One small child, one grown man.
How could he wander the continent? Lin Xiao knew the answer.
Lin Xiao's gaze followed the old man's meaningful smile as he looked at the black-robed youth. His heart was already filled with a faint anticipation.
Lao Yao smiled and took out an ancient scroll.
The scroll slowly landed in Lin Xiao's hand. "Lin Xiao, this is the Flame Mantra. Take a look."
Lin Xiao carefully opened it, and a black flame-shaped mark suddenly appeared on the scroll.
Very quickly, Lin Xiao understood the Flame Mantra.
"Master, it says that to evolve, it needs to devour Strange Fire. But in this world, there doesn't seem to be any Strange Fire."
Lin Xiao slowly spoke. He had never heard of Strange Fire existing on the Douluo Continent. Strange Fire was born from heaven and earth, formed by meteorites falling from the sky, or condensed from energy within certain forbidden lands.
Furthermore, evolving the Flame Mantra required devouring Strange Fire, and the success rate was not high. It could be said to be extremely dangerous.
When Xiao Yan had first devoured Strange Fire, he had endured agony worse than death. He had nearly failed to survive.
The auxiliary materials required were also extremely numerous and exceptionally precious. In this world, could he really gather those things?
It seemed that cultivating would be extremely difficult.
The technique was a good one, but the conditions were not very accommodating.
"If there is no Strange Fire, other flames can be used as substitutes."
"From what I understand, every world should have Strange Fire."
"To think that this world actually has no Strange Fire."
Lao Yao was somewhat puzzled. In the Douqi Continent, there had been more than one type of Strange Fire. Although this world's energy level was not high, it should still have them.
Yet after forty years, he had indeed never encountered any Strange Fire.
"Master, if other flames are used as substitutes, can the Flame Mantra still evolve?"
"The effect will probably be much worse."
Lin Xiao spoke with some concern.
Strange Fire was out of the question. He could only use other flames as substitutes.
"The Flame Mantra can fuse with Strange Fire. As long as a flame's grade is not too low, it can also be fused."
"Later, you can use it to devour flames and evolve. It should work."
Lao Yao thought for a moment before speaking.
Perhaps it was a case of quality making up for quantity, quantity compensating for quality.
As long as there were enough flames, they might not be inferior to Strange Fire.
That did not seem impossible either.
"If quantity can make up for quality, Master, it seems I'll have to start collecting flames in the future."
Lin Xiao suddenly understood. Since that was the case, there was nothing to worry about.
"Master, my first martial soul is a flame martial soul. Can I use it as a foundation to fuse flames?"
Lin Xiao extended his right hand. A small cluster of pale white flames emerged, icy cold to the bone.
His martial soul, in Lao Yao's words, had been tainted by a trace of Bone Chilling Flame. It had probably reached the level of a top-tier flame by now.
Moreover, it was his own flame, so its compatibility would be much better.
Lao Yao looked at the flame in Lin Xiao's hand, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "It can be done, but if you want to reach a level comparable to Strange Fire, your physical strength must also improve."
"Master, you forgot that I have a second martial soul, the innate martial soul, Self!"
"I'll use my flame martial soul to cultivate the Flame Mantra, using the cultivation method from your world."
"As for my Self martial soul, I'll cultivate Soul Power. Cultivating both at once, martial soul cultivation can greatly improve my physical strength."
"In front of outsiders, I'll only have one Self martial soul, not twin martial souls."
Lin Xiao had already thought it through. He would cultivate both Soul Power and Devil King power. Devil King power was of a higher grade than Soul Power, so it was worthwhile no matter how he looked at it.
Among those of the same rank, he would be an invincible existence.
Lao Yao narrowed his eyes, rubbing his beard as he slowly said, "Cultivating Devil King power and refining it through Soul Power will not be that easy."
"I spent so many years inside the ring. It took a full forty years of absorbing Soul Power and refining Devil King power before I woke up."
"Kid, have you thought this through?"
"When the time comes, there will be two kinds of energy in your body. The conflict between them will be a problem."
"Once they clash, at a certain point, trouble will arise."
Lao Yao truly lived up to his name. His experience and way of thinking were far beyond ordinary people.
He immediately pointed out the problem.
"Master, I understand what you mean."
"Cultivation is nothing more than fighting the heavens, fighting people, fighting for that sliver of hope."
"Master, I want to give it a try."
Lin Xiao spoke seriously. The coexistence of two high-grade energy systems was difficult, but if he truly succeeded, he would become an unprecedented existence.
Moreover, from Lao Yao's words, Lin Xiao also learned that he could use refined Devil King power for cultivation.
Now, all he needed to solve was the conflict between the two energy systems.
"Hahaha, you."
"Since you are willing to try, then as your master, I can accompany you in trying it once."
"Right now, the strength I can use is limited."
"If you wish to cultivate Devil King power, with my current ability, I can help you suppress the violent fluctuations of the two energies until you reach the Devil King realm."
"But before you break through to the Devil King realm, you must find a way to resolve this problem."
"Otherwise, when the time comes, you will have no choice but to stop cultivating Devil King power."
Lao Yao smiled. His disciple had such ambition. How could he possibly refuse to support him?
It was just that the strength he could use was limited. If he were at his peak, balancing ten kinds of energy would not be a problem at all.
Lin Xiao listened attentively, his heart filled with gratitude. His master truly treated him well.
"Thank you, Master."
Lin Xiao sincerely thanked him.
Without Lao Yao, he did not know when he would have been able to cultivate Devil King power.
Now, he could begin first and would not need to worry about energy eruptions for the time being.
His master was far, far better than that tigress from Holy Soul Village, wasn't he?
"Master, once I grow stronger, I will definitely help you reshape your body!"
He did not know whether a Soul Bone from a god-level beast could achieve the effect of reshaping a body.
Lin Xiao knew that the Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Bone could regenerate flesh, but Lao Yao's situation was different. He did not know whether it would work.
However, Lin Xiao quickly dismissed the idea.
Lao Yao's strength was immense. Relying on the Blue Silver Emperor was impossible. Besides, he was a Devil King.
Xiao Yan had no idea how much time and effort it had taken to reshape Lao Yao's body.
"It is enough that you have such intentions."
"For now, your main focus is cultivation. When your strength reaches that point, I will teach you how to do those things."
Lao Yao said with a smile. This kid had a good heart. Taking him as a disciple had not been a mistake.
"Don't worry, Master. I will definitely help you reshape your body."
"By the way, Master, do you know what level the Devil Kings in your world are equivalent to here?"
Lin Xiao asked. Since he could only cultivate up to the Soul King realm, he naturally had to figure out exactly what level of Devil King that corresponded to.