The twisted human face formed from Black Flame opened its abyssal maw, and streams of fire coiled around Ling Luo's ruined body like countless venomous snakes. Ling Luo's skin peeled away inch by inch under the scorching flames, while his bones let out teeth-grinding cracks. After Black Flame completely devoured Ling Luo, it neither returned to Xiao Yan's arm nor continued attacking Xiao Yan and the other two. Unexpectedly, it simply quieted down where it was. Since Xiao Yan shared a subtle connection with Black Flame, he knew that its stillness meant it was digesting something.
This development immediately put Xiao Yan on guard. From his experience, Black Flame devoured things with astonishing speed. Even a fire lotus formed from fused Heavenly Flames could be completely consumed in the blink of an eye. Yet Black Flame was now quietly digesting something, completely contrary to its usual behavior. Something was clearly wrong!
As he probed with his senses, Xiao Yan discovered a core at the center of Black Flame. It seemed that Black Flame was absorbing that thing.
Xiao Yan instinctively wanted to investigate. He knew far too little about Black Flame, and this might be a good opportunity.
"Hand it over!"
Xiao Yan had not expected Black Flame to obey obediently. The moment his words fell, the devouring power in his right arm activated, tugging fiercely at Black Flame. Black Flame completely ignored his command, but Xiao Yan was no longer weak. Relying on the devouring power within his arm, he still managed to wrench Black Flame aside.
What it had been devouring was revealed—a small clump of blood. From its appearance alone, the blood seemed no different from ordinary blood. Yet when Xiao Yan stared closely, he discovered that it carried a faint golden hue.
There was no other