Heavenly Flame Venerable

After a series of twists and turns, Huo Xuan's group finally entered beneath the magma.

As Huo Xuan continued descending, the Fallen Heart Flame within his body suddenly grew restless, as though something were calling out to it.

As they continued downward, a transparent barrier glowing faintly gradually appeared before them.

After passing through the barrier, Huo Xuan's group finally examined this small area. It was not large, only seven or eight square meters, and a skeleton lay in its center.

"This is... Fallen Heart Flame!"

Huo Zhi noticed that an invisible flame was clearly flickering above the mysterious skeleton.

It was indeed Fallen Heart Flame.

However, this Fallen Heart Flame was only the size of a head. The heat it emitted was far inferior to the Fallen Heart Flame Huo Xuan had subdued. If the Fallen Heart Flame within Huo Xuan's body was an adult, then the one before them was still in its infancy.

This infant Fallen Heart Flame might be of some use to the Fennel Technique, but likely not much. After all, evolving the Fennel Technique required an immensely terrifying amount of energy, and this infant Fallen Heart Flame clearly did not possess enough.

In the original story, after Xiao Yan took the mature Fallen Heart Flame, he had compensated Canaan Academy with that infant Fallen Heart Flame.

However, Huo Xuan had no intention of handing it over. After all, the Flame Clan had given the Lei Clan quite a few things in exchange for Fallen Heart Flame. It could be said that the Flame Clan had made a losing deal.

If he subdued this infant Fallen Heart Flame as well, then this deal could barely be considered to have broken even.

"At this point, are you still planning not to show yourself?" After putting away the infant Fallen Heart Flame, Huo Xuan spoke to the skeleton.

The moment Huo Xuan finished speaking, the skeleton before him suddenly erupted with a dazzling white light. The white light moved slowly like mist before finally gathering into an illusory human figure.

The illusory figure wore white robes, with hair and beard as white as snow. His face was aged, yet a faint gleam flashed within his calm eyes.

"After so many years, Fallen Heart Flame has finally found a new master!" The illusory figure waved his hand, and the Fallen Heart Flame inside Huo Xuan's body actually flew out of his control before landing in the other man's hand.

"Who are you? How dare you seize our Young Clan Leader's possession!" Huo Shuo roared.

When the illusory figure noticed Huo Shuo, his expression changed. He hurriedly returned Fallen Heart Flame to Huo Xuan and said, "Your Excellency, I mean no harm!"

"I am Yao Tian Huo, known as the Heavenly Flame Venerable. I was the previous master of Fallen Heart Flame." The illusory figure introduced himself.

"But now Fallen Heart Flame belongs to our Young Clan Leader. Were you trying to take it back just now?"

Hearing this, Heavenly Flame Venerable hurriedly explained, "Your Excellency, you misunderstand. I have no intention of stealing your Young Clan Leader's Fallen Heart Flame."

"Hmph! I wouldn't dare you to!" Huo Shuo said with a cold snort.

Heavenly Flame Venerable was furious, yet he did not dare to voice it. After all, the other party was a Dou Sheng.

"Then, Venerable, may I ask how you ended up like this?" Huo Zhi asked.

"Alas, back then, I relied on my few abilities and believed I could go anywhere under heaven. Thus, after subduing Fallen Heart Flame, I did not leave. Instead, driven by curiosity, I ventured deeper into this Magma World." Heavenly Flame Venerable's unhurried voice carried a trace of regret, as though he still regretted his recklessness from those years ago.

"After entering deeper into the Magma World, I discovered another Strange Fire seed of Fallen Heart Flame. This discovery delighted me greatly, so I greedily tried to take that Strange Fire seed as well. In the end, after the two Strange Fires merged within my body, not only did they fail to fuse perfectly, they instead repelled each other like sworn enemies. That battle between Strange Fires left me severely injured, and at that moment, I was attacked by a kind of Lizardman." Heavenly Flame Venerable sighed softly.

After a long while, Heavenly Flame Venerable slowly said, "From my observations, little brother, the fire energy within your body is abundant, and there is an extremely faint trace of wood energy within that fire. You must be an alchemist, correct? And since you were able to subdue Fallen Heart Flame, your alchemy skills must be rather high as well?"

"Correct."

"Since you are an alchemist, little brother, you should know how to repair a person's damaged soul, right?" Heavenly Flame Venerable asked with a light smile.

"What if I do? What if I don't?" Huo Xuan said blandly.

"Little brother, I would like to ask you to help repair my soul." Seeing Huo Xuan's attitude, Heavenly Flame Venerable could not help revealing a bitter smile. He then waved his hand, causing a snow-white Storage Ring to fly from the skeleton nearby into his hand. With a flick of his finger, a pale white scroll appeared before him. Several birds and beasts wreathed in flames were drawn upon it.

"This was my signature Dou Technique back then, the Five Round Separating Fire Method. Heh, calling it a Dou Technique is not entirely correct. It should be called a fire-controlling art."

Heavenly Flame Venerable tossed the scroll to Huo Xuan and said, "As long as you can help me, this will be yours. If you doubt my sincerity, you may take the scroll first. Once you discover that there is no problem with it, you can help me repair my soul afterward."

Huo Xuan accepted the scroll and gradually unfolded it to read.

"Five Round Separating Fire Method, a fire-controlling art. The art has five stages, distinguished by beast forms: wolf, leopard, lion, tiger, and flood dragon. Each stage possesses its own fire spirit. Once the art is mastered, the five beasts can gather to form the Five Round Separating Fire Array, possessing the tremendous might to evaporate seas and burn the heavens."

"If four of the five beasts are formed from Strange Fires, the power of this art can rival a Heavenly Tier Skill!"

This technique truly suited Huo Xuan perfectly at present. He possessed the Eight Desolations Destruction Flame, Bone Chilling Flame, Fallen Heart Flame, Wind Fury Dragon Flame, and Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame—exactly five kinds. With these five Strange Fires, the power of the Five Round Separating Fire Method would definitely be brought to its peak.

Huo Xuan placed the scroll into his Storage Ring and said to Heavenly Flame Venerable, "Don't worry, old sir. Not only will I repair your soul, I will also help you reconstruct your body."

Heavenly Flame Venerable was stunned at first, then said excitedly, "Then I must thank you, little brother!"

"What a familiar, comforting aura!" Zi Yan suddenly spoke at that moment.

"Zi Yan, what's wrong?" Huo Zhi asked.

"It seems there is something deep within this magma that makes me feel very close to it," Zi Yan said.

Close? Zi Yan had surely sensed Zhu Kun's aura.

"Then let's go down and take a look," Huo Xuan said.

"Little brother, since you are helping me, let me advise you: do not let curiosity drive you deeper. Though I do not know what lies below, after remaining in this Magma World for many years, I have vaguely sensed that there seems to be an extremely terrifying existence in the depths of the magma," Heavenly Flame Venerable said slowly.

"What is there to fear? With a Dou Sheng here, what could possibly be frightening? If you're scared, old sir, then wait here. We'll be back shortly," Huo Xuan said.

Once bitten by a snake, one feared a rope for ten years. In the end, Heavenly Flame Venerable still did not dare to go down.

What lay beneath the magma was indeed terrifying, but as long as Zi Yan was there, they would certainly be safe.