She knew Shen Yi was no reckless man. If he had said so, he must have thought it through and believed, at the very least, that taking the test now would benefit her.
Xilos nodded. She hesitated no longer, and the flames in her crimson eyes steadied once more.
Then she turned and walked toward the gray-brown Myriad Hearts Stone behind her.
Following Shen Yi's example, Xilos stopped ten yards from the Myriad Hearts Stone. She took a deep breath and calmed her mind. Within her, the Origin of the Flame of Continued Combustion—received from Shen Yi and gradually fused and stabilized through Winnie's help and her own tireless efforts—began to circulate.
She did not deliberately release any pressure. She simply let the aura of her most essential power, the pure soul of a Fire Spirit, and the pulse of the Origin of the Flame of Continued Combustion bound to her life flow gently but steadily toward the Myriad Hearts Stone, like ripples spreading from a pebble dropped into a lake.
The moment Xilos's aura touched the vast, ancient pulse of rules within the Myriad Hearts Stone, a deep radiance that had gone still inside its rough gray-brown surface suddenly flared again.
Countless tiny points of pure, brilliant white light surged from deep within the crystal like newborn stars awakening. They gathered and spread, forming a cloud of Rule Star Mist far smaller than the one Shen Yi had summoned, yet every bit as dazzling. It enveloped Xilos gently and completely.
The next instant.
A dazzling Dawn Sun burst forth at the heart of the mist surrounding Xilos. Like the rising sun, it held boundless vitality and pure heat.
Its light was brilliant white and warm. It lacked the overwhelming pressure of Shen Yi's Flame of Continued Combustion, which seemed