Heavenly Flames Aren't Precious to Me

Xiao Chen quietly watched the sudden, bloody scene, not a ripple showing in his deep eyes.

You Kang was spattered with his junior brother's warm blood. The bloodstained sword remained in his hand, trembling slightly, whether from excessive exertion or an unspeakable fear deep within him.

He panted rapidly, his chest heaving violently. His eyes were filled with groveling pleas and a desperate desire to survive as he looked at Xiao Chen.

"My lord, I, Zhang Yan, am also willing to become your most loyal servant! I only beg you to show mercy and spare my life!"

Seeing this, the burly man with the brutish face hurriedly shouted as well.

Xiao Chen slowly shifted his gaze away from Ying Ming's gruesome remains on the floor, resting it on You Kang as he frantically begged for mercy.

He said nothing, merely flicking his fingers. Two ribbons of Dou Qi shot out, piercing the two men's lower abdomens like arrows with lightning speed.

Both men stiffened, their expressions instantly freezing.

"I've crippled their cultivation. Do whatever you like with these two. I have no need for followers like them." Slowly turning, Xiao Chen walked into the room, leaving the young man with those casually spoken words.

The young man nodded slightly, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes.

A short while after entering the room, Xiao Chen heard two dull thuds outside the door.

Then came a polite knock.

"Come in."

Creak.

The young man pushed the door open and entered, a faint smell of blood now clinging to him.

Seeing Xiao Chen look over, the young man cupped his hands and smiled. "Senior, I kicked them off."

"Mm." Nodding casually, Xiao Chen looked through the window at the stretch of gold appearing on the distant horizon and said with a smile, "We're almost at the Tagor Desert."

"I imagine you're heading there too?"

The young man nodded. "I am indeed planning to go to Mo City."

"Let's go-I'll take you the rest of the way, lest the disappearance of five alchemists cause some unnecessary commotion when the bird lands. What do you think?"

The young man looked slightly taken aback, hesitation appearing on his face.

"Don't worry. I decided to take you along because I appreciate you. With my strength, there's really no need for you to overthink things," Xiao Chen said with a light chuckle.

Hearing this, the young man understood that there was nothing wrong with what Xiao Chen had said. Without further fuss, he immediately cupped his hands and thanked him.

Xiao Chen then led the young man out of the room, took hold of his arm, and stepped forward, appearing in the sky a thousand meters away.

Looking at the empty air beneath his feet, the young man was dumbfounded.

Walking on Air?

A Dou Zong expert!

He instinctively glanced at Xiao Chen beside him and quietly swallowed.

Xiao Chen raised his head, looking at the Flying Bird Magic Beast beating its enormous wings not far away, and smiled faintly.

"Ready?"

The young man nodded instinctively, his voice carrying a barely perceptible dryness. "R-ready."

Despite his steady disposition, his body still instinctively tensed with nothing beneath his feet, thousands of meters up in the sky.

"Don't be afraid. You'll be fine once you get used to it."

The instant Xiao Chen finished speaking, their figures vanished without warning.

The young man felt his vision blur. Before he could even cry out, a gentle yet irresistible force enveloped him, holding him securely.

The next moment, the scenery around him blurred, stretched, then abruptly froze.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already on the ground.

No, on the sand, to be precise.

Before he could react, Xiao Chen looked straight at him and asked, "What's your name?"

The young man hurriedly cupped his hands. "Leng Chenxuan."

"Leng Chenxuan?"

Xiao Chen nodded gently and smiled. "I can see that you're full of righteousness. Would you be willing to work for me from now on?"

Leng Chenxuan froze.

Xiao Chen's voice was calm, yet it struck his heart like a heavy hammer, sending echoes rippling through the silence amid the drifting yellow sand.

Those words had come far too suddenly and carried far too much weight.

"Work for you?"

Leng Chenxuan instinctively repeated the words, his voice dry with disbelief.

He even unconsciously took a slight half step back. The sand beneath his feet rustled softly, as though reminding him that this was no illusion.

Though he was an alchemist, he was only a Second-Rank Alchemist.

Yet this senior before him could not only refine a Fifth-grade Pill, but was also a Dou Zong expert-and might even be far above a Dou Zong!

I'm just an ordinary young man struggling to survive on the path of alchemy. Though I have some talent and perseverance, what have I done to deserve this?

He had never imagined that his earlier act of righteousness, born from his heart, would lead this expert to extend an olive branch to him.

Xiao Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his deep black eyes as calm and still as an abyssal pool, quietly watching the complex expressions of shock, hesitation, and struggle that flashed across Leng Chenxuan's face.

He did not urge him, but the faint smile at the corners of his mouth deepened slightly.

The wind swept up fine sand, brushing through the narrow space between them. Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Leng Chenxuan's breathing grew somewhat labored.

Did he value my potential?

Or this so-called "righteousness" of mine?

Or-both?

But don't I know my own potential?

It was true that he longed to go further along the path of alchemy and to become stronger.

But this senior before him possessed unfathomable strength and was at least a Dou Zong expert-

Why would he choose me?

Just because of my righteousness?

Countless thoughts collided in the flash of a spark.

"Senior-"

Leng Chenxuan drew a deep breath, barely suppressing the towering waves in his heart and trying to appear steadier. Yet his voice still held a barely perceptible tremor. "I'm overwhelmed by your appreciation! But-if I may be so bold as to ask, why would you choose me? I know my strength is meager and my aptitude ordinary. At my age, I'm merely a Second-Rank Alchemist, insignificant on the Dou Qi Continent. I truly cannot understand what about me could have caught your discerning eye."

"Meager strength? Ordinary aptitude?"

Xiao Chen repeated the words softly with a certain playful air, as though savoring those two phrases.

"It's not as though I've never seen people blessed with extraordinary gifts and dazzling talent."

"But those geniuses often look down on others because of their talent and regard everyone else as beneath them. Or they're held in the palms of various factions from an early age, steeped in far too much calculation over gains and losses and scheming against one another."

He paused, his gaze deepening as it settled once more on Leng Chenxuan's slightly tense face.

"Back on that bird, you knew the other side was powerful, and you knew you might not be able to bear the cost of sticking your neck out. Yet you still chose to step forward and buy me time to refine my pill. That innate righteousness, that foolish streak-that is what I, Xiao Chen, truly value."

Leng Chenxuan's heart gave a sudden leap.

"The art of alchemy is vast and profound. Talent is certainly important, but character, resilience, and the perseverance to endure solitude are what determine how far you can ultimately go."

Xiao Chen's tone grew gentle, yet carried an unquestionable force.

"Strength, I can teach you; cultivation realm, I can help you raise. As for alchemy, I have my own ways of helping you cross the threshold.

"But character-that is your own foundation."

"What I value is the truth and purity of this uncarved jade."

"I also know how great the allure of Heavenly Flames is to alchemists."

"To tell you the truth, Heavenly Flames aren't precious to me."

77

Those words coursed through Leng Chenxuan's body like an electric current.

The sense of an immense opportunity instantly swept away his earlier doubts and self-denial.

Leng Chenxuan's heart thundered in his chest, and even his blood seemed to boil.

His breathing quickened as well, his chest heaving violently.

To follow such an unfathomable senior!

What would that mean?

It would mean I had hope of reaching the profound heights of alchemy I'd dreamed of, and might even-gain strength powerful enough to change my destiny!

An unprecedented, burning desire overwhelmed all his hesitation and unease!

"I-"

Leng Chenxuan drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging feelings, then abruptly raised his head to meet Xiao Chen's gaze. The lingering uncertainty in his eyes swiftly faded, replaced by an almost reverent resolve and barely containable excitement.

He offered no more polite or hesitant words. Instead, he stepped back, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply to Xiao Chen amid the windblown sand filling the sky.

Then he bent his left leg slightly and dropped to one knee!

"I, Chenxuan, am willing to follow you, my lord!"

His voice no longer trembled. Instead, it was exceptionally clear and strong, every word seeming to carve itself into the howling wind.

"My lord, I am endlessly grateful for your appreciation! From this day forward, whatever you command, I will give it my all and never fail your expectations!"