The Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower

"You stay here. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

Yun Zimo brought Zi Yan to a vast canyon in the southwestern mountains. After telling her to stay put, he went alone into the Snow Demon Sky Ape's territory.

"Roar—gaa!"

Outside the canyon, Zi Yan heard the Snow Demon Sky Ape roar. Its cry abruptly fell silent, and less than fifteen minutes later, Yun Zimo emerged, dragging the Snow Demon Sky Ape behind him.

"How did it go? Did you get it?"

Zi Yan gazed at Yun Zimo with wide, blinking eyes. A faint smile touched Zi Mo's lips as he shook the jade bottle in his hand.

"Let's take this big fellow back as your pet."

Yun Zimo patted the Snow Demon Sky Ape, who was pretending to be dead, and said to Zi Yan.

"Can you shrink? I know you can speak human language."

The Snow Demon Sky Ape realized its "perfect" disguise had been seen through. Reluctantly, it got to its feet and shot Yun Zimo a resentful look. Then its body gradually shrank until it became an adorable little white monkey.

"Damn humans! I, the mighty Snow Demon Sky Ape, have to serve this... this... transformed Magical Beast King!"

Feeling the noble aura unconsciously radiating from Zi Yan, the Snow Demon Sky Ape's furious thoughts vanished without a trace. It sprang lightly onto Zi Yan's shoulder and affectionately rubbed its cheek against hers.

"I'll give you a name. Snow Demon Sky Ape... how about Yun Xue?"

Seeing how sensible the Snow Demon Sky Ape was, Yun Zimo nodded with satisfaction and named her.

"What an awful name!"

Yun Xue grumbled inwardly, but still clung tightly to Zi Yan's shoulder, accepting the name without complaint.

Curious, Zi Yan lifted Yun Xue from her shoulder and gently stroked her soft, snowy-white fur. A pet?

"Let's go! On to the next one."

In one day, the two of them had raided the lairs of all the nearby Dou Wang-level Magical Beasts, collecting seven or eight kinds of rare treasures. The number of "pets" behind Zi Yan had also risen to three. As for the others...

"Pah, shameless!"

The little purple bird that was the Purple Nether Flame Sparrow cursed Yun Xue for fawning over Zi Yan, then chirped and happily circled around Zi Yan herself.

Looking at the long list, Yun Zimo thought it over and put it away. Enough was enough. The ones further down the list were all hard to handle!

Zi Yan had never had so many playmates before, and she danced through the forest in delight. A purple bird fluttered before her, a tame white-haired little monkey rested in her hands, and a spotted tiger bounded playfully at her side.

Yun Zimo quietly sheathed the sword in his hand. If three fifth-tier Magical Beasts attacked all at once, he wouldn't be able to kill them all in time, and Zi Yan would be in danger.

But now, those three fellows seemed to have accepted Zi Yan for some reason. They even seemed inclined to acknowledge her as their master.

"The Snow Demon Sky Ape, the Purple Nether Flame Sparrow, and the Earth-Splitting Python Demon Tiger!"

Su Qian stared speechlessly at the three Magical Beast Kings behaving like tame livestock beside Zi Yan. That kid really knew how to stir up trouble! If the three beast kings went berserk, the academy would be in trouble again.

"Have the elders at the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower grant that little girl higher access, and bring over a portion of the Heart Flame Origin."

Su Qian was afraid Yun Zimo would stay much longer and accidentally tear the academy apart—or lure a Magical Beast Emperor from deep in the mountains into the Inner Academy. He didn't care how much it hurt; he just wanted to get them out of there as quickly as possible!

"I wonder what state the Fallen Heart Flame is in now."

While the First Elder Su Qian was fretting, Yun Zimo was already inside the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, curiously peering into its pitch-black cavern.

"Little Brother Yun, don't go any farther! Even a Dou Wang expert would get burned!"

Elder Huo, on duty at the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, spotted Yun Zimo approaching from a distance and hurriedly called out a warning.

"Elder Huo."

Yun Zimo greeted him with a salute, then leaned toward the cavern and asked,

"What exactly is beneath this cavern?"

"I imagine you've already guessed, Little Brother Yun?"

Elder Huo didn't believe someone as knowledgeable as Yun Zimo could fail to guess what lay below. They had spent plenty of time discussing it together lately.

"Its flames are formless, born from the heart. If I'm not mistaken, it's the fourteenth-ranked Heavenly Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame, known as a 'cultivation cheat'?"

Yun Zimo stirred his emotions slightly, and a tiny, invisible flame immediately ignited in his chest.

"Heh."

Elder Huo smiled without answering.

"This is the foundation of our Inner Academy. Every power that has endured for a long time must have a sacred cultivation ground to support it. And this is the treasure of the Inner Academy!"

Yun Zimo nodded. That was certainly true. The Gate of Life and Death in the Misty Cloud Sect, where generations of sect leaders had passed away, was precisely what had allowed the Misty Cloud Sect to endure for centuries through countless ups and downs.

Still, Jia Nan Academy was something else. They'd imprisoned a Heavenly Flame comparable to a High-Rank Dou Zong and treated it like a natural "milk cow." Weren't they afraid of playing with fire and getting burned?

Mang Tianchi, a Dou Zun, wasn't even in the Inner Academy. No wonder the Fallen Heart Flame was so difficult to control when it erupted.

"Which level is Xiao Yi Xian on?"

The two of them followed the winding stairs down as they talked. Only then did Yun Zimo ask about Xiao Yi Xian.

"The depths of the tower's base, where the Heart Flame's effects are strongest."

"Your little girlfriend is remarkably strong-willed. Even we would have to leave early after being roasted by the Heart Flame and accumulating fire poison. I never expected her to hold out. When the elders bring her food each day, the little girl even thanks them. She acts as if the fire poison doesn't exist."

Elder Huo spoke of Xiao Yi Xian with astonishment and regret, lamenting that such a promising student wasn't his.

Yun Zimo smiled faintly. Xiao Yi Xian possessed the Woe Poison Body, and every kind of poison in the world was a great tonic to her. Though fire poison wasn't actually poison, it was no threat to her.

"Thank you for taking care of her all this time, Elder."

Yun Zimo spoke respectfully, but Elder Huo merely waved a hand. Helping a promising junior avoid detours and take control of his own future was the best thanks anyone could give them.

"We're here. Go find her in the training room. I won't disturb you."

Elder Huo pointed to a training room, then turned toward the control room at the tower's base. He still had to fetch a portion of the Heart Flame Origin to deliver.

Yun Zimo used his access card and carefully slipped into the training room. In the enormous chamber, a lone figure in white sat cross-legged. A rich purple glow surrounded her, illuminating her strangely colorful face. Her usually violent, unruly Poison Dou Qi was now gentle and obedient.

"The Fallen Heart Flame really lives up to its reputation as a ranked Heavenly Flame."

Yun Zimo marveled inwardly. With Yao Lao's flame seal suppressing the Woe Poison Veins and the Fallen Heart Flame taming her Poison Dou Qi, he was almost certain that Xiao Yi Xian's Woe Poison Body wouldn't erupt at random again before she reached the Dou Zong realm!

After some time, Xiao Yi Xian's eyes snapped open. The Heart Flame inside her subsided, and her Poison Dou Qi flowed back like a gentle stream into the slowly rotating purple Dou Crystal.

"Da Dou Shi!"

Yun Zimo was astonished. In just one month, Xiao Yi Xian had crossed the Dou Shi realm and broken through to Da Dou Shi. With her strange Poison Dou Qi, she could even fight a High-Rank Da Dou Shi! She was every bit as talented as the most gifted prodigy.

"Zi Mo!"

A smile appeared on Xiao Yi Xian's usually cold face. After stretching a little, she happily showed Yun Zimo her strength. At a thought, purple Dou Qi armor slowly covered her body. She circulated her Dou Qi and performed a fist-based Dou Technique, the wind howling as though it could tear through everything.

"It looks like I'll have to break through to Dou Huang as soon as possible..."

Yun Zimo fell silent. Xiao Yi Xian's cultivation speed was downright frightening—and that was without her taking any poison. If she'd been willing to take pills regardless of the consequences, she might already have reached Dou Ling, or even Dou Wang!