"He actually managed to endure it... Ah, seeing him like this, I..."
Yao Lao let out a long sigh, his gaze complicated as he looked at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan had finished devouring the Heavenly Flame and was now lying in bed. Having his body tempered by a Heavenly Flame had not been entirely harmful. Besides, this green lotus core flame seemed a little bored, so it had helped restore his burned body. In fact... his body was even stronger than before?
Neither Sun Dog nor Yao Lao had ever encountered anything like this. They counted themselves lucky if the Heavenly Flames inside them did not rebel.
"What, regretting having him learn the Flame Mantra?"
Sun Buxiao asked with a smile as he sorted through the toxins inside his body.
"...A little."
After thinking for a moment, Yao Lao still nodded.
"He genuinely respects me as his teacher, and he could have grown stronger by taking an easier, safer path, instead of... gambling with his life like this."
"You're just overthinking it. If he wants to become truly strong, a little suffering will do him good."
Sun Buxiao simply rolled his eyes.
Everyone had climbed to their current position one step at a time. None of them had suffered any less than the others.
Had the agony Sun Buxiao endured when he first started absorbing toxins somehow not counted as suffering?
Or had Yao Chen found it easy to make a living alone after being driven out of the Yao Clan?
"...Let's talk, young friend Sun."
Yao Lao stopped watching Xiao Yan and turned his gaze toward Sun Buxiao, his expression growing a little more serious.
"What do you want to talk about?"
Sun Buxiao also stopped sorting through his toxins. A thin layer of black mist drifted over his