Although he attracted a lot of attention, there were no accidents along the way. Chen Guan found a piece of black cloth to cover the lower half of his face.
As long as no one recognizes me, I won't be embarrassed.
By evening, the Magical Beast Mountain Range was already in sight.
Chen Guan was very familiar with this place; it felt like returning to his own home.
When he arrived at the small lake, he sensed that the puppet snake guarding the entrance was still at the bottom, completely unnoticed. This was an expected result.
Who would have nothing better to do than go fishing in this small lake full of beasts? There were many safer and more hidden places nearby for washing or resting. If it weren't for the Red Ice Snake King, he never would have searched it carefully himself.
After sprinkling a handful of beast-attracting powder on the shore of the lake, Chen Guan deftly dived into the stone chamber at the bottom.
Placing the lotus platform in the outer room, Chen Guan did not rush to devour the flame. Instead, he walked into the inner room, lit a stick of incense for his deceased teacher, and then began to adjust his state.
Half a minute later, he opened his eyes and looked at the Green Lotus Core Flame on the lotus platform, speaking as if to himself.
"I am going to devour the Heavenly Flame."
After waiting a few breaths, there was still no movement, and Chen Guan's confidence grew.
He wiped the ring on his hand, and three items fell before him.
The Blood Lotus Pill, the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and the Na Ling.
These were all essential items for a novice attempting to devour a Heavenly Flame. The truly powerful had no need for such troublesome preparations.
After checking that there were no issues, Chen Guan took out ten jade bottles and carefully placed ten of the eleven Earth Fire Lotus Seeds from the lotus platform inside. The value of this item was not low; it could not only accelerate one's cultivation speed but also enhance the connection with the Green Lotus Core Flame.
One lotus seed remained. He swallowed it without hesitation.
In my opinion, taking a lotus seed in advance might increase the probability of successfully devouring the flame. Even if it doesn't, I can just think of it as providing energy for the protracted battle to come.
Feeling his meridians swell with Dou Qi, Chen Guan hesitated no longer. His soul power surged out, separating the lotus platform from the Green Lotus Core Flame. He then took its place, sitting cross-legged on the lotus platform like a serene deity.
Without the restraint of the platform, the Green Lotus Core Flame became like a child who couldn't find its mother. It threw a tantrum, refusing to be comforted. No longer maintaining its lotus shape, the flame instantly grew several times in size, showing no signs of stopping. In just a few breaths, it had filled the entire outer room. If this stone chamber hadn't been cast from special materials by his teacher, it would have been destroyed long ago.
The beast fire in Chen Guan's body swept out to resist the invasion. The sixth-tier beast fire was already quite good, but in the face of a Heavenly Flame, it was nothing, trembling as it was gradually consumed.
And this was just the instinctive outburst of the Green Lotus Core Flame. According to his estimation, one would need to be a Dou Zong expert to have any confidence in suppressing it with physical strength alone.
With a slight sigh, Chen Guan took the Blood Lotus Pill and swallowed it.
The pill melted in his mouth, and a cold energy quickly flowed through his meridians. Looking inward, he could see layers of blood-colored membranes condensing, gradually penetrating his bones and flesh. Eventually, they seeped out from the surface of his body, rapidly forming a thick, blood-colored cuticle that tightly wrapped around him, leaving no place exposed.
It looked a bit ugly and scary, but it gave him a profound sense of security.
At least, with the blood-colored cuticle covering his palm, the pressure of reaching in to grab the flame was much less.
Gritting his teeth, Chen Guan reached out. At the same time, his powerful mental perception emanated outward, helping him find the trajectory of the flame.
The blood-colored cuticle quickly melted into drops of blood under the heat, burned to nothingness in the blink of an eye. The cuticle was being rapidly consumed, but fortunately, Chen Guan was faster. He retracted his hand just before the covering on his arm was completely gone.
In his palm, a liquid substance that looked like blue magma wriggled slightly.
The Green Lotus Core Flame.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Guan closed his eyes, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed. A battle with the Heavenly Flame had officially begun.
In Qingshan Town, inside an inn.
The Wang Yan brothers felt helpless as they looked at the depressed girl standing by the window. They knew why she was acting this way, but there was nothing they could do. The first few days had been fine, but now more than ten days had passed since they had separated from the boy. Not just the girl, even they couldn't help but feel a little worried.
But no matter how much they thought about it, it was useless. They didn't even know where he had gone and had no way of finding out. They could only wait here patiently.
"Uncle Wang, how long will it take for the young master to come back?"
"Soon, soon."
The two brothers had given the same answer so many times these past few days. Fortunately, the girl just wanted to hear a comforting answer and would not make a fuss. Every time she heard it, she chose to believe it, even though she knew the truth in her heart.
Also in Qingshan Town, in the Ten Thousand Medicine House not far from the inn, another young girl gazed at the distant starry sky. But compared to Qing Lin, her emotions were more complicated, a sorrow knitting her brows that even she could not explain or express.
In my dreams, I seem to know someone is coming back, but after waking from drunkenness, it is hard to fall asleep again.
Imperial Capital.
Misty Cloud Sect, a secret room in the back mountain.
After a muffled sound, a long sigh filled the air, heavy with complex emotions, helplessness, and loss.
Unsurprisingly, the source of the sigh was Yun Shan.
Not wanting to get on that strange pirate ship, Yun Shan had tried his best to break through to the Dou Zong realm. Unfortunately, one cannot break through with determination alone, and he had failed.
He knew very well that this failure had exhausted his spirit. Given his current state, his age, and his energy, he would never be able to reach the Dou Zong realm in his lifetime by relying on himself alone.
Yun Shan was unwilling to accept this. He didn't want to grow old with time. There were still many things he wanted to do.
Feeling unwilling, Yun Shan couldn't help but think of the person from the Hall of Souls he had met more than two months ago, and his heart was shaken even more.
Even if he didn't want to admit it, he already had his answer.
However, what surprised him was that the three-month deadline seemed to have arrived. So why was the other party still nowhere to be seen?
When he was not determined, they were aggressive, relentlessly exposing his scars. When he finally decided to compromise, they stood him up.
It was really hard to have a good impression of this Hall of Souls.
(End of Chapter)
***
(End of Chapter)
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