Heavenly Flame Seedling

Xiao Ming had no idea what the others who had entered this Space Secret Realm Passage before him had felt.

But the first thing he felt upon stepping into this space was the stench!

It was not the stench of rotting rats in a sewer, nor was it like the smell from the corpse pool during his last attempt to collect the Green Rock Profound Water. It was an overwhelmingly thick blood stench.

The smell was difficult to describe. It was fishy and foul, yet mixed with a trace of sweetness. It was the first time Xiao Ming had ever smelled anything like it.

The second thing Xiao Ming felt was heat!

This heat was not as horrifying as the blood stench.

It was still within Xiao Ming's range of endurance.

That made Xiao Ming breathe a sigh of relief.

"Bleurgh, what kind of damned place is this? It reeks!"

"Urgh, why is it so dark here? Dark and smelly, I can't see a thing! Hey! Where are you all?"

"Ah! What is this thing? Get away from me!"

This space truly was incomparably dark, so dark that one could not see their own hand before their face. Xiao Ming turned toward the direction the voices had come from.

What he saw made him break out in a cold sweat.

In the distance, a humanoid figure emitting faint light was rapidly approaching, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound through the air.

As it drew closer, Xiao Ming could feel the temperature around him rising.

"Run! It's a Blood Shadow like those red humanoid figures outside!" someone cried out in terror from the darkness.

Unfortunately, a few seconds later, after several muffled groans, Xiao Ming could no longer sense the others' auras.

Xiao Ming understood that those people were already dead!

And the culprit was the humanoid figure standing before him at that moment, its head tilted as it radiated intense heat.

Another Blood Shadow?

Xiao Ming looked at the Blood Shadow standing before him, seemingly blankly studying him, and thought to himself.

The Blood Shadow fighting Su Mei and the others could not possibly have returned so quickly. Although Blood Shadows were terrifying, the lineup fighting it was equally terrifying.

Defeating or killing them so quickly was absolutely impossible.

Besides, he was still standing not far from the passage.

If that Blood Shadow had returned, he would definitely have sensed it.

So this Blood Shadow must have newly appeared.

Although he knew this was a newly appeared Blood Shadow, Xiao Ming was not particularly afraid. His tense body suddenly relaxed.

Because the Blood Shadow before his eyes was merely standing there blankly and showed no intention of attacking him.

This was thanks to the Refining Method he had just learned, which had caused the Blood Red Mark inside his body to disappear.

Having lost the mark, the Blood Shadow would ignore him.

Even if Xiao Ming attacked it, the Blood Shadow would not retaliate. This was a mechanism established by the formation's creator to prevent members of his own sect from accidentally touching a Blood Shadow and being mistakenly killed.

In the end, the Blood Shadows condensed by the Blood Qi Condensing Shadow Great Method possessed no intelligence. They merely carried out their programmed commands coldly.

Though this program was truly formidable and gave the Blood Shadows immense combat strength, the formation's power also imposed extremely strong restrictions. This could be considered one of its flaws.

Of course, entering this place was already extremely risky, so Xiao Ming had no intention of taking further risks by attacking the Blood Shadow to see whether it would retaliate.

He merely stared at the Blood Shadow's chest in astonishment.

Look what he had found!

Inside the blood-colored figure's chest was a faint red flame.

Because the Blood Shadow's body obstructed it, Xiao Ming could not see the flame very clearly.

Yet faintly, he seemed to see all kinds of magical beasts emerging within the flames.

"Could this be a Heavenly Flame?" Xiao Ming jolted as realization struck him, and he exclaimed in wild delight.

There truly was a Heavenly Flame in his memories similar to this flame.

It was the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, ranked twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was a red flame within which the forms of myriad beasts faintly appeared.

Formed from the souls and bloodlines of myriad beasts, it contained the berserk and ferocious aura of the Beast Race. It could absorb and suppress most Beast Flames.

Thinking of this Heavenly Flame's characteristics, Xiao Ming summoned a pink flame.

It was his Peach Blossom Flame.

As soon as the Peach Blossom Flame appeared, the surrounding darkness was illuminated, revealing skeleton after skeleton of magical beasts.

He controlled the Peach Blossom Flame in his hand and slowly tossed it toward the Blood Shadow's chest.

The Blood Shadow remained unmoved by the Peach Blossom Flame, allowing it to come into contact with its body.

The Peach Blossom Flame intertwined with the Blood Shadow's blood qi, producing sizzling sounds. Since the Blood Shadow had no awareness of resistance, after weakening somewhat, the Peach Blossom Flame finally entered its body.

The moment the Peach Blossom Flame entered the Blood Shadow's body, before it could wreak havoc and cause destruction, the flame in the Blood Shadow's chest suddenly swelled.

The Peach Blossom Flame was swept away by it, and the surroundings sank into dimness once more. Only within two or three meters of the Blood Shadow was there faint light.

His flame had been swept away, and he could no longer sense it, yet Xiao Ming was not angry. Instead, he laughed aloud.

"Hehehe, this should be the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame."

Why was Xiao Ming so certain? For no other reason than that it had effortlessly absorbed the Peach Blossom Flame.

One must know that what he had released was not a Peach Blossom Flame Clone condensed from Dou Qi, but the Peach Blossom Flame Origin Fire.

After Ling had devoured this flame, Xiao Ming had been able to control it firmly.

Even against a higher-grade Masterless Beast Flame, it should not have been able to sweep away this origin Peach Blossom Flame so easily under his control, much less devour it with such ease.

Only Heavenly Flames could do this so easily.

"Still, isn't this Heavenly Flame a little too weak? Why does it look like just a tiny flame? Could it merely be a seedling slightly stronger than a Heavenly Flame Seed? And why has this Heavenly Flame appeared here?"

Xiao Ming pondered. He thought of the conditions required for the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame to form, then looked at the countless magical beast corpses around him. At last, realization dawned on him.

"It must be because this sect used magical beasts to condense Blood Shadows, then accidentally created the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. This is a Man-made Heavenly Flame."

Xiao Ming's guess was correct.

The sect that had originally occupied this secret realm created the Sect Protecting Great Formation. Although it would not normally be activated, in order to ensure that it could function at critical moments, they had a habit of throwing magical beasts into it to maintain its consumption.

The blood qi of magical beasts was far more abundant than that of humans, and capturing them carried no moral burden.

Furthermore, magical beasts could be raised. When young, they could serve as laborers. When old, their useful parts could be removed, and there was no need to bury the rest; they could simply be thrown into the great formation.

It could be said that magical beasts were simply the best consumables for this formation. Over time, a great deal of magical beast bloodline and souls gathered within it. After enough time had passed, through various coincidences, the souls and essence blood of myriad beasts condensed in a strange manner, forming the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame Seed.

The person who had originally created this formation probably never expected that a Heavenly Flame could be produced within their great formation.

After all, the conditions and time needed to produce a Heavenly Flame were far too demanding.

Who knew how long this Heavenly Flame Seed had remained in the Dark Space before becoming a seedling.

Still, calling it a Man-made Heavenly Flame was not entirely accurate. It could be said that the Blood Qi Condensing Shadow Formation merely created the conditions for the Heavenly Flame to form, but Heavenly Flames could not be produced simply because the conditions existed.

Thanks to Bamboo Forest Madman for the reward. Thanks to Wo Ai Yi Gen Chai, Free as Wind, Zeyu Ji, and 20201028163511202 for the Monthly Passes. Thank you all for the Recommendation Tickets.