Refining the Sea Heart Flame, Breaking Through to Dou Wang!

"With great power comes great responsibility."

"Brother Qingyang really is an honest, dependable man..."

Lin Chen sighed, silently apologizing to Gu Qingyang in the simulation.

A genius of the Gu Clan like Gu Qingyang certainly had something to protect his life, so Lin Chen did not need to worry about his safety. Still, a fair bit of suffering was inevitable.

"Of the three options, a Heavenly Flame is definitely my first choice. As for which one, the sea heart flame ranks above the green lotus core flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Rankings don't represent their strength forever, but right now, there's still a clear difference. However, I can't refine it in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower."

"The fallen heart flame is suppressed here. Heavenly Flames can sense one another, and it would be bad if I provoked it into an uprising."

"I'll get out of here first."

Lin Chen considered it for a moment and quickly made his decision.

Then he rose, pushed open the door of the No. 1 Training Room, and headed out of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

A short while later,

inside a secluded courtyard in the Alchemy Department.

"Don't worry, Lin Chen! With me guarding the door, I guarantee no one will dare come in!"

Zi Yan patted her chest and declared this with complete confidence.

"Of course I trust Lady Zi Yan. And I won't make you work for nothing. You'll definitely get your reward."

Lin Chen waved his hand, and a juicy green fruit appeared in his palm. It looked like jade and gave off an enticing fragrance, utterly irresistible.

"What's that?"

Zi Yan's eyes widened as she stared at the jade-like fruit. She swallowed, her eyes brimming with a longing for delicious food.

"A Green Bamboo Fruit. After I came out of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, I traded for it at the entrance to the Alchemy Department. It clears heat and quenches thirst. Even ordinary people can eat it raw, and it helps alleviate fire poison."

Though one only costs ten fire energy points...

Lin Chen mused to himself. He had never cared much about the value of medicinal ingredients. A gift might be small, but the affection behind it was weighty.

He handed the Green Bamboo Fruit to Zi Yan, rubbed her little head, and instructed her, "All right, go guard the door outside. Whatever noises you hear, don't come in unless I call you."

"If I still haven't come out after a month, break down the door and take me to Elder Huo, the head of the Alchemy Department."

Zi Yan gleefully accepted the Green Bamboo Fruit and took a big bite. Its flesh was crisp and sweet, and she could not resist taking another. Her cheeks bulged, making her look just like a groundhog.

Then she waved and said indistinctly, "Got it, got it! I'm off!"

Only after watching Zi Yan leave did Lin Chen settle his mind and enter the room. With a sweep of his sleeve, a thick surge of Dou Qi rushed out, forming a visible, pale-red energy barrier that descended around the room and sealed it completely.

"Everything is ready. All that's missing is the east wind."

Lin Chen sat cross-legged and drew a deep breath. He took the three essentials for refining a Heavenly Flame from the Jade-Green Ring, placing the ice spirit cold spring on his left and the Naling on his right, while holding the sixth-grade Earth Spirit Pill in his hand.

First, he swallowed the Naling, allowing it to merge into his dantian.

Then, with a thought, he selected the sea heart flame.

Buzzz!

Ripples suddenly creased the surrounding space. The temperature in the room shot up, and a vortex resembling rippling water faintly spread outward.

A mass of deep-blue flame emerged from the vortex. Like seawater, its shape shifted constantly. As it rose, patterns like ripples slowly spread across it, accompanied by the sound of crashing waves. It was extraordinarily strange.

The fifteenth flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—the sea heart flame!

Looking at the wondrous flame, Lin Chen took a deep breath and pulled out the jade stopper. The Earth Spirit Pill rolled out of the Pill Bottle. It was an azure pill, perfectly round, its surface patterned with blue, wave-like lines resembling the sea. It was truly marvelous.

The Earth Spirit Pill entered his mouth and transformed into an intensely cooling current that flowed throughout his body. Dense azure energy seeped into every part of his meridians before spreading into a transparent film of water that enveloped his flesh and bones.

As the water film continued spreading, Lin Chen shuddered. A faint blue glow rose from his skin, radiating wisps of cold. Within mere breaths, it formed a thick suit of ice-crystal armor that covered his entire body, protecting him tightly.

"It's time."

Lin Chen reached out to seize the sea heart flame in midair. The ice-crystal armor on his hand collided with the Heavenly Flame, producing an ear-piercing hiss. The ice crystals formed by the Earth Spirit Pill kept melting, dissolving at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Crack!

Just as cracks appeared in the ice-crystal armor, Lin Chen extracted a deep-blue Flame Seed from the Heavenly Flame. It was only the size of a water droplet, crystal clear and suffused with a gentle luster, like a sapphire from the depths of the sea.

Not daring to delay even slightly, Lin Chen swallowed the Flame Seed. His entire body jolted as though struck by lightning, and his previously rosy face abruptly turned pale.

"Hiss... it really does pack a punch..."

"The inferior heart flame separated from the fallen heart flame is practically a little brother compared to this genuine Heavenly Flame!"

Excitement flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, and a flush crossed his face. Fierce pain erupted throughout his body, as though every inch of him were burning.

Yet inwardly, he was delighted, without the slightest fear of the sea heart flame's ferocity. The stronger the Heavenly Flame, the greater the benefit to him.

As for danger? What alchemist could refine a Heavenly Flame without danger? If they feared danger, the continent's alchemists would not flock to Heavenly Flames like ducks to water.

He immediately picked up the ice spirit cold spring beside him and drained the liquid in the jade box in a single gulp.

Gulp, gulp!

As the white liquid slid down his throat, Lin Chen instantly felt much more comfortable. The scorching heat inside him seemed to freeze. Terrifying currents of cold spread through his meridians, swiftly coating their surfaces and his bones with a layer of milky-white ice.

With the two protective layers of the Earth Spirit Pill and the ice spirit cold spring combined, the sea heart flame's searing heat was finally restrained for the moment.

Not daring to let his attention wander, Lin Chen sank his consciousness into his body and circulated the Earth Tier Cultivation Method, the Ninefold Phoenix Flame Art. His dense, pale-red Dou Qi became a vast army, charging toward the deep-blue Flame Seed!

Charge into the sea heart flame and drive it straight into the Naling!

"Hiss, hiss..."

The Dou Qi collided with the Heavenly Flame, letting out feeble hisses as it rapidly melted away into pale-red mist. Yet thanks to the immense reserves accumulated through his Earth Tier Cultivation Method, an endless stream of pale-red Dou Qi surged forth, pushing the Flame Seed toward his dantian.

Once, twice, three times...

Who knew how long had passed?

Lin Chen's face was pale, and eighty to ninety percent of his Dou Qi had already been consumed. He picked up a bottle of fifth-grade Qi Cultivation Pills and gulped them down again, then followed them with an Ice Heart Pill, a Frost Pill, and an Ice Purity Pill. Sparing no expense or consideration for the cost, he wildly bombarded the sea heart flame!

Meanwhile, deep within his dantian, a pale-red Dou Crystal the size of a pigeon's egg spun continuously. Dense Dou Qi swept out like a storm, slowly pushing the restless deep-blue Flame Seed toward a speck of gray light at the center.

That gray light was precisely where the Naling rested.

Bang!

Several hours later, the final strand of Dou Qi lashed out like a whip, striking the Flame Seed viciously. The sea heart flame let out a mournful cry, as though overwhelmed by shame and unable to endure any further humiliation, and fell into that bottomless abyss.

The next instant, boom!

An enormous surge of deep-blue flame erupted. Like a tide that had gathered for ages and could no longer be restrained, it surged wildly into every limb and bone!

Strangely, this time the flame could no longer harm Lin Chen in the slightest. Instead, it was remarkably docile, seeping into his meridians, bones, and flesh, releasing gentle energy that merged throughout his body!

Wherever it passed, his withered meridians suddenly shone with a faint blue light, growing wider and tougher. His damaged muscles recovered at a visible speed, and the bloody scabs covering him fell away, revealing jade-white skin with a lustrous sheen.

"Hiss..."

Lin Chen could not help letting out a soft hiss. He felt his entire body transforming in that moment. The impurities within him had also been burned away completely during the refinement of the Heavenly Flame, and an overwhelming sense of comfort welled up within him!

Suddenly, crack!

Lin Chen's eyes flew open, a deep-blue light flashing within them. The aura surrounding him became extremely unstable!

An inward look would have revealed that the Dou Crystal in his dantian, which had previously spun without rest, had stopped at some point. Deep-blue light spread outward, and cracks visible to the naked eye appeared across it!

The moment for his breakthrough had arrived!