A Fierce Heart, Unfettered by Heat

A Fierce Heart, Unfettered by Heat

Yan stared at the roulette wheel, his eyes practically spitting fire.

He wanted stronger attacks.

Preferably something that could make his flames surge and double his power. The next time he faced the White-Clothed Scholar, he would smash both its serpent body and spear back into the water.

He had even planned it all out already.

If he drew a powerful offensive reward, the first thing he would do was enter the Synchronize challenge again. Even if Tang San refused to join him, he would defeat the White-Clothed Scholar faster than before and let everyone know he was not someone who would always die in the same place.

Yan was not afraid of looking bad.

He was afraid that people would think he was inferior to Tang San.

The roulette wheel slowly came to a stop.

[Insight Type: Crimson Tide Breathfire: Hearth Furnace Remnant.]

[Effect: After an intense outburst, fire-attributed soul masters can stabilize their heartfire through a specific breathing method and Soul Power recovery rhythm, ensuring their next attack is not swayed by anger. This is currently a remnant and does not raise Soul Power Level or increase flame power.]

The anticipation on Yan's face froze.

"It doesn't increase my power?"

After reading the description, Lin Chuan nodded. "It doesn't."

Yan's expression darkened even further.

He had spent three hundred Gold Soul Coins, only to draw something that did not give him bigger flames.

It made sure his flames did not run wild.

Ma Hongjun had initially wanted to laugh.

But when the words "stabilize heartfire" reached his ears, he suddenly could not laugh anymore.

What everyone else heard was that it was not strong enough.

What he heard was the possibility that he might no longer be driven along by fire.

Grandmaster looked at Yan. "Try it."

Yan had wanted to say there was no need, but Hu Liena's gaze had already fallen on him.

He could only close his eyes and guide his Soul Power according to the remnant that had surfaced in his mind.

At first, the fire within him was still violent.

Yan's Soul Power was like a furnace fanned by the wind. The harder he suppressed it, the more readily tongues of flame slipped out through the cracks.

But after a moment, that blaze gradually settled.

It had not weakened.

Rather, it changed from a fire burning wildly in every direction into a red glow pressed deep within the furnace.

Xie Yue said quietly, "His Soul Power fluctuations have stabilized."

Yan felt it himself as well.

In the Synchronize challenge, it was not as though he had failed to see the White-Clothed Scholar's spear.

He had seen it, but he had been unable to pull back.

In that instant, the exhilaration of landing a hit, the impatience to surpass Tang San, and the pressure of everyone watching had all driven his fire forward.

The remnant had not made his flames bigger.

But for the first time, it made him feel that fire could wait.

After opening his eyes, he did not speak immediately.

The heat in his palm was still there, but it did not press outward as it usually did. It was contained in his chest, like a furnace whose door had just been shut. It was still bright, yet no longer eager to lick outward.

The feeling was unfamiliar.

So unfamiliar that Yan could not immediately tell whether he felt relieved or even more irritated.

Hu Liena did not rush him.

Neither did Xie Yue.

They knew Yan too well. At a time like this, even a simple "not bad" might make him explode. What Yan needed was not comfort, but to confirm for himself whether this thing was truly useful.

After quite a while, Yan finally raised his hand, and a small flame floated above his palm.

The flame was still scorching, yet it did not leap violently upward as it usually did.

Yan stared at it and muttered a curse. "It actually works a little."

The moment those words left his mouth, his own expression turned sour first.

Admitting it worked meant admitting that his earlier defeat had not been undeserved.

Yet that small, quieted flame could not deceive him.

Only then did Hu Liena speak. "The next time you fight the White-Clothed Scholar, don't be so eager to prove yourself."

Yan lifted his head as if he wanted to argue.

But Hu Liena spoke before he could. "The more you want to prove yourself, the easier it is for it to lead you around. That spear just now—you didn't lose to Tang San. You lost to that breath of anger in yourself."

Yan's lips moved, but in the end, he only forced out, "Got it."

He said it stiffly.

But Xie Yue could tell that he had truly taken it in.

Yan opened his eyes, his expression a little awkward.

"This thing..."

Hu Liena finished for him. "It suits you."

Yan did not refute her.

That felt even worse than admitting Tang San was stronger.

What Yan hated most were the words "suits you."

They did not sound like praise. They sounded more like someone had measured his weakness, then stuffed him into clothes he had no choice but to wear.

And those clothes happened to fit perfectly.

He closed his fist, extinguishing the flame.

This time, there were no exploding sparks and no deliberately flung-out Soul Power. Yan noticed it himself, and his expression darkened again.

Some changes were so small that others might not even notice them.

But the person involved could never deceive himself.

Leaning behind the counter, Lin Chuan received the system feedback as well.

[Customer Yan has obtained Crimson Tide Breathfire: Hearth Furnace Remnant.]

[Host has obtained Minor Heat Perception through Synchronize.]

A faint thread of warmth brushed across Lin Chuan's palm.

It was not powerful, but it was distinct.

He suddenly understood something about the meaning of "heat control." Brighter was not always better. Too fierce would burn, too weak would cool; the truly difficult part was being fierce when fierceness was needed and restrained when restraint was needed.

His gaze unconsciously fell upon Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun was also staring at Yan.

This fat man could usually disrupt the atmosphere with a single sentence, yet today he was unusually quiet.

Xiao Wu gently nudged Tang San.

Tang San said quietly, "The fatty is tempted."

Xiao Wu had noticed it too.

Ma Hongjun's gaze usually wandered everywhere. Food, excitement, fun—he could always chime in about any of it. But now, his eyes remained fixed on that small flame in Yan's palm, as if he feared that if he blinked, that tiny possibility would go out.

She suddenly understood a little why Tang San always said that everyone had their own hardships.

The fatty usually seemed the most carefree, but now that he had quieted down, he looked more weighed down than anyone else.

Ma Hongjun was more than merely tempted.

He remembered many things he did not want to think about.

At night, Evil Fire tormented him until he could not sleep, and the next day he still had to pretend that nothing had happened. During training, if Flender looked at him one time too many, he would smile first and say he was hungry. When Dai Mubai and the others joked around, he laughed with them, only to fear afterward that they truly thought he was merely a fat man unable to control himself.

Evil Fire was not a joke.

It was the most humiliating part of him.

What Yan had drawn had not solved Evil Fire, but it proved that this internet café might truly allow fire-attributed soul masters to learn another way to use fire.

Even if it was only a little.

He wanted to try.

He secretly glanced at Flender.

Flender was frowning, looking as though he were doing the calculations.

Ma Hongjun suddenly regretted always making things sound so trivial. He had said it so often that even he had nearly believed it, as if Evil Fire were merely a minor problem that could be laughed away.

But he knew in his heart that it was not.

It was like a burn hidden beneath his clothes. No one could see it normally, but it hurt the moment it was touched.

When Flender saw Ma Hongjun's expression, his heart sank.

He knew his disciple too well.

The more unserious the fatty acted normally, the less he spoke when someone truly struck at his sore spot.

He remembered the years just after bringing Ma Hongjun back to the academy.

The boy had been even smaller then. After an Evil Fire episode, he had been stubbornly defiant, yet the next day he would still go snatch food with a cheeky grin. Every time Flender wanted to scold him, he would swallow half his words before they came out.

Scolding lightly would do nothing.

Scolding harshly would be like dragging out the one thing a child was most helpless about and beating him with it.

All these years, he had always said he was poor, that the academy was poor, and that money had to be spent where it mattered most. But now, he suddenly felt that the blade's edge might lie in Ma Hongjun's eyes, which he did not dare raise.

Grandmaster spoke. "Flender."

Flender waved his hand irritably. "I know."

Zhao Wuji added from the side, "This money should be spent."

Flender glared at him. "Easy for you to say."

But this time, he did not clutch his money pouch so tightly.

He looked at Ma Hongjun, gritted his teeth, and tossed him a bag of Gold Soul Coins.

"Buy it."

Ma Hongjun froze.

Flender turned his face away. "Don't look at me like that. If you don't draw anything useful, you can repay me by eating fewer chicken legs for the next two years."

Ma Hongjun lowered his head to look at the money pouch, then suddenly smiled.

This smile did not look as punchable as usual.

"Don't worry, Dean."

He walked to the counter and set down the pouch.

"Boss, I'm buying out too."

The roulette wheel lit up for the fourth time.

A Flame Lord. An Evil Fire Phoenix.

Everyone wanted to know what answer the system would give this time.