Fire Elder

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Fire Elder (Huo Lie; 火长老)
Alias(es)	Old Fire
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Jia Nan Academy; Alchemy Department
Occupation/Role	Head of the Alchemy Department; Fifth-Tier Alchemist; Xiao Yun's master
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 6

Background

Fire Elder was a Fifth-Tier Alchemist with the cultivation of a Dou Wang and served as an elder and head of Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department. He had no sons or daughters and initially had no disciples. After reviewing Xiao Yun's enrollment information, he recognized the boy's unusual talent and chose to take him as his sole disciple 6.

Before formally accepting Xiao Yun, Fire Elder deliberately ignored him in a sweltering pill room to test his temperament. Xiao Yun remained silent and patient despite the heat, convincing Fire Elder that he lacked the arrogance commonly associated with young geniuses 6.

During Xiao Yun's two-and-a-half-year disappearance, Fire Elder recruited five Dou Emperors to search the Jia Ma Empire and surrounding nations for him. After a year without results, he obsessively cultivated in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, accumulating severe Fire Poison while trying to reach the Dou Emperor realm and continue the search 79 82.

Appearance

Fire Elder is an elderly man with white hair, a grizzled beard, and an aged voice. He is often seen in pill rooms or his simply furnished bamboo courtyard, where medicinal herbs hang behind his desk 6 20.

• White-haired and bearded.
• Possesses a strong, blazing fire aura that can fill a pill room with intense heat 6.
• Uses fiery-red Dou Qi wings when flying 90.
• Appeared noticeably younger by Xiao Yun's later return to Jia Nan Academy 286.

Personality

Fire Elder is generous, direct, and deeply protective of Xiao Yun. Although strict about cultivation safety and moral conduct, he freely supplies his disciple with techniques, medicinal ingredients, formulas, equipment, and personal instruction 6 20 32.

He treats Xiao Yun more like family than a conventional student. His worry becomes anger whenever Xiao Yun risks his life, yet he is openly proud of the boy's achievements and frequently boasts about him to other elders 32 79 89 239.

He also has a humorous, informal side. He teases Xiao Yun over embarrassment, complains theatrically about his disciple emptying his savings, and regards his disciple's success as a source of personal vindication 20 32 239.

Abilities & Skills

Fifth-Tier Alchemy

Fire Elder is a veteran Fifth-Tier Alchemist capable of refining high-grade Fifth-Tier medicinal pills, though he states that his success rate for such pills is only thirty to forty percent 6 8.

• Refined the Purple Cloud Spirit-Gathering Pill, a high-grade Fifth-Tier pill that raises both Dou Qi cultivation and Soul Power 8.
• Refined a Qi Recovery Pill in front of Xiao Yun while explaining each step of the process 7.
• Can precisely extract medicinal essence without burning ingredients to ash 8.
• Uses Soul Power to oversee the dangerous fusion stage of pill refinement 8.

Fireball Technique

Fire Elder created a specialized method for storing extracted medicinal essence inside suspended spheres of flame rather than jade bottles 8.

• Keeps medicinal essence at its refining temperature.
• Preserves the essence's activity and prevents contamination by airborne impurities.
• Requires exceptionally precise flame control and the ability to divide one's attention.
• A minor mistake can destroy the stored essence 8.

Beast Flame

Fire Elder controls a purple Beast Flame with enough heat to distort the surrounding air 6 8.

• Uses the flame for alchemy and ingredient extraction.
• Demonstrates careful temperature suppression to preserve fragile medicinal essences 7 8.
• Intended to seek a high-tier Beast Flame for Xiao Yun once he became an alchemist 6.

Dou Wang Cultivation

Fire Elder possesses the strength of a Dou Wang, placing him among the major figures of the Northwestern Continent during Xiao Yun's early years 6.

• Can manifest Dou Qi wings for flight 90.
• His cultivation allows him to instruct and protect Xiao Yun during the latter's time at Jia Nan Academy.

Items Given to Xiao Yun

• Fire-Worship Ointment — A Fourth-Tier external-use medicine that could double Xiao Yun's cultivation speed at his then-current level 6.
• Mid-tier Storage Ring — Held dozens of cubic meters of space and contained Xiao Yun's initial resources 6.
• Nine Splendors Fire Art — Earth Tier, low-grade fire-attribute cultivation technique 6.
• Flowing Flame Fist — Xuan Tier, high-grade Dou Technique 6.
• Scarlet Flame Palm — Xuan Tier, mid-grade Dou Technique 6.
• Flame Cloud Chasing the Sun — Xuan Tier, mid-grade movement Dou Technique 6.
• Three first-tier pill formulas — Qi-Boosting Powder, Flame-Congealing Pill, and Injury-Healing Pill 6.
• Three-vent medicinal cauldron — Suitable for Xiao Yun's early alchemy training; Fire Elder notes that Xiao Yun could only safely control two vents at his initial level 6.
• Golden Thunder Flower — A high-grade Sixth-Tier medicinal ingredient required for Xiao Yun's Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering 20.
• Ice Heart Pill formula — A Fourth-Tier formula intended to help Xiao Yun resist the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower's Heart Flame and obtain resources through pill sales 20.
• Fire token — Identified Xiao Yun as connected to Fire Elder and granted him recognition at the Alchemist Association in Canaan City 9.

Story Role

Taking Xiao Yun as a Disciple

Fire Elder identifies Xiao Yun as a rare talent, tests his patience, and accepts him as his only disciple. He imposes one rule: Xiao Yun must never use his strength to commit evil, or Fire Elder will personally punish him 6.

He gives Xiao Yun the resources needed to begin both cultivation and alchemy, then requires him to memorize alchemy texts before providing formal instruction 6.

Early Alchemy Instruction

Fire Elder teaches Xiao Yun the foundations of alchemy, including the importance of medicinal cauldrons, fire vents, Dou Qi flames, Beast Flames, and Heavenly Flames 6.

He personally demonstrates first-tier and fifth-tier pill refinement, giving Xiao Yun a practical benchmark for advanced flame control, essence extraction, fusion, and pill formation 7 8.

Guidance in the Inner Academy

When Xiao Yun acquires the Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering technique, Fire Elder provides a Golden Thunder Flower and directs him to Falling Thunder Valley. He warns Xiao Yun to begin at the outer area and retreat if the lightning becomes unbearable 20.

After Xiao Yun remains in the valley for seven days while using the Lightning-into-Body Technique, Fire Elder finds him, reprimands him for his recklessness, and explains that pills such as the Purple Lightning Pill, Heavenly Thunder Pill, and Wind-Thunder Pill would provide better lightning resistance than relying on the Golden Thunder Flower alone 32.

Xiao Yun's Disappearance and Return

Fire Elder spends a year searching for Xiao Yun after his disappearance, then damages himself through excessive cultivation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. He is overwhelmed with emotion when Xiao Yun returns alive and immediately welcomes him back 79 82.

Receiving the Sea Heart Flame

After Han Feng's death, Xiao Yun extracts the Sea Heart Flame and presents it to Fire Elder. The gift fulfills Fire Elder's long-held desire to possess a Heavenly Flame 89.

Xiao Yun also gives him the Green Lotus Platform to assist his planned breakthrough to the Dou Emperor realm. Fire Elder leaves to prepare for seclusion and entrusts the Alchemy Department to Xiao Yun in his absence 90.

Relationships

• Xiao Yun — Sole disciple. Fire Elder recognizes Xiao Yun's talent early, provides extensive resources and guidance, and treats him as family 6 8 20.
• Su Qian — Fellow Jia Nan Academy elder and friend. Su Qian intervenes when Fire Elder's obsessive cultivation and Fire Poison become dangerous during Xiao Yun's disappearance 79 239.
• Han Feng — Indirect enemy through Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun takes Han Feng's Sea Heart Flame after his death and gives it to Fire Elder 89.
• Wu Tianlang — Fellow academy elder who witnesses Xiao Yun's pill refinement alongside Fire Elder 89 90.

Notable Quotes

“This old man has no sons or daughters, and you are my only disciple, so there are not many rules. There is only one: you must not rely on your high cultivation to commit wicked deeds.” 6

“Cultivation cannot grow overnight. You are very talented, and I do not want you to take the wrong path someday.” 32

“Little Yun is this old man's disciple!” 89

Trivia

• Fire Elder's true name is Huo Lie 6.
• He initially intended to use the Golden Thunder Flowers in his possession to refine a Wind-Thunder Pill as proof of reaching the Sixth-Tier Alchemist rank, but never succeeded in advancing 20.
• His residence is a modest bamboo courtyard rather than an extravagant alchemist's estate 20.
• He considers accepting Xiao Yun as his disciple the result of his own insight rather than luck 239.