"Let me go, Xiao Bai! I'm gonna crush that jerk!"
Zi Yan thrashed in Xiao Bai's arms, her wide eyes blazing with fury as she glared at Xiao Yan, who stood nearby, rubbing his nose with a sheepish grin.
That punk dared to throw something so terrifying at my head?
The memory of the massive explosion sent a shiver through her, fear mingling with lingering anger. Had Xiao Bai not scooped her up and bolted, she would've taken the full brunt of that devastating blast.
"Enough!" Xiao Bai patted the fuming girl's head, his voice gentle but firm. "I'll handle it later and give him a good thrashing for you."
Zi Yan huffed, her lips pursing in a pout, but she finally settled down, grumbling under her breath.
"Cough… Brother Bai, you alright?" Xiao Yan ventured cautiously, his tone tentative.
"I'm fine."
Noticing the guilt and self-reproach in Xiao Yan's eyes, Xiao Bai knew the incident was an accident and waved it off dismissively.
"Hmph!" Zi Yan's nose let out a series of indignant snorts, but she held back from exploding further.
"Who's this?" Xiao Yan's gaze shifted to the small girl clutching her arms, her big eyes glaring daggers at him.
His peripheral vision caught the massive crater nearby, and his mouth twitched. Unbelievable… that tiny fist carved out this pit?
Imagining that punch landing on him, he shuddered, wiping cold sweat as relief washed over him. Thank heavens Brother Bai stopped this violent little gremlin, or I'd be on my second transmigration by now.
"Her name's Zi Yan, from Jia Nan Academy," Xiao Bai introduced.
"Jia Nan Academy?" Xiao Yan blinked, stunned, muttering to himself. Is Jia Nan Academy that insane? Even a random kid is this monstrous?
"What're you staring at? Keep looking, and this granny'll swallow you whole!"
Zi Yan bared her teeth, trying to look ferocious, but her youthful face only made her seem adorably fierce, like a kitten pretending to be a tiger.
"Uh…" Xiao Yan awkwardly averted his gaze, inwardly scoffing. Swallow me? With that tiny mouth?
"Alright, stop messing around," Xiao Bai chuckled, ruffling Zi Yan's head.
"Oh!" Zi Yan dropped her fierce act, standing obediently by his side.
"Little Yan Zi, long time no see!"
Xiao Bai sized up the youth before him. The boyish softness in Xiao Yan's face had faded, replaced by a sharper, more resolute edge, tempered with a hint of battle-hardened grit. Nodding, he smiled, "You've matured quite a bit."
"Heh, Brother Bai, people grow, don't they?"
Xiao Yan scratched the back of his head, grinning warmly at the figure he hadn't seen in over a year.
He felt Xiao Bai had changed even more. The white hair was gone, and the cold severity in his features had softened into a calm, natural ease. Yet, between his brows, an aura of majesty had grown deeper, restrained but poised to unleash like a thunderstorm.
"Not bad! People do grow." Xiao Bai's eyes flicked to Xiao Yan's dantian, teasing, "But your cultivation… hasn't made much noise, has it?"
"Damn it, Brother Bai! Don't hit below the belt!" Xiao Yan's face flushed, his heart seething.
This guy's still as infuriating as ever. So what if you're a Dou Ling?
Just you wait. One day, I, Xiao "Invincible" Yan, will slap your face so hard you'll choke on your smugness!
"Teacher, what's this jerk's cultivation level?" Xiao Yan whispered to Yao Lao, frustration bubbling. He still couldn't gauge Xiao Bai's realm.
"Dou Wang… peak!" Yao Lao's voice carried a trace of shock. How long has it been? This kid's cultivation has soared to this level!
"What?!" Xiao Yan's eyes nearly popped out, stammering, "Teacher, didn't you say Brother Bai was a six-star Dou Ling when he went to Jia Nan Academy?"
"Correct."
"So, in a little over a year, he jumped from six-star Dou Ling to peak Dou Wang, while I, a six-star Dou Zhe, only reached six-star Dou Shi in the same time?"
"Does cultivation get easier the higher you go?!"
Xiao Yan felt reality warping around him, a ridiculous epiphany dawning. No wonder both Brother Bai and I lingered so long in Dou Zhi Qi. It must be because the higher realms are easier!
"You're dreaming!" Yao Lao snapped, shattering Xiao Yan's delusion. "If cultivation got easier at higher realms, I'd have been a Dou Di ages ago, not stuck in this sunless ring!"
"Then how the hell did Brother Bai hit peak Dou Wang? Did Jia Nan Academy have a clearance sale on ninth-grade spirit pills or something?"
Xiao Yan's composure cracked. He'd toiled with beast flames, Heavenly Flames, and endured Yao Lao's relentless whip-cracking training to claw his way from Dou Zhe to Dou Shi—a single major realm.
Yet this infuriating guy had leaped the same distance, from Dou Ling to Dou Wang!
Do I have to swallow my vow to slap his face already?
"No!" Xiao Yan wailed inwardly, tilting his head skyward to keep tears at bay, lamenting to the heavens: Why was Brother Bai born when I exist?
"That lotus-like thing… you made it?" Xiao Bai asked, amused by Xiao Yan's theatrical expressions.
"Yep!"
At this, Xiao Yan perked up instantly, his enthusiasm returning.
He launched into an animated tale of the past month's struggles, boasting about how his ingenuity and perseverance solved every hurdle, culminating in the creation of his one-of-a-kind Dou Technique.
"So, what do you think, Brother Bai? Your bro's pretty awesome, right?" Xiao Yan grinned smugly, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
… Yao Lao.
So I'm just a tool in this story, huh?
"Is that so?" Xiao Bai's smile widened, listening patiently to the boy's bragging. His eyes flickered thoughtfully as he nodded at the eager Xiao Yan. "Pretty impressive, indeed."
"Heh!" Xiao Yan beamed, finally getting a chance to shine in front of his childhood nemesis.
Xiao Bai's lips curved, amused by his reaction.
Glancing around, he noticed the cyan-white flames still burning within a several-hundred-meter radius. The sand had melted, forming a sprawling magma pool.
With a step, he appeared at the center of the fire sea.
"Brother Bai, what're you doing?"
Xiao Yan blinked, puzzled, when his eyes widened in shock.
The black-robed figure in the fire sea opened his mouth, and the surrounding cyan-white flames, as if summoned, converged into a thick stream, flowing into him.
The chaotic fire energy, finding an outlet, surged toward the center.
In moments, the scorching fire sea vanished, leaving only wisps of smoke and a cooling, dimming magma pool.
"Teacher, that's a Heavenly Flame, right? He's just… swallowing it raw?" Xiao Yan murmured, as if saying, Teacher, come see a god!
"What's this kid up to?" Yao Lao muttered, equally stunned, watching Xiao Bai seemingly burp after devouring the flames.
In their gazes, Xiao Bai extended his right hand. A flickering flame appeared in his palm—not just cyan and white, but three-colored, with a translucent, milky-white flame mingling within.
"That's… Fallen Heart Flame!"
Yao Lao gasped, floored that Xiao Bai possessed this Heavenly Flame. Did this kid claim Jia Nan Academy's flame?
"Fallen Heart Flame?"
Xiao Yan's eyes lit up at the familiar name, staring intently at the milky-white flame in Xiao Bai's hand.
"Huh, not bad, punk! You actually know about Fallen Heart Flame!" Zi Yan glanced at the starry-eyed Xiao Yan, arms crossed, her tone nonchalant.
She hadn't heard Yao Lao, only Xiao Yan's exclamation.
"You know it too?" Xiao Yan turned to the violent little gremlin, then nodded in realization. "Right, you're from Jia Nan Academy. Of course you'd know."
"Did Brother Bai really subdue the Fallen Heart Flame?" Xiao Yan muttered, a pang of disappointment hitting him. He'd planned to target that flame when he reached Jia Nan Academy, only to find Brother Bai had beaten him to it.
"Not exactly subdued. More like beat it into submission," Zi Yan's crisp voice reignited a spark of hope in Xiao Yan, though it came with a twinge of confusion.
That thing? Beat into submission?
"Teacher, can Heavenly Flames have sentience?"
"Some Heavenly Flames, left undisturbed for ages, grow powerful origins and develop sentience. The level varies—some are as cunning as old human foxes, others as naive as children."
"Jia Nan Academy's flame is clearly one of those. I don't know its exact sentience, but it's a mature Heavenly Flame, perfectly suited for your Flame Mantra."
"So, when I try to subdue Heavenly Flames, I'll not only face their destructive power but also have to outsmart them?" Xiao Yan gaped, feeling the road ahead grow thornier.
"Exactly! Keep at it—I believe in you!" Yao Lao chuckled. "No need to worry. Didn't the girl say Xiao Bai beat the Fallen Heart Flame into submission? If he can do it, so can you!"
… Xiao Yan.
Teacher, do you hear yourself? Saying Brother Bai "managed" it implies he's some freak of nature. How's a normal guy like me supposed to compare?
With Xiao Bai's insane progression speed, Xiao Yan briefly considered abandoning the Flame Mantra altogether.
"Hm? Is this kid copying your fire lotus?" Yao Lao's surprised voice broke his thoughts.
Xiao Yan looked up, his jaw dropping.
"Holy—! A three-colored fire lotus!"
"I—=≡Σ(((つω)つ"
Words couldn't capture his tangled emotions.
His unique, freshly invented Dou Technique was already being pirated!
And worse, this knockoff might outshine his original!
Xiao Bai, frowning in concentration, poked at a forming flame cluster in his hand, pausing to think before adjusting again. A fire lotus gradually took shape in his palm.
Xiao Yan's mouth went dry, his heart trampled by a stampede of ten thousand alpacas.
Is this guy even human? You're a thunder attribute, big bro!
Xiao Yan had spent over a month, sparked by a flash of inspiration, experimenting from beast flames to Heavenly Flames to perfect this technique. Yet Xiao Bai, after hearing his exaggerated spiel, was replicating it—and in three colors!
Unbeknownst to Xiao Yan, Xiao Bai wasn't thinking that far. He simply found the technique intriguing.
Initially, he'd absorbed the dense fire energy to avoid wasting it, channeling it into his dantian. Seeing the unabsorbed Fallen Heart Flame from before mingling with the new cyan-white flames, he recalled the cyan-white lotus and wondered if he could recreate it.
No hesitation—think it, do it.
He summoned three flames, aiming for a challenge, and began experimenting based on Xiao Yan's vague descriptions.
"Tch, this isn't that hard. It just demands precise control over multiple Heavenly Flames and strong soul force. Probably only Xiao Yan with his Flame Mantra or I could pull this off."
Xiao Bai studied the cyan-white lotus with a hint of translucence, shaking his head.
His balanced Five Elements in his dantian gave him the insight to manage this, but it wasn't particularly useful. The Heavenly Flames in his dantian would eventually be consumed by Little Bing, rootless and fleeting.
Unlike Xiao Yan, whose Flame Mantra could convert fire energy into Heavenly Flames with their origins, Xiao Bai had no such foundation. Using his dantian's fire attribute for this would disrupt his Five Elements' accumulation, and he saw no need for it.
From the visions during his breakthrough, his dantian's Five Elements, though currently just a gluttonous construct, might be key to reaching higher realms in the future.
Pursuing this technique would be chasing the trivial at the cost of the essential.
"Brother Bai, please stop showing off!"
Xiao Yan stared at the nearly complete, exquisite lotus in Xiao Bai's hand, his mouth twitching as he wailed and bolted.
He'd thrown a lotus at Xiao Bai's head earlier. If this petty guy retaliated by tossing this one at him, he was done for!
"Heh, no rush. Almost there." Xiao Bai glanced at the fleeing figure, a playful smirk tugging at his lips.
With a final tap on the lotus, he infused it with soul force to stabilize its balance.
A pair of radiant five-colored energy wings sprouted behind him. With a stomp, he shot toward the black-robed figure.
Hearing the whoosh overhead, Xiao Yan looked up, his face paling.
"Stay away from me!"
Xiao Bai, holding the three-colored fire lotus, squinted as if calculating the perfect angle to throw.
"Yes! Toss it right at his head!" Zi Yan's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Moments later, Xiao Yan realized the noise above had stopped. Looking up, he saw Xiao Bai hovering nearby, gazing in another direction.
Following his line of sight, Xiao Yan saw ripples distorting the space ahead. A voluptuous figure in a gold-red robe emerged, her cold eyes fixed on Xiao Bai.
"Having fun, are we?" Her icy voice echoed through the group.
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