With the help of the Beast King's Flame and the Sun-Fire Physique, combined with his partial comprehension of the True Meaning of Fire, Qi Ping's progress with the Explosive Flame Technique was rapid.
One month later, the Explosive Flame Art, the Explosive Flame Movement, and the Explosive Flame Net had all been cultivated to the stage of Initial Mastery.
'Let's see the power of these spells.'
To test his Initial Mastery, Qi Ping traveled to a boulder-strewn area deep within the Yunwu Mountain Range.
Spiritual energy circulated within him, and the Beast King's Flame stirred. Following a series of dense explosions, Qi Ping's figure moved as if equipped with fire thrusters, propelling him instantly to a distant point ahead.
As the explosions rang out continuously, his figure darted through the boulders at a terrifying speed. Almost everywhere he passed, a charred mark was left on the ground, along with a layer of shattered stone—the result of the impact from the Explosive Flame Movement.
The characteristics of the Explosive Flame Movement were displayed perfectly: simple, direct, and full of violent beauty.
'Although the consumption is significant, the explosive speed over a short distance is almost impeccable. Furthermore, every movement can be added to an attack.'
He immediately executed the movement again, his figure flickering through the rocks. However, after moving for a while, he flickered behind a massive boulder. Following a fierce explosion, his figure vanished, leaving only a set of clothes on the spot.
When he reappeared, he had transformed into a bee and was hiding in a thicket of trees. Then, his figure vanished again, and he reappeared on top of the boulder he had just left.
'Not bad, not bad!'
'The combination of using Explosive Flame Movement for a short escape, followed by the loud noise to cover the Wild Shape transformation, and then stealthily fleeing... this combo is excellent!'
'If combined with a dense swarm of bees, my escape capability will rise to another level.'
'I still need to learn a spell to condense a spiritual energy robe; otherwise, it's a hassle to lose my clothes every time I transform. A spiritual robe would be much more convenient and would increase my defense.'
After testing the movement, Qi Ping's figure flashed again, appearing before a giant boulder. At that moment, a fireball containing powerful pressure and explosive force smashed forward. Following a violent crash and a thunderous boom, the boulder—many times larger than Qi Ping—was instantly blown into countless fragments. The ground itself rumbled.
Qi Ping did not just watch. He used the Explosive Flame Movement to rush beside the boulder. Facing the blast of the explosion, he conjured an Explosive Flame Net composed of countless fireballs in front of him.
The moment the shockwave hit, the net exploded, countering the force with an even more violent blast. When the successive explosions subsided, countless rocks had been ground to dust, but Qi Ping remained unmoved. He hadn't even needed to use the Barkskin spell he had prepared.
The combat characteristics of the Explosive Flame Technique were now fully revealed.
'The Explosive Flame Art carries massive impact and destructive force.'
'The Explosive Flame Net acts as defense through offense, raising the destruction of an opponent's attack to a level far beyond the Explosive Flame Art.'
'The Explosive Flame Movement uses offense as speed, perfectly integrating the explosive flame characteristics into acceleration, pushing speed to the limit.'
The power of this technique was unquestionable. It was truly a set of spells gifted by a Golden Core Elder to his disciple, far more powerful than any first-grade spells Qi Ping knew. Especially with the enhancement of the Beast King's Flame, the power was boosted by an entire grade. Using his life-fire infused spiritual energy to execute these spells was like having energy custom-made for the technique; the results were top-tier.
If Meng Yan saw Qi Ping execute these spells to this degree of Initial Mastery, his jaw would surely hit the ground. After all, he wouldn't expect Qi Ping to have a life-fire, let alone one perfectly merged with his spiritual energy.
'The only drawback is the consumption is too high, and it puts great stress on the physical body.'
Qi Ping felt the spiritual energy in his body was half-depleted, and his body was aching. He could only laugh wryly. He cast the Healing Touch several times before the sharp pain in his body and meridians gradually faded.
'As expected, excessive power comes at a price.'
This technique was incredibly explosive but completely unsuitable for prolonged battle; otherwise, the energy consumption and physical strain would be unbearable. If it weren't for the fact that he had been consuming Fire-Ginseng Honey, making his body much stronger, and had used the Scarlet Dragon Fruits to create a Scarlet Dragon Body-Tempering Honey that was effective even for late-stage Qi Refinement, the physical pressure would have been even greater.
However, the body-tempering effect of this honey wasn't exceptionally outstanding. He had already messaged Meng Yan to help search for body-tempering pill recipes—ideally ones where the herbs were easy to find.
As for recipes to increase spiritual energy, he didn't need them as much. With an ample supply of Scarlet Dragon Honey, he would have no trouble reaching the peak of Qi Refinement.
'But these are minor flaws. The combat style of the Explosive Flame Technique suits me well. If I can win, I'll kill the enemy quickly; if not, I'll flee at lightning speed.'
After testing the spells, Qi Ping was very happy. The feeling of mastering such extraordinary power with every move was fantastic, providing a sense of security quite different from that of his animal companions' strength.
Once the testing was done, he quickly returned to his cultivation state. Swallowing Scarlet Dragon Honey, he circulated the Wood-Flame Spirit Manual, rapidly advancing through the seventh level of Qi Refinement. He was not far from the eighth level.
In the two to three months since reaching the seventh level, he had been refining either Fire-Ginseng Honey or the higher-grade Scarlet Dragon Honey. The effect of the latter was about twenty to thirty percent better than consuming the fruit directly. While it was inferior to pills made from multiple rare herbs, with a sufficient quantity, his cultivation was soaring.
Furthermore, with his Sun-Fire Physique and Beast King's Flame, and having comprehended part of the True Meaning and Dao-heart Intent, he faced no issues with unstable spiritual energy or lack of control. He didn't need to worry about the typical drawbacks of consuming too many spiritual herbs.
Fortunately, he had obtained the Spirit-Source Stone Pillars from the Demon Insect King's cave; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to support the growth of high-rank herbs like the Scarlet Dragon Fruit and Fire-Glimmer Flowers in a mid-rank Grade B spiritual land.
But just as he was preparing to break through to the eighth level of Qi Refinement in one go, a message interrupted his cultivation.
He took the transmission talisman from his storage bag. It displayed a message from Meng Yan:
Traces of the Black and White Twin Slayers have been found. Brother Qi, please come and meet me tonight at midnight to strike down these demonic witches together.