The instant Ling Xi extracted the source flame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, the dark-red flames that had been swelling before him began to shrink.
In just a moment, they turned back into a small dark-red flame and merged into the source flame in Ling Xi's palm.
"Why can't the rewards claimed from the system fuse directly with me? Then I wouldn't have to risk my life refining these Heavenly Flames."
Looking at the source flame in his palm, Ling Xi wore a complicated expression.
What he'd just gone through had been child's play. The truly life-threatening part was still to come.
Nearly nine out of ten Alchemists who tried to refine Heavenly Flames had fallen at this very step.
And it wasn't just Heavenly Flames. Plenty of people had died from backlash while refining ordinary flames, too.
"Damn it, I've already died once. Am I really going to be afraid of dying a second time?"
Ling Xi's hand trembled almost imperceptibly twice. The hesitation on his face gave way to calm.
"Whether I live or die comes down to this!"
Without another moment's hesitation, Ling Xi turned his palm and slapped the source flame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire into his mouth.
Although the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire ranked second from the bottom on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, it was still a Heavenly Flame.
And a person's insides were the most vulnerable parts of the body.
Allowing something like a Heavenly Flame—a force born of heaven and earth, endowed with the power to destroy—to enter an Alchemist's body was a gamble with nine chances of death and only one of survival.
The instant the source flame entered Ling Xi's body, he began to tremble violently, unable to control himself.
Forcibly suppressing the searing pain and fear coursing through him, Ling Xi closed his eyes and sank his mind deep into his body.
Dark-red flames ran rampant inside Ling Xi.
Although the medicinal power of the Blood Lotus Pill had formed a scab of blood to protect him, it couldn't completely block the terrifying heat of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire.
What was more, the Blood Lotus Pill's medicinal power was rapidly dissipating.
"Luckily, I took the Mysterious Origin Saint Sculpting Pill. My meridians are far tougher than those of other Dou Masters at the same level."
Although the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire burned at an extremely high temperature, Ling Xi's meridians displayed remarkable resilience.
"I have to refine the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire as quickly as possible!"
Enduring the discomfort in his body, Ling Xi immediately tried to wrap the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire in his Dou Qi.
But a Heavenly Flame was still a Heavenly Flame. Before Ling Xi's Dou Qi could even touch it, the energy was burned away into nothing.
Meanwhile, the Blood Lotus Pill's medicinal power was rapidly depleted as Ling Xi and the flame struggled against each other.
"No good. The Blood Lotus Pill's medicinal power is about to run out!"
Seeing that the blood scab formed by the Blood Lotus Pill was about to disappear, Ling Xi immediately swallowed the Ice Spirit Cold Spring he'd prepared earlier.
The icy liquid swiftly passed down Ling Xi's throat and flowed through his limbs and bones, leaving a layer of milky-white ice wherever it went.
This bone-deep cold was just enough to counter the heat from the Heavenly Flame inside Ling Xi.
The sudden relief was so overwhelming that Ling Xi couldn't help shivering.
Under the Ice Spirit Cold Spring's suppression, the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire cooled as well.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ling Xi's abundant Dou Qi instantly enveloped the somewhat weakened Myriad Beast Spirit Fire. Then he began circulating it along the paths of the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art.
Once, twice, three times...
The energy of the Ice Spirit Cold Spring was rapidly running out, but as the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire circulated along the art's routes, it gradually became docile.
Its terrifying heat slowly subsided. Ling Xi felt the once-frighteningly hot meridians in his body turn warm and soothing, like a hot spring.
As the increasingly tamed Myriad Beast Spirit Fire circulated through his meridians, it forced out thread after thread of impurities from his body.
"The time has come!"
With his soul power, Ling Xi drew the Naling from the ground into his body, then sent it sinking into his dantian.
"Boom!"
A surge of soul power burst from Ling Xi's forehead, slamming into the source flame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire.
At the same time, the Devouring Ancestral Symbol's devouring power erupted from the Naling in Ling Xi's dantian.
Under the combined force of the two, the already-tamed Myriad Beast Spirit Fire was dragged into the Naling inside Ling Xi without putting up the slightest resistance.
At that very instant, Ling Xi's aura surged.
Dark-red flames abruptly appeared in midair before rapidly spreading in every direction.
The waterfall that had been concealing the cave was completely evaporated by the flames' terrifying heat.
Ling Xi, who had been sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.
His once-black pupils were now engulfed in dark-red flames.
On closer inspection, one could even see the phantom forms of all kinds of Magical Beasts deep within the flames in his eyes.
However, this state didn't last long. The flames in Ling Xi's eyes soon faded away.
"Phew!"
Ling Xi stood and let out a long breath. He only had to move slightly for his body to crackle and pop.
A soft sheen glimmered across his exposed skin.
"So this is what it feels like to refine a Primordial Exotic Flame?"
Ling Xi opened his hand, and a ball of dark-red fire appeared in his palm, shifting now and then into the shapes of various Magical Beasts.
The air around his hand twisted under the terrifying heat.
He clenched his fist and slammed it into the ground, the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire wrapped around it.
"Boom!"
The intense heat melted a small hole in the ground beneath his feet before his fist crashed down hard.
With a dull thud, shattered stones and flying sand shot out in every direction.
As the dust settled, a crater half a meter deep appeared before Ling Xi.
"Refining a Heavenly Flame actually pushed my strength to the level of a five-star Dou Master!"
Feeling the abundant Dou Qi within him, Ling Xi couldn't hide his delight.
"But I haven't cultivated the Flame Mantra. Otherwise, I could have completely devoured the Heavenly Flame."
Ling Xi looked at the fire in his hand and sighed.
The Flame Mantra was different from other cultivation arts. It could completely devour Heavenly Flames to raise its grade, and it could also fuse different Heavenly Flames together.
"I still have to visit the Jia Ma Empire. If I don't get a good cultivation art from a sign-in, then I'll make sure to obtain the Flame Mantra."
Ling Xi had no other choice. In this era, there were only two ways to become a Dou Di.
One was the Emperor Grade Nascent Pill in the Ancient Emperor Cave; the other was the Ancient Emperor Inheritance.
He didn't even dare to dream of obtaining the Emperor Grade Nascent Pill. The Soul Clan had plotted for a thousand years and had nearly everything prepared.
As for the key to the Ancient Emperor Inheritance, it was the Flame Mantra. Without it, he couldn't even open the door to the inheritance.
"I'll have to plan this out carefully."
Looking at the lush scenery in the distance, Ling Xi let out a long sigh.
He had only refined the Heavenly Flame ranked twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. It was worth celebrating, but he still had a long road ahead.
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