Chapter One: Mysterious Flame

  In front of him, a strange pale green flame was spewing out wildly, swirling and dancing, as the flames leapt up, they outlined endless illusions, constantly rushing towards Ling Xiao's face. The raging inferno, wrapped in countless illusions, dyed his field of vision with a bewitching green hue.

  Sweat as big as beans kept falling down her cheeks, Ling Xiao was restless and struggling desperately to get out of here.

  But what's strange is that there wasn't the scorching pain of flames engulfing my body, instead it felt warm and pure, like ripples of water, seeping into my skin all over...

  ……

  Suddenly, a cool sensation spread across his forehead, like the gentlest caress and comfort. Ling Xiao slowly calmed down, his breathing becoming relaxed, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he woke up from his daze. Then he only felt a wave of soreness all over his body.

  Where is this?

  His arm ached to the point of being almost unable to lift, but Ling Xiao still subconsciously made a defensive gesture, his fingers forming the hand seal for Flame Shield Technique, ready to be released at any moment. The Flame Shield Technique was a very basic fire-based defense technique that students skilled in fire magic could cast with just one layer of cultivation. Although its power wasn't particularly strong, it had an extremely fast release speed and could instantly form a flame shield around his body to protect himself. It was especially effective against wood or metal-based attacks.

  This was also Ling Xiao's cautious habit since childhood.

  "Ling Xiao, are you awake?" was immediately followed by a surprised and gentle voice.

  Ling Xiao opened his eyes to look over, and saw a 15 or 16 year old maiden, holding a damp handkerchief in her hand, standing by the bamboo bed with a surprised expression on her face. When their eyes met, her pretty face turned slightly red as she lowered it.

  "Fengyi?" Ling Xiao was slightly taken aback, and quietly withdrew his hand. Fengyi was also an outer disciple of the Qiyun Sect, and was quite familiar with him. It seemed that he was in a safe place now. He calmed himself down, and his gaze moved around, trying to recall his last memory, which was falling off the cliff. Where was he now?

  Bamboo bed, straw mat, paper window... sparse and scattered arrangement, almost nothing else, can be described as shabby. Everything is very familiar.

  Is this... already back at Qiyun Peak, his own dwelling place?

  Lowering her head, she saw that she was carefully bandaged in many places and couldn't help but ask: "Fengyi, how did I end up here? Was it you who bandaged me?"

  The girl's face turned slightly red, and she replied in a low voice: "Yes, it was me... You've been unconscious for three days! It was that day when I saw the sky getting late, I sent you a transmission jade symbol to ask you to come back together; but you didn't respond, so I got worried and went to look for you. As a result, I found you hanging on the cliff of North Peak, and there was an eagle hovering around, which scared me. I quickly chased away the eagle, pulled you up, and saw that although your body was covered in wounds, fortunately, you had only fainted... so I quickly rescued you and brought you back..."

  Ling Xiao was stunned and actually fainted for three days?

  From Fengyi's intermittent speech, Ling Xiao gradually recalled the situation before he fainted. He was going to pick a nine-zhi grass, then a pale blue flame-like thing suddenly rushed towards him; then he fell head-first and slipped off the cliff...

  It must have been after I fainted and fell, that Fengyi saved me. Shan Diao loves to eat humans the most, if it wasn't for Fengyi arriving in time, I'm afraid I would have become food for that bald bird.

  Now that I think about it, I still have some lingering fear. Luckily, Fengyi came over in time. My heart is even more grateful, and I sincerely said: "Fengyi, thank you so much."

  "No, no, nothing—" Fengyi's face turned red again, her head involuntarily lowered, not daring to look up. She had a kind heart but was very shy and timid, often unable to say more than a few words before turning bright red and lowering her head.

  The whole house suddenly fell silent.

  Ling Xiao looked at her, and couldn't help but think. He and Feng Yi both came from a village called Xiaoshi in the southeastern part of the Qiyun Mountains; Ling Xiao had lost his parents at a young age and was largely taken care of by Feng Yi's family.

  Later, Qiyun Sect recruited disciples - every three years, Qiyun Sect would select a batch of children with spiritual roots and qualifications for cultivation from the mortal world within hundreds of miles. Ling Xiao and Feng Yi happened to meet the standards and both joined the outer gate of Qiyun Sect together. The two had known each other since childhood and had been supporting each other all along, so they were more intimate than others.

  Especially Ling Xiao, every time he thinks of being taken care of by the Feng family when he was a child, he regards Fengyi, this shy and kind girl, as his own younger sister.

  After a good while, Fengyi carefully lifted her head, stole a glance at Ling Xiao, and quickly lowered it again, murmuring: "You, how are you feeling now? Why did you suddenly faint?"

  "It's probably just a minor setback. No big deal, I'm fine! See, it's all gone now?" Ling Xiao deliberately waved his arm and smiled at her.

  Ling Xiao's gesture of waving his arm made Feng Yi involuntarily purse her lips and lower her head to stifle a smile. But his words also made her feel somewhat inexplicably shy and tense, what with the mention of being robust, her pretty face flushing hotly, she lowered her head and didn't dare look at him. Turning around, she took the simmering medicinal broth from beside her and said softly: "Ling Xiao, you just woke up, your body is still a bit weak, drink some of this medicinal broth I made for you."

  Ling Xiao was moved in her heart, and took the medicine bowl from her hand. The preparation of this medicinal soup was not the alchemy of a nun, but rather seemed like the decoction of secular medicine.

  Compared to refining elixirs, it's much simpler, but the spiritual medicine is mostly thick and stable in quality. To use ordinary fire to decoct it, you need to spend a lot of time. Just looking at this small bowl of medicinal soup, it probably takes a day's work to decoct. However, since they have a deep relationship, words of gratitude are better not said too much.

  Ling Xiao simply responded with a "hmm". He took the bowl and brought it to his lips, first smelling it before taking a small sip. After years of gathering herbs, he was still very familiar with their medicinal properties. Although Fengyi didn't say anything, Ling Xiao easily identified the ingredients in it.

  The entrance is first a bitter and slightly cool taste, which should be the taste of Bingluo Lan. In this bitter taste, there is also a hint of sweetness, which should be the addition of Roucheng Teng to balance the bitterness of Bingluo Lan. Apart from that, there are some light green small particles in the medicine soup, similar to pine nuts, but only 2-3 mm long, which should be Bi Song Zi. This is a common auxiliary medicine, with a warm and tasteless nature, often found on Qiyun Peak.

  Among them, Bing Lulan and Rou Xin Teng are both commonly used spiritual medicines for nourishing and replenishing Qi. Bi Song Zi also has the effect of refreshing the mind. Feng Yi entered the Qi Yun Sect and was also responsible for collecting medicinal herbs, so she was quite familiar with their properties. The medicinal soup she brewed had an effect that was far inferior to the elixirs refined by cultivators, but it was still very beneficial to him at this time.

  It was just that Ling Xiao's face had become somewhat strange.

  Those blue pine seeds are nothing, the blue cloud pines on Qiyun Peak are everywhere. But Ice Dew Orchid is worth 1 contribution point, and Soft Heart Vine is worth 3 contribution points!

  In other words, this bowl of medicine can be exchanged for 4 contribution points, which is equivalent to the daily gain in the past!

  This month, he didn't harvest many spiritual herbs. For these 4 contribution points, it's even more heart-wrenching. He also understands that Fengyi is kind-hearted, so naturally, he can't say anything. However, when he drank the medicinal broth, his heart felt a pang of pain...

  The two of them chatted for a while longer before Fengyi bid farewell and left.

  As soon as she left, Ling Xiao immediately sat up and sat cross-legged. Although he felt no problem with his body at this time, the last fragment in his memory was that the flame-like thing rushed towards the palm of his left hand. Moreover, during the daze, it seemed that he also saw that strange green flame in his dream, which made him always feel a little uneasy, and he had to check carefully before feeling at ease.

  Be careful and observe yourself around, apart from some external injuries, there is nothing abnormal; those external injuries should also be scratches when falling down the cliff.

  Without external injury, he concentrated his mind and regulated his breath. His true qi circulated throughout his body, flowing through the meridians, inspecting every part of his body from head to toe. From the Baihui point on top of his head, passing through the Shenting, along the 12 Tiankong points on his spine, down to the Yongquan... all the acupoints on his body were functioning normally as his true qi flowed and ebbed with his breathing.

  He let out a breath of relief, nothing was wrong, and that was the best outcome.

  After the true energy circulates around the body for a week, it slowly returns to the deep part of the dantian, the abdomen. This is also the foundation of a practitioner's cultivation. But as soon as it returned, I suddenly felt a warm and hot sensation, faintly transmitted.

  What is this?

  Ling Xiao was startled, and hastily concentrated his mind to discern, only to feel that in his spiritual awareness, a faint cyan flame was flickering, the fire tongue swallowing and spitting, constantly flowing and changing, casting a pale blue glow on nearly half of his dantian.

  Flames? Actually contracted in his dantian?

  Ling Xiao's heart tightened as he hastily and carefully manipulated his true energy, moving it towards the flame. However, the flame was extremely agile and, sensing his true energy approaching, flashed to the side like a startled creature, its movements incomparably nimble. Ling Xiao refused to give up, once again circulating his true energy and probing forward with even greater care, but the flame continued to dodge nimbly.

  Time and again, after much hard work, they still can't do anything about that flame.

  It's strange to say, but the flame seemed to like curling up in his dantian, and every time he withdrew his true energy, the flame would drift back. As soon as it sensed Ling Xiao's true energy approaching, it would dodge nimbly.

  He's been advancing and retreating, treating his lower abdomen as if it were his own backyard!

  Ling Xiao had no choice but to spread out his true energy, covering his entire dantian, and then slowly contract it bit by bit.

  Cultivation has five stages: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Elixir, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Severance. Each stage is roughly divided into ten layers. Every step is extremely difficult, every step is a difficult pass. He now only has the cultivation of the first layer of Qi Refining, can only be considered as just entering the door, his power is still very shallow. It took the effort of nine oxen and two tigers to cut off all retreats for that flame.

  But as his true energy contracted inward, the flames suddenly twisted and turned several times, drilling into the meridians of the Zhou Tian circulation through the narrow gaps.

  Ling Xiao was so exhausted that fine sweat seeped out of his forehead, but he still couldn't get a grip on the flames.

  And when his true energy slightly weakened, the flames would suddenly sweep back, retreat to the dantian, and stretch out infinitely, outlining endless illusions.

  In the various techniques of the Xian family, there are many fire-based spells, such as Fireball Technique, Red Flame Incantation, and the Huoyun Incantation for refining elixirs in our sect. Ling Xiao also has a rough understanding of these techniques. In essence, all these techniques are just spiritual energy with fire attributes, combined with controlling fire techniques and magical artifacts to release and control externally.

  It can't create something out of nothing!

  Here, the flame coiled in his dantian was too strange.

  Ling Xiao was not reconciled, and after a moment of silent calculation in his heart, he had a plan. He once again gathered his true energy, wrapping it around the dantian, slowly shrinking it in, but intentionally leaving an opening in the meridian of his left hand. The flame was indeed pushed by his true energy, and it moved towards the meridian of his left hand.

  A golden opportunity must not be lost!

  Ling Xiao's true energy surged and churned, pushing the flames step by step towards the outside of his body. The flames were forced to have no way out, and could only move outward bit by bit. And as they passed through the meridians around his body, there was a warm and cozy feeling, quite comfortable.

  "Heh heh——"

  Only a flash of cyan light was seen in the palm, and suddenly there was a faint cyan flame, which rose and attached to his right hand, winding and jumping, with an indescribable spirit.

  But immediately, the flames suddenly changed into a void, twisted and turned, and actually outlined a small blue bird shape! Sharp beak and claws, proudly standing, vividly lifelike. The wings spread out, and in an instant, they swept away several feet, leaving behind a shallow blue mark in the air.

  Flames? Little bird?

  Ling Xiao was taken aback for a moment, this...this is still Flame?

  P.S: New book uploaded, if you think it's okay, please collect it with a wave of your hand ~ thank you