Battle Throught The Heavens: Reborn Yan Emperor Ts

Ch3: Strangely familiar

This is a vast forest. At a glance, deep within its expanse stands a towering mountain—half red and half white—rising into the clouds like a pillar reaching the sky.

In an open clearing of the forest, a figure wreathed in red flame sat cross-legged on the ground. Above its head, a huge energy vortex rotated slowly. The energy of heaven and earth converged upon it at an incredible speed, forming gusts that toppled several nearby trees.

Yet a man in white lay unconscious in the clearing beside it, completely unaffected by the raging vortex.

After a moment, the flaming figure rose. As the flames dissipated, it revealed a handsome face; between its brows, a half-black, half-red flame mark glowed faintly.

At that moment, the figure frowned and looked toward the man lying flat beside him. Confirming that the man was safe, he then gazed up at the distant mountain, resumed his cross-legged posture, and waited quietly for him to awaken.

After a long while, Xiao Yan slowly sat up with a slight cough.

"Ahem, I'm still alive? And my... my injuries have healed too?"

Surveying his surroundings, Xiao Yan also checked his internal condition. To his surprise, aside from the addition of some Emperor's Origin, his body had changed nothing; even the blood from his severe injury had vanished. Xiao Yan felt as though he were dreaming. When he turned around, he saw the flaming figure still sitting cross-legged beside him.

"Huo Yi? By the way, Huo Yi, do you still remember what happened to us in that space?"

Xiao Yan waited until he saw Huo Yi before asking with a slightly puzzled expression. He found it odd that Huo Yi had not appeared when he was on the verge of death. They were once one, and though Huo Yi possessed his own intelligence, how could he have abandoned Xiao Yan when he was in danger? This uneasy thought made Xiao Yan hesitate to ask directly, so he phrased his query indirectly.

"Remember, I witnessed the whole process of your injury."

Huo Yi replied apologetically, as if noticing the doubt in Xiao Yan's tone, and continued, "But I couldn't help you, or even warn you, because all my abilities were sealed once I entered the vortex. No matter how I struggled, it was all in vain."

At this point, Xiao Yan gradually understood that even with his strength as a Dou Di, he had nearly perished in that incident. With Huo Yi's current power as a nine-star Dou Sheng, nothing unexpected should have happened—let alone being able to save someone.

Over ten years, Xiao Yi's strength had grown to the peak of the Nine-Star Fighting Saint, just one step away from its summit. Yet even so, he still could not rescue Xiao Yan, leaving Huo Yi feeling helpless.

Xiao Yan had renamed him Huo Yi because he no longer resembled a child. Now that Huo Yi possessed his own consciousness, it was as if the thoughts of two individuals converged on Xiao Yan, which made both feel uneasy. Consequently, their ideas had been separated by Xiao Yan. The strange fire, originally Xiao Yan's, had been carefully divided—his consciousness was separated from Huo Yi's—and used to form a fire spirit body for Huo Yi, nurtured over several years until success was achieved.

Thus, Xiao Yan could still employ the strange fire, and Huo Yi had become an alternative "strange fire" by practicing the secret method Xiao Yan had obtained.

After Huo Yi finished speaking, he flicked his hand, and a silver-white light band appeared, twisting and struggling while thin space cracks continuously formed around it.

Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise. With his vision, he clearly saw the extraordinary nature of this wisp of spatial force—an intelligence not found in ordinary spatial energies. Although its sentience was limited, it nevertheless exhibited a rare quality.

"This is what you grabbed in that space. When I arrived earlier, I saw you holding it tightly, so I helped secure it for a time."

At these words, Xiao Yan recalled his dream with relief—it had been just a dream; otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known how to survive.

After calming himself, Xiao Yan did not attempt to reclaim the wisp of silver-white space force. Instead, he extended his palm, and a flash of golden light revealed a circling thunder dragon. This brilliant golden dragon, named Xiao Jin by Xiao Yan, roamed above his hand. It glared at the tiny wisp of space force and emitted excited roars.

"Xiao Jin? What are you doing?"

This golden dragon—the Nine Profound Golden Thunder—had retained some intelligence thanks to Xiao Yan, though its strength had diminished to that of a one-star Dou Zun. Unexpectedly, it regarded Xiao Yan as kin, which left him momentarily speechless. Yet, since Xiao Xiao and the other children admired it, Xiao Yan consented.

After all, the Nine Profound Golden Thunder had helped Xiao Yan before. Xiao Yan had once restored its strength over the past ten years, even raising it to the level of a Fighting Saint—a first-grade Fighting Saint. Yet what Xiao Yan had not expected was that this little creature now seemed intent on devouring the spatial force ray. Xiao Yan glanced between the thunder dragon and the silver-white force. After a moment's thought, he retracted his hand. In an instant, Xiao Jin burst forward like a wild steed freed from its reins. The spatial force, resembling a small snake, sensed danger and coiled while trembling. Xiao Jin circled excitedly around it, and suddenly a golden light enveloped the tiny force. The little dragon rolled over, emitting a hissing whine. Finally, after a while, Xiao Jin let out a joyful roar, twirled in the air, merged into Xiao Yan's arm, and fell into a deep sleep to refine the energy it had absorbed. Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head at Xiao Jin's merge, then looked to Huo Yi and asked, "Where is Hei Yan? Why isn't he with you?"

The Black Flame Xiao Yan mentioned was the Void Devouring Flame from that year. It had returned to the Strange Fire Square to seal Emperor Hun Tian. But after ten years, Emperor Hun Tian had long perished, and the Void Devouring Flame had broken free from the Strange Fire Square. Determined to become emperor, it had followed Xiao Yan all along but refused to acknowledge him as master. Thus, Xiao Yan merged part of his Strange Fire origin with Huo Yi so both could sense each other's approximate location, easing the chance of reunion should fate intervene.

Huo Yi did not respond; instead, he turned his gaze toward the tall, red-and-white mountain, a look of doubt in his eyes.