The next moment, Zhou Yan opened his mouth and spat out a flame towards the black cauldron.
This flame was very small, only an inch high, but it was terrifying. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding temperature soared, making Zhou Yan feel the heat.
After a while, the flame landed on the black cauldron and instantly ignited it. A raging fire shot up into the sky, illuminating the pitch-black void.
"Boom~~"
The fire raged, devouring everything. Zhou Yan stood in the center of the sea of fire, completely engulfed by it.
"Ah~~"
A piercing pain erupted from the palm print on his chest, causing him to let out a mournful cry.
This flame was too overbearing, capable of burning even true qi, making Zhou Yan wish he were dead, almost causing him to faint.
"Bang bang bang~"
At some unknown time, several more palm prints appeared on Zhou Yan's chest. The flames burned fiercely, leaving behind charred scars on his chest, shocking and making one's scalp tingle.
"No, I can't bear it."
Zhou Yan's face contorted with pain. Gritting his teeth, he slowly moved his feet and walked towards the outside of the cave.
"Crack~~"
As soon as he took a step, a bone-cracking sound echoed, followed by a broken leg bone, and he fell to the ground limply.
"Ah~~"
Zhou Yan let out a mournful cry. His arms and spine were all broken, and a bone-piercing pain spread throughout his body.
"This won't do!"
"I must find a place to heal!"
Zhou Yan gritted his teeth and crawled forward with his heavy body. His face was pale, and sweat dripped down, making him appear very weak.
After a while, Zhou Yan finally saw the scene outside the cave. It was a clear, rippling lake.
At the edge of the lake stood an ancient banyan tree. Its canopy was vast, blocking the sunlight. Its branches intertwined into a dense net, covering more than half of the forest, giving off a sinister and eerie feeling.
"What the hell is this thing?"
Zhou Yan was startled. He recognized the banyan tree as the tree demon that had attacked him last night!
This banyan tree was very thick, with lush leaves. Each leaf was as sharp as a sword, flashing with a cold glint.
Moreover, the banyan tree demon exuded wisps of strange aura, making Zhou Yan's heart pound.
"Whoosh~" Suddenly, the banyan tree demon transformed into an illusion and attacked Zhou Yan. Its branches swung, sharp as knives, slicing through the void and leaving behind afterimages.
"Scram!"
Zhou Yan shouted, and vigorously activated the true qi in his body, condensing it into a shield to resist the attacks of the branches.
*Puchi~ Puchi~ Puchi*…
The shield held for a second before completely shattering. Then, the sharp branches pierced through the shield's defense and slammed into Zhou Yan's body.
In an instant, a bloody hole burst open on Zhou Yan's chest, and blood splattered, dyeing the ground red.
"Ah~~" Zhou Yan screamed, his body convulsing violently, his face turning even paler, almost losing all color.
He gritted his teeth, unwilling to give up hope.
"Boom!"
Inside Zhou Yan's body, true qi surged, quickly gathering in his right leg. Then, he used all his strength and stomped heavily on the ground.
*Boom*
A majestic force flowed into the ground along Zhou Yan's right leg, causing the soil beneath Zhou Yan to churn and large rocks to rise from the ground.
*Boom*
In an instant, a huge gully appeared out of nowhere beside Zhou Yan, like a deep abyss, cutting across the center of the valley and separating the cave.
"Roar~"
At this moment, Zhou Yan's clothes were already stained with blood. He was covered in blood and looked pathetic.
"Fortunately, my physical body is incredibly strong. An ordinary person would probably be dead by now," Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief, showing a look of relief.
In the past, he had encountered various crises, but unfortunately, none were as dangerous as today.
"It seems I need to exercise more in the future, otherwise, I will lose my life at the slightest unexpected event."
Zhou Yan sat cross-legged in the deep pit, circulating the "Heavenly Dragon Eight Desolations Art," and began to heal his injuries.
Although the fire poison here was extremely potent, for Zhou Yan, it was a great fortune.
This time, he absorbed a large amount of fire poison to temper his physical body. After some time, the strength of his physical body would definitely reach the fifth level of the Qi Refining realm.
...
Time flew by. After a while, Zhou Yan's injuries had healed. He slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant light shooting out from them, captivating and soul-stirring.
"My cultivation has broken through to the second level of the Qi Refining realm."
"I only need to continue cultivating to reach the third level of the Qi Refining realm!"
"It's just... this fire poison seems to have had some special effect on my dantian, preventing me from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth," Zhou Yan frowned.
He tried to circulate his cultivation technique, wanting to guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his dantian.
However, in his dantian, apart from that trace of purple flame true qi, there was no reaction at all.
"This fire poison can actually hinder my absorption of spiritual energy of heaven and earth?" Zhou Yan's eyes widened.
He never expected that he would be defeated by a strange tree.
"No!"
Suddenly, Zhou Yan sensed something unusual. His soul seemed to have fallen into an ice cellar, becoming extremely frozen.
His once vibrant soul instantly became sluggish and stiff, as if he were trapped in a cold tomb, unable to escape.
"Bad!"
Zhou Yan's face changed. His will was incredibly tenacious, and he quickly regained his senses.
"That tree demon is indeed not simple. It can affect people's minds!" Zhou Yan thought to himself.
He had underestimated this tree demon. Such a monster was very strange and could bewilder humans, controlling their thoughts and memories.
"Buzz~"
At the same time, a strange aura permeated Zhou Yan's mind.
In an instant, his thoughts became chaotic, and hallucinations appeared before his eyes, with two voluptuous figures entwining him, madly tearing at his clothes.
"Damn it! What is going on?" Zhou Yan cursed incessantly, struggling desperately.
However, his body became weak and boneless, unable to break free. Moreover, his vision began to blur.
"Haha..."
"I'm about to enjoy myself. Little beauties, you can't escape!" A hoarse laugh echoed.
This voice was very familiar; it was the old man who had spoken to him earlier.
"You old beast, I'll fight you to the death!"
Hearing this voice, Zhou Yan immediately understood that he had been set up by the old man and lured into the cave, intending to use him as a cauldron for cultivation!
This old man was terrifyingly powerful. If he were to be cultivated, his life would surely be lost.
At this moment, a strong sense of humiliation rose in Zhou Yan's heart. He, the dignified body of nine reincarnations, had once stood at the peak of martial arts, roaring across the galaxy.
Even after falling for nine years and coming back to life, he was actually tricked by an old fellow and almost became a cauldron, to be drained of his essence blood and die.