The cavern behind the Xiao Clan's back mountain felt more like a tomb than a cultivation chamber.
Sulfur clung to the air like ash on bone. The jagged stone walls were streaked black, carbon-charred by decades of failed attempts. At the center—perched atop a cracked, fire-hardened altar—danced a flickering, pale yellow flame.
Small.
But heavy. The kind of heavy that bent the very air around it.
The Mysterious Yellow Flame.
Rank 23 among the Heavenly Flames. The weakest—yet still a Heavenly Flame.
Still something men had died to possess.
Still enough to turn mediocrity into legend.
---
Xiao Ranyu sat cross-legged before it.
His robe was singed at the sleeves, boots half-melted, and sweat slicked his brow. But his breath was steady. His gaze, steady. His spirit—calmer than ever.
Red Dou Qi pulsed through his meridians like the breath of a slumbering inferno. The Sovereign Flame Scripture rotated silently within, and the markings of his Eternal Flame Vassal Body shimmered beneath the skin like breathing runes.
He opened his eyes.
Sharper than steel.
> "System," he murmured. "Begin internal refinement."
> [Target: Mysterious Yellow Flame – Rank 23]
[Compatibility: High]
[Stabilizers: Not Required – Host Physique Qualifies]
[Risk Level: Considerable – Spiritual damage and qi overburn likely]
> "Perfect."
---
With a slow exhale, he released his Dou Qi.
It surged outward, forming a dome of pressure laced with heat. The air warped. Stone cracked. The cavern darkened, except for the glow of fire circling him.
Others needed spirit anchors, pills, or cold springs to tame a flame like this.
Ranyu needed none of it.
He raised his hand, fingers weaving seals.
> "Sovereign Flame Scripture: Soul Flame Fusion."
Golden light bloomed across his body—first the chest, then spine, then limbs. The runes ignited like sacred chains, binding the spirit and body together. His spiritual sense extended forward—bold, controlled, absolute.
The flame stirred.
It recognized him.
And it hated what it saw.
---
A thread of spiritual will shot forward—razor-sharp, burning red.
At first, nothing.
Then—
The air snapped inward. The flame recoiled as though struck. A wave of heat exploded out, cracking the altar beneath it.
> "Tch," Ranyu winced. "This thing's more temperamental than Xiao Yan after a lucky breakthrough."
The flame roared.
> [Warning: Resistance Intensifying – Defensive Protocols Engaging]
> [Boosting Qi Reserve – Sovereign Flame Scripture: Phase II Unlocked]
Deep inside, his second qi reservoir erupted—molten energy flooding his body. His veins screamed. His bones rattled.
Still—he endured.
The Mysterious Yellow Flame screamed and lunged, a spear of fire streaking toward his core.
---
Boom.
The chamber lit up like a lightning strike.
Flame slammed into his core. Pain lanced through him. Dou Qi howled. Bones cracked. Nerves ignited.
His robe turned to ash. His arms glowed yellow, skin cracking like molten pottery. Blood ran down his chin. He didn't scream.
He gritted his teeth and drove deeper.
He would not burn.
He would conquer.
---
> [Refinement Progress: 17%... 39%... 58%...]
The flame writhed.
It clawed at his spirit, tried to rupture his foundation.
Still, he pressed on.
> "This is my house," he muttered. "Burn all you like. I'll still be standing."
His flesh began to shine—like a statue being forged by divine fire, breaking and remaking itself again and again.
> [Progress: 73%... 86%...]
Visions came.
A pale yellow wildfire swallowing a forest.
Mountains melting into rivers of magma.
A man kneeling before a furnace, crowned in flame.
Memories not his own. Imprints left by the flame across time.
---
Then—stillness.
The resistance vanished.
The flame didn't die—it bowed. Coiled inside him like a loyal serpent wrapping around a throne.
> [Refinement Complete: 100%]
[Heavenly Flame Absorbed: Mysterious Yellow Flame – Rank 23]
[Bonus: 100,000 Sign-In Points Awarded]
---
Ranyu didn't grin. Didn't laugh.
He exhaled.
Calm. Heavy.
A soft glow faded from his body. The runes dimmed.
Then the second wave hit.
> [Breakthrough: Dou Grandmaster – 1 Star → 2 Star → 3 Star → 4 Star]
The stone beneath him fractured in concentric rings. Pressure crushed the chamber walls. His core pulsed—larger, heavier, blazing bright.
He opened his eyes.
And saw clearly.
The Bone-Chilling Flame still hovered in one corner of his spiritual sea, silent and cruel.
The Gold Emperor Incinerating Flame lay deeper, vast and ancient.
> "Not yet," he whispered. "Touching you now would mean death."
He flexed his fingers. Cracked his neck.
> "But soon."
---
He stood.
Ash flaked off him like old skin. The yellow flame danced around his shoulder, no longer wild—only loyal.
With a flick of his fingers, it formed a palm-sized flame, twisting like it remembered what it used to be.
> "Tamed, but not weak," he said softly.
It growled.
> "Good. Stay mad. I like my weapons angry."
The flame slithered back into his palm.
---
Then something… strange.
A ripple of warmth.
Low. Coiled. Dangerous.
> "...What now?"
A quick internal scan. He found the spike in his lower dantian.
> "Yang imbalance?"
His expression twitched.
> "Seriously?"
> [Note: Heavenly Flame carries latent aphrodisiac properties. Effect neutralized due to host age.]
He sighed.
> "Of course. Can't wait to deal with that at sixteen."
A mental note added: Craft pills to balance future flame-related yang disruptions.
---
Then—
> [Reminder: Saved Skills Available – Balance: 101,130 Points]
He smiled, this time with sharp intent.
> "Good."
His fingers crackled with yellow fire. His steps echoed against scorched stone.
> "Let's go shopping."
> "I've earned it."