In the small courtyard.
Xie Jinghan lay quietly in a reclining chair, yet he could hardly conceal the turmoil in his heart. No matter what he did, he could not settle down.
Without the chattering voices beside him, he felt a little out of place.
His stay in Zhao Village these past days had let him experience a warmth he had never known at the Xie Residence-a warmth that had since faded.
It also made him understand all the more clearly that only by becoming strong enough himself could he safeguard a place of peace and keep those beside him.
After a long while, he slowly put aside every stray thought, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, calming his mind.
His tangled emotions gradually settled, and clarity returned to his heart.
He reached into his robes and took out a Jade Slip. Zhao Feng had given it to him that night, saying that it contained a fire-attribute secret art.
Over the past few days, Xie Jinghan had devoted himself to teaching Zhao Xin'er the Sword-Drawing Technique and had found no opportunity to quietly study it.
Xie Jinghan gently pressed the Jade Slip to his forehead and immersed his consciousness within it.
A vast torrent of written information poured into his mind. At its beginning stood three gilded ancient characters, bold and archaic.
[Flame Manipulation Art]
This was a pure fire cultivation secret art. It had no fixed moves; a cultivator only needed to use fire-attribute true qi to draw upon the fire-attribute spiritual energy between heaven and earth to control flames at will.
Over thirty thousand characters long, the text encompassed a myriad of subjects. Principles of flame control, methods of condensing fire, attaching spiritual energy, transforming shapes-it covered them all in exhaustive detail.
The art was exquisitely refined.