. The next morning, the rising sun gradually rose in the east.
A ray of sunlight filtered through the living room window, illuminating Xiao Ling's profile.
He slowly opened his eyes, waking from his sleep to greet the new day. He glanced out the window at the sun, which had barely risen above the horizon, while most people would still be asleep.
He glanced down at Xiao Xun'er in his arms, her eyes tightly closed, seemingly still lost in sleep.
The warm sunlight filtering through the window illuminated her soft profile, making it even more beautiful. Her lips parted slightly, her breath fragrant with orchids, a sultry, full-bodied beauty, like a newborn spirit enjoying the candlelight of a greenhouse. It was tempting to approach and savor her.
Xiao Ling slowly raised his left hand, brushing a few strands of Xiao Xun'er's hair behind her ear. He carefully stroked her delicate, creamy face, placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and then slowly laid her flat on the sofa.
Xiao Ling pulled out a blanket made of fire fox fur from his ring and gently covered Xiao Xun'er with it.
He picked up the porcelain vase containing the Golden Emperor's Burning Heaven Flame from the tea table in the living room, turned back and looked at Xiao Xun'er seriously again, then quietly left the room and walked towards his dormitory.
Xiao Ling was not good at parting. It might be a bit strange for someone who had been with him for so many years to suddenly not be by his side. Leaving quietly also avoided too much reluctance, which was quite good.
After Xiao Ling left the room, Xiao Xun'er, who was lying on the sofa in the living room, slowly opened her eyes. She had been sleeping with Xiao Ling in her arms, and she woke up when Xiao Ling moved slightly. She didn't know how to speak, so she pretended to be asleep.
She touched her forehead, which still had some residual warmth, and felt a little empty and a little uncomfortable.
Letting out a long sigh, Xiao Xun'er whispered softly, "Brother Xiao Ling, Xun'er will be waiting here for you."
...
Returning to his dormitory, Xiao Ling entered his training room, sat cross-legged, and released the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame from the porcelain vase.
Suddenly, a blazing heat washed over him, a heat that seemed to consume the very void, incinerating everything.
The flame, freed from the vase, didn't radiate its heat wantonly, but instead floated quietly in the air, appearing incredibly well-behaved. Perhaps Xiao Xun'er had previously instructed it to do so, which was why it acted so quietly. The inherited strange fire was indeed somewhat peculiar. Without the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame's cooperation, even Gu Yuan, a peak-level Nine-Star Dou Sheng, would have been unable to seal it within Xiao Xun'er's body during her childhood.
Feeling the sudden surge in temperature, Xiao Ling couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, ranked fourth on the Strange Fire List! Even as a mere seed flame, its power is truly extraordinary. Without Dou Wang strength, I'm simply unqualified to absorb and refine it."
He turned his gaze away from the strange fire. Xiao Ling had no intention of absorbing and refining it directly. Even if this seed flame didn't resist, he would still suffer some pain before absorbing it. Although Xiao Ling wasn't afraid of pain, he preferred to avoid suffering whenever possible.
He gently touched his storage ring and pulled out a small, transparent jade bottle. Within, a blood-colored pill, the size of a longan, lay quietly. Through the reflection of the bottle's surface, faint shadows shone within the blood-colored pill, which swayed slightly, as if liquid were sloshing within.
This round, blood-colored pill was one of the essential ingredients for devouring strange fires: the Blood Lotus Pill!
Xiao Ling had prepared it long ago, intending to use it when devouring the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire. Unexpectedly, he'd now used it on the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame. The Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire, unused by Medusa, had a power level roughly equivalent to Dou Huang, while the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame was roughly equivalent to Dou Ling and Dou Wang. This Blood Lotus Pill should be sufficient.
After removing the Blood Lotus Pill, Xiao Ling pulled a small jade box from his ring and gently placed it on the smooth floor. Suddenly, a faint chill condensed into a thin layer of ice. Unlocking the box, a snow-white jade bottle was carefully placed inside. A faint white mist swirled around the bottle, giving it a faint, ethereal, and mysterious feel.
The bottle contained the Ice Spirit Cold Spring that Xiao Ling had redeemed from the Canaan Academy treasury.
Setting these two items aside, Xiao Ling then removed a stone from his ring.
It was a thumb-sized gray stone, smooth as jade, without a single flaw. Within its core, a faint blue light slowly wriggled, like a tiny, living insect.
This was the Naling, an extremely rare and precious treasure found only with a tiny chance of being unearthed from high-grade Nashi.
Though tiny in size, the Naling's value far surpassed even the Blood Lotus Pill and the Ice Spirit Cold Spring. Had it not been for Elder Huo's help and the connections at Canaan Academy, it would have been incredibly difficult to obtain.
Setting aside his belt and storage ring, Xiao Ling took a deep breath, calming his restless mood. Once his mind was calm, he prepared to devour the seed fire.
He curled his palm slightly, drawing the small jade bottle into his palm. Tilt the bottle, and a round pill, the size of a longan and faintly shimmering, rolled into his hand.
Holding the Blood Lotus Pill, Xiao Ling brought it to his nose and sniffed it. A strange aroma lingered at the tip of his nose, and the icy feeling was so intense that it almost made his soul tremble.
His gaze fixed on this fifth-grade pill, Xiao Ling clenched his fist, then closed his eyes and stuffed the pill into his mouth. As soon as
the Blood Lotus Pill entered his mouth, it transformed into a slightly chilling energy that quickly penetrated Xiao Ling's meridians. Finally, like layers of blood membranes, it slowly permeated the meridians and bones.
As the blood membrane seeped through, Xiao Ling's body suddenly trembled violently. Strands of blood continuously bubbled out of his pores. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Ling's body was coated in a layer of crimson blood, looking extremely terrifying.
Soon after its appearance, the blood rapidly solidified, eventually forming a blood-red stratum corneum. This stratum corneum not only enveloped Xiao Ling's hands and feet, but also completely sealed his eyes.
The blood-red stratum corneum formed an airtight, blood-red armor, tightly protecting Xiao Ling.
Slowly extending his palm, covered in blood-red stratum corneum, Xiao Ling aimed it at the strange fire in the air and activated his suction palm. A sudden surge of suction erupted.
With the suction, the golden flames in the air flew towards Xiao Ling.
When the Golden Emperor's Burning Heaven Flame floated in front of him, Xiao Ling extended his palm towards it and plunged his hand into the golden flame, intending to extract the fire from it.
Even though the Golden Emperor's Burning Heaven Flame offered no resistance, Xiao Ling felt an intense heat the moment his palm touched the flames. The blood-red stratum corneum covering his arm began to rapidly melt, dripping droplets of a liquid resembling fresh blood. Each time this liquid escaped his arm, it was quickly incinerated by the golden flames
, transforming it into nothingness. Although the blood-red stratum corneum melted rapidly within the strange fire, the Blood Lotus Pill within Xiao Ling's body released a continuous stream of cold energy as it melted. This energy flowed through his meridians, quickly repairing the melted blood-red stratum corneum.
Gritting his teeth and enduring the intense burning pain, Xiao Ling's soul power surged from his brow. Since the flames offered no resistance, he quickly located the fire's location and grasped it firmly. His palm gripped a material object, tightly grasping it. Not wanting to waste time, Xiao Ling endured the burning pain in his palm and slowly withdrew his arm from the golden flames.
As Xiao Ling withdrew his arm from the golden flames, a golden mass floated quietly within his palm.
He gazed deeply at the primordial flame, then swallowed it without hesitation.
The flames, even without any deliberate release of power, incinerated the surrounding blood vessels. Whenever damage occurred within his body, a stream of pure water would emanate from the Hundred Thousand Years Blue Silver Emperor's trunk, healing the wounds. Feeling a burning sensation within him, Xiao Ling grabbed the nearby Ice Spirit Cold Spring and gulped it down. The
cold current rushed through his body, flowing along his meridians and outward in all directions. Wherever it passed through, a layer of milky white ice quickly coated the meridians and bones.
A chill coursed through his body, a bone-chilling chill that perfectly counteracted the intense heat within him from the strange fire. The sudden feeling of comfort brought Xiao Ling a long sigh of relief, his tense nerves relaxing a bit.
Forming a cultivation hand seal, Xiao Ling began to follow the path of the Burning Technique, circulating his internal Dou Qi. His mind guided a wisp of golden flame, slowly circulating it. Wherever the flame passed, the ice formed by the Ice Spirit Cold Spring melted away. Fortunately, the source of the strange fire offered no resistance, making control quite easy.
As the golden flame flowed from a major meridian, it finally completed a perfect cycle. At that moment, Xiao Ling could clearly feel the connection between his mind and the Golden Emperor's Burning Heaven Flame becoming more tacit.
At this moment, the Golden Emperor's Burning Heaven Flame, after passing through the Burning Technique's path, released a destructive heat that suddenly subsided. A moment later, the heat was almost completely absorbed into the fire, a gentle, subtle emanation.
Seeing this, Xiao Ling breathed a sigh of relief, muttering, "It looks like success is imminent. Thankfully, I'm well prepared. This child fire shows no resistance, unlike Xiao Yan, who had to endure a near-death ordeal before absorbing this strange fire."
With a wave of his hand, the tiny Na Ling on the stone surface transformed into a gray beam, shooting straight into Xiao Ling's body. Under Xiao Ling's control, it penetrated the Dou Crystal.
As the Na Ling entered Xiao Ling's body, a blinding golden flame enveloped him, instantly erupting from within. The blazing golden flames within blocked out all light.
At the center of the Doujing, a small gray dot of light hovered. Within this dot of light was an endless, deep darkness. At the end of the darkness, another dimension seemed hidden, a profound mystery.
The final, and most crucial, step in refining the alien fire into its original source fire was to force the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame into the space formed by the Naling Spirit. Only by completely containing the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame within the Naling Spirit could the refinement be truly perfected!
This step was inherently difficult. After all, the fire spirit within the alien fire possessed a modicum of intelligence and instinctively resisted danger. If forced expulsion failed, the already initially refined alien fire would likely retaliate.
However, thanks to Xiao Xun'er's instructions, the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame didn't resist Xiao Ling's control. As it approached the Naling Spirit, it seemed to sense something and proactively entered the strange space.
As Xiao Ling successfully refined the fire, waves of energy suddenly and rapidly emerged from the previously silent golden shield. Immediately afterwards, a powerful aura suddenly emanated from the flame shield.
As the energy ripples surged, the shield's surface grew increasingly intense. Finally, tiny cracks suddenly appeared within the perfectly round shield. These cracks slowly spread, eventually covering the entire shield. At first glance, it resembled a cracked golden egg.
"Crack!" A crisp sound echoed through the training room. A small piece of energy from the golden shield quietly fell to the floor. The scorching heat it carried instantly melted the ground, creating a small crater.
"Crack...Crack." As the first energy fragment fell, the golden shield trembled violently. The trembling continued for a moment, and then, with a resounding bang, it exploded.
Xiao Ling, sitting cross-legged inside, also revealed his naked form.
Within his inky black eyes, a faint golden flame swirled. After a moment, it suddenly surged upward, obscuring his entire pupil. For a moment, Xiao Ling's pupils turned golden, giving him a faint sense of dominance.
Opening his eyes, Xiao Ling slightly twisted his neck, and suddenly, his bones collided, making a smooth, crackling sound. Hearing this crisp sound, Xiao Ling took a deep breath, his face filled with comfort and intoxication.
(End of this chapter)