Hiss! Zhu Jin sniffed involuntarily, sucking back the dragon breath that had nearly burst from his nostrils. This powerful energy cleared his nostrils, sharpened his mind, and brightened his eyes.
"Damn, this Heavenly Flame energy is pure, smooth, and packs a punch." Zhu Jin exhaled a breath of heat and vigorously shook his head.
If he had to describe it, it felt like ground devil peppers mixed with mint candy and horseradish. It was spicy, intense, and vicious. Even though Zhu Jin was an Ancient Void Dragon, one mouthful left his mouth burning hot, his throat feeling strangely tight, and a surge of energy churning within his stomach like a roiling mass of heat.
Zhu Jin could not help rolling his eyes. He wanted to throw back his head, let out a roar, and release flames.
After the burning sensation in his throat gradually faded, Zhu Jin caught another flicker of fire with his dragon claw. This tiny flame contained more fire energy than an ordinary Tier Four beast flame.
Zhu Jin had not devoured the Flame Wolf Unicorn's beast flame back then not because it could fetch a good price, but because if Dragon Flame had to rely on swallowing such low-grade beast flames to evolve, it would take until the end of time. He might as well sell it for pills.
Magical beasts did not merely awaken combat skills—their combat skills could evolve! The most common case was when bloodline evolution caused their combat skills to change as well. They could go from Mystic Tier to Earth Tier, or even Heaven Tier.
The Ancient Void Dragon's Dragon Flame worked the same way. As long as it devoured enough beast flames, Heavenly Flames, or even certain special flames, Dragon Flame could grow stronger. Once it reached a certain level, it could advance into an Earth Tier Dragon Flame or even a Heaven Tier one. It did not necessarily need flames, either; certain miraculous energies of heaven and earth could also trigger evolution.
The most classic example was the Black Demon Lightning described in the book. Zhu Jin remembered clearly that there was a secret realm near East Dragon Island—a sea of lightning whose outskirts contained powerful Black Demon Lightning. It had originally been a cultivation ground for Hei Qing of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's East Dragon Island, yet even at the Dou Venerate level, Hei Qing had only dared absorb the Black Demon Lightning at the outskirts.
Zhu Jin raised his head again and looked into the void surrounding him. He muttered, "This is a Heavenly Flame Space. That Heavenly Flame was placed here by the Ancient Void Dragon expert who built this place, and he used it as an energy source to transform this barren mountain! It was not a Heavenly Flame left behind by some alchemist after his death!"
This was exactly the Ancient Void Dragon way! They relied on their innate ability to traverse the void and roam everywhere, then raised whatever heavenly treasures they found. Three Thousand Burning Flame, Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning—those were all treasures discovered and marked by Ancient Void Dragon Clan experts back then, who waited for them to grow before returning to harvest them!
This had once been a Medicine Garden. Though it had been destroyed, it still contained some pills, well-preserved herbs, pill formulas, and other items. That was why those magical beast clans mistook it for the ruins of an alchemist's tomb!
Now that he understood, what was there left to say? Zhu Jin sprang forward like a fish diving into water, leaping directly into the Heavenly Flame Space and plunging into the void.
"Hehe, no wonder the magical beasts that came in before me did not take these little flames. Without the strength of a Dou Zong or even a Dou Venerate, they simply cannot touch the void. Otherwise, the void would grind them to death." Once Zhu Jin entered the void, he felt as though he had dived into water. The void's power, enough to crush even Tier Six and Tier Seven magical beasts, slid past the dragon scales on his body like rushing currents and could not hurt him at all.
"I'm eating!" With a sweep of his tail and a snap of his jaws, Zhu Jin swallowed a small flame, swimming like a dragon.
Of course, Zhu Jin himself thought he was an elegant dragon swimming through the void. But from the outside, he looked more like a greedy snake, devouring every spark of fire he saw as his body gradually swelled.
Yes, he was swelling up. The more he ate, the more exhilarated he became. His belly grew larger, and wisps of white smoke even rose from his body.
But Zhu Jin did not get so carried away by eating that he forgot the true purpose of this trip—the Heavenly Flame!
These were merely fragments of Heavenly Flame energy. Just like in that Three Thousand Burning Flame arc, there had been some Heavenly Flame energy around the Heavenly Flame Space, which Xiao Yan used to strengthen his puppet and make some "firecrackers." The small flames here were the same. They were only byproducts born after the Heavenly Flame had existed for a long time, similar to the Companion Amethyst Source of the Amethyst Winged Lion King. They were not the main course.
Zhu Jin continued eating as he swam toward the deepest part of the Heavenly Flame Space. He did not know how long he had eaten or how long he had swum, but eventually, he reached the end. With a soft pop, Zhu Jin swam out of the Heavenly Flame Space and entered a region of darkness. When he turned back, the sight behind him stunned him.
"How powerful must that Ancient Void Dragon expert have been to create something like this?"
A galaxy! When Zhu Jin turned to look at the Heavenly Flame Space, a glowing galaxy lay before him. Of course, it was not that there were countless stars here; it merely looked that way. Countless strands of Heavenly Flame energy emitted faint light like stars.
However, Zhu Jin was somewhat disappointed, because the Heavenly Flame had already been taken by an expert of the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan, leaving behind only this Heavenly Flame Space.
In truth, Zhu Jin had already sensed it when he entered. There had not been any Nine Netherworld Python guards inside this Heavenly Flame Space. It felt as though the best treasures had already been taken away, while the unimportant and difficult-to-remove things had simply been left behind.
The Nine Netherworld Pythons did not possess the ability to travel through the void. Taking away the Heavenly Flame alone must have required tremendous effort.
"Damn it! You dared take the Heavenly Flame of my old dragon family? I'll remember this debt." Flames spurted from Zhu Jin's nostrils in anger, and he silently declared to the Nine Netherworld Python Clan, Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.
"Don't waste it."
Zhu Jin turned his grief and indignation into appetite and continued devouring. As he constantly swallowed Heavenly Flame energy, his Dragon Flame began to change.
[Mystic Tier High—Ancient Dragon Flame (Beginner)] [Mystic Tier High—Ancient Dragon Flame (Minor Mastery)] [Mystic Tier High—Ancient Dragon Flame (Major Mastery)] [Mystic Tier High—Ancient Dragon Flame (Peak)]
[Evolution] [Earth Tier Low—Black-Yellow Dragon Flame (Beginner)]
As Zhu Jin kept eating, his Dragon Sense sent him a message, telling him that the Dragon Flame within his body had evolved. It felt much like a sixth sense.
"Black-Yellow Dragon Flame..." Four words suddenly surfaced in Zhu Jin's mind. What surprised him first was neither the evolution of his Dragon Flame nor the fact that this Heavenly Flame was the Black-Yellow Flame. Rather, he was shocked that the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's bloodline inheritance actually contained information about the Black-Yellow Flame!
A magical beast's bloodline was equivalent to a human's DNA. What was even more miraculous was that a magical beast's bloodline power came already decoded. As long as one's cultivation and conditions reached the required level, the things within it would automatically unlock.
In other words, one of the Ancient Void Dragon ancestors in his own lineage had once devoured the Black-Yellow Flame and used it to evolve Dragon Flame. That was why this code existed within the bloodline. Now that he had likewise devoured Black-Yellow Flame energy and evolved his Dragon Flame, that code had been unlocked!
[Bloodline combat skill unlocked...]
"Hmm?!"
Before you continue