Chapter 17: The Devouring Beast's Flame

Chapter 17: The Devouring Beast Flame

“Y-you!” Galebi’s face twitched with fury as he scolded, “Xiao Zhan, don’t get smug. Don’t think that just because I lack evidence, I can’t get to you. My son, Galio, was castrated—there’s no way your son Xiao Yan and that girl named Xiao Xun’er aren’t involved.”

“Then bring out your evidence before you accuse me. I was just about to say that it was your son who caused my son Xiao Yan’s Qi to vanish,” Xiao Zhan replied, wearing an expression of utter satisfaction.

“Well played, Xiao Zhan. This grudge between us is sealed,” Galebi said through clenched fingers, the sound of bones cracking under the pressure.

“Alright, alright, enough talk. If you don’t want to raise your bid, I’m about to buy it,” Xiao Zhan said, yawning in annoyance.

“I’ll raise it. Why wouldn’t I? I offer sixty thousand,” Galebi said, his anger clouding his judgment as he waved his hand, instantly raising the bid by ten thousand.

“An extra ten thousand? Bold of you. I’ll go eighty thousand,” Xiao Zhan yawned again, his demeanor lazy.

“One hundred thousand,” Galebi blurted out without hesitation.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, regret washed over him.

No matter how precious the Essence Nourishing Liquid was, it was still a second-grade elixir. Across the entire Dou Qi continent, no second-grade elixir was worth one hundred thousand gold coins.

“You win,” everyone knew Xiao Zhan was deliberately provoking Galebi, but Galebi, blinded by rage, foolishly failed to see the trap.

Galebi’s face fell in shock. Under Obaba’s gloating gaze, he finally realized he’d been played.

“Xiao Zhan, you’re ruthless,” Galebi spat a final curse, then turned toward the auction stage, urging the auctioneer to conclude the sale.

In a remote corner, Xiao Se could only laugh bitterly. Recalling the original story, he had assumed Xiao Yan’s Qi disappearance would backfire on Xiao Zhan, but unexpectedly, the blow fell on Galebi instead. It was a windfall for Xiao Se himself.

Returning to the appraiser’s role, under the reverent gazes of Guni and the middle-aged man, Xiao Se accepted the gold card and the storage ring containing the medicinal herbs, then left the auction house.

Staggering along, he found an empty corner. Confirming that Ling Ying was not monitoring him, he removed the black robe, stored it in the ring, and then headed back to the stone chamber beneath the waterfall behind the Xiao family’s mountain.

Inside the stone chamber, aided by Long Kui’s soul power, Xiao Se’s Dou Qi cultivation and soul realm both advanced beyond the Great Dou Master level. Unsurprisingly, he successfully refined a third-grade elixir—the Ice Spirit Pill.

The next morning, Xiao Se spent the entire night adjusting his physical and mental state to peak condition.

“Brother, are you really going to devour that beast flame? Although it poses no threat to Long Kui, you only have a one-star Dou Zhe strength. It’s still very dangerous to consume,” Long Kui looked at the jade vial containing the beast flame with worry.

“Don’t worry. According to the method from the residual memories of that Dan Emperor’s soul, as long as I have the Ice Spirit Pill to assist me, I’ll only suffer some superficial pain,” Xiao Se smiled.

In truth, Xiao Se was uncertain. Using the Ice Spirit Pill alone to subdue the beast flame was guaranteed only when the cultivation technique reached the mid-Xuan stage or above. His current method was only at the low Yellow stage; his endurance and resilience were far from sufficient.

But he could no longer dwell on that.

The future is unpredictable. Every bit of strength increases the chances of survival.

“But—”

“Long Kui, if I can’t even bear this little risk, how can I hope to grow stronger, protect you, or stay with you forever?” Xiao Se answered resolutely.

“Mm.” Moved by his conviction, Long Kui lifted her beautiful, fair chin and transformed into a blue light, diving into the magical sword pattern on Xiao Se’s right hand.

The moment she entered the sword’s space, the gentle and virtuous blue Long Kui instantly transformed into a fiery and bold red Long Kui, softly chanting, “Brother… Long Kui won’t let anything happen to you.”

Unlike mystic flames, the beast flame lacks sentience, so it doesn’t require spirit absorption. It only needs a small space within the Dou Qi vortex large enough to contain the flame seed to complete the subjugation.

Easier said than done. In the original story, Xiao Yan only managed to cultivate a faint, extremely weak flame seed using the symbiotic amethyst source and was nearly killed in the process. Yet the beast flame in Xiao Se’s hands was taken directly from a fifth-rank demonic beast, the Devouring Fire Dragon. Even a Dou Wang-level expert would dare not touch it lightly.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Se sat cross-legged on the cold ground, slowly closing his eyes. Forming the Burning Seal hand sign, his soul power delved deeply into his Dou Qi vortex to sense the energy.

Following the method in his memory, he began opening a small space within the Dou Qi vortex.

Half an hour later, Xiao Se abruptly opened his eyes. “It’s done.”

He took out the jade vial holding the Ice Spirit Pill, pulled out the stopper, tilted the mouth, and a pill the size of a longan, pure white all over, rolled onto his palm.

He brought it close to his nose and inhaled its scent, then swallowed it whole.

The pill dissolved instantly, releasing waves of icy energy that flowed through his limbs and meridians, crystallizing a faint layer of frost within him.

Exhaling a breath of cold air, he murmured, “Whether this succeeds or fails depends on this attempt. I hope I can make it through.”

Raising the jade vial containing the beast flame, feeling the rapidly rising heat in his hand, Xiao Se gritted his teeth, pulled off the stopper, pressed the mouth to his lips, and swallowed the flame seed directly.

The moment it entered his body, tears welled up from the pain, resembling someone swallowing a steaming hot dumpling straight from the pot without chewing, burnt beyond endurance.

When cultivation techniques fall short, medicinal pills compensate.

This time, Xiao Se had prepared five Ice Spirit Pills.

Enduring the agony, he took out another pill and swallowed it, feeling much better. He activated his Dou Qi and soul perception to gradually guide the beast flame into the vortex space.

Subduing the beast flame was a long process. Unconsciously, two hours passed, and all the Ice Spirit Pills had been consumed.

“Just a bit more… just a bit more…”

Holding back the beast flame’s scorching, Xiao Se struggled to lead the flame into the Dou Qi vortex space.

Just as he was about to collapse, the magical sword pattern on his right hand suddenly flickered with a dazzling blood-red light.

Under this blood-red glow, the portion of the beast flame not yet inside the vortex was drawn in as if pulled by a powerful force.

Even the meridians scorched by the flame inside Xiao Se’s body healed instantly.

The beast flame was successfully subdued.

“Long Kui, is that you?”

Weakly collapsing onto the ground, Xiao Se whispered.

“Brother, are you alright?”

The glow on his arm’s magical sword pattern shifted from red to blue, and the blue Long Kui emerged.

Seeing Xiao Se collapse, she hurriedly helped him up.

(End of chapter)