"Yes, Brother Chen is still alive. He's just trapped and unable to get out."
In the Heavenly Tomb, in the northwestern corner of Heaven Beyond.
Hearing Xiao Tian Ce say that Xiao Chen was still alive, Xiao Xuan's face lit up with delight. He hurriedly said, "Wonderful! Little Chen is still alive. This is wonderful!
"After he disappeared back then, I searched the entire Dou Qi Continent, but sadly found nothing.
"Later, I suspected he must have been trapped in some secret realm. I wanted to keep searching, but then Hun Tiandi ambushed you, leaving you gravely injured and unconscious. With no other choice, I had to abandon the search.
"Now that I know he's still alive, this truly is wonderful!"
A trace of guilt flickered through Xiao Tian Ce's heart as he listened. Back then, he had always been cautious, leaving himself fallback measures whenever he traveled alone across the Dou Qi Continent.
But when he captured the nihility devouring flame, his immense joy stripped him of his usual vigilance. Hun Tiandi seized that opening to ambush him, leaving him severely injured and unconscious.
Had they fought head-on, given the difference in their strength at the time, escaping would have been no problem even if he could not win.
There was another simple reason for his guilt: before setting out to explore the secret realm, Xiao Chen had told Xiao Tian Ce that he was going to search for heavenly flames for him.
Of the Three Talents of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Tian Ce was the only alchemist. With his pride and ambition back then, he had no interest in any flame outside the top five on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
At the time, the first-ranked flame was the emperor flame. Finding it was impossible, and even if they