Xuan Yi

Han Shanshan watched Lin Yu's figure disappear at the end of the corridor. Only after that tall, straight back was completely out of sight did she withdraw her gaze.

She raised her left hand, and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame emerged once more. The ghastly white fire danced merrily in her palm, casting shifting light and shadow across her delicate face.

The corners of her lips slowly curled into an expectant smile as she murmured to herself, "All right, then I'll go back and refine some pills. This is the perfect chance to test the Bone Spirit Cold Flame."

After returning to his residence, Lin Yu shut the door and sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion.

He steadied his mind before taking the two Bone Spirit Cold Flame Sub-Flames from his Storage Ring. The two jade bottles glowed gently beneath the moonlight, while the tiny clusters of pale white flame within burned quietly.

Next, he took out several heavenly treasures he had brought back from the secret realm and arranged them before him.

Each of these heavenly treasures emitted spiritual light in different colors.

Any one of them would have been a priceless treasure on its own, yet Lin Yu placed them on the Fusion Panel without the slightest hesitation.

He placed one of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame Sub-Flames and several of the heavenly treasures into the phantom image of the Fusion Panel. With a shift of his thoughts, he silently said, "Fuse."

Moments later, the original Sub-Flame had undergone a complete transformation.

The successfully fused Sub-Flame had become a Nascent Flame, more than a size larger than before. Its color had deepened, and an extremely tiny Origin Flame Seed had faintly condensed at its core. Every flicker emitted soul fluctuations several times stronger than before.

Lin Yu repeated the process and fused the second Sub-Flame as well.

In the end, two clusters of Nascent Flame hovered quietly before him. Compared with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame in Han Shanshan's possession, they were still only in their nascent stage and needed to continuously devour souls in order to gradually grow.

Looking at the two Nascent Flames, a meaningful smile rose on Lin Yu's lips.

With a flick of his hand, he took an inconspicuous black cloth bag from his Storage Ring.

This was loot seized from the Dou Wang of the Mu Family whom he had slain in Wulong City.

And what the black cloth bag contained were the souls that man had gathered from all over on behalf of the Soul Hall.

Lin Yu undid the seal at the mouth of the bag. A chilly aura immediately poured out, faintly accompanied by countless tiny wails and sobs.

He frowned and swept his soul power inside. Most of the souls in the bag were at the Da Dou Shi level, with only a few Dou Ling souls. As for Dou Wang-level souls, there was not a single one.

Compared with the souls gathered by the Soul Hall's guardians, these were little more than scraps. Still, they were better than nothing. At the very least, they could let the Nascent Flame have its first taste of devouring souls.

Without further hesitation, he aimed the bag at one of the Nascent Flames. As soon as he loosened the opening, dozens of translucent souls poured out like floodwaters released from a dam.

The souls twisted and struggled in the air, instinctively trying to scatter and flee, but the Nascent Flame reacted faster.

Like a shark that had scented blood, the pale white flame surged fiercely. Countless hair-thin tongues of pallid fire shot out, accurately wrapping each soul tightly before slowly dragging them into the heart of the flame.

Sizzle, sizzle—

The sound of souls being scorched by the flames echoed through the quiet chamber, accompanied by faint, intermittent screams.

After devouring those dozens of souls, the Nascent Flame was visibly sturdier than before. Its body had become more solid, and the pressure it emitted had faintly risen to another level.

Lin Yu nodded in satisfaction, sealing the fed Nascent Flame back into its jade bottle before turning his gaze toward the weaker one.

Without hesitation, he placed the weaker Bone Spirit Cold Flame Nascent Flame into the Fusion Panel, together with the Multicolored Beastfire, and cast them into the radiance of fusion.

Before long, the glow of fusion gradually subsided.

A brand-new flame hovered quietly before Lin Yu.

Lin Yu stretched out his hand, and the flame obediently drifted down into his palm.

He carefully sensed the power contained within this newly born Heavenly Flame, and a trace of satisfaction flashed through his eyes.

Although this Heavenly Flame was not as domineering and powerful as Han Shanshan's Bone Spirit Cold Flame, which had consumed countless souls, it was far from ordinary. It was in no way weaker than the Nine Dragon Thunder Flame.

"From now on, I'll call you Bone Prison Beast Cold Flame." Lin Yu spoke softly, giving this Heavenly Flame, which belonged solely to him, its name.

Bone came from the Bone Spirit Cold Flame; prison symbolized its ability to devour souls and imprison spirits; beast cold represented the fusion of Beastfire and extreme cold power.

The name was a little long, but it suited it perfectly.

He drew the Bone Prison Beast Cold Flame back into his body. The instant the Heavenly Flame entered him, a strange sensation of coolness and warmth intertwined spread through his limbs and bones.

After finishing all this, Lin Yu rose to his feet. Holding the jade bottle that sealed the other Bone Spirit Cold Flame Nascent Flame, he left the room and headed straight for Yao Chen's residence.

When Yao Chen saw Lin Yu push open the door and enter, he was just about to speak when Lin Yu held out a jade bottle to him.

Yao Chen accepted the jade bottle and looked closely. His pupils suddenly contracted. He abruptly raised his head and said in shock, "Brother Lin, this is the Bone Spirit Cold Flame!"

He had never dared to dream that one day, he would be able to personally hold a Heavenly Flame ranked eleventh on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

"Mm. It's for you, though it's only a Nascent Flame." Lin Yu nodded, his tone casual.

After briefly reminding him of a few matters requiring attention during refinement, Lin Yu waved his hand. "Fuse it. I'll head back first."

Yao Chen stood there holding the jade bottle, watching Lin Yu's departing back. His lips moved for a long while, and his eyes reddened slightly.

He said nothing as clichéd as "great kindness needs no thanks." He merely engraved this gratitude deep within his heart.

Lowering his head, he looked at the pale white flame in the bottle, his gaze resolute. Then he sat cross-legged and began making the final preparations to refine this Heavenly Flame.

The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, Lin Yu awoke from cultivation. He stretched his limbs and felt refreshed and invigorated.

He planned to find Han Shanshan and see how effective the Bone Spirit Cold Flame was for her pill refinement.

However, before he had gone very far, a dull explosion sounded from the other end of the corridor. Though it had been suppressed to an extremely low volume, his soul perception still caught it clearly.

Lin Yu turned and followed the sound.

When he reached a stone door, he raised his hand and pushed it open. A lingering burnt medicinal smell rushed toward him, while grayish-white smoke curled up from a medicine cauldron half a man's height tall.

"Big Sister Xuan Yi, you blew up the cauldron first thing in the morning?" Recognizing the figure, Lin Yu could not help laughing as he called out teasingly.

The woman called Xuan Yi abruptly turned around at the sound, revealing a delicate face.

She looked to be only a little over twenty. Her light green fitted outfit outlined her graceful figure, but she was currently covered in soot and grime, her bright almond-shaped eyes full of embarrassed fury.