Flame Customization

Ya Fei's arrival carried an unusual sense of gravity.

She did not lean against the doorframe with her usual charming smile. Instead, she walked straight into the dilapidated courtyard and placed a scroll wrapped in fine silk gently onto the stone table in front of Su Chen.

The fiery red qipao she wore seemed to have shed all its allure, leaving only the sharp, capable aura of a queen of the business world.

"A request."

Ya Fei went straight to the point, her voice devoid of its usual languor.

"Or perhaps, a test."

Su Chen shifted his gaze from the teacup in his hand to the exquisite scroll.

"Master Otto, the president of the Wutan City Alchemist Guild."

Ya Fei's jade finger tapped lightly on the scroll.

"He has encountered a problem. A problem that has plagued him for nearly a month and caused him to ruin three furnaces of precious medicinal materials."

She paused, seemingly organizing her words to describe the difficulty of the challenge.

"He needs to refine a Tier 3 medicinal pill, the 'Purple Spirit Pill'."

"One of the main ingredients in the formula, the 'Amethyst Companion Grass', is encased in a layer of extremely stubborn amethyst shell. To melt it, one requires an incredibly high temperature and sustained burning."

"Yet, at the same time, the herbal essence within the amethyst shell is incredibly fragile. It requires an absolutely stable, gentle flame to slowly permeate and stimulate its medicinal properties."

Ya Fei raised her eyes, staring into the shadow beneath the bamboo hat.

"High-temperature explosion, and gentle stability."

"Two diametrically opposed, or even conflicting, characteristics must exist within a single flame simultaneously."

"Master Otto has tried every beast fire in the guild's inventory, and all have ended in failure. Either the temperature was insufficient to melt the amethyst shell, or the flame was too violent, destroying the internal essence the moment the outer shell melted."

"He is on the verge of being driven mad."

A meaningful curve touched Ya Fei's red lips.

"This is his predicament, but it is also your opportunity."

"If you can solve this problem for him, what you gain will no longer be mere gold coins or allies like the Aoba Clan."

"You will gain the friendship of the entire Wutan City Alchemist Guild."

"From this moment on, you will no longer be just a mysterious supplier of fire seeds."

"You will become a... master whom every alchemist must rely upon."

These words were like a pebble thrown into a lake, sending invisible ripples across the silent courtyard.

Su Chen reached out and picked up the scroll.

This action was his answer.

"I need some things."

A steady voice came from beneath the bamboo hat.

"Speak."

A glimmer of light flashed in Ya Fei's eyes.

"One Rock Fire Seed. One Green Phosphorus Fire Seed."

Su Chen's voice paused before adding a third item.

"And, the innate beast fire of a Tier 3 magical beast, the 'Wind-Runner Wolf'. I need it to be the freshest possible."

Ya Fei's willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

She could understand the first two. Rock Fire was heavy and focused on stability. Green Phosphorus Fire was insidious and focused on penetration.

But the beast fire of a Wind-Runner Wolf... its characteristics were agility and speed, which were completely incompatible with the other two.

To forcibly fuse three flames with completely different attributes?

This was no longer refining fire.

In the mind of any alchemist, this was playing with fire and courting death!

The deepest secret chamber of the Alchemist Guild.

This was the private alchemy room of President Otto.

The walls of the room were built from black rock capable of isolating energy fluctuations, and complex fire-gathering arrays were inscribed on the floor.

The air was filled with a rich medicinal fragrance, mixed with a faint, lingering scent of burnt herbs from failed attempts.

Master Otto, with his white hair and beard, sat in the main seat looking utterly exhausted. His eye sockets were sunken and bloodshot, clearly having not rested well for many days.

Beside him, Ya Fei stood quietly, acting as the introducer and guarantor for this meeting.

When Su Chen's figure appeared at the doorway, Otto's cloudy old eyes merely swept over him indifferently before losing interest.

Too young.

Although the bamboo hat obscured his face, his lean frame and steady aura suggested he was certainly not old.

He truly could not reconcile the mysterious figure before him with the "Master" Ya Fei had described—the one capable of solving his monumental dilemma.

Had it not been for the sake of the Mite'er Family, he would never have wasted his time on this meeting.

Su Chen paid no mind to his scrutiny.

He walked straight to the center of the secret chamber and placed three fire seeds, each sealed in specially crafted crystal, onto the floor.

One was a heavy, orange-red.

One was a cold, emerald-green.

The last was a leaping, cyan flame, brimming with the agile nature of wind.

"Three types of beast fire?"

Master Otto's brows furrowed even deeper, his tone laced with suppressed impatience and skepticism.

"Young man, if you are merely trying your luck with these things, then forgive this old man for speaking bluntly: you are wasting everyone's time."

"I have exhausted everything I have learned in my life and still cannot perfectly fuse two flames of different attributes, let alone three."

Su Chen did not respond to his skepticism.

He simply turned his head to look at Ya Fei.

"I require an environment of absolute silence."

"Miss Ya Fei may remain as a witness."

These words caused Ya Fei's heart to skip a beat.

She understood that this was both a gesture of trust and... an undisguised display.

He wanted her to witness with her own eyes how he would create a miracle.

Ya Fei nodded and bowed slightly toward Master Otto. Although filled with doubt, Otto waved his hand, signaling for the remaining alchemist apprentices in the room to withdraw.

The heavy stone door slowly closed.

Inside the secret chamber, only three people remained.

Su Chen sat cross-legged, facing the three fire seeds.

He slowly closed his eyes.

The next moment.

A vast, indescribable aura, as if originating from the primordial era, quietly permeated from his body!

This aura was not Dou Qi.

It was more like a form of... will.

An absolute will, transcending all things, capable of commanding every flame between heaven and earth!

Ya Fei's breath hitched sharply at that moment.

She saw Su Chen extend his hands, palms facing downward, hovering above the three fire seeds.

There was no surge of Dou Qi, no activation of a magic array.

Yet, those three crystal-sealed fire seeds began to tremble violently without warning!

Hum--!

Three threads of flame, each a different color, pierced directly through the crystal seals, forcibly extracted from the source of the fire seeds by an invisible force!

The orange-red thread was as heavy as a mountain.

The emerald-green thread was as cold as a serpent.

The cyan thread was as agile as the wind.

The three flame essences, with their diametrically opposed attributes, were laid bare in the air, radiating intense repulsion and hostility toward one another.

"This... how is this possible!"

Master Otto, standing to the side, could no longer maintain his composure; he bolted from his seat, his cloudy eyes filled with incredulous shock!

Extracting beast fire essences with bare hands?!

What terrifying fire-control ability was this! It completely exceeded the scope of his understanding as a fourth-tier alchemist!

However, an even more hair-raising scene unfolded.

Su Chen's hands began to form a series of ancient and profound hand seals that Otto had never seen before.

His movements were not fast, yet every change seemed to trigger some law of heaven and earth.

Under the influence of his hand seals, the three restless, violent threads of flame were forcibly squeezed together!

Sss! Sss! Sss!

Harsh sounds of energy friction rang out in the secret chamber.

The three flames tangled, bit, and collided frantically, each attempting to devour the others entirely.

The temperature in the secret chamber fluctuated wildly, at times scorching like a furnace, at others frigid as an ice cellar. Violent ripples of energy battered the Fire Gathering Array on the floor, causing its light to flicker erratically.

Ya Fei's pretty face was deathly pale.

She could sense that if that energy were to spiral out of control, it would be enough to raze this sturdy secret chamber to the ground in an instant.

Su Chen, positioned at the center of the storm, had fine beads of sweat seeping from his temples. His complexion was drained of all color.

This was no pretense.

This creative fusion was draining his mental energy with unprecedented terror.

He had to maintain a state of intense focus, like the most masterful artisan, forcibly smelting three completely different materials, stripping away impurities, and reforging them into an entirely new work of art.

"Condense!"

A low, muffled shout came from beneath his bamboo hat.

Su Chen slammed his hands together!

Under the suppression of this final hand seal, the three intertwined threads of flame-light let out a cry of reluctance before finally merging into one.

All the violent energy instantly subsided.

All the strange phenomena vanished without a trace.

A brand-new flame hovered quietly above Su Chen's palm.

The flame was only the size of a thumb.

Its outer edge glowed with a scorching orange-red, as if it could melt everything in the world.

Yet, at its core lay a tiny, stable, cyan-green speck, radiating a gentle yet powerfully penetrating, peculiar ripple.

Two contradictory characteristics had reached a perfect balance on this tiny flame—a balance that could only be called a miracle.

"Huu..."

Su Chen exhaled a long, stale breath, his body swaying slightly as if he had exhausted every ounce of his strength.

He slowly opened his eyes, sealed the newborn flame within a blank crystal, and gently pushed it toward the already dumbstruck Master Otto.

Otto's body was trembling violently.

He was not afraid; he was ecstatic!

He rushed to the table in two strides, his hands shaking as he cradled the crystal.

His murky, aged eyes were locked onto the flame, as if he were gazing at a peerless treasure.

He did not even need to test it.

The mere aura of that perfect fusion had already given him the answer.

This was the perfect flame he had dreamed of his entire life.

"Ma... Master!"

Thump!

This highly respected alchemist of Wutan City, whom even the City Lord treated with courtesy, knelt on one knee before Su Chen without a moment's hesitation!

His voice trembled with excitement, filled with awe and fanaticism from the depths of his soul.

"Please... please accept Otto's respects!"

"Such a god-like technique of flame refinement—Otto has never heard of it, nor has he ever seen it!"

Standing to the side, Ya Fei watched this scene, her heart, which had been in her throat, finally settling back into place.

Immediately following, a joy a hundred times more intense than when her auction had succeeded swept through her entire being.

She knew she had bet correctly!

She walked forward slowly, her crisp, melodious voice ringing out clearly in the silent secret chamber.

"Master Otto, there is no need for such formalities."

"From this day forth, this partner of mine will officially open a brand-new service to all top-tier clients through the Miteer Auction House."

Ya Fei's gaze swept over the miraculous flame, her red lips curling into a smile that could topple kingdoms.

"This service does not sell fire seeds."

"We provide... customization."