The Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range was a natural barrier the academy relied on for protection. Numerous mountains joined into one another, towering ancient trees dotted the land, and uncountable beasts inhabited the area. With rich spiritual energy in the air, it was an excellent place for cultivating.

A heroic-looking youth was riding atop a big-winged vicious bird flanked by two other big-winged vicious birds. Ahead of them was a slithering one-horned draconic serpent that would occasionally wander off to hunt. Behind them was a feathered beastman. A group like this was rather peculiar and conspicuous.

They were none other than Xiang Shaoyun, the three vicious birds, Money, and Aikai, who had departed the Dragon Phoenix Academy.

After being expelled, Xiang Shaoyun could still use the academy's teleportation formation one last time to leave. However, he did not and had instead opted to personally leave and travel through the Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range.

He planned to enter the depths of the mountain range to temper himself, but when he remembered what he made Liang Zhuangmin do for him, he thought that Devouring Ghost might be at Dragon Phoenix City already. Furthermore, Scarlet Flame Monarch also needed a place where he could rest and recover. Thus, Xiang Shaoyun needed to first pay the city a visit before leaving for the depths of the mountain range.

Yu Yuchen's death had caused the academy elders to be in a state of alert. Even Situ Mingyu, Mo Luo, Shadowflash, and Feng Huosuo, who were hostile toward Xiang Shaoyun, did not dare to act recklessly. Thus, Xiang Shaoyun was able to leave without any trouble.

Along the way, he tried to temper the three vicious birds as much as he could. They had once been nourished by the nine-colored fog in his astral cosmos sea, and their bloodline potential had been upgraded greatly. What they lacked now was combat experience.

The Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range had no lack of powerful demonic beasts. Everywhere they went, a large number of demonic beasts attacked them. So long as the beasts were not above the Demon King realm, he would let the three vicious birds deal with them. Money and Aikai were in charge of dealing with beasts of other realms.

As for Xiang Shaoyun, he fully relaxed his mental state and threw all his worries away, enjoying the feeling of freedom as he traversed the forest. He found that freed from the academy, he felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was as though he had completely opened himself up and could do anything he wished without thinking too much about it.

Along the way, his mind was busy digesting the vast knowledge he had accumulated in the Book Pavilion. When he was reading previously, he was only forcefully memorizing content. Only now did he get the time to rearrange all the information in his brain and truly understand them.

"The devil vine's blood heart can be used to form a true soul clone!" From the many pieces of information, Xiang Shaoyun figured out the true usage of the devil vine's blood heart. Its usage was recorded by someone from ancient times, and there were precedents of people using the blood heart to form a true soul clone.

Xiang Shaoyun planned to use the devil vine's blood heart to help Scarlet Flame Monarch recover his vitality, but Scarlet Flame Monarch rejected him firmly, claiming that it would be very useful for him. Thus, Xiang Shaoyun did not insist further and instead gave some vine roots and some other life-nourishing emperor medicines to Scarlet Flame Monarch.

Scarlet Flame Monarch did not reject the other gifts and devoured them all. Even so, his body still looked the same. It was obvious he still lacked a lot of replenishment. He also tried absorbing some of Xiang Shaoyun's nine-colored fog, and he instantly found that the fog was an incredible power. Unfortunately, there was too little of it, and it would ruin the ecosystem in the astral cosmos sea if he absorbed it all. Thus, he did not do so.

"Master, is this nine-colored energy a result of fusing nine energies?" asked Scarlet Flame Monarch.

Xiang Shaoyun answered, "Yes. This is the energy automatically created after gathering the energies from my nine stars into the astral cosmos sea. I named it the nine-colored fog."

"What nine-colored fog? This is obviously the primal chaos energy," declared Scarlet Flame Monarch confidently.

"Primal chaos energy? That's not possible, right? I thought it could only be formed using the origin energies of the five elements," said Xiang Shaoyun with astonishment.

The primal chaos energy was the original form of energy, while gold, wood, water, flame, and earth were the result of splitting the primal chaos energy. The primal chaos energy was the original energy that had existed since the initial formation of the world.

Primal chaos energy had long completely split into the many elements, but there were legends saying that it could still be found in some unique origin lands. On normal lands, it no longer existed.

Scarlet Flame Monarch sank into slight thought before saying, "You're right. The primal chaos energy can only be formed by the five elements. Your new energy is formed with nine energies. Is this that legendary energy?"

"What legendary energy?" Xiang Shaoyun asked, his heart skipping a beat.

If he could figure out the nine-colored fog's origin, it would only benefit him. Scarlet Flame Monarch once stood at the peak of the dominion. He was experienced and knowledgeable, and perhaps he knew what it was.

"Inception energy," said Scarlet Flame Monarch solemnly.

"Inception energy? Primal inception energy?" Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed in alarm.

He had read about the primal inception energy in an ancient text. The primal inception energy was the oldest and the most original energy, even older than the primal chaos energy. According to legend, it was an energy formed at the edge of the universe. Stars, suns, moons, primal chaos, and all life originated from the inception energy. As it came into existence during the Primal Era, it was known as the primal inception energy.

The record about the primal inception energy was short, consisting of only a few lines, but Xiang Shaoyun had kept it in his mind. Surprisingly, the energy he cultivated was that very energy.

"No, this isn't right. In the legends, the inception energy is colorless, an energy in the 'empty' state. But your energy is colored. It's different from the records," said Scarlet Flame Monarch in astonishment. Clearly, he had developed an intense curiosity over Xiang Shaoyun's energy.

"Yes, that's what the records say, but how many people have actually seen the actual primal inception energy? I feel like even if this is not the primal inception energy, there is definitely a relationship between the two," said Xiang Shaoyun confidently.

The nine-colored fog was capable of unleashing a destructive power that was no joke. It also contained a powerful life force, capable of nourishing all life in his astral cosmos sea. A regular energy definitely wouldn't have such attributes.

"You're right. That might be what the records say, but we can't be sure if it's right," Scarlet Flame Monarch agreed. "When you return to your previous strength, Master, you can then accumulate a massive amount of inception energy. With it, you will dominate the world. Nobody can hope to be your opponent."

"We'll talk about that in the future. For now, I'll get Money to hunt a couple of Demon Emperors so you can feast on them and recover more of your vitality," said Xiang Shaoyun.

Scarlet Flame Monarch said, "Blood at the Emperor Realm won't be too helpful for me. I need at least Sovereign blood for it to work. Since I'm not dying, we're in no rush. I'm more impatient to see Devouring Ghost."

"Don't worry. We'll see him soon," said Xiang Shaoyun.