The answer was simple-at least, it was simple to Wu Bai.
Beast flames instinctively submitted to heavenly flames because they possessed only instinct, not intelligence.
No matter how powerful they were, they were nothing more than lifeless masses. In that case, wouldn't turning them into living things solve the problem?
With his spirit realm soul, Wu Bai could use an alchemist's methods to temporarily endow a beast flame with sentience.
Not only would this give the beast flame a chance to devour heavenly flames, it would also let him leave his own unique imprint on it from the outset, effectively making it part of him.
That way, devouring and controlling the fused flame later would be as effortless as moving his own limbs, without any risk of backlash.
Well, it was worth mentioning that the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint had come up with this...
Besides the issues already mentioned, the New Flame Mantra had another problem: how could a flame practice a cultivation technique?
Bear in mind that flames devouring one another was an instinctive behavior. They didn't need any cultivation technique for it.
If they could devour the other flame, they did. If they couldn't, they got devoured. If neither worked, they simply called it quits.
That was also why the previous Dou Di of the Dou Qi Continent had never anticipated an intelligent anomaly like the Tou She Ancient God, leaving the continent in its current state.
The question of practicing a cultivation technique was simple, too. Wu Bai still needed to use his spirit realm soul to grant the beast flame sentience, briefly turn it into a "person," and have it practice the Flame Mantra.
The process would be difficult, but for Wu Bai, who possessed a spirit realm soul, it wouldn't be too much trouble.
For