Xiao Yan's Doubts

Behind the Xiao Clan, the waterfall cascaded like a dragon.

The roar of the water was deafening.

A lean figure, bare-chested, stood upon a black rock beneath the waterfall. His legs were slightly bent in a steady horse stance, allowing the immense weight of the water to hammer relentlessly against his youthful shoulders.

The youth gritted his teeth, his body trembling under the tremendous impact. His skin had long since been beaten raw and red, yet his pitch-black eyes burned with an unyielding flame.

It was Xiao Yan.

Ever since he had taken Yao Lao as his master, this grueling training had become his daily routine.

"Kid, calm your heart and sink your energy."

"Circulate your Dou Qi throughout your body. Feel the impact, dissolve it, don't just resist it head-on."

An aged, steady voice resonated slowly within his mind.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan immediately gathered his focus. Following Yao Lao's guidance, he channeled the faint trace of Dou Qi he had just cultivated, letting it flow slowly through his meridians.

Just as he was fully immersed, a few fragmented snatches of conversation drifted up from the mountain path below, carried by the breeze.

"Did you hear? The Miteer Auction House is making a huge scene this time!"

"Ha, who hasn't? They say they're auctioning off some treasure related to 'Heavenly Flame,' and the whole Wutan City is going crazy over it!"

"Heavenly Flame? Is that for real? That's the stuff of legends..."

"True or not, it's got nothing to do with us. But I heard a lot of experts from outside the city have arrived; even the City Lord's Mansion has tightened security. Best to keep our heads down these next few days."

The voices faded into the distance.

Beneath the waterfall, Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat.

Heavenly Flame!

These two words were all too familiar to him.

His teacher had said that if he wanted to wash away his shame, to make those who once looked down on him pay the price, and to become a true powerhouse, refining a Heavenly Flame was the most crucial step!

But his teacher had also said that Heavenly Flames were divine objects of heaven and earth; ordinary people would be lucky to see one in their entire lifetime.

How could such a small place like Wutan City suddenly produce a strange object related to a Heavenly Flame?

During a break in his training, Xiao Yan stepped out from under the waterfall, wiped the water droplets from his body with a towel, and couldn't help but ask in his heart.

"Teacher, did you hear that? The Heavenly Flame they mentioned..."

Inside the ring, the illusory soul of Yao Lao slowly manifested.

He stroked his beard, his tone carrying a hint of indifference.

"I heard."

"It's likely just a gimmick by the Miteer Chamber of Commerce to stir up hype."

"Heavenly Flames are incredibly rare. If there were truly a lead on one, would they really broadcast it so loudly in a tiny place like Wutan City? News of a real Heavenly Flame would only invite death; people would be scrambling to hide it."

Yao Lao's voice carried the detachment of one who had seen it all.

He had once been a top-tier alchemist on the continent and had seen countless rare treasures; he was long accustomed to such exaggerated promotional tactics by merchant guilds.

Xiao Yan nodded, feeling that his teacher's words made sense.

Yet, he remained curious.

"But, I heard them say this promotion is different. They seem to claim that the object... can sense the general location of a Heavenly Flame, and it emits a kind of Extreme Cold aura itself."

He repeated the fragments he had overheard.

The moment his voice fell.

The ancient ring on Xiao Yan's finger trembled violently, without warning!

A chilling coldness flashed from the ring and vanished in an instant.

"Hmm?"

For the first time, there was a hint of shock in Yao Lao's usually calm voice.

"Kid, what did you just say?"

"It emits... an Extreme Cold aura?"

Xiao Yan was stunned by his teacher's sudden reaction, but he answered honestly, "Yes, that's what those people down the mountain said."

The ring fell into a long, heavy silence.

A silence so profound it made Xiao Yan feel a flicker of unease.

After a long while.

Yao Lao's voice, now grave to the extreme, rang out again. Every word felt like a cold stone striking Xiao Yan's heart.

"Kid."

"Stop your training immediately."

"Put on your clothes and head to the vicinity of the Miteer Auction House."

"Remember, do not get close, and certainly do not go inside. Just find a place to stay on the street outside."

"Go, quickly!"

The final two words carried an unquestionable sense of urgency.

Xiao Yan felt a jolt in his heart.

He had never seen his teacher act with such solemnity.

Daring not to show the slightest hesitation, he quickly put on his clothes and, with the agility of a leopard, sped along the mountain path toward the center of Wutan City.

Outside the Miteer Auction House, the crowd was roaring.

The wide street was packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

Countless gazes were fixed upon that magnificent, golden building, filled with curiosity, greed, and awe.

Xiao Yan found an inconspicuous corner and blended into the crowd, his own gaze also fixed upon the massive auction house.

"Teacher, I have arrived."

He whispered in his heart.

"Stand still and don't move."

Yao Lao's voice had become exceptionally grave.

"Conceal all of your aura. Act like an ordinary passerby and look straight ahead."

The next moment.

Xiao Yan felt as if the ancient ring on his finger had turned into a block of ten-thousand-year black ice.

An indescribable, vast, and boundless soul power quietly surged from the ring, like an invisible net that swept over the noisy crowd, penetrated the thick walls, and slowly probed toward the deepest part of the auction house.

This soul power was pure to the extreme, silent and soundless, failing to attract anyone's attention.

Yet, Xiao Yan could clearly sense the toll it was taking on his teacher.

He even felt as if his own soul were being stretched and pricked with pain as the power extended outward.

Time ticked away, second by second.

Just as Xiao Yan felt he could barely stand any longer.

A stifled gasp, filled with extreme shock and disbelief, suddenly erupted from the ring!

"This... how is this possible?!"

For the first time, Yao Lao's voice lost the composure and calmness that belonged to a powerhouse.

The voice was filled with inconceivable confusion and a trace of... terror that even he himself had not noticed!

"Teacher? What is it?"

Xiao Yan asked nervously.

"Don't speak!"

Yao Lao sternly cut him off.

The soul power that had extended outward seemed to have locked onto a target deep within the auction house.

It did not advance any further, but instead remained at a distance, cautiously and repeatedly sensing something.

Xiao Yan did not know what his teacher had seen.

He only knew that the temperature of the ring on his finger was undergoing a bizarre change.

At times it was bone-chillingly cold, as if it were about to freeze his finger bones until they cracked.

At other times, it became scorching hot—a heat filled with a certain violent factor that he had never felt before.

Two completely different sensations were alternating frantically within the small ring!

"No... this isn't right..."

"This aura..."

Yao Lao's muttering echoed in Xiao Yan's mind, filled with chaos.

"It has the Extreme Cold origin of the Bone Chilling Flame... that's right, this freezing sensation that stems from the soul, this old man could never mistake it!"

"But..."

"Why is it mixed with the heat of such an inferior, impure beast fire?!"

"How could two diametrically opposed attributes be twisted and fused together?!"

"This is not a Heavenly Flame! This is absolutely not a true Heavenly Flame!"

"It is like... like a clumsy imitation, using mud and gravel to forcibly mimic the sculpture of a god!"

"But..."

"Who is it?!"

"Who on earth is it?!"

"To be able to imitate this old man's Bone Chilling Flame to such a degree! Even that sliver of primordial essence has been stolen away!"

BOOM--!

An unprecedented sense of crisis erupted violently from the depths of Yao Lao's soul, like a tidal wave!

It was a profound terror—the feeling of his most core secret being peered into, dissected, and even replicated from the darkness!

He could be certain that the person who created this "imitation" had absolutely come into contact with, and perhaps even deeply understood, the Bone Chilling Flame!

This made him feel more uneasy than any powerful enemy ever had!

"Go!"

A roar containing infinite gravity exploded within Xiao Yan's mind!

The vast soul power on the ring retreated like a receding tide.

Yao Lao's soul form fluctuated violently within the ring's space, appearing more illusory than ever, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

He looked at the boy outside, who still wore a look of bewilderment, and issued the sternest warning in a tone of extreme seriousness he had never used before.

"Kid!"

"Leave here immediately! Get as far away from this turmoil as possible!"

"Before the auction ends, you are absolutely forbidden from coming within a hundred feet of the Miteer Auction House!"

Xiao Yan was completely shaken by his teacher's unprecedented tone.

He could even detect a hint of... dread in his teacher's voice!

An existence that could make his teacher, who was once a Dou Zun, feel dread?

How could such a figure exist in this tiny Wutan City?

Not daring to ask a single word, Xiao Yan immediately turned around, pushed through the crowd, and his figure quickly vanished at the end of the street.

Inside the ring's space.

Yao Lao's illusory figure stared fixedly in the direction of the Miteer Auction House, remaining silent for a long time.

He fell into deep thought.

Who is it?

Is it friend or foe?

How did the other party learn the secret of the Bone Chilling Flame? Could it be that group of people who hunted him down back then?

No.

Those people acted with tyranny; if it were them, they would simply strike to seize it, never using such an auction method to play mysterious games.

Then, only one possibility remained.

In this Wutan City, or rather, in this Jia Ma Empire, a mysterious figure had appeared—someone he knew nothing about, who possessed some unknown means.

This person could peer into the essence of Heavenly Flames.

This person could create an "imitation" that was indistinguishable from the real thing.

This person treated Heavenly Flames as a business!

Yao Lao's heart sank.

The growth path he had originally planned for Xiao Yan was clear and definite.

But the appearance of this mysterious person was like a meteorite crashing into a chessboard out of nowhere, instantly disrupting all his arrangements and adding a terrifying variable so massive that even he could not predict it.

A mysterious figure that we... cannot afford to provoke!