After deciding to cultivate the Flame Mantra technique that Yao Lao had introduced, Xiao Yan immediately closed his eyes and began preparing to convert his Dou Qi. The initial conversion process wasn't supposed to take long, nor was it inherently dangerous. But just as he began circulating his Dou Qi along the Flame Mantra's path, he suddenly sensed a searing wave erupt from within his body.
'What's going on?'
The unexpected change nearly caused a backlash. Although Xiao Yan managed to stabilize his nearly chaotic Dou Qi using his powerful soul strength, a trace of blood still seeped from the corner of his mouth—evidence of the internal injury he had just suffered.
Yao Lao, observing from the outside, was momentarily stunned. 'Flame Mantra shouldn't be this dangerous. Just starting it shouldn't lead to spitting blood!'
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan immediately mobilized his soul power to examine his body. Under a furious scan, he soon discovered a strand of jet-black flame quietly burning near the center of his Dou Qi whirlpool.
Seeing this black flame, Xiao Yan's heart involuntarily skipped a beat. It was the same mysterious fire that had merged into his body during the final moments of his previous life. He hadn't expected that this bizarre flame would reincarnate with him.
Fortunately, upon closer inspection, he found that the flame was far weaker than in the past—still in an extremely feeble state. But even so, if it were to erupt now, his body would be incinerated into ashes in an instant.
Xiao Yan didn't like having a ticking time bomb inside his body. He had simply been unaware of its presence before. Now that he had discovered it, he wasn't going to let it run wild any longer.
'It's a flame too… I wonder if it can help the Flame Mantra evolve.'
With that thought in mind, Xiao Yan directed his Dou Qi to surround the black flame.
The moment his Dou Qi encased it, the flame instantly flared in agitation, sensing his intent. Previously calm, the flame suddenly became volatile, incinerating the Dou Qi that surrounded it with shocking speed.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan quickly mobilized more Dou Qi from his whirlpool to replenish the energy around the flame. But no matter how vast the quantity, any Dou Qi that touched the black flame was immediately reduced to nothing. Before long, the energy in his whirlpool began to dry up.
'Damn it…' Xiao Yan cursed inwardly. He realized now that one of Flame Mantra's flaws was showing—being a Low Yellow Class technique, the amount of Dou Qi it could store was extremely limited. If he had been cultivating a Profound rank technique instead, there was no way his reserves would be depleted this quickly.
'If I don't have enough energy inside, I'll use the energy outside!'
Xiao Yan quickly formed a cultivation seal and began drawing in external energy to replenish his Dou Qi. After all, this was still his domain. No matter how terrifying the black flame was, it was like a rootless tree. As long as he endured, he could subdue it.
Vast streams of unrefined natural energy surged into his body under his control, crashing directly into the black flame. Most of it was reduced to nothing, burned away like everything else. However, a small portion of that energy unexpectedly survived—and what's more, it was astonishingly pure.
'Wait… is it refining the energy for me?'
With a flash of insight, Xiao Yan understood what was happening. The black flame was indeed powerful, but the incoming natural energy was far too abundant for its weakened state to burn all at once. The energy it failed to destroy ended up purified in the process.
Realizing this, Xiao Yan began to multitask. On one hand, he continued drawing in more energy to combat the black flame. On the other, he channeled the leftover refined Dou Qi into his whirlpool. With each bit of that highly purified energy absorbed, his strength subtly began to rise.
Yao Lao had no idea what was going on inside Xiao Yan's body. He was just confused as to why the Dou Qi conversion was taking so long. But since he hadn't cultivated Flame Mantra himself, he assumed this was simply part of its unusual process.
What he didn't expect… was that this situation would last for three full days!
After this drawn-out battle, it was the black flame that finally succumbed. After burning without rest for three days, its power significantly waned. At last, it was fully encased by Xiao Yan's Dou Qi.
Seizing the moment, Xiao Yan activated Flame Mantra, guiding the black flame along its cultivation path.
Even with Dou Qi surrounding it, the heat from the black flame was excruciating—pain that seared straight into the marrow of his bones. But Xiao Yan, who had endured countless agonies in his past life, wasn't fazed. He gritted his teeth and increased the cultivation speed.
As the technique circulated, the Dou Qi in his body began to merge with the black flame. Originally a pale yellow, his Dou Qi gradually turned into a deep, obsidian black. By the time he completed the final circulation path, all the Dou Qi in his body had transformed into this dark energy—flickering faintly with traces of black flame.
Even his Dou Qi whirlpool now appeared to be wrapped in the black flame. Any incoming natural energy was swiftly refined and converted into black flame Dou Qi, flowing through his meridians.
'This can't go on much longer…'
Back outside, Yao Lao was growing increasingly uneasy. Xiao Yan had been in a trance for three days and still hadn't stirred. Just as he prepared to forcibly intervene, Xiao Yan finally opened his eyes.
A powerful aura—easily ten times stronger than before—erupted from Xiao Yan's body in an instant.
"What the hell happened?" Yao Lao exhaled with relief, but quickly pressed with a question. He had never heard of any technique requiring three full days to convert one's Dou Qi. Clearly, something unusual had occurred within Xiao Yan's body.
Xiao Yan didn't respond immediately. Instead, he opened his palm.
A plume of pitch-black flame surged up from his hand, its intense heat washing through the room like a tidal wave. Even Yao Lao was momentarily dazed.
He stared at the flame in astonishment.
"Is that… a Heavenly Flame?"
(End of Chapter)
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