Shrek City (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Meow)

"Beibei, Xiao Ya, you two take Yu Hao to enroll first. I'll stay behind to help Yulü cultivate for a few days. Once he breaks through, we'll enroll together."

Beibei and Tang Ya looked at Xiao Yan in surprise. They knew that Shrek Academy assigned classes based on the order of enrollment; if they enrolled too late, they might not be assigned to a good teacher.

However, once they remembered that the teacher in charge of Class One this year was a female instructor with a rather poor reputation, they nodded:

"Fine. Since you insist, we shall part ways here. We'll see you after you enroll."

"Right, see you after enrollment."

After bidding farewell, Xiao Yan watched the group gradually fade into the distance, then patted Xiao Yulü on the back of the head:

"Let's go. Let's find an inn to stay in and get some solid cultivation done."

"Oh, oh, alright."

After wandering through Shrek City for a long time, the two stopped in front of a three-story building in the East District called the "Cloud Arrival Inn."

Seeing that the inn was well-decorated and even featured hot springs, Xiao Yulü felt a bit tempted. He reached into his robes, pulled out a money pouch, and prepared to book a room.

Xiao Yan had intended to advise him to shop around, but he was stunned by the sight of the bulging money pouch.

"Wait, you..."

"Ah, this was given to me by the clan. It was originally meant for me to buy a suitable Soul Tool, but after looking for a long time, nothing felt as natural as my Heavy Profound Ruler."

"Now, it can finally be put to good use."

He grabbed a handful of Gold Soul Coins from the pouch, handed them to the innkeeper, and said:

"Innkeeper, book us two premium rooms for a month."

The innkeeper smiled as he took the coins, registered them with nimble movements, and handed over two keys:

"Here you go, guests. These are two premium rooms on the third floor facing the street. They each have a small private hot spring pool inside. Of course, you are also free to use the public pools outside."

Xiao Yan stared at Xiao Yulü with wide eyes, surprised that the kid was so generous as to book a room for him for an entire month right off the bat.

Seeming to notice Xiao Yan's gaze, Xiao Yulü turned back, his expression tinged with a hint of guilt and apology:

"Hey, if it weren't for waiting for me to break through, you could have enrolled by now. The expenses incurred by this delay should naturally be covered by me. This bit of room fare is nothing."

Xiao Yan looked at the youth for a moment, then took the key and waved his hand:

"Fine. Next time, I'm definitely going to bleed you for a few good meals. Go cultivate; if there's anything you don't understand, just come and ask me."

The two went upstairs to their respective rooms. Xiao Yan closed his door and looked around.

The room wasn't large, but it was clean and tidy, featuring a large bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small, partitioned hot spring pool and bathroom. Walking to the window, one could overlook the bustling street scene of Shrek City.

Xiao Yan rested well, bathed, and changed his clothes. Once his state was adjusted to its peak, he sat cross-legged on the bed, turning his spirit inward and sinking into his sea of consciousness.

Little Fire Dragon lay flat on the surface of the water. Since it wasn't real water, it didn't affect the flame burning at the tip of its tail. Xiao Yan played with it for a while, coaxing the Little Fire Dragon until it giggled, before finally calming down.

Then, he "fished" a few sheets of paper from his waist.

These were the preliminary framework for the Burning Technique he had thought up and compiled on the way back to the city, manifested in his sea of consciousness through memory projection.

"Heh, the Burning Technique from the original Battle Through the Heavens core revolves around devouring Heavenly Flames, using fire to nourish fire, and ultimately reaching the realm of Burn Heaven Boil Sea."

Xiao Yan muttered to himself, raising his arm slightly. The paper sheets moved without wind, piecing themselves together in mid-air.

"However, the concept of Heavenly Flames doesn't exist in the Douluo Continent. But there are plenty of fire-attribute spirit herbs and soul beasts. Perhaps I can create my own 'Heavenly Flame'?"

Xiao Yan's line of thought was actually quite simple: since this world lacked natural Heavenly Flames, he would use the flames of soul beasts or sufficiently powerful fire-attribute treasures as substitutes.

As long as he could find a flame that was unique and powerful enough, he could theoretically simulate the effects of a Heavenly Flame.

"Still, I have to verify the feasibility of the technique first."

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, then began to guide the soul power within his body according to the circulation path of the Burning Technique from his memories.

Unlike the Xiao Clan's original cultivation method, the soul power circulation path of the Burning Technique was far more ferocious and domineering, and significantly more aggressive. As the soul power moved, Xiao Yan felt as if the meridians throughout his entire body were about to ignite.

"Hiss... As expected, it's still quite difficult to force the Burning Technique to run without a Heavenly Flame..."

He gritted his teeth and persisted. After the soul power completed one cycle through his body, it gradually came to a halt.

Fine beads of sweat had already appeared on Xiao Yan's forehead. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly remembered something.

"No, even without a Heavenly Flame, I can use the Little Fire Dragon's flames as a substitute... Besides, dragon breath is also a form of fire. All things considered, I already possess two types of fire: ordinary fire and dragon flame. It's worth a try."

No sooner said than done, Xiao Yan patted the Little Fire Dragon floating in the sea of consciousness nearby. The Little Fire Dragon understood instantly and spat out a plume of flames.

Strengthened by the Thousand-Year Crimson Fire Boa soul ring, the temperature and intensity of the Little Fire Dragon's flames had both increased. Xiao Yan raised his hand, intending to incorporate the flames, but then thought of something and said to the Little Fire Dragon:

"Xiao Fire Dragon, remember to cooperate with me later. Assist me as gently as possible in guiding this flame into my body. If anything looks wrong, dissipate it immediately."

"Ga-wu!"

The Little Fire Dragon chirped, indicating it understood.

Xiao Yan smiled, then touched the flames with his finger and began to execute the Burning Technique.

With the addition of the flames, the burning pain in his meridians was significantly reduced this time, and the flow of soul power became much smoother. One cycle, two cycles, three cycles...

When the fifth cycle ended, Xiao Yan opened his eyes abruptly, his aura surging significantly.

"Damn, although I haven't broken through to level 16 yet, I'm getting close..."

At this moment, he could clearly feel that the soul power within his body had made some progress, and its quality had improved significantly as well.

It was as if his martial soul had become more refined, much like the way the ultimate martial souls described in the original work would compress soul power.

More importantly, that wisp of flame from the Little Fire Dragon had been thoroughly integrated into his body after five cycles of tempering, sinking into his dantian and transforming into a tiny spark.

"So this is the spark of the Burning Technique..."

Xiao Yan clenched his fist, feeling the faint yet potential-filled spark within his body, and a smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"Next, as long as I continue to devour stronger flames, this spark will keep growing, and eventually..."

"I shall Burn Heaven and Boil Sea, standing alone... through the ages."

Early the next morning.

Xiao Yan finished his cultivation and stretched before pushing open his door, just in time to see Xiao Yulü walking out of the room next door.

Seeing that he was in good spirits, Xiao Yan asked casually:

"How was it? How did your cultivation go last night?"

"Still a little short."

Xiao Yulü shook his head:

"Although I broke through to level 13 last night, I'm afraid it will take at least another week of cultivation to reach the level 15 required by Shrek Academy."

"Alright then, you continue your seclusion; I'm going out for a stroll."