Refining the Earth Fire - Glazed Karmic Flame!
"A wisp of earth fire?!"
Zhang Lingxiao hadn't expected the old man to be hiding something like that.
Earth fires and heaven fires had always been vanishingly rare across the Nine Provinces; only 108 types had ever been discovered and recorded in all of history. For the master of a modest sect tucked inside Tianhuo Country to be holding one was almost unbelievable.
Han Tianlai stared at his master, eyes wide with shock. "Master, you actually have a wisp of earth fire?!"
Elder Su stroked his beard, thoroughly pleased with himself. "A mere earth fire is nothing your master can't handle."
He clapped a hand on Zhang Lingxiao's shoulder. "Well, Xiao Bazi? Feeling confident?"
Zhang Lingxiao grinned and nodded, sure of himself.
"Then this disciple thanks Master in advance."
He got to work at once, following the steps laid out on the jade slip.
Time crawled by. A few beads of sweat gathered along the bridge of his nose.
Elder Su and Han Tianlai kept to the corner of the small stone house, giving Zhang Lingxiao the rest of the room to work in, watching his every move with the focus of students afraid to blink and miss something.
Finally, a series of clean, ringing sounds echoed up from inside the Xuan water cauldron, pills settling against each other. Zhang Lingxiao's eyes opened, and he looked over at his master and senior brother with quiet confidence.
"Master, Sixth Senior Brother, the top-grade Spirit Ascension Pill is done."
He lifted the cauldron's lid, and a wave of rich medicinal fragrance rolled through the little stone house.
"Hoo... that concentration. That's exactly what a true top-grade Spirit Ascension Pill should smell like." Elder Su drew a slow breath and leaned in to look.
"How... how are there nine of them?!"
"Xiao Liu Zi, pinch your master. Tell me I'm not dreaming," Elder Su said, incredulous.
"My god. Junior Brother, that's a ninety percent success rate. That's insane." Han Tianlai rubbed his eyes like he didn't trust them.
"Ow! You actually pinched me, you brat! I'll teach you some manners!"
Elder Su yelped, and both of them turned back to Zhang Lingxiao.
Zhang Lingxiao, looking every bit as smug as he felt, held out a hand toward Elder Su.
"So, Master. About my earth fire?"
"Here, take it, you little scoundrel." Elder Su, equal parts annoyed and amused, drew a box glowing faintly with precious light from his storage ring.
Zhang Lingxiao took it and felt something strange move through his palms, cold and burning hot at once.
"My word. I never expected to find the Glazed Fire Emperor's natal earth fire in a place this small," Gu Yue Ningbing's voice cut in.
"The Glazed Fire Emperor?" Zhang Lingxiao blinked. Another emperor, apparently.
"That's right. He ruled during the same era as the Nine Nether Demon Emperor, and he was every bit as formidable. There's a certain irony to it: back when both of them were still only at the Venerable Realm, the two of them clashed in a battle that shook the whole of the Nine Provinces Continent. Even Emperor Realm powerhouses kept their distance and watched from afar rather than risk getting caught in it."
"They were among the strongest beings alive a thousand years ago. And yet, like the Nine Nether Demon Emperor, the Glazed Fire Emperor met his end too in the Desolate State, of all places. A shame. And more than a little suspicious."
Zhang Lingxiao barely registered the mystery of it. He couldn't care less why either emperor had died in the Desolate State; all he wanted to know was how strong this fire actually was.
Gu Yue Ningbing's knowledge settled the question without a doubt. The natal earth fire of an emperor who'd once dominated the entire Nine Provinces wasn't going to be anything less than extraordinary.
Beside him, Han Tianlai stared at the box with naked envy.
"Master, you're playing favorites!"
Elder Su rolled his eyes at him. "Xiao Liu Zi, the day you refine a top-grade Spirit Ascension Pill yourself, I'll burn my own body down into a human flame and hand that over too."
"On second thought, Master, forget I said anything. Live long and stay healthy," Han Tianlai said, deflating.
Elder Su and Zhang Lingxiao traded a look, and both burst out laughing at his expression.
Nine top-grade Spirit Ascension Pills in total. Elder Su kept two for study, Han Tianlai kept two for the same, and the remaining five went straight to Zhang Lingxiao.
Once the Xuan water cauldron was put away, Elder Su turned back to him.
"Xiao Bazi, my earth fire is called the Glazed Karmic Fire. Thirty-ninth on the list of known earth fires, though that ranking only reflects the order each fire was discovered in, not its actual strength."
Zhang Lingxiao and Han Tianlai listened closely as Elder Su went on.
"The Glazed Karmic Fire is no small thing. Even my own master never dared attempt to refine it. But having seen your talent for alchemy with my own eyes, I think this fire might just choose you as its master."
"Start now. Your master and senior brother will stand guard while you work."
Zhang Lingxiao nodded, solemn.
He trusted this odd, hunched old man and his simple, good-hearted senior brother without reservation. If either of them had wanted something from him, they'd never have waited this long to hand over something this valuable.
"Sit and begin your meditation," Elder Su said.
Zhang Lingxiao lowered himself to the center of the room and cracked the box open.
The instant it opened, the whole room turned into something like the inside of an alchemy furnace, heat pressing in from every direction, fierce enough to feel like it might refine the people in the room right along with the fire.
He didn't waste a second, activating the Devouring Heaven Demon Art at once to begin refining the Glazed Karmic Fire.
Elder Su and Han Tianlai settled in on either side of him, feeding profound and spiritual energy into his body to steady the process.
Refining a fire like this was brutal work.
The moment Zhang Lingxiao began, his skin started cycling between sky blue and deep crimson, the Glazed Karmic Fire's true colors, bleeding straight through him.
By then, the box lay empty on the ground, and a full sphere of earth fire had risen out of it, wrapping tight around Zhang Lingxiao's body.
Off to the side, Elder Su watched through half-lidded eyes, quiet satisfaction spreading across his face.
He'd called it right. The fire had taken Zhang Lingxiao's talent exactly as he'd hoped, and the refining process was proving far gentler than the old records claimed it should be.
Gentler didn't mean easy, though. This was still no small task.
Zhang Lingxiao's thick black hair, his dark, sword-straight brows, and even his long lashes all burned away to ash, leaving nothing behind.
And as the moments stretched on, the Glazed Karmic Fire began pressing inward, working its way toward his body.