Chapter 1: The Yao Clan

Shennong Mountain Range.

Located in the extreme southern region of Zhongzhou, this place is quite remote, as it lies beyond the borders of Zhongzhou.

Although the Shennong Mountain Range is in a wild and desolate area teeming with poisonous insects and rare ferocious beasts, it has become quite bustling due to being the homeland of the Yao Clan.

This mountain range produces a variety of rare medicinal herbs, attracting many alchemists from afar to seek ingredients for their elixirs, making Shennong Mountain quite popular.

Of course, these alchemists only dare to search for herbs on the outskirts, avoiding the core areas.

Because that is the territory of the Yao Clan.

The Yao Clan is one of the ancient Eight Clans, known for their unparalleled expertise in alchemy. Within the clan, everyone, even those who are not alchemists, possesses some knowledge of alchemy, and their ability to appraise medicinal pills is unmatched.

After countless years of development, the clan has produced numerous powerful individuals and countless high-ranking alchemists, making them a formidable force.

...

Dan Ding City, one of the cities in the Medicine Realm.

In the central plaza stands a bronze cauldron, nearly three meters high, adorned with lifelike pill patterns. The faint fragrance of medicine fills the air, bringing peace to the mind. Beside the cauldron stand three figures.

Leading the group are two elderly men with stern expressions, both watching a young boy with his palm pressed against the cauldron.

The boy is dressed in simple attire, his long black hair casually tied behind him. His slightly raised face is quite handsome, and at this moment, he is closing his eyes, seemingly sensing something. As time passes, the pill patterns on the cauldron suddenly light up.

Moments later, three pill patterns gradually emit a radiant glow, resembling stars.

Seeing these three patterns light up, the older man spoke indifferently, "Yao Yan, twelve years old, six-star Dou Practitioner, third-grade bloodline, talent is acceptable."

"Unfortunately, it's a bit lacking."

The middle-aged man beside him sighed, appearing dissatisfied with the result.

As a clan with Dou God bloodlines, the importance of bloodlines cannot be overstated. The Yao Clan has been passed down to this day, with a population exceeding tens of millions. Many of these members are from intermarriages with outsiders, accepted disciples, or relatives by marriage, thus forming various branches.

Regardless of their origin, living in the Yao Clan's territory makes one a member of the clan, bearing an inseparable kinship, but they are labeled as branch members.

Only those with a bloodline grade of four or above are considered core members, who receive significant resources and treasures to nourish their bloodline power.

Clearly, the boy in front of them falls short of the clan's standards.

The difference between the branch and the main lineage, though only a single character, is worlds apart.

"He's still young. When he matures, his bloodline level might reach the fourth grade or higher. Even if it doesn't, if his alchemy skills reach a certain level, it could compensate. Our Yao Clan doesn't solely rely on bloodline level. Young man, work hard and strive to have your name inscribed on the clan monument when you come of age."

The elder sternly looked at the boy, Yao Yan, and admonished him.

He was a clan elder responsible for the education and talent selection in Dan Ding City. He had some impression of Yao Yan, who showed decent talent, hence the extra words of encouragement.

"Yes, Elder!"

Yao Yan opened his eyes and responded respectfully, then glanced at the towering stone monument in the distance, his face showing longing.

The stone monument, far away from here, is the Yao Clan's ancestral monument. Only those who have made significant contributions to the clan are recorded on it. Almost every Yao Clan member sees it as a goal and takes pride in it.

Seeing Yao Yan's expression, Yao Shan nodded with satisfaction and said, "You may go now."

Yao Yan respectfully bowed to the two elders before turning and walking towards the edge of the plaza.

Today was the day for bloodline testing, and the plaza was already crowded with onlookers, many of whom knew Yao Yan.

A burly man in armor, seeing Yao Yan's dejected expression, couldn't help but comfort him, "Kid, don't be discouraged. A third-grade bloodline is pretty good. You can always join the Iron Guard as a captain."

The Iron Guard is the Yao Clan's military force responsible for guarding the clan's territory, driving away beasts and outsiders, and ensuring the city's safety.

"Yes, Uncle Tie."

Yao Yan forced a smile in response, showing some signs of dejection on his face.

"Don't listen to him, little Yan. Your talent in alchemy is quite good. There aren't many better than you this year."

"Right, right. I almost forgot about that, haha."

...

Yao Yan politely responded to everyone's consolation, his face still showing signs of disappointment, as he slowly walked home, seemingly very downcast.

Seeing this, the crowd didn't continue to comfort him, as this was a common sight every year.

Not everyone is born a prodigy.

There are many cities within the Yao Clan's territory, each with a population of hundreds of thousands. Each city has schools where all Yao Clan children can study, giving them access to alchemy knowledge that is out of reach for ordinary people. This is the foundation of an ancient great clan.

But standing out from the crowd is extremely difficult.

Especially when compared to the core members, those extraordinary talents make them seem like ordinary people.

As he left the plaza, the dejected look on Yao Yan's face gradually faded. In truth, he wasn't disappointed at all; he wasn't even surprised by the results. In this life, his late parents were merely a Dou King and a Dou Spirit, and his father didn't even possess the Yao Clan's bloodline. He had anticipated such an outcome.

In fact, having a third-grade bloodline was a bit of a surprise to him.

It was higher than he expected.

After all, in the world of Battle Through the Heavens, the bloodline inheritance of a Dou God clan is quite rigid. If the parents' bloodline concentration isn't high enough, it's as difficult to produce a powerful bloodline descendant as it is to win a game of chance, relying entirely on a stroke of mutation.

Ordinary Yao Clan children without a strong bloodline, and without heavenly treasures to nourish them from a young age, can't develop very powerful bloodline strength. Yao Yan never considered himself an exception, even though he had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated into the womb, and not long after his arrival, his father died in the Shennong Mountain Range, reportedly at the hands of a group of fourth-tier magical beasts. His mother passed away shortly thereafter, leaving him a lonely child, confirming the saying: "The parents of transmigrators have high-risk jobs."

For this, Yao Yan felt very sorry.

He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or something else.

At times, Yao Yan even wondered if he was the so-called protagonist, equipped with a system. Ultimately, he discovered he wasn't. His only advantage might be his significantly stronger soul power compared to his peers and his familiarity with the plot, which allowed him to learn new knowledge quickly. This also contributed to his decent talent in alchemy.

After years of hard work, he was already a second-tier alchemist at the age of twelve, capable of refining a dozen or so first- and second-tier pills.

Yes, it's that remarkable.

This would be almost heaven-defying in the outside world, but within the Yao Clan, it was merely considered good, far from being a genius or prodigy.

For Yao Clan children, refining low-tier pills is hardly a challenge. They have ample medicinal materials to practice with from a young age and hands-on teaching from alchemists. Therefore, Yao Clan members generally become third- or fourth-tier alchemists by adulthood, even the guards.

For them, the real challenge is breaking through to the sixth tier or higher.

"A mediocre bloodline concentration is fine; at least it doesn't attract attention."

Yao Yan comforted himself. He was actually worried that if his bloodline concentration was too high, he would be heavily nurtured by the Yao Clan. If that happened, he would be stuck, unable to escape, and might even be targeted by the Soul Clan.

That's right, in recent years, he had already started planning his escape.

Staying in the Yao Clan had no future prospects, and the future looked bleak.

In the original story.

Apart from a few individuals, the entire Tao Clan was refined by Void Swallowing Flame, including the tens of millions of branch members, all turned into resources for Soul Heaven Emperor's advancement to Dou God. The written description was utterly tragic. If not for Xiao Yan, the protagonist, being present, no one would have escaped.

When Yao Yan realized he had transmigrated to this world, he began considering his future path.

As for changing everything... without the strength of a Dou God, what could he use to fight the Soul Clan?

The Soul Clan was the most powerful force on the Dou Qi continent.

Especially Soul Heaven Emperor, a ruthless character who schemed for thousands of years to break through to Dou God. In the end, he even sacrificed half of Zhongzhou and several ancient families, slaughtering billions of lives. If Xiao Yan, the original protagonist, hadn't appeared, he would undoubtedly have been the final victor.

Compared to him, the leaders of the other ancient clans were utterly unremarkable, content in their comfort zones.

This might be why Soul Heaven Emperor only looked up to Xiao Xuan—at least Xiao Xuan dared to take a gamble, mobilizing the entire clan to fight.

Thinking of this.

Yao Yan couldn't help but think of Flame Mantra.

Transmigrating to the world of Battle Through the Heavens, how could he not be interested in Flame Mantra? Even though the risks of cultivating it were akin to committing suicide with a gun, it was the only cheat-like ability in the story. Though the risks were high in the early stages, the benefits in the later stages were immense, providing a direct path to Dou God.

As for the Emperor Pill route... without the strength of a peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, you wouldn't even qualify to take a look.

Therefore, in recent years, Yao Yan had inquired about Yao Chen, partly because of Flame Mantra and partly to determine the timeline.

Yao Chen was a taboo name in the Yao Clan because he was a discarded member. In his youth, he had conflicts with Yao Wangui, an elder of the Yao Clan's Discipline Hall. Despite this, Yao Chen made a great name for himself outside, winning the championship in the Dan Tower competition and establishing the Falling Star Pavilion.

He even reached the Dou Venerate level, earning the title of Medicine Venerable.

This series of events was quite exciting for ordinary Yao Clan members, who loved gossip, especially when it involved elders.

Thus, Yao Yan easily gathered information about him.

About a decade ago, Yao Chen suffered a backlash from refining a pill and died...

That's right, he died.

Apparently, Yao Chen's "good disciple" Han Feng had already betrayed him, stabbing his teacher in the back. The wheels of the plot were already in motion.

As for Xiao Yan, he hadn't appeared yet.

Unfortunately, Yao Yan couldn't ascertain the exact timeline from this. To determine it, he would either need to find out how old Gu Xun'er was or go to the Jia Ma Empire, both of which were currently impossible for him.

"Thinking about all this is meaningless."

Yao Yan sighed. For now, the best path was to accumulate strength within the Yao Clan. Only with strength could he plan for the future.

After all, in the world of Battle Through the Heavens, strength determines everything.