Demon Fire

By the time Jiang Yuan returned to the residence, the sky was completely dark.

Shuang'er stood at the entrance with a lantern. The moment she spotted Jiang Yuan in the distance, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over to meet him.

"Master, you're finally back! I've reheated your dinner three times already."

"No need. I'm not hungry."

Jiang Yuan waved a hand and headed straight for the alchemy room. "No one is to disturb me tonight. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow."

Shuang'er opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but seeing Jiang Yuan's grave expression, she swallowed her words.

The alchemy room door slammed shut with a bang.

Jiang Yuan placed the demonic beast core on the table, lit an oil lamp, and carefully examined it by its dim yellow light.

This dark-red crystal was slightly smaller than a fist. Its surface was smooth all over, like a polished gemstone. Faint streams of light shifted within it, as though some living creature were swimming inside.

"Just what is the origin of this demonic beast core...?"

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly.

Though this thing was exceedingly rare and could be used in medicine, it was mostly valuable as a collectible.

The only reason he had bid on it was to see whether it could be used for alchemy.

At the auction house, that man in black had kept raising the price against him for this item. Then, after leaving, he had come looking for trouble. If Jiang Yuan had not had enough trump cards up his sleeve, he might not have gotten away so easily tonight.

Jiang Yuan set the core in his palm and slowly injected a thread of true qi into it.

Buzz—

The core trembled faintly. A pale red glow surfaced across it, and its temperature abruptly soared.

Startled, he quickly withdrew his true qi.

"It reacted?"

Jiang Yuan stared at the core, and a bold thought suddenly arose in his mind.

Since this thing could be used in medicine and alchemy, what would happen if he simply tossed it into the pill furnace and refined it?

He had always acted decisively. Once he thought of it, he did it.

Jiang Yuan slapped the top of the pill furnace with one hand. The lid flew open, and he threw the demonic beast core inside before immediately circulating his true qi to ignite the furnace fire.

As the temperature inside the furnace rapidly rose, the demonic beast core spun within it, producing cracking sounds as if it might split apart at any moment.

Jiang Yuan focused completely, continuously urging his true qi to maintain the flames, his heart tense as well.

Damn it, this was a treasure he had bought for nine hundred spirit stones.

If he ruined it just like that, the loss would be enormous.

Yet the demonic beast core was far sturdier than he had imagined. After burning for a full half hour, the cracks on its surface gradually widened, and a scorching aura seeped out through them.

That aura was incomparably fierce. Even the pill furnace began to glow faintly red.

"There really is something strange about it."

Jiang Yuan was secretly delighted and increased his output of true qi.

He had feared the demonic beast core would crack too easily. The tougher it was, the more it meant there had to be something extraordinary inside!

Another hour passed.

Sweat had already seeped across Jiang Yuan's forehead. More than half his true qi had been depleted, and he was nearly unable to hold on.

Just then—

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the demonic beast core split apart completely.

A dark-purple flame burst from within the core. Its color was deep and eerie, carrying a wave of searing heat that rushed straight at him.

As if possessed of intelligence, the flame circled once within the pill furnace before suddenly lunging at Jiang Yuan!

Jiang Yuan instinctively tried to dodge, but the flames were too fast. They reached him in the blink of an eye.

His heart tightened, and he reflexively activated Vajra Invulnerability.

But he had already used it today.

The dark-purple flame passed through his protective true qi and drilled directly into his dantian!

"Hiss—"

Jiang Yuan grunted, feeling an intense pain erupt from his lower abdomen, as if something were burning inside his body.

He sat down cross-legged and circulated the Everlasting Spring Technique with all his strength, attempting to suppress the flame.

Every time it passed through a meridian, it brought a wave of blazing pain.

Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

He did not know what kind of flame this was, but he had an intuition that if he could tame it, it would be of tremendous use to him.

As long as he could endure it, the benefits would be immeasurable.

Jiang Yuan drew a deep breath. No longer trying to suppress the flame, he instead guided it through his meridians. The true qi of the Everlasting Spring Technique surged forth like a tide, wrapping around the flame and refining, fusing with it bit by bit.

The process was excruciating, like swallowing a ball of fire and slowly digesting it in his stomach.

But Jiang Yuan forcibly endured it.

Meanwhile, outside Jiang Residence.

"Master Jiang! Master Jiang! Are you there?"

Ding Wu had come on Zhu Hu's orders to invite Jiang Yuan to a banquet. The moment he reached the entrance of Jiang Residence, he saw a pillar of fire soaring into the sky from the direction of the alchemy room. A wave of heat struck him head-on; he could feel it from half a street away.

It gave Ding Wu quite a fright, and he stood at the gate, not daring to enter.

He called out several times without receiving an answer, yet he did not dare force his way in. After hesitating for a long while, he ultimately slunk away to report back.

Inside the alchemy room, Jiang Yuan was utterly unaware of everything outside.

At that moment, he was immersed in a profound and wondrous state.

The dark-purple flame had gradually merged with his true qi. From its initial violent resistance, it now flowed docilely, like a wild stallion that had been tamed.

He could clearly sense that his true qi now possessed an additional scorching attribute.

Even when released outside his body, his true qi carried a blazing aura of flame...

The next day.

Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, and a dark-purple spark seemed to flash in their depths.

"It worked!"

Delight appeared on Jiang Yuan's face.

Though he had not slept all night, not only did he feel no fatigue, he instead felt the refreshing comfort of being reborn.

The demonic fire entering his body had not only given his true qi a flame attribute, but had also tempered his meridians once over, making them tougher and smoother than before. This was more useful than taking any number of Marrow Cleansing Pills.

With his previously hardened meridians, the Meridian Opening Realm would have been the most difficult stretch of his path.

But after the demonic fire tempered his body, that road would become much smoother!

"Could this be... the legendary demon fire?"

Jiang Yuan spread open his palm. With a thought, a cluster of dark-purple flame danced in his hand, seemingly as alive and spirited as a heart.

He finally understood the true value of that demonic beast core.

This was not an ordinary demonic beast core, but a precious treasure that had sealed away a demonic beast's source flame.

After most demonic beasts died, their source flames would extinguish along with them. Only under exceptionally rare circumstances would a thread of source flame remain within the demonic beast core. Such flames were known as demon fire.

Demon fire could assist in battle and could also be used for alchemy.

The value of such a thing was impossible to measure.

Alchemists in particular might spend their entire lives searching for a suitable demon fire.

If anyone had known this core contained demon fire, forget eight hundred spirit stones—even eight thousand spirit stones would have people scrambling until their heads bled.

No wonder that woman had insisted on fighting him for it. Could it be that she had known all along?

What grade of demon fire was this, anyway?

Jiang Yuan put away his thoughts, rose to change into a fresh set of clothes, then pushed open the door and walked out.

By then, the sky was already bright.

Shuang'er stood timidly in the courtyard, holding a bowl of porridge. When she saw Jiang Yuan emerge, she carefully approached him.

"Master... are you all right?"

"What is it?"

"Last night, flames were soaring from your alchemy room. I was so frightened I didn't dare go near it."

Shuang'er shrank her neck. "And that Steward Ding came too. He stood at the entrance calling for you for a long time, but when there was no response, he left."

"Ding Wu?" Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. He said Hall Master Zhu wanted you to come over."

Jiang Yuan nodded, took the bowl of porridge, and drank two mouthfuls. "Mm. I'll tidy myself up and head over."