Lin Xiao recounted nearly everything from the past six years to Huo Ruyan, every event in detail.
The Heaven-Swallowing Spirit Emperor, spiritual energy, the Yaoguang Great Emperor, the Indestructible Skeleton, the Death White Rock, the Giant Infant: everything except the Heavenly Eye, Lin Xiao held nothing back.
Even the matters between him and Feng Youyu, and Hu Yue, he spoke of openly.
He treated her entirely as a confidante.
At the same time, it served to dispel any deeper notions Huo Ruyan might harbour.
After all, he had taught her the Blood Slaughter Quiet Demon technique, effectively saving her life.
Huo Ruyan already held considerable fondness for him. With feelings involved, and both Hu Yue and Huo Ruyan present, it was better to let Huo Ruyan abandon any further thoughts.
Yet what Lin Xiao did not know was that Huo Ruyan had not dismissed certain ideas.
On the contrary, the more she learned about him, the more she admired him.
The first extraordinary man she had ever met was Lin Xiao. He had shown her kindness. After him, no other man could catch her eye.
Certain thoughts had already taken root in Huo Ruyan’s heart.
She merely understood Lin Xiao’s circumstances and did not show them openly.
In future, she probably never would. She could only bury them deep inside.
Of course, Huo Ruyan gladly shared her own experiences of the past six years with Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao was the only person to whom Huo Ruyan could fully open her heart.
Huo Ruyan’s path had been no easier than Lin Xiao’s. In some ways, it had been even harder.
After leaving the Lanlan Empire, she had travelled to the Southeast Domain, crossed the seas, reached the Central Continent, and finally arrived here.
Huo Ruyan had faced countless brushes with death. To survive, she had used every means available.
Many of her methods were far from honourable. To call her extremely cunning and treacherous would not be excessive.
Yet she had no choice.
She possessed the Blood Demon Physique. Her path was destined to be countless times harder than others’. Destined to be misunderstood, unaccepted, unloved.
The Blood Demon Physique required periodic blood consumption to survive. Consuming blood meant creating slaughter. Survival demanded it.
Moreover, this world was inherently cruel. Where on the martial path was there no struggle?
Where was there no killing?
Huo Ruyan had merely embodied the martial path in its most extreme form.
Yet no matter how cunning, how bloodthirsty, how dark her methods, Lin Xiao knew her heart remained pure.
It was simply fate.
Because of the Blood Demon Physique and her brutal experiences, Huo Ruyan’s breakthroughs came faster than anyone else’s.
Especially in the Forbidden Sea Domain, fraught with danger and opportunity. Those two years had seen her advance most rapidly.
Lin Xiao even felt a twinge of regret for missing the crossing of those seas.
When Huo Ruyan reached the peak of the Martial Emperor realm, she had traded and schemed directly with Ying Yi, the Array Saint, and others, luring three Martial Saints. It was akin to negotiating with tigers, inviting wolves into the fold.
Behind it all, she had also exploited the Demonic Frog’s feelings for her, securing its full assistance. That, too, posed a great threat.
In other words, while still a Martial Emperor, Huo Ruyan had already begun plotting against six Martial Saints.
Such boldness and wisdom were not common.
Fortunately, she had met Lin Xiao in the end. Otherwise, how the situation might have unfolded would be hard to say.
Because of these threats and opportunities, Huo Ruyan, barely past twenty, had become a Demon Saint. The youngest Martial Saint on the continent. Truly unprecedented.
As for the Blood Sect, it arose from blood cultivation methods Huo Ruyan obtained in the Forbidden Sea Domain. She had passed them to elders and disciples, building the sect.
With her methods, nearly every member of the Blood Sect was a death warrior.
They obeyed Huo Ruyan’s commands absolutely.
Even Lin Xiao could not help admiring this. If it were him, he doubted he could achieve the same.
That night seemed endlessly long, as though it encompassed all six years. Yet it also passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, the east grew pale with dawn.
After this complete outpouring, Lin Xiao felt refreshed in body and mind, as though he had cultivated for ages in extremely dense spiritual qi.
“In the next two days, I will refine pills and assail the next realm. If it takes longer than two days, wake me. The Demonic Frog clan: I will go with you.”
When the time came, Lin Xiao said this to Huo Ruyan.
Huo Ruyan nodded. “My strength now is no small thing. With you added, I have full confidence we can walk out of the Demonic Frog clan.”
“Moreover, by my judgement, the Demonic Frog clan will never raise a hand against us. On the contrary, they may even need our help.”
Huo Ruyan smiled. “Rest assured. I am not foolish enough to slip over there alone ahead of time.”
Hearing her reply, Lin Xiao felt relieved.
The Demonic Frog clan’s depths were unknown. If Huo Ruyan went alone, he would truly worry.
At once, Lin Xiao swallowed a seventh-grade high-level pill for impacting vital essence, obtained from a Martial Saint’s storage ring. He circulated his vital essence and began refining it.
Huo Ruyan sat quietly nearby, regulating her breath. Having just broken through, she needed no urgent cultivation. What she required was consolidation of her realm.
It must be said that, after this night of heartfelt confession, Lin Xiao’s pill refinement and realm assault went extremely smoothly. In a day and a half, he refined four impact pills. The final time, he took two at once. Then he broke through successfully.
From the fifth level of Martial Emperor, he advanced to the sixth.
The dantian space within his body grew larger. The power it contained became more vast, more majestic.
Feeling the stronger, more boundless power within, Lin Xiao was filled with joy.
This harvest had been considerable. Not only had he reunited with Huo Ruyan and obtained the Heaven-Swallowing Spirit Emperor’s token, he had also advanced one level in vital essence cultivation.
“With my current sixth-level Martial Emperor cultivation, relying purely on vital essence, I should be able to fully withstand a first-level Martial Saint, right?”
Lin Xiao weighed this inwardly.
At fifth-level Martial Emperor, relying solely on vital essence, even his strongest attack would leave him beaten by a Martial Saint. He could only endure without fatal injury and flee with vital essence, ensuring he did not die.
Now, at sixth-level Martial Emperor, relying purely on vital essence, he should be able to fully resist a first-level Martial Saint’s attacks.
Of course, though advancing one level greatly increased his strength, the leap was not as immense as from first-level to second-level Martial Saint.
After all, the realms differed by an entire tier. Thus, even after advancing one level, Lin Xiao could never defeat a Martial Saint relying solely on vital essence.
Of this, Lin Xiao was well aware.
“With my current strength, if I imprint Jiang You’s skeleton, would that not equal an additional Martial Saint-level battle skeleton?”
Lin Xiao immediately thought of this. His eyes lit up.
Reaching the Martial Saint realm brought heaven-shaking changes to the body. Jiang You’s bones had withstood his own Martial Saint power. They should also withstand imprinting with Martial Saint-level power.
Lin Xiao felt an impulse to imprint a battle skeleton at once. With true Martial Saint-level combat power, plus Huo Ruyan, Long Tutian, and others, he need fear the Ji family no longer.
If he had the chance to refine one or two more, he could even attack the Ji family headquarters directly. Thinking this, Lin Xiao regretted bitterly. If he had known, he would not have bisected the other Martial Saints.
However, refining a Martial Saint-level battle skeleton required considerable time. It would have to wait until after returning from the Demonic Frog clan.
“Your breakthrough is far easier than mine. No need to drink blood, no need for secluded cultivation.”
Huo Ruyan teased Lin Xiao with surprise.
“I am still far from Martial Saint. When I do break through, who knows what blood I will need to drink.”
Lin Xiao replied with a smile.
“Just not mine. Otherwise, it would kill you.”
Huo Ruyan said. Her blood had fused with who knew how many others’.
The two bantered for a while, then exchanged insights on cultivation, guiding each other.
At nightfall, they returned to the Blood Sect’s secret stronghold. Huo Ruyan made some arrangements and rested for the night. The next day, she and Lin Xiao set off for Cold Fierce Peak, ten thousand li away, the location the Demonic Frog Qing Yan had mentioned.
“The most fearsome thing about the Demonic Frog clan is the object in Qing Yan’s hands.”
En route, Huo Ruyan said.
“What object?”
Lin Xiao asked curiously.
