A successful deal

Su Qian swallowed the rest of his words, his eyes fixed on the tiny flame in Qin Yun's hand.

"That aura definitely belongs to the fallen heart flame! But how is that possible? The real fallen heart flame is still sealed away by us, and it couldn't possibly be this weak."

Su Qian rubbed his eyes. His first instinct was that his senses had deceived him and this was a fake.

But he was the academy's great elder, and he could hardly have been more familiar with the fallen heart flame.

No matter how he looked at it, the flame in Qin Yun's hand was a genuine fallen heart flame, only much weaker.

In the end, Elder Qian and Elder Bai spoke up. "It is indeed a fallen heart flame. We never imagined a second heavenly flame of the same kind could be born in this world.

"In that case, are you proposing to trade this heavenly flame with us?"

Elder Qian and Elder Bai stopped there, leaving the rest of the negotiations to Great Elder Su Qian.

"This fallen heart flame is real, but its strength falls far short. Even if we poured vast resources into helping it evolve,

"it would take at least a year before it could replace the one currently inside the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. No matter how you look at it, we'd be getting the short end of this deal."

Su Qian stroked his chin as he spoke slowly. Yet after seeing the second heavenly flame, his tone was clearly no longer as absolute as before.

He had now softened enough to negotiate.

"Rest assured, if I'm willing to propose a trade, I won't let your academy suffer a loss." Qin Yun delivered the pitch he had prepared long ago.

"First, the Wind and Thunder Pavilion will cover one-third of the resources needed for the fallen heart flame to grow.

"Second, I'll refine the heavenly flame right here at your academy. Once I've brought the fallen heart flame under my control,

"I'll leave behind enough energy to keep the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower running for at least a year."

"Well, that does sound promising." Su Qian exchanged a glance with the two guardians behind him and found that neither seemed inclined to refuse.

"Great Elder Su Qian, I've already shown considerable sincerity. Remember, this heavenly flame is still in its infancy.

"As long as you nurture it properly, it won't become hostile toward you like the original heavenly flame.

"It could even protect Jia Nan Academy instead. Once it bears you no hatred, the fire poison produced as a side effect will be greatly reduced, perhaps even eliminated.

"If even that can't persuade you, then I can only say I have no fate with this heavenly flame.

"We'll call off the trade." Qin Yun knew they were clearly tempted and merely wanted to wring a few more benefits out of him.

So he spoke first, cutting off any chance for them to ask for more.

Finally, after ten minutes of silence, Great Elder Su Qian made up his mind.

"Very well, we agree to this trade. But we're only responsible for providing the mature fallen heart flame.

"Whether you can subdue it is beyond our control."

"No problem. Here's to a pleasant partnership. You can take this first." Qin Yun nodded in satisfaction and handed over the infant fallen heart flame in advance.

"Good, good, good." Su Qian had not expected him to be so decisive and hand it over straightaway.

Looking at the still-immature fallen heart flame in his hand, Su Qian could not help smiling, his stern expression softening.

"Yun, have you thought this through? Are you really going to absorb the heavenly flame now? You should know that this fallen heart flame is every bit as powerful as a Dou Zong.

"Even if we suppress it and greatly reduce its power, it won't be easy for you to absorb. Besides, have you made all the preparations required before absorbing a heavenly flame?"

Fei Tian had not expected Qin Yun to circle around only to set his sights on the fallen heart flame again. It would have been impossible for him not to worry.

"Don't worry. I'm absolutely confident. Perhaps not a hundred percent, but at least ninety."

Qin Yun felt that his current physique should be able to withstand the fallen heart flame, ranked fourteenth among heavenly flames.

After all, when others absorbed one, even a slight mishap could damage their meridians or make their bodies explode, killing them.

Qin Yun, however, had a far greater margin for error. Although he had only just entered the second stage of Threefold Reversal, it already granted him powerful self-healing abilities.

Even if something went wrong midway, it would not have much of an impact.

That advantage alone gave him a success rate roughly fifty percentage points higher than anyone else's.

As for the three essential items needed before absorbing a heavenly flame, Qin Yun had no shortage of those either.

He even had more than one set, all thanks to the wealth Han Feng had hoarded over the years.

Han Feng had, after all, cultivated half of the Flame Mantra and could fuse multiple heavenly flames.

Naturally, he had always kept the materials needed to absorb them on hand.

Now that he was dead, Qin Yun had reaped all the benefits.

Over the next two hours, nearly everyone in the academy was evacuated, leaving only the deserted Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

"You two, get farther away. This thing won't be easy to handle."

The first thing Fei Tian did was tell Qin Yun and Feng Qing'er to retreat farther away.

He did not want them caught in the fallout when the others began suppressing it.

Everyone taking part was at least a Dou Emperor. Those two would only hold them back if they stayed.

Naturally, Qin Yun and Feng Qing'er would not throw unreasonable tantrums over something like this.

They spread the wings on their backs and swiftly retreated more than ten kilometers.

Qin Yun even made a point of shielding Feng Qing'er behind him, in case something went wrong.

At least his Threefold Reversal offered something of a resurrection armor's protection, whereas she only had one life.

"Everyone, get ready. We're going to release the seal." Great Elder Su Qian solemnly reminded the elders.

Then he took the lead, undoing the layers of seals binding the fallen heart flame one by one.

The fallen heart flame seemed to sense the power restraining it gradually weakening, and it grew increasingly violent.

It even destroyed the first few layers of seals through its own strength.

"Open!" Great Elder Su Qian gave a low shout. A moment later, the seal was completely released, and an enormous flaming python shot out.

At least a hundred meters long, it coiled in the sky, its blazing flames staining half the heavens red.

"So this is the fallen heart flame? It's considerably stronger than I expected." Fei Tian's gaze grew solemn.

Indeed, the fallen heart flame's strength had already reached roughly that of a Four-Star Dou Zong. Moreover, as a heavenly flame unique between heaven and earth,

it could fight above its level within a small range. Even though he was one star higher, he might not gain any advantage in a head-on battle.

Still, troublesome as it was, he could hardly give up over that alone.

Fei Tian was the first to charge forward, thrusting out his palm.

The Dou Qi throughout his body formed an enormous palm, threaded with countless bolts of lightning, which slammed down like a meteor.