Battle Through the Heavens

At the dining table, Xiao Yan shot a crooked glance at the ferocious eater sitting in front of him. As Xiao Yu ate, her silver teeth made crunching sounds. Curling his lips, Xiao Yan recalled the previous peculiar yet splendid feeling and his right hand’s fingers couldn’t help but stroke the hollow of his palm.

Seated across from him, Xiao Yu, who had been staring maliciously at Xiao Yan the entire time, saw his movements and her charming face turned red again.

Looking weirdly at Xiao Yu grinding her teeth, and then seeing the nearby Xiao Yan’s nonchalant attitude, Xun Er wrinkled her eyebrows in suspicion. Soon after, she shook her head helplessly, and little by little swallowed the food in front of her.

Xiao Yan’s gaze skipped over Xiao Yu and stopped on the body of Xiao Ning. At this moment, Xiao Ning’s face was filled with joy; the curves on his mouth almost extended halfway across his face. Fingers lightly tapping the edge of the table, Xiao Yan, taking delight in other people’s misfortunes thought to himself: “This guy should have already received the Foundation Elixir, right? Little does he know, the elixir doesn’t have much of an effect to those at 8th Duan Qi or above…”

Laughing quietly to himself, Xiao Yan’s line of sight swept over the surroundings in a somewhat bored manner. Looking at his smiling father, his heart was bewildered: “The family communal meal, isn’t it only held during certain holidays? What’s there to be so festive for today? Could it be that spending a large amount of money to buy the Foundation Elixir is an event worthy of being celebrated?”

Letting his imagination run wild, Xiao Yan naturally didn’t know that this family communal meal was because of the words said by the mysterious black-cloaked person about collaborating with Xiao Clan if there was ever an opportunity to.

Working together with a second tier or higher alchemist would earn them profits that would make most people’s eyes red with envy. It was even possible that the family could thereby leap up in rank, rising higher than the other two great families. Thus, it was no surprise that the usual steady and calm father would be so happy. And for those several other elders, they were even more so, grinning from ear to ear. Looking at their half closed old eyes, it was evident that this good fortune that had dropped out of the sky made them somewhat dazed.

The festive mood at the communal meal slowly faded and upon seeing his father’s wave of farewell, Xiao Yan promptly jumped out of his chair. He then rushed out of the hall and went straight to his room.

Not long after Xiao Yan left, Xiao Yu clenched her teeth and chased after him but could not find a single shadow. Helpless, she could only stamp her feet in hatred and left with a heart filled with rage.

……

Returning to his room and having learned the hard way from his own personal experience, Xiao Yan did not yet ask Lao Yao to immediately refine the medicine. After closing the door and window, he lazily rolled onto his bed and feeling muddle-headed, fell asleep.

Late at night, after everyone had fallen asleep, lying on the bed, Xiao Yan opened his two eyes. He eagerly jumped off the bed and took out the hidden away ingredients from the cupboard. Carefully placing them on the table, he turned his head. Looking towards Yao Lao, the ghost that was floating a foot off of the ground, Xiao Yan gently asked: “Teacher, you’re ready now, right?”

“At long last you’ve learned how to be a bit careful; refining pills requires an extremely quiet environment. If I am disturbed, the consequences are very severe. Right now, I won’t feel any retaliation damage, but later when you begin learning alchemy, if you continue to be careless, then I’m afraid you will lose your little life a bit sooner rather than later.” Yao Lao walked to one side of the table and gently touched each ingredient with his ghostly palm. Nodding his head slightly, his dull tone of voice carried a little bit of severity.

Lowering his head in shame, Xiao Yan scratched his head as he received the instructions.

Only after seeing Xiao Yan’s obedience, did Yao Lao heave a sigh of relief. He drearily spread out his palms and a white flame burst forth.

With his soul perception continuously controlling the fire’s temperature, Yao Lao took advantage of the idle time and cast a glance at Xiao Yan who was staring curiously at the fire in Yao Lao’s palm. Slightly hesitating, Yao Lao quietly whispered: “The ranks of most alchemists can be distinguished from the color of their flame.”

“Ordinary alchemists have flames with a faint yellow color. As their rank increases, the flame color turns darker and the strength of the flame grows stronger.”

Having heard what was said, Xiao Yan blinked, pointed at the flame in Yao Lao’s hands and asked: “Then teacher, why is yours white?”

“Haha, what I previously said was for the commonly-seen alchemist flames. However within the alchemist circle, besides relying on Dou Qi as a catalyst for the flame, there is also another method….” Yao Lao smiled with a hint of pride.

“That is, borrowing the flame!”

“Borrowing the flame?” They weren’t unfamiliar words. He understood what each word meant, but Xiao Yan was at a loss. How can one borrow the flame needed to refine pills?

“That’s right, borrowing the flame.” Nodding his head, Yao Lao chuckled: “Within this boundless world, there exists some heaven and earth Heavenly Flames. Perhaps the flame came from within a meteor that fell from the heavens or perhaps the flame came from the depths of a volcano, forged through hundreds of thousands of years by the lava… the power of these Heavenly Flames is many times greater than the power of flames created through Dou Qi. Refining pills with these flames can even increase the effectiveness of the medicine. Only, these heaven and earth Heavenly Flames are exceedingly violent and are seldom to come by. And even if you see one, it is extremely difficult to control.”

“A lot of alchemists spend their entire lives searching for these Heavenly Flames and still fail to obtain one. After all, in order to control a Heavenly Flame, you need to bring the flame into your body; however, the nature of the flame is wildly destructive. Even the Magic Gold Diamond which is one of the hardest metals, is unable to contain the Heavenly Flame’s heat and your fragile human body …. You would burn yourself alive. Therefore, only the extremely few lucky winners can, by chance, refine a small amount of Heavenly Flame. Once the flame join together with the body, these types of people, without an exception are people of outstanding talent within the alchemist world.”

Stunned for a long while, Xiao Yan licked his lips, his gaze was closely watching the white flame in Yao Lao’s palm and could faintly feel an ice-cold sensation.

“Teacher’s flame must be a type of Heavenly Flame, right?” Xiao Yan inquired.

“He he.” Lifting up his flame, Yao Lao’s face gave off a light glow. Eyes blazing, he spoke: “In the Dou Qi Mainland’s alchemist society, the known Heavenly Flames are ranked in the “Heavenly Flames Ranking”. There are a total of 23 types and my flame is ranked 11, known as the “Bone Chilling Flame”. This type of Heavenly Flame only appears every hundred years, when the eclipse occurs in the extreme cold and extreme Yin intersect……”

“Bone Chilling Flame?”

Without blinking, Xiao Yan stared at that surging white flame and softly murmured to himself.