In the secluded valley, Xiao Fan and Xiao Yi Xian each busied themselves with their own cultivation.
Xiao Yi Xian hid in the thatched cottage, studying her Poison Scripture, while Xiao Fan... wandered around outside the valley.
It was not that Xiao Fan did not want to cultivate. His cultivation had always depended on the system, and now that it had undergone an abnormal change, a trace of fear had crept into his heart, leaving him afraid to cultivate.
With that being the case, he could only spend his days amusing himself in the valley.
Sometimes he teased Little Blue; sometimes he tended the flowers and plants. He seemed relaxed and carefree, but beneath it all lay uncertainty.
Several days passed like this before Xiao Fan finally began to shake off the shadow of that day.
He put the system's abnormal condition completely out of his mind. Even without the system, he now had the Chaos Flame Body, along with Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills. Xiao Fan believed he could achieve something through his own efforts. As for what would happen ten years later? He would deal with that when the time came.
At that thought, Xiao Fan smiled freely.
"I was just scaring myself. Now that I've come to another world, wouldn't I miss all the wonders along the way if I relied on the system for everything?"
With his resolve renewed, Xiao Fan found a spot where he usually basked in the sun, sat cross-legged, and sensed the Dou Qi within him.
Ever since the system's abnormal change had advanced him to Three-Star Dou Shi, Xiao Fan had been pondering the cause of that so-called change. According to what the system had told him, it should have been because he had destroyed the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.
In other words, interfering with the plot to a certain extent would cause the system to malfunction. Yet when he thought about what had happened with Yun Zhi in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, that had not caused any malfunction. He had even received a personal quest.
Unable to make sense of it, Xiao Fan stopped dwelling on the matter. He would simply cultivate diligently. The system was only a shortcut on his cultivation journey. Without that shortcut, he would walk the proper path in earnest.
After consolidating his Three-Star Dou Shi strength, Xiao Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and took something from his Storage Ring.
It was the companion amethyst source he had obtained from the Amethyst Winged Lion King's cave in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
Taking out a bottle of companion amethyst source, Xiao Fan carefully opened the lid.
He immediately sensed the fire-element particles in the surrounding air becoming more active.
Looking at the companion amethyst source in his hand, Xiao Fan licked his lips.
"As expected of an incredibly powerful fire-attribute companion treasure. Just its ability to stir the surrounding fire element would make countless fire-attribute cultivators flock to it like ducks to water."
A cultivation haven suited to one's own attributes was difficult to find. Yet merely exposing the companion amethyst source to the air could invigorate the surrounding fire-attribute energy, effectively providing fire-attribute cultivators with a natural cultivation ground.
Without further hesitation, Xiao Fan used a thin twig to carefully dab up a little companion amethyst source and put it into his mouth.
He felt rich fire-attribute power spreading through his mouth, flowing down his throat and through his internal organs. As he circulated his Dou Qi, it spread through every limb and bone.
Xiao Fan could even feel a slight increase in the Dou Qi within him.
He opened his panel and saw that his strength field had changed a little as well.
Strength: Three-Star Dou Shi (3011000), Third-Tier Alchemist (3001000)
His strength value had risen from 300 to 301.
His strength had been quantified ever since he obtained the system. That meant he would advance whenever his progress passed another hundred-point threshold. Now, just one drop of companion amethyst source had raised it by one point. That single point was not to be underestimated-it meant Xiao Fan could use this method to improve his strength.
Doesn't that mean I can keep getting stronger if I continue absorbing it?
Joy stirred in Xiao Fan's heart. He lifted the bottle in his hand and carefully took a small sip.
Boom!
A fierce surge brewed inside Xiao Fan's mouth. He clenched his lips tightly shut. He had worked so hard to obtain this-he could not spit it out. Absolutely not!
Enduring the searing pain, Xiao Fan swallowed the mouthful of companion amethyst source in one gulp. As he circulated the blazing energy, it scorched his insides dry.
From a distance, wisps of white steam could even be seen rising from the top of his head.
Xiao Fan opened his eyes, and a trace of purple light flashed through them.
The raging purple energy surged along his meridians toward his Dou Qi Vortex. Even as Xiao Fan circulated his cultivation method, he could not suppress it at all.
If that purple energy struck his Dou Qi Vortex, his cultivation might fall rather than rise. Moreover, the constant scorching rapidly drained the moisture from his body, briefly muddling his thoughts.
Biting the tip of his tongue hard, Xiao Fan forced himself to hold on, ran toward the lake in the valley, and leaped in.
Splash!
The icy lake water enveloped Xiao Fan's body, gradually clearing his mind.
Then Xiao Fan mobilized the bone spirit cold flame within him and sent it sweeping toward the purple energy rampaging through his body.
The aura of the heavenly flame frightened the purple energy, sending it scattering in every direction.
But within Xiao Fan's body, an unending stream of bone spirit cold flame soon surrounded the purple energy, carrying it along the circulation route of the Radiant Sun Art.
As Xiao Fan circulated his cultivation method and absorbed the purple energy, it gradually weakened, while his aura steadily grew stronger.
Before long, Xiao Fan had completely refined the purple energy within him, and his strength had risen to 330.
A trace of lingering fear flashed through Xiao Fan's eyes. He had been careless after all.
He had never expected the companion amethyst source's energy to be so violent. He had nearly made a terrible mistake. Fortunately, his heavenly flame had suppressed the purple energy.
But the result was wonderful. A flicker of frenzy crossed Xiao Fan's eyes as his parched right hand lifted the bottle filled with companion amethyst source, and he took another large gulp.
With his previous experience, absorbing the energy was now like driving a familiar road in a light carriage. Soon, the entire bottle of companion amethyst source was almost empty.
As he rapidly absorbed the purple energy, Xiao Fan's aura swiftly approached Four-Star Dou Shi.
Yet even after absorbing the entire bottle of companion amethyst source, Xiao Fan remained a Three-Star Dou Shi. His progress had only reached 398, leaving him stuck just short of the 400-point threshold.
"Looks like some of the energy still wasn't fully absorbed."
Sensing the energy he had absorbed, Xiao Fan frowned slightly.
Once the young Amethyst Winged Lion King reached the fourth rank, equivalent to the Dou Ling realm, it could immediately break through to the fifth rank simply by swallowing the entire companion amethyst source.
Yet he had absorbed a whole bottle without even breaking through to Four-Star Dou Shi.
Sure enough, a magical beast's companion substance could only yield its greatest value when absorbed by the beast itself.
With his Chaos Flame Body, his affinity for the fire attribute was already at its peak. Compared with ordinary people, his absorption and conversion rate was already very high, yet he had still wasted so much. No wonder humans rarely cultivated directly with these heavenly treasures, instead refining them into pills to absorb. Pills were the best way for humans to absorb these products of heaven and earth. Wolfing them down was far too wasteful.
But with only one step remaining, Xiao Fan could hardly give up. In any case, he had seven bottles of companion amethyst source in total.
He took out another bottle of companion amethyst source. This time, he did not waste any, merely estimating the amount needed for his breakthrough before putting the rest away again.
With another mouthful of companion amethyst source in his stomach, Xiao Fan finally broke through to Four-Star Dou Shi.
Opening his eyes, Xiao Fan's gaze flashed with joy. Aside from his advancement to Eight-Star Dou Zhe when he ventured into the Magical Beast Mountain Range, this was another improvement he had achieved independently, without relying on the system.
It gave Xiao Fan a sense of accomplishment all his own.
Dou Qi surged within him, manifesting a Dou Qi Veil.
Xiao Fan examined the Dou Qi Veil covering his body and discovered that it, too, had changed considerably.
Previously, his Dou Qi Veil had been red. Now, red and purple intertwined, lending it an even more bewitching appearance. Looking closely, he could also see several barely perceptible clusters of purple flame upon it.
At the sight of the purple flame, joy flashed through Xiao Fan's eyes.
"Purple flame?"
Purple flame was the Amethyst Winged Lion King's flame. Could this be because he had absorbed the companion amethyst source?
Curious, Xiao Fan circulated his Dou Qi. Sure enough, it now contained numerous purple fire-element particles-the constituents of purple flame.
Xiao Fan carefully inspected his meridians and gathered all the purple flame particles together, finally condensing them into a smooth, round sphere.
"I'll call you the Purple Flame Seed!"
Xiao Fan spoke softly as he looked at it, then stored the Purple Flame Seed within his Dou Qi Vortex.
Slowly circulating his Dou Qi through the Purple Flame Seed, Xiao Fan discovered that all the Dou Qi that passed through it took on the characteristics of purple flame.
With a slight smile, Xiao Fan extended his right hand and gathered Dou Qi in his palm.
"Manifest!"
As Xiao Fan's voice fell, a tiny strand of purple flame emerged from his palm before slowly dancing within it.
Just as I thought!
Xiao Fan had successfully summoned purple flame. Sensing the heat it gave off, his smile grew even brighter.
Watching the purple flame dance in his palm, Xiao Fan suddenly felt a surge of curiosity.
In the original story, Xiao Yan's first flame had been purple flame. It had enabled the Flame Mantra's first evolution and also made his Alchemy easier.
After all, transforming Dou Qi into fire required reaching the Dou Wang level. Otherwise, it was the hallmark of a fourth-tier Alchemist, and an obvious sign by which the alchemical world distinguished four-star Alchemists.
Aside from becoming a fourth-tier Alchemist, the only ways to produce an actual flame were through heavenly flames or beast flame.
Countless Alchemists across the Dou Qi Continent pursued heavenly flames, one after another, like moths flying into a fire. Unfortunately, their overwhelming power had led many Alchemists to their deaths.
Now that he had mastered purple flame and also possessed the bone spirit cold flame given to him by the system, Xiao Fan suddenly thought of the signature technique that had once made Xiao Yan famous.
Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus!
Could I give it a try?
Before you continue