five Elements Evil Qi were divided into Yin and Yang categories, resulting in a total of ten different types: the Yang Five Elements Evil Qi and the Yin Five Elements Evil Qi.

The Yin Five Elements Evil Qi increased affinity for the corresponding Spiritual Power, while the Yang Five Elements Evil Qi increased the corresponding Magic Power.

The Heaven-Burning Fiend was of the Fire Attribute among the Five Elements. It was also supremely hard and yang, so it could be called the Yang Fire Fiend.

Since it was a Yang Fire Fiend, its purpose was to increase the Magic Power of a cultivator’s Fire Magic.

Xiao Chen spent another seven days absorbing most of the Evil Qi from the gourd, finally condensing a Yang Fire Seal in his Dantian.

’Jeez, for a moment there, I thought I wouldn’t have enough Evil Qi.’

After all, it had taken a full twenty thousand years for this place to accumulate a gourd’s worth of Evil Qi.

If it hadn’t been enough even after he absorbed it all, he would have had no idea where to find more.

The conditions required for Evil Qi to form were extremely strict.

It was unlikely he could find another place containing Earth Evil Qi in the entire Li State, let alone another source of Yang Fire Fiend.

And once it was taken, it would take thousands or even tens of thousands of years to slowly accumulate again.

This basin, at any rate, was a lost cause.

’No wonder the Lord of the Immortal Palace only left a single successor.’

Xiao Chen now fully understood the Lord’s predicament. ’It wasn’t that he didn’t want to choose more successors, but that the conditions simply wouldn’t allow for it.’

’If there were several successors, there wouldn’t be nearly enough Evil Qi to go around for their cultivation.’

He used his Divine Sense to look inside his Dantian, and the newly formed Yang Fire Seal immediately began to glow faintly.

When he tentatively touched it with a wisp of his Magical Power, he immediately felt a surge of Fire Spirit Power welling up inside him, eager to be unleashed.

"Sky-Filling Flame Radiance!"

Xiao Chen was eager to test the power of the Yang Fire Seal anyway.

So, instead of suppressing it, he let the power flow and hurled a single mote of Flame Radiance, glowing with Red Flame Radiance, at the surrounding rock wall.

BOOM!

This was a cavern, after all. As the Red Flame Radiance erupted, the entire place collapsed instantly.

「A quarter hour later.」

Atop the now-collapsed hill, a hand shot out. It clawed away the surrounding earth, and then a figure pulled himself free.

Xiao Chen had actually been cautious. He had deliberately controlled his Sky-Filling Flame Radiance, releasing only a single mote of Flame Radiance.

He hadn’t expected the power of the blast to far exceed anything he had produced before.

A single mote of Flame Radiance had destroyed the entire cavern and buried him beneath the mountain.

It was easily as powerful as ten of his previous Flame Radiances combined.

’Holy shit, no wonder they call it a Heaven-Reaching Technique. It really is something else.’

’If the Heaven-Burning Fiend alone has such a powerful effect, what would happen if I collected the other Five Elements Evil Qi, or even higher-level Evil Qi? I might actually be able to reach the heavens.’

Xiao Chen dusted himself off and began to covet the other types of Evil Qi. ’If I could just get my hands on a Yin Fire Fiend as well, that would be perfect.’