"How could the Bone Chilling Flame possibly show fear!?" Yao Lao found it unbelievable.
According to Xiao Ting, the Purple Beast Flame had formed after he absorbed the companion Purple Crystal Source of the Amethyst Winged Lion King. Under the influence of the low-rank Earth-tier Thunder-Fire attribute technique given by Xun Er, the beast flame had mutated and become a special true flame with dual thunder-fire attributes.
He had indeed sensed a faint aura similar to the purple fire in Xiao Yan's hand within the Purple Beast Flame.
This flame was definitely stronger than Xiao Yan's purple fire, but it was still nothing compared to a Heavenly Flame.
Yet his Bone Chilling Flame—ranked eleventh on the Heavenly Flame List—was actually showing fear?
No, it was more than that. Heavenly Flames were naturally hostile to one another. Even when facing the top ten Heavenly Flames, the Bone Chilling Flame would think only of mutual destruction, never submission.
"Bad!"
Amid his shock, Yao Lao noticed that the energy inside the medicine cauldron had grown unstable because of the Bone Chilling Flame's reaction. There was a risk of the cauldron exploding at any moment.
In his prime, he could have resolved such a minor issue with a single thought. But now he was in a severely damaged soul state.
His soul force was fully invested in refining the medicine, and he could not easily divert his attention to deal with the disturbance caused by the Bone Chilling Flame.
"Xiao Ting, retract your flame, or this refinement will fail."
But Yao Lao was still Yao Lao—he quickly thought of a solution.
Although it would mean the Green Spirit Pill would only have two lines, it was still better than a cauldron explosion.
He, the dignified Pill Venerable, had never failed when refining eighth-tier pills. Now, refining a mere fourth-tier pill had nearly ruined his lifelong reputation.
"Fail?"
Xiao Ting would not allow Yao Lao to fail. With a thought, he pulled back the flying Purple Beast Flame.
He then took out a special jade bottle, opened the stopper, poured its contents forward, and said, "Senior, here is a wisp of Green Lotus Core Flame that I captured. See if it can be used."
Yao Lao's soul force was powerful. A quick scan confirmed there was no problem with the wisp of Green Lotus Core Flame. He immediately controlled the medicine cauldron to fly over and absorb it.
Boom!
The energy inside the cauldron changed violently.
Before long, a fully formed pill flew out from the cauldron, encircled by flame patterns of three different colors.
"This old man has preserved his reputation for this life." Yao Lao's face remained calm, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hand and pinched the three-lined Green Spirit Pill.
"The quality is excellent. After you refine it, the chances of successfully advancing three stars are very high. Even if you fail, there will be no risk of dropping realms." Yao Lao showed a satisfied smile, thinking to himself that he truly lived up to his name.
"Thank you, Senior." Xiao Ting reached out to take the pill, then brought out another pile of medicinal ingredients. "With Senior's strength, you don't need to rest midway, right?"
Yao Lao: "..."
Xiao Yan's mouth twitched. In a daze, he seemed to see the black-hearted capitalist from his previous life who exploited workers like oxen and horses.
"No need to rest. However, this old man has a question that needs answering." Yao Lao flew in front of Xiao Ting and spoke with great interest. "Summon the flame you control. It seems rather unusual."
Of course it was unusual—it was the Purple Beast Flame.
Even though its current power level was only at the third tier, its origin was still that flame from the supreme Primordial Desolate World, ranked above even the Great Thousand World's Realm.
Yao Lao could not use the Purple Beast Flame for refining pills. Xiao Ting had actually expected this long ago, because he had once summoned it in front of the Green Lotus Core Flame. At that time, the Green Lotus Core Flame had transmitted feelings of fear and submission, even actively begging to be devoured and willingly become part of the Purple Beast Flame.
But he had not done so. It wasn't that he had to leave it for Xiao Yan or Xun Er, but rather that he felt it would be too wasteful.
Whether for the Purple Beast Flame or the native Heavenly Flames of the Battle Qi Continent, devouring other flames only increased their power—or in other words, their cultivation.
Even the Nihility Devouring Flame, which possessed devouring ability and was nominally second on the Heavenly Flame List but actually first, was the same when devouring other flames.
Otherwise, the Nihility Devouring Flame would not need to cooperate with the Hun Clan to collect souls and raise its soul realm—it could simply scour the continent for flames to swallow.
In fact, for the current Nihility Devouring Flame, which was probably still at the peak of eight-star Dou Saint, even swallowing a five-star Dou Saint might not allow it to break through.
The Flame Mantra was the true fundamental method for Heavenly Flames to evolve and elevate their foundation. This technique fused the origin of flames to create new ones—it was the Dao!
That was why Xiao Ting guessed that the Flame Mantra was similar to the Immortal Diagram for cultivating the Eternal Immortal Body—a prerequisite technique for practicing the original Dharma Body.
It was just that the Eternal Immortal Body still existed, while the Flame Mantra was related to the shattered five original Dharma Bodies, making this path much harder and requiring the fusion of ten thousand flames.
"Senior, I think it's better if you don't look. I'm afraid you'll be left with a shadow." Xiao Ting kindly reminded him.
"It's just a flame. What kind of shadow could it leave on this old man?" Yao Lao waved his hand indifferently.
Seeing this, Xiao Ting summoned the Purple Beast Flame and gathered it in his palm.
From the surface, the flame was beautiful and contained terrifying power.
Yao Lao had seen it once before. This time, he chose to perceive it with his soul force.
Hiss!
The moment his soul force touched the main body of the Purple Beast Flame, Yao Lao felt the Bone Chilling Flame deep within his soul go mad.
The flame that bore his soul imprint actually wanted to break free from his control and offer itself to the Purple Beast Flame.
That submission coming from the very origin nearly made him kowtow to Xiao Ting.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Xiao Ting withdrew the Purple Beast Flame. Otherwise, he would have lost face.
"Whew." Yao Lao breathed heavily with lingering fear and instinctively said in dread, "This flame of yours… this flame… it couldn't be the first on the Heavenly Flame List, the Emperor Flame, right?"
Xiao Ting: "..."
"I don't know either. It appeared on its own. This junior only knows that it was a stroke of fortune."
"This is a heaven-defying fortune." Yao Lao adjusted his emotions and spoke with a solemn expression. "No wonder you could become an alchemist. It's probably related to this special flame. Remember to nurture it well in the future—it will definitely bring you enormous surprises."
A flame that could make the Bone Chilling Flame want to offer itself up—Yao Lao didn't even know how to evaluate it.
But one thing was certain: the upper limit of this flame was terrifyingly high, and it had raised Xiao Ting's own upper limit countless times.
"In the future, if you want to gain recognition from the force behind your little girlfriend, you may have to rely on this flame." Yao Lao spoke earnestly.
Xiao Ting understood this principle very well even without Yao Lao saying it.
A great blessing from the Dao obtained through the Journal was naturally no ordinary thing.
After this small interlude, Yao Lao began refining medicine once again.
While observing, Xiao Ting did not forget to record the recent experience and all his thoughts into the Journal.
…
[Yao Lao guessed that the Purple Beast Flame is the Emperor Flame. I can only say this is the most tragic time the Purple Beast Flame has been black-named.]
[This experience made me curious. If I summon the Purple Beast Flame inside the Tou She Ancient God Mansion, would the inheritance left by the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor directly seek me out on its own?]
[From the looks of it now, the plane's blessings only slightly increase my cultivation speed. The great Dao blessing once a year is truly worth looking forward to—it can bring me fundamental improvement.]
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The girls: "..."
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