On the vast stone plaza, towering pillars thousands of feet tall rose toward the heavens, their surfaces carved with ancient, mystical totem patterns. Flames of different colors burned atop each pillar, faintly radiating extraordinary energy fluctuations.
These were the heavenly flames Tuoshe Ancient Emperor had gathered from across the Dou Qi Continent. Aside from himself, whose true form was the Emperor Flame, he had subdued every heavenly flame in the world and housed them in his Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion.
"Aside from the Emperor Flame, Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's true form, and the Void Swallowing Flame and Pure Lotus Demon Flame, which escaped the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion with the Emperor-Grade Embryonic Pill's help, every heavenly flame on the Heavenly Flame Rankings is collected here. But none of these flames is of any use to me." Ye Uchiha glanced at the heavenly flames, which had already lost most of their essence. A trace of helplessness and regret flashed through his purple Rinnegan eyes.
Although they still retained the appearance of heavenly flames, they were effectively no different from ordinary fire. If not for the lingering wisps of heavenly flame essence and the rich, pure ambient energy within the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion sustaining them, these depleted flames would likely have gone out long ago.
If these heavenly flames had remained intact without losing their essence, Ye Uchiha might have been able to refine and devour them all through the power of Toyouke-no-Mikoto. Becoming a second Tuoshe Ancient Emperor would not necessarily have been beyond him.
After all, Tuoshe Ancient Emperor had started out as a heavenly flame that had assumed physical form. Only after devouring every heavenly flame in existence had he ascended to the Throne at the top of the Heavenly Flame Rankings. In other words, the very concept of