Even though Xiao Yan's aura was tightly locked within his body, Zhao Li could still feel it growing wildly.
That growth was as if his Dou Qi was originally a seed, and the infusion of the Heavenly Flame was like fertilizer, making its growth speed incredibly fast. In just a few short days, it had already surpassed the Dou King level!
Feeling the feedback of the Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body, Zhao Li understood. The leaps in strength that Xiao Yan gained from devouring the Heavenly Flame were rooted in that special cultivation technique – the Flame Mantra!
Even though it was just a method left behind by the Immortal Great Emperor to fuse Heavenly Flames and reform the Plane Embryo, not even a true cultivation technique, it was still created by a Half-step Dominator, and its concept was extremely profound.
When Xiao Yan cultivated the Flame Mantra, he himself could already be considered a Plane Embryo, but his Plane Embryo only had the form and lacked substance. When the Green Lotus Core Flame was refined by Xiao Yan using the Flame Mantra's method, the Rules contained within it supplemented Xiao Yan's Foundation, and coupled with the vast energy within the Heavenly Flame, he quickly reached the Limit of his current stage.
In other words, when others absorbed a Heavenly Flame, it was more like gaining a piece of equipment. But after cultivating the Flame Mantra, they could inherit the attributes of the equipment onto themselves, and the key was that the Heavenly Flame still remained a piece of equipment.
Normally, the performance of the two would appear similar, but when both of their Heavenly Flames were snatched away, one would be beaten back to their original form, while the other, even without the Heavenly Flame, would still inherit some of its attributes!
Clearly, Xiao Yan was the latter.
In these few short days, the portion of the Green Lotus Core Flame's attributes that Xiao Yan inherited was like a craftsman upgrading his Qi Cyclone, turning the Qi Cyclone that could originally only hold Great Dou Master level Dou Qi into a brand new, Dou King level one!
"What a truly lucky Little Guy..."
Understanding the root cause of Xiao Yan's explosive increase in Strength after devouring the Heavenly Flame, Zhao Li sighed inwardly.
Before today, although Zhao Li had read the Flame Mantra and knew of its profundity, he was somewhat dismissive of it. Firstly, its evolution conditions were extremely harsh. Secondly, by the time he saw the Flame Mantra, it was already somewhat late. At that point, he already had his own insights into Cultivation, and the Methods of others could serve as reference but could not become dogma.
But seeing Xiao Yan's Creation obtained from devouring the Heavenly Flame, he still felt amazed. Just this Method of increasing Strength was enough to make others envious, and don't forget, Heavenly Flames contain the Origin of Heaven and Earth Rules. After being refined by the Flame Mantra, they didn't disappear but integrated into the Foundation of Xiao Yan's 'Plane Embryo', slowly and steadily transforming Xiao Yan!
Zhao Li was certain that as long as Xiao Yan didn't die, his Route after becoming a Dou Sect would definitely be incredibly smooth. The time it would take him to cultivate from Dou Sect to Dou Sheng might even be shorter than the time it took him to cultivate from Dou Disciple to Dou Sect. This point, even without his intervention, was already fully demonstrated in the original storyline!
He felt a bit jealous and sighed silently:
"Ah, comparing yourself to others is just asking to be angered."
He thought about how he had spent decades exploring before finally refining a Qi Cyclone Golden Core similar to a Plane Embryo, and he was almost refined by the World Origin before realizing that the great power belonged to himself, not to the Golden Core, even though it was his own thing. Yet, this guy Xiao Yan, through accidental circumstances, had already walked down this Route long ago.
He didn't know that although the original Flame Mantra had a similar effect, Xiao Yan hadn't received the Creation he gave him, where his Essence, Qi, and Spirit merged into one, undergoing a nearly earth-shattering transformation. In that case, the Plane Embryo condensed by the Flame Mantra would still rely on the Heavenly Flame, not on Xiao Yan himself.
Without him, although Xiao Yan could still devour Heavenly Flames to upgrade, the Heavenly Flames' transformation of him would definitely not reach the level where it increased his Cultivation Level, added attributes, and could still be used as equipment.
"Hmm? Is this Little Guy preparing to upgrade the Flame Mantra as well?"
Zhao Li saw Xiao Yan's aura suddenly surge and then quickly subside, hiding within his body. Immediately after, he assumed the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, clearly not intending to end his Cultivation there.
Just as he expected, Xiao Yan felt the vast Dou Qi and immense power within his body, vaguely feeling that with a single thought, he could manifest wings and soar through the heavens. However, he still suppressed that instinctive urge because he had an important matter to attend to, which was to verify if the Flame Mantra could truly evolve. This was related to whether he could become a peak expert like Zhao Li, who could easily suppress the Green Lotus Core Flame, in the future!
He didn't know what was required for the Cultivation Technique to evolve, after all, before him, no one had ever cultivated this strange technique, so no one could give him experience or guidance, not even his Pharmacist master who taught him the technique.
Perhaps it was because he had already formed a habit during the previous Refine of the Heavenly Flame, he instinctively summoned the Green Lotus Core Flame from the Spirit Nurturing Space, and then, just like the countless times before, habitually made it circulate along the Cultivation Technique's Route, merging into the Qi Cyclone.
Perhaps it was because his consciousness was completely focused within his body, or perhaps because his Strength was countless times greater than before, his perception was exceptionally sharp. This was a good thing, but at this moment, it wasn't entirely good, because with his sharp perception, the burning pain of the Heavenly Flame seemed to be magnified countless times.
Logically, since the Green Lotus Core Flame had been Refine by him, it should be very easy to circulate it again, but he felt a pain he had never felt before, causing him to let out a muffled groan.
Although it was more painful than before, it was still within his tolerance range, but his slightly trembling body showed that what he was experiencing was not easy.
"If even the master of the Heavenly Flame can't withstand its burning, how can I use it to fight enemies in the future?"
Xiao Yan didn't know if this was something every person who devoured a Heavenly Flame would experience, but he just gritted his teeth and persevered with this thought in mind.
As Time flowed, he seemed to have developed Fire Resistance, or perhaps he had become numb. In any case, he instinctively circulated the Cultivation Technique over and over again until at a certain moment, he discovered a change. The Azure Lotus, which had been gathered into a single cluster, somehow split off some extremely tiny Flames, traveling through some Meridians he had never noticed before.
Xiao Yan's spirit was lifted, and he refocused his attention, following the Cultivation Technique's circulation Route. Upon this investigation, he found that it wasn't just that one place that had changed.
His Meridians, based on the original Cultivation Technique Route, plus the Meridians that the Green Lotus Core Flame had opened up at some point, had actually formed a brand new network.
Although the evolved Cultivation Technique Route had become more complex than before, the Time required to complete one cycle of the technique was much shorter than before. Moreover, after the cycle was completed, a powerful force was already surging within his body, ready to be unleashed by its master at any moment, and then fiercely blast out that surging power...
It was like a circuit diagram, whether in series or parallel, with the voltage unchanged, the resistance in the circuit diagram became much smaller, and the current would change accordingly.
In short, Xiao Yan was astonished to find that when his Dou Qi flowed out of the Qi Cyclone, passed through the new Meridians, and then re-entered the Qi Cyclone, both its quantity and quality were significantly higher than before!
This step was almost like ascending to the heavens!
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