Huasheng Flame

Huasheng Flame

At Han Feng's command, Sacred City's efficiency was displayed to the fullest.

Just one day later, Mo Shan respectfully delivered several jade boxes crafted from cold jade to Han Feng's quiet chamber. Chilling air curled around the boxes, and even through their lids, one could sense the violent fire energy within.

Inside were three of the fiercest Beast Flames, carefully selected from Sacred City's vast war spoils repository.

The Purple Crystal Lion Flame, taken from the Fourth-Order Magical Beast, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.

The Twin Snake Flame, originating from the Fourth-Order Magical Beast, the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

And the Earth Dragon Lizard Flame, from the fifth-order Magma Earth Dragon Lizard.

Any one of them would have driven countless alchemists in the Jia Ma Empire mad.

Yet now, they lay quietly in their jade boxes, about to become the first appetizer for Xiao Yan's heaven-defying cultivation technique.

"Senior Brother, this..."

Xiao Yan had been summoned to the quiet chamber. When he saw the three Beast Flames of different colors radiating terrifying heat, he froze completely.

"These are the supplements I prepared for you."

Han Feng's tone was calm, as though they were merely three ordinary cabbages.

He gave Xiao Yan no time to recover from his shock before casually tossing him an ancient black scroll.

"This is war booty I seized from Demon Flame Valley when I was reorganizing the Black-Corner Region years ago. It is called the True Flame Controlling Art. It is not suited for offense, but it specializes in controlling and refining flames. Your first task is to master it completely."

Xiao Yan caught the scroll and sent his spiritual sense into it. A complex and profound method of flame control immediately flooded into his mind.

"An ordinary alchemist might spend an entire lifetime without perfectly controlling even one flame. But you are taking the domineering path of fusing countless flames. If you do not know how to play with fire, you will not even be able to enter the gate of the Flame Mantra."

Han Feng looked at him with a solemn expression.

"What I want you to do is not directly devour these Beast Flames. Instead, using the True Flame Controlling Art as your foundation, you will refine these three Beast Flames within your body into an entirely new flame—one that can be called the Huasheng Flame."

"Use the three Beast Flames as ingredients, your dantian as the cauldron, and your Dou Qi as the furnace fire. Refine a flame that belongs to you alone. Then use the Flame Mantra to devour the flame you refined with your own hands and complete the first evolution of your technique!"

Xiao Yan's mind shook violently, and his scalp went numb.

Refining a flame inside his body? What kind of insane idea was that?

"Th-this can work?"

"Others cannot, but you can." Han Feng's gaze was unwavering. "Because you have me, and you have Teacher. We will protect you."

"Now, begin."

The days that followed were a hundred times more painful and perilous for Xiao Yan than the previous seven months of physical training.

Seated cross-legged in the center of the quiet chamber, he began the most insane act of alchemy of his life.

The first step was drawing fire into his body.

Under Han Feng's guidance, he cautiously guided the first wisp of Purple Crystal Lion Flame into his body. The instant the flame entered him, a heart-rending burning pain surged through his meridians, as though it were about to ignite him from within.

And that was only one Beast Flame.

When, following Han Feng's instructions, he successively guided the second and third Beast Flames into his dantian, the three flames with entirely different natures became like three savage beasts locked in the same cage, immediately attacking and repelling one another madly!

Boom!

A violent surge of energy exploded within his dantian. Xiao Yan gave a muffled grunt, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Focus! Use your Dou Qi to construct an isolated space!" Han Feng's icy voice rang beside his ear. "Your Dou Qi is the cage. If you cannot even confine three beasts, how can you talk about devouring Heavenly Flames!"

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and desperately mobilized the little Dou Qi he possessed. Following the method of the True Flame Controlling Art, he formed layer after layer of Qi membranes, attempting to separate the three violent flames.

If the membranes were a fraction thicker, they wasted Dou Qi. If they were a fraction thinner, they would be burned through instantly.

On the first day, he failed more than a hundred times. Every failure was accompanied by a small explosion inside his dantian, sending his blood and Qi churning until he nearly fainted.

On the second day, he was still failing.

On the third day, he finally managed to barely maintain a brief balance between the three Beast Flames within his dantian.

But that was only the beginning.

The second step was tempering and purification.

"Use Dou Qi as a hammer and compress and temper the mixed Beast Flames hundreds of millions of times!"

Han Feng's words were like a devil's whisper.

Xiao Yan began condensing his Dou Qi into an invisible giant hammer, striking again and again at the isolated mass of energy formed from the three mixed Beast Flames.

Every strike removed a portion of the Beast Flames' violent, impure contaminants, leaving behind only the purest origin of flame.

The process consumed not only his Dou Qi, but also his soul power.

Often, after tempering for less than half an hour, his soul power would be exhausted. His vision would darken, and he would collapse to the floor.

Then Han Feng would expressionlessly toss him a medicinal pill that restored soul power, have him swallow it, and continue.

Day after day, the cycle repeated.

During this painful cultivation, Yaoxin and Qing Lin also encountered opportunities of their own.

Han Feng introduced them to Yao Chen.

When Yao Chen's soul body first appeared before the two girls, Yaoxin's aloofness and Qing Lin's timidity were both swept away by the shock brought by the immortal-looking old man.

"Calamity Poison Body... Three-Flower Jade Serpent Eyes..."

The instant Yao Chen saw the two girls' constitutions clearly, even with his vast knowledge, he could not help drawing in a cold breath and repeatedly marveling.

"Good boy, where did you find these two precious treasures? One is a walking source of deadly poison, while the other possesses supreme eye arts capable of commanding all snakes. Such constitutions might not appear once in several thousand years, yet you managed to gather both at once!"

Yao Chen floated around the two girls in a circle. After clicking his tongue in wonder, he let out another sigh.

"Unfortunately, both are fates where fortune and disaster go hand in hand. Without a capable teacher to guide them, one will become a witch who poisons the world, while the other will be devoured by countless snakes because she cannot control her power."

He looked at Han Feng, his eyes filled with approval. "Bringing them back means you saved them, and also saved countless innocent people who might otherwise have died because of them."

From that day onward, Yao Chen personally began Yaoxin and Qing Lin's initiation into cultivation.

He explained the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture to Yaoxin, teaching her how to identify, neutralize, and even control the toxins within her body, transforming that destructive power into the healing art of a master physician.

He told Qing Lin ancient secrets of the snake clans, guided her in using her bloodline to communicate with snake-type Magical Beasts, and passed on a secret art specifically for tempering the soul and strengthening her eye power.

The two girls, whose fates had once been so troubled, finally found paths that truly belonged to them within Sacred City.

Time quietly passed amid bitter cultivation.

Half a month later.

Inside the quiet chamber, Xiao Yan's face was pale as paper, and his body swayed as though he might collapse at any moment. Yet his eyes shone with terrifying brightness.

Within his dantian, the flame energy that had been tempered countless times had become incomparably pure.

"The final step!" Han Feng's voice sounded.

With a flick of his finger, dozens of medicinal herbs, completely crimson and radiating pure Yang Fire energy, were wrapped in Dou Qi and delivered before Xiao Yan.

"Swallow them. Fuse their medicinal power into the flame to increase its activity and temperature!"

Xiao Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. Opening his mouth, he swallowed all the refined essences of those herbs.

Boom!

The surging medicinal power exploded within his body. The mass of flame energy in his dantian seemed to have been doused with hot oil and abruptly swelled!

"Compress! Condense!"

Xiao Yan let out a beastlike roar, mobilizing the last thread of Dou Qi and soul power in his body to carry out one final compression upon the rampaging flame.

The extreme pain began to blur his consciousness.

But just before he lost consciousness, the flame within his dantian finally contracted sharply under the ultimate compression!

In the end, it transformed into a thumb-sized flame seed, entirely an eerie gray, quietly burning.

The Huasheng Flame had formed!

"Very good."

Han Feng's voice sounded like heavenly music.

"Now devour it."

Xiao Yan did not hesitate for even a moment and immediately circulated the Flame Mantra, which he had long memorized by heart.

He could feel the Dou Qi vortex in his dantian becoming, at that instant, like a greedy black hole.

Drawn by that suction, the gray wisp of Huasheng Flame offered no resistance at all before being swallowed whole by the Dou Qi vortex.

Rumble—!

A burning pain more terrifying than anything before instantly spread through every limb and bone in Xiao Yan's body!

He felt as though he had been thrown into volcanic magma. From his soul to his flesh, every inch of him was being incinerated.

But this time, Han Feng acted.

He placed one hand atop Xiao Yan's head, and a vast, pure surge of Dou Qi poured in like a cool spring, protecting Xiao Yan's heart meridians and soul and preserving the last trace of his life amid this destructive evolution.

No one knew how long passed. Only when the pain that seemed capable of burning everything away gradually receded, replaced by an unprecedented sensation of power and fullness, did Xiao Yan slowly open his eyes.

He could clearly feel that the cultivation technique within him had undergone a complete transformation!

If it had once been an ox cart, then now it was at least a lame horse that could barely run!

Flame Mantra, High Yellow Tier!

The Dou Qi within him had also naturally broken through once more during this evolution!

Two-Star Dou Practitioner!

"I... I succeeded!"

Feeling the strength within him, far more formidable than before, Xiao Yan broke into an incomparably radiant smile.

He clenched his fists, savoring the progress brought by half a month of bitter cultivation.

Worth it! So worth it!

[Writing these heartfelt words fills me with gratitude, and I want to sincerely say a few things to everyone who has followed this story. First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing to open my story, for spending time here, and for leaving bookmarks and comments. To be liked by so many people is already immense warmth for a newcomer like me who has just entered the writing world.

To be honest with everyone, I did not plan out a complete and detailed long-form outline in advance. All the plot developments were conceived as I wrote, one chapter at a time. Because of this, there may occasionally be contradictions in the timeline or gaps in the details. Every time I look back through it, I feel ashamed myself. If you notice anything illogical or unreasonable in terms of timing while reading, I hope you can be understanding.

I carefully read every issue everyone points out in the comments. Whenever I see a reasonable suggestion for revision, I will find time to go back and adjust it, doing my best to patch up the story's flaws and gradually improve this little world. My original intention in writing this story was actually very simple. I do not seek dazzling prose or an epic plot. I only hope to create a lighthearted and interesting little story that can bring a bit of amusement and joy to all of you who are tired and busy in your daily lives.

Thank you all for being willing to tolerate this beginner's shortcomings and for not leaving in haste because of the story's oversights. Every word of encouragement and every kind reminder gives me the motivation to keep updating. Going forward, I will also organize the plot more carefully and try to reduce logical bugs as much as possible. Lastly, I wish every reader pleasant reading, a smooth life, and simple happiness at every moment.]