Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 104: Chapter 104 — The Changes Within

Chapter 104 — The Changes Within

Victor sat back down on the stone floor, his back resting lightly against the wall as he continued investigating the changes caused by the Twin Flame Flower.

There was still too much he didn’t understand.

The strange Soul Chain. The connection between their inner worlds. And, perhaps most importantly, the changes to his Black Flame.

Victor reached for the book he had previously found in Samal’s room and flipped through the pages again. He reread the section concerning the Twin Flame Flower, paying closer attention to the information he had initially overlooked.

One passage caught his attention.

Soul power will be strengthened through the bond.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

”That’s interesting.”

He had already noticed that his control over the Black Flame had improved, but he hadn’t actually tested how much it had changed.

There was only one way to find out.

Victor raised his right hand.

A tiny black flame appeared above his palm.

He focused his attention entirely on it.

Previously, one minute had been his absolute limit.

Fifty-eight.

Fifty-nine.

Sixty.

Victor waited for the flame to disappear.

It didn’t.

His eyes widened slightly.

The flame continued burning.

Seventy.

Eighty.

Victor’s expression slowly changed from concentration to disbelief.

He kept going.

The flame finally flickered.

Victor watched it carefully before it disappeared.

One minute and twenty-six seconds.

He stared at his empty palm.

”One minute and twenty-six seconds...”

That was far beyond what he had been capable of before.

For a Tier One flame, one minute had been his previous limit. Breaking past that threshold should have required a significant increase in soul power or control.

Yet he had done it without advancing his flame to Tier Two.

Victor couldn’t help but smile.

The improvement was enormous.

For a moment, he was tempted to immediately test what this meant for alchemy.

But he stopped himself.

There were still too many things he didn’t understand.

Until he figured out what had happened between him and Lyra, experimenting with everything at once probably wasn’t the smartest idea.

Victor dismissed the thought and looked over his shoulder.

Lyra was watching him.

Her purple eyes were fixed on his hand.

Every so often, she raised her own hand and attempted to summon her black flame.

Her expression darkened.

Victor watched silently.

He wanted to help.

But he already knew how that conversation would go.

Here, let me show you.

I don’t need your help, human.

And then probably an insult.

Maybe a threat.

Maybe both.

Besides, he didn’t even know whether his method of cultivating the Black Flame would work for her. Her flame came from her Shadow Fox bloodline, and there was no telling whether her clan had its own method for nurturing it.

Perhaps their records contained something that could help her.

For now, however, she couldn’t seem to summon it at all.

Victor returned his attention to himself.

Roughly eighteen hours had passed since they had awakened with the Soul Chain connecting them.

And there had been another change.

Victor looked down.

The chain seemed slightly longer than before.

When they had first awakened, the maximum distance between them had been roughly six feet.

Now...

Victor carefully tested it.

Six and a half feet.

He stopped.

The chain had grown by roughly half a foot.

Victor smiled faintly.

So it really is growing.

That changed things.

If the chain continued increasing in length, perhaps they wouldn’t be trapped together forever.

It might simply take time.

Victor glanced toward Lyra again.

She immediately glared at him.

He quickly looked away.

”Right.”

He wasn’t going to ask.

There was no point.

Victor could, however, sense something else through the connection.

Lyra’s injuries were healing quickly.

At her current rate, he estimated another four or five days before she could move around normally again.

That meant they would probably be stuck inside the chamber for roughly a week.

Victor sighed.

Well, I’ve had worse vacations.

He couldn’t practice Flash Step.

He couldn’t practice Monkey Fist.

There simply wasn’t enough room, and with Lyra attached to his right hand, attempting either technique would be asking for trouble.

So there was only one reasonable option.

Cultivation.

Victor closed his eyes.

He began circulating Spiritual Energy through his body, allowing his Rank Nine Core to slowly absorb the surrounding energy.

Beside him, Lyra did the same.

Lyra focused on her own inner world.

Her gaze rested on her Core.

Peak Rank Ten.

She had reached the absolute limit of her cultivation.

No matter how much Spiritual Energy she absorbed, her cultivation refused to advance any further.

There was a reason for that.

For thousands of years, the Shadow Fox Clan had been unable to break beyond the peak of the Tempered Beast Realm.

Generation after generation had reached the same ceiling.

And now Lyra had reached it as well.

She couldn’t go any higher.

Victor could sense that something about her cultivation had stopped progressing, but he didn’t understand why.

He considered asking.

Then decided against it.

It wasn’t his place.

They barely knew each other.

And considering how their previous conversations had gone, asking Lyra about her cultivation would probably earn him another glare at best.

So Victor kept quiet.

The hours passed.

Neither of them spoke.

The chamber remained almost completely silent.

Every conversation he started with Lyra seemed to end the same way.

An insult.

A glare.

Or a threat.

Sometimes all three.

So he had learned to keep his mouth shut.

For now, silence was perfectly acceptable.

Eventually, though, they would need to talk.

They couldn’t stay inside Samal’s chamber forever.

They needed to figure out what the Twin Flame Flower had done to them.

And, eventually, they needed to decide where they would go next.

Victor opened his eyes.

He glanced at Lyra.

She was still cultivating.

His gaze dropped to the purple-and-black chain connecting their hands.

There was no point rushing things.

For now, they could wait.

At least neither of them was trying to kill the other.

For now, that was enough.