Chapter 53

"The offspring flame of Wu Xu Tian Yan?!"

Xiao Yan stared at the small, ink-black flame before him and was certain it was not the true Wu Xu Tian Yan.

Because if the true Wu Xu Tian Yan had been born, an entire nation would have been reduced to nothingness, completely burned into a void.

But what surprised Xiao Yan was that this was not a newborn Heavenly Flame either; through Soul Force Perception, he sensed that though this dark flame was weak and lacked the terrifying energy of Bone Spirit Cold Fire, its Heavenly Flame origin was mature—far from that of a newborn flame.

Moreover, according to the Heavenly Flame Ranking, only one flame exists among the top three, and the entire Dou Qi Continent could not withstand the celestial energy required for another top-three flame to be born.

"So there really is such a thing as an offspring flame… even the mysterious Heavenly Flame Ranking doesn't record it."

At first, Xiao Yan had doubted Hun Xu Zi's claim about the offspring flame, thinking he was lying—Heavenly Flames aren't living beings, how could they have children?!

Even if they were living beings, reproduction requires a mate; Wu Xu Tian Yan exists only once across the entire Dou Qi Continent—where would the second one come from to breed with it?

But Xiao Yan's face was slapped hard: not only did it truly exist, but an offspring flame of Wu Xu Tian Yan had just appeared right before his eyes!

【Jie jie jie, you really have good luck, kid—you actually ran into it. No one knows when Wu Xu Tian Yan will condense an offspring flame.】

Hearing Hun Xu Zi's Soul Sound, Xiao Yan looked at the offspring flame before him and asked curiously: "How is this offspring flame born? How do I refine it?"

【Jie jie jie, how Wu Xu Tian Yan produces offspring flames is a Soul Sovereign secret. As for how to refine it, though called an offspring flame, its essence is no different from a Heavenly Flame.】

Xiao Yan's eyes flickered—was the birth of offspring flames a Soul Sovereign secret? Did that mean Wu Xu Tian Yan's ability to produce offspring flames wasn't its own power, but caused by the Soul Sovereign?!

Xiao Yan approached the offspring flame of Wu Xu Tian Yan with trepidation; he had already memorized every step of refining a Heavenly Flame from a notebook in his space ring.

Now he only needed to capture the offspring flame, exit the Treasure Hall, and take it back to begin refining.

Xiao Yan's throat bobbed as his hands slowly drew inward from both sides, as carefully as when he'd fished for fish by the river as a child.

His movements were extremely gentle, cradling the flame upward; the first sensation as he lifted it was warmth—the black flame felt neither scorching nor hot, but soft, comforting, and warm.

At that moment, Xiao Yan thought he was cradling a newborn black kitten.

Suddenly, the dark flame cluster opened a pair of eyes, and a voice came from within: "Meow~~"

"Huh?!"

Xiao Yan froze, and before he could react, the Soul Token glowed brightly—due to his reward being claimed—and instantly teleported him back.

"Ha!" In reality, Xiao Yan jolted awake, leaping up and scanning his surroundings.

"What happened? Was that a dream?" Xiao Yan faintly remembered—just as he'd been about to bring back the Heavenly Flame—he'd heard a cat's meow?!

"Meow~"

"Yes, yes, that's the sound!"

∑(っ°Д°;)っ Kuang!

Xiao Yan whipped his head toward the sound—there, perched lazily on his shoulder, was a tiny black cat no bigger than a fist; after meowing, it stretched out, paws covering its face, and fell fast asleep.

As Xiao Yan carefully observed, he realized the cat's black fur was actually strands of flame—and its black eyes were flickering threads of Wu Xu Tian Yan.

Xiao Yan suddenly remembered something, pulling out a worn, ancient text from his space ring and frantically flipping to a page.

"Spiritual Flame Fusion: a Heavenly Flame that has developed sentience. Heavenly Flames are hard to be born; only those existing for immeasurable eons may gain sentience. A sentient Heavenly Flame can control its own flame autonomously, surpassing even a Heavenly Realm Soul Alchemist in control."

Sssss!!! Xiao Yan stared at the fist-sized black cat—this was an extremely rare Spiritual Flame Fusion?!

"No, this isn't the true Wu Xu Tian Yan—it's just been born. Wu Xu Tian Yan itself has existed for an immense time; its true form being a Spiritual Flame Fusion isn't strange. Could it be that because this is Wu Xu Tian Yan's offspring flame, it inherited a trace of its sentience?!"

Undoubtedly, this little flame-ball, though a Spiritual Flame Fusion, possessed a sentience no more advanced than that of a newborn kitten.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged, gently cradling the Wu Xu Tian Yan on his lap; for an ordinary Heavenly Flame, one only needed to absorb its origin, place it in the Qi Vortex, then activate the Burning Decree to refine it successfully.

But this thing had sentience—and that made Xiao Yan uneasy.

"Hey little guy, how about you move into the Qi Vortex and take a nap there?" He appealed to its reason and emotion.

The Wu Xu Tian Yan kitten scratched its ear and ignored Xiao Yan's plea.

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed as he grinned slyly: "Then don't blame me."

If reason and emotion won't work, then proceed with courtesy first, then force—strike first, ask later!

Xiao Yan pulled out a Pill Bottle containing Ice Heart Pills and Nerve Protecting Pills, swallowed two, and placed the bottle on the ground in case he needed more.

These were pills to protect the Meridians—a lower-tier substitute for the usual items used to absorb a Heavenly Flame; though this offspring flame felt no heat and seemed to harbor no malice or resistance toward him.

But Xiao Yan hadn't forgotten—it had absorbed a great deal of residual black flame during its birth.

The Ice Heart Pill entered his body, and a bone-chilling chill spread from his throat downward; his spirit felt the cold, shuddered slightly, and his growing restlessness melted away like snow before blazing fire.

Xiao Yan slowly activated the Burning Decree; a yellow Qi surged from his palms, enveloping the Wu Xu Tian Yan. As the Decree operated, the Wu Xu Tian Yan became a stream of black flame, zipping swiftly through his Meridians, entering the Qi Vortex, and being refined with astonishing ease—leaving behind Xiao Yan's Soul Mark.

So smoothly it made Xiao Yan doubt himself—had he really refined it so fast?! Not a single bit of resistance!

But the next second, Xiao Yan was stunned—the Wu Xu Tian Yan let out a "Meow," strolled out of his internal Qi Vortex, and sauntered calmly out of his body!

It even flicked its tail, as if mocking him: "You think your puny Qi Vortex can trap me, Master?"

Xiao Yan now understood the first ability of Wu Xu Tian Yan: free passage between void and reality.

Meow? The Wu Xu Tian Yan walked over to the Pill Bottle on the ground, spotted the round pills inside, patted one out with its paw, and crunched it up.

!! The Wu Xu Tian Yan's eyes lit up instantly—it swiped all the Ice Heart Pills into its mouth and gobbled them down.

"Oh ho, you like Pills, huh?" Xiao Yan tucked the remaining Nerve Protecting Pills into his space ring, his eyes gleaming with the look of a mischievous uncle.

Seeing the Wu Xu Tian Yan offspring flame didn't rush into his space ring to steal more Pills, Xiao Yan gloated inwardly: "Of course—even if Wu Xu Tian Yan itself is the second-ranked Heavenly Flame, this newborn offspring flame is nowhere near as powerful as true Bone Spirit Cold Fire, and dares not approach my space ring."

Ordinary Heavenly Flames have no sentience—refining their origin is enough. But a sentient Heavenly Flame cannot be controlled by refining only its origin; even if you've refined its origin and technically own it, its sentience means it'll wander off and cause trouble.

"Obey me from now on, don't run off anywhere, and I'll make sure you eat well and drink well."

Xiao Yan pulled out a Second-Tier Magic Beast Magic Core; feeling the vast energy within, the previously hesitant Wu Xu Tian Yan could no longer resist—it grabbed the core and began gnawing on it.

Since it had already accepted Xiao Yan as its caretaker, no complaints!