The Black Scroll Was the Flame Mantra, the Red Scroll Was My Hand-Copied Flame Mantra

Yao Xuan had come here for the Flame Mantra in Yao Lao's possession.

Now that Yao Lao intended to pass the Flame Mantra on to him, how could Yao Xuan possibly refuse? Without the slightest hesitation, he cupped his hands toward Yao Lao.

"Uncle Chen..."

"Now that I have hope of taking revenge on Yao Wangu, how could I let this chance pass me by?"

"Even if no one has ever succeeded in cultivating this technique, I am willing to give it a try!"

Hearing Yao Xuan's answer, Yao Lao nodded and spoke again.

"Actually, the reason I want you to cultivate this technique..."

"Besides wanting justice from Yao Wangu, I have another thought as well..."

Yao Xuan raised his head and looked at Yao Lao. "Please speak, Uncle Chen..."

A trace of gloom, even sorrow, appeared on Yao Lao's face. After taking a deep breath, he spoke in a heavy voice.

"You know my current state as a soul body..."

"Without a physical body, though my soul has not perished, strictly speaking, I am already a dead man..."

"But there are still things I must personally do. That is why I want you to cultivate this technique. If possible in the future, I hope you can reconstruct a body for me..."

"The reason I took Xiao Yan as my disciple was, firstly, because I absorbed his Dou Qi for three years and felt somewhat guilty..."

"Secondly, I intended to have him cultivate this technique once he reached the Dou Practitioner stage, so that he could help revive me..."

"However, with your appearance, I discovered that you seem more suited to cultivating this technique. So..."

After Yao Lao finished speaking, a faintly desolate expression appeared on his face.

Yao Xuan knew that Yao Lao had once again thought of Han Feng.

"Uncle Chen, rest assured!"

"Even if this technique cannot be cultivated successfully, I will surely do everything in my power to help revive you..."

Yao Lao nodded. Then, with a slight lift of his hand, one red and one black scroll appeared in his palm.

"After saying so much..."

"The final choice is still yours!"

"This red one is a fire-attributed Earth Rank technique, while this black one is that mysterious technique. It originally had no name, so I named it the Flame Mantra!"

"If you wish to play it safe, choose the Earth Rank technique! Though it has an upper limit, it can fully support your cultivation to the peak of Dou Zong. Finding a suitable high-rank technique later would also be a fine path of cultivation..."

"No matter what you choose, the other technique can be left for that boy Xiao Yan to cultivate once he reaches the Dou Practitioner stage. I have observed him for many years, and he is quite a talented lad..."

Upon hearing this, Yao Xuan looked at the two scrolls in Yao Lao's hand. Without hesitating for even a moment, he gently raised his hand and took the black scroll.

"Uncle Chen..."

"Let me bear this danger. Brother Xiao Yan still has family behind him. He does not deserve to take such a great risk..."

Yao Lao gave one final confirmation. "Have you truly thought this through?"

"This technique has an extremely high upper limit, but it is also exceedingly dangerous!"

"If Xiao Yan were to try cultivating it, then with his Dou Practitioner cultivation, even if he failed, switching to another technique would still be easy..."

"But you are different. Once you choose to cultivate this technique, you will have to disperse your cultivation..."

Yao Xuan nodded. "Uncle Chen, I am willing to bear this risk!"

Hearing this, Yao Lao sighed. "Very well. I respect your choice..."

Just as Yao Lao finished speaking, Xiao Yan, who had gone home to deliver medicine, happened to return.

Seeing him, Yao Lao spoke. "Little fellow..."

"You returned at just the right time. This is the Earth Rank technique your master prepared for you..."

"For now, familiarize yourself with it. Once you reach the Dou Practitioner stage, you can cultivate it directly..."

The words "Earth Rank technique" greatly shocked Xiao Yan!

After all, even Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan, cultivated only a Black Rank mid-level technique, the Raging Lion Fury Aura!

It seemed he truly had not gone wrong in taking this teacher...

"Thank you, Teacher!"

After bowing to thank Yao Lao, Xiao Yan eagerly accepted the red scroll and slowly opened it. On the scroll, two large characters were written in bold, sweeping strokes.

"Flame Mantra!?"

When Xiao Yan read out the words "Flame Mantra," both Yao Lao and Yao Xuan turned to look at him.

Yao Xuan instinctively glanced at the black scroll in his own hand.

Yao Lao also looked somewhat embarrassed. "When one gets old, it is easy to mix things up..."

With a light lift of his hand, he drew over the copied Flame Mantra in Xiao Yan's hand. Then Bone Chilling Flame appeared from thin air and directly burned the scroll to ashes.

Yao Lao looked at Yao Xuan and smiled awkwardly. "Hiding in that storage ring is rather boring, after all. In my spare time, I copied out this technique..."

Yao Xuan smiled and nodded. "Understandable, understandable..."

Yao Xuan smiled faintly. It seemed Yao Lao truly was a man of deep schemes...

The next moment, the genuine fire-attributed Earth Rank technique appeared in Yao Lao's hand, and he handed it to Xiao Yan. "Here, this is the real Earth Rank technique..."

"Once you reach the Dou Practitioner stage, you can cultivate this technique..."

Xiao Yan did not care about the earlier mix-up. After all, to him at this moment, an Earth Rank technique was already an enormous stroke of fortune.

Looking at the smile on Xiao Yan's face, Yao Xuan lowered his head and looked at the Flame Mantra in his hand. He had already made up his mind.

"Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan..."

"I will endure the suffering of cultivating the Flame Mantra. But do not worry—when I reach the Dou Di stage in the future, I certainly will not forget you..."

In Yao Xuan's eyes, Xiao Yan was a loyal and righteous person, someone worth befriending deeply.

Yao Xuan was willing to help such a person. Besides, if not for his own appearance, the Flame Mantra should have belonged to Xiao Yan.

Yao Lao's figure drifted lightly over to Yao Xuan's side, and he spoke softly. "Since you have made up your mind to cultivate the Flame Mantra..."

"You must prepare yourself to disperse your cultivation. However, there is one thing you can rest assured about: cultivating the Flame Mantra will only disperse your Dou Qi cultivation. Your soul strength level will not be affected..."

"So even after dispersing your cultivation, you will still be a sixth-tier alchemist in the late Mortal Realm. You simply may lack the Dou Qi needed to support the refining of high-grade pills..."

Yao Xuan nodded. "Rest assured, Uncle Chen. I understand all this..."

Yao Lao nodded. "Good. For the next few days, think it over carefully. Decide when you truly wish to cultivate the Flame Mantra..."

"Just tell me once you have made up your mind..."

After Yao Lao finished speaking, his body transformed into a streak of white light and returned to the black storage ring...

Xiao Yan carefully put away the Earth Rank technique, then looked at Yao Xuan.

"Brother Xuan..."

"Are you choosing to switch cultivation techniques?"

Yao Xuan nodded. "The Black Rank technique I cultivated before was a little too low-grade. To cultivate faster, I need to switch techniques as well..."

Xiao Yan did not pay much attention to Yao Xuan's words.

After all, Xiao Yan did not yet know the power of the Flame Mantra. He was still happily looking forward to cultivating an Earth Rank technique once he reached the Dou Practitioner stage.

As night fell, Yao Xuan closed his eyes and focused his mind.

He calculated just how far his Battle Emperor Realm cultivation would fall after cultivating the Flame Mantra...

Would he fall directly back to the Dou Practitioner stage? Or perhaps Dou Master, or Dou Spirit?

However, just as Yao Xuan was calculating inwardly, his sharp soul power caught the aura of a Battle Emperor Realm expert coming from outside the room...