Chapter 6: Reborn

Brilliant sunlight shone through the window, illuminating Xiao Yan.

"Mm!" Struggling to open his eyes, Xiao Yan immediately observed his own condition.

His muscles were still somewhat weak, clearly not fully recovered. His hair and other body hair had been burned away completely by the Volcanic Stone Flame, revealing a bald scalp.

However, Xiao Yan was not discouraged by this; instead, he revealed a satisfied smile.

Opening his palm, which had already grown new skin, a wisp of crimson flame appeared upon it—it was precisely the Volcanic Stone Flame!

Not only that, the meridians that had been incinerated during the process of refining the Volcanic Stone Flame had also regrown, becoming tougher than ever before, faintly emitting a glaze-like luster.

Although the Burning Mantra had not yet evolved, Xiao Yan could feel that the power of the Burning Mantra had become more formidable, and his Dou Qi had become thicker than before. Even his cultivation had risen by a notch, reaching the peak of a three-star Dou Zhe, and he could break through at any moment.

Most importantly, he had successfully refined the first wisp of Heavenly Flame! As the saying goes, all things are difficult at the start. Although he had only refined a tiny portion of the Volcanic Stone Flame, using this as a starting point, the subsequent refining would be much simpler.

Reaching out to take the healing medicine he had placed aside, he ate it, stood up to take clothes from the wardrobe to put on, and found a hat to cover his bald head. After tidying up slightly, he went out, asked the kitchen for ten jin of food to bring back to his room, and after devouring it like a whirlwind, he returned to his cultivation progress.

Time flew by, and half a month passed in a flash.

Xiao Yan refined the Volcanic Stone Flame five more times, and the quantity increased each time. He successfully raised the Burning Mantra to the level of a Huang-tier Advanced, and his cultivation also arrived at a six-star Dou Zhe.

"Creak—" The sound of a door opening and closing rang out, and Xiao Yan, who had been in seclusion for nearly a month, walked out of the room, so below, a pair of eyebrows-less 【eyes】 were exposed outside.

"It is time to say goodbye to Father," Xiao Yan muttered. Afterward, he strode toward Xiao Zhan's study.

Inside the clan leader's study, Xiao Zhan looked at the man before him, almost unable to recognize him.

Standing nearly one meter seventy, one could not tell at all that this was a youth of only twelve years old. His bright, piercing eyes and slightly curled lips gave people a feeling of great confidence and high spirits. The aura of a six-star Dou Zhe faintly radiating from him made it known that this was a genius figure not to be underestimated. But on this young prodigy, one could not find a single hair or eyebrow, which gave people an indescribable sense of comedy. Because he had refined the Heavenly Flame time and time again, the hair on Xiao Yan's body had never grown out. Thus, Xiao Yan could only prepare a large hat that could cover his entire scalp, though he had taken it off now when seeing his father.

"This, Yan'er, is it you?" Xiao Zhan looked at the Xiao Yan before him, somewhat dumbfounded.

"It is indeed me, Father," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"This hair and eyebrows of yours are..." Xiao Zhan asked.

"These were burned away when I refined the Heavenly Flame," Xiao Yan said.

"Then this height of yours is..." Xiao Zhan asked again.

"This is what grew when my body was reshaped after I refined the Heavenly Flame," Xiao Yan said nonchalantly.

Looking at Xiao Yan's eyebrows and height, and feeling Xiao Yan's six-star Dou Zhe aura, Xiao Zhan roughly knew what kind of suffering his son had endured. He could not help but have tears in his eyes and said, "My son has suffered."

"It is nothing, Dad," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhan wanted to offer a few more words of comfort, but he knew that this was not what Xiao Yan needed. At the same time, he guessed the purpose of Xiao Yan coming to find him, and for a moment, he did not know what else to say. Xiao Yan was the same; for a moment, the father and son were just stuck there awkwardly.

In the end, it was Xiao Zhan who broke the silence first: "Yan'er, you are leaving, aren't you?"

"Mm." Xiao Yan nodded.

"Where to?"

"The Magical Beast Mountain Range."

"The Magical Beast Mountain Range? That is very dangerous. You... be careful." Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Yan with worry, his eyes full of reluctance.

"Mm, rest assured, Father," Xiao Yan said.

That night, Xiao Yan took advantage of the night and silently left Wutan City.

On a hill outside Wutan City, Xiao Yan took one last look at the city where he had lived for twelve years. Afterward, he resolutely walked into the depths of the night.

Under the pitch-black night sky, a flash of fire pierced the surrounding darkness and shone on the young man.

At this time, the youth was not asleep, but was meditating while holding a jade slip in his hand.

Suddenly, the long-silent Xiao Yan opened his eyes wide in anger, and wisps of pale red Dou Qi carrying a scorching aura instantly wrapped around Xiao Yan's right hand.

Xiao Yan clenched his right fist, and after slightly gathering his strength, he let out a shout and fiercely punched a huge tree trunk beside him.

"Octane Blast!"

"Bang!"

With a loud noise, the giant tree with a diameter of over a meter was punched through, leaving a charred hole, and the crimson flames clung to the wall of the hole, emitting a scorching aura.

Xiao Yan shifted his Dou Qi and withdrew the Volcanic Stone Flame that was attempting to further incinerate the tree trunk, to prevent the fire from spreading further. After all, this was a forest, and a fire was not a fun thing.

"As expected of a Heavenly Flame, such strong attack power!" Looking at the pierced tree trunk, Xiao Yan said with some shock. Although the hidden force of the Octane Blast could also cause a similar degree of destruction, he had not even used that yet.

On the way to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Yan had originally wanted to practice the hidden force of the Octane Blast diligently just like in the original work so he could slaughter his way through the Magical Beast Mountain Range, but then he thought of the general outline of Dou Techniques he had obtained from the Ancient Clan and had the idea of integrating the Volcanic Stone Flame into the Octane Blast to create a Volcanic Octane Blast that belonged solely to him, Xiao Yan.

Thinking of it, he did it. Xiao Yan did not hesitate and immediately took out the jade slip recording the general outline of Dou Techniques, combined it with the Octane Blast in the Bone Flame Ring, and studied it; it was like this for several days in a row. It must be said that Xiao Yan's talent was still quite good, and he soon had results.

"Mm, the power of the Volcanic Octane Blast without hidden force is about the same as an ordinary Octane Blast with hidden force, but because it requires the stimulation of the Heavenly Flame, the consumption of Dou Qi will be greater," Xiao Yan compared carefully. Even so, the Octane Blast with the Volcanic Stone Flame was definitely not meaningless. Due to the characteristics and high temperature of the Heavenly Flame, the Volcanic Octane Blast was currently the only attack method Xiao Yan had that could threaten a Da Dou Shi. From this point of view, the significance was huge, and because it did not require preparing hidden force, the speed of launching it would also be faster. Most importantly, the Volcanic Octane Blast could also carry hidden force; it was just that Xiao Yan had not practiced to that level yet.

"The Octane Blast says that when practiced to perfection, eight layers of hidden force can be stacked, and the power is comparable to a Di-tier Low-level technique. Heh, although these so-called claims of being comparable to high-level Dou Techniques have never been realized, this Volcanic Octane Blast of mine can definitely reach the level of a Di-tier Dou Technique!" Xiao Yan said somewhat proudly.

In the following days, Xiao Yan practiced the hidden force of the Octane Blast while thinking about the integration of the Octane Blast and the Volcanic Stone Flame.

Unknowingly, time slipped away quietly. By the time Xiao Yan arrived at Qingshan Town, he had already practiced the Octane Blast to the level of three layers of hidden force, and the Volcanic Octane Blast had also practiced to the level of the first layer of hidden force.

The sun was scorching, and looking at the bustling city gate before him, Xiao Yan whispered: "Qingshan Town, I, Xiao Yan, have arrived!"