The Fire Prison was not a jail; it was an oven.
Located deep beneath the Pill Hall, it was a cavernous chamber built directly over an active magma vein. The walls were made of obsidian, glowing a dull, malevolent red. The air was not air—it was a mixture of sulfur, ash, and searing heat that blistered the lungs with every breath.
"Get in, trash."
Two enforcers kicked Mo Tian through the heavy iron blast doors.
Mo Tian stumbled, landing on the scorching rock floor. The heat was instantaneous. His eyebrows singed, and the cheap inner robes provided by the prison began to smoke.
"Enjoy your stay," one enforcer laughed, wiping sweat from his forehead even while standing in the doorway. "Elder Zhang says we'll come back for your corpse in three days. Or your confession. Whichever comes first."
The iron doors slammed shut. The silencing arrays hummed to life, cutting off all sound from the outside world.
Mo Tian stood up. He brushed the ash off his shoulder.
"Three days," he muttered, looking around.
The prison was divided into cells suspended over a central pit of bubbling magma. He was in the lowest cell, a cage of meteoric iron hanging just twenty feet above the molten rock. The temperature here exceeded five hundred degrees. A normal Qi Condensation disciple would be cooked alive in an hour.
But Mo Tian was not normal.
He walked to the edge of the cage and looked down at the magma. It popped and hissed, spitting globs of liquid fire that splashed against the iron bars.
"System. Analysis."
[Environmental Scan: Fire Prison] [Composition:]
Earth Core Magma: High purity Fire Qi.
Fire Poison: Volcanic toxins capable of rotting meridians.
Resentment: Trace amounts (previous prisoners). [Suitability for Cultivation: High] [Danger Level: Moderate]
"Moderate," Mo Tian scoffed. "If I were righteous, this would be torture. But since I am a villain... this is a spa."
He sat down in the center of the cage, assuming the lotus position.
"Heaven-Devouring Art. Open."
He didn't filter the air. He inhaled the sulfur and the heat greedily.
The sensation was agonizing. It felt like swallowing razor blades made of dry ice. The heat invaded his lungs, rushing into his bloodstream, trying to boil his blood.
But his Perfect Villain Foundation—that black pedestal in his dantian—spun violently.
It acted as a coolant and a grinder. It seized the violent Fire Qi, crushed its will, and integrated it.
[Devouring Fire Poison...] [Constitution Tempering: +1%] [Constitution Tempering: +2%]
His skin turned a deep, angry red, then slowly faded back to pale white as the heat was absorbed.
"More," Mo Tian whispered. "The ambient heat is too slow."
He stood up and looked at the bars of the cage. They were made of Meteoric Iron, inscribed with suppression runes.
He gripped two of the bars.
"Break."
His muscles, enhanced by the strength of a Beast King and the durability of a corpse, bulged. The iron groaned. The runes flashed, trying to shock him, but his black lightning neutralized them.
CREAAAK.
He bent the bars open enough to fit a body through.
Without hesitation, Mo Tian jumped.
He plummeted twenty feet and splashed into the magma pool.
Inside the Magma
If anyone had seen it, they would have assumed suicide.
Inside the molten rock, visibility was zero. The pressure was immense. The heat was absolute.
But Mo Tian was coated in a layer of Devouring Qi, a black membrane that separated him from the lava. He wasn't swimming; he was eating his way through the liquid rock.
This is the source, he thought, sinking deeper. The Earth vein.
As he descended, the red glow of the lava began to change. It grew darker, shifting to a bruised purple.
[Alert: High-Energy Heat Source Detected.]
Mo Tian opened his eyes—protected by Qi—and activated the [Eye of Truth].
At the bottom of the magma pool, chained to a spire of bedrock, was not a person.
It was a flame.
A ball of Purple Earth-Fire, shaped vaguely like a skull, thrashing against runic chains.
[Target: Purple Nether Flame (Sealed)] Origin: A fragment of the Earth's core fire, corrupted by the resentment of thousands of dead prisoners. Grade: Earth Rank (High). Properties: Burns the soul, rots the body.
"So this is why Elder Zhang uses this place," Mo Tian realized. "He isn't just torturing prisoners. He is feeding them to this flame to refine it. He wants to harvest an Earth Flame for his alchemy."
The Purple Nether Flame sensed the intruder. It screamed—a soundless psychic shriek that boiled the magma around it. It lashed out, a tentacle of purple fire striking Mo Tian's shield.
The shield cracked.
"Feisty," Mo Tian grinned, his teeth looking demonic in the purple light.
He swam forward, ignoring the searing pain as his shield failed. His skin began to char.
"You are waiting for an alchemist to tame you?" Mo Tian projected his thought to the flame. "Too bad. I don't tame. I consume."
He reached out with both hands, grabbing the flame.
It was like grabbing a star.
The pain was transcendent. His hands burned down to the bone in seconds. The flame surged up his arms, trying to burn his soul into ash.
[Critical Damage!] [System Defense Protocol: Active.] [Host Willpower Check: PASSED.]
"DEVOUR!"
Mo Tian opened his mouth—a metaphysical maw that eclipsed his physical form. The black singularity of his foundation expanded, sucking the purple flame into his body.
The flame shrieked in terror. It had spent centuries eating souls, but it had never met something hungrier than itself.
The chains shattered. The flame was dragged, kicking and screaming, into Mo Tian's dantian.
Three Days Later
The iron doors of the Fire Prison hissed open.
Elder Zhang walked in, followed by Zhao Hu. He held a handkerchief to his nose to block the sulfur smell.
"Open the vent," Elder Zhang commanded. "Let's see if our arrogant friend is ready to talk."
The enforcers cranked the wheel. The shutters of the observation window opened.
Elder Zhang looked down at the cage.
It was empty.
The bars were bent.
"What?" Elder Zhang gasped. "He escaped?"
"Look!" Zhao Hu pointed. "The magma!"
Elder Zhang looked down. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
The magma pool... had solidified.
The once-bubbling lake of fire was now a crust of black, cooling rock. The heat in the chamber was gone, replaced by a chill that bit into the bone.
And sitting in the center of the hardened black rock, naked and unmoving, was a figure.
His skin was no longer pale. It had a faint, obsidian sheen. His hair was loose, floating as if underwater.
Mo Tian opened his eyes.
One eye was black. The other burned with a silent, Purple Flame.
"You..." Elder Zhang stepped back, trembling. "What did you do? Where is the Earth Flame? That was my life's work!"
Mo Tian stood up. The hardened rock beneath him shattered into dust.
"Your life's work?" Mo Tian's voice was calm, but it carried a terrifying resonance. "It was spicy."
He jumped.
He didn't use Qi to fly. He used pure physical force. He launched himself forty feet into the air, landing on the observation platform directly in front of Elder Zhang.
The enforcers drew their swords, but their hands were shaking.
"Kill him!" Zhao Hu screamed. "He is a monster!"
Mo Tian looked at Zhao Hu.
"Kneel."
He released his aura. It wasn't just the Tyrant's Aura anymore. It was mixed with the ancient, soul-burning pressure of the Purple Nether Flame.
Zhao Hu, a mere Qi Condensation disciple, didn't just kneel. His mind broke. He collapsed, foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolled back.
Elder Zhang, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, managed to stay standing, but he was sweating profusely.
"You... you absorbed the Purple Nether Flame?" Elder Zhang whispered, horror dawning on him. "That is impossible. You should be ash."
"I am the ash that burns," Mo Tian said.
He took a step forward.
Elder Zhang summoned his alchemical fire—a weak, orange flame. He threw it at Mo Tian.
Mo Tian caught the fireball. He crushed it in his hand.
"Elder Zhang," Mo Tian said, towering over the short man. "You threw me in here to die. By sect law, that is attempted murder of a fellow disciple."
"I am an Elder!" Zhang shrieked. "I am the law!"
"Not anymore."
Mo Tian grabbed Elder Zhang by the throat. The Purple Nether Flame coated his hand.
"AAAARGH!" Elder Zhang screamed as the flame ignored his physical defense and burned his spirit directly.
"I have a use for you," Mo Tian whispered. "I need pills. Lots of them. And I need someone to manage the logistics of the Pill Hall for me."
He tightened his grip.
"Do you want to live as my dog? Or die as my fuel?"
Elder Zhang looked into the mismatched eyes of the nightmare before him. He felt his cultivation base melting under the purple heat.
"Dog!" Elder Zhang wheezed. "I will be your dog!"
Mo Tian smiled. He released the Elder, who collapsed, gasping for air.
"Good choice."
Mo Tian looked at the unconscious Zhao Hu.
"Throw him into the pit," Mo Tian ordered. "The magma is cooling, but it's still hot enough to dispose of trash."
Elder Zhang didn't hesitate. He grabbed Zhao Hu and tossed him over the railing.
Thud.
There was no splash. Just the sound of a body hitting hot rock and sizzling.
[System Notification] [Faction Expanded: Pill Hall (Infiltrated)] [Asset Acquired: Purple Nether Flame (Earth Rank)] [Villain Merit: +800]
Mo Tian stretched his neck.
"Now," he said to the terrifyingly obedient Elder Zhang. "Get me some clothes. We have a sect to rob."