Refining poison pills

Shen Wen smiled, his gaze sweeping over the distant, majestic outline of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower. He said with a hint of emotion, "Sometimes I think, if it weren't for some enemies that must be dealt with, staying in the academy to teach like this wouldn't be bad at all."

Xiao Yi Xian heard this and gently rolled her eyes at him, reaching out to tug his sleeve. "You're only nineteen, why do you always speak like an old man? Even Sister Cao, who is usually so steady, occasionally shows some girlish Heart-Nature."

Shen Wen didn't explain. He just turned his head, looking at her soft profile illuminated by the setting sun, and chuckled, "Once your problem is resolved, and Zi Yan and the Fallen Heart Flame's matters are handled, and we wait for a few things... then, we should return to Central Plains."

He paused, then added, "Regarding your Calamity Poison Body, I've inquired about it. The Valley Master of Ice River Valley in Central Plains seems to have some research on the Calamity Poison Body. When the time comes, I can go ask him."

Xiao Yi Xian, however, did not show a joyful expression. She stopped, turned to face Shen Wen, and gently clasped his right hand with both of hers. Her fingertips were slightly cool, but her grip was gentle yet firm.

"Husband," she looked up, her clear eyes earnestly meeting his, "don't be in such a hurry. So many years have passed, the road must be walked step by step, and food must be eaten bite by bite."

She squeezed his hand slightly harder, her voice softer but every word clear: "You've already done very well, truly. Don't always shoulder all the burdens yourself."

Shen Wen gazed at the undisguised concern and tenderness in her eyes, and his heart warmed. Those turbulent thoughts seemed to be gently smoothed by a soft hand.

He clasped her hand in his, warmth passing between them.

"Okay, I'll listen to you," he responded softly, his smile a bit more genuine.

But deep in his heart, an almost inaudible sigh slowly settled.

Xiao Yan's fate had already been altered by him. In the future, would that path still produce the Flame Emperor who single-handedly fought against Hun Tiandi?

If not, who would resist the ultimate calamity of this world?

This was the urgency he couldn't express, and the reason he had to quicken his pace.

He could only rely on everything he knew, seize every opportunity, and make himself stronger faster, strong enough to face that unknown, possibly even darker future.

But she didn't need to know any of this.

He only needed to be the Shen Wen in front of her who could be gently held by the hand and told, "Take your time"... The second-to-last floor of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower.

The scorching aura here was so dense it was almost tangible, and the air showed visible distorted ripples.

The dark red patterns on the walls flickered as if breathing, marks left by prolonged scorching from the heart-fire.

Cao Ying, in a red dress, stood on a relatively flat stone platform in the center, a faint green glow surrounding her, isolating the invading heart-fire's high temperature.

Hearing footsteps from the entrance, she turned around, a smile playing on her lips, but her eyes held a hint of annoyed reproach.

"Finally here," her voice was particularly clear in the spacious tower floor, with a touch of teasing, "It takes an incense stick's time to walk from your residence to here? Were you too busy flirting on the way?"

Xiao Yi Xian stepped in behind Shen Wen. The high temperature inside the tower already made her cheeks slightly flush, and with Cao Ying's words, the heat instantly spread to her earlobes.

Fortunately, the flickering firelight all around made everyone's face appear red, so no one noticed anything unusual.

"Sister Ying..." she whispered, lowering her head a little shyly.

Shen Wen, however, had a normal expression. He walked to Cao Ying's side and observed the Green Lotus Core Flame aura circulating around her.

"Have you been waiting long?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Cao Ying rolled her eyes at him, then straightened her expression. A wisp of green flame danced on her fingertip, and she frowned slightly, "It's strange, as soon as I entered here, the Green Lotus Core Flame became a bit restless."

"Vaguely... I can feel that the thing below has considerable hostility towards us."

She looked at Shen Wen, a hint of worry in her eyes: "Are different flames really like the rumors say, that devouring each other can enhance power?"

"Will our Alchemy of poison pills here disturb it and cause trouble?"

Shen Wen walked to the edge of the stone platform, leaned down, and looked at the bottomless passage below, where dark red light pulsed.

The scorching heat and obscure roars emanating from there were more than ten times stronger than on the upper floors.

"Hostility is normal," he turned, his tone calm. "The Fallen Heart Flame has been imprisoned for many years, its sentience has awakened, and its violent resentment has accumulated over time. If it could devour other different flames, it could indeed greatly strengthen itself, and possibly even break through the Seal in one go."

He walked between Cao Ying and Xiao Yi Xian, his gaze sweeping over both of them. "However, this is also why I chose this location."

Cao Ying raised an eyebrow: "How so?"

"The Sea Heart Flame's attribute is biased towards coldness, different from the endless vitality of your Green Lotus Core Flame, and also different from the 'Core Flame Forging Soul' effect of the Fallen Heart Flame."

Shen Wen explained.

"Later, during Alchemy, I will use the Sea Heart Flame as a bridge to draw out the residual heart-fire from the bottom of the tower, and then use my Flame Ancestral Symbol to command and harmonize, temporarily twisting the three flame powers into one."

He looked at Xiao Yi Xian: "This fused flame, where extreme Yin and extreme Yang converge, will be both rigid and soft when refining toxicity, and can better protect your Heart-Nature and counteract the backlash of the Calamity Poison Body's power."

"As for alarming the thing below..." Shen Wen's lips curved slightly, a determined glint flashing in his eyes, "I already have a countermeasure. If it stays put obediently, so be it, but if it really wants to take advantage of the situation..."

He didn't finish, but Cao Ying and Xiao Yi Xian both saw a fleeting chill in his eyes.

Cao Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest: "As long as you have a plan. I don't want a Fire Python suddenly rushing out from below halfway through the Alchemy; that would really be a spectacle."

Xiao Yi Xian also nodded gently, walked to Shen Wen's side, looked up at him, her voice soft but firm: "Husband, I'm ready."

"Don't be nervous!" Shen Wen laughed.

Xiao Yi Xian nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the surging nervousness in her heart.

She walked to the center of the enlarged heaven burning cauldron, sat down cross-legged, her upper body held perfectly straight.

Her slender jade neck and delicate waist outlined a serene and moving curve under the scorching light.

The inner wall of the heaven burning cauldron glowed with a dark red luster, illuminating her face in shifting light and shadow.

She closed her eyes, forming a strange hand Seal, and the aura around her began to change slowly.

Outside the cauldron, Shen Wen and Cao Ying exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

"Let's begin," Shen Wen's voice was not loud, but it clearly penetrated the scorching air within the tower.

He raised his hand and gestured, a ball of azure flame leaping from his palm—it was the Sea Heart Flame.

The flame did not feel oppressively hot; instead, it emitted a deep chill, quietly suspended.

Almost simultaneously, Cao Ying lightly tapped with her jade finger, and a wisp of green flame swayed into existence.

The warm, continuous vitality of the Green Lotus Core Flame spread out, bathing her in a hazy green glow.

The moment the two different flames appeared, a muffled hiss vaguely echoed from deep within the tower's bottom, as if a Vicious Beast had been startled.

The speed at which the dark red patterns on the surrounding walls flickered suddenly accelerated.

An invisible but scorching residual heart-fire aura permeated upwards from below.