Chapter 162 Soul Skill Obtained
"It's really the Life-Devouring Pill." A strange look flashed across Yao Lao's face. "I didn't expect you to be able to obtain this long-lost pill. And, judging from your appearance, have you already solved its side effects?"

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, "It was just luck!"

Hearing the conversation between Lin Yuan and Yao Lao, Xiao Yan, who was standing aside, couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity in his eyes.

There was a hint of desire in his eyes, "Teacher, Life-Devouring Pill?"

Yao Lao glanced at Xiao Yan and said calmly: "Don't think too much. It was a very famous but useless elixir in the past."

Then, Yao Lao gave Xiao Yan a brief introduction to the Life-Devouring Pill, including its ability to instantly elevate one to Dou Wang status, the side effects that would only last for three years after taking it, and especially its daunting grade and price.

After listening to Yao Lao's explanation, Xiao Yan was shocked and said awkwardly: "It turns out to be a seventh-level peak elixir. Brother Lin is so lucky!"

Lin Yuan looked at Xiao Yan with amusement, "It's just luck! This kind of opportunity is nothing compared to Brother Xiao's meeting with Senior Yao." As he said that, he touched his nose and showed the same bitter smile as Xiao Yan.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan scratched his head with a wry smile, but a hint of relief flashed in the depths of his eyes.

The pressure from Lin Yuan before was too great. Even though Xiao Yan had fighting spirit, he still felt a little insecure.

Now that he knew that Lin Yuan had made the leap from Grand Fighter to Fighting King by using the Life-Devouring Pill, Xiao Yan felt somewhat relieved.

After all, meeting Yao Lao was indeed a much better opportunity than obtaining the Life-Devouring Pill.

Shaking his head, Xiao Yan looked at Yao Lao and asked in confusion: "Teacher, since the Life-Devouring Pill can allow a person to directly break through from a Grand Fighter Master to a Fighting King, why do you say it is useless?"

“Heh—” Yao Lao looked at Xiao Yan and chuckled, “Because its effectiveness is not worth mentioning at all compared to its price.”

"What's the point of consuming that level of resources to create a Dou Wang that only has a lifespan of three years?"

"To fight the enemy?"

"But a seventh-grade peak elixir is enough to invite a Dou Zun to take action. And a Dou Zun-level strongman can wipe out hundreds or thousands of Dou Wangs. Wouldn't it be better to just ask a Dou Zun to take action?"

"To assist in cultivation?"

"But if you are willing to spend the money of a peak seventh-grade elixir, there are many better elixirs to choose from in the alchemy world."

"For families or forces that can afford seventh-grade peak-level elixirs, it won't take much time for their geniuses to break through from Grand Fighter Master to Fighting King. Rather than wasting resources at this stage, it's better to use them in the later stages."

"After all, the further you go, the harder it is to practice and break through, and the more bottlenecks you will encounter."

When he spoke later, there was a hint of admiration but also a hint of disdain in Yao Lao's words.

Although the effect of the Life-Devouring Pill can be described as miraculous, compared with the resources it consumes, it seems insignificant and is truly useless.

“So that’s how it is.” After listening to Yao Lao’s explanation, Xiao Yan suddenly understood. Maybe to him now, Dou Wang was a great figure, but to Yao Lao, Dou Wang was just a person who could be destroyed with a snap of a finger.

"Snapped--"

With a crisp sound, Yao Lao ended this round of teaching Xiao Yan.

"Haha, Senior's insights are indeed on point." Lin Yuan at the side clapped his hands and chuckled, "However, let's stop chatting here! Now that my identity is clear, it's time for us to talk about the cooperation that Senior Yao mentioned earlier."

As he spoke, Lin Yuan looked at Yao Lao steadily and asked seriously, "What can I get? What do I have to pay?"

Yao Lao looked at Lin Yuan and said in a deep voice: "I will take Xiao Yan away from the Jia Ma Empire in the near future. Lin Yuan, I need you to help protect the Xiao family for a while longer. With your ability, you should be able to do it."

"As for the reward, you can propose the recipe, fighting skills, secret method yourself."

Xiao Yan heard this, and there was some expectation in his eyes. The matter of Soul Palace and Xiao family was weighing heavily on his heart. However, an enemy of the Soul Palace's level was not something he could handle at the moment.

But after hearing what Yao Lao said, Lin Yuan shook his head in the expectant eyes of several people.

"Senior Yao thinks highly of me. I can't do anything about this. The Xiao family is the target of the Soul Palace, and it seems that it has a high priority. And the strength of the Soul Palace is known to you and me. I can't deal with the Soul Palace protecting the Xiao family now."

Hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed across Xiao Yan’s eyes.

However, Yao Lao's face remained calm. He nodded calmly and continued, "Then, what if I change the conditions and no longer ask for the protection of the Xiao family, but only need to save the Xiao family members?"

"Oh?" Lin Yuan seemed to be somewhat interested. "Senior, do you mean that we don't need to protect the 'Xiao Family', but protect the people of the Xiao Family?"

"That's right." Yao Lao nodded and said seriously: "We don't even need to protect all the people in the Xiao family. We only need to protect some of the people in the Xiao family. Especially..."

Lin Yuan understood what he said and looked at Xiao Yan, "Especially those members of the Xiao family who have a close relationship with Brother Xiao!"

Yao Lao had no expression on his face and nodded calmly.

Xiao Yan's expression suddenly changed when he heard this, "Teacher, Brother Lin..."

however.

“Xiao Yan, don’t be naive.” Yao Lao interrupted Xiao Yan’s thoughts and said in a very serious tone: “If you don’t make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences. When being targeted by the Soul Palace, no one can be sure of escaping unscathed.”

"Even if you cut off your tail to survive, it is definitely not an easy task."

Looking at Yao Lao's serious eyes, Xiao Yan struggled internally. A feeling of helplessness came over him, and his stubborn teeth bit his lower lip unconsciously.

Seeing this, Yao Lao sighed and said, "Xiao Yanzi, remember this helplessness at this moment, and then try your best to become a strong man. In the Douqi Continent, only the strong have the right to choose."

After saying that, Yao Lao looked at Lin Yuan and asked, "How about this deal? Can you accept it?"

Hearing this, Lin Yuan closed his eyes, slowly rubbed his forehead, and fell into deep thought. The scene suddenly became silent.

After a moment, Lin Yuan opened his eyes and made a decision: "If this is the case, I can preliminarily agree to this matter."

"But," Lin Yuan changed the subject, "I can't promise you anything when facing the Soul Palace. I can only try my best to fulfill the agreement. What effect I can achieve is up to fate. Can you accept this?"

Yao Lao pondered for a moment and looked at Xiao Yan who was lowering his head. After all, the final decision of this matter would depend on Xiao Yan.

Feeling this invisible pressure, Xiao Yan fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Xiao Yan raised his head, wiped the blood from his lips, exhaled deeply, and said with a cupped hand: "Brother Lin, thank you for your help this time."

Lin Yuan nodded and said seriously, "In this case, our deal is considered to be preliminarily concluded. Next, it depends on whether you accept the plan I just thought of and the transaction conditions I offered."

"Go ahead." said Yao Lao.

"My plan has three steps: dispersal, fake death and migration." As he spoke, Lin Yuan looked at Ling Ying, "This plan still requires some help from the people behind Mr. Ling. After all, Senior Yao said that your young lady has the power to block the Soul Palace, right?"

Seeing the gazes of several people, especially Xiao Yan, Ling Ying's heart tightened, and he said in a deep voice: "Little friend Lin, just speak frankly!"

Seeing this, Lin Yuan nodded and began to explain his plan.

His plan consists of three steps;
The first step is for Xiao Yan to return to the Xiao family and divide the Xiao family members into several levels according to their importance, and migrate them to the south of the Jia Ma Empire in batches;

In the second step, Lin Yuan will arrange some "thieves" to attack the migrating Xiao family team and "destroy" an important part of them;

In the third step, Lin Yuan would find a way to arrange for the core members of the Xiao family who had been "destroyed" to move to the Black Horn Region, to where the power of the ancient clan could currently cover. As for the ones who were not "destroyed" by the attack, they would be used as bait, or abandoned pawns.

"Brother Lin, can this method be hidden from the people in the Soul Palace?" Xiao Yan asked doubtfully.

Hearing this, Lin Yuan said calmly: "Who knows? But at least I gave the people who came to carry out the Xiao family's mission a reason, a reason not to care about the Xiao family's affairs. The tasks of the Soul Palace are outsourced layer by layer, and the people who carry out the tasks also have their own thoughts."

"As long as the Xiao family disappears in the open and its personnel disperse and hide, the Xiao family's mission will become much more difficult and the benefits will be greatly reduced."

"When necessary, you can even release some bait information and let them report to their superiors. In this way, the people you want to protect the most can be kept safe."

After hearing Lin Yuan’s words, a heavy pressure once again hit Xiao Yan’s heart.

Lin Yuan's strategy was to let him choose which members of the Xiao family could survive and which ones might die. The feeling that the cost of his decision had to be borne by the family members made Xiao Yan feel powerless, and his mind became a little dazed.

At this moment, a sentence suddenly flashed through Xiao Yan's mind.

"Yan'er, for the sake of the overall situation, for the survival of the family, and for the future of the family. As the head of the Xiao family, your father and I sometimes have to make painful decisions."

When the drunk Xiao Zhan said this, the helpless and painful expression on his face made Xiao Yan realize for the first time that his father had that side of him.

“Hu——” Xiao Yan took a long breath, his eyes firm, “Father, is this the responsibility you take on as the head of the family? Then I will also…”

"Brother Lin, this is a good strategy. The Xiao family can accept it. I thank you on behalf of the Xiao family." Xiao Yan cupped his hands and said calmly.

"Brother Xiao, you are too polite." Lin Yuan waved his hand and smiled calmly, "It's just a transaction, there is nothing to be thankful for. After all, I should be able to get a suitable reward for helping you guys deal with this matter. Helping each other and getting what we need is the way I like to do things."

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Yao Lao nodded slightly in his heart. For him now, this style is better.

"Lin Yuan, tell me, what do you want?" asked Yao Lao.

"There are many things that interest me, but the one I'm most interested in right now is the move that you, Senior Yao, used on Guardian Wu yesterday. If I'm not mistaken, that move is an extremely rare, orthodox soul skill, right?"

"Soul Seal? You have a good eye. It is indeed an orthodox soul skill. If this is what you want, I can agree to it."

"Senior, you are so generous. Then we have a deal."

"I don't have the scroll of the Soul Seal, so I will send it to you directly through soul communication. Lin boy, get ready to receive it." Yao Lao said decisively.

After saying that, Lin Yuan and Yao Lao began soul communication.

Half an hour later, when Lin Yuan had digested the vast amount of information in his mind, he finally obtained his first orthodox soul skill.

Low-level earth-level soul skill, Soul Seal.

Soul skills are combat techniques created by ancient alchemists. They allow practitioners to maximize the power of their souls, and are even powerful enough to rival the fighting skills of some powerful men.

Unfortunately, most of the soul skills have been lost now, and the existing ones are mainly in the hands of the major forces in the Fighting Continent.

Like fighting skills, soul skills are also divided into four levels: heaven, earth, mystery and yellow.

In the original storyline, the Soul Hand Seal that Xuan Kongzi gave to Xiao Yan when he first met him was a high-level soul skill of the Xuan rank, much inferior to the Soul Xuan Seal that Lin Yuan traded from Yao Lao.

Lin Yuan was in a good mood after getting the spirit skill. He smiled and said, "Senior, if you hand the things over to me now, aren't you worried that I won't do anything after I get them?"

"Haha." Yao Lao heard this and smiled confidently, "Lin kid, we have cooperated many times, and I recognize your credit. Moreover, the cooperative relationship you have established with me is not comparable to a mere earth-level spirit skill, right?"

"Haha, that's true. Don't worry, I will do my best for the Xiao family's affairs."

Afterwards, several people began to discuss the details of the plan based on the strategy proposed by Lin Yuan and worked out an executable plan.

Two hours later, everyone finally completed the detailed plan.

Xiao Yan let out a long sigh and felt much more at ease.

Although the Xiao family's crisis has not been resolved, he at least knows what to do next and doesn't have to worry too much.

Yao Lao took out a list from his storage ring and handed it to Lin Yuan, "Lin boy, take a look, do you have the herbs on this list?"

Lin Yuan took the list and looked at it, and immediately understood that there were many medicinal herbs on it, but most of them were soul-nourishing herbs.

Soul-nourishing saliva, a fifth-grade elixir, has the effect of nourishing over-consumed soul power. This elixir is not of high grade, and it is not complicated to refine, but it is very time-consuming. Another troublesome thing is that the herbs required are relatively unconventional.

However, this was not a problem for Lin Yuan, who had plundered the medicinal herb warehouses of many forces. He had a lot of this kind of medicinal herbs.

After reading the list, Lin Yuan turned his gaze back to Yao Lao.

At this time, Yao Lao's soul was feeling a bit illusory because of the consumption in the previous battle. No wonder, using Shengling Pills to support his soul and body to participate in the battle, this kind of soul loss is really not small.

"Senior Yao is lucky. I have all the herbs on this list!"

As he spoke, Lin Yuan took out the herbs on the list from his storage ring and handed them directly to Yao Lao. "I'll just give you two sets. I think it should be enough."

"Thank you, boy Lin." said Yao Lao.

"You are too polite, senior. I am very happy to cooperate with you and hope to continue. I would like to ask you to pay more attention to the matter of Bodhi Body Transformation Saliva. The more of that stuff the better. I will buy it at a premium."

For Lin Yuan, no matter how much Bodhi body saliva comes, it is not too much.

People in the world don’t know it yet, but one thing Lin Yuan knows is that some of the things precipitated in the saliva of the Bodhi body can form Bodhi seeds that can sense the Bodhi mind under the calcination of the strange fire.

"Mr. Ling, if you have any business needs, you can come to me. The Po Zong Dan is no problem."

After Lin Yuan finished speaking, Ling Ying actually took two Fengxing Pills and one Poyuan Zengqi Pill on credit from Lin Yuan on the condition that he would help collect the Bodhi Body Transformation Saliva.

After taking a look at Ling Ying, Lin Yuan roughly understood what he was thinking.

"It seems that these pills were prepared to protect Xiao Yan on the way to Canaan College. Gu Xun'er really cares about Xiao Yan. But it's good this way, so that I can have the opportunity to establish a trading relationship with Gu Xun'er and collect resources."

If Ling Ying, as Gu Xun'er's spokesperson, is willing to trade, then the second portion of Bodhi Transformation Saliva will be secured.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan was in a good mood.

"Goodbye, everyone!"

"I will go back to the Holy City of Gama and mobilize the personnel according to the plan. Everyone should hurry up and don't miss the deadline."

After completing the scheduled transaction, Lin Yuan decisively chose to say goodbye. He wanted to go back and study the Earth-level soul skills he had obtained.

"Also, Brother Xiao, go to Canaan College as soon as possible to enroll! You can feel more at ease in the college. As an elder of Canaan College, I have mixed feelings when I see a student like you running around outside on leave."

After warning Xiao Yan, Lin Yuan took Medusa and flew to the imperial capital.

(End of this chapter)