Chapter 18

Xiao Se shook his head and smiled, "I'm fine, just a little exhausted. Do you know what just happened?"

"Longkui doesn't know." Longkui slightly lifted her beautiful pale chin, her gaze dodging a bit.

"Longkui, can you also transform into red?" Xiao Se asked.

"Brother, I—"

Before Longkui could finish, Xiao Se continued, "Brother doesn't dislike you. No matter what form you take, you'll always be my closest family."

"Mm." Longkui nodded lightly.

"Can I see what you look like when you're red?" Xiao Se asked with curiosity.

"This..." Longkui hesitated slightly before her body burst into red light. In an instant, her hair, flowing celestial dress, and pupils all turned red, and even her body seemed to grow a bit.

At the same time, her entire aura underwent a complete transformation.

If the blue Longkui was gentle, shy, and quiet, then the red Longkui was fierce, bold, and confident.

"Brother..." The transformation into red Longkui was complete.

Although still a soul form, Xiao Se couldn't feel any warmth. After a while, red Longkui seemed to have had enough fun teasing and let go of Xiao Se.

Seeing Xiao Se's face flushed red, red Longkui pinched his cheeks, "Wow, brother, your face is so soft. I didn't expect you to be this handsome and cute in this lifetime."

Cough Xiao Se cleared his throat, suppressing the urge to have a nosebleed. "Longkui, in the future, please be mindful."

"Giggle..." Red Longkui's playful laughter filled the air as she leaned close to Xiao Se's ear, whispering, "I'll only ever do this to you, brother."

Suppressing the urge to act impulsively, Xiao Se tapped her on the head. "Longkui, girls should be modest. You can't act like this. And pull up your clothes. Look at how well you do it in blue form—very modest."

Red Longkui rubbed her head, which didn't really hurt, and pouted, arguing, "But I clearly heard your heartbeat race, which, according to male biological responses, means brother wanted to push Longkui down."

She glanced away and whispered, "The size of the clothes isn't my fault. I wear the same outfit in both forms. It's just that my... assets are bigger."

"Hey, I heard that, Longkui. Be careful, or I'll tell your blue self!" Xiao Se teased.

"Brother, no!" Red Longkui hurriedly stopped him. "If you tell her, she'll get angry and won't let me come out anymore."

Seeing her anxious face, Xiao Se smiled gently, pulling her into a hug and softly said, "Don't worry. Whether you're red or blue, I'll always protect you. Thank you for using your soul power to heal my damaged meridians. But I don't want you using it so carelessly next time."

Red Longkui's power came from the thousand-year ghost energy in the Sword of Immortals world. However, in this world, there was only soul power and fighting energy. Soul power recovered very slowly, unless there were rare medicines like Seven Spirit Phantom Elixir. Using a little meant losing a little.

"Brother, Longkui understands," she replied softly. But deep down, she knew that if Xiao Se were in danger again, she wouldn't hesitate to save him.

A flash of blue light signaled her return to her blue form. Blue Longkui snuggled into Xiao Se's embrace. Though a bit shy, she didn't move away. Wrapping her arms around him, she quietly asked, "Brother, what did you talk about with my red self? She… didn't do anything inappropriate, did she?"

Knowing the difference between their personalities, Blue Longkui could already imagine her red form doing something mischievous to Xiao Se behind her back.

Cough "Nothing much... Red is nice too. No matter which version of you, you're both wonderful," Xiao Se replied, giving her a thumbs-up.

Hearing this, Blue Longkui breathed a sigh of relief, then changed the subject, "Brother, now that you've successfully subdued the original beast flame from the fifth-tier Flame Devouring Serpent, why not test its power?"

Xiao Se nodded. Raising his right hand, he circulated his internal energy through his meridians, channeling it to his palm, where a pale blue flame ignited.

The moment the flame appeared, the temperature in the stone room rose noticeably.

"Is this beast flame?" Longkui stared wide-eyed at the pale blue flame in Xiao Se's hand, fascinated by the change in temperature.

"Yes," Xiao Se nodded, then handed her a storage ring that was red on the outside and blue inside. "Longkui, I'm going to start absorbing this beast flame to advance my cultivation. You can either go back into the sword space, or stay here and read, do embroidery, or whatever you like. This ring contains everything you need."

"Thank you, brother," Longkui said, taking the ring with a smile, knowing there wouldn't be much danger now.

Two hours later, Xiao Se had successfully absorbed the beast flame. His previously yellow energy spiral had now turned pale blue.

"I can't believe my cultivation directly jumped from the first star of Dou Zhe to the fourth star, and my Flame Art has evolved from low yellow rank to mid-yellow rank. This beast flame may not be as high-level as the purple flame that Xiao Yan cultivated with the Amethyst Source in the original story, but as the original beast flame from a fifth-tier Flame Devouring Serpent , its energy is far more intense."

Before, after nearly a month of hard training, Xiao Se was just a step away from reaching the second star of Fighter. But after absorbing the beast flame, he not only broke through that barrier but also advanced two additional stars.

"Brother, I can feel how much stronger you've become." Longkui, who had been reading, ran to his side, hugging his arm in excitement.

"Mm, I've definitely grown stronger. Now I can properly train in the Red Flame Sword technique." Xiao Se nodded, raising his right hand and forming a long, ancient sword out of pale blue flame.

[Ding, your monthly exchange opportunity has been refreshed. Congratulations, host, you've gained one exchange chance.]

Xiao Se took out a scroll and mentally commanded, "System, redeem this scroll."

What Xiao Se needed most now was battle techniques. One advanced xuan-rank technique like the Red Flame Sword wasn't enough.

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