Refining Fifth-Grade Pills!

The moment Ling Xi extracted the coreflame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, the dark red flame that had been swelling before him immediately began to shrink.

In just a few breaths, it condensed back into a wisp of dark red flame, merging into the coreflame in Ling Xi's palm.

"Why can't the rewards from the system just fuse directly into me? Then I wouldn't have to risk my life refining this Heavenly Flame."

Staring at the coreflame in his hand, Ling Xi's face showed a complicated expression.

What just happened was child's play. The real life-or-death part was yet to come.

Nearly ninety percent of Alchemists who refine a Heavenly Flame fall at this very step.

Actually, forget Heavenly Flames—plenty of people die from backlash even when refining ordinary flames.

"Damn it. A man who's already died once—why fear dying a second time?"

Ling Xi's hand trembled almost imperceptibly, and the hesitation on his face shifted into calm indifference.

"Live or die, this is the moment."

Without further hesitation, Ling Xi flipped his palm and slapped the coreflame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire into his mouth.

Even if it ranked second-to-last on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire was still a Heavenly Flame.

And the inside of a human body is its most vulnerable part.

Forcing a Heavenly Flame—a thing born of heaven and earth with destructive power—into an Alchemist's body was always a near-impossible gamble.

The moment the coreflame entered Ling Xi's body, he began trembling violently beyond his control.

Forcing down the searing pain and fear within him, Ling Xi closed his eyes and sank his mind deep into his body.

The dark red flame blazed unchecked inside Ling Xi's body.

Though protected by the blood scab formed from the Blood Lotus Pill's medicinal power, it couldn't fully block the terrifying heat of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire.

Moreover, the Blood Lotus Pill's energy was dissipating at an alarming rate.

"Good thing I took the Mysterious Origin Saint Sculpting Pill—my meridians are far tougher than those of any Dou Master at my level."

Despite the extreme heat of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, Ling Xi's meridians displayed remarkable resilience.

"I need to refine this Myriad Beast Spirit Fire fast!"

Enduring the discomfort, Ling Xi immediately tried to envelop the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire with his Dou Qi.

But a Heavenly Flame was still a Heavenly Flame—his Dou Qi was incinerated into nothing before it even touched the fire.

The Blood Lotus Pill's energy was also rapidly consumed in the tug-of-war between Ling Xi and the flame.

"No good—the Blood Lotus Pill's power is about to fade!"

Seeing the blood scab from the pill nearly gone, Ling Xi quickly swallowed the Ice Spirit Cold Spring he had prepared.

The icy liquid shot down his throat, spreading through his limbs and bones, leaving a layer of milky-white ice in its wake.

This bone-chilling cold perfectly neutralized the scorching heat from the Heavenly Flame inside him.

The sudden relief even made Ling Xi shiver involuntarily.

Under the suppression of the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire's temperature dropped.

Without hesitation, Ling Xi's abundant Dou Qi instantly wrapped around the weakened flame and began circulating it along the path of the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art.

Once, twice, three times...

The Ice Spirit Cold Spring's energy drained quickly, but the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire gradually grew docile as it followed the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art's circulation route.

The terrifying heat receded, and Ling Xi felt the searing temperature in his meridians transform into a warm, spring-like gentleness.

As the tamed Myriad Beast Spirit Fire flowed through his meridians, strands of impurities were continuously forced out of his body by the flames.

"Now's the time!"

Ling Xi used his Soul Power to guide the Naling on the ground into his body, finally sinking it into his Dantian.

"Boom!"

A surge of Soul Power erupted from Ling Xi's forehead, slamming into the coreflame of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire like a battering ram.

At the same time, the Devouring Ancestral Symbol's devouring power burst forth from the Naling in his Dantian.

Under the combined force of both, the already-tamed Myriad Beast Spirit Fire offered no resistance as it was pulled into the Naling within Ling Xi's body.

In that instant, Ling Xi's aura exploded upward.

Dark red flames suddenly emerged from the void, spreading rapidly in all directions.

The waterfall that had been blocking the cave was completely vaporized by the terrifying heat of the flames.

Ling Xi, still sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.

His originally pitch-black pupils were now shrouded in dark red flames.

If one looked closely, faint silhouettes of various Magical Beasts could be seen deep within the fire in his eyes.

But this didn't last long—the flames in Ling Xi's eyes quickly faded.

"Phew!"

Ling Xi rose and let out a long breath of stale air. With just a slight stretch, a series of crackling pops rang out from his body.

A warm, glossy sheen flickered across his exposed skin.

"So this is what it feels like to refine a Primordial Exotic Flame?"

Ling Xi extended his hand, and a clump of dark red flame instantly appeared in his palm, occasionally morphing into the shapes of various Magical Beasts.

The space around his palm gradually warped under the terrifying heat.

He clenched his fist, and the fist wreathed in Myriad Beast Spirit Fire slammed into the ground.

"Boom!"

The scorching heat first melted a small hole in the ground beneath his feet, then his fist struck the earth with a heavy impact.

A dull thud rang out as gravel and sand burst outward in all directions.

When the dust cleared, a pit half a meter deep lay before Ling Xi.

"Refining the Exotic Flame pushed my strength all the way to the five-star Dou Master level!"

Feeling the surging Dou Qi within him, Ling Xi's face lit up with surprise and delight.

"But I didn't cultivate Fen Jue, or else I could have fully devoured the Exotic Flame."

Ling Xi looked at the flame in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.

Fen Jue was different from other techniques—it could completely devour Exotic Flames to upgrade its own rank, and it could even fuse different Exotic Flames together.

"I'll still have to make a trip to the Jia Ma Empire. If I can't sign in for a good technique, then I must get my hands on Fen Jue."

Truth be told, 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 from the Ancient Emperor Cave, and the other was the Ancient Emperor Inheritance.

He didn't even dare to think about the Emperor Grade Nascent Pill. The Soul Clan had schemed for a thousand years and was nearly fully prepared.

As for the Ancient Emperor Inheritance, the key was Fen Jue. Without it, you couldn't even open the door to obtaining the inheritance.

"I still need to plan this carefully."

Gazing at the lush scenery in the distance, Ling Xi let out a long, heavy sigh.

Refining the Exotic Flame ranked 22nd on the Heavenly Flame Ranking was something to celebrate, but the road ahead was still long.