Xiao Yan’s gaze intently watched the three wisps of tiny flames between his fingers. After a moment, he lifted his head and gave Lin Yan, who was at the bow of the ship, an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid you’ll need to continue controlling the spatial boat for the remaining time. I still need to take the final step in cultivating this Dou Technique.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yan nodded with a smile. “It’s no big deal. Just focus on your cultivation. As long as there are no accidents, we should be about ten days away from the end of the wormhole. You’ll need to wake up before we exit, as there will be some turbulence that could disturb you.”
Xiao Yan smiled slightly and turned his gaze back to the three tiny flames, his expression becoming increasingly serious. Whether or not he could successfully cultivate the Flame Manipulation Technique depended on whether he could continue to use the Destruction Lotus. This was Xiao Yan’s powerful weapon. If he lost its effectiveness, the loss would be significant.
“Merge…”
Exhaling lightly, Xiao Yan’s eyes closed again. The three wisps of tiny beast flames zipped into his body.
His mind sank into his body, observing the three tiny beast flames roaming around within the emerald-green flame. However, whenever they approached the Lotus Heart Flame, they would retreat in alarm, like subjects seeing their king, filled with fear.
Xiao Yan’s mind closely watched the three strands of beast fire that had been refined over twenty days without rest. After a while, he made up his mind and issued a command from his heart.
As the order was given, an invisible force surged out, tightly gripping the three flames and violently smashing them together!
“Bang!”
The three beast fires collided, each bursting with resistance, spreading a multicolored flame wave. When it touched the tightly enclosed emerald flames, it was gradually suppressed by the Lotus Heart Flame.
Xiao Yan, undaunted by the explosive flames, used his mind to forcefully merge the three beast fires into one!
Forced together, the resistance of the three flames increased. The once calm flames bubbled like boiling water, as if about to explode.
This dramatic change did not shake Xiao Yan. He had experienced far more perilous moments when creating the Buddha’s Wrath Fire Lotus. Any slight mistake then could have been fatal. Compared to that, these three beast fires were child’s play.
Still, it was a necessary step in cultivating the Flame Manipulation Technique, so Xiao Yan needed to give it his all.
With experience merging different flames, Xiao Yan didn’t flounder this time. His soul force intruded into the merged flames like lightning.
As soon as the soul force entered the flames, it felt the violent energy inside, like an impending volcanic eruption. The three flames resisted each other, and each collision increased the violence. At this rate, an explosion seemed inevitable.
Sensing the impending eruption, Xiao Yan became increasingly serious. His mind moved, and the emerald-green flames surrounding the three condensed, drastically increasing the pressure!
As the pressure intensified, the fiery violence within the flames multiplied. Though it was about to burst, Xiao Yan didn’t reduce the pressure.
“Bang!”
Under the terrifying pressure, the forcibly merged flames could no longer resist. A muffled sound erupted, like a volcano, and the flames exploded!
The explosion spread in a strong wave, striking the Lotus Heart Flame. The force caused the Lotus Heart Flame to violently shake.
The massive force was entirely directed at the Lotus Heart Flame, but fortunately, Xiao Yan was prepared, preventing the force from spreading. Otherwise, even with his physical strength, he would have been severely injured.
Though the explosion had been resisted, this fusion seemed unsuccessful. Within the emerald flame, the three beast fires had dissipated, leaving only three tiny wicks. These wicks flickered like candle flames, as if they could be extinguished by a breath.
Looking at the three wicks, Xiao Yan sighed in relief, then chuckled. His mind moved, and the three wicks floated and touched each other.
This contact didn’t trigger the previous violent reaction. Controlled by Xiao Yan’s soul force, the three wicks quietly merged. Under a precisely applied external pressure, the flame molecules showed signs of starting to fuse!
This minuscule change was still detected by Xiao Yan’s soul force. He felt a surge of joy, stabilized his mind, and maintained the specific pressure, gradually fusing the three wicks completely…
This fusion was not a quick process. It required sustained, stable pressure and precise control of any subtle changes. With Xiao Yan’s abilities, these steps could be completed, and everything now depended on time.
As Xiao Yan fused the three beast fires, the days passed. In a blink, nine days had gone by, and after nearly thirty days, the spatial boat neared the end of the wormhole.
Lin Yan sat at the bow, infusing a bit of Dou Qi into the boat. Rubbing his forehead, he appeared tired. The nearly month-long navigation wasn’t too draining, but it was mentally taxing.
“Just one more day until we exit the wormhole. Is this guy still not done?” Lin Yan glanced at Xiao Yan in the cabin and looked at the excited boats around him. He couldn’t help but sigh; he had practically been Xiao Yan’s navigator for a month.
“Exiting the wormhole will cause violent spatial fluctuations. Xiao Yan will definitely be disturbed. If it causes his Dou Qi to go haywire, that won’t be good.” Lin Yan mulled for a moment and sighed. “If he doesn’t wake up by the time we exit, I’ll have to force him awake.”
Deciding, Lin Yan focused, maintaining the boat’s steady speed. It shot like a beam of light towards the end of the wormhole.
A day passed, but Xiao Yan still showed no signs of waking up. Lin Yan’s face grew anxious. He sensed the spatial energy thickening, indicating they were close to the exit.
In the distance, he could faintly see a silver-ringed circular glow. Glancing at Xiao Yan, Lin Yan steeled himself and strode towards him.
Entering the cabin, Lin Yan’s hand shot toward Xiao Yan’s shoulder. But just as it was about to land, a bolt of emerald flame shot out from Xiao Yan, directly at Lin Yan!
Lin Yan’s face changed. He felt the terrifying energy within the emerald flame and dodged it with a quick, ugly move.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a hot wind struck his back. Turning his head in terror, he saw an emerald flame rapidly expanding in his eyes.
At such close range, even with his agile moves, Lin Yan couldn’t dodge. He could only watch as the flame shot toward him.
“Stop!”
But just as the emerald flame was about to hit, a soft voice rang in the cabin. The flame obediently halted, though its heat still burned Lin Yan’s back. He quickly jumped away.
Glancing at the emerald flame, Lin Yan turned to Xiao Yan, who had opened his eyes, and sighed. “You finally woke up.”
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded, drawing the emerald flame into his body. Fingering it, a pale, bony flame wisp darted out.
This pale flame was the result of the successful fusion of the three beast fires and would become the new Flame of Transformation. Xiao Yan’s ability to use the Destruction Lotus now depended on this small flame.
Satisfied, Xiao Yan stored the pale flame and stepped out of the cabin, gazing at the silver glow in the distance. He smiled.
“Alchemist Territory, Three Thousand Bright Flames, here I come…”
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