After dividing the spoils, Xiao Yan said, "This companion amethyst source contains exceptionally pure fire-attribute energy. It's perfect for me to absorb.
I'm going into seclusion for a while to break through to the Dou Ling realm."
Yun Yun asked no further questions. She merely nodded gently and said softly, "All right. I'll stand guard for you."
The two went out and hunted plenty of small beasts and river fish, then gathered a pile of wild vegetables and fruit.
Once everything was ready, Yun Yun raised her hand and set up a barrier inside the cave.
Xiao Yan found a comfortable patch of level ground, sat cross-legged, and began preparing for his seclusion.
He placed the five jade bottles containing companion amethyst source in front of him.
Drawing a deep breath, Xiao Yan picked up a bottle and began drinking it in small sips!
Boom!
A vast surge of pure energy erupted inside his body in an instant!
The energy was violent and scorching, but Xiao Yan calmly circulated his Dou Qi, precisely enveloping, guiding, and refining it!
As he drank mouthful after mouthful of companion amethyst source, the bottleneck of an Eight-Star Great Dou Master became as fragile as a sheet of thin paper beneath the onslaught of that pure energy, breaking with a single poke!
Then came nine stars!
The peak of nine stars!
After an unknown stretch of time, Xiao Yan finally opened his eyes!
A purple gleam flashed through them, and his gaze became incomparably sharp!
Three-Star Dou Ling!
Feeling the Dou Qi surging ceaselessly through his body, Xiao Yan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
This companion amethyst source really was a rare treasure of heaven and earth!
Just five bottles had let him break through so many levels! If he used it all, Dou Wang might well be within reach!
But how long had this breakthrough taken?
Turning toward Yun Yun, Xiao Yan asked, "Miss Yun Yun, how long was I in seclusion?"
"One month," Yun Yun answered softly.
Yun Yun looked somewhat haggard, but she made no attempt to claim credit.
Throughout that month, she had barely slept, always ready to straighten out Xiao Yan's Dou Qi should it fall into disorder.
Even without her saying anything, however, Xiao Yan could guess from her complexion.
For even a Dou Emperor to look haggard in an environment like this, the only explanation was a prolonged stretch without sleep or rest.
Xiao Yan sighed inwardly.
This was why he didn't want to get involved in matters between men and women.
A beauty's kindness weighed heavily indeed!
After resting a little longer, Xiao Yan said apologetically, "Miss Yun Yun, there's one more thing I need to do: devour the purple flame inside this companion amethyst source.
But it involves a secret of my master's lineage, so please give me some privacy."
Yun Yun nodded in understanding and smiled. "I was just thinking of going out for a stroll anyway.
I'll wait at the cave entrance. Call me whenever you need anything."
Yun Yun went outside.
Xiao Yan sensed the purple flame at his lower abdominal dantian, still wrapped in Dou Qi and not yet devoured, then asked within his sea of consciousness:
"Teacher, how do I devour this purple flame and upgrade the Flame Mantra?"
Yao Lao's voice carried a hint of excitement.
"At last, we've reached the main event.
Didn't I have you prepare an Ice Heart Pill and a Pulse-Protecting Pill earlier?
First, take the Pulse-Protecting Pill to protect your meridians, then take the Ice Heart Pill to lessen the purple flame's ferocity.
After that, you can release the surrounding Dou Qi and gradually guide the purple flame into your meridians.
Once it's inside, you must guard your mind carefully against its violent spiritual nature while gradually wearing it down and taming it with Dou Qi in your meridians.
When the purple flame is fully tamed, you'll have successfully devoured it.
Then guide the purple flame through the Flame Mantra's circulation route a few times, and the Flame Mantra should evolve as well."
Yao Lao spoke as though it were only natural. This was indeed the definitive method of devouring flames on the Dou Qi Continent.
Yet after hearing him out, Xiao Yan knitted his brows tightly.
He fell silent for a moment before speaking inwardly.
"Teacher, let's set aside the Flame Mantra's evolution for now. Forgive my bluntness, but isn't your method of devouring flames a little too crude?"
Inside the ring, Yao Lao's voice abruptly fell silent. Only after a long while did it sound again.
"Brat, what do you mean? This is the only proper way to devour flames, discovered by countless predecessors at the cost of their lives!"
Xiao Yan smiled. "How much of a flame's original power can remain after devouring it like that?"
After a brief silence, Yao Lao said, "Flames are powerful. Once brought into the body, they naturally can't retain one hundred percent of their original power.
Normally, retaining ten or twenty percent is already quite good."
Xiao Yan said, "Teacher, devouring a flame by your method would certainly produce that result.
It's equivalent to swallowing a ferocious beast alive, straight into your stomach.
The beast charges east and west inside your body, wreaking havoc everywhere, while you have to keep grinding away at its wild nature and digest it in the process.
By the time its wild nature has been worn away, only ten or twenty percent of its nourishment would naturally remain."
Yao Lao bristled, his beard twitching and eyes glaring in indignation.
"If you don't devour it that way, is there another method?"
Xiao Yan smiled.
In his previous life in the cultivation world, he had dealt with flames too.
There, they used an entirely different method of taming flames.
Organizing his thoughts, Xiao Yan said, "Teacher, if a ferocious beast were placed before you and you wanted to digest and absorb it, what would you do?"
By then, Yao Lao had calmed down.
He knew his disciple was extraordinarily gifted. Perhaps he really did have some ingenious idea.
Rather than taking offense, he followed Xiao Yan's lead. "Eat it, of course."
Xiao Yan smiled again. "Raw or cooked?"
Yao Lao's expression turned thoughtful.
"Cooked would naturally be easier to digest.
But how would we cook it?"
"Teacher, why not tame the beast's wild nature outside the body first-in other words, cook it-before drawing it into your meridians? Wouldn't that make it easier to digest and let you absorb more nourishment?"
Yao Lao's expression shifted slightly, and his brows immediately drew together.
He felt as though a flash of inspiration had crossed his mind, yet he hadn't caught it!
His tone grew urgent as he pressed, "How do you tame a flame's wild nature outside the body?"
Xiao Yan smiled. "Teacher, you taught me that when devouring a flame, I must guard my mind carefully so its violent spiritual nature doesn't overwhelm it.
But if we tame that violent spiritual nature outside the body before taking the flame inside, wouldn't it be much safer?
And wouldn't it preserve more of the flame's original power?"
Yao Lao's expression instantly became somewhat dazed.
"Taming a violent flame's spiritual nature outside the body... it seems possible...
But how would we do it..."
Xiao Yan smiled confidently.
It was time to reveal the answer.
"Teacher, soul power! Guarding your mind is essentially using soul power to resist the flame's violent spiritual nature, isn't it?"
Yao Lao looked as though he had been struck by lightning!
For a long while, he said nothing!
Xiao Yan merely smiled without speaking, quietly waiting for Yao Lao to digest the novel concept he had introduced.
In truth, this concept was common knowledge that everyone knew in the cultivation world of his previous life.
In the cultivation world, taming flames wasn't called devouring. It was called refining.
The method was to use primordial spirit power-soul power-to wear away the flame's violent spiritual nature. Only once that ferocity had been completely worn away, leaving a trace of pure true spirit, was it time to draw the flame into the body.
This method was extremely safe.
There was no need to risk a nine-in-ten chance of death just to devour a flame, as people did on the Dou Qi Continent.
After a long while, an excited Yao Lao emerged from Xiao Yan's body, deftly extracted a wisp of purple flame from the remaining companion amethyst source, and began trying to wear away its violent spiritual nature with soul power.
At first, Yao Lao couldn't find the knack. He and the purple flame's violent spiritual nature went back and forth as though playing hide-and-seek.
But Yao Lao was truly a master of the soul, and he soon found the correct method.
Within a few breaths, Yao Lao had used his soul power to wear away the violent spiritual nature within that wisp of purple flame.
Looking at the purple flame before him, now as gentle as water, Yao Lao couldn't help bursting into wild laughter.
Fortunately, he remembered in time that Yun Yun was still standing guard outside the cave, and cut off his laughter like a duck whose quack had been abruptly silenced.
Although he held back his laughter, Yao Lao's face remained full of delight.
"Brilliant! Brilliant!
How has no one on the Dou Qi Continent discovered this method in all these years?
Swallowing flames raw-what were our predecessors thinking?"
After laughing, Yao Lao grew somewhat wistful.
"If I'd been able to subdue the bone spirit cold flame with this method back then, it would be at least three times as powerful now! Ah, what a pity!"
Xiao Yan smiled. "Teacher, your bone spirit cold flame is no weakling. I'm sure you preserved thirty or forty percent of its power when you devoured it."
Yao Lao shook his head.
"Nowhere near that much. Right after I devoured it, my bone spirit cold flame was very weak too, with only about twenty percent of its original power.
Only by nurturing it inside my body all these years did I gradually strengthen it again."
After his reflections, Yao Lao said excitedly, "You little brat, hurry up and refine your purple flame! I want to see how much of its original power a flame refined by your method can retain!"
Before you continue