Refining the Fallen Heart Flame

"Then I'll have to trouble the Headmaster to retrieve the Fallen Heart Flame." Lin Yu smiled, his tone casual.

Mang Tianchi nodded. Since he had agreed to the deal, he naturally would not drag his feet.

A flash of silver light flickered beneath his feet, and spatial power rippled like water. He vanished from the spot.

Lin Yu and the other two waited quietly in the study. Han Shanshan examined the ancient books on the shelves with great interest, while Du Ning sat silently to one side, her pale violet eyes occasionally turning toward the place where Mang Tianchi had disappeared.

Before long, silver light flashed through the study again, and Mang Tianchi's figure reappeared.

His right hand was held out before him, and above his palm floated a strange flame roughly the size of a human head.

At that moment, the Fallen Heart Flame was forcibly imprisoned within his palm by Mang Tianchi's spatial power. The flame still struggled desperately in every direction, releasing waves of violent soul fluctuations as it tried to break free.

Lin Yu extended his hand. Spatial power wrapped around the Fallen Heart Flame layer by layer, and it obediently entered a specially made jade bottle.

"Headmaster, could you provide me with a place to stay? I plan to cultivate in the Black-Corner Region for a while." After putting away the jade bottle, Lin Yu looked up at Mang Tianchi.

Having just obtained the Fallen Heart Flame, he needed a quiet place to fuse and refine it. With Mang Tianchi stationed in the Jia Nan Academy inner courtyard, it was the perfect place for secluded cultivation.

"Of course." Mang Tianchi readily agreed and personally led the three of them through the inner courtyard to a secluded residence.

The courtyard stood amid a bamboo grove deep within the inner courtyard, surrounded by lush green bamboo. It was tranquil and elegant.

Three quiet rooms of blue bricks and gray tiles stood in the center of the courtyard. Their furnishings were simple yet complete, while a faint fragrance of bamboo leaves filled the air. It was indeed a fine place for secluded cultivation.

"I still need to go back and refine that pill, so I won't stay any longer." Mang Tianchi handed the courtyard key to Lin Yu, smiled, and cupped his hands in farewell. Then silver light flashed beneath his feet, and he vanished.

After closing the courtyard gate, Lin Yu turned to Han Shanshan and Du Ning. "Senior Sister, I'll be entering seclusion for a while."

"To refine the Fallen Heart Flame?" Han Shanshan almost instantly guessed his intentions.

The Fallen Heart Flame was, after all, the fourteenth-ranked Heavenly Flame. Refining it would be no easy task.

"Exactly." Lin Yu nodded.

"Junior Brother, be careful." Han Shanshan's voice was softer than usual, and her spirited phoenix eyes were filled with undisguised concern.

"Hehe, don't worry, Senior Sister." Lin Yu smiled and leaned closer, gently planting a kiss on Han Shanshan's smooth forehead.

Han Shanshan's cheeks flushed at the sudden intimacy. Before she could say anything, Lin Yu had already turned and pushed open the wooden door of one of the quiet rooms. He waved at her and Du Ning, then disappeared behind the door.

Inside the quiet room, Lin Yu sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion and summoned both the jade bottle containing the Fallen Heart Flame and the Bone Prison Beast Cold Flame within his body.

He placed the two Heavenly Flames into the phantom image of the Fusion Panel together. The light of fusion persisted for a moment, after which a brand-new flame floated above the panel.

"I'll call you the Bone Prison Fallen Heart Flame." Lin Yu murmured as he drew the new Heavenly Flame into his body.

He opened his eyes in satisfaction, rose to his feet, and pushed open the wooden door of the quiet room.

From entering seclusion to emerging again, only the time it took for one stick of incense to burn had passed.

Han Shanshan was chatting idly with Du Ning at the stone table in the courtyard. Hearing the quiet room door open, she instinctively looked up. When she saw Lin Yu emerge full of vigor, she froze in place.

"You fused it successfully already?" Han Shanshan rose to her feet, her phoenix eyes widening in disbelief.

Although refining the Bone Spirit Cold Flame had gone rather smoothly for her, simply erasing its consciousness, taking pills to protect her meridians, and gradually refining it had taken more than half a day. How could anyone finish in the time it took to burn one stick of incense like Lin Yu?

"Of course!" Lin Yu smiled faintly and spread open his left hand. A multicolored flame rose from his palm.

Han Shanshan stared at the unprecedented strange flame. Even though she had refined the Bone Spirit Cold Flame herself, she could not help drawing in a sharp breath. This flame's grade was no lower than that of her Bone Spirit Cold Flame.

"Senior Sister, I'm going to the nearby mountains for a while. You and Du Ning wait here for me. After that, we'll leave Jia Nan Academy." Lin Yu put away the Bone Prison Fallen Heart Flame and spoke to Han Shanshan.

"Alright." Han Shanshan nodded.

Du Ning also answered quietly. After spending this time together, she had developed an almost instinctive trust in Lin Yu.

Spatial power flashed beneath Lin Yu's feet, and silvery-white light rippled faintly. He vanished from the courtyard.

Not long afterward, he appeared in a mountain range a hundred li away from Jia Nan Academy.

The mountains rose and fell without end, ancient trees towered overhead, and few people ever came here. The occasional roar of magical beasts echoed from deep within the forest, making it a good place to test his moves.

He landed in an open valley, his feet crushing the thick fallen leaves beneath him with crisp cracking sounds.

He then closed his eyes, and Spirit-Realm Soul power spread outward like an invisible tide, sweeping in all directions.

As his soul power expanded, everything within a hundred li became clear to him in the finest detail.

Very quickly, he caught two auras clashing fiercely. One was violent and ferocious, already at the peak of the fifth tier.

The other was far more immature, only around the fourth tier. Its aura was mixed and chaotic, faintly carrying the anger and unwillingness of being hurt.

With a thought, the Spatial Ancestral Talisman beneath Lin Yu's feet flashed with silver light. He vanished from where he stood and appeared in the air above a clearing deep in the forest the next instant.

Looking down from above, he saw utter devastation among the trees. Several ancient trees thick enough to require two people to embrace had been snapped at the waist, while shattered wood chips and overturned soil were mixed together. Several pools of steaming dark-red blood still remained on the ground.