Chapter 54: Flame Mantra Evolves, Breakthrough

Xiao Yan's brow furrowed slightly as he watched the Nihility Devouring Flame nibbling at the Monster Core like a cute kitten munching on dried fish. He thought, 'Although this Nihility Devouring Flame is indeed a Heavenly Flame, the energy it contains is far less than that of a true Heavenly Flame.'

'However, it's exactly because of this that I can still refine it smoothly even with my current Dou Practitioner strength."

Seeing the Nihility Devouring Flame devour an entire Rank 2 Monster Core and swell its belly into a small round ball, there was no doubt that this little creature could grow just like other Heavenly Flames.

As recorded in the Heavenly Flame Ranking, the Green Lotus Core Flame took ten years to gain spirit, one hundred years to take shape, and one thousand years to turn into a lotus. When it was fully mature, its color would tilt toward the green side, and the lotus core would form a cluster of green flames called 'Green Lotus Flame.'

It took a thousand years for the Green Lotus Core Flame to be born.

However, the Nihility Devouring Flame was extremely unique. Whereas other Heavenly Flames needed special environments and could only grow by absorbing the purest and most special energies from heaven and earth, the Nihility Devouring Flame was like a black hole. It didn't discriminate and could absorb anything it could consume.

Therefore, the growth rate of the Nihility Devouring Flame was extraordinarily fast. Even in a place devoid of anything like the void, the Nihility Devouring Flame could still grow.

The Seed Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame naturally shared this trait. Its second characteristic was the ability to devour anything and then transform it into Nihility Black Flame to nourish itself.

Xiao Yan didn't know why, but he always felt like the Hun Clan was using the Nihility Devouring Flame as part of a bigger scheme…

"All right, little one, now that you've had your fill, it's time to get to work," Xiao Yan said with a smile as he reached out his finger and stroked the Nihility Devouring Flame.

The Nihility Devouring Flame, resembling a noble lazy cat, stepped into the void and entered his Acceptance Soul.

'The ability to transverse the empty space is a skill that only a Dou Ancestor could achieve, yet this newly born Nihility Devouring Flame Seed Flame can already do it.'

'This thing called talent can be seriously frustrating.'

This little Heavenly Flame was already capable of something that only elite Dou Ancestor could do, which was truly terrifying!

Xiao Yan stopped his wandering thoughts and sat cross-legged as he felt the Nihility Devouring Flame enter the Acceptance Soul.

The Nihility Devouring Flame had indeed been refined, but the most important step had not yet been completed.

The evolution of the Flame Mantra!

'The current level of the Flame Mantra barely reaches the weakest of the High Huang Class Qi Methods. However, the gap between Huang Class and Xuan Class is greater than the sum of the previous three levels combined. I hope the Nihility Devouring Flame can lend a bit of strength, and I would be grateful to the heavens if it could reach the Xuan Class.'

Xiao Yan quickly focused his mind and began to slowly circulate his Qi Method. The Qi cyclone started up like an engine as the Flame Mantra operated.

At this moment, the Nihility Devouring Flame inside the Acceptance Soul shed its lazy demeanor and became like an enraged black cat, its fur standing on end as strands of black flame burst forth from within the Acceptance Soul in an explosive manner.

Under the circulation of the Flame Mantra, the yellow Qi cyclone began to merge with the strands of black flame! Even the small amount of Bone Chilling Flame present in the Qi cyclone began to merge at this time.

After one complete cycle of cultivation through the Flame Mantra's pathways, all the Dou Qi had almost fully integrated into one. The originally yellow Dou Qi had completely transformed into a deep ink-black color.

Moreover, on the surface of this deep ink-black Dou Qi, one could see tiny black flames rising like hairs!

Ink-black Dou Qi! A Low Xuan Class Qi Method!

The Flame Mantra had successfully evolved!!

Not only that. The Qi cyclone also underwent a transformation with the successful evolution of the Flame Mantra. Whether it was due to the Nihility Devouring Flame or not, the Qi cyclone became more and more viscous until it finally turned into a liquid!

'Qi cyclone liquefaction! Dou Master realm!'

Xiao Yan had only recently broken through to a 9-star Dou Practitioner. He initially thought it would take some time to compress the Dou Qi in his Qi cyclone into liquid and break through to the Dou Master realm. Unexpectedly, when the black flames of the Nihility Devouring Flame merged during the evolution of his Qi Method, they inadvertently completed this step for him!

The compression of the Qi cyclone was also accomplished by the Nihility Devouring Flame, thus allowing him to break through directly into the Dou Master realm!

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, and a flicker of black flame passed through them in a brief but vivid manner.

There was no doubt that if he wished to use the Nihility Devouring Flame now, he could do so at will.

However, the power of this black flame might be far less than that of a true Heavenly Flame.

Yet, he wasn't worried. The growth rate of the Nihility Devouring Flame Seed Flame was much faster than that of a true Heavenly Flame, and he believed that given time, he could certainly foster its growth.

'Joining the Hall of Souls brought me not just the Seed Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame and the evolution of the Flame Mantra, but also two stages up!' Even Xiao Yan was amazed by his gains this time.

At the very least, from the perspective of what he had gained, this gamble had paid off for him.

Risk and opportunity did indeed exist side by side!

Xiao Yan opened his palm and with a thought, a wisp of black flame appeared with a whoosh.

'Condensing real fire! This is something only a 4th-tier Alchemist or a Dou Spirit could achieve!' Xiao Yan couldn't express how thrilled he was when he saw this ball of black flame in front of him.

Although it was just borrowed fire, and he was far from being a 4th-tier alchemist, not even a 3rd-tier one, he couldn't hide the excitement in his heart.

If he encountered an enemy, throwing out this black flame could likely reduce the opponent to nothingness, leaving not even bones behind.

With a thud, Xiao Yan didn't hesitate to take out his medicinal cauldron and pulled out a set of 3rd-tier medicinal ingredients from his storage ring.

After throwing the black flames into the cauldron and feeding it with Dou Qi as fuel, he began to pour in the medicinal ingredients while watching the Nihility Black Flame in the medicinal cauldron obey his control.

'No wonder a Heavenly Flame is the greatest dream of countless alchemists; this speed of refining ingredients is more than twice as fast.'

Even though this was only the Seed Flame giving Xiao Yan some of its fire, not its true form, the speed of refining the ingredients already left him in shock. Some ingredients that couldn't be melted before were now visibly reduced to ashes by the black flame.

Unfortunately, his attempt at alchemy ended in failure. The reason was simple: while using the Nihility Devouring Flame did speed up the process, this accelerated refining speed also meant that he couldn't keep up with the rhythm, causing the alchemy process to fail.

Even though the alchemy attempt failed, Xiao Yan felt only one thing in his heart at this moment: exhilaration!

He sprang up with a carp flip, clenched his fists, and threw a few punches into the air. The whooshing sound of the wind underscored how his strength had increased leaps and bounds from before.

'Being a Dou Master is indeed worlds apart from being a Dou Practitioner,' Xiao Yan couldn't help but recall the Dou Masters he had defeated despite being in a lower realm. To think that with such physical strength, they still lost. They must have been pretty weak...

After advancing to the Dou Master realm, the liquid energy that penetrated every bone and flesh in his body was almost like a transformation, gradually imbuing him with robust strength.

This was also why Dou Masters could utilize a Dou Qi cloak.

"Octane Blast!"

"Flame Splitting Tsunami!"

"Black Flame Cloak!"

Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction as he saw a layer of Dou Qi cloak as thin as cicada wings appear around his body, with tiny flames dancing upon it.

"From today onwards, I am a true Dou Master!"

Becoming a Dou Master meant that he had left the common ranks behind. Although Dou Masters were still considered a relatively lower echelon on the continent, they were undoubtedly much more formidable and higher in status compared to the lowest Dou Practitioners. Most importantly, he was still young. He had plenty of time ahead of him to strive for greater heights!

Xiao Yan picked up the Soul Command, which indicated not a Tian Class but a Low Di Class rating. After all, his earlier Tian Class rating was a kind of backdoor entry, part of a Bet-on Agreement with Hun Huzi.

He licked his lips. Though he had indeed received the Tian Class rating reward from Hun Huzi, he had reached Di Class on his own strength. The Soul Points he earned were definitely not going to be left unused.

"11060. There are so many Soul Points. I might be able to exchange them for something useful."