In front of sea,
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, casting a warm golden glow across the endless ocean, Yi Fan stood at the water's edge, lost in the mesmerizing view. The sun seemed to melt into the waves, swallowed by the sea's vastness.
He took a slow breath. "The Crimson Cloud Sect will announce their decision about the treasure island in six or seven days," he muttered to himself. "I must reach the Qi Transformation Stage before then… or I won't survive if I go there."
A flicker of determination sparked in his eyes as he recalled his memory of playing martial peak game where a volcano near the nearby sea city—a place said to burn with pure flame Qi. "If that volcano truly exists," he thought, "then my breakthrough might come sooner than I hoped."
With that conviction, he began his journey. The road was harsh and unending, but after a full day of travel, he arrived at the desolate region surrounding the volcano. The ground was scarred with blackened rock and hardened rivers of magma, silent witnesses to ancient eruptions.
Deeper in, the heat grew oppressive. The air shimmered like glass, and crimson light pulsed from the molten streams that still flowed sluggishly across the terrain. Yi Fan approached a rocky outcrop a safe distance from the molten rivers and sat cross-legged, steadying his breathing.
The air here was thick with energy—wild, fiery, and alive. He could feel it biting at his skin even before he began to cultivate. Closing his eyes, Yi Fan started cultivating by the Scorching Meridian Technique, guiding his Qi circulation within his meridian.
Instantly, pain surged through his meridians.But Yi Fan endured. His will was sharper than the agony that tried to break him. Bit by bit, the violent flame Qi began to merge with his own spiritual energy, tempering his meridians and reforging his foundation.
Hours passed, and the night fell. A mid the crimson glow of the volcano, Yi Fan's figure was still—like a statue carved from fire and resolve.His vains glowing faintly under the skin during this proses.
Four days later,
Yi Fan opened his eyes.
He told himself, "I fully mastered the second layer but have not broken through to the next layer or to the Qi Transformation stage. I need so much Flame Qi to absorb for the next breakthrough into the Qi Transformation stage. It will take me eight more days. But according to my calculation, the Crimson Cloud Sect will set out to explore that island in two days. It seems this time I have to take a risk and go there with Initial stage cultivation."
He stood and looked at the magma around him. When he looked carefully this time, his gaze caught on a small crystal shining on the black rock. He went closer and picked it up. He felt a strong pulse of Flame Qi inside the crystal, but he could not understand what exactly it was at first.
"System, can you say what this is?" he asked.
[Host, please put the item in your inventory so that I can identify it.]
Yi Fan did what his system said. He put the crystal into his inventory and waited.
[Host, this is a low-level flame crystal. It is rare to find this in a small world. Flame crystals commonly do not form in a small world because of its low-level spiritual energy. You can be called a lucky person.]
Yi Fan asked, "I can break through to the Qi Transformation stage earlier by it, right?"
[Yes, Host.]
He hurried to search the nearby area. After one hour he found more of those flame crystals. He collected them all. There were around sixteen in total. He held them in his hand and felt the warm breath of Flame Qi flowing into him.
He sat down and started his cultivation again. He focused his mind, absorbed the Flame Qi from the crystals, and worked his meridians. The heat rose in his chest. Two hours later, Yi Fan broke through to the Qi Transformation stage.
[Host: Congratulations on breaking through to the Qi Transformation stage.]
He blinked and asked quickly, "Shouldn't you give me something as a reward for my breakthrough?"
[You will open new functions of the system when you reach the True Foundation stage and the Immortal Ascension stage.]
"Oh, okay." Yi Fan felt a little disappointed, but he forced a smile. "Then use my breakthrough points and increase my cultivation as much as possible." He commanded the system to distribute his points.
He advanced easily. Yi Fan rose from the Qi Transformation first layer to the ninth layer, one step after another. His body absorbed the added power without resistance. Then another notification appeared.
[Host: Your 4,400 breakthrough points were used. You have only 15,200 breakthrough points left.]
"I am disappointed for the second time," Yi Fan muttered. "When I saved them you only gave me forty breakthrough points and said you had already saved Elder Wu once; the second saving would not count because they fall this situation second time. And now you give me no reward for this breakthrough." He spoke harshly to the silent system.
The system did not answer.
"Okay, I will ignore it," Yi Fan said to himself. He rose and packed his things. "I have to go join the exploration team. I must not waste time."
He left that place and walked toward the recruiting area. The Crimson Cloud Sect had set up a small camp where they gathered men for the expedition. Yi Fan reached the place and, after some brief discussion and a few tests, he joined their exploration team. They gave him a simple uniform. He put it on. His journey had begun.
On the ship he met Yang Kai again. Yi Fan watched him from the deck and thought, "Although I saved Madam Jiang, Yang Kai still wants to destroy the Crimson Cloud Sect because of that old man and his granddaughter. The Crimson Cloud Sect tried to take them when they went to gather herbs in a poisonous land."
He thought more deeply while the ship rocked. "Yang Kai had to go. That was only a small part of his reason for joining — they forcefully sent normal folk to find herbs. The main reason is that Yang Kai is Heaven's chosen; Heaven wants to grant him the Soul Worming Lotus and many martial arts techniques. Hah."
He smiled privately, a sharp edge to his thoughts. "But this time things are different because only I am the one who has that map. Even then, when you reach that place I will fight with you for the Soul Worming Lotus. The last time I gave up because I had to lose a precious thing to get the dragon soul fragment. Otherwise, I had no plan to give up then."
He folded his arms and watched the horizon. The sea was wide. The island was not far in distance yet far in danger. His heart burned with a steady flame.
To be continued