The instant the black-and-white lotus exploded, a forest that had stood in the Chu Yun Empire for who knows how many years was instantly reduced to ashes by half. If Yao Lao were still awake, he would surely be shocked by the might of that devastating strike. Of course, if he hadn't fallen into slumber, Xiao Yan wouldn't have chosen to use such a technique to handle the enemy.
At this moment, Xiao Yan floated midair. His robes were tattered, his face pale, and even the Purple Cloud Wings on his back had grown faint, barely keeping him aloft. He hurriedly pulled out a handful of Qi Recovery Pills from his storage ring and tossed them into his mouth, finally regaining a bit of color in his face.
Though he had already mastered the Demonic Wrath Flame Lotus in his previous life, he had only ever used it in conjunction with Heavenly Flames after reaching the Dou Saint level.
Before that, the materials he used for the technique were merely beast flames or lesser-tier fires like the Transforming Flame. As such, the consumption was never overwhelming. However, this time, casting the Demonic Wrath Flame Lotus had nearly pushed him to the brink of collapse.
If not for his soul strength reaching the peak of the sixth tier, along with the recovery pills he'd taken beforehand, he would never have lasted long enough to complete the fusion.
Still, the power unleashed by the Demonic Wrath Flame Lotus had far exceeded his expectations. Its might made skipping ranks in battle entirely feasible.
And this was just a combination of one Heavenly Flame and the Transforming Flame. If he had fused two Heavenly Flames… even a Dou Emperor might be reduced to ashes in the face of that lotus.
With that thought, Xiao Yan felt a surge of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't tried to fuse the Bone Spirit Cold Flame that Yao Lao had left behind. Even if the fusion had succeeded, there was no guarantee he could've escaped the explosion. In fact, even this time, had the Purple Cloud Wings not evolved, he might not have survived the blast either.
Nevertheless, the stronger the Demonic Wrath Flame Lotus became, the more excited Xiao Yan felt. A Dou Technique he created in his past life had finally unleashed its true potential in this world.
Of course, this wasn't the only Dou Technique he had created. There were many more, sealed away temporarily due to his current lack of cultivation or other constraints. As long as he reached the Dou Wang level, he would be able to unleash several of those techniques once more.
After recovering slightly, Xiao Yan descended from the sky and walked toward the center of the explosion. That skeleton had surely been obliterated—literally into dust—but that wasn't what Xiao Yan cared about. What truly mattered was the thing that had been parasitizing the skeleton.
As the smoke cleared, what appeared before him was a massive crater. At its center, faint purple glimmers began to shine. A moment later, a butterfly radiating a gentle violet glow rose from the bottom. Its wings flickered with beautiful hues, and faint embers even danced from their tips…
'So it really was that,' Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat. If he weren't intimately familiar with the Heavenly Flame Rankings, he might not have recognized this seemingly harmless, exquisite butterfly as none other than the Nether Poison Flame—ranked twentieth among the Heavenly Flames.
Each flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking had its unique traits, advantages, and drawbacks. Their rankings generally reflected their overall power. For instance, the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame he possessed in his previous life could easily be called the king of all Heavenly Flames. Compared to that, the Nether Poison Flame ranked lower, mainly because most Heavenly Flames were naturally immune to toxins—nullifying one of its greatest advantages.
It was precisely because of this that neither Xiao Yan nor Yao Lao had ever believed the Nether Poison Flame to be particularly dangerous. But reality proved them both wrong. Now, seeing its true form, Xiao Yan finally understood why its power was so terrifying.
Ordinarily, the Nether Poison Flame was green. But the one before him… was violet.
This wasn't an error in the Heavenly Flame Ranking records. Rather, it was because this flame's age had reached an incredibly high threshold.
This kind of flame only formed where poisonous substances accumulated. It took a hundred years to develop spiritual awareness, and a thousand to form a visible shape. The "form" here referred to a defined flame shape—not other transformations. Otherwise, Xiao Yan wouldn't have been surprised to see a butterfly.
To determine the age of a Nether Poison Flame, one need only look at its color. The deeper the hue, the older and more dangerous it was. This violet hue indicated that the poisonous energy within had saturated the surrounding air, staining everything it touched. Based on Xiao Yan's estimation, the one before him had likely existed for over ten thousand years…
And this butterfly was the source of the flame itself. It had previously possessed the skeleton and controlled everything from the shadows. That much alone showed it possessed a rudimentary intelligence. Only when the Demonic Wrath Flame Lotus destroyed its host did its true form emerge.
The Heavenly Poison Swamp was constantly enshrouded in toxic mists. With so few people daring to enter, Xiao Yan decided this was the perfect place to begin the process of devouring the Nether Poison Flame.
However, he didn't rush. Instead, he calmly sat cross-legged and activated the Flame Mantra, focusing on restoring his Dou Qi.
Devouring a Heavenly Flame was no child's game. It came with unimaginable danger. While he had tamed some of the top three Heavenly Flames in his past life, that had been with his former cultivation base. Right now, without such power, he had to be cautious.
Only after restoring himself to peak condition did Xiao Yan retrieve the pill Yao Lao had prepared for him in advance.
Due to the intense toxins within the Nether Poison Flame, swallowing it outright would be akin to consuming lethal poison. Yao Lao had therefore refined a Detoxifying Pill—a sixth-tier pill with potent antidotal properties—specifically for this occasion. As for resisting the flame's searing heat, that would depend on Xiao Yan's own Dou Qi defenses.
After consuming the Detoxifying Pill, its pure medicinal power dissolved and spread through his meridians, forming a protective energy membrane. At the same time, Xiao Yan flicked his finger, causing a shard of Spiritual Essence—stored in Yao Lao's ring—to flash into his body and settle at his Qi whirlpool.
(End of Chapter)
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