Choice

Standing at the entrance of the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower, Xiao Yan took a deep breath, his heart filled with trepidation and anticipation. With a determined bite of his teeth and a resolute spirit, he lifted his foot and heavily stepped into the darkness beyond the gate.

Instantly, Xiao Yan's expression underwent a drastic change. His delicate face turned as red as burning charcoal in the blink of an eye, a sight that was utterly bizarre!

!!!

"What's going on?!" Xiao Yan's heart trembled with a hint of fear as he discovered a wisp of colorless Heart Flame suddenly erupting within his body and scorching him!

Some Inner Academy students who were preparing to leave inside the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower noticed Xiao Yan standing at the entrance, his body emitting wisps of faint white mist accompanied by a sizzling sound akin to roasting meat. They couldn't help but reveal disdainful sneers.

"Heh heh, another clueless newbie who rushed into the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower without asking around."

"The early bird gets the worm, I guess. Thinks he's all that."

"But it's strange. Weren't the Inner Academy exams already over last month? Why is this newbie only entering the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower now?"

"Who knows? Maybe his Fire Energy was plundered by some of the older students."

The veteran students inside the Fire Tower paid no attention to Xiao Yan, not wanting to meddle in other people's affairs. Most of them simply wore expressions of mockery and schadenfreude.

At this moment, Xiao Yan had no time to care about the outside world. The formless and colorless Heart Flame had suddenly appeared within his body, surrounding his Qi Cyclone. Even though Xiao Yan possessed decent fire control and was a Second-Rank Alchemist, he was still unable to control this Heart Flame.

Xiao Yan was desperately trying to prevent the Heart Flame from approaching his Qi Cyclone. If the Heart Flame were to burn his Qi Cyclone, he would be finished!

"That's not right! Elder Liu and Ruo Lin Mentor are right beside me. If there's something wrong with this Heart Flame, they would definitely step in to save me!"

"Could this Heart Flame be the reason why the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower accelerates cultivation?!"

Xiao Yan's mind raced. Once he calmed down, he immediately understood what was happening.

The reason why the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower could accelerate cultivation was because of this formless and colorless Heart Flame! Xiao Yan took a deep breath. Although no one had taught him what to do inside the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower, he had gleaned some information from fragmented words and phrases.

"Since the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower is a place for accelerated cultivation, what I need to do now is cultivate inside the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower. That is the right path."

Xiao Yan's mind steadied, and he began to circulate the Burning Technique to absorb the surrounding fire-attributed energy. This was the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower, and the fire-attributed energy was particularly abundant, making Xiao Yan's cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

Xiao Yan's mind stirred slightly. Enduring the intense pain of being burned by the flames, streams of yellow Dou Qi circulated through his meridians, converging towards his Qi Cyclone like rivers flowing into the sea.

Just as Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was gathering into a single stream, preparing to merge into his Qi Cyclone, the formless Heart Flame suddenly expanded, scorching the gathered Dou Qi.

"Huh? The Dou Qi has become purer!"

Xiao Yan was astonished to discover that the originally thick stream of Dou Qi had shrunk by nearly half after being burned by the formless flames! All the impurities had been burned away, leaving behind incredibly pure fire-attributed Dou Qi.

This saved Xiao Yan the step of purifying the impurities within his Qi Cyclone! Xiao Yan was overjoyed. Usually, cultivation involved not only circulating a Cultivation Method to absorb external energy and convert it into Dou Qi, but also further refining the Qi Cyclone to eliminate impurities. The Qi Cyclone would be continuously refined until it underwent a qualitative change, marking the transition from Dou Zhe to Dou Shi.

But now, with this Heart Flame, half of the steps were skipped, which explained why the cultivation speed would increase! However, the Heart Flame quickly diminished after refining the Dou Qi once.

Xiao Yan did not venture deeper to draw out more Heart Flame, because he knew that his purpose was not to cultivate. Moreover, one could not cultivate in the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower indefinitely. Staying here meant enduring the sensation of being burned at all times, and although Xiao Yan's physical strength could withstand it for another ten minutes or so, it would not be of much use.

"The ability to suddenly generate a colorless and formless Heart Flame within the body... this should be the Fallen Heart Flame, ranked fourteenth on the Strange Flame Ranking List."

After understanding this, Xiao Yan circulated the strands of Bone Spirit Cold Flame within his body, and a wave of icy coldness quickly dispelled the heat within his body.

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of white air. A hint of greed flickered in his eyes as he looked towards the deepest part of the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower. He was almost certain that there must be a Strange Flame within the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower.

However, with his current strength, even if he knew there was a Strange Flame, there was nothing he could do. The Fallen Heart Flame, ranked fourteenth, was still too strong for him to obtain.

Once he understood this, Xiao Yan no longer harbored any lingering thoughts. Without any hesitation, he turned around and walked out of the Black Tower.

Seeing Xiao Yan turn around and leave without even staying for a minute, Ruo Lin Mentor and Elder Liu were both stunned.

Hang in there a little longer! You're too fast! Not even a minute?! You can't bring happiness to Xun Er like this! Ruo Lin Mentor comforted him, "It's okay. You're still only a Dou Zhe. Ordinary Dou Zhes can't even enter. When you truly have the strength to enter the Inner Academy, you'll definitely be able to last longer."

Xiao Yan smiled. He knew that Ruo Lin Mentor had misunderstood. However, Xiao Yan was not the kind of person who liked to show off or save face, so he didn't explain further. His purpose in coming to the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower was not to accelerate his cultivation, but simply to confirm whether there was a Strange Flame.

After Xiao Yan left, Elder Liu suddenly recalled, "Huh? That kid regained consciousness on his own the first time he entered the Heavenly Flame Training Qi Tower?"

"Forget it. It's probably because the Heart Flame at the entrance was too weak and didn't draw out much."

The night was deep and still, the moon like a silver plate, the sky filled with stars. Xiao Yan sat alone on a hillside in the Outer Academy forest, lying on the quiet grass with a blade of grass in his mouth, chewing it gently, letting the faint bitterness spread in his mouth.

When Xiao Yan had worries in Wutan City, he would come to the hillside behind the mountain to watch the moon and stars.

"Xiao Yan-gege is in such a leisurely mood to watch the stars and admire the moon?"

Xun Er, like a purple butterfly, drew an alluring arc with her graceful figure as she lightly leaped onto the hilltop, her clear voice reaching Xiao Yan's ears.

Xiao Yan looked at the increasingly radiant and charming girl and smiled slightly. "Finished your closed-door cultivation?"

Xun Er didn't mind the grass being dirty and slowly sat down next to Xiao Yan. Her pretty face revealed cute dimples as she smiled lightly, "Xiao Yan-gege, do you have something on your mind?"

Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulders, looked at the pure white bright moon in the sky, and said faintly, "Xun Er, do you think I'm strong?"

Xun Er was slightly stunned, and frowned as she pondered for a while, saying, "Xiao Yan-gege is already an Eight-Star Dou Zhe at the age of sixteen, and his strength is even comparable to students in the Mystic Rank Class. It's hard to find someone of the same age who can compare with you in Canaan Academy."

"What if we put it in the entire Dou Qi Continent?" Xiao Yan looked at Xun Er with serious eyes, his gaze like that of a wise man seeking an answer.

Xun Er thought for a long time, and finally sighed, gently shaking her head without the slightest concealment.

"Even Canaan Academy, which was founded by a Half-Saint expert and has stood in the Black-Corner Region for countless years, is not considered a top force in the entire Dou Qi Continent." Although Xun Er didn't answer directly, the answer was actually within her words.

"I thought so too, after all, the Dou Qi Continent is so vast."

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