Refining Beast Fire

Long Chen examined the jade bottle in his hand. It contained a mass of liquid that emanated warmth, as if holding a flowing stream of heat.

However, Long Chen knew that this seemingly hot liquid was actually Beast Fire, the essence of a fire-elemental magical beast's flame.

Beast Fire was extremely precious. A single mass of Beast Fire was equivalent to the life of a magical beast, and only beasts of rank two or higher possessed the ability to nurture Beast Fire.

Long Chen had observed the Beast Fire with his divine sense. The fire element within it was incredibly dense. Based on Long Chen's memories, this kind of Beast Fire likely belonged to a peak rank two magical beast. It was no wonder Wei Cang's face was worse than a widower's when he handed over the Beast Fire.

"Hoo"

Long Chen circulated his Pill Fire, enveloping himself, and opened the jade bottle. He swallowed the essence of Beast Fire within it in one gulp.

"Boom!"

After Long Chen swallowed the Beast Fire, the liquid that had been like water instantly erupted. The Beast Fire, which had been as docile as a rabbit, suddenly transformed into a ferocious tiger.

Beast Fire was originally the life essence of a magical beast, containing the beast's inherent wild will. Generally, Pill Cultivators needed to spend a significant amount of time grinding away the wild will within the Beast Fire to subdue it.

Only after the wild will was smoothed out would they begin to use their own Pill Fire to communicate with the Beast Fire, slowly making it yield and refining it step by step.

But Long Chen couldn't wait. The battle today had completely exposed his trump cards. He needed more powerful trump cards to protect himself.

Xia Changfeng had lost a capable subordinate, and Wei Cang had lost his Beast Fire. It was obvious they wouldn't let this matter rest.

Currently, in the entire Phoenix Cry Empire, the only person Long Chen could rely on was Master Yun Qi. However, as the Guild Master of the Alchemist Guild, he couldn't directly interfere in the Phoenix Cry Empire's conflicts.

Unless Long Chen was willing to completely join the Alchemist Guild and cease his involvement in Phoenix Cry matters. But Long Chen had endured so much suppression over the years; how could he be content without finding the mastermind behind it all?

Moreover, how could he possibly abandon Chu Yao? The hardships Chu Yao faced reminded him of his own past. Could the person who tampered with Chu Yao also be the one who stole his spiritual roots?

Before everything was clear, asking Long Chen to give up was impossible. He couldn't swallow such a slight. Therefore, his time was extremely tight, forcing him to refine the Beast Fire in the most violent and direct way possible.

"Boom!"

Another explosion resounded within Long Chen. After entering his body, the Beast Fire acted like a ferocious leopard, desperately charging and crashing. The terrifying heat felt like it would utterly destroy Long Chen.

Normally, when Beast Fire was extracted, its power couldn't be suppressed to maintain its potency, otherwise, its quality would decrease.

Long Chen was currently facing the scorching heat of a peak rank two magical beast's Beast Fire. The violent power caused Long Chen to spit out a mouthful of blood.

The moment the blood left his body, it turned into steam, indicating that Long Chen's internal body had already become a furnace.

"Hmph, a mere rank two magical beast dares to resist."

Long Chen snorted coldly. His Wind Mansion Star circulated, and his seven vortexes erupted. The flame power throughout his body became like a vast net, tightly enveloping the Beast Fire.

The Beast Fire was initially extremely wild, but although Long Chen's Pill Fire wasn't particularly powerful, with the support of his Wind Mansion Star and the enlarged seven vortexes, its strength became immense.

At first, the Beast Fire could still charge and retreat, but after a few breaths, it began to resemble a trapped beast, struggling in vain.

After all, the Beast Fire lacked sustained power. Under Long Chen's full refinement, its wildness was gradually worn down, and it slowly calmed down.

Although he had anticipated it, Long Chen still breathed a sigh of relief. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes.

Long Chen felt like he was suffering from a split personality. On one hand, he looked down on this Beast Fire, yet on the other, he desperately craved it. There was a hint of surprise mixed with a trace of disdain.

He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Long Chen knew that he had integrated the soul of a generation's Pill Emperor. The Pill Emperor naturally disdained such Beast Fire.

But he needed it, and he needed it urgently. This Beast Fire would be his first step on the path of Pill Dao cultivation.

Through Long Chen's continuous refinement, the Beast Fire returned to its calm state, resembling a mass of water, extremely docile. It was now completely purified, devoid of any trace of ferocity.

Generally, a Pill Cultivator's most basic Pill Fire was actually the spiritual energy within their Dantian. This energy was released outside the body along a specific circulation route, generating high temperatures.

Rather than calling it fire, it was more like a high-temperature gas. Those who could form such a gas possessed the potential to become Pill Cultivators.

And such individuals were typically one in a thousand, making Pill Cultivators extremely rare. However, there were those who were born with a trace of flame power within their Dantian. After postnatal guidance, this power could become Pill Fire, and only then could it be called true Pill Fire.

But such individuals were not one in a thousand, but one in ten million. Therefore, most aspiring Pill Cultivators, like Long Chen, truly began their rise by refining Beast Fire.

Even so, Beast Fire was extremely precious and couldn't be measured by money. He didn't know about other places, but within the Phoenix Cry Empire, apart from Yun Qi, it seemed no one else possessed Beast Fire.

Slowly retracting his own flames and looking at the Beast Fire within his body, Long Chen couldn't help but feel a bit troubled.

Generally, after refining Beast Fire, Pill Cultivators would integrate it into their Dantian, making it their lifelong path of cultivation.

But Long Chen couldn't do that. Firstly, his source of spiritual energy didn't come from his Dantian but from his Wind Mansion Star.

Secondly, he possessed the Nine Stars Hegemony Body, a powerful and mysterious technique that gave him the strength to challenge opponents of higher cultivation. He would never abandon the Nine Stars Hegemony Body to pursue the Pill Dao.

"Got it!"

A flash of inspiration struck Long Chen. He placed the Beast Fire in his Dantian, and the seven vortexes slowly surrounded it.

"Let's try this."

Long Chen took a deep breath. He made an extremely bold attempt, slowly circulating a few vortexes to absorb the Beast Fire.

Through the absorption of the vortexes, the Beast Fire offered no resistance, allowing Long Chen to control it and integrate it into his entire body's meridians.

This was flame fusion, the process of dissolving the Beast Fire into every part of his body, allowing his body to become familiar with this flame and achieve maximum compatibility.

The Beast Fire had been thoroughly refined, so this process was very easy. The Beast Fire dispersed throughout all of Long Chen's meridians.

Long Chen's approach was absolutely unprecedented. No one would have attempted it this way, not even in the memories of the Pill Emperor.

After integrating the Beast Fire into his meridians, Long Chen was pleasantly surprised to discover that his meridians had widened slightly.

Don't underestimate this slight widening. Each meridian was like a canal. The wider the canal, the more spiritual energy it could carry during battle, and the greater the power that could be unleashed.

It's like comparing the dantian to the sea and the meridians to ditches. When fighting, you need to channel the water from the sea into various ditches, finally converging at a single point for an explosive release. This is the process of activating a combat skill.

However, the more powerful the combat skill, the more energy it requires. If the capacity of the ditches isn't enough, they will shatter. Before you can even harm the enemy, your own meridians will be completely destroyed, rendering you useless.

This is why Long Chen, even though he knew how to activate Heaven Splitting, couldn't do it. It's because his meridians weren't wide enough.

But today's attempt made him so excited he almost jumped up. He used his own meridians as a vessel to nourish the Beast Fire, allowing them to complement each other.

As his cultivation grew stronger, his meridians would be continuously widened and solidified by the Beast Fire. Long Chen had truly struck gold.

Although other Pill Cultivators integrated Beast Fire into their dantian, accelerating their cultivation, it couldn't compare to the practical benefit of widening his meridians.

"Alright, whether I'm a dragon or a snake remains to be seen. Give me some strength."

Long Chen took a deep breath, praying in his heart. With a thought, the Beast Fire integrated into his meridians slowly gathered towards his dantian.

"Whoosh"

A flame appeared in Long Chen's palm, a pale red. The moment the flame appeared, it caused the space around it to distort.

He nodded. To have such power after just refining it, it truly lived up to its name as Beast Fire. It was several times more powerful than his original Pill Fire.

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth. The Wind Mansion Star began to circulate slowly as he carefully channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into the vortex.

The seven slowly rotating vortices instantly enlarged, spinning rapidly like windmills.

"I wonder if it will actually work."

Long Chen looked conflicted, gazing at the flame in his hand, his heart pounding. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

However, Long Chen still guided the power of the seven vortices onto the ball of flame held in the center.

"Whoosh"

Long Chen felt his body jolt as if it were about to explode. The foot-long flame in his palm suddenly surged to over ten feet tall.

"Not good!"

Long Chen was startled and quickly withdrew the flame, slapping his palm towards the roof.

It turned out the Pill Fire in his hand had suddenly surged, and the terrifying heat had instantly set the roof ablaze.

"Bang!"

With a loud explosion, Long Chen extinguished the fire with a palm strike. However, while the fire was out, the entire roof was also blown off by his palm.

Looking up at the starry sky through the 360-degree panoramic skylight, Long Chen felt like crying. He had just arrived at someone's house and had already burned down a house and then demolished another. This wasn't very good!

Indeed, footsteps sounded, and the people of the Shi Mansion were alerted. There was no helping it; the entire roof had been blown off. Such a commotion would be heard even by the deaf.

Seeing Long Chen's embarrassed expression, Shi Feng's father suppressed the shock in his eyes and smiled faintly. He said nothing and had a servant arrange a new room for Long Chen.

Long Chen wanted to say something, but Shi Feng's father patted his shoulder and chuckled, "You and Shi Feng are brothers, so treat this place like your own home."

After being reassigned to a new room, Long Chen no longer dared to experiment with his newly invented technique. He sat cross-legged on the bed, began circulating his vortices, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, channeling it into the Wind Mansion Star, and started cultivating.

The next morning, before the sun had even shown its unchanging face, a loud bang suddenly erupted from within Long Chen's body.

"Boom!"

Long Chen slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with joy. He hadn't expected to break through his bottleneck and reach the eighth level of Qi Gathering so quickly after the great battle with Huang Shang.

After breakfast, he checked on Shi Feng and found that he was no longer in any serious danger. After leaving him two pills, Long Chen left the Shi Mansion and headed straight for the Alchemist Guild.