Chapter 253: Searching for the Secret Collection

Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Searching for the Secret Collection

Just as Yi Xiaoyao was getting the hang of Celestial Fire Instant Illusion, a massive black shadow suddenly charged at him. It knocked him straight to the ground and began rolling around with him in its arms.

"Little Hei, you little rascal, you’re so playful!"

Yi Xiaoyao chuckled and scolded Little Hei as they tumbled on the ground. Had anything else attacked him just now, he surely would have dodged. But against Little Hei, he was completely unguarded.

At this moment, Little Hei had transformed into a giant Black Ape. Even though he was just playing with Yi Xiaoyao, he still used his powerful limbs to shield him.

"Huh? Little Hei, you broke straight through to the mid-stage of the fourth rank?"

Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up as he sensed the aura radiating from Little Hei.

Going from a high-level, third-rank Demon Beast to a mid-level, fourth-rank one was equivalent to a human cultivator breaking through from the Golden Core Realm Peak straight to the Fifth Realm of Nascent Soul.

Even Yi Xiaoyao felt humbled by such an unheard-of breakthrough speed.

But on second thought, it made sense. Little Hei was the son of a Demon Emperor and could increase his strength by consuming the Demon Cores of powerful Demon Beasts. Just half a day ago, he had eaten a sixth-rank Demon Core, so such an improvement was hardly surprising.

This was the advantage Demon Beasts held. If a human consumed an Elixir that was too high-level or potent, their body would inevitably explode. But the constitution of a Demon Beast was far beyond human comparison; Little Hei could naturally digest the sixth-rank Demon Core.

Little Hei seemed overjoyed. He hugged Yi Xiaoyao and rolled directly into a nearby stream, sending up a huge splash.

"Alright, Little Hei, stop fooling around."

Soaked to the bone, Yi Xiaoyao wriggled out of Little Hei’s embrace, looking a bit disheveled. He felt that the bond between them had grown much, much stronger.

Looking at Little Hei, who was grinning and cackling at him, Yi Xiaoyao couldn’t help but break into a warm smile himself.

"Little guy, you’re another step closer to becoming a fifth-rank Great Demon. I’m really looking forward to that day."

Yi Xiaoyao murmured. When a Demon Beast became a Great Demon, it could take human form and even speak.

...

After changing into a set of dry clothes, Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze shifted, and he retrieved the map fragment from his Cold Meteor Storage Pouch.

Then, the other half of the Secret Treasure Map—the one the Black Robe Hall Master had given him—appeared in his hand.

As he pieced the two beast-skin maps together, Yi Xiaoyao’s brow furrowed.

Even with both pieces combined, a quarter of the map was still missing.

Most importantly, the routes on the assembled Secret Treasure Map all converged on that missing section.

This meant that the missing quarter held the exact location of the Secret Collection!

He frowned in thought for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up.

’Since the missing piece shows the location of the Secret Collection, I can use the three-quarters I already have to pinpoint the general region it depicts!’

With this thought, Yi Xiaoyao immediately got to his feet and called out to Little Hei, who was still splashing around in the water.

"Little Hei, let’s go!"

SWOOSH!

Little Hei instantly became a black blur, shooting toward Yi Xiaoyao.

Just before impact, the massive ape’s body instantly shrank into the palm-sized Little Black Monkey and slipped inside Yi Xiaoyao’s clothes.

Then, Yi Xiaoyao soared into the air, flying straight up, higher and higher.

Only when he was at least tens of thousands of miles above the ground did Yi Xiaoyao peer down through the clouds to survey the land below.

From such a great height, vast swaths of the Chaotic Alliance Domain were laid out before him.

Next, Yi Xiaoyao took out the Secret Treasure Map and carefully compared it to the ground below, which from this altitude looked like a network of lines and patterns.

After a while, he shook his head in resignation and headed toward another region.

As he traveled, Yi Xiaoyao continuously used Celestial Fire Instant Illusion, practicing to master the body technique.

After using Celestial Fire Instant Illusion several times, he discovered a drawback to the Spiritual Skill.

Specifically, consecutive uses consumed more Spiritual Power each time. Eventually, a single use of Celestial Fire Instant Illusion could instantly drain a user’s entire reserve of Spiritual Power, even from a peak state.

With his current reserves, Yi Xiaoyao could only use it ten times in a row before his Spiritual Power was completely depleted.

And that was only because he possessed Dual Nascent Souls. Anyone else at the Same Realm would run out of Spiritual Power after just four or five uses.

Through this rapid cycle of consumption and replenishment, Yi Xiaoyao’s mastery of Celestial Fire Instant Illusion gradually improved. He could now cover a distance of nearly a thousand zhang with a single use.

At the same time, another point occurred to Yi Xiaoyao: ’The Celestial Fire Illusion Body is the ultimate treasure of the Celestial Fire Alliance, the First Alliance of the Chaotic Alliance Domain. I absolutely can’t use it unless it’s a last resort. Otherwise, if the Celestial Fire Alliance comes looking for me, I’ll be in serious trouble.’

The reason Yi Xiaoyao dared to practice it so openly now was because he was tens of thousands of miles up in the sky. No expert would be bored enough to fly this high for no reason.

After searching from the sky for several days, Yi Xiaoyao finally arrived over a specific region of the Chaotic Alliance Domain. He took out the Secret Treasure Map once more to compare it with the landscape below.

"Found it!"

Following his joyous cry, Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up as he gazed at the expanse of land below.

Sure enough, the contours of the landscape almost perfectly matched the routes on his Secret Treasure Map.

And the missing quarter of the map corresponded perfectly to a specific area on the ground below.

Yi Xiaoyao quickly locked onto that area. A hint of excitement crossed his face as he shot downward at high speed.

’Down there is the location of the Secret Collection!’

The howling wind filled Yi Xiaoyao’s ears, but he paid it no mind. His heart was consumed by one thing: his urgent need to find the Secret Collection.

But the next moment, just as Yi Xiaoyao was about to touch down, a thunderous shout suddenly rang out.

"Who dares trespass in the domain of the Primordial Evil Alliance!"

The voice came from a city below, from which two figures shot out.

’Primordial Evil Alliance?’ Yi Xiaoyao’s expression changed.

He remembered that the Primordial Evil Alliance was ranked eleventh among the major alliances in the Chaotic Alliance Domain.

And the area where he was searching for the Secret Collection was actually the territory occupied by the Primordial Evil Alliance!

’Well, this is going to be trouble...’

Yi Xiaoyao muttered with a frown, his gaze shifting to the two figures shooting toward him.

A man and a woman, both at the First Realm of Nascent Soul Transformation.

The woman, dressed in green robes, was stunningly beautiful—enough to outshine the moon and make flowers wilt in shame—but she had a decidedly cold temperament.

The man appeared to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven. Though he had a pair of thick, sharp eyebrows, a faint, sinister shadow lurked deep within his eyes.

The man’s gaze on Yi Xiaoyao was particularly hostile. He shouted coldly, "Kid, don’t you know this is the territory of the Primordial Evil Alliance? If you don’t give me a good enough reason for being here, I’ll execute you for the crime of trespassing!"

...