At the moment he was about to devour a Heavenly Flame, Xiao Yan felt utterly calm.
Looking at the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame before him, he flicked his finger.
Three items meant to aid him in devouring the Heavenly Flame immediately flew out of his Storage Ring.
They were the Blood Lotus Pill, ice spirit cold spring, and the Spirit Container.
After they returned to the valley yesterday, Yao Lao had refined the Blood Lotus Pill for him.
There was no helping it. With his current pill-refining skills, Xiao Yan had less than a fifty percent chance of successfully refining a Fifth-grade Pill.
For a high-level Fifth-grade Pill like the Blood Lotus Pill, his success rate was even lower than thirty percent.
Looking at the three items before him, Xiao Yan did not hesitate. He grabbed the Blood Lotus Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
The next instant, a seamless layer of blood-red armor appeared over his body.
"Now! Take the flame seed!" Yao Lao shouted from beside him.
At those words, Xiao Yan decisively thrust his hand into the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, pulled out a tiny blood-red flame, then tipped his head back and swallowed it with practiced ease.
Yao Lao had explained the steps for devouring a Heavenly Flame to Xiao Yan countless times. They had already become muscle memory.
As the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame entered his body, an extraordinarily intense burning sensation erupted from within.
Blood-red flames flowed through every meridian and blood vessel in Xiao Yan's body.
Wherever they passed, Xiao Yan could even hear his blood boiling.
To his surprise, however, the pain he suffered did not seem so extreme that he could not endure it.
Even Yao Lao was stunned. Back when he absorbed the bone spirit cold flame, he had suffered every imaginable torment and nearly been burned to oblivion, body and soul.
Xiao Yan, by contrast, had his brows tightly furrowed, but he hardly looked as though the pain was making him wish he were dead.
Yao Lao raised his brows and said uncertainly, "Could there really be some sort of innate Heavenly Flame-devouring sacred physique in this world?"
At this rate, Little Yanzi could devour the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame without even drinking the ice spirit cold spring, provided he endured a little more suffering.
After pondering it carefully, Yao Lao suddenly slapped his forehead, finally understanding the reason.
Although the Dou Qi Little Yanzi cultivated lacked the terrifying destructive power of conventional Dou Qi,
its gentleness allowed it to strengthen his meridians more effectively.
That was why the toughness of Little Yanzi's meridians, combined with the blood membrane formed by the Blood Lotus Pill, could withstand the scorching Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
At that thought, Yao Lao froze briefly.
Did that mean Little Yanzi really did have a damned innate Heavenly Flame-devouring sacred physique?
He was born to eat from this bowl!
Meanwhile, Xiao Yan also seemed to realize that the Heavenly Flame could do nothing to him. He immediately grabbed the ice spirit cold spring and drained it in one gulp.
Although he, too, felt that he could devour the Heavenly Flame without the ice spirit cold spring,
who would be foolish enough to force suffering upon himself when he did not have to?
As the ice spirit cold spring entered his body, Xiao Yan shivered all over. The intense burning pain vanished instantly, replaced by a wave of soothing comfort.
Bliss!
Sensing that the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame no longer posed any threat, Xiao Yan immediately began circulating the Flame Mantra at full power, guiding the flame with his mind through his meridians along the technique's prescribed route.
After completing one full cycle of the Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan could clearly sense a special connection forming between himself and the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
The final step was to swallow the Spirit Container and open a small space in which to store the Heavenly Flame.
"It worked!" Yao Lao exclaimed delightedly as he watched the serene Xiao Yan.
Now, once Xiao Yan drew the flame seed into the Spirit Container, he could proceed directly to evolving the Flame Mantra.
As time passed, the aura radiating from Xiao Yan grew increasingly terrifying.
While he refined the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, the immense energy within it also strengthened his physical body.
Several days passed in a flash!
At last, Xiao Yan finished refining the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame and drew it into the Spirit Container's space.
The Dou Qi within him changed from bright yellow to blood red.
His aura was now on an entirely different level, and his cultivation had risen from the 62nd Dou Qi Segment to the 70th Dou Qi Segment.
As Xiao Yan's cultivation continued to rise, Yao Lao even saw faint blood-red vapor curling upward from his crown, resembling the smoke of a lit beacon fire.
Just then, Xiao Yan abruptly opened his eyes. As he sensed the changes within him, his delight was almost beyond words.
"It looks like you gained a great deal." Yao Lao smiled at Xiao Yan, then asked curiously, "What grade has your Flame Mantra evolved to now?"
Xiao Yan opened his palm, and a wisp of blood-red Dou Qi immediately surged out of his body.
He smiled. "Low-level Black Tier!"
Yao Lao nodded and said with feeling, "That's already very good. At the very least, it proves that the Flame Mantra really can evolve."
"There really is no comparison between a low-level Black Tier cultivation technique and a Yellow Tier Cultivation Technique.
"I can clearly feel that the speed at which my Dou Qi circulates has increased by several tenths, if not more," Xiao Yan remarked as he tried circulating the Dou Qi within him.
Yao Lao rolled his eyes at Xiao Yan. "Isn't that stating the obvious?
"If cultivation techniques didn't differ in strength, why would there be the four tiers of Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow?
"A high-tier cultivation technique doesn't just increase the speed at which you circulate your Dou Qi. It also improves its quality and offers many other marvelous uses."
Looking at the blood-red Dou Qi in his palm, Xiao Yan nodded in agreement.
He clenched his hand, and a crack like a sonic boom burst from his palm.
At the sight, Yao Lao clicked his tongue in admiration. "Little Yanzi, your strength is becoming more and more terrifying."
Xiao Yan smiled faintly.
"There's still room to improve. I have a feeling that when my Dou Qi reaches the hundredth segment, my physical strength may undergo a qualitative leap."
Hearing this, Yao Lao sighed. "Ah, you've now set foot on a path no one has ever traveled. You can only feel your own way forward. Even your teacher can't offer you much help."
Xiao Yan reassured him, "Teacher, you've already helped me so much. Without you, I never would have made it this far."
Yao Lao shook his head after hearing that, then chided him with a smile. "Enough. Stop flattering this old man and hurry outside to spend some time with Xiao Yi Xian. She's been worried sick these past few days."
With that, Yao Lao returned to the Bone Flame Ring.
Xiao Yan stood there and scratched his head, while Xiao Yi Xian's lovely, gentle face surfaced in his mind.
A soft smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
When he emerged from the underground tunnel, the Amethyst Winged Lion King and Xiao Yi Xian had already been waiting outside for quite some time.
The former's laughter boomed like thunder. "Hahaha! Xiao Yan, you really succeeded!"
Dazzling light also burst into Xiao Yi Xian's beautiful eyes, and surprise and excitement filled her slightly weary face.
The instant she saw Xiao Yan, she paused where she stood for a moment, but ultimately ran toward him.
Like a young swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Xiao Yan's arms.
"Thank goodness... thank goodness you're all right!"
Xiao Yi Xian ran both hands over Xiao Yan's back, as though checking whether he had been injured.
Her voice trembled slightly, filled with both concern and relief.
Xiao Yan drew a deep breath.
This time, he neither hesitated nor wavered. As though acting on instinct, he wrapped his arms around Xiao Yi Xian and reassured her softly.
"I'm all right!"
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