Devouring the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, All-Around Advancement

Inside the cave.

Xiao Yan placed the Blood Lotus Pill, the size of a dragon's eye, into his mouth.

Within only a few breaths, threads of blood seeped out through Xiao Yan's capillaries, completely wrapping him in blood. Then the blood solidified, turning into sturdy blood armor.

This blood armor was essential for obtaining a Heavenly Flame seed.

The Heavenly Flame seed was hidden within the core of a Heavenly Flame, and retrieving it required close contact.

The heat of a Heavenly Flame could melt ordinary objects with a single touch. Without the protection of the blood armor, a person could be reduced to bloody sludge in the blink of an eye.

After making his preparations, Xiao Yan reached his hand into the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame did not react violently.

Yet just as he thought everything was going smoothly, the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame suddenly became displeased. Its flames surged fiercely, burning away every last bit of blood armor on his body.

Xiao Yan was startled and instinctively tried to pull back his hand, but the expected burning pain never came. Instead, he felt a close, reluctant embrace wrapping around him.

The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame had burned away the blood armor just so it could touch his skin itself?!

Realizing this, Xiao Yan did not know what to say.

He continued deeper, and strangely enough, he could sense "joy" and "shyness" from a Heavenly Flame.

Suppressing this bizarre sensation, Xiao Yan calmly touched the core flame seed of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

He encountered no resistance whatsoever. The core flame seed was easily pulled out.

Looking at the Heavenly Flame seed, Xiao Yan kept swallowing. He licked his lips and tossed it into his mouth without hesitation.

The flame was like warm pudding. After swallowing it, signals of dopamine secretion kept flooding his brain.

"Use the circulation route of the Burning Mantra. Let the flame seed complete one cycle, then begin devouring it!" Yao Lao reminded him from the side.

Xiao Yan did as instructed, immediately circulating the Burning Mantra and carefully guiding the flame through his meridians.

The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was incredibly obedient. Once inside Xiao Yan's body, it was like a child returning home, smoothly completing a cycle through his body under his guidance.

It even seemed to sense that it might harm Xiao Yan, instinctively reducing its own power.

After completing one cycle, the already obedient Myriad Beast Spirit Flame seemed even more compliant.

Xiao Yan understood that the Burning Mantra was taking effect, though compared with his Fire Spirit Body, it still fell far short.

"Brat, this constitution of yours really makes this old man jealous. I've never seen anyone absorb a Heavenly Flame as easily as you. Hurry and absorb this Spirit Container into your body, then send the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame into it. Only then will you have completely subdued it." Yao Lao looked at Xiao Yan enviously and took out a precious piece of Spirit Container from his Storage Ring.

"I only have this one piece of Spirit Container. It's incredibly precious, so remember to compensate your teacher someday, brat," Yao Lao said jokingly.

Xiao Yan knew Yao Lao was joking, but he still took it to heart.

Although both of them had initially harbored their own calculations, after so many years together, their bond had long surpassed that of teacher and disciple. Calling each other family would not be an exaggeration.

Teacher, I can't promise your fate will be better than in the original story, but at the very least, I won't let the Soul Hall capture you midway through and make you suffer those hardships.

Then, Xiao Yan looked toward a small stone beside him. It was only the size of a thumb, with an incomparably smooth surface. A faint blue glow moved within it like a tiny worm.

He picked it up and infused it with Dou Qi. The Spirit Container immediately transformed into a streak of light, shot into Xiao Yan's body, and took root with force, becoming a tiny gray dot.

Looking inward, the little dot seemed to contain boundless space within it. It was truly miraculous.

Just before Xiao Yan controlled the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame and sent it into the Spirit Container.

Two forces of suction suddenly appeared.

The Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra began circulating on its own, and the Fire Spirit Body immediately responded as well.

Xiao Yan's entire body abruptly turned red, and the flame seed of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame within him was instantly divided into three.

One portion slipped into the Spirit Container space and came under the control of the Burning Mantra.

The second portion was transformed by the Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra into pure energy, which began tempering his body, causing his skin, flesh, muscles, and bones to collapse and shatter once more.

The third portion was digested by the Fire Spirit Body itself, all of its energy used to raise his cultivation.

Seeing this sudden abnormality in Xiao Yan's body, Yao Lao's expression immediately turned grave. "Yan brat, what's wrong? Did the Heavenly Flame suddenly lose control?!"

Xiao Yan's brows were tightly furrowed, and he had no time to answer Yao Lao.

His skin, flesh, muscles, and bones were all cracking apart, yet they quickly began repairing themselves. His muscles and bones were reforged, flesh reattached itself, and skin grew anew.

A brand-new Xiao Yan emerged.

Yet the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's energy had not been exhausted. The newly reborn Xiao Yan immediately collapsed again. His skin, flesh, muscles, and bones shattered once more, then were reforged, reattached, and regrown...

Time passed second by second.

Xiao Yan did not know how many times he had collapsed and been reforged. When the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's energy was finally exhausted, his body finally stabilized.

He opened his eyes and tried to support himself against the wall as he stood. Without even exerting much strength, the wall became like tender tofu fresh from the steamer, leaving a deep handprint beneath his palm.

Xiao Yan withdrew his hand, feeling the explosive strength within him that he could not yet fully control. His delight was impossible to conceal. "Peak Fifth Rank! And it feels like I'm barely any distance from the Sixth Rank. Once I absorb the essence blood of that Half-step Seventh Rank Silver Moon Wolf King outside, I should be able to step directly into the Sixth Rank!"

Yao Lao's eyes shone brightly as he exclaimed, "It was merely a low-ranking Heavenly Flame from the Heavenly Flame Ranking, yet it raised you this much? The body-tempering technique you cultivate must be a high-grade Heaven Rank technique."

Xiao Yan smiled without answering, instead saying, "Teacher, only one-third of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's power was used to improve my body. Otherwise, breaking directly into the Sixth Rank would not have been impossible."

"But I feel that the other two portions of power weren't wasted either."

At this point, Xiao Yan shut his mouth, clearly trying to keep Yao Lao in suspense.

Yao Lao directly smacked Xiao Yan on the forehead. "You little brat, if you keep stringing your teacher along, then don't ask your teacher to work like a laborer and refine pills for you in the future!"

"Ow, Teacher, why are you in such a hurry? I was about to tell you." Feeling quite pleased after teasing him, Xiao Yan continued.

"Body, cultivation, and technique."

"The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was divided into three. Teacher, you already know about the improvement to my body."

"As for my cultivation, I was originally a Nine-Star Da Dou Shi. Now I'm already a Three-Star Dou Ling. With your possession on top of that, I can even contend with ordinary high-level Dou Zongs!"

Yao Lao nodded repeatedly and said in astonishment, "The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame is only a low-ranking Heavenly Flame, and you used just one-third of it to raise your cultivation, yet your improvement was this great. This old man has truly never even heard of a constitution like yours."

"It's all right." Xiao Yan smiled proudly, then added, "As for my technique, there's not much to say. It barely reached the initial Xuan Rank. It's only sufficient, I suppose."

He silently added, But with my constitution's boost to fire-attributed techniques, aside from Dou Qi capacity, my cultivation speed alone should be no worse than that of a high-grade Xuan Rank technique.

"A Xuan Rank technique—not bad, not bad. It'll be enough for you for a long time." The more Yao Lao heard, the more satisfied he became.

"Let's go. These gains alone will take you a long time to digest. I won't say much about how you've been busy raising your cultivation recently, but after we return this time, you must resume practicing Dou Skills and studying alchemy..."

Xiao Yan raised a hand and interrupted Yao Lao. "Teacher, when did I ever say that this was all I gained?"