Zhen Len remained motionless, immersed in deep meditation. Around him, the air vibrated with a searing density. The heat was so intense that anyone who approached would feel the environment slowly burning them, eventually causing extreme heatstroke. The stone ground beneath his body had begun to blacken, scorched by the temperature.
Flames burst from his body. First, they engulfed his claws, then his fangs gleamed with an incandescent glow. Lines of fire began to trace along his back, setting his fur ablaze as if it were dry kindling. It wasn't ordinary fire, its colors fluctuated between a vivid orange and a blinding yellow.
He tried to use the Eye of Truth to carefully observe how the fire particles surrounded him and refused to respond to his control. Not even the flames generated with his own soul power would obey. Instead, the particles encircled him, burning him from the outside, and some began to enter directly into the Eye of Truth. They didn't burn, they were absorbed by the Eye as if it were taking in purple qi. In response, the eye emanated a bright purple flame, more dangerous than any previous fire. It consumed his spiritual power at an alarming rate and completely blocked his external vision.
Zhen Len gritted his teeth. The pain was excruciating. He felt his flesh, bones, and even his soul being devoured by the very flames he had summoned. His Fire Elemental Meditation couldn't stabilize him. Every attempt to regain control only intensified the fire, as if the technique had the opposite effect and instead fueled the flames that threatened to consume him entirely.
He had been trapped for over a week in front of an invisible barrier. He had felt how his control over fire had reached a standstill, like a wall separating him from the next level. He knew that by breaking through it, he could comprehend the Heart of Fire, just as he had in his past life. And finally, today, he felt that barrier give way.
When his consciousness touched the Heart of Fire for the first time, he knew the reward would be immense. Finer control over the element, greater spiritual power, and an even deeper connection than before. But something went wrong. Inside him, his Blood Essence Core, covered in flames, began to boil like pure magma. Instead of synchronizing with the fire, it started devouring both his soul power and spiritual power simultaneously.
The once-tame fire became wild.
Zhen Len lost control.
Where once the flames obeyed his will, now they attacked him. The blood core fueled them from within, feeding them, and the flames sought to dominate him, to consume him completely. His body trembled. His mind wavered between clarity and collapse. The core burned relentlessly, pressing against every cell in his body.
Still, he tried to resist. He knew the only way to survive was to move forward. He had to merge with the fire, fully understand it, or die trying.
The Mysterious Heaven Skill tried to stabilize his body, barely supplying just enough soul power to prevent it from depleting too quickly. At the same time, it absorbed some of the spiritual power stored in the Eye of Truth to replenish what was being consumed, but that only fed the flames further. The pain didn't stop. The burns kept accumulating. The fire pierced through him, enveloped him. And he couldn't give in, because it felt as if the fire was searching the depths of his soul for any trace of doubt, weakness, or fear.
Zhen Len gasped for breath. He couldn't breathe properly. Every gulp of air was a burning blade. His fur no longer fluttered, his entire body was engulfed in fire. With each heartbeat, he felt his blood boil, as if his heart had become a living forge.
A few meters away, Xi Zexi, who had been tossing a piece of fried meat on a bone into the air for Zhen Len's brothers to chase like dogs, noticed the anomaly along with the others. They sensed the shift in the air and quickly approached, alarmed by the spectacle. Xi Zexi activated her martial soul, wolf ears sprouted from her head, a tail grew, her body became more robust, and her nails lengthened. Her martial soul was a lone wolf. She was ready to act. She wanted to get closer, draw water from the buckets stored in her soul tool, even if it meant getting burned.
But the heat was overwhelming, even more than ten meters away, despite being outdoors. The moment she stepped forward, Zhen Len's brothers stopped her, holding her firmly.
"Let me go! I have to help him! He's suffering too much!" she shouted, distressed.
It was the first time she had seen him like this, and she knew it wasn't normal. The fire was burning him alive. She tried to break free, even considered removing her clothes with the soul tool to move more easily, but the heat wrapped around her instantly. With horror, she realized that even if she managed to approach, she would die before reaching him. She was just a Grandmaster with two white rings. Her body wouldn't last a second. And worse, throwing water on him could make things even worse.
Desperate, tears welled in her eyes as she saw Zhen Len in such a dire state, unable to intervene.
Meanwhile, Zhen Len barely remained conscious. He used the Eye of Truth to restore his spiritual power and avoid collapse. But that only fed the flames more. It was like trying to put out a grease fire with water, it only made things worse. He had to fight even harder just to stay mentally clear.
If he stopped replenishing both his spiritual power and soul power, he would collapse, and possibly die if his blood core began consuming itself instead.
"I won't be devoured by my own element…" he muttered through clenched teeth. "No matter how much it hurts. This fire is mine."
He remembered his past life. In it, he learned to adapt to everything, to take advantage of every opportunity. Blacksmithing had been the defining art of that life. His obsession with battle armor had led him to study circuits, design, even begging Zhen Hua to teach him the Body Sect's technique, all to strengthen his physique and forge better.
The fire, the heat, the pain… they were old acquaintances. Even the process of body forging had been more brutal than this. He could endure. What frustrated him most wasn't the pain, it was that the fire element didn't accept him, wouldn't fuse with him.
And what he feared most now was running out of soul power and spiritual power. That meant certain death.
His muscles began to contract. His veins glowed like threads of lava beneath his skin. The Blood Essence Core burned even stronger. The fire no longer just consumed him, it pushed him to ignite entirely.
With no other option, Zhen Len changed his approach.
He stopped resisting.
He began using Fire Elemental Meditation once again, knowing it would increase the intensity of the flames. But this time, he wasn't trying to stop the fire. He accepted it. He dug his claws into the cracked ground and pushed his will deep into the flames. He didn't seek to extinguish the fire, he sought to dominate it with his spirit, his soul, and every drop of his blood.
The pain intensified. But it was bearable. Gradually, the fire from the Eye of Truth began to consume part of the surrounding flames, while the Mysterious Heaven Skill stabilized his body. Though spiritual power consumption kept rising, something was changing.
The fire finally stabilized.
It no longer burned him as before.
Zhen Len continued meditating without lowering his guard. From the outside, Xi Zexi noticed no change. She still couldn't see his body, and the intensity of the fire didn't seem to decrease. But this time, she chose not to act impulsively. She feared doing anything might make the situation worse and put Zhen Len in even more danger, yet the tears streaming from her eyes didn't stop.
Several hours passed.
Finally, Zhen Len opened his eyes. They burned with a brighter purple glow. He had regained control. Not only that, he had once again comprehended the Heart of Fire.
He felt his Blood Essence Core fuse completely with the flames. It was no longer a threat. The core's appearance had changed, it no longer had a thin layer of flames around it but now bore orange patterns that emitted light. He took a deep breath and stood up.
His body was still burning, but the energy consumption was low. He activated the Eye of Truth and noticed it now used the surrounding fire naturally, as if it had always been his.
"I've regained understanding of the Heart of Fire"
He felt the changes. His spiritual power had doubled. The Eye of Truth had changed as well. Now, when generating fire using the eye's spiritual power, the flames turned purple and could expand by consuming the soul power and spiritual power of the targets they burned. Additionally, the spiritual attacks of the eye not only damaged an enemy's spiritual sea but created an expanding flame capable of consuming it over time. The energy storage capacity had increased by 25%.
He also felt that his cultivation age had increased. It was now 300 years.
Even so, he was exhausted.
He extinguished the flames around him and saw how the ground had been completely scorched. A chill ran down his spine at the thought that, had he been near trees or atop Silver Bluegrass, he would have caused a catastrophe in his territory.
Suddenly, he felt someone embrace him. It was Xi Zexi, tears still running down her cheeks.
He tried to tell her he was okay, but the communicator's circuits had melted, fused with the metal. They were useless, he'd have to record them again.
"I was so worried about you… Sniff… If something had happened, I wouldn't know what to do…"
He just stayed there, letting her hug him, until her breathing calmed.
Meanwhile, Zhou Linlan was heading to the Star Duo Forest with other classmates to hunt soul rings. She was excited to see Zhen Len and her mother again. There were still a couple of months left before the end of her second year, so seeing Zhen Len earlier made her wear a beautiful, warm smile in the carriage as she gazed out the window, much to her teammates' confusion. She was known as one of the Three Ice Beauties because of her cold and serious demeanor. Even boys who confessed to her were ignored without a glance. But now, she smiled.