"Hehe… Elder Xiao Yixian, Young Friend Xiao Se — you've arrived."
Elder Li stood beside the entrance of the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower, his face lit with a warm smile.
"Elder Li," Xiao Se and Xiao Yixian replied simultaneously, returning the greeting with polite nods.
Elder Li glanced at Xiao Se with unconcealed admiration before chuckling softly.
"You've come to cultivate within the tower, haven't you? Go on inside. With Elder Xiao Yixian accompanying you, I can finally relax."
His tone was unusually cordial.
That was only natural.
Xiao Se was not merely a talented Inner Academy student — he was a young alchemist capable of refining sixth-grade pills. Such a person was worth befriending at all costs.
Xiao Se nodded lightly.
Under the stunned gazes of countless students gathered nearby, he and Xiao Yixian walked side by side into the towering black gate of the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the atmosphere changed.
The world outside vanished, replaced by dim lighting and oppressive heat.
Xiao Se's eyes shimmered as a pink flame quietly enveloped his pupils.
With his vision altered, the interior of the tower transformed before him.
Wisps of nearly invisible flames drifted through the air — tiny, ghostlike embers floating silently between stone walls.
"So this is the Fallen Heart Flame's heart-fire…"
Xiao Se inhaled slowly.
These flames could not be seen by ordinary cultivators, yet they could penetrate Dou Qi defenses effortlessly, igniting internal energy and tempering the body from within.
Without preparation, cultivation here was extremely dangerous.
At that moment, the Ice-Fire Domain expanded from Xiao Se's body.
A pale crimson halo instantly enveloped both him and Xiao Yixian.
The invisible heart-fire rushed toward them like moths drawn to flame — yet instead of causing pain, the fire melted harmlessly upon contact.
Their Dou Qi began to circulate faster.
Impurities dissolved.
Energy condensed.
The improvement was immediate and astonishing.
"This is…"
Xiao Yixian's eyes widened slightly.
She could clearly feel the poisonous Dou Qi within her body being continuously refined, purified, and stabilized — something that normally required immense effort.
"This is a domain I gained when I refined the Ice-Fire Dragon Flame," Xiao Se explained calmly. "It's called the Ice-Fire Domain."
He smiled faintly.
"I want to test something. Let's go deeper."
Before she could respond, he had already taken her hand and led her down the spiraling staircase.
The temperature rose with every step.
At the lower levels, even Dou Kings would find cultivation unbearable.
Then — suddenly — Xiao Se stopped.
His flame-tinted vision locked onto something enormous.
Deep beneath the tower's core…
A massive invisible fire python lay coiled around the black abyssal pit.
Its body stretched dozens of meters long, composed entirely of roaring, formless flame.
This was the true form of the Fallen Heart Flame.
The beast appeared exhausted, its aura unstable, clearly having been suppressed recently by the Inner Academy's formation.
Perhaps sensing Xiao Se's gaze, the fire python abruptly raised its head.
A silent roar tore through space itself.
The sound bypassed the ears entirely, slamming directly into the soul.
Ordinary cultivators would have collapsed instantly.
Yet Xiao Se stood unmoved.
The pink flame surrounding his eyes burned brighter.
Within his Ice-Fire Domain, the fused flame born from the Ice-Fire Dragon Flame and Green Lotus Core Flame radiated ancient authority.
Without hesitation, Xiao Se responded.
A dragon's roar erupted from his soul.
Though soundless, it carried the will of ancient dragon blood.
The fire python trembled violently.
Its enormous body recoiled, aura shrinking as it instinctively lowered its head.
In the presence of true dragon-origin flame, it dared not challenge.
"…Interesting."
Xiao Se's lips curved upward.
He led Xiao Yixian to the sixth level of the tower and selected an empty cultivation chamber.
Stone doors slid shut.
Inside the chamber, heart-fire gathered continuously, yet under the Ice-Fire Domain's control, it became nothing more than refined nourishment.
The two entered cultivation.
Time flowed quietly.
Two hours passed without sound.
When Xiao Se finally opened his eyes, the air around him trembled faintly with condensed Dou Qi.
He turned his head.
"How do you feel, Xian'er?"
Xiao Yixian smiled softly and nodded.
"I've never felt better. Inside your domain, the heart-fire doesn't harm me at all — instead, it continuously refines my poison Dou Qi."
"In just two hours, my energy has condensed noticeably."
Xiao Se's smile deepened, though a calculating glint flashed through his eyes.
It confirmed his suspicion.
Once he obtained the Fallen Heart Flame itself, this domain would reach a terrifying level.
But before that…
He still needed one thing.
The blood essence of the little female dragon.
Only then could he cultivate Fire God's Fury — Second Stage.
Otherwise, if an accident occurred and Han Feng snatched the Fallen Heart Flame first…
That would be catastrophic.
Leaving the tower, the two returned briefly to the small pavilion.
Finding that Zhu Zhuqing and Han Yue were still out, Xiao Se changed direction.
"Let's head to the medicinal storage."
Xiao Yixian blinked.
"Why there? You're not lacking materials."
"You'll see," Xiao Se replied mysteriously.
He truly did not lack materials.
Ever since the Black Seal City expedition, he had purchased massive quantities of medicinal seeds — all cultivated with the Heavenly Bottle's green liquid.
In the Outer Academy alone, he had already accumulated enough materials for multiple batches of Dou Spirit Pills and even most components for a Breaking Sect Pill.
Yet today's target was not medicinal herbs.
It was a dragon.
Using Xiao Yixian's elder token, the two passed through heavy security and entered the medicinal warehouse.
They were soon brought before Elder Hao, a Dou King and the administrator of the storage vault.
"Haha! Elder Xiao Yixian, Xiao Se — we meet again."
Elder Hao hurried forward warmly.
Facing a Dou Huang elder and a sixth-grade alchemist simultaneously, he dared not show the slightest negligence.
After the guards withdrew, Xiao Se clasped his fists politely.
"Elder Hao, I've come seeking several materials. If available, I'm willing to refine pills in exchange."
Elder Hao's eyes lit up instantly.
"Say no more! Whatever you want — just take it. Otherwise those old geezers from the alchemy department will find excuses to snatch it away anyway."
Xiao Se smiled.
"I need a portion of Earth Spirit Fruit, Three-Leaf Azure Ganoderma, and Fire Lotus Fruit."
"Earth Spirit Fruit?!"
Elder Hao froze.
"That's a core ingredient for refining the Emperor Extreme Pill!"
He glanced toward Xiao Yixian with complicated emotion.
"…Elder Xiao Yixian truly is blessed."
Xiao Yixian only shrugged helplessly.
She had no bottlenecks whatsoever — poison cultivation made Emperor Extreme Pills nearly meaningless to her.
"Does the warehouse have these materials?" Xiao Se asked.
"The ganoderma and fire lotus are no problem," Elder Hao replied. "But Earth Spirit Fruit… I only have a few seeds left."
"Seeds are enough," Xiao Se said immediately.
In truth, whether the fruit existed didn't matter.
He was here for only one reason.
Through his translucent dragon-sight, he had already spotted the target.
Deep inside a protected enclosure…
A small crimson-scaled female dragon was gnawing viciously on a massive Vajra Bodhi Nut, chewing as if her life depended on it.
Elder Hao burst into laughter.
"That's perfect! If you can refine one fifth-grade Dragon Strength Pill for me, everything here is yours — including any high-tier seeds you fancy."
He dared not ask for sixth-grade pills.
Even gathering the materials would bankrupt him.
"Deal," Xiao Se replied without hesitation.
For him, fifth-grade pills were trivial.
A few hours' work at most.
What truly mattered…
Was the little female dragon.
And with that, the final piece required for Fire God's Fury was finally within reach.
(End of Chapter)
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