The golden glow of the setting sun spilled across the edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range as Lin Tian and the other two flew out of this land of trials. On the way back, Porter and Laun occasionally discussed their insights from battle with Lin Tian, while Lin Tian shared his new understanding of the Fire Element Mystery. Their laughter echoed through the sky, carrying a trace of exhaustion but even more joy from their gains.
Before long, Lin Tian returned to the imperial palace. The palace walls stood tall, and the glazed tiles glimmered warmly beneath the morning sun. The familiar atmosphere instantly eased his taut nerves. After bidding Porter and Laun farewell, he headed straight for his parents' chambers.
"Father, Mother." Lin Tian pushed open the doors and saw Habo and Nicole discussing affairs by the window. He hurried forward to pay his respects.
Lei Habo set down the document in his hand, surprise flashing through his eyes. "Lin Tian? You're back! It seems this training journey brought you considerable gains." As a level-nine expert, though he had not reached the Saint Domain, he could still clearly sense the increasingly condensed aura of fire around Lin Tian, one that seemed to blend with heaven and earth.
The empress hurried forward and took Lin Tian's hand. Her fingertips brushed over the nonexistent dust on his sleeve, her eyes full of concern. "It's good that you're back. Sit down and rest. Your father told me you went to the Magic Beast Mountain Range. You must have suffered quite a bit."
Lin Tian sat down with a smile and told them that he had already advanced into the Saint Domain. Then he rose into the air. Habo and Nicole initially found his words hard to believe, but when they saw him floating in midair without relying on any energy, both were utterly stunned. Tears of excitement welled in Nicole's eyes.
After a pause, Habo spoke first. "Lin Tian, you are now in the Saint Domain, among the top experts of the Maya Continent. But you must never become complacent. The Leo Family has endured for thousands of years, and there are more than a dozen divine experts within the family. The Saint Domain may be the pinnacle of the Maya Continent, but there are still quite a few gods above it."
"I understand, Father," Lin Tian replied. "On this trip, I first went to Fire God Mountain and met our ancestor—Leo I. Grandpa Porter also showed me the foundations of our family."
Habo grew even more excited. As the founder of the Leo Family and the strongest expert on the Maya Continent, Leo I had never lacked admirers, especially among Leo Family members like Habo, who had grown up listening to tales of Leo I.
Habo said joyfully, "Good! Good! Well done, Lin Tian. You are far stronger than I am. I'm proud to have a son like you."
Nicole smiled and interrupted Habo's excited display. "All right, it's rare for Tian'er to be home. Let's not talk about this yet. I had someone prepare your favorite dishes. Eat first—we can talk while we eat."
Before long, exquisite dishes filled the table. Nicole kept placing food onto Lin Tian's plate and asking about his life at Fire God Mountain. Habo occasionally joined in, asking about the recent situation at Fire God Mountain and news of Leo I. The atmosphere was warm and harmonious.
After the meal, Lin Tian returned to his own palace. He declined the attendants' service and sat alone in the cultivation chamber with his eyes closed. Scenes from the battle in the Magic Beast Mountain Range flowed through his mind: the subtle fluctuations of Fire Elements quietly extinguishing within the Jade Vine Python's regenerating vines; the ripples of energy produced when Flame Elements collided with the Thunder Blaze Qilin's lightning as it tore through the air... In the end, those scenes converged into a flickering flame that resonated with the Fire Element within him.
In the following days, Lin Tian cultivated behind closed doors every day. He no longer deliberately pursued combat techniques, but calmed himself and sensed the essence of fire—the notes he had seen in the Scripture Pavilion, his sparring with Saint Domain experts, his life-and-death battles with magical beasts. Every insight was like a stream flowing into the sea, gradually settling and merging within his heart.
At times, he transformed into flames and moved freely through the palace, sensing the rhythm of elemental flow. At other times, he sat in meditation, allowing his consciousness to sink into the core of the fire and experience that contradictory power, capable of both incinerating all things and nurturing life. He discovered that fire had never been mere "destruction."
One morning, the first ray of sunlight streamed through the window lattice and fell upon Lin Tian. He sat cross-legged, surrounded by a faint halo of fire. Suddenly, his heart stirred—all his past insights became clear at that moment. The Fire Elements stored within the vines, the flames that had offset lightning, the weightlessness when he transformed into an element... They had all pointed to the same truth.
"Fire is me, and I am fire."
The instant the thought arose, Lin Tian's consciousness seemed to merge with every Fire Element between heaven and earth. He was no longer a cultivator who controlled flames, but flame itself. Fire was no longer a force he wielded, but an extension of his body and a manifestation of his will. He could clearly "see" the surging magma within the earth veins beneath the imperial city; he could "hear" the thunderous roar of fire and stone colliding deep within distant volcanoes; he could even "touch" the faint Fire Elements in the clouds at the horizon, ignited by sunlight.
Just as this realization of "I am one with fire" reached its peak, the sky suddenly darkened. Thick clouds gathered as the laws of heaven and earth circulated within them. An immense, boundless pressure shrouded the entire imperial city.
"Is this... the descent of laws?" Deep within the imperial palace, the emperor pushed open a window. Gazing at the churning phenomenon in the sky, his eyes filled with shock and wild joy. "Tian'er... is he about to become a god?"
As though enlightened by divine inspiration, Lin Tian naturally sensed it in his heart—he could clearly feel that he had crossed the boundary between the Saint Domain and the divine realm.
Lin Tian opened his eyes and looked up.
"Buzz—"
A vast power of heavenly laws that shook the soul suddenly descended, completely enveloping Lin Tian. The surrounding space instantly warped, forming a domain of laws that isolated everything. Lin Tian's body slowly rose into the air beyond his control.
The power of heavenly laws invaded his soul, instantly seeing through the Fire Element Mystery he had comprehended throughout his life.
"Rumble—"
Endless fire laws gathered and compressed wildly above his head, finally condensing into a single point—
A diamond-shaped Divine Spark, entirely crimson and flowing with the mysteries of the Fire Element, quietly formed.
The instant the Divine Spark formed, it created an innate bond with his soul.
At the same time, a cold will of laws entered his soul directly:
"Choose: Divine Spark outside or inside?"
"External Deification allows one to cultivate Divine Clones of multiple elements, granting an extra life. Internal Deification fuses the Divine Spark with the soul, granting greater comprehension of mysteries, while the body and Divine Spark live and die together..." Harry's words echoed in his ears.
Lin Tian did not hesitate in the slightest. From the moment he chose to focus on fire laws, from the moment he transformed into flames in the Magic Beast Mountain Range to evade attacks, the answer had already been decided.
With a thought, he said, "Internal Deification."
As his words fell, the crimson Divine Spark instantly transformed into a streak of light and shot directly into his glabella, merging into the deepest part of his soul.
"Hiss—"
As the Divine Spark entered his body, boundless fire divine power erupted in an instant, sweeping through his limbs, meridians, bones, organs, mind, and even the source of his soul.
Every minute structure in his muscles and bones underwent earth-shattering reconstruction. They were strengthened hundreds and thousands of times every second. His cells broke apart and reassembled, impurities burned away, and his mortal body transformed into a pure fire Divine Body.
His soul fused perfectly with the Divine Spark, without the slightest barrier remaining. The Fire Element Mystery became instinctive; with a single thought, he could command the flames of heaven and earth.
After a long while, the radiance faded.
Lin Tian floated in midair, his black hair stirring without wind. His aura was as deep as an abyss, and the immaturity of the Saint Domain had vanished from his eyes, leaving only the majesty and calmness of a god.
He had become a Lower God of fire.
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