Flame Dharma Body? An Aberration in the Mountains?

More than a month had passed since the last treasure hunt.

Boom! Accompanied by a dull, thunderous crash, a fourth-tier magical beast, a Stone-Crest Lizard, crashed heavily to the ground. Xiao Yan stood bare-chested beneath a waterfall, his lean yet powerfully defined muscles exposed as he calmly swung the Heavy Xuan Ruler.

The power of his blood and vitality circulated around him almost tangibly. From up close, one could even hear the rushing of blood through Xiao Yan's body, like raging waves crashing against reefs or a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, ceaseless and surging.

Within the Wheel Sea Secret Realm, the pitch-black Sea of Bitterness bloomed with crimson radiance once more, transforming into a sea of fire. Brilliant light flared as fiery waves churned, while a crimson flame vortex spun rapidly at its center.

Dense life energy surged from the depths of the Sea of Bitterness like a spring. Miraculously, this rich life essence also steamed and burned like flame.

Dazzling fire springs and fiery waves reflected one another. The entire Sea of Bitterness boiled in the literal sense, its vast and majestic power surging without end!

With a mere opening of his eyes, Xiao Yan ignited the magical beast with Samadhi True Fire. Its life essence and spiritual energy transformed into red-and-white streams of qi, which Xiao Yan swallowed like long dragons before they were instantly refined by the sea of fire.

After a month of hunting magical beasts and cultivation, along with his Morning Star cultivation, Xiao Yan had completely digested the foundation he had brought back from the world of Shrouding the Heavens. A vague instinct allowed him to touch upon a certain threshold.

Only one final step remained. Xiao Yan did not hesitate. With a thought, the Succulent Nine Marvels floating quietly within the Gray Mist Space released a drop of juice shimmering with nine-colored light, which merged into his body.

With that final push, Xiao Yan's aura suddenly surged.

His entire body jolted. The life origin gathered in the flame-vortex-like Life Spring grew increasingly dense, and a crimson-gold rainbow rose from one end of the Sea of Bitterness.

His bones crackled throughout his body, firelight coiled around his muscles and tendons, and his organs trembled like drums. As that incomparably immense life origin poured into him, the Flame Mantra began circulating at high speed, and a peculiar transformation quietly took place.

Xiao Yan only felt that his natal flame had seemingly undergone a transformation, bringing about unprecedented changes in the Flame Mantra as well.

Wrapped in Samadhi True Fire, it circulated through the meridians within his body. Every inch it traveled made Xiao Yan feel as if he were being scorched by blazing flames after a long absence. With every full cycle, his meridians, bones, flesh, and organs all became more crystalline. Even stranger, as the flames circulated, Xiao Yan's body seemed to become less and less like one of flesh and blood.

No one knew how much time passed. When Xiao Yan opened his eyes again, his body had undergone earth-shattering changes. His essence, qi, and spirit had reached an unprecedented realm.

With a thought, his arm of flesh and blood transformed out of thin air into one formed from condensed flames. When he activated the original version of the Eight Gates, Xiao Yan could clearly feel the flames gathered around his arm grow vastly more powerful.

This was a trait that only a body of flesh and blood could possess.

Frowning slightly, Xiao Yan raised his other hand like a blade and slashed down fiercely. In an instant, half of his flame-formed arm was severed and sent flying. He deliberately cut off his connection to that mass of flame, then drew upon the power within the Sea of Bitterness. Within a few breaths, the flame arm had completely regrown.

Yet the strangest thing was that Xiao Yan had not felt the slightest discomfort from beginning to end, as though it were all perfectly natural.

The instant he saw this, only one thought remained in Xiao Yan's mind. He pulled a longsword from his robes and eagerly held it against his own neck, gesturing twice.

He really wanted to test whether his head would grow back after being cut off, whether he could bathe in boiling oil, whether he could tear out his heart and gut himself yet still regenerate completely... Ahem.

Suppressing that thought, Xiao Yan stared at his own body in astonishment.

The flaws of the legendary elemental body had not appeared. This strange state seemed to be considered both an energy body and a body of flesh and blood.

Just what kind of bizarre state was this?

Xiao Yan could sense that this seemed to be something originally hidden within the Flame Mantra, something that would only unlock during its later evolutions.

Yet after comprehending the Dao within the Immortal Coffin of Shrouding the Heavens and studying those several hundred runes, had he somehow unlocked a bargain-bin version of this special state ahead of time?

In his Flame Dharma Body state, his physique was remarkably two-faced. It possessed the advantages of both flesh-and-blood and elemental bodies while discarding their disadvantages.

He had no vital points anymore, and his strength had increased dramatically.

When necessary, his entire body could transform into this special state. The catalyst for this ability...

Clenching his fist, Xiao Yan closed his eyes and sensed the dou qi within him. It was called dou qi, but it had already undergone earth-shattering changes from its original form, completely transforming into fire.

And in the ultimate ascension state of unifying the three treasures, even his soul and body could transform into flames.

"Then let's call this state the Dharma Body for now."

After roughly gauging the changes in his body, Xiao Yan smacked his lips.

This state could not be maintained for long. It was merely an active skill, but he had a feeling that once he absorbed some Heavenly Flames or became stronger, he should be able to maintain it permanently and turn it into a passive ability.

"Without realizing it, I'm nearly at the Other Shore as well. I'll soon transcend." Looking at the crimson-gold Sea of Bitterness, Xiao Yan felt somewhat emotional.

If only it were the Other Shore of a Supreme One Life. Then he really would not have to eat beef.

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

Still, even in his current state, his combat power was rather absurd.

Looking at the Sea of Bitterness, so completely unlike that of ordinary people, Xiao Yan scratched his head.

He had not been sure before, but now it seemed to be an issue with his physique?

Somewhat similar to those people from Ruthless's lineage?

"I wonder what realm Ye Hei is at." Xiao Yan smacked his lips. He was quite looking forward to seeing whether Ye Fan could pull off something interesting, but judging by the situation, it seemed Xiao Yan would be the one to give Ye Hei a major surprise first.

"Next time I return to Shrouding the Heavens, I'll see if I can get the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art to study."

Although he had only just begun, his foundation had already been laid. Using the transformed Flame Mantra as a base, he would gradually integrate the cultivation systems of the myriad worlds into it.

Raising his hand, Xiao Yan flicked out a flame and quietly savored the power within it. This was his current dou qi.

Calling it dou qi now, probably no one would believe it. Whether in intensity or form of existence, it was utterly a superior replacement.

His Dou Qi Vortex had long since fused with the Sea of Bitterness, and even his Dou Crystal had transformed, seemingly becoming a flame with physical substance.

"One-Star Dou Master..."

Xiao Yan lightly threw a punch. As it flew out, immense flames gathered around his arm and formed a gigantic flame vortex. Carrying unmatched force, it effortlessly blew apart a fourth-tier magical beast spying on him in the distance, erasing a small patch of forest along with it.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who would believe this is the strength of a Dou Master?" As he contentedly felt the utterly transformed power he now possessed, Xiao Yan recalled his three-year agreement with Nalan Yanran, and a wicked grin appeared on his face.

He was rather looking forward to the scene when the three-year agreement arrived. Was there any chance of reaching Dou Zong or Dou Venerable-level combat power in three years? Or perhaps... could he be even bolder?

After thoroughly familiarizing himself with his current power, divine light gleamed in Xiao Yan's eyes.

Once he had adapted to his current changes, aside from ordinary cultivation and improvement, two matters lay before him.

The first was the flame within the Sea of Bitterness that had acquired a trace of physical substance.

The reason he had nearly completed the Wheel Sea Secret Realm yet still did not possess a vessel was because he had been researching something all along. He wanted his vessel to be a flame with physical substance.

Now, the most difficult first step had been naturally completed as his cultivation system evolved, but the subsequent steps had stalled Xiao Yan somewhat.

Sensing that the Gray Mist Space was about to finish cooling down, Xiao Yan chose to set this matter aside for now. Perhaps the next world would fulfill his needs.

And the second matter...

Xiao Yan's gaze turned toward the depths of the mountain range.

Just then, he had sensed an aura that made his heart stir. It seemed that the aura released when he transformed into fire had drawn something's attention.

Could it be...

At an unknown distance away.

A figure in green robes flew at high speed with dou qi wings spread behind his back, holding a wooden compass in his hand. His face was numb with exhaustion, as if he had gone far too long without any gains.

Yet just as he searched in hopes of getting lucky, a faint spark of fire suddenly ignited atop the wooden compass.

After freezing for a moment, Yao Nuo was instantly overjoyed.

He had wandered across the continent for nearly a year without finding a single Heavenly Flame, yet now there was actually a clue?!