Law of Fire

-FLOW PEAK, ELDER LIU ZUN YAN'S RESIDENCE-

"How can I reject such an offer from venerable An Hei?! Please, whatever you need, just say so and we will do with what's left of our authority to get what you desire." Seeing how desperate the elder is, Do people from Liu Family even know that the family is on the verge of collapse?

"I have a list of items I need. Some of them are quite rare but I think you can get those for me." I gave her the list my master has given me. She's quite excited as well as this might be one of her biggest transactions.

"Venerable An Hei... These materials are used for alchemy and... a bunch of food. I'm afraid that some of the materials are very expensive that the Liu Family won't be able to afford." Figures... I knew master's knowledge of alchemy is great that simple materials are not worth his talent.

"Money is not a problem. Here, take this." I gave her the storage ring given to me by the treasury elder. "It contains 20,000 gold coins. If you could get all the things I need, the rest is yours." She bowed to me after receiving the storage ring.

"Gratitude coming from the whole Liu Family!" No need to shout...

"Also, I need a couple of elemental low-grade crystals and please exchange this 10,000 gold coins to energy cores. I don't know the value of energy cores here but take 10% of the exchange rate as a gift." I transferred the money to the storage ring I've given her.

"Of course! The current exchange rate is 1000 gold coins are equivalent to 1 energy core while 10 gold coins are equivalent to one energy crystal so upon your request, we'll be giving you 9 energy cores. Liu Family lacks energy cores and with this, we could buy more energy crystals for our family members to use to reach higher ranks at the upcoming tournament." Since the Liu Family is not doing so well, they couldn't support their family members that are admitted to the outer and inner sect. My support might really help them.

"Please wait for a while as I prepare the materials you need. For the other materials on the list, we could gather all of it at the end of the day. Is it alright for you to come back again later at night?" Since I don't have things to do, I could wait.

"It's alright I wish to stay here. Do you have room to spare? I would like to cultivate while I wait for the materials. It's troublesome for me to walk around the city." I need to reach higher realms. I shouldn't waste time.

"Of course, let me walk you there."

We left the room together and walked through a couple of rooms. This place is bigger than I expected. She didn't put a lot of money on decorations but I like how she uses nature to give it a relaxing vibe. Living here would prolong your life for sure.

"This place is not only great to relax but the plants and trees in the house are not common. They release a great amount of energy. Someone from your family is knowledgable about botany." No wonder. All my fatigue was gone upon setting foot inside the house, master.

We've reached an empty room with only a table and a sitting cushion. They really like having a room without too much in it.

"You must be wondering why we don't have many decorations in our house... We've sold most of it as we have to pay what we owe to the Bo family. It's whether we pay or they absorb some of our disciples." And I'm quite sure the Bo family would be picky with the selection.

"Thank you and it's alright. I like my room empty. Oh, and please don't let anyone enter inside my room at all costs." Since I don't have money before, I'm used to living in a room with nothing but myself and a couple of books I borrowed from the library.

"Of course, venerable An Hei." She has left me and closed the door.

Master, it's time to cultivate again.

...

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Hmmm? How long was I cultivating?

"Sir, it's me." It's Elder Zun Yan.

"Please, come in." I said.

"We've gathered all the materials for you and the other items you've requested." She put the storage ring on the table.

"Thank you. Today, I hope I helped you a little bit. Since you've helped me today, I promise that you'll gain more from our future transactions." I think I made her happy. She couldn't hide how happy she is right now.

"You've given us too much already but since venerable An Hei wants to make us his exclusive partner, we're really honored to give you everything that you need." I hope so too.

"About the youngster on the dungeon... I will make arrangements but don't expect too much. After all, I'm just an outsider." She couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.

...

-FROZEN LAKE DUNGEON-

I spent quite a lot of time there from morning to evening and I could tell that my cultivation is at the peak of breakthrough... If I spent overnight cultivating, I might be able to reach the 2nd layer.

Master, is it just me or Bei seems to be focusing on cultivating too much? I haven't seen her move at all...

"I told you, she's a cultivation addict. She will stay there not moving, not eating, or whatever as long as she doesn't breakthrough. She's used to this, don't worry. She would probably need 2-3 days before she could reach the 3rd layer and not even 1/100 of her energy core is consumed." The energy within her core must be vast.

"The energy cores that you've bought just now has the energy capacity of pristine spirit. It's far too weaker than an earth realm so that means you could use it to cultivate. But since you already got the items you came for at the Flow Peak, let's head to the storage ring and test your affinity to elemental laws." That's right! I need to know if I could use the law of fire as it's the law compatible with alchemy and blacksmithing.

"We'll see about that. Let's go."

We've entered my storage ring and went to the alchemy room. I prepared the low-grade fire crystal first.

"How am I supposed to use this again?" I asked.

"Just put at least 10 stones together. You have to focus your energy on each crystal. It doesn't matter how much energy you put into them, it's the quality of your energy that affects your affinity with the law of fire. The more you lit up, the higher your affinity is. Each stone is equivalent to each grade of affinity so once you lit 2, that means you have a grade 2 law of fire affinity. To use alchemy and blacksmith at the highest recipe I know, you have to reach at least grade 5 law of fire affinity. " Uhmmm, ok?

"So... just let the energy flow..." I closed my eyes to concentrate. I don't have any idea what to do but I let the energy flow." Slight burning sensations can be felt from the aura of the fire crystals... this means I might have lit up some-

*CRACKS* Uh... am I supposed to hear some cracking sounds?

*BOOOOOOM!* *BOOOOM!*

"Uhhh... master? Are they supposed to explode?!" Ouch! My hands and hair are burnt!

"No... you were able to lit up 10 fire crystals and each of them exploded..." Does that mean I don't have any affinity to fire?!

"Quite the contrary, this means that your affinity of the law of fire is not measurable by merely low-grade fire crystals. This also means that you're above rank 10 law of fire affinity. You're an inborn law of fire master. I wasn't even able to reach rank 6 law of fire affinity when I was still alive... yet you broke 10, this kid is lucky." You're joking, right? Then that means I was born to do alchemy and blacksmithing?!

"Now, don't get carried away. I know that you have the best affinity for both but that doesn't mean you can be great at it just by being the best at one aspect. You still have to learn how to properly do it. Blacksmithing also relies on upper body strength to use a forge hammer while alchemy requires good control of the law of fire. If the temperature is too much or lacking, it would definitely affect the outcome of your pill. You should also know about the qualities of the materials you're going to use." Right... but that means if I can master the law of fire, then I can use it to defend myself.

"Well.... fire is commonly used for destruction. The good laws for protection are earth and ice. While fire and thunder are used for attacking. There are also basic support laws like wind and water. I once saw an expert who could combine two laws at the same time but that's entirely on a different level." Man, there are really monsters out there that could even do things like that. I have a long way to go.

"Don't worry. I'll guide you to get there. But first, you have to understand the basics of the law of fire. Anyone can do it but some people couldn't even control the law of fire. The first thing you should do is to take control of a natural fire. Let's go outside as it might get messy around here.

We went outside and went farther this time. This place doesn't fail to amaze me. It's beautiful yet sad... It's a good place for solitude.

"First, make a small campfire here." So I gathered a couple of wood from the mansion using my mind and they appeared in front of me. I can control everything here...

*IGNITES* With firestone, I was able to make it burn.

"Creating fire on your own is possible when you can grasp a little bit of knowledge of the law of fire. In exchange of energy, you can create fire on your own. But right now, your goal is to make the fire obey you. Take control of the fire using your mind alone." How am I supposed to do that?

"By focusing. Use your hand to guide the way of fire." So, using my hands huh... I think I can feel something...

"It takes years to control fire but with your current high-grade affinity, this won't take-"

Just like this? Wow! I made the fire move! Look, master! I even made it bigger! Moving the fire from one place to another, playing with it like a kite!

"Controlling fire for the first time and even changing its form... That's beyond genius. That's 10% comprehension of fire." Wait, how am I supposed to know if I'm progressing?

"The law of fire has different stages before you master the first layer. At the early stage, you can make the fire move on its own but it needs a constant source. That's why people use firestones to create fire." But I remember Sheng Kai controlling fire on... wait... she must be using firestone at that time.

"That's right. Since firestone is a good source of fire, you can use it to increase the amount of fire you can use. When you reach a certain comprehension of the law of fire, you can use energy to increase and decrease the intensity of fire without the use of firestone but you still need to have a source of fire for this. Creating fire on your own is around 11 to 20%. 21 to 30% is great control of the heat. This is good for alchemists and blacksmiths to lessen the use of tools. Constant use and exposure to fire will increase your comprehension of the law of fire." What about the higher rate of comprehension?

"The higher % of the law of fire is related to destruction. It affects the amount, control, and power. It is said that once you reach the higher layer of the law of fire, you can sacrifice a layer of the law of fire to avoid death and get a chance to revive your body. They call it "Rebirth of the Phoenix Fire" but I haven't seen anyone used it yet." I am getting excited to master the law of fire! Since the law of fire's comprehension is affected by how much I use it and being exposed to it, is there a good method on how to increase my knowledge of the law of fire?

"If I remember it correctly, you have a low pain tolerance and a high soul realm at such a young age... it's possible that both are related to each other. Your body and soul's bridge between each other is your mind. Your soul power is increasing at an alarming rate but in return, it affects your mind to the point that a slight pain would cause your body to collapse. It has negative and positive effects but I think that this doesn't only apply to your soul... Since training your body through pain increase your body refining realm at a dramatic rate as well, using pain to increase your law of fire comprehension would also be possible." So that's what exposure means... Are you suggesting that you'll burn me alive?!