Sweetness After Bitterness

In the brightly lit cave, the Green Flame churned violently. As that cluster of flame burned, the space around it showed obvious distortions.

At this moment, Liu Xi's absorption caused the originally somewhat docile flame to turn violent. As it roiled, it let out sizzling sounds, while the air around it was burned into nothingness by the scorching Green Flame.

Yet this did nothing to stop the Green Flame from continuously drawing closer to Liu Xi. Though it moved rather slowly, supported by Liu Xi's abundant Dou Qi at the Dou Wang level, the Green Flame drifted steadily toward him without pause.

At last, the Green Flame arrived before Liu Xi. It was almost within reach, and an utterly scorching aura rushed toward him. But at this point, Liu Xi could no longer afford even the slightest hesitation.

Liu Xi immediately gritted his teeth. His right hand, covered in a blood-red keratin layer, plunged fiercely into the Green Flame before him as he searched desperately for the source flame of the Green Lotus Core Flame.

As his right hand thrust deep into the Green Lotus Core Flame, the blood-red keratin layer covering his arm began to melt rapidly. Drops of blood-like liquid fell continuously, and the moment they left his arm, they were swiftly burned into nothingness by the Green Flame.

Liu Xi paid no attention to this. He merely continued searching inch by inch through the Green Flame for its source flame. If the blood-red keratin layer was completely consumed before he found it, it would mean his attempt to subdue the Heavenly Flame had failed. He would also lose an arm; even with the cultivation of a Dou Wang, that arm would be ruined.

Suddenly, a trace of wild joy appeared on Liu Xi's previously solemn face. His palm tightly gripped something almost tangible. Liu Xi grinned, enduring the searing pain in his palm as he slowly withdrew his arm from the Green Flame.

When his arm emerged from the Green Flame, a wisp of liquid resembling green magma wriggled faintly in his palm.

"This is the seed flame of the Green Lotus Core Flame!" Liu Xi said in a deep voice as he stared at the green magma in his hand, which radiated a terrifying temperature. Next, he only had to swallow it.

He had come this far. How could he possibly give up? Liu Xi immediately held the Ice Spirit Cold Spring in his other hand, ready to drink it at any moment. Then he tilted back his head and practically forced the wisp of green magma down his throat.

Inside Liu Xi's Meridians, the moment the green magma arrived, it split into countless streams of Green Flame and began darting about wildly. The crimson Dou Qi originally within Liu Xi's body crumbled before these Green Flames, while their scorching aura continuously penetrated the blood armor and burned his Meridians.

Thus, Liu Xi felt pain in every inch of his body, to the point that he nearly convulsed from agony. Enduring it, he raised the Ice Spirit Cold Spring in his hand and gulped it down in one fierce swallow.

As the cold spring entered his body, Liu Xi shuddered violently from the cold. But the result was good. As the cold spring spread through his Meridians, they were almost coated in a layer of white frost, forming a relatively balanced situation with the Green Flames running rampant inside them. This gave Liu Xi the chance to deal with the Green Flames.

A Dou Wang was indeed a Dou Wang. Once the Green Flames could no longer temporarily harm his Meridians, the powerful Dou Qi belonging to a Dou Wang surged out from Liu Xi's Dantian. It traveled through the Meridians that served as its vessel, reached the Green Flames, and tentatively wrapped around them, carrying them along the proper Meridian route.

But the Green Flames were like rebellious children. The more he tried to correct them, the more fiercely they resisted. This was the problem Liu Xi faced now. Although he used his powerful Dou Qi to envelop the Green Flames, the trapped flames constantly leaped and thrashed, burning away all the Dou Qi that came into contact with them as they tried to break through Liu Xi's blockade.

To completely tame the Green Flames, Liu Xi hardened his resolve. He continuously drew out the Dou Qi within the Dou Crystal in his Dantian while pushing the Nine Nether Spirit Flame Art to its limit. Although the Nine Nether Spirit Flame Art could not devour Heavenly Flames like the Flame Mantra, as an Earth Tier Cultivation Method, it could continuously seize their heat, weaken the Green Flames, and temporarily strengthen him to grant him greater power.

And so, Liu Xi and the Green Flames within his body began a prolonged tug-of-war. The Green Flames continuously burned away Liu Xi's Dou Qi, trying to break through its enclosure.

As for Liu Xi, whenever the Green Flames burned through one layer of Dou Qi, he added another layer around them, continuously carrying them along the Meridian route of the Nine Nether Spirit Flame Art toward his Dantian. The process was slow, but it never stopped.

This perfectly demonstrated the law of the jungle. In the Original Work, Xiao Yan had obtained the Green Lotus Core Flame while only a Dou Master. At the time, Xiao Yan was weak while the Heavenly Flame was strong, so he could only continuously guide the then rather unintelligent Green Lotus Core Flame in order to subdue it, and he had still been burned half to death by it.

Now, as a Dou Wang, Liu Xi could forcibly carry the Green Flames forward according to his will as long as he made sufficient preparations and protected his Meridians from being burned into nothingness by the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Feeling that his Dou Qi had taken control of the situation within his body, Liu Xi revealed a savage smile. "If you had remained gathered together, perhaps I would have had no way to deal with you. But by splitting yourself into these individual streams of Green Flame, you've only trapped yourself."

Within Liu Xi's Meridians, the first stream of Green Flame being carried along had nearly reached the sea of Qi in his Dantian. Perhaps it had already been branded with Liu Xi's mark during the journey, for once it truly entered the Dantian, it quieted down.

This stream of Green Flame swam like a fish around the Dou Crystal in Liu Xi's Dantian, its nimble form looking utterly carefree.

A pleased smile also appeared on Liu Xi's face outside. Yet it did not last long before his expression became exceedingly grave, and his face alternated between green and white.

The Green Flame in his Dantian, which had already begun to grow docile, suddenly became violent. Liu Xi focused his senses and discovered that the Green Flame had encountered the Beast Fire seed of the Crimson Flame Mad Lion, which was also within his Dantian. Although the Crimson Flame seed trembled before the Green Flame as though it might go out at any moment, the Green Flame seemed provoked. It bared its fangs and claws, flaunting its dominance.

Then Liu Xi watched the swollen Green Flame directly devour his Crimson Flame, while the Crimson Flame did not even dare resist. Faced with this situation, Liu Xi cursed, "Damn it, Crimson Flame was one of my sources of power. Now that its seed is gone, dealing with the remaining Green Flames will be troublesome."

However, before Liu Xi could figure out how to resolve the situation, the Green Flame had already resolved it for him.

After devouring the Crimson Flame, that stream of Green Flame became docile again. In the end, it shrank into a tiny flame and drilled directly into his Dou Crystal, beginning to release its power. But rather than erupting destructively, it gently began helping Liu Xi purify his Dou Qi, dyeing his original Dou Crystal green and giving his Dou Qi the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame.

When this Dou Qi carrying the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame circulated through his Meridians to seal the other Green Flames, the Green Flames it touched strangely became gentle. They no longer resisted the Dou Qi wrapping around them. Instead, they flowed toward Liu Xi's Dantian with a faint sense of joy.

As the Green Flames stopped resisting, Liu Xi's progress in subduing the Heavenly Flame accelerated continuously. One stream after another entered his Dantian. When they came into contact with each other, they condensed once more into green magma and likewise drilled into Liu Xi's Dou Crystal. Thus, all the Green Flames once again became the flame source of the Green Lotus Core Flame.

But the scene in his Dantian made Liu Xi feel uneasy. The Green Lotus Core Flame continuously released its power to help him purify his Dou Qi and constantly emitted a sense of closeness, causing the rapport between Liu Xi and it to steadily rise.

Moreover, the Green Lotus Core Flame told Liu Xi of its second attribute. Its first attribute was the explosive Fire Attribute, while its second was the Wood Attribute of the lotus. It also continuously released its vitality to help Liu Xi recover from the injuries inflicted when the Heavenly Flame had burned him earlier.

Liu Xi was somewhat baffled by the Green Lotus Core Flame's strangely fawning behavior. He could not help muttering, "No matter how I look at it, it seems like the Green Lotus Core Flame saw Crimson Flame, a romantic rival in my Dantian, became consumed by jealous rage, then got rid of it before constantly trying to please me afterward. It's even arrogantly saying, 'See? I'm the strongest. All those gaudy little flames are trash before me!' What is this? The mistress took out the wife and successfully took her place—the mistress became the legitimate wife!"

Bang! It was as though an unreal sound rang out from within his body. With the Green Lotus Core Flame's help, Liu Xi broke through to the Two-star Dou King realm.

Normally, after devouring a Heavenly Flame, one could use it in battle or for alchemy, but it was generally impossible to break through a realm! Xiao Yan had done so because he directly used the Flame Mantra to devour the Heavenly Flame's source, raising both the Cultivation Method's rank and his cultivation. Yet Liu Xi had broken through directly with the Green Lotus Core Flame's assistance.

The Green Lotus Core Flame in his Dantian seemed to have accomplished something extraordinary. After emerging from Liu Xi's Dou Crystal, it radiated an excited feeling.

With a strange expression, Liu Xi took out the last Spirit Gathering and absorbed it into his body. The Spirit Gathering appeared out of thin air in his Dantian. Liu Xi used his thoughts to command the Green Lotus Core Flame to enter the Spirit Gathering on its own.

The Green Lotus Core Flame truly moved beside the Spirit Gathering, but it hesitated to advance, as though it knew that entering would mean losing its freedom.

Liu Xi issued the command again, this time somewhat sternly. Then the Green Lotus Core Flame drilled inside with a faint sense of grievance.

Seeing the Green Lotus Core Flame truly enter the Spirit Gathering on its own, Liu Xi suddenly felt a strange mix of joy and guilt. He was joyful because he had subdued the Green Lotus Core Flame, but guilty because it felt as though he had bullied it.

Thank you to all the readers for your support during this time. I will definitely work hard to improve the update schedule!