Staring at the enormous skull, Xiao Yan couldn't help shivering.
So the thing born here wasn't Earth Fire at all. It was Bone Spirit Cold Flame!
When a living being's spirit endured after death, it condensed into flame. It gave off no heat, only a bone-piercing chill. That was Bone Spirit Cold Flame.
But the Bone Spirit Cold Flame in Bean Meal Firmament was born where extreme yin and cold converged. This place could hardly be called cold or gloomy. Ten thousand years ago, it had still been a volcano. How could Bone Spirit Cold Flame have appeared here?
Unable to make head or tail of it, Xiao Yan could only tentatively name this flame Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire. After all, it was merely not hot; it was still nowhere near Bone Spirit Cold Flame's appearance of "burning ice."
"So this Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire is the source of the Earth Fire phenomenon. But why would this cold flame create such a spectacle?"
Xiao Yan furrowed his brow. Though Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire was a Heavenly Flame, it gave off no heat, as if it didn't exist at all. Even if he put his hand on it, he couldn't feel the slightest warmth.
If it weren't for the fact that he could indeed be burned, Xiao Yan would have thought this was an illusion. But since the flame truly existed and contained no heat, how could it create that scene outside, with the sky and sea ablaze and Earth Fire bursting forth?
"There must be something else. Only when the two are combined could they create that scene outside, with the heavens and earth scorched by flames."
Xiao Yan was certain that the opportunity here was more than just this flame. He looked around, searching, until at last he spotted an unusual red glint at the center of the enormous skull's brow.
It wasn't magma or burning flames, but a fragment.
The fragment was bright red all over, like fire, and curved into an arc. He could just make out that it had once been a spherical object, and faintly glimpse the dark gold flowing across it like magma.
"Could this... be a fragment of the Red Orb?"
Xiao Yan's eyes widened in disbelief.
The Red Orb was a precious item that could allow Groudon to undergo Primal Reversion. If this really was a fragment of the Red Orb, then it would explain the origin of that terrifying scene outside.
The orb fragment retained its rank, but was like water without duckweed, constantly losing energy. Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire had only just been born, and possessed tremendous energy but no rank. Combined, the two had created that terrifying scene outside.
"This is meant to be mine."
Grinning, Xiao Yan pried the fragment from the skull and placed it in Little Fire Dragon's arms, letting it hold the orb and feel the energy inside.
As for himself, he reached out toward Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire, ready to absorb it.
"If I'm right, once I start absorbing Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire, the phenomenon outside will gradually weaken. But the two Soul Beasts are fighting, so they might not notice the change."
With that, Xiao Yan didn't hesitate. He guided his Soul Power into Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire.
The process of refining the flame was quite different from what Xiao Yan had imagined. This newborn spirit flame brimmed with vitality, perhaps because it had borrowed some of the Red Orb fragment's power earlier. Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire was incredibly proud, like a graceful beauty from a mountain of ice.
And Xiao Yan was like her suitor, needing to keep offering up Soul Power to win her favor.
But Xiao Yan's Soul Power was far too weak. He had only reached level 15. Compared with the Red Orb, how frail was he?
Having tasted the Red Orb's power, Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire naturally refused to be refined by someone as weak as Xiao Yan.
However, the Red Orb was now in Little Fire Dragon's grasp, and its power no longer spilled out. No matter how much the spirit flame yearned for that power, Xiao Yan's Soul Power was bound to seep into it, little by little.
Unwilling to be refined by Xiao Yan's Soul Power, the spirit flame fought back. Waves of flame surged, giving off no heat, yet repeatedly burning Xiao Yan.
"Heh, you've got some fight in you!"
Xiao Yan wasn't about to sit still. He simply increased the flow of his Soul Power, took out a bottle of Essence Replenishment Pills, and sat down to Calm Mind as he circulated the Flame Mantra.
The Flame Mantra was a cultivation technique that could also absorb Heavenly Flames. Xiao Yan's Soul Power was now steadily seeping into the Heavenly Flame, while the Flame Mantra and Essence Replenishment Pills restored him. With him conserving his strength while Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire slowly weakened, it soon bore Xiao Yan's mark.
At the same time, since Xiao Yan had already refined part of the Heavenly Flame, the Flame Mantra could begin devouring it. As the balance tipped further and further, Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire quickly weakened and began to beg for mercy.
But after all the effort Xiao Yan had put in, how could he let this opportunity slip away when it was already within his grasp?
The Flame Mantra circulated like a hungry beast, tearing into the Heavenly Flame's body and converting it into a fire Xiao Yan could use.
At the same time, Little Fire Dragon sent him a stream of pure fire-type Soul Power. Xiao Yan glanced back and saw it hugging the Red Orb, watching him with excitement. It had clearly gained something from the energy drifting off the Red Orb fragment.
And because this Soul Power had come from its insights into the Red Orb fragment, it bore a trace of the fragment's aura. Xiao Yan tried using it to refine the Heavenly Flame and found it remarkably easy.
"I suppose Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire has been with this Red Orb fragment for so long that Soul Power tinged with the fragment's aura can easily slip past its defenses and refine it."
Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire had thought its big brother had come to help, but once the big brother entered its body, he helped that Soul Power refine it instead. Grief welled up in the flame, and a wave of sorrow came from within it.
Xiao Yan knew that the flame was about to be refined. Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire was already connected to him heart and soul, and he could sense that he was just one step away.
The Soul Power tinged with the Red Orb's aura provided exactly what he needed, helping Xiao Yan gain complete control of the spirit flame.
The blue flames in the skull's eyes gradually faded. In their place, the flame ignited in Xiao Yan's dantian, then flowed along his Soul Power through his limbs, bones, and meridians.
"Sure enough, after absorbing my first Heavenly Flame, not only can I use it against my enemies, but the Flame Mantra's cultivation speed has also increased."
Xiao Yan didn't want to waste time. He urged his Soul Power to batter the bottleneck at level 15.
His Soul Power surged like waves pounding the shore, striking the bottleneck again and again. Xiao Yan gradually came to a realization.
"No wonder Little Fire Dragon's level is tied to mine. I've been at school for days and couldn't break through because I haven't been grinding monsters..."
That was right. Little Fire Dragon followed Pokémon rules: it couldn't level up through cultivation alone. It had to either take pills it had concocted or go outside and grind monsters for experience points.
"But absorbing Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire is a huge boost in itself, so my Soul Power will improve too."
"So, to break through this bottleneck, all I have to do is..."
Xiao Yan moved swiftly, pulled out Purple Sun Pills, and poured them into his mouth like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.
His Soul Power accumulated bit by bit, until at last its vast ocean burst through the bottleneck. Blinding white light shone from Little Fire Dragon!
The light of evolution!!
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