"Hand over your essence!"
The little girl's sidelong grin made Xiao Yan swallow.
"Th-that's not appropriate, is it!?"
"Why not? I'm not going to drain you dry! I just want a tiny bit!"
"A billion tiny bits!"
"Even a tiny bit would take a toll on my young body."
The little girl frowned, planted her hands on her hips, and shouted, "If you won't give it to me, I'll just take it myself!"
"Take it yourself!?"
"Then absolutely not!" Xiao Yan's face turned green the moment he heard that, and he refused at once.
But the little girl paid him no mind.
Now that Xiao Yan was bound, he had no room to resist.
Scorching energy surged into him.
"Ah!"
Xiao Yan couldn't help trembling slightly.
"Heh!" The little girl grinned triumphantly.
His Martial Soul, Ultimate Fire, burst forth in an instant, flames blazing fiercely.
Xiao Yan was dumbfounded.
His Martial Soul had actually been forced out.
"That's what I want!" The little girl rubbed her hands together, overjoyed.
Xiao Yan finally understood.
So his Martial Soul was the damn essence she meant!
She might as well have taken mine instead.
The little girl reached for the Ultimate Fire.
Her mutton-fat-jade fingers held tremendous power, yet they couldn't touch the Martial Soul.
It was as though it were an illusion that didn't exist in this world.
"Huh!?"
She tried grabbing it again, but the Ultimate Fire seemed not to exist at all. She couldn't get hold of it.
A trace of puzzlement appeared on the little girl's delicate face.
Helpless, Xiao Yan said, "That's my Martial Soul. If I don't use it, of course you'll just be grabbing at thin air."
"Then hurry up and use it!" the little girl demanded.
"Do you take me for an idiot? Why would I release it so you could eat it!?"
Xiao Yan rolled his eyes.
This girl was actually plotting to take his Martial Soul!
And she acted as though it were only natural!
The little girl looked disappointed and held her fingers a short distance apart. "Just a tiny bit!"
"I only want a taste!"
"Nope!"
Xiao Yan refused. No matter what the little girl said, it wasn't going to happen.
Out of options, the little girl plopped down on the ground, looking pitiful as she tried to act cute.
"Please!"
"Pretty please!"
"Big bwother, I want a hug."
Xiao Yan's goosebumps fell all over the ground.
Holding back his irritation, Xiao Yan asked in confusion, "Why do you want to eat my essence so badly-ptui!"
"Eat my Martial Soul, I mean?"
The little girl blinked.
She said with a perfectly serious expression, "Because I want to eat it!"
Xiao Yan gritted his teeth.
What kind of lousy reason was that!?
The little girl answered honestly, "Because your Martial Soul makes me feel really comfortable, and I want to swallow it in one bite!"
Xiao Yan pressed a hand to his forehead.
She wanted to swallow it in one bite because it made her feel comfortable.
If he made her feel comfortable, wouldn't she swallow him in one bite too!?
Ptui!
His thoughts had gone astray!
Xiao Yan immediately set his mind straight.
The little girl might be nice, but she wasn't enough to affect his Dao heart.
"Didn't you already try just now?"
"Even after devouring my teacher's Bone Spirit Cold Flame, you still couldn't eat my Ultimate Fire." Xiao Yan wanted to make the girl give up on the idea.
The little girl spread her hands. "That's why I need to try the essence part!"
"Just a tiny bit. Even if I can eat it, I'll only eat a tiny bit!"
Seeing the hopeful look on the little girl's face, Xiao Yan's heart finally softened.
It seemed the little girl really had no ulterior motives.
She really did seem to just want to eat it.
After all, her true form is a Heavenly Flame. If she wanted to kill me, it would be as easy as lifting a hand.
I'll just consider it the price of my life.
Xiao Yan accepted reality.
He handed over his "essence."
The Ultimate Fire blazed fiercely. This was the true form of Xiao Yan's Martial Soul.
In the past, he had only released flames, but this time, what he separated was his actual Martial Soul.
Whenever the flames were damaged, it was never a serious matter.
But damage to a Martial Soul could affect a Soul Master's entire life.
A wisp of Child Flame separated from it.
The fiery red Ultimate Fire drifted toward the little girl.
"Wow!"
The little girl clapped her hands, utterly delighted.
Chomp!
She opened her cherry-like mouth slightly and sucked in wildly, devouring the wisp of Child Flame in one bite.
"Burp! Thank you!" The little girl burped.
She looked thoroughly satisfied.
Xiao Yan's eyelid twitched, and his heart ached.
This time, he might need several months of rest to recover.
A Child Flame was the essence of the essence of a Martial Soul.
Xiao Yan was too weak right now, and there was far too little Child Flame he could separate, so every wisp was especially important.
Just as Xiao Yan was staring at life without hope, his Martial Soul showed no sign of weakening.
The Ultimate Fire seemed to have received some kind of replenishment, and the flames' might had not diminished in the slightest.
They even gave off greater heat!
"How is that possible?"
Suddenly, the Ultimate Fire changed, revealing a hint of deathly white!
"That's the Bone Spirit Cold Flame!"
Xiao Yan finally realized what it was. Wasn't that Yao Lao's Heavenly Flame!?
"Relax your mind. Don't waste it."
"This is the Bone Spirit Cold Flame's Mother Flame!" Yao Lao's weary voice rang out.
When the little girl had rushed at them earlier, he had been forced to retreat into the ring.
Now, seeing that Xiao Yan had been injured, Yao Lao could no longer sit still.
How could Xiao Yan not understand?
Yao Lao was passing the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to him to protect his Martial Soul!
Hot tears welled in his eyes, and Xiao Yan hurriedly tried to stop Yao Lao. "No! Your soul is already weak. Without a Heavenly Flame to protect you, how can you even talk about coming back to life!?"
Yao Lao smiled and shook his head.
"Don't worry. The Bone Spirit Cold Flame and I have fused; even if the lotus root breaks, its fibers remain connected."
"You're still too weak. I can pass less than a third of it to you, and it won't affect my life."
"Xiao Yan, you're my disciple. You're more important than a Heavenly Flame!"
With that, Yao Lao's luminous figure dimmed slightly.
He fell into a deep sleep.
"Teacher..." Xiao Yan sobbed.
Yu Tianming called him brother, and the bond between them was stronger than gold.
Yao Lao, meanwhile, was his teacher for a day and his father for life.
To Xiao Yan, an orphan in this life, Yao Lao was like a father.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you putting on a tragic play with the little person in your ring!?"
The little girl's clear voice interrupted Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan glared at her fiercely.
"Do you know what you've done!?"
"All I did was have a taste. You're so stingy. Fine, I'll give it back!" The little girl pouted.
Her little belly bulged slightly.
A small ball shot up from her abdomen, then passed through her esophagus.
"Urgh..."
A little ball of fire came out of her mouth.
It was that wisp of the Ultimate Fire's Child Flame.
The corner of Xiao Yan's eye twitched. "You..."
"Do you know you almost got my teacher killed!?"
"All because you wanted my Martial Soul!" Xiao Yan roared.
"My teacher gave me part of the Heavenly Flame Mother Flame that keeps him alive, and now I don't even know if he'll live or die!"
"And what's worse..."
"You ate it, and that would have been one thing, but then you actually spat it back out..."
Xiao Yan had even come to regard the little girl formed from a Heavenly Flame as an enemy.
Yet now, she had actually returned the Child Flame.
She really had just had a "taste."
For a moment, Xiao Yan didn't know whether to hate her or himself!
Please read the words in parentheses below. They're very important.
(Second chapter!)
(It was late because I accidentally deleted it once while selecting everything halfway through writing.)
(The browser has started giving the book traffic, which is extremely important to the author and is almost directly tied to the book's final results.)
(So I implore everyone, starting today, to leave a comment if you can and cast some votes if you can. If we keep that traffic, the book's results definitely won't be bad, and the author will be more motivated.)
(In return, I'll be putting out extra chapters like crazy over the next few days!)
(For every bit the stats improve, I'll add another chapter!)
Thank you, everyone.
(End of chapter)