"Who are you, and why have you disturbed my slumber?"
Inside the medicinal garden of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm.
Hearing that childish voice speak with such lofty self-importance, Xiao Tian Ce smiled, both delighted and surprised.
The child before him was none other than the Heavenly Flames Spirit of the Green Lotus Core Flame, which had already developed sentience and taken human form.
In the original story, only after Xiao Yan subdued and refined the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, then fused it with six other Heavenly Flames, had he reconstituted a Heavenly Flames Spirit and named her Xiao Yi.
The Heavenly Flames Spirit before him was nowhere near as terrifyingly powerful as the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, but that was merely a limitation of the flame's own power.
"I am Xiao Tian Ce of the Xiao Clan. Little fellow, do you have a name?" Xiao Tian Ce asked with a faint smile.
"Hmph! An insolent fellow like you dares ask my name? Die!"
The Heavenly Flames Spirit snorted coldly. Feeling insulted by Xiao Tian Ce's equally lofty manner of addressing himself, it attacked again.
A ball of flame suddenly appeared in his hand, swiftly took the shape of a lotus, and was hurled forcefully at Xiao Tian Ce.
Sensing the energy within the Green Lotus Flame, Xiao Tian Ce grew even more delighted. If the earlier attack had reached the level of a One-Star Dou Zun, then even a Five-Star Dou Zun would not dare take this lotus flame head-on.
"Quite the fiery temper you have."
Faced with the Green Lotus Flame rushing toward him, Xiao Tian Ce offered that leisurely remark before slowly extending his hand. His soul power surged forth, instantly enveloping his palm.
To the Heavenly Flames Spirit's astonishment, Xiao Tian Ce caught the Qinglian Flame it had thrown at him in his palm, as though he were holding a real green lotus.
"Have another taste of my power!"
Angered that its attack had been stopped, the Heavenly Flames Spirit was just about to strike again when it suddenly realized that its body could no longer move. Even turning back into green lotus flames was beyond it.
"Little fellow, your strength is decent, but attacking a Dou Sheng expert... I must say, you really are brave." Xiao Tian Ce smiled at the immobilized Heavenly Flames Spirit.
"Release me! Release me!" The Heavenly Flames Spirit struggled again, shouting at Xiao Tian Ce.
However, Xiao Tian Ce did not release it. Instead, he increased the pressure with his Spirit Realm Grand Perfection soul power. Only when he felt that he was on the verge of crushing the Heavenly Flames Spirit apart did he slowly speak. "Considering how difficult it was for you to take form, I will give you a chance. Submit to me, or I will scatter your sentience today."
At those words, the Heavenly Flames Spirit could not help trembling. Looking at the smile on Xiao Tian Ce's face, it grew even more frightened.
Although he sensed no killing intent, he understood that the man before him did not seem to be joking.
Once his sentience was scattered, he would probably never develop it again.
Heavenly Flames were extraordinary wonders of nature. Never mind developing sentience-even forming anew required exceptionally demanding conditions. Neither the right time nor the right place could be lacking.
Watching the silent Heavenly Flames Spirit before him, Xiao Tian Ce did not hurry it. As far as he was concerned, a Green Lotus Core Flame with a spirit would, at most, make refining medicine a little easier in the future, but not by much.
A Green Lotus Core Flame without sentience would not make much difference either. In any case, this flame could not escape, so there was no harm in waiting.
"I am willing to submit to you."
Finally, after a stalemate lasting a dozen seconds or so, the Heavenly Flames Spirit chose to submit.
"A wise choice!"
After praising it, Xiao Tian Ce released it outright. Then, watching the astonished Heavenly Flames Spirit with interest, he smiled. "What? Do you want me to place a soul brand on you?"
Indeed, that was exactly what the Heavenly Flames Spirit had expected. As it understood it, anyone who wanted to subdue it would surely have to place a soul brand on it.
Seeing him nod, Xiao Tian Ce smiled. "You are not the first Heavenly Flame I have encountered. A hundred years ago, I nearly obtained the Nihility Devouring Flame, ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
"Like you, it possessed sentience, and it was even stronger than I was.
"So I believe you should be able to grow stronger still.
"By the way, what is your name? You can tell me now, can't you?"
The Heavenly Flames Spirit was greatly surprised by Xiao Tian Ce's explanation, and it also felt deeply relieved. To it, submission had meant becoming the other party's slave, its life and death hanging on a single thought.
Yet a master like this seemed far more worthy of his allegiance.
At that thought, the Heavenly Flames Spirit returned to its earlier playful manner and said in its childish voice, "Master, I don't have a name yet!"
"Since you don't have one, I'll give you one. From now on, you will share my surname, Xiao. As for your given name... you shall be Xiao Du Ming. I hope you grow ever stronger, until, among all the Heavenly Flames, ten thousand flames gather within you, yet yours alone shines bright," Xiao Tian Ce said with a smile.
"Xiao Du Ming? Thank you for granting me a name, Master! From now on, I'm Xiao Du Ming."
The Heavenly Flames Spirit somersaulted atop the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus, excitedly thanking him again and again.
"You will stay with me from now on. I'll widen the meridians in my palm, and you can stay inside them whenever you aren't cultivating," Xiao Tian Ce said with a smile.
He was quite pleased to have gained a Heavenly Flames Spirit.
Xiao Du Ming nodded his little head. His body rapidly transformed into a palm-sized child, and then he leaped hard, landing on Xiao Tian Ce's shoulder in an instant.
Sensing his affectionate gesture, Xiao Tian Ce smiled faintly. He then took a jade knife from his Storage Ring, severed the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus, and swept his hand, collecting the entire medicinal garden.
Only after finishing all this did he lead Xiao Qing farther inside.
Before long, the three of them-counting Xiao Du Ming as a person-reached the grounds where the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Clan had kept magical beasts. The enclosure was enormous, spanning tens of thousands of square meters. Unfortunately, all they saw were magical beast corpses and skeletal remains.
Yes, corpses and skeletal remains. The beasts whose bodies remained intact had been powerful in life, having reached the Dou Sheng realm, so their corpses could endure a thousand years without decaying.
There was little else to do. After extracting the magic cores and collecting the blood essence from the corpses, he threw the useless remains into a pit he had created with a palm strike, covered them with earth, and continued exploring the next location.
Eventually, the three reached a pavilion bearing three gilded characters: Treasure Pavilion.
But before they could approach, an old man on the verge of death suddenly appeared in front of the building.
All three were startled, because the old man before them was actually alive.
What was more, his withered body radiated an extraordinarily terrifying aura comparable to that of a peak eight-star Dou Saint.
Seeing the three regard him warily, the old man slowly spoke. "I am Huang Jiuji, the Grand Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Huang Clan, and its last living member. Little fellows, what punishment do you deserve for trespassing upon our clan's grounds?"
Perhaps because he had not spoken in many years, Huang Jiuji's voice was exceedingly hoarse, and his words came somewhat haltingly.
"Please forgive us, Senior. This junior is Xiao Tian Ce of the Xiao Clan. One of my subordinates discovered this secret realm, so I came to explore it. Had I known that the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Clan still had you, its Grand Supreme Elder, here, I would never have forced my way inside."
Although the old man was demanding an accounting, he showed no killing intent, so Xiao Tian Ce wisely brought Xiao Qing forward to apologize to Huang Jiuji.
"Hahaha! So you are descendants of the Xiao Clan, an Emperor Clan. Your strength is quite impressive."
This is today's second update. Starting today, there will be two updates a day. Wu Meng had a fever these past two days, so I only began feeling somewhat better today. I originally intended to take just one day off, but it ended up being two. Sorry, sorry.
Before you continue