Fusion of Heavenly Flames

Inside the cultivation chamber.

With his experience of devouring the Green Lotus Core Flame, Jiang Xing expertly stripped out the Fallen Heart Flame's source flame.

He poured out the Earth Spirit Pill from the jade bottle and swallowed it without hesitation.

The Earth Spirit Pill was a Sixth-Rank Pill that could help protect one's mind and clear away fire poison.

When devouring the Fallen Heart Flame, it would produce its heartfire effect. With the Earth Spirit Pill, it could help him refine the Fallen Heart Flame to the greatest extent possible.

Sure enough, after taking the Earth Spirit Pill, Jiang Xing swept away his previous concerns. He cast aside all distracting thoughts, and his mind became as still as water.

Then Jiang Xing directly swallowed the Fallen Heart Flame he had just stripped out.

The moment the Fallen Heart Flame entered his body, Jiang Xing once again felt that familiar burning sensation.

Although it was even more intense than when he had devoured the Green Lotus Core Flame, Jiang Xing could still endure it, since this was no longer his first time experiencing it.

Once inside his body, the Fallen Heart Flame still tried to dart around wildly.

Jiang Xing condensed several nets within his body, intending to trap the Fallen Heart Flame. However, he had overestimated his own Dou Qi and underestimated the Fallen Heart Flame's terrifying destructive power.

Under the scorching heat emitted by the Fallen Heart Flame, the Dou Qi nets were burned into nothingness the instant they drew near.

Tsk, this Fallen Heart Flame was a bit too fierce!

Unable to do anything else, Jiang Xing condensed Dou Qi again. This time, however, he did not intend to form more Dou Qi nets. With the Fallen Heart Flame's temperature being so high, he guessed that no matter how many layers of Dou Qi nets he stacked together, they would not be able to contain it.

So Jiang Xing changed his strategy. He directly condensed a thick wall, intending to drive the Fallen Heart Flame toward it.

After Jiang Xing's unceasing efforts, the Fallen Heart Flame was finally driven to the designated position.

To fuse Heavenly Flames, one had to erase their spiritual intelligence. Thus, Jiang Xing controlled the Green Lotus Core Flame's energy to assault the Fallen Heart Flame. Although the Green Lotus Core Flame ranked below the Fallen Heart Flame, it had Jiang Xing's Dou Qi continuously replenishing its energy.

One had supplies, while the other did not. The final outcome was obvious.

After spending quite a bit more effort, the Fallen Heart Flame's source finally could not hold on any longer. Its spiritual intelligence was directly scattered by the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Having lost its spiritual intelligence, the Fallen Heart Flame calmed down and no longer darted around like it had at the beginning.

Jiang Xing then directly pushed the Fallen Heart Flame into his meridians with Dou Qi and began circulating the Flame Mantra to refine it.

Refining the Fallen Heart Flame was not particularly dangerous, so Jiang Xing quickly completed its refinement.

With the refinement complete, the next step was the most important—and also the most dangerous—part: fusion.

However, Jiang Xing did not begin immediately. He had expended a considerable amount of Dou Qi while driving the Fallen Heart Flame into his meridians, so he needed to recover first.

Faced with this most difficult and dangerous step, Jiang Xing wanted to complete it in his best condition.

Jiang Xing took a Sixth-Rank Qi Recovery Pill from his Storage Ring. This Qi Recovery Pill had the same effect as Xiao Yan's Qi Restoration Pill: both could accelerate the recovery of Dou Qi in a short time.

However, Jiang Xing's Qi Recovery Pill was of a higher grade than the Qi Restoration Pill, so its recovery speed was naturally far beyond comparison.

After taking the Qi Recovery Pill, the Dou Qi Jiang Xing had just expended quickly recovered.

After adjusting his condition, Jiang Xing sank his consciousness into his body.

At this moment, the Fallen Heart Flame floated above the Qi vortex. Jiang Xing summoned the Green Lotus Core Flame.

The moment the Green Lotus Core Flame was summoned, the previously calm Fallen Heart Flame suddenly began to boil.

Heavenly Flames were natural enemies. If they encountered one another, they would instinctively want to devour the other and absorb its energy to strengthen themselves.

As Jiang Xing controlled the Green Lotus Core Flame to draw closer, he began activating the Flame Mantra. The closer the Green Lotus Core Flame came, the more violently the Fallen Heart Flame boiled.

Jiang Xing circulated the Flame Mantra and poured in Dou Qi, attempting to stabilize the two flames.

However, it was useless. The closer the Heavenly Flames came, the more violently they churned.

Left with no choice, Jiang Xing could only increase his Dou Qi output.

Fortunately, increasing the flow of Dou Qi had an effect. Jiang Xing finally brought the two into contact.

The instant the two Heavenly Flames touched, crackling sounds like firecrackers rang out, followed by waves of pain. Yet no matter how painful it was, Jiang Xing could only endure it, because he knew this was the critical moment of fusing the Heavenly Flames. He absolutely could not lose focus.

Jiang Xing mobilized the Flame Mantra Dou Qi and fed it into the two flames. Under the mediation of the Flame Mantra Dou Qi, the explosions gradually weakened, but the flames still did not fuse together.

Jiang Xing continued increasing his Dou Qi output. Finally, he discovered to his delight that the two differently colored Heavenly Flames were slowly beginning to merge.

But when Jiang Xing reduced the flow of Dou Qi, the point where they touched began exploding again.

Startled, Jiang Xing hurriedly increased his Dou Qi output, and only then did the two begin merging once more.

There was no other way. This consumed far too much Dou Qi, so Jiang Xing could only output Dou Qi while taking Qi Recovery Pills to replenish it...

As time passed, Jiang Xing no longer remembered how long he had been fusing them.

The green flame and colorless flame that had originally stood in opposition within his body had now completely fused together, and the flame had turned a jade-like emerald green.

Seeing the new Heavenly Flame formed by the fusion of the Green Lotus Core Flame and the Fallen Heart Flame, Jiang Xing let out a long breath.

"Whew, I finally succeeded!"

Having succeeded in fusing Heavenly Flames for the first time, Jiang Xing was filled with joy and delight.

Perhaps because he was stronger, the aftereffects Xiao Yan had suffered after fusing Heavenly Flames in the original work did not occur to Jiang Xing.

After absorbing the Heavenly Flames, Jiang Xing's realm finally returned to the one-star Dou Zong level he had possessed when he left, while the Flame Mantra had broken through from Mysterious Rank Low to Mysterious Rank High.

Jiang Xing could not help but complain, "This Flame Mantra is evolving a little too slowly!"

He had absorbed two Heavenly Flames before it finally broke through to Mysterious Rank High.

It was not as though he had never considered absorbing Beast Flames first to raise the Flame Mantra's rank before absorbing Heavenly Flames, but he had ultimately abandoned the idea.

Absorbing Beast Flames first could certainly raise the Flame Mantra's rank; Xiao Yan had done the same in the original story.

Yet after Xiao Yan absorbed the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Beast Flame, he never absorbed any other Beast Flames again.

Could it be because Beast Flames were too weak?

Clearly not. The Beast Flames of magical beasts at the Dou Zun level were already comparable to, or even stronger than, the lower-ranked Heavenly Flames.

Then why, when Xiao Yan could not find any more Heavenly Flames later on, did he not use large quantities of Beast Flames to raise the Flame Mantra's rank?

Jiang Xing suspected that devouring Beast Flames might have some side effects, so he did not dare absorb them recklessly, afraid he would ruin his cultivation.

Besides, Beast Flames were ultimately not Heavenly Flames. To amplify the Flame Mantra's power, he would still need Heavenly Flames in the end.

However, Jiang Xing had indeed guessed wrong this time. Those who cultivated the Flame Mantra could absorb Beast Flames, and there were no side effects.

The reason Xiao Yan did not absorb Beast Flames to raise the Flame Mantra's rank in the later stages was actually because, once the Flame Mantra had been cultivated to a certain point, absorbing Beast Flames could no longer make it evolve. It was not because Beast Flames had side effects.

"I wonder how long it took to fuse the Heavenly Flame? And I wonder whether the Queen has awakened yet?"

Before absorbing the Heavenly Flame, Jiang Xing had handed the Seven-Colored Tiny Snake to the Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder and asked her to help look after it.

Jiang Xing rose to his feet and left the cultivation chamber.

After leaving his residence, Jiang Xing headed toward where the Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder lived, intending to see whether the Queen had awakened during the time he had spent refining the Fallen Heart Flame.

However, before he could arrive, he saw Qing Lin walking toward him.

Qing Lin saw Jiang Xing as well and ran over happily. "Young Master, you've come out of seclusion!"

Qing Lin was still dressed in pale green. She had grown quite a bit taller, and her once somewhat frail figure had become much fuller and more mature.

Jiang Xing smiled and nodded at Qing Lin, then asked, "Qing Lin, how long was I in seclusion?"

"Young Master, you were in seclusion for a month."

Jiang Xing murmured, "It's already been a month?"