Refining the Heavenly Flame

Xiao Jin gently rubbed his Storage Ring with his fingers. He could feel a deep-purple flame inside it beginning to leap about energetically, as if it could hardly wait to be refined by him.

Inside his Storage Ring were twenty-two Heavenly Flames, ranked from second to twenty-third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

In other words, apart from the number-one Emperor Flame, every other Heavenly Flame could be found inside his Storage Ring.

For ordinary people, finding even one such Heavenly Spirit Object would be enough to send them into ecstatic joy.

Actually, it was not that Xiao Jin had never considered refining Heavenly Flames. It was just that his cultivation level had been too low back then. Although his vast soul power was enough to suppress every Heavenly Flame except the Emperor Flame, his body could not withstand the consequences of forcefully refining them. Exploding and dying was the inevitable result.

That was also why the Pill Tower Ancestor said that the ancient experts cultivated both their bodies and souls. It was like an ordinary person: without either leg, they could not walk normally.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Flames were inside his Storage Ring, so he was not in a hurry to absorb them.

He had originally planned to break through to Dou Sheng first, then directly refine the Nihility Devouring Flame, ranked second. It was the strongest Heavenly Flame in his Storage Ring, and only the strongest was worthy of his identity.

Therefore, when the Pill Tower Ancestor suggested that he refine the Three Thousand Burning Flame, Xiao Jin fell silent—a rare occurrence.

The Pill Tower Ancestor knew what he was thinking and said with a smile, "Are you worried that if you refine the Three Thousand Burning Flame now, you'll be unable to form a connection with the other Heavenly Flames in the future?"

Xiao Jin gave an awkward smile. Being seen through was truly an awful feeling.

The Pill Tower Ancestor continued, "Little fellow, do you know that during ancient times, there were experts who could forcefully refine several Heavenly Flames through their supreme cultivation?"

Xiao Jin froze for a moment before quickly recalling Xiao Xuan, the ancestor of the Xiao Clan from the original story.

Xiao Xuan failed when breaking through to Dou Emperor. After being ambushed by the Soul Clan, he suffered severe injuries.

Knowing that there was no hope left, Xiao Xuan directly detonated the three Heavenly Flames inside his body, heavily injuring the entire Soul Clan, including Soul Heaven Emperor.

It was worth mentioning that the Blazing Flame Valley's treasured technique, the Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations, had also been created by Xiao Xuan.

The orthodox Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations relied on the eruption of three Heavenly Flames to produce an extremely violent energy, helping the user briefly break through their cultivation realm.

In other words, Xiao Xuan had forcefully refined three Heavenly Flames through his supreme cultivation.

As for which three Heavenly Flames they were, the original story never said, and Xiao Jin did not know either.

But he believed that if Xiao Xuan could do it, then why couldn't he?

Besides, even though Xiao Xuan was already dead, there were still people on the current Dou Qi Continent who could forcefully fuse Heavenly Flames through their own strength.

Yan Jin, the clan leader of the Flame Clan, one of the Eight Ancient Emperor Clans, had forcefully fused the seventh-ranked Nine Nether Golden Ancestor Flame and the seventeenth-ranked Volcanic Stone Flame with his late-stage Eight-Star Dou Sheng cultivation. He had combined the two Heavenly Flames into a new one whose might was no weaker than the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.

"Little fellow, the earlier you refine a Heavenly Flame, the earlier you can benefit from it," the Pill Tower Ancestor continued. "I know about the special nature of your Storage Ring, so naturally, I won't make you throw away the watermelon after picking up the sesame seeds. Based on my estimations, all twenty-two Heavenly Flames will eventually fall into your hands."

"You're certain?"

"I'm not." The irresponsible attitude of the Pill Tower Ancestor made Xiao Jin roll his eyes in anger.

"Then why did you say that?"

"Even if you can't refine all the Heavenly Flames, I can guarantee that you'll refine at least five of them. Moreover, those five will include the second-ranked Nihility Devouring Flame and the third-ranked Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame."

Xiao Jin gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind.

The Pill Tower Ancestor was right. The earlier he refined a Heavenly Flame, the earlier he could profit from it.

The allure of the Three Thousand Star Physique was indeed extraordinary.

"Wait a moment, old man. You said earlier that if I broke through to Dou Wang now, my Dou Qi would become unstable, right?"

"That's right. I did say that."

"Then after I refine the Three Thousand Burning Flame, my strength will definitely surge. Wouldn't that go against the original purpose of tempering my body?"

Back then, after Xiao Yan refined the Three Thousand Burning Flame, he had risen directly from Four-Star Dou Ancestor to Nine-Star Dou Ancestor.

The gap between realms within the Dou Ancestor level was enormous. The energy needed to advance by a single star was probably enough for an ordinary person to cultivate all the way to the Dou Emperor realm.

With his current strength at Nine-Star Dou Ling, after refining the Three Thousand Burning Flame, even if he did not leap to Nine-Star Dou Ancestor like Xiao Yan, he could probably still reach Seven-Star or even Eight-Star Dou Ancestor without a problem.

Wouldn't that mean Xiao Jin's already insufficient body would become even less capable of bearing his strength?

The Pill Tower Ancestor suddenly laughed. "Little fellow, what kind of dream are you having?"

"Old man, how can you talk like that?" Xiao Jin could not hold himself back anymore. Why was this old man so infuriating?

The Pill Tower Ancestor ignored his attitude and continued, "If you could refine the Three Thousand Burning Flame in the Pill Tower, the problem of your cultivation surging might indeed appear. But the Heavenly Flame inside your Storage Ring is exceptionally pure, and it is no different from one that has just been born."

Xiao Jin immediately understood what he meant.

Purity meant that it possessed only simple intelligence.

This had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that, because it was pure, he would not have to bear too much risk while refining it.

The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame refined by Xiao Yan in the original story was an existence that could even devour and turn on its previous master. To refine such a Heavenly Flame, one had almost no choice but to suppress it through sheer strength.

The disadvantage was that, having only just been born, it had not undergone the long evolution experienced by the other Heavenly Flames mentioned in the original story.

During that evolution, those Heavenly Flames would continuously absorb energy from the world.

Take Tou She Ancient God, for example. He had continuously strengthened himself during his cultivation, devoured other Heavenly Flames, and ultimately achieved the Dou Emperor realm.

Since these Heavenly Flames had not undergone such evolution, their energy was naturally not very immense.

For example, it was like knowing that Tyson would grow up to become a legendary figure in boxing history. That knowledge could not make him immensely strong while he was still a baby.

Refining the Heavenly Flames in the Storage Ring would indeed raise Xiao Jin's cultivation, but it was absolutely impossible for his level to skyrocket as it had in the original story.

According to the Pill Tower Ancestor's estimation, after refining the Three Thousand Burning Flame, Xiao Jin would be lucky to reach the level of a Three-Star Dou Wang.

Although he would still break through to Dou Wang, with the tempering from the Heavenly Flame and the future enhancement provided by the Three Thousand Star Physique, he could make up for this gap in only a few months.

After hearing his explanation, Xiao Jin suddenly understood. So the Heavenly Flames in his Storage Ring had these characteristics.

The Pill Tower Ancestor was one of the Five Great Supreme Experts, standing alongside Xiao Xuan. His insight was naturally far beyond Xiao Jin's ability to match.

Since he had said so, Xiao Jin no longer had any worries. He directly took the deep-purple Three Thousand Burning Flame out of his Storage Ring.

"Old man, then I'll begin refining it. Keep an eye on me."

"With me here, you can rest easy." The Pill Tower Old Ancestor stroked his beard, looking every inch the lofty expert.

Although he was still a soul now and had been incredibly weak when he first awakened, over the years, with the help of the rare treasures in the Storage Ring and the nourishment from Xiao Jin's soul power, the Pill Tower Ancestor now possessed the strength of a Dou Zun when he unleashed his full power.

He simply could not maintain it for very long.

Still, looking after Xiao Jin was no problem.