"M-Master?" Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened in disbelief.
Mysterious Yellow Flame did not explain, merely saying, "Yes, my master."
Xiao Yi Xian asked apprehensively, "Then, Sister Mysterious Yellow Flame, now that your master is back, are you going to leave me?"
A flicker crossed Mysterious Yellow Flame's expression, and a trace of apology entered her voice. "I'm sorry, Xiao Yi Xian. I'll have to break my promise to stay with you as you grow.
"All these years, I've been waiting for my master to reappear. This time, I only wanted to keep you company for a while because I was too lonely.
"But in the end, my master is the reason I've kept waiting."
Xiao Yi Xian fell silent briefly, then broke into a bright, openhearted smile. "It's all right, Sister Mysterious Yellow Flame. You don't owe me anything, so there's no need to apologize.
"Thanks to you, I was able to refine pills and fulfill my wish of becoming an alchemist.
"I should be thanking you."
Mysterious Yellow Flame said, "If my master permits it, perhaps I can give you a wisp of my child flame. Then you'll be able to refine pills yourself using it, though it will be harder than it is for an ordinary alchemist."
Xiao Yi Xian's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Mysterious Yellow Flame said, "As long as my master permits it."
"I understand." Xiao Yi Xian clasped her hands before her chest, interlacing her fingers, and prayed inwardly, Sister Mysterious Yellow Flame's master, I hope you're a kind, generous person.
In the small valley.
Inside the cave.
Xiao Ce and the Ninth Grade Golden Pill continued deeper inside. The farther they went, the darker it became.
Xiao Ce turned his palm over, and ordinary Dou Qi fire surged forth, illuminating the cave.
After walking for a minute or two, they reached the end of the cave, where the space abruptly opened up.
It was a stone chamber that had been carved and polished by human hands, three meters high and roughly fifteen square meters in area.
Of the chamber's four corners, one was piled with gold coins, one held planted medicinal herbs that had already withered, one contained a three-tiered shelf filled with jade bottles and pills, and one held several magic core weapons.
Clearly, too much time had passed. The medicinal herbs had completely dried out, the pills in the jade bottles had lost all their medicinal potency, and the energy in the weapons' magic cores had completely dissipated.
Only the gold coins piled in the corner remained essentially intact, though they had gathered some dust.
The jade bottles holding the pills were also worth a fair amount.
Naturally, these were not his true inheritance, only a smokescreen he had placed in plain sight. If a powerful expert stumbled in, there was a chance it could fool them.
Of course, with Mysterious Yellow Flame guarding the place, this preparation had been entirely wasted.
Mysterious Yellow Flame had accompanied him as he rose from weakness to the Dou Sheng stage and had long since developed a spirit. Her strength was wildly out of line with her ranking.
When he had left Mysterious Yellow Flame here, she had already been capable of unleashing Dou Zun-level strength. After more than a thousand years of growth, she could only be stronger now.
Gradually gathering his thoughts, Xiao Ce walked to the very center of the chamber and turned east. Calculating silently, he stopped after walking three meters and felt along the floor until he found an almost imperceptible protrusion, then pressed down hard.
The next instant, the protrusion slowly rose, revealing a stone box.
He opened the stone box, and a storage ring gleaming with a gilded luster came into view.
Unable to contain his excitement, Xiao Ce said, "I've got it!"
The Gilded Ring was the high-grade storage ring his avatar had worn. It contained five hundred cubic meters of space, more than the Bone Flame Ring and Nether Sea Storage Ring, both high-grade storage rings, combined. It was among the very finest storage rings.
It could be said that even selling the entire Jia Ma Empire would not pay for this storage ring alone.
And this was merely the most basic part of his inheritance.
Xiao Ce slipped the storage ring onto his finger and extended his soul power inside.
The first things his soul sensed were large quantities of ordinary scrolls recording cultivation methods, Dou Techniques, and pill recipes.
Xiao Ce took out a scroll and examined it.
After the wearing passage of more than a thousand years, much of the soul power on the scroll had dissipated, but that still did not prevent him from reading it.
Considerably reassured, he put the scroll back, then sensed three objects at the center of the storage ring's space.
There were two special scrolls and a Medicine Cauldron in all.
The Medicine Cauldron was pitch-black, its body engraved with a meteor pattern. Forged from extraterrestrial meteorite, it could stabilize the energy within it and increase the success rate of pill formation.
If he traded it to an eighth-tier alchemist, he might even obtain a Low Heaven Tier Dou Technique or cultivation method.
This Medicine Cauldron had been of little use to his avatar, who had already become a Seven-Star Dou Saint.
But for him, who had yet to grow, it was still quite useful.
The two scrolls beside the Medicine Cauldron were the two most important inheritances he had left behind. One recorded his entire alchemical inheritance, while the other recorded the essentials of fire control he had personally compiled and the Fire Control Art he had created.
Both scrolls were things alchemists across the entire continent dreamed of obtaining.
Even though he had already inherited his avatar's fire-control skills at their peak, he could still trade the Fire Control Art to others for resources. Exchanging it for a high-level Heaven-tier cultivation method or Dou Technique would certainly be no problem.
Of course, he could not possibly be so ostentatious now, but it was not out of the question to offer a portion of it in exchange for resources.
As for the alchemical inheritance covering everything from first-grade pills to ninth-grade golden pills, his was probably the only copy on the entire continent outside the Yao Clan. Even Heaven Tier cultivation methods could not compare.
Xiao Ce clenched his fists in excitement, taking quite a while to calm himself.
For cultivation, he had the Spirit Refining Art. For alchemy, he had the complete inheritance from first-grade pills to ninth-grade golden pills, and his Fire Control Technique had already reached the pinnacle of the continent.
With the Ninth Grade Golden Pill as his bodyguard as well, it could be said that even if he lost the deployment system now, he would still have an extremely high chance of becoming one of the continent's strongest experts.
At that thought, Xiao Ce said inwardly, Once I return this time, I'll get the Ancient Jade and keep it myself. As long as it's in my hands, Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion will never open, and no one will become a God before me.
Once I've grown and the emperor flame within me has recovered to its peak, no one will be my match!
Just as excitement surged through Xiao Ce's heart, the Ninth Grade Golden Pill suddenly spoke. "Father, Mysterious Yellow Flame is heading toward the valley. I sensed her aura."
"Mysterious Yellow Flame is here?" A trace of nostalgia appeared on Xiao Ce's face.
He had watched the scenes of his avatar's entire life, and he did have feelings for this heavenly flame that had accompanied his avatar since his humble beginnings.
"Perfect. I've already collected the inheritance. Let's leave this place first," Xiao Ce said to the Ninth Grade Golden Pill.
Then Xiao Ce packed away all the gold coins and jade bottles in the stone chamber.
For someone as penniless as he currently was, these things could not be overlooked.
Leaving the cave, Xiao Ce and the Ninth Grade Golden Pill returned to ground level.
A while later, a Blue Giant Eagle flew out of the thick mist above the valley and landed on the valley floor.
On the giant eagle's back, a young girl with a fresh, unaffected air came into Xiao Ce's view.
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