Watching the Sea Heart Flame appear.
Shen Shihuang's eyes lit up. With the Sea Heart Flame, he could make the Taisui Flame advance another stage, and that fellow called Wu Ci would appear again. When that happened, he could learn more.
"Sure."
Shen Shihuang walked up to Han Feng and reached out to grab the Sea Heart Flame.
At that very moment.
Han Feng flung the Sea Heart Flame away and instantly shot backward.
"I'll remember this grudge, Shen Shihuang!"
The Sea Heart Flame was in one direction,
while Han Feng, carrying his grudge, was in the other.
Shen Shihuang didn't hesitate and went straight after the Sea Heart Flame.
"Stop right there!"
Taisui Flame billowed across Shen Shihuang's hands as he reached for the Sea Heart Flame.
The moment he touched it,
the Taisui Flame on Shen Shihuang's hands turned into chains, tightly binding the Sea Heart Flame.
Looking at the Sea Heart Flame,
Shen Shihuang's soul had only just made contact with it when he sensed something was wrong.
"Han Feng!"
He had thought Han Feng had truly handed over the Sea Heart Flame, but it turned out Han Feng's Soul Imprint hadn't been erased.
"I let my guard down."
A smile appeared on Shen Shihuang's face. "So you want to fight me for the Sea Heart Flame with the power of your soul!"
Against an ordinary Dou Zong powerhouse,
he might really have failed.
But
although Shen Shihuang didn't know what rank his soul was, he had sensed Pill King Gu He back at the Misty Cloud Sect. Yet Pill King Gu He's soul power hadn't sensed his own.
In other words,
his soul power was at least a little stronger than Pill King Gu He's. They were both sixth-tier alchemists. Han Feng's soul power might be stronger, but it couldn't possibly be overwhelmingly so.
Otherwise, Han Feng wouldn't be only a sixth-tier alchemist.
"Shatter!"
Shen Shihuang didn't have many soul techniques at his disposal. The only thing he could do was unleash the most primitive, violent force and smash Han Feng's Soul Imprint inside the Sea Heart Flame.
Crack!
Under Shen Shihuang's fierce assault, Han Feng's Soul Imprint inside the Sea Heart Flame shattered.
Some distance away, in the opposite direction,
Han Feng had just stopped.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
"Urgh!"
He spat out another mouthful of blood. "How is this possible?"
Han Feng steadied himself against a tree, his eyes filled with disbelief. He was a sixth-tier alchemist! Even among Dou Zong powerhouses, there were very few whose soul power surpassed his.
This man had actually smashed his Soul Imprint outright?!
"I'll remember you!"
Han Feng clenched his teeth.
He hadn't expected to fall here today. Losing the Sea Heart Flame was an enormous blow to him.
Meanwhile,
Shen Shihuang looked at the Sea Heart Flame enveloped by the Taisui Flame, unsure what to do for the moment.
If he wanted the energy of the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed, there was only one way now.
He had to take the Sea Heart Flame into his body and draw out the energy of its Origin Flame Seed.
"The Sea Heart Flame's seed."
With his hand wrapped in Taisui Flame, Shen Shihuang reached into the Sea Heart Flame. He wanted to retrieve its Origin Flame Seed.
Hummmmmm—
As soon as Shen Shihuang's hand entered the Sea Heart Flame, a seed within, formed as if from gathered waves, immediately pushed back against him.
"Your true body is trapped in my hands. You think you can turn the world upside down?"
Shen Shihuang circulated the Dou Qi within his body, slowly pressing closer to the seed.
Boom!
It seemed he had broken through the Origin Flame Seed's defenses. A sapphire-blue flame seed appeared in Shen Shihuang's hand. Looking at the Origin Flame Seed, Shen Shihuang's eyes filled with delight.
"Better keep it for now."
"I'll study it later and see if I can directly draw out some of the Origin Flame Seed's energy."
Holding the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed in one hand, Shen Shihuang looked in a certain direction.
"Han Feng."
"I wasn't planning to kill you. I didn't think you'd try to play games with me."
"I really don't like that."
As for Han Feng,
all Shen Shihuang wanted was the energy of the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed. Killing Han Feng wasn't something he needed to do.
"In that case,"
"I won't hold back!"
His black bone wings beat, and Shen Shihuang turned into a streak of light, darting in the direction Han Feng had fled.
Beneath an old tree,
Han Feng was recovering.
Suddenly,
Han Feng rolled across the ground. The old tree, which had cast shade across a wide area, exploded amid flames. Black fire swept over the earth, and in the blink of an eye, all the plants within thirty meters had turned to ash.
Shen Shihuang hovered in the air, looking down at Han Feng in his wretched state.
"Han Feng, I'd intended to spare your life. I didn't think you'd try to play games with me."
"I really don't like that, so..."
"I've come to kill you!"
When Han Feng saw Shen Shihuang, terror filled his eyes. His Dou Qi Wings carried him fleeing into the distance as he called out, "I already gave you the Sea Heart Flame! You said you'd let me go!"
Watching Han Feng flee,
Shen Shihuang didn't hold back. He left the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed suspended in the air and swiftly formed hand seals.
"Han Feng, you brought this on yourself!"
Dou Qi took the shape of a dragon, and the Dragon Subduing Seal formed.
"Brahma Dragon-Subduing Seal!"
Shen Shihuang shouted. The enormous Dragon Subduing Seal, as big as a three-story building, shot after Han Feng.
Boom!
The deafening explosion rang out, and the earth seemed to tremble.
"Ahhh!"
Amid the explosion,
only Han Feng's agonized cry could be heard. Shen Shihuang watched Han Feng's body shatter beneath the Dragon Subduing Seal, then turned and left.
"Next, I need to draw out the energy of the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed."
"The second stage of the Taisui Flame will soon be within reach."
"Wu Ci?"
Compared with Han Feng, Shen Shihuang was more concerned about the series of events surrounding the Taisui Flame.
The black flames inside the spatial rift,
and the things Wu Ci had said.
Those were what worried Shen Shihuang most right now.
"Taisui Flame."
"I never thought this Heavenly Flame would bring all these problems with it."
Carrying the Sea Heart Flame, Shen Shihuang soon found a barren mountain.
Just as before,
he blasted open a cave and hid inside.
In the cave,
Shen Shihuang looked at the Sea Heart Flame floating before him, deep in thought.
What should he do?
Subdue this Heavenly Flame?
As if that were possible.
The Taisui Flame had always been with him, so it was no problem. But Shen Shihuang didn't think he could subdue an entirely new Heavenly Flame. Xiao Yan could have multiple Heavenly Flames coexist inside him because of the Flame Mantra.
He didn't have the Flame Mantra.
"Hiss!"
Suddenly,
Shen Shihuang realized he'd forgotten something. "I forgot Han Feng's soul body. If I'd had the soul body of Han Feng, a Nine-Star Dou Huang, maybe I could've advanced my Ten Thousand Year Technique..."
"First time around. I let my guard down!"
Shen Shihuang summed up his experience in his mind.
He was still inexperienced at this.
An understandable mistake.
"But do I really have to absorb the Sea Heart Flame to draw out the energy of its Origin Flame Seed?"
Shen Shihuang was frustrated.
If only he could merge directly with the Origin Flame Seed.
But unfortunately,
the Taisui Flame could only absorb some of the Origin Flame Seed's energy, not the Origin Flame Seed itself.
"I have the Taisui Flame protecting me."
"At worst, I'll fail!"
"If I succeed, perhaps I'll have a second Heavenly Flame!"
Shen Shihuang stared at the Sea Heart Flame. This was a Heavenly Flame! It would be a lie to say he didn't want it.