Chapter 54: Heavenly Flame Refining Breaks Through to Dou Shi

Watching Wu Xu Tian Yan nibble at the Magic Core like a cute little kitten eating dried fish, Xiao Yan furrowed his brows and thought: "Although Wu Xu Tian Yan is a Heavenly Flame, the energy it contains is far inferior to that of a true Heavenly Flame."

"But precisely because of this, even though I'm only at the Dou Zhe cultivation realm, I can still refine it smoothly."

Watching Wu Xu Tian Yan finish devouring an entire second-rank Magic Core, its belly swollen like a small round balloon, there was no doubt this thing could grow like other Heavenly Flames.

As recorded on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, Qing Lian Di Xin Fire takes ten years to become a Spirit, a hundred years to take form, a thousand years to bloom into a lotus; when fully matured, its color turns bluish, and a cluster of blue flame emerges at its core—known as Qing Lian Fire.

Qing Lian Di Xin Fire requires a thousand years of growth to be born.

But Wu Xu Tian Yan is extremely special: other Heavenly Flames require specific environments and absorb only the purest, most unique Heavenly Energy to grow; only Wu Xu Tian Yan acts like a black hole—it doesn't care what it eats, it absorbs everything.

Thus, Wu Xu Tian Yan's growth rate is incredibly fast—even in the emptiness of Space, it can still grow.

Its offspring flame naturally shares this trait; its second characteristic is the ability to devour anything and convert it into Void Black Flame, strengthening itself.

For some reason, Xiao Yan always felt the Soul Sovereign was using Wu Xu Tian Yan to play a grand game.

"Little guy, since you're full now, it's time to work." Xiao Yan stroked Wu Xu Tian Yan with his finger and smiled.

Wu Xu Tian Yan, like a noble little lazy cat, stepped on Space and slipped into Xiao Yan's Na Ling.

"Only Dou Zong can perform Void Walking—yet this newly born offspring flame of Wu Xu Tian Yan can already do it."

"Talent really is infuriating."

This tiny Heavenly Flame had already achieved what only a Dou Zong could accomplish—how terrifying!

Feeling Wu Xu Tian Yan enter his Na Ling, Xiao Yan stopped his wandering thoughts and sat cross-legged.

Wu Xu Tian Yan had indeed been refined, but the most crucial step remained unfinished.

Fen Jue—evolve!

"Fen Jue's current rank barely reaches Yellow-class Advanced, but the gap between Yellow and Profound is greater than the combined gaps of the first three ranks. I hope Wu Xu Tian Yan can lend a hand—just reaching Profound would be a blessing."

Xiao Yan swiftly gathered his spirit and began slowly circulating his Cultivation Method; as Fen Jue activated, the vortex stirred like an engine.

At that moment, within the Na Ling, Wu Xu Tian Yan shed its languid demeanor, transforming into a furious black cat, every hair standing on end, as threads of Black Flame erupted with a roar from the Na Ling.

Under Fen Jue's circulation, the yellow vortex and the threads of Black Flame began to merge! The tiny remnants of Bone Spirit Cold Fire already within the vortex also began merging.

By the time all Dou Qi completed one full circuit through Fen Jue's cultivation channels, they had almost entirely fused into one; the original yellow Dou Qi had now turned entirely into a deep, ink-black hue.

And upon the surface of this ink-black Dou Qi, fine filaments of Black Flame, like hairs, rose and danced!

Ink-black Dou Qi! Profound-class Low-Level Cultivation Method!

Fen Jue—evolution successful!!

Moreover, upon Fen Jue's successful evolution, the vortex underwent a transformation; whether due to Wu Xu Tian Yan or not, the vortex grew increasingly viscous until it finally turned liquid.

"Vortex becomes liquid! Dou Shi realm!"

Xiao Yan had only just broken through to Nine-Star Dou Zhe; he'd expected compressing the vortex into liquid to take time to reach Dou Shi—but during the method's evolution, as Wu Xu Tian Yan's Black Flame fused, it inadvertently completed this step for him!

Even the compression of the vortex was accomplished by Wu Xu Tian Yan, allowing Xiao Yan to directly break through to Dou Shi!

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes; a flicker of Black Flame flashed through his pupils, but it was unmistakably real.

Without doubt, if Xiao Yan now wished to use Wu Xu Tian Yan, he could summon it at will.

Though this Black Flame's power was likely far weaker than that of a true Heavenly Flame.

But Xiao Yan wasn't worried—Wu Xu Tian Yan's offspring grew far faster than true Heavenly Flames; he believed that given time, he could make Wu Xu Tian Yan grow strong.

"Joining the Soul Hall didn't just grant me Wu Xu Tian Yan's offspring flame and evolve Fen Jue—it also lifted me two ranks!" Xiao Yan was stunned by his own gains.

At least in terms of rewards, he had won this gamble.

Danger and opportunity truly coexist!

With a whoosh, Xiao Yan opened his palm, and a flicker of Black Flame appeared in his palm.

"Condensing solid flame requires a Fourth-Rank Alchemist or Dou Ling!" Looking at the Black Flame before him, Xiao Yan was ecstatic.

Though this was merely borrowed flame—he was nowhere near Fourth-Rank Alchemist, not even Third-Rank—he still couldn't hide his excitement.

When facing enemies, throwing out this Black Flame would likely swallow their corpses into nothingness.

With a thud, Xiao Yan didn't hesitate—he pulled out his Alchemy Furnace and retrieved a set of Third-Rank Elixir medicinal materials from his storage ring.

After tossing the Black Flame into the furnace and channeling Dou Qi as fuel, watching the Void Black Flame obediently respond to his control, he began adding the medicinal materials.

"No wonder Heavenly Flames are every Alchemist's greatest dream—this extracts medicinal materials at more than double the speed."

Though this was only a fraction of flame borrowed from the offspring, not its true body, the extraction speed had already stunned Xiao Yan; medicinal materials he once couldn't even burn were now visibly turning to ash in the Black Flame.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yan's pill refining ended in failure. The reason was simple: while Wu Xu Tian Yan accelerated extraction, the speed was too fast—he lost the rhythm and failed the refining.

Even though the refining failed, Xiao Yan's heart held only one word: exhilarating!

Xiao Yan sprang up like a leaping carp, clenched his fists, and punched the air several times; the whistling wind revealed his power had become utterly transformed.

"The difference between Dou Shi and Dou Zhe is truly heaven and earth." Xiao Yan recalled the Dou Shi he'd once defeated despite being lower-ranked—they possessed such physique and still lost? How weak they must have been.

After ascending to Dou Shi, the liquid energy flooded into every bone and SpiritFlesh of Xiao Yan, transforming him as if reborn, gradually filling him with potent strength.

This was also why Dou Shi could manifest the Dou Qi Gauze Garment.

"Ba Ji Beng!"

"Yan Fen Shi Lang Chi!"

"Black Flame Gauze Garment!"

Watching a thin, gauze-like Dou Qi Garment form around him, its surface flickering with tiny flames, Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction.

"From today on, I am a true Dou Shi!"

Becoming a Dou Shi meant Xiao Yan had escaped the common ranks; though Dou Shi was still a low tier on the continent, it was vastly superior and stronger than the bottom-tier Dou Zhe—and most importantly, Xiao Yan was still young, with plenty of time to strive!

Xiao Yan picked up the Soul Token; it bore not a Heavenly Rank, but Earth-Rank Low-Level—after all, his Heavenly Rank evaluation was obtained through favoritism, part of his agreement with Hun Xu Zi.

Licking his lips, he had indeed received Hun Xu Zi's Heavenly Rank reward—but Xiao Yan had cleared the Earth-Rank on his own strength; how could he not use the Soul Points earned?

"Eleven thousand and sixty Soul Points—maybe I can trade them for something useful."