Entering the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower, the bright light immediately dimmed. Xiao Yan raised his gaze and saw Su Qian standing there, seemingly waiting for them. Seeing Xiao Yan enter first, Su Qian smiled at him. Observing the calm expression on the former’s face, he felt a bit relieved and nodded, silently praising, “This… young man, not only has astonishing talent, but also a resilient character. His achievements are not accidental.”
Shortly after Xiao Yan entered, Lin Yan, Lin Xiu Ya, and others followed one after another. The eleven of them stopped in front of Su Qian. Apart from Zi Yan, who looked impatient, most of the others appeared somewhat excited.
“Hey, Xiao Yan, I’ve run out of food. After we get out of here, you have to make more for me.” Zi Yan ignored Su Qian, hopping over to Xiao Yan’s side, tugging at his sleeve, and flicking her light purple ponytail, she muttered, “I hate coming to this tower.”
“Okay,” Xiao Yan smiled and nodded. He knew that Zi Yan was a magical beast, so she had a slight aversion to flames. The so-called Inner Flame Tempering Body Technique had little effect on her, as she had already advanced to the Dou Wang level. But it was better than nothing, and a free body tempering session still had some benefits. Therefore, Zi Yan did not oppose it; although she was simple-minded, she could still distinguish such things.
Su Qian cleared his throat, gave a disapproving look at the indifferent Zi Yan, and then turned his gaze to Xiao Yan and the others, speaking with a serious tone, “Follow me closely, do not walk alone. When we reach the lower levels of the tower, do not wander around. Do not investigate any movement, or I will disqualify you. Understand?”
Hearing this, everyone, though a bit surprised, still nodded.
Seeing their nods, Su Qian turned around and led the way. The route he took was different from the usual path; he directly entered through the special iron door that Xiao Yan had once entered during his first visit.
Looking at Su Qian’s route, Xiao Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that behind the iron door lay a vast dark cavern, and within that bottomless black hole, the true Falling Heart Flame lurked!
With a mix of emotions, Xiao Yan followed Su Qian into the heavily guarded iron door. Inside, faint, dim light illuminated the vast space, making it somewhat hazy. Despite the dim light, it did not hinder Xiao Yan from seeing the spacious opening in the center.
The others, too, looked around curiously. Even Liu Qing and Lin Xiu Ya were entering this place for the first time. Their gazes soon rested on the dark, deep hole in the center. Though they were full of curiosity, remembering Su Qian’s instructions, they did not dare to leave their ranks and investigate.
Xiao Yan’s gaze remained fixed on the dark hole for a while before he reluctantly pulled his attention back and followed Su Qian. The path Su Qian led them on was along the edge of the vast space, quite far from the central black hole. Nevertheless, Xiao Yan and the others could feel an intense heat.
After walking along the edge for a few minutes, Su Qian led the group into a dimly lit, winding, downward passage. As they descended, Xiao Yan could tell they were going deeper into the bottom of the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower.
The security in this staircase was extremely tight, shocking Xiao Yan and the others. Almost every few minutes, they encountered a guard standing like a statue. The tight security, combined with the dim atmosphere, made several of them swallow nervously. If not for their trust in the inner courtyard, they might have doubted if Su Qian was leading them to some kind of trap…
In this oppressive atmosphere, no one felt like talking, except for Zi Yan, who kept chattering to Xiao Yan. Everyone else had tense expressions, and the only sound in the corridor was their somewhat ragged and heavy breathing.
This oppressive journey lasted nearly half an hour before the dim light at the end of the passage finally broke the silence.
“We’re here!” Su Qian’s calm voice, as he quickly approached the end, instantly invigorated everyone. They hurried their steps, and soon, they rushed out.
Stepping out of the dim passage, the blinding light made Xiao Yan and the others instinctively close their eyes. They quickly reopened them, and upon looking around, they were all surprised.
This was an extremely spacious and empty tower space, covering a vast area. It was even larger than any of the upper floors. With few training chambers, it looked quite empty.
Xiao Yan’s gaze roamed, and after a moment, settled on the center, where a massive cave opening, about dozens of meters wide, was located. As he slowly moved his gaze up, he noticed another similarly large opening near the top, almost precisely aligned with the deep hole below. Clearly, each floor of the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower had such a hole, and these holes were interconnected.
“It seems that the deepest part of this hole is where the Falling Heart Flame’s body resides. I wonder which floor this is…” Xiao Yan mused.
“Everyone, follow me,” Su Qian said, glancing around and then waving for Xiao Yan and the others to follow as he walked toward the center of the open space. Seeing this, Xiao Yan’s eyes lit up, and he followed closely.
As they neared the central black hole, Xiao Yan could feel an unusual temperature enveloping them. When they were about twenty meters from the hole, Su Qian stopped. He waved his hand, and two figures suddenly appeared, stopping about ten meters away from the hole.
Xiao Yan glanced at the two figures. They were clearly elders of the inner courtyard, but they rarely showed themselves, so even he had never seen them before.
“Take a seat,” Su Qian pointed to the ground, where eleven specially made jade platforms, green like emeralds, were placed.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan and the others quickly sat down on the platforms. As soon as he sat down, Xiao Yan felt a mild, cool sensation seep in, isolating the outside heat.
Seeing everyone seated, Su Qian turned and spoke quietly with one of the elders. Then, the two elders slowly approached the hole, forming hand seals at lightning speed, and then murmured incantations.
As their voices faded, a ripple appeared around the empty hole, and a layer of illusory energy waves slowly emerged under everyone’s watchful eyes.
“So, there’s a special energy seal here. It seems the inner courtyard guards the Falling Heart Flame very strictly,” Xiao Yan realized, observing the seemingly ethereal yet solid energy waves.
After the energy wave appeared, the two elders gestured, and a pale, egg-sized light sphere slowly floated out from the hole, penetrating the energy waves and hovering two meters above the ground, undulating slightly.
Soon after, more light spheres emerged, and in no time, eleven orbs appeared in front of Xiao Yan and the others.
Blinking, everyone looked at the egg-shaped light spheres with confusion.
Seeing their puzzled faces, Su Qian smiled lightly and waved his sleeve, and the color of the light spheres rapidly became transparent, revealing their contents.
Inside the light spheres, a seemingly intangible flame, visible to the naked eye, hovered. These flames rose softly in their respective orbs, but the heat seemed to be completely isolated by the light, so Xiao Yan and the others felt no warmth.
“This is the Origin Heart Flame,” Su Qian said, staring at the intangible flames. “This Origin Heart Flame is extremely difficult to obtain. Each year, we expend considerable effort to acquire three or four orbs, and even then, it depends on luck. This is not very useful for those above the Dou Wang level, but for those below, it can pave the way for their advancement to Dou Wang. Of course, there are significant risks. The pain of body tempering is extremely hard to endure, and a single mistake can result in failure and harm to oneself.”
“Grand Elder, what is the success rate of the Origin Heart Flame body tempering?” Lin Yan asked cautiously.
“Of the top ten Strong Rankings who come here for body tempering, the failure rate is not low. About half of them fail each time,” Su Qian replied nonchalantly, causing some to break into cold sweats. A 50% failure rate was indeed high.
“The Dou Wang level is the dividing line for strong practitioners on the continent. How difficult it is to advance to this level, you, who are at the peak of Dou Ling, should know very well. Without sufficient opportunities, it is possible to remain at this level for life,” Su Qian said, glancing at Lin Xiu Ya and Liu Qing.
“If anyone does not dare to undergo the body tempering, speak up. This Origin Heart Flame is very precious, and if we can save it, that would be best,” Su Qian added casually.
No one dared to step back, agreeing with Su Qian’s words. Advancing to Dou Wang was too difficult, and if they gave up this chance, they might regret it later.
“Since there are no objections, close your eyes and focus. Do not be distracted. If there are any problems, we will intervene,” Su Qian said, waving his hand. The eleven orbs flew to the top of their heads and, under their watchful eyes, burst open, releasing the intangible flames, which fell straight down, entering their bodies.
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