"...Unfortunately, the others had the same idea, and the four of them ended up fighting each other. Lei Hongxuan became their primary target. By then, I had already become the core of the formation and had no way of knowing whether Lei Hongxuan had won or lost. I only knew that the strand of soul he left in me never disappeared, merely fell into a dormant state.
I waited for a thousand years. Fortunately, the spiritual vein continued to nourish me, so I didn't exhaust myself. But about four years ago, the spiritual vein that sustained me vanished."
Upon hearing this, Yun Xi rubbed her nose with some guilt but didn't say anything. The Xianling Grass beside her, on the other hand, appeared completely unbothered, as if it weren't the one that had devoured an entire spiritual vein.
Mystic Thunder Violet Flame didn't notice its master's guilt and continued:
"Not long after the spiritual vein disappeared, that dormant strand of soul inside me began to stir again. This time, he tried to devour my consciousness entirely to gain full control of my body.
I had already developed spiritual awareness and didn't want to be erased, so I fought back. During the struggle, I deliberately destroyed the sealing array and escaped from that place where I'd been trapped for a thousand years.
Once the seal was broken, the secret realm couldn't stay hidden anymore. Naturally, it attracted the powerful cultivators of this realm. Since I'm an extraordinary flame, they all wanted to claim me. That's when they started hunting me down.
While a Divine Transformation cultivator attacked me, I split my essence in two. I hid myself within the smaller flame and left the larger portion to that soul strand. That way, cultivators would intercept him while I—being smaller—could better conceal myself.
But no matter how well I hid, I was eventually discovered. A group of despicable evil cultivators caught my scent and once again set their sights on me. I had no choice but to flee my hiding place.
More and more people began chasing me, and they split into several factions. I lured them all together, hoping to slip away again in the chaos of their fight—only to be caught by you, Master."
Yun Xi listened to Mystic Thunder Violet Flame's recounting and finally pieced together the full story. Other than the detail that Lei Hongxuan had left a hidden hand within the flame, everything else matched her previous deductions.
Still, she asked, "When you first entered my body, why did you try to destroy my sea of consciousness and dantian?"
"Well… I thought you had been possessed by Lei Hongxuan, so I—"
"Ugh. If you didn't want to acknowledge me as your master, just say so. No need to make up excuses like that. I wasn't using the Wushuang Sword Lightning Art at the time, so how could you be sure I was possessed by Lei Hongxuan? What if he simply passed the technique on to me?"
"..."
Now it was Mystic Thunder Violet Flame's turn to fall silent. Could it admit that it no longer wanted to form contracts with anyone? That it didn't want to be bound for another thousand years or continue nourishing someone else's soul? Of course not.
Yun Xi noticed it seemed deflated and teasingly poked the flame with her finger. "What, cat got your tongue?"
"If I hadn't discarded two-thirds of my original body, you definitely wouldn't have survived my flames. One touch and you'd have been reduced to ashes."
"Tch, so you're finally telling the truth now?"
"When you're under someone's roof, you have to lower your head."
"Not bad. You do know quite a bit. Even though I did take advantage of your weakened state, I didn't erase your consciousness. You ought to be grateful. Who knows—maybe one day I'll even help you retrieve the rest of your body."
Yun Xi began spinning a hopeful fantasy.
Mystic Thunder Violet Flame's flames finally flickered with subtle change, but it only responded through spiritual transmission:
"That's going to be extremely difficult. Lei Hongxuan is cunning. He'll likely pretend to be a flame-born spirit and continue lying low. There's a real chance that before you even find him, he'll come find you.
After all, your spiritual roots, cultivation speed, even your portable space—all seem tailor-made for him. He'd never give up on such a perfect vessel."
"Sounds like you know your previous master pretty well."
"Of course. That's exactly why I chose to abandon most of my body instead of staying tied to him. As for getting that portion back from him… I don't even hope for it.
Rather than trying to take it back, I'd rather devour other extraordinary flames and rebuild myself that way."
Yun Xi caught the implication and replied with a sweet smile, "Fine by me. I guess we're allies now, aren't we? You want to sever ties with your former master, and I want to ascend to the Spirit Realm. To reach our goals, we have to eliminate the same obstacle. Let's hope we work well together."
"Alright."
The two reached a preliminary agreement and exchanged names. Yun Xi even gave Mystic Thunder Violet Flame a new name.
"You'll take the same surname as Dian Dian. Since you're an extraordinary flame and violet in color, how about… Wei Ziyan?"
Yun Xi wasn't sure whether extraordinary flames had genders. She simply picked a name that sounded pleasant to her.
"Wei Ziyan… That's not bad. Way better than being called Little Thunder. From now on, this extraordinary flame shall be known as Wei Ziyan."
Zi Yan accepted its new name easily. It floated around the space, familiarized itself with Xiao Xian and Dian Dian, then returned to Yun Xi's dantian.
This time, it carefully examined its new master's Golden Core. Upon confirming it was a nine-veined Golden Core, its joy only deepened. Its new master had far better potential than Lei Hongxuan. By sheer luck, it had found a powerful backer.
Only the Mystic Frost Needle remained unmoved, still nestled beside the ice spiritual root, completely ignoring the new companion.
Yun Xi noticed her Golden Core had become more compact after being tempered by Mystic Thunder Violet Flame, now radiating a faint violet glow that made it quite beautiful.
Once she confirmed Zi Yan was peacefully floating within her dantian, Yun Xi withdrew her inner sight. Looking at her ruined robe, she let out a deep sigh. She hadn't owned many robes to begin with, and every time she went out, one ended up destroyed.
The robe made from the five-colored python was like that, and so were the two she had bought herself. Even the Ruyi Boots on her feet had been reduced to a single boot shaft.
Now all she had left was the inner disciple robe from the sect—but wearing that was like putting a sign on her back saying, "Rob me, I'm carrying valuable items."
Yun Xi remembered that she had looted Wei Yunqing's space ring. There were some decent robes in there, likely prepared by Du Ruolan.
After rummaging through the stash, she finally found a sky-blue robe that suited her taste. Once she had changed into it, paired with matching boots and tidied up her appearance, she contacted Fei Xia, who was waiting outside.
When she entered the space earlier, she had already considered the possibility of needing to exit at some point. Worried that some stubborn cultivators might still be lingering outside, she didn't bring Fei Xia in with her. And good thing, too—otherwise even the Flying Mist Butterfly would've been scorched by Zi Yan.
For demon beasts like Dian Dian and Fei Xia, Mystic Thunder Violet Flame was their natural nemesis. Born from the thunder sea and nurtured by the fearsome Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder, this extraordinary flame was their worst nightmare.
So when Yun Xi had decided to seize the flame, Fei Xia had discreetly flown out of her hair to act as her eyes from the outside.
Of course, Fei Xia had sensed every moment Yun Xi endured the searing flames. Ever since forming their bond, the butterfly felt like her peaceful life had turned into a never-ending rollercoaster. Facing death every other day—"thrilling" wasn't nearly enough to describe it.