As Chen Xiao swallowed the origin of the Heavenly Flame, he also took out the Spirit Gathering item prepared by Cao Ying and drew it into his body.
This was an essential item for refining Heavenly Flames, and could be considered a container for them.
There was no need to pay attention to the Spirit Gathering item entering his body; Chen Xiao's entire focus was on the origin of the Heavenly Flame.
The moment the origin of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame entered his abdomen, Chen Xiao had already prepared himself mentally for the pain.
However, to his utter surprise, after a considerable amount of time had passed, the pain still hadn't manifested.
His mind sank into his body, and instantly, a clear sensory interface appeared in Chen Xiao's mind.
Within the many meridians of his body, the origin of the Heavenly Flame that had previously entered was now divided into wisps of small white flames. These white flames, containing terrifying energy, weaved erratically through the meridians, like lost sheep searching for an exit.
The white flames emitted terrifying heat, but Chen Xiao's Dou Qi, having been fused with Purple Spirit Cold Qi and Heavenly Cold Qi, rendered the extreme heat that would be fatal to ordinary people utterly harmless to him.
His Dou Qi acted like an extremely heat-resistant insulating material, completely blocking the temperature radiated by the white flames, preventing them from damaging his meridians in the slightest.
"It can't be this simple, can it?"
Observing the situation within his body, Chen Xiao couldn't help but mutter to himself.
But no matter what, it didn't seem like a bad thing.
Quickly casting aside distracting thoughts, Chen Xiao hurriedly circulated his cultivation technique, mobilizing his Dou Qi to envelop the wisps of white flames and guide them along the cultivation route. He aimed to take a firm step before the Bone Spirit Cold Flame could cause any further changes.
Maintaining this state for an unknown duration, the wisps of white flames had circulated through his meridians for hundreds of cycles. Yet, bizarrely, Chen Xiao could clearly feel that these white flames showed no signs of merging with his Dou Qi.
They were like two liquids of vastly different densities; though mixed together, they remained distinct.
In other words, the origin of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame had not posed any threat to Chen Xiao, but conversely, he hadn't refined even a trace of it, his progress remaining at zero.
"It must be due to incompatible attributes..."
After pondering for a moment, Chen Xiao formed a conjecture.
Realizing this, Chen Xiao no longer felt anxious.
The Bone Spirit Cold Flame in its extremely hot state was something that someone with an Ice Attribute could only dream of refining; not being incinerated into nothingness was already fortunate.
To refine it, he would have to wait for its origin to transform into its extremely cold state. Only then, with compatible attributes, would he have a chance of success.
Unfortunately, with the origin of this Heavenly Flame now separated from the Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array, its attribute transformation was beyond control. No one knew how long it would take to get an opportunity.
Suppressing his impatience, Chen Xiao decided to ignore it for the time being. He took out a Sect Origin Pill from his storage ring, popped it into his mouth, and began cultivating silently, dividing his attention.
Within the stone tablet's space, Saintess Qiwu watched Chen Xiao's every change in state. She also perceived the problem he was facing and her brow furrowed slightly.
The Bone Spirit Cold Flame, without its sentience, had no predictable pattern for its state transitions. It might transform dozens of times a day, or once every ten days or half a month, or even once every few years or decades; theoretically, all were possible.
After all, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame had no concept of urgency.
Chen Xiao was not a member of the White Tribe and did not share their sense of crisis. He was also not in a hurry. At worst, he could wait for half a year or so. If that didn't work, he could simply leave this small world, letting the Heavenly Flame's origin stay within his body. As long as it behaved and caused no harm, he had plenty of time to wear down the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, even if it took a lifetime.
However, the White Tribe did not have that much time.
With the origin of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame being stripped away, the Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array also began to lose control. The Dream Realm had started to experience the concept of day and night, and everyone realized that this world was changing.
Saintess Qiwu and White Dragon Honored One knew even more clearly that in at most a year and a half, they would no longer be able to suppress the out-of-control array. At that point, they could only use its power to break through the Dream Realm, which was the White Tribe's only chance to actively emerge.
If Chen Xiao and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame continued to stall like this, some of their carefully planned affairs would also need to be adjusted.
"White Dragon, what do we do now?" Saintess Qiwu looked up at the sky.
"A minor issue, leave it to me."
After responding to Saintess Qiwu, White Dragon Honored One's telepathic message suddenly sounded in Chen Xiao's ear.
"Young friend, do not resist. I will first pass on the inheritance of the Array Heaven Sacred Hand to you, which includes the Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array. Neither you nor I can set up the complete array, but a simplified version is not difficult. It only requires ninety-nine Rune Seals to be set up. You should first condense the Rune Seals, use yourself as the base, and lay down this array within your meridians."
"The Bone Spirit Cold Flame was controlled by this array for a long time. Previously, every day when the array was slightly activated, it would change its state. After countless years, it has become instinctual. You only need to utilize this instinct of its to keep it in its extremely cold state. Once you successfully refine it, this formation will be useless, and you will be able to control its state at will."
Listening to White Dragon Honored One's telepathic message, Chen Xiao nodded slightly in understanding.
Compared to relying on luck and waiting, this was not a bad method.
A wave of soul fluctuations came from high above, causing Chen Xiao's body to tremble slightly. Immediately after, he sensed countless pieces of information pouring into his mind.
This was a complete inheritance, and the amount of information was beyond imagination.
Without time to dwell on the shock, Chen Xiao suppressed his emotions and quickly searched for the relevant information.
At the same time, he also noticed that every time he finished reading the content of a formation, the completion progress of the pre-paid cultivation technique would increase by one. This was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
The corners of his lips curled up unconsciously. Chen Xiao quickly filtered out the temporarily irrelevant information and soon found the formation diagram of the simplified Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array that White Dragon Honored One had mentioned.
Firmly imprinting it in his mind, Chen Xiao then began to condense new Rune Seals.
This was a tedious task, and as he condensed more and more Rune Seals, the difficulty also continuously increased.
During the previous two trials, Chen Xiao had only spent a few days to condense thirty-two Rune Seals. However, this time, it took him a full three months to successfully condense ninety-nine Rune Seals, meeting the basic requirements for the simplified Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array.
It was worth mentioning that Chen Xiao's cultivation technique had not stopped circulating during this period. Combined with the assistance of the Ice Spirit Jade and the Sect Origin Pill, his strength had also steadily improved, naturally advancing to the Intermediate Dou Zong stage, reaching the Four-Star level.
Without any delay, following the method described by White Dragon Honored One, Chen Xiao arranged the Rune Seals on the various meridians within his body according to the formation diagram. They didn't even need to be fully activated; just a slight circulation caused the white flames, which had remained unchanged, to react immediately. The extreme heat receded, replaced by a bone-chilling cold.
The Bone Spirit Cold Flame in its extremely hot state had not caused Chen Xiao any discomfort. However, the current extremely cold state made him feel a long-lost stinging sensation.
Chen Xiao did not have a masochistic inclination, but at this moment, feeling this stinging sensation born from extreme cold, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Only in this state did the Bone Spirit Cold Flame have hope of being refined!
Chen Xiao quickly halted the operation of the incomplete Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array. Seeing the Bone Spirit Cold Flame finally showing signs of being refined, he smiled with satisfaction.
Ultimately, he had to thank that Array Heaven Sacred Hand for taming the Bone Spirit Cold Flame so obediently.
"Come on, let me see if you can achieve the effect I envisioned!"
Taking a deep breath, Chen Xiao dared not be careless. He fully mobilized the Dou Qi within his body, enveloping those wisps of white flame and circulating them along his meridians.
Perhaps it was because these white flames had grown accustomed to this route over the past few months, but when Chen Xiao enveloped them, they offered no resistance whatsoever. It was as if they were going with the flow, cooperating in an incredibly unexpected manner.
This was undoubtedly another piece of good news. In this state, it would greatly accelerate Chen Xiao's refining speed.
Stinging pain was everywhere. The extreme cold caused Chen Xiao's body to stiffen, and a thick layer of frost spread across his entire body, eventually condensing into a layer of solid ice that encased him.
From the outside, Chen Xiao appeared to have lost all signs of life, everything frozen.
However, his consciousness remained exceptionally clear as he tirelessly urged the white flames to circulate.
Day after day, month after month…
Another two months passed in the blink of an eye!
Finally, on this day, Chen Xiao could clearly sense that even if he no longer deliberately pushed them, the white flames would autonomously flow along his meridians.
From passive to active – a single word difference, yet a world of difference!
At this point, the refinement of the Heavenly Flame could be declared more than half successful!
Chen Xiao's consciousness sank into his body. He could see that all the wisps of white flame had gathered together, like a white ribbon fish drifting with the current in the Dou Qi.
Seeing this, Chen Xiao immediately began the final, and most crucial, step.
Under his intentional control, as the white flames reached his lower abdomen, they 'accidentally' discovered a tiny gray point of light.
Upon seeing the slightly brighter point of light, the white flames were instantly drawn to it. It was like a child finding a novel toy, constantly moving closer, eager to explore.
The gray point of light floated quietly. Within the light was an endless, profound darkness. At the end of the darkness, it seemed another space was hidden, appearing extremely mysterious.
The white flames hovered around the gray point of light. They seemed very curious about this object, attempting to touch it several times, only to stop short at the last moment.
Perhaps due to a subtle sense of dread, or perhaps for some other reason, their hesitation made Chen Xiao anxious.
Finally, after the white flames had eagerly tried more than ten times and then retreated, Chen Xiao could bear it no longer.
Immediately, Chen Xiao mobilized all the Dou Qi within his body, focused his mind, and forcefully rammed into the retreating white flames.
As if pushed into an abyss ten thousand feet deep, the moment the white flames came into contact with the gray point of light, they vanished completely.
Or, to be precise, they were absorbed into that dark space!
After absorbing the white flames, Chen Xiao ceased circulating his cultivation technique, and his body fell into complete silence.
And the answer for this small gray point of light was obvious: it was formed by the Spirit Absorption he had taken in earlier.
The final, and most critical, step in refining a Heavenly Flame into its origin seed was to forcibly compress the Heavenly Flame into the space formed by the Spirit Absorption. Only by fully containing the Heavenly Flame within the Spirit Absorption could the refinement be considered truly perfect!
Under normal circumstances, this step was extremely difficult.
The more powerful a Heavenly Flame, the higher its intelligence. They possessed an instinctive resistance to dangerous things. If forced expulsion failed, they would even retaliate.
This was the fundamental reason why it was necessary to strip away the intelligence of a Heavenly Flame before refining it!
The reason Chen Xiao's current refinement of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame did not require this step was that its intelligence had already been lost.
...
Within the dim stone tablet space.
Saintess Qiwu looked at Chen Xiao, who was encased in a thick layer of profound ice. She gently flicked her finger, then after a while, frowned and whispered, "Why is it taking so long? Could something have gone wrong?"
Just as Saintess Qiwu was muttering to herself, she heard a 'crack' sound.
Saintess Qiwu's head snapped up. She immediately saw a crack suddenly appear on the thick profound ice layer, followed by a second, then a third… until the entire ice surface was covered in dense cracks.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, with an explosion, the ice layer shattered, revealing the figure sitting cross-legged within.
Saintess Qiwu looked over and saw Chen Xiao with his eyes tightly shut. The exposed skin on his face and arms was recovering at a visible rate, the frozen, cold white color rapidly receding.
Simultaneously, waves of energy ripples suddenly emerged rapidly, followed by a powerful aura that erupted from Chen Xiao's body, growing stronger and stronger, escalating by the moment!
Sensing this rapidly ascending aura, Saintess Qiwu was taken aback.
Refining a Heavenly Flame could enhance combat power; this was common knowledge, as using a Heavenly Flame to fight was also a tactic.
However, under normal circumstances, refining a Heavenly Flame did not have the effect of increasing one's level.
Chen Xiao's current state clearly indicated a surge in his strength, which did not align with her understanding.
"It's because of the Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array!"
"The great array in the Dream Realm has been continuously extracting the energy of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. This is also the fundamental reason why this Bone Spirit Cold Flame couldn't break free from its control over such a long period."
"Perhaps it has become an instinct due to habit. Now, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame is channeling energy into the incomplete great array within his body. Even though most of the energy accumulated by the Bone Spirit Cold Flame over the years has been extracted by the Yin Yang Harmony Heaven Great Array in the Dream Realm, the small portion of remaining energy is enough to rival some Heavenly Flames in the top ten of the Heavenly Flame Ranking."
"He's only a Four-Star Dou Zong, and after being infused with such a massive amount of energy, it's hard for his strength not to increase."
In the void, the White Dragon Honored One's voice resolved Saintess Qiwu's confusion.
Clearly, the White Dragon Honored One was also paying attention to this location.
Hearing his explanation, Saintess Qiwu finally understood.
Her gaze turned back to Chen Xiao, and she could clearly sense his aura soaring madly.
Four-Star Dou Zong, Five-Star Dou Zong, Six-Star, Seven-Star…
In just a few minutes, he had already reached the high-level Dou Zong realm.
And there was no sign of him stopping.
"It really was a lucky coincidence."
Saintess Qiwu sighed, then smiled, a hint of anticipation appearing on her face.
"White Dragon, to what extent do you think he can improve?"
"The remaining energy from the Bone Spirit Cold Flame can push him into the Dou Zun realm without any issue, but for him, that might not necessarily be a good thing. Let's see how he chooses."
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