Sixteen days passed as Xiao Jie refined the Green Lotus Core Flame.
That day, a powerful surge of energy suddenly erupted from within a Magical Beast Forest, startling the surrounding magical beasts into fleeing in all directions. Inside a cave, Xiao Jie had successfully refined the Green Lotus Core Flame and was using the energy it fed back to charge toward the Dou Emperor realm.
Within the cave, Xiao Jie was enveloped in deep azure energy, and his aura gradually became unstable. Suddenly, his Nine-Star Dou Wang cultivation began rising rapidly, swiftly reaching its peak.
The energy abruptly calmed, but in the next instant, an even more tremendous force burst forth. The barrier suppressing Xiao Jie's advancement to Dou Emperor shattered with a resounding crack.
Xiao Jie's cultivation instantly surged to the peak of One-Star Dou Emperor, then Two-Star, Three-Star, Four-Star, and finally rose slowly to the Four-Star Peak. Seeing that the energy had stabilized, Xiao Jie began controlling it and compressing his cultivation.
Gradually, Xiao Jie's Four-Star Peak Dou Emperor cultivation slowly fell—Four-Star, Three-Star, Two-Star, One-Star Peak!
Suddenly, the energy compressed to its limit surged once more. Xiao Jie rapidly rose back to Three-Star Dou Emperor. After repeated compression, his cultivation finally settled at Two-Star Dou Emperor.
A quarter of an hour later, Xiao Jie opened his eyes after finishing his breathing adjustment and leaped out of the cave. He appeared above the Magical Beast Forest, wanting to find an opponent to test his strength. However, after sensing the area, he found no Rank Six Magical Beasts nearby; the strongest was merely Rank Five. He could only give up, landing atop a large tree and sitting cross-legged as he felt the changes within his body.
The Flame Mantra had evolved from a Yellow-tier High-grade Technique into a Mysterious-tier Mid-grade Technique. Feeling the quantity and quality of Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Jie smiled.
The Flame Mantra truly deserved to be called a technique that evolved by devouring Heavenly Flames. The Heavenly Flames of this world contained the power of World Origin and fate, allowing this technique to leave Dou Qi techniques of the same tier far behind.
The quantity and quality of his Dou Qi now were no inferior to those of an Earth-tier Low-grade Technique, yet the Flame Mantra was only Mysterious-tier Mid-grade. Once he devoured several more Heavenly Flames in the future and brought it to the Heaven tier—or even beyond it—with the advantage of Heavenly Flames and the Flame Mantra, fighting across star levels would be nothing unusual. It might even be possible to fight across an entire major realm.
Next, he could go collect the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map and the Green Lotus Core Flame in the Tager Desert. But before that, he needed to simulate a few times. Between his seclusion and the unused attempts from before, he had accumulated four attempts. The Simulator could store at most nine, so he would use three of them first. He silently recited in his heart.
"Simulator, begin Life Simulation."
*"Ding. You currently have four available simulations. Would you like to begin Life Simulation?"* *"Yes."* *"Ding. Life Simulation begins."* *"Day 1: You successfully refined the Green Lotus Core Flame. You broke through to become a Two-Star Dou Emperor. Your technique, the Flame Mantra, evolved into a Mysterious-tier Mid-grade Technique."* *"Day 2: You traveled to a town near the Magical Beast Mountain Range. You told Xiao Yi Xian about the Poison Pill Method and had her take you to the cave on the cliff within the Magical Beast Mountain Range. You obtained the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map."* *"Day 3: You bid Xiao Yi Xian farewell. You told her that if she could no longer suppress the Woeful Poison Body in the future, she could go to the Black-Corner Region to find you. After Xiao Yi Xian agreed, you headed to Shi-Mo City."* *"Day 5: You found Qing Lin and took her away."* *"Day 6: In exchange for a Break-Obstacle Pill, a Purple Spirit Recovery Pill, and an Emperor-Extreme Pill, you had Hai Bodong follow you for five years. Hai Bodong agreed."* *"Day 10: You took Qing Lin and retrieved the Green Lotus Core Flame from underground."* *"Day 20: You successfully refined the second Green Lotus Core Flame. You reached the Four-Star Peak Dou Emperor realm. Your technique, the Flame Mantra, evolved into a Quasi-Earth-tier Technique."* *"Day 22: You took Hai Bodong, whose cultivation had already recovered, to the Black-Corner Region."* *"Day 25: A person and a serpent appeared where you had collected the Green Lotus Core Flame. Shortly afterward, they pursued you."* *"Day 32: You sensed two Dou Emperors gradually catching up to you. You roughly guessed who they were, but you had no intention of running."* *"Day 33: The two Dou Emperors caught up with you: a female Dou Emperor and an Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor. The female Dou Emperor demanded that you hand over Qing Lin. You had been looking to test your strength and thought someone had delivered a pillow just as you were getting sleepy. Without another word, you fought the two Dou Emperors. Facing one against two, you gained a slight upper hand with a new Heavenly Flame formed from the fusion of three Heavenly Flames."* *"Day 34: The two Dou Emperors from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion realized they could not defeat you, so they left behind harsh words and departed. Before you could explain, they swiftly left."* *"Day 132: The Nine-star Dou Zong leader of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion came to demand Qing Lin back, bringing a Three-Star Dou Zong deputy leader and six Dou Emperors."* *"Day 141: The Dou Emperors of the Black-Corner Region did not wish to offend the Dou Zongs of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion because of you, so you could not hire anyone. You and Hai Bodong fought bitterly against six Dou Emperors while the Heavenly Serpent Mansion's leader watched menacingly from the side. Soon, the deputy leader of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion arrived at the battlefield with the unconscious Qing Lin. Seeing that Qing Lin had been secured, the high-ranking Dou Zong immediately attacked. The surrounding space shattered inch by inch, and Hai Bodong was blasted to pieces by that strike. Seeing the high-ranking Dou Zong suddenly attack, you unleashed the Heavenly Fire Three-Mysterious Transformation, activating all three transformations at once. You directly broke through from Four-Star Peak Dou Emperor to One-Star Dou Zong. The people of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion were greatly shocked by your methods, but in the next instant, the Heavenly Serpent Mansion leader's Myriad Serpent Devour tore you into fragments. You died."* *"Ding. This Life Simulation has ended."*
Before you continue