At that moment, Yun Xi felt as though she were trapped inside a blazing furnace. Every inch of her skin, every strand of hair, was being scorched. Even the meridians within her body had become warped and distorted under the intense heat.
That small purple flame—only the size of a quail egg—seemed to have found an amusing playground. It darted recklessly through her meridians, causing havoc as it pleased. Eventually, it split into two parts. One surged into her sea of consciousness, while the other rushed into her dantian, as if determined to destroy both.
Yun Xi's divine sense also split in two. One half stayed to guard her sea of consciousness, while the other pursued the flame into her dantian, trying to prevent it from causing further damage.
The fragment that entered her sea of consciousness was clearly more intelligent. The moment it sensed Yun Xi's powerful divine sense, it paused—then, as if realizing it needed to strike first, it began releasing even more intense heat.
Fortunately, Yun Xi had cultivated the Soul Refining Art, and she had also devoured the soul of the cultivator who had attempted to seize her body. As a result, her soul strength was nearly on par with that of a Divine Transformation cultivator. That alone allowed her to barely endure the scorching torment of the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame.
Yun Xi wove her divine sense into a net, wrapping the little flame that had sensed danger and was trying to flee. She sealed it in like stuffing into a dumpling.
Another wave of unbearable heat surged through her. The purple flames dancing on her body burned even brighter. Dian Dian, unable to bear the intensity, was forced to retreat two steps.
"Xianling, what do we do? Master is going to get burned alive!"
Dian Dian had no idea how to help. All he could do was mutter anxiously toward the Xianling Grass.
The Xianling Grass, on the other hand, remained calm. It shook its leaves and sent streams of glowing green light into Yun Xi's body. At the same time, it comforted Dian Dian.
"Relax. Master will be fine. She has the Ice Spiritual Root—this kind of burning won't kill her. At most, she'll suffer serious injuries. It's normal for a strange fire to test its new master when bonding for the first time. It needs to be sure she's capable of controlling it. Don't worry."
But Dian Dian wasn't reassured in the slightest. If anything, he became even more anxious.
Inside her sea of consciousness, Yun Xi was attempting to embed her soul imprint into the heart of the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame. Meanwhile, her divine sense in the dantian was trying to drive out the other, smaller flame. However, that flame had just spotted her Golden Core suspended within the dantian. Seemingly intrigued by this new "toy," it darted over and wrapped itself around the Golden Core, releasing waves of heat.
Yun Xi's dantian throbbed with pain. She immediately knew the flame was causing trouble and rushed to intensify the struggle of wills. Her divine sense sharpened into a needle, stabbing directly at the core of the flame.
"Aiyo!"
A pained scream echoed within Yun Xi's sea of consciousness. It was the break she needed to brand her imprint.
The instant the divine sense mark was successfully branded, Yun Xi ordered the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame to withdraw from her sea of consciousness and commanded the one in her dantian to stop tempering her Golden Core. The two flame fragments finally reunited and settled down, quietly floating beside the Golden Core.
Only after the internal crisis was neutralized did Yun Xi slowly open her eyes.
"Master, are you alright?"
As soon as the purple flames on Yun Xi's body extinguished, Dian Dian rushed over and asked with wide, worried eyes.
Yun Xi tried to sit up but was met with an overwhelming wave of pain. Her entire body ached so much she gritted her teeth. Every movement threatened to tear her meridians apart. The scorching of the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame had twisted and knotted them.
She relaxed her body and gave up on sitting. Instead, she chose to lie flat and said to the Xianling Grass, "Xiao Xian, send me spiritual energy. I need to repair my body. I nearly roasted myself alive for that flame."
"Understood, Master."
The Xianling Grass had already confirmed the flame was subdued when Yun Xi awoke. Without hesitation, it drew on its reserves and began pouring pure spiritual energy into her.
Yun Xi activated the Wushuang Sword Lightning Art, guiding the spiritual energy through her body. While her damaged meridians were being repaired, they were also nourished, gradually regaining their flexibility and fullness. The refined energy then flowed into her dantian, causing the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame beside her Golden Core to tremble slightly.
This session of cultivation lasted a full month. When Yun Xi opened her eyes again, the Xianling Grass's leaves had dimmed, clearly exhausted. But the results spoke for themselves—she could feel that she was now only a step away from breaking into the mid-stage of Golden Core.
"Xiao Xian, thank you for your hard work."
The Xianling Grass gave a tired shake of its leaves.
"Master, I've given you everything I had in reserve. You really should resume your search for a spiritual vein."
Yun Xi smiled faintly.
"You said before that the mid-grade spiritual vein from the Baohua Mountain Range could support me all the way to Golden Core stage. Looks like you were holding back."
The Xianling Grass responded without a hint of guilt.
"Master, I had my reasons. If anything went wrong—like just now—it was up to me to cover you."
Yun Xi chuckled and gently tapped one of its leaves.
"Alright, I get it. Once the sect competition is over, I'll take an outer mission to look for a spiritual vein. Don't worry. I'll make sure you're stocked up again."
"Good. I'll be waiting."
Once her conversation with the Xianling Grass ended, Dian Dian climbed onto her knee and asked eagerly, "Master, did you really subdue that strange fire?"
"Mhm."
"Can I see it?"
Dian Dian was still incredibly curious. That tiny purple flame, only a third of his size, had tormented Yun Xi so badly that he'd nearly despaired for his little mouse life.
Yun Xi didn't refuse. Dian Dian had helped her in his own way. With a flick of her hand, a delicate purple flame appeared in her palm.
The Mystic Thunder Violet Flame now lay there quietly, behaving itself.
But Yun Xi knew very well that the flame had already gained sentience. She asked directly, "Tell me about your former master. And how you escaped from the Baohua Mountain Range."
The Mystic Thunder Violet Flame gave the slightest tremble and then went still, pretending to be lifeless, clearly reluctant to speak.
Yun Xi didn't press it. Instead, she continued calmly, "Your former master is dead. I burned his physical body. He won't be coming for you. The technique I cultivated was obtained from him."
This time, the flame trembled more noticeably, clearly considering whether her words were true.
Yun Xi brushed her fingers over her palm, revealing a hidden storage ring.
"See for yourself. His storage ring is mine now."
A moment later, a somewhat childish voice echoed through Yun Xi's sea of consciousness.
"You're pretty impressive. You actually escaped being possessed by him. But don't be so sure he's really dead. He won't go down that easily."
Yun Xi narrowed her amber eyes slightly. "Little Violet Flame, can you elaborate? We're allies now. I destroyed his body, consumed his soul, took his cultivation technique, and now I've contracted you. If he's not truly gone, he'll likely come for both of us."
The Mystic Thunder Violet Flame let out a small sigh before answering.
"My previous master was Lei Hongxuan, a powerful cultivator from the Weiling Realm. He was at the early stage of Unity realm, and I was the strange fire he had contracted.
He discovered an undiscovered secret realm and contacted several friends from the Spirit Realm, intending to seal it off and bring it back to his clan.
But they were all greedy—just like him. During the sealing process, he used me as the formation's core. He wanted to keep the entire secret realm for himself…"