The scent of crushed herbs lingered in the air, mixing with the faint medicinal fragrance wafting from Xiao Ranyu's cauldron. The pale yellow flame danced underneath, flickering like it had a will of its own.
It was not a beast flame.
It was far more terrifying.
On a boulder not far from him, a snow-white fox crouched quietly. Her fur was ruffled by the rising wind, and her three tails trembled despite her best efforts to hide it.
> "That flame... it's really not normal."
Her crimson eyes narrowed, locked onto the flickering fire. Though she didn't flinch in front of peak Dou Venerable strength in the Great Thousand World, this flame made her uneasy—an instinctive dread buried deep in her soul.
> "What kind of lunatic refines a Strange Flame… while only at Dou Grandmaster?"
Then came the human's voice.
Casual. Almost lazy.
> "Don't look at me like that, fox. Even if this Mysterious Yellow Flame Ranked last among the 23 Strange Flames. It's stll not comparable to Normal flame. It Made me go through a lot of pain to refine it."
He smirked.
> "Feels worth it now though."
She blinked.
> "He really refined a Strange Flame… at that stage? He should've combusted from the inside out!"
Before she could gather her scattered thoughts—
CRACK!
A thunderous bolt split the sky. Trees shattered. Ground trembled.
A streak of violet lightning slammed into the clearing as a massive beast landed in a vortex of electric force.
Late-stage Rank 4 Lightning Panther.
The killing intent rolling off it was suffocating. Its body crackled with arcs of lightning, eyes locked on the pill scent. Hungry.
> "7-Star Dou Spirit… no—late stage. This beast could kill him in an instant!"
Without hesitation, Huolian bolted forward—her snow-white body flashing across the terrain.
> "Idiot! Refining pills during beast attack?!"
A violent clash erupted.
She bit. She clawed. Her body blurred from movement, dancing around the panther with speed few on this continent in the same realm could track.
But it wasn't enough.
A swipe of its paw, infused with lightning, tore through the air and smashed into her body.
BOOM!
She was hurled back like a broken comet, blood spraying as her body bounced across the rocky ground.
> "Fox!" Xiao Ranyu shouted, eyes wide as he caught her limp, trembling form.
She tried to rise. He pushed her down gently, hand brushing her blood-matted fur.
> "Stay still. I'll handle it."
She gave him a look like saying,
> "You're a 1-Star Dou Grandmaster, you fool! You'll die!"
But he just gave her a wry grin.
> "At worst… I'll unlock my strength."
He stepped forward.
The air changed.
He exhaled once—slow, deep, calm.
> "Is he serious…? No… this aura—"
And then the beast roared.
It charged like a bolt of lightning.
And Xiao Ranyu roared back.
> "True Fire Nirvana Cycle — First Cycle!"
Pale yellow flame burst across his skin as the Mysterious Yellow Flame surged through a mysterious route in his meridians.
Veins lit up like molten lines of runes.
His aura exploded.
1-Star Dou Grandmaster…
3-Star… 5-Star… 6-Star… 7-Star!
The pressure was unbelievable. Huolian gasped silently, crimson eyes wide in disbelief.
> "He jumped 7 minor realms… just like that?!"
---
The Lightning Panther roared, arcs of violet lightning twisting violently around its frame like a lightning storm. Its claws tore through the air with blinding speed.
Xiao Ranyu's body pulsed with the First Cycle of True Fire Nirvana, yellow flame marks spiraling across his face, arms and chest. Eyes glowing yellow.His Dou Qi surged, and the Mysterious Yellow Flame burned within him like a slumbering volcano about to erupt.
> "Let's dance, kitty."
Xiao Ranyu sidestepped a lightning pounce, barely evading a claw swipe that tore a tree clean in half. He retaliated with Molten Tyrant Fist, the flaming fist colliding midair. Thunder and fire erupted together.
The Panther vanished, reappearing above him. A bolt of lightning struck down like divine punishment. Xiao Ranyu raised his arms in defense, flame armor forming just in time when he activated flame emperor wrath body—he grunted as he was sent skidding back.
> "Fast. And smart."
He used Infernal Mirage Step, blinking beside the Panther and launching a Sun-Destroying Palm toward its ribs. The Panther twisted midair, its tail wrapped in lightning slamming into him, flinging him into a cliffside. Rocks exploded on impact.
Huolian winced from afar.
> "He's matching it… but barely."
He exploded out of the rubble, flame cloak dancing like a war god. He spun, launching a barrage of flame-charged punches. The Panther ducked, flipped, then sank its claw into his shoulder.
> CRACK!
Blood sprayed. Xiao Ranyu gritted his teeth, grabbed its wrist, and headbutted the beast.
Both backed off. Panting. Burn marks covered the Panther's body. Xiao Ranyu's shirt had long since turned to ash.
> "That all you've got?" he growled.
The Panther answered with a roar—and launched forward.
It zigzagged, lightning dancing unpredictably. Xiao Ranyu braced, body adapting. Their limbs collided—claws against fists, lightning against fire. The forest trembled with each exchange.
The Panther faked left, then spun right, launching a Lightning Devour Fang toward Ranyu's throat.
> "Tch—!"
Xiao Ranyu ducked low, twisting beneath its leap, then delivered an upward kick charged with flame directly to its jaw.
The Panther landed hard. Angry now.
Its body began pulsing—thick lightning condensed above its head into a spear. It snarled, aiming to end the fight.
> "Final move, huh? Alright… let's try something stupid."
As the lightning spear descended, Xiao Ranyu surged forward, gathering everything into one arm. His Sun-Destroying Palm, strengthened by Nirvana Cycle, clashed with the descending spear.
The world flashed white.
The entire forest shook.
Flames and thunder swallowed the cliff.
Smoke filled the air. Huolian, injured, limped closer—eyes wide, breath held.
From the flames, the Panther stumbled—body charred, eyes dim.
Then Xiao Ranyu appeared behind it. His palm pressed against its back.
> "Night-night."
With a burst of the Yellow Flame, he incinerated the beast's core.
The Panther let out one last howl—and fell.
Dead.
Xiao Ranyu staggered, chest heaving, flame veins flickering out. His strength fell like a stone—dou qi drained, body scorched from overuse.
> "Seven-star Dou Spirit... defeated."
He smirked, blood dripping from his lip.
> "So at full strength... I really can kill them."
---
Huolian lay still.
Not from pain.
But from shock.
Huolian stared at him, dazed.
> "This guy… really fought a full major realm higher. And won."
> "This human… just used brute control and a heretical flame art to kill a late-stage Rank 4 Magic Beast…"
> "He's not even truly unleashing his full strength. His cultivation is still locked!"
She watched him, eyes flicking over the cracks along his arms, the pale yellow marks still glowing faintly, the subtle twitch of pain in his jaw.
> "He's hurting. He pushed too far… yet still won."
> "If this is him-sealed…"
> "Then what is his true strength?"
And for the first time since falling into this sealed world, she felt something stir in her long-dormant heart.
A mix of shock.
And excitement.
---
The forest was silent again.
Ash drifted like snow as Xiao Ranyu stood amidst the wreckage, body swaying. The lightning-charred corpse of the Panther lay behind him—burned beyond recognition, smoke still rising from its mangled form.
Huolian limped over, her snowy fur stained with blood. Her crimson eyes were locked on him, still wide with disbelief.
His muscles trembled, the yellow flame marks fading slowly from his skin. His breath came in ragged gasps, and yet—
He grinned.
That same cocky, overconfident, ridiculous grin.
> "Heh…" he chuckled weakly, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Did you see that, little fox?"
Huolian blinked.
He stumbled toward her, pointing proudly at the smoking crater behind him.
> "That thing was a late-stage Rank 4 beast… strength equal to a Seven-Star Dou Spirit."
"I beat it."
"Me."
He puffed his chest out—or tried to. It just made him cough up blood.
> "I mean, yeah, I might have used a flame cycle and set my meridians on fire… but hey, results, right?"
Huolian just stared at him.
> Is he seriously bragging right now? He's literally bleeding from the eyes.
Xiao Ranyu crouched beside her, trying to act cool.
> "You're lucky I was here, really. Otherwise, you'd probably be lunchmeat, fox."
She narrowed her eyes.
> You were the one screaming 'DON'T EAT ME' fifteen minutes ago.
He smirked down at her, eyes glazed but determined.
> "So... what do you think? Impressive, right?"
"Wanna admit I'm the most handsome and powerful
alchemist-warrior you've ever met?"
"Huh? Huh?"
Huolian slowly raised one paw.
And gently swatted his cheek.
> Bonk.
He blinked.
> "Hey, what wa—"
And passed out.
Face-first. Onto her tail.
Again.
Huolian sighed.
> You unbelievable fool.
But she didn't move him.
She just sat there quietly, her injured body curled protectively around his unconscious form.
> Still…
Her eyes lingered on his face, now peaceful in sleep.
> That was kind of impressive.
A pause.
> But next time you get smug and pass out on my tail again... I'm biting your face.
---
An hour later
Ash still drifted through the air like burnt snowflakes, the scorched earth beneath them crackling with residual heat. The Lightning Panther's body had long since disintegrated, leaving only a faint charred crater as proof it ever existed.
Xiao Ranyu sat cross-legged on a large rock, back straight, arms trembling slightly as he breathed in and out. The yellow marks from the True Fire Nirvana Cycle had faded, but his bones ached, his blood still hot, his body ringing with the aftershock.
> "So… that was the first cycle," he muttered, voice hoarse.
He stared at his hands — calloused, singed, cracked and shaking — yet overflowing with subtle power. Power that hadn't existed two hour ago.
> "I gained six full stars… but the cost…"
A dull pain throbbed through his meridians, especially the routes the yellow flame had traveled.
It wasn't just physical strain.
It felt like his soul had been branded.
Still…
He grinned.
> "Worth it."
He tilted his head back, looking up at the crimson-streaked sky, still chuckling softly despite the pain.
> "I can't wait to see what the second cycle does."
Meanwhile… just a few meters away…
A snow-white fox sat very still on a mossy stone.
Her three tails were curled tightly around her, and her ears were pinned flat to her head — not from pain, but from utter disbelief.
Huolian blinked.
Slowly.
Once. Twice.
Then just stared at the human.
> "...That was no Dou Grandmaster's combat power."
Her heart was still racing.
> "That flame… that technique… the way he forcibly surged across realms and still held form…"
She'd seen geniuses in the Celestial Fox Clan train under Celestial Sovereigns. She herself had been hailed as a peerless prodigy, becoming a Sovereign at only age of 30.
But this…
This was absurd.
> "He jumped from 1-Star to 7-Star Dou Grandmaster in mere breaths. And not through reckless eruption — his power was stable. Controlled."
She remembered the way the flame crawled along his veins — unnatural, violent, refined through agony.
> "...What kind of technique allows such unnatural power up without much backlash?"
Huolian lowered her head slightly, watching him from under her lashes. There was no trace of arrogance on his face — only satisfaction. That smug, tired, maddeningly relaxed smirk.
> "And he's still teasing me at night. Using my tail as a pillow like it's his right…"
She flushed a little — tail tips twitching in remembering something embarrassing.
> "He doesn't even realize that only mates are allowed to touch our tails. Idiot."
And yet, the more she watched…
The more confused she became.
> "You're supposed to be a Dou Grandmaster. You act like a fool, You cook like you don't even know the ingredients, You fight like a beast… and refine pills like a top 6-tier alchemist."
> "Who… are you, Xiao Ranyu?"
If she could still speak, she would've grilled him thoroughly. Forced him to explain everything — from his sealed cultivation to that heretical flame technique. And most of all...
> "Where did you come from? Because I swear… no one from this continent should have that kind of talent."
She stared at him a moment longer.
Then flopped down beside him, still bleeding slightly, and curled her tail between them so he could rest without touching it tonight.
> "He needs time to recover."
> "I… need time to process."
They sat in silence under the setting sun. The once fearsome clearing now felt oddly peaceful — like a battlefield that had shifted into a sanctuary.
Xiao Ranyu's eyes fluttered shut.
Huolian glanced at him once more, then finally let out a long, quiet sigh only a fox could hear.
> "You're either the biggest idiot I've ever met… or the one person who might actually break out of this sealed world."
---
Later that night…
Xiao Ranyu leaned against the wall of the cave, skin pale, bandaged with herbs. He looked at his slightly trembling hand.
> "That cycle… drains too much. I've got maybe a few minutes at 7-Star Dou Grandmaster level before collapse."
> "But it's enough. Against a real enemy… if I go all out... I can win a life-and-death battle with a 7-Star Dou Spirit."
He looked up at the starlit sky.
And smiled.