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**
Hearing his question, Gu Xun'er naturally couldn't tell him the truth.
After all, if Xiao Yan were to learn of the hidden details, it might cause him to harbor doubts in his heart and affect their relationship.
Therefore, after quickly organizing her thoughts, Gu Xun'er explained, "The Xiao Clan and our Gu Clan were once allies.
When your Xiao Clan was attacked by the Hun Clan, the incident happened so suddenly that our Gu Clan didn't have time to send reinforcements. However, afterward, we fought with the Hun Clan and drove them out of the Xiao Realm."
At this point, Gu Xun'er paused slightly, then continued, "After that, the elders of my Gu Clan noticed that the Xiao Realm had been left uninhabited. Leaving it there would only make it easy for the Hun Clan to seize as a base, so they decided to take it away."
Hearing that the Gu Clan had taken something belonging to the Xiao Clan without permission, Xiao Yan's brows immediately furrowed tightly.
But when he thought about it carefully — if the Gu Clan hadn't taken it, the Hun Clan might have — his frown eased just a little.
Seeing his expression, Gu Xun'er knew in her heart that he was somewhat displeased, so she continued softly, "Of course, many elders in our clan opposed that decision as well. But since the Hun Clan kept coveting the Xiao Clan's treasures, we really had no other choice."
In truth, Gu Xun'er was simply trying to repair their strained relationship by shifting all the blame onto the Hun Clan.
Sure enough, Xiao Yan — who had initially harbored some resentment toward the Gu Clan — quickly had his attention drawn away at the mention of the Hun Clan.
After a brief silence, Gu Xun'er continued, "Brother Xiao Yan, I actually know where quite a few well-ranked Heavenly Flames are.
But right now, your strength is still too weak, so it's impossible for you to seize those flames from their current owners.
However, I do have a method that might allow you to obtain them… and not just one, but several Heavenly Flames."
"Xun'er, what method?"
The moment he heard he could obtain multiple Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan's face lit up with excitement, and he pressed urgently.
"Here's what I'm thinking," Gu Xun'er said, smiling gently. "Brother Xiao Yan is the young patriarch of the Xiao Clan, so he can…"
Seeing his eagerness, Gu Xun'er didn't delay any further and told him her full plan.
After hearing it, Xiao Yan's expression showed clear astonishment. Then, he fell silent and sank into deep hesitation.
"Xun'er… let's do as you said," Xiao Yan finally said after a long silence, gritting his teeth as he agreed.
Even though he knew that doing this was far from advantageous to him, there was really no better choice. At this point, he simply couldn't find any new Heavenly Flames on his own.
Besides, with his current level of strength, even if he refused to compromise, he still wouldn't be able to obtain anything. Rather than wasting more time, he might as well sign this agreement with the Gu Clan in exchange for several Heavenly Flames.
As long as he could continue growing stronger — and with his status as an alchemist he had faith he could one day restore the Xiao Clan to glory. But when he thought about it, the Gu Clan's character wasn't exactly trustworthy either.
Xiao Yan couldn't help but worry that, in order to save effort, they might only give him lower-ranked, easier-to-obtain flames.
After thinking for a moment, he looked at Gu Xun'er again and reminded her seriously, "Xun'er, although I've agreed to this, the Gu Clan must guarantee to help me find at least three Heavenly Flames, and their rankings on the Heavenly Flame Ranking must not be below the top twenty."
"And one of them must not rank lower than the Fallen Heart Flame I already possess. Also, none of them can be flames that Lin Feng has."
This wasn't a random demand — it was a number he'd carefully considered, something both sides could likely accept.
As for Lin Feng's flames, he had deliberately excluded them. After all, in his mind, once he received the Heavenly Flames from the Gu Clan, it would only be a matter of time before Lin Feng's flames became his as well.
Hearing his terms, Gu Xun'er pondered briefly and realized that the elders in her clan would probably find them acceptable.
So, she nodded and smiled softly. "Brother Xiao Yan, you can rest assured. Your conditions aren't excessive at all. I believe eight or nine out of ten of our elders will agree to them."
"That's good."
Seeing Gu Xun'er's confident expression, Xiao Yan finally let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a little more at ease.
If he could truly obtain those three Heavenly Flames and subdue them all, then his Flame Mantra would, at the very least, evolve to the Heaven Class.
By then, he would no longer have to worry about his cultivation technique lagging behind his own strength.
Moreover, with the support of three Heavenly Flames, his Dou Qi cultivation might very well advance to the Dou Zun realm. At that time, he would also have great confidence in defeating Lin Feng.
When that happened, he could easily reclaim the Green Lotus Core Flame, the Bone Flame Ring that once belonged to his teacher, and the Bone Chilling Flame from Lin Feng's hands.
The reason he had excluded Lin Feng's Heavenly Flames from the deal earlier was simple — he believed that once he absorbed the three new Heavenly Flames, his strength would be enough to kill Lin Feng outright.
When that time came, all those things Lin Feng possessed would naturally fall back into his hands.
Afterward, once he absorbed both Lin Feng's Green Lotus Core Flame and his teacher's Bone Chilling Flame, his Flame Mantra and strength would once again improve by leaps and bounds.
But if he let the Gu Clan go after Lin Feng's Heavenly Flames instead, wouldn't that be a terrible loss for him?
Thinking about the potential gains, Xiao Yan suddenly felt that the losses he'd just accepted weren't quite so painful anymore.
Meanwhile, when Gu Xun'er saw the joy spreading across Xiao Yan's face, her own mood lightened considerably. She couldn't help but secretly give herself a little mental pat on the back for how smoothly her plan had worked.
This transaction not only helped her Brother Xiao Yan recover from his frustration and despair, but once he absorbed those Heavenly Flames, his strength would also receive a tremendous boost.
With that, when he went to the Gu Clan in the future to propose marriage, the resistance he faced would surely be much smaller.
While the two of them were both pleased with the outcome, at that very moment, Lin Feng had already left the Holy Pill City and was speeding toward the Eastern Region of Central Plains.
After some thought, Lin Feng had decided to take advantage of the "darkness beneath the lamp" — to attempt his breakthrough near the Gu Clan's territory itself.
Of course, he didn't plan to go deep into the Eastern Region; he would only stay near its border to make his breakthrough.
"Whoosh~"
After nearly ten days of flight, Lin Feng finally stopped before a range of beautiful, scenic mountains.
Judging that this place was far enough from Holy Pill City, he released his vast spiritual power, letting it sweep outward in all directions.
In an instant, it spread to cover an area of dozens of miles.
After confirming there were no threats nearby, Lin Feng shot straight toward the mountain range and casually found a cave halfway up the mountainside before flying inside.
Once seated cross-legged, he used the power of space to seal off the surrounding area. Then, with a focused thought, he summoned the Ghostly Poison Flame that he had been nurturing within his brow for some time.
As he looked at the dark-green flame rising gracefully before him, Lin Feng muttered softly to himself, "Let's hope this time I can successfully break through to the Dou Zun realm.
After all, the Pill Gathering isn't far away now. If my strength can't catch up to the younger generation of those Ancient Clans, I might lose out on some important opportunities later."
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