Xiao Yan was sunny and warm, his smile radiant.
This was the young man's most innocent side.
"I'll take care of you!"
Xiao Huo's pretty face flushed red.
Her shapely chest rose and fell, and her gaze was warm.
"W-who wants you to take care of me?" Xiao Huo stuck out her tongue and turned her head away.
At that moment, the little loli's heart fluttered with the stirrings of love.
Xiao Yan scratched his head. "Weren't you the one who told me to take care of you!?"
Xiao Huo clenched her teeth, utterly speechless.
Xiao Yan smiled, offering no comment.
He said softly, "Then, are you willing to come with me!?"
Xiao Huo froze, tracing circles with the index finger of her little hand, as pale and smooth as mutton-fat jade.
In the end, the little loli shook her head. "I can't leave this place. I've been here since I was born, taking care of generations of stars all by myself."
"No, you can leave!"
An aged voice rang out!
Beside them, Yao Lao's illusory figure appeared.
His soul had grown increasingly solid, and he was in better condition than ever before!
"Teacher, you've recovered!" Xiao Yan exclaimed in delight.
Yao Lao gently stroked Xiao Yan's hair, then turned his gaze to Xiao Huo.
He said gravely, "Heavenly Flames are born of heaven and earth. Though naturally powerful, they are also bound by heaven and earth."
"Unless a Heavenly Flame is powerful to the extreme, it can scarcely leave its birthplace in its entire life."
Xiao Huo nodded. "That's true."
Yao Lao frowned. "From what I've always known, a Heavenly Flame that has taken human form should indeed be strong enough to do that."
"Though you're powerful, you're still far from the level of those transformed Heavenly Flames of legend."
"How did you take human form?"
On the Dou Qi Continent, there was only one Heavenly Flame truly capable of taking human form!
The Nine-Star Dou Sheng: Nihility Devouring Flame!
It was ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!
Xiao Huo was indeed strong, but she was definitely nowhere near as powerful as the top three Heavenly Flames on the Dou Qi Continent.
Yet she had succeeded in taking human form!
Yao Lao's question made Xiao Huo frown as well.
The little loli looked just as bewildered.
Xiao Huo answered honestly, "I've looked like this since I was born."
"Born in human form?" Yao Lao fell into thought.
The little loli said softly, "That's also why I can't leave this place."
"In the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring, the two aspects give rise to and restrain each other."
"There's a being in the Ice Yin Spring that prevents me from moving about."
Xiao Huo looked up past the spring's opening, toward the night beyond the volcanic crater.
Stars filled the sky, and the Milky Way stretched brilliantly for ten thousand miles, clad in a plain white shroud.
But that was all.
"I can only stay in the Fire Yang Spring for my entire life."
Xiao Huo looked at Xiao Yan dejectedly and shook her head with regret.
She forced a bitter smile and said, "The presence around you makes me feel very comfortable. If I could, I'd be willing to leave with you."
"But I really can't."
"There's always a road when the cart reaches the mountain. If there isn't one, build bridges and roads!" Xiao Yan spoke the words of wisdom Yao Lao had once taught him.
He placed all his hopes on Yao Lao. "Teacher, there must be a way, right!?"
"There is!"
Yao Lao's answer made both Xiao Huo and Xiao Yan tremble.
"But there's a price to pay!" Yao Lao looked at Xiao Huo.
Xiao Huo had a fiery temperament, and she grew somewhat excited. "As long as I can leave, we can negotiate any price!"
Yao Lao nodded.
"Xiao Huo, was it?"
"To be frank, Xiao Yan and I originally came here for a Heavenly Flame."
"We came to obtain you!"
Yao Lao spoke frankly, revealing the purpose of their journey.
Xiao Huo grinned. "I knew that already!"
She gave a slight wave, and the depths of the Fire Yang Spring immediately began to tremble.
A sheet of flame floated there, looking like a space of its own.
Inside were skeletal remains, charred black and broken.
Xiao Huo wore a fiery red dress and usually looked like a little loli.
Now, however, she looked like a little onee-san clad in battle armor and a blood-red dress!
She pointed at the bones. "Those guys all came to get a Heavenly Flame, so I burned them all."
Yao Lao's eyebrows twitched.
Xiao Yan swallowed and asked cautiously, "You aren't going to burn us too, are you!?"
"No, no!"
Xiao Huo shook her head. "You're different from them."
"Their Soul Power made me feel disgusted, and all of them harbored bad intentions."
"But you're different. There's something in your flames that makes me feel unusually warm and draws me to it."
Xiao Huo judged people by their flames and had never harbored killing intent toward Xiao Yan and Yao Lao from the start.
That was why the two of them had remained safe all this time.
Had they shown even a trace of bad intentions, they would likely have become two more sets of dry bones.
Yao Lao gave a bitter laugh and said speechlessly, "It's several times harder for a Heavenly Flame to take human form than it is for a soul beast to do so."
"A Heavenly Flame like that can already be considered a living being."
"Under these circumstances, we naturally wouldn't still be thinking of devouring you."
There was actually another thought.
Even if they had bad intentions, they wouldn't be able to beat her if they tried to act!
"Please go on and tell us the method," Xiao Huo said sweetly.
This girl switched between little loli and little onee-san incredibly fast!
Yao Lao suddenly summoned an ancient, yellowed book.
Two archaic characters came into view.
"Flame Mantra!" Yao Lao said, enunciating each word.
"I really want to eat this book!" Xiao Huo's eyes shone. Had Xiao Yan not hurriedly stopped her, she would have tried to bite into it again.
"No matter how formidable an expert is, they can only ever wield one Heavenly Flame. But with the Flame Mantra, one can devour multiple Heavenly Flames!"
"Moreover, since you've already taken human form, Xiao Huo, your consciousness can be preserved."
"I have an idea!"
"A Soul Master can absorb a Soul Ring every ten levels!"
"If the spirit of a Heavenly Flame were housed in a Soul Ring, wouldn't that be another way to preserve its consciousness!?"
Yao Lao looked excitedly at Xiao Huo. "Then the two of you could help each other succeed and reach the pinnacle together!"
"Perhaps, at some unknown realm, Xiao Yan could ascend to godhood, and you could separate from him, Xiao Huo, and ascend together!"
Yao Lao's words were passionate and stirring, and highly appealing.
Even Xiao Yan was shaken.
Use a Soul Ring to house a Heavenly Flame!?
Without the Flame Mantra to support it, that would probably destroy the Martial Soul outright.
A trace of gravity appeared on Xiao Huo's face as well.
She murmured, "Complement each other and ascend together..."
Xiao Huo's crystal-like eyes glistened as she looked at the surrounding walls and the spring's opening.
"Then, not only could I freely travel the world, I could even go to the Divine Realm!?"
Xiao Huo's gaze hardened. "I agree!"
Yao Lao nodded firmly. "Good!"
"Xiao Yan, it's up to you now!"
Xiao Yan said gravely, "I won't fail you!"
The Flame Mantra whistled as it transformed into a mass of brilliant light, containing the profound secrets of the cultivation method.
Buzz!
Yao Lao poured everything into Xiao Yan's mind.
From that moment on, the Flame Mantra no longer existed in the world.
But there was now a Xiao Yan who cultivated the Flame Mantra!
"Right now, it's still only a cultivation method of the lowest Huang grade. If you successfully devour a Heavenly Flame, it can become an Earth Tier Low Grade cultivation method!"
The Flame Mantra was etched into his heart.
"Unlike on the Dou Qi Continent, where there's Dou Qi, the power of this Flame Mantra has actually been applied to my Martial Soul!"
Originally, Xiao Yan's Ultimate Fire could carry at most one Heavenly Flame.
Now, with the Flame Mantra's enhancement, it could devour one after another!
As long as Xiao Yan was strong enough, it could continue on without end!
Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Huo beside him.
The little loli's face was full of anticipation.
Xiao Yan smiled. "I've mastered the cultivation method. Next... it's time to get you out of this godforsaken place!"
(This is today's second chapter. Everyone, please add it to your collections and vote.)
(End of chapter)