I Think It's Pretty Stingy

"I can't control my Dou Qi anymore!"

Like a thunderclap, the words made Yao Chen's face change drastically. He had not understood what was happening, but in a flash, he appeared beside Xiao Yan. Soul force gathered in his palm as he struck Xiao Yan's qi sea without hesitation, trying to stabilize his Dou Qi.

Boom!

A violent blaze erupted within Xiao Yan's body. Scorching waves of fire surged toward the nearby Yao Chen and Huo Yuhao, seemingly trying to force them back, forming a ring of fiery blockade in an instant.

Faced with this Beast Flame, whose power was clearly abnormal, Huo Yuhao swiftly retreated. An ice crystal barrier radiating biting cold condensed before him in an instant, blocking the invading flames.

However, it was ultimately only Beast Flame. Even after fusion, it possessed no more than the power of a sixth-tier Beast Flame. Trying to stop Yao Chen, who had once been a Dou Zun, was impossible, even if he now remained only as a soul.

Yao Chen's soul body broke through the Beast Flame's blockade without resistance. He pressed his palm directly against Xiao Yan's body, trying to suppress the rampaging Dou Qi, while continuously cursing, "This damned cultivation technique!"

Yet just then, as Yao Chen's soul force penetrated deep into Xiao Yan's body, his soul body froze. His figure shook violently and became blurry. The anxiety on Yao Chen's face was instantly replaced by unprecedented terror!

"Bone Spirit Cold Flame has gone out of control?"

Yao Chen could no longer remember how long he had been with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. Regardless of his strength, it had always obeyed him like an extension of his limbs. Even after becoming a soul body, he had never lost control of it like this.

What suffocated Yao Chen even more was that the Bone Spirit Cold Flame going out of control did not merely mean that he might be scattered into nothingness, losing any chance of resurrection. It also meant he could not save Xiao Yan. Worse still, the rampaging Bone Spirit Cold Flame would immediately reveal the terror of its eleventh-place ranking among the Heavenly Flames. Neither Huo Yuhao nor Xiao Yi Xian would have any chance of survival.

The fear and helplessness that seeped into his soul left even the normally calm Yao Chen rooted to the spot.

However, Huo Yuhao did not freeze. More precisely, he had long been prepared for a situation where Yao Chen could not help! In an instant, Huo Yuhao entered the state of Heaven-Human Unity, mobilizing his Dou Qi and the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi with all his strength. He forcibly tore open a gap in the waves of fire, broke through the Beast Flame's blockade, and returned to Xiao Yan's side.

Xiao Yan did not notice that the raging flames had not harmed him. Frantic, he roared at Yao Chen and Huo Yuhao, "Leave now! Don't worry about me!" At that moment, an absurd thought even flashed through his mind: Sure enough, I'm not the protagonist. Maybe my purpose is to make Yuhao suddenly power up?

Ignoring Xiao Yan's shout, Huo Yuhao's gaze turned sharp. The Dou Qi within him circulated at full force, linking with heaven and earth as the cold air across more than ten miles gathered wildly at his command.

[Domain of Eternal Frost]!

[Snow Dance Radiant Sun]!

[Blizzard]!

Three domains stacked together! Rather than choosing the Snow Dance Extreme Ice Domain, which was better suited for combat control, Huo Yuhao used these three domains to elevate the quality of his ice attribute to a level capable of contending with a Heavenly Flame.

Extreme cold descended, instantly suppressing the Beast Flame within Xiao Yan's body. At the same time, Huo Yuhao did not forget to direct a stream of cold air into Yao Chen, rushing straight toward the Bone Spirit Cold Flame within his soul body.

The Bone Spirit Cold Flame was itself a low-temperature flame and did not fear cold. Yet when Huo Yuhao's cold air came into contact with it, it did not clash head-on. Instead, it directly enveloped the flame and slowly seeped into the Heavenly Flame's Core Flame.

In Yao Chen's senses, the changes in the Bone Spirit Cold Flame's temperature slowed, and its movements as it darted around absorbing energy also became sluggish. It became controllable again.

A gust of palm force struck, and Huo Yuhao pushed Yao Chen out of the Beast Flame's blockade.

While controlling the Beast Flame within Xiao Yan, Huo Yuhao had temporarily eased Yao Chen's crisis. Refocusing his mind, after resolving the danger posed by the flames, the only remaining problem was the disobedient Burning Incantation Dou Qi.

Huo Yuhao tried slightly to use his spiritual power to forcibly guide the Burning Incantation Dou Qi onto another path, but it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, producing no response whatsoever. After confirming that he truly could not control it, Huo Yuhao seemed to give up and slowly closed his eyes.

"Forget it, then..." Seeing this, Xiao Yan began speaking with a bitter smile, intending to continue urging them to leave, but his voice abruptly caught in his throat.

Under Xiao Yan's shocked gaze, two crimson tears of blood trailed down from the corners of Huo Yuhao's tightly shut eyes. At the same time, a seven-colored gleam flashed across Huo Yuhao's brow.

A sense of unreality filled Xiao Yan's heart. The world before him seemed to have been twisted by something.

Yao Chen, who was still doing everything he could to restrain the Bone Spirit Cold Flame at the side, also felt a wave of dizziness. The moment he regained his senses, he immediately looked toward Huo Yuhao. Strangely enough, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame within him had unexpectedly stopped raging and once again obeyed him like an extension of his limbs.

Enduring the pain of his Spiritual Sea being torn apart, Huo Yuhao extracted a wisp of divine sense from it. It instantly pierced into Xiao Yan's Spiritual Sea, immediately seizing control of it. Then, he was about to forcibly take over Xiao Yan's body and alter the Burning Incantation's circulation route.

Just then—

Whoosh. The Beast Flame on Xiao Yan's body completely went out. A voice sounded in the unseen, right beside Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan's ears. It was a voice they had never heard before, yet it gave Huo Yuhao an indescribable sense of familiarity, almost uncontrollably making him recall his time on Douluo Continent.

"I mean no harm!" Even Xiao Yan could clearly sense the exhaustion in the voice.

Huo Yuhao dispelled those memories and remained unmoved. Seeing this, the voice sounded again, carrying a trace of earnest pleading.

"Believe me, I only want to stop you."

"I need your help!" The voice gradually weakened until it was nearly impossible to hear.

Seeing that words could not stop him, a wisp of consciousness connected with Huo Yuhao's mind, transmitting information and images to him.

Finally, Huo Yuhao's divine sense stopped. Xiao Yan discovered that the runaway Dou Qi within his body had returned to his control.

"How is it?!" Yao Chen flashed forward and tightly grabbed Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan's hands. His anxious expression was like that of family waiting outside a delivery room.

"It's fine now." Huo Yuhao wiped the bloody tears from his face and opened his eyes again.

"Oh, damn, that scared me to death. Still, it was a blessing in disguise. The Burning Incantation has risen to high Yellow Class again. And I think I've broken through to a Six-Star Dou Zhe." Xiao Yan patted his chest and fell backward.

"Ah! Why is there a rock here?!" A jagged chunk of stone happened to lie beneath the back of Xiao Yan's head. Fortunately, cultivating Dou Qi also improved one's physique. Otherwise, surviving a great disaster only to get finished off by a rock would have been truly ridiculous.

Xiao Yan grimaced as he climbed back up, then angrily kicked the stone far away.

Watching Xiao Yan vent his frustration, Huo Yuhao's lips curved upward.

"Pretty stingy."

Yao Chen and Xiao Yi Xian: "???"

Seeing the puzzled expressions on Yao Chen and Xiao Yi Xian's faces, Huo Yuhao said, "Xiao Yan's problem has been resolved. He should not lose control again. Teacher, how is your Heavenly Flame?"

"I'm fine," Yao Chen replied gravely, though the solemnity in his eyes had not faded. After this ordeal, especially when he thought of how the Burning Incantation could not stop cultivating, it was difficult for him to feel at ease again. Worry and guilt filled his heart.

"But..."

Seeing through Yao Chen's emotions, Huo Yuhao continued, "The Burning Incantation is fine too... for now." The last three words were so quiet that even Yao Chen, standing right beside him, did not hear them clearly.

Xiao Yan was still angrily kicking the scattered stones on the ground to vent. Suddenly, with an "Ow!" he clutched his foot and hopped on one leg, as though the stones he had been kicking had kicked him back.

"What is this thing?"

Huo Yuhao glanced over and shook the object that looked like a stone.

"It was stuck inside."

Huo Yuhao exerted force and pulled out the long object. After brushing the dirt off it, he examined it carefully.

"This... should be a piece of metal ore?"

"What are you talking about? Don't make things up. What kind of metal ore grows like this? It's so straight!"

"Mm, you're right, but it really is metal ore." Huo Yuhao smiled. His gaze swept across the surroundings, but apart from this piece, he found no other similar ore.

"Sure enough." Huo Yuhao weighed the metal ore in his hand and murmured again, "Still pretty stingy."