187: The True Person of Yinyan

Xiao Shi immediately raised his hand and grabbed a ball of Flame not far away.

Through the Flame Holding Token, he directly grasped this ball of Flame.

His current position was already deep within the valley, and all the Flames scattered here were of extremely high purity.

Xiao Shi had originally intended to directly control this ball of Flame through the Flame Holding Token.

However, the moment he grasped the ball of Flame, he suddenly felt a terrifying fluctuation from it that made his heart pound.

This made him instantly realize that this ball of Flame possessed power beyond his imagination.

His heart tightened.

With his cautious nature, after realizing this, he naturally wouldn't rashly attempt to control it.

He carefully sensed the power of this ball of Flame, discovering that the power contained within it far exceeded the Blood Martial Realm level!

If he were to forcefully control it... even with the Flame Holding Token, he would inevitably suffer severe injuries.

In serious cases, it could even be a matter of life and death!

After all, this was a power far above the Blood Martial Realm.

It was no longer something his cultivation level could control.

This startled Xiao Shi.

He couldn't help but look back at the giant eye again.

“Just how high is the rank of this Yin Flame?”

One must know that these Flames were merely sparks splattered from the burning of the Yin Flame.

They were only a very small part of the Yin Flame.

Yet, even so, the power of these Flames far exceeded the Blood Martial Realm level!

If mere sparks had such power, what level would the Yin Flame itself be?

Xiao Shi felt that his previous understanding of the Yin Flame was still not accurate.

It was far more terrifying than he had perceived!

At the same time, he also understood why his earlier words had caused the Yin Flame to show disdain and contempt.

Given the rank of the Yin Flame, in its eyes, he was like an ant.

An ant brazenly claiming to help it break free from its seal and suppression here?

To the Yin Flame, this was nothing short of a joke.

However, the more powerful the Yin Flame was, the more interested Xiao Shi became in it.

He believed that as long as he got his hands on it, it would surely become a powerful trump card for him!

Of course, Xiao Shi also knew that this matter would be difficult and couldn't be rushed.

He began to retrace his steps along the path he came from.

Since he couldn't control this level of Flame, he would settle for controlling other Flames of lower purity.

Xiao Shi didn't place much importance on controlling these Flames; he wasn't set on controlling those Flames of particularly high purity.

What he truly valued was how to get his hands on that Yin Flame.

Compared to the Yin Flame, even Flames of the highest purity couldn't compare.

However, through these Flames, he could learn about the Yin Flame, as they were a part of it, and perhaps he could obtain some useful information from them.

And so, Xiao Shi directly retreated from the depths of the valley to the middle section of the valley.

He would examine every Flame he encountered along the way.

Through continuous examination, Xiao Shi discovered that the power of these Flames basically depended on their purity.

The higher the purity of the Flame, the stronger its power.

And to control these Flames, in addition to having sufficient cultivation, one's Demonic nature could also play a certain suppressive role.

After a simple attempt, Xiao Shi felt that he had no pressure controlling Flames whose power was comparable to the Second Blood Realm of the Blood Martial Realm.

Even Flames whose power was comparable to the Third Blood Realm of the Blood Martial Realm... he wasn't unable to control them!

Although his cultivation was not enough, his Demonic nature could suppress it.

“Then... I'll control Flames comparable to the Third Blood Realm!”

Once Xiao Shi made up his mind, he grasped the Flame.

Through the Flame Holding Token in his body, he began to control it.

The Flame Holding Token was clearly an extension of the formation here, exerting a strong suppressive effect on the Flame.

Combined with Xiao Shi's own cultivation and Demonic nature, the Flame, which had been constantly churning in his hand, seemingly unwilling to submit, quickly became docile under Xiao Shi's suppression.

It obediently merged into Xiao Shi's palm and integrated into his body, successfully being controlled by Xiao Shi.

However, Xiao Shi understood that this control was not complete.

It mainly relied on the Flame Holding Token.

If he were to rebel, or if the Lieyin City were to reclaim the Flame Holding Token, then the Flame in his body would instantly go out of control!

It could only be said that Lieyin City granted these Flame Bearers the ability to use Flame.

But they could reclaim it at any time.

It didn't truly belong to them.

However, as long as they stayed in line in Lieyin City, their ability would naturally not be taken away from them... When Xiao Shi left the valley and walked out of the Zhiyan Division hall, the gazes of all the Flame Bearers converged on him.

Just as when he had entered the hall before, he became the focus of everyone.

The difference was that now, the gazes of these Flame Bearers were filled with shock and apprehension.

Even those few Martial Soul Realm Flame Bearers were no exception.

At the same time, as Xiao Shi appeared, a rumbling sound suddenly arose from the ground in front of him.

A huge black stone tablet slowly rose from beneath the earth.

Xiao Shi could clearly see that there were fifteen names on this stone tablet.

Huang Yi, Ji Er, Fu San, Bai Si... Miao Fifteen.

These fifteen names were the current fifteen Flame Bearers.

Whenever a Flame Bearer walked out of the valley, this stone tablet would appear.

Only by leaving one's name on the stone tablet could one officially become a Flame Bearer.

Xiao Shi extended a hand and placed his palm on the stone tablet.

The Flame within his body immediately extended from his palm, spreading across the entire stone tablet.

Under the gaze of all the Flame Bearers, this Flame, rising from the stone tablet, continuously spread upwards from the bottom of the tablet.

It passed Miao Fifteen, who was at the very end, and continued to climb upwards.

“I wonder what rank he can achieve?”

All these Flame Bearers watched intently.

When they saw that Xiao Shi had not been severely injured, they knew that he had successfully taken control of the Flame.

Now, everyone was curious about the Flame Xiao Shi controlled.

They wanted to know what level of Flame he had taken control of.

They knew that the ranking on the stone tablet mainly depended on the power of the Flame each of them controlled.

The stronger the Flame one controlled, the higher their ranking would be.

At this moment, the entire Flame had already climbed to the seventh position, but it did not stop there; it continued to climb upwards.

It climbed all the way to the seventh position before stopping.

“Seventh!!”

Everyone took a deep breath.

This ranking far exceeded their previous estimates.

However, when they remembered that this person had even killed righteous path individuals, they were relieved about his ranking.

Xiao Shi, on the other hand, sensed that the stone tablet seemed to require him to leave his surname.

With a thought, a name instantly appeared on the stone tablet: Pang Qi!

The moment this name appeared, the names ranked after him also changed simultaneously.

For example, Miao Fifteen, who was ranked last, had now become Miao Sixteen.

In addition, Xiao Shi also clearly felt that as his name appeared on the stone tablet, Lieyin City in his eyes immediately became different!

He looked at the ground beneath his feet, and his mind was shaken.

He discovered that the ground was actually filled with a profound and complex formation!

This formation covered the entire Lieyin City and was hidden.

Before this, he couldn't see or sense the existence of this formation at all.

It was only now that he became a Flame Bearer that this formation appeared in his eyes.

What surprised him even more was that he now possessed the authority to use this formation.

The Yin Flame in his body was the key to activating this formation!

Although he couldn't activate the entire formation, he could only use a part of it, but just the activation of this part was enough to give him a strength far exceeding his own in Lieyin City!

“No wonder the Flame Bearers are unrivaled in Lieyin City; even those nobles are extremely wary of the Flame Bearers!”

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

With the blessing of this formation, even those whose cultivation was stronger than his could be directly suppressed by him!

This was the privilege of the Flame Bearers!

Not only that, the formation activation authority that each Flame Bearer possessed was also different.

The higher the ranking, the greater the formation activation authority!

“If the formation in the valley is used for the sealing, suppression, and extraction of the Yin Flame… then the formation in Lieyin City is to use the extracted Yin Flame power to form suppression, protection, and combat power enhancement!”

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

This was clearly how Lieyin City utilized the power of the Yin Flame.

At this time, as he became a Flame Bearer, the others also congratulated him.

Xiao Shi merely nodded faintly in response, always maintaining a distance from these Flame Bearers, not wanting to interact with them too much.

It wasn't that he wanted to maintain his aloof persona, but rather he clearly knew that these Demonic Path individuals always acted primarily for their own benefit.

In their world, there were no emotions whatsoever.

Everything was about self-interest!

Therefore, when Xiao Shi noticed these Flame Bearers showing him goodwill, he became wary.

He felt that the goodwill of these Flame Bearers... must be for some purpose!

Otherwise, with the coldness of Demonic Path individuals, even if he performed exceptionally well, they wouldn't act this way.

Although he didn't know what they wanted to do, Xiao Shi felt it was necessary to keep his distance from them.

“What I need to do next is to learn more about the Yin Flame through the Flame Bearer's authority…” Xiao Shi thought to himself.

After feeling the power of the Yin Flame, he became even more eager to get his hands on it.

The power structure in Lieyin City was very simple.

Aside from the mysterious City Lord and his butler, the Flame Bearers held the most power.

Therefore, information related to the Yin Flame, which would be difficult for ordinary people to obtain, was successfully acquired by Xiao Shi on the second day of becoming a Flame Bearer.

He held the jade slip in his hand, and information about the Yin Flame quickly appeared in his mind.

For ordinary people... although they knew about the Yin Flame, their understanding of it was extremely limited, and there were also some misconceptions.

For example, before this, Xiao Shi thought that what the Flame Bearers controlled was the Yin Flame of this place.

Now he knew that what the Flame Bearers controlled were merely the sparks splattered from the burning of the Yin Flame, at most, they could only be called... Remnant Yin.

Moreover, even the control over these Remnant Yin depended on the Flame Holding Token, and not on the Flame Bearers' own control.

The rank of the Yin Flame was very high! It repeatedly exceeded Xiao Shi's expectations.

He even felt that the rank he currently envisioned might not be the true rank of the Yin Flame.

Now, through the information about the Yin Flame, the first sentence that appeared in his mind clearly elucidated the rank of the Yin Flame.

“Within the Flame Land, there are many Flames. Different Flames have different functions, but wherever Flames exist, dangerous areas will form!”

“And among the many Flames, there exists an extremely dangerous Flame, completely different from other Flames, named... Nether Yin Flame!”

“This Flame possesses consciousness and sentience. It is the strongest Flame within the Flame Land, and is even known as the Flame Emperor! Its temperament is erratic and violent, extremely evil, and impossible to subdue. One hundred years ago, it was suppressed and sealed by the combined efforts of the strong experts of the Demonic Alliance!”

Xiao Shi's heart trembled.

Only then did he realize that the full name of the Yin Flame was Nether Yin Flame.

At the same time, from this message, he discovered that it was not the City Lord of Lieyin City who suppressed and sealed the Yin Flame, but rather the strong experts of the Demonic Alliance... Although there was not much mention of these strong experts of the Demonic Alliance here, based on Xiao Shi's understanding of Demonic Path forces, he could discern the information contained within.

One must know that the Demonic Alliance was composed of many Demonic Path forces.

The three Demonic Path forces in Tian Dou Province could at most be considered branch alliances of the Demonic Alliance, not the main alliance.

And these three Demonic Path forces would only call themselves the Demonic Alliance when dealing with outsiders.

Internally, they all referred to their own faction names.

If the ones who suppressed and sealed the Yin Flame were these three Demonic Path forces of Tian Dou Province, then the related information would not have recorded “the strong experts of the Demonic Alliance.”

Instead, it would have recorded that the strong experts of Lieyin City or Zhuogu City jointly suppressed and sealed it.

The record here states the Demonic Alliance.

That means... the ones who suppressed and sealed the Yin Flame were the strong experts from the Demonic Alliance headquarters!

In other words, even the City Lord of this Lieyin City did not have enough strength to suppress and seal the Yin Flame.

“As far as I know, apart from outsiders, Tian Dou Province itself has never produced existences above the Martial Soul Realm. All along, the Martial Soul Realm has been the highest cultivation level in Tian Dou Province.”

“That also means that even a Martial Soul Realm expert cannot suppress and seal the Yin Flame. It requires existences above the Martial Soul Realm to do so!”

“And it was... the combined efforts of many strong experts above the Martial Soul Realm that suppressed and sealed it!”

Xiao Shi took a deep breath.

Initially, he had always thought that the Yin Flame was suppressed and sealed by the Lieyin City Lord.

If that were the case, it would indicate that a Martial Soul Realm martial artist would be sufficient to suppress and seal the Yin Flame.

But from the information he had now obtained... it seemed that even realms above the Martial Soul Realm might not be able to do it!

This was a bit terrifying.

“This rank is too high!!” Xiao Shi was startled.