Chapter 174: So This Is the Fallen Heart Flame?
Within the softly lit ancient tower, dozens of people surrounded the motionless, meditating figures of Xiao Yuan and his fellow new students, whispering among themselves with the occasional stifled chuckle.
"Make way, make way—Elder Liu is here!"
A sudden shout came from the edge of the crowd, prompting everyone to quickly clear a path. In the Blazing Qi Refinement Tower, the elders overseeing each floor held supreme authority. Offending them could spell trouble—a slight misuse of their power could bring more grief than anyone could handle.
Through the crowd stepped a plainly dressed elderly man, Elder Liu, his smiling eyes sweeping over the unmoving new students with a kindly amusement.
"Silly kids. Barging into the tower without prior notice... This kind of suffering was entirely avoidable."
"Heh, every year some impatient newbie rushes in. They deserve a bit of roasting."
Laughter rippled through the watching older students. The tower's training speed was great, but it could be monotonous—watching new students suffer was a welcome change of pace.
"Old Su, why are you sneaking around?"
Elder Liu ignored the mocking students and instead glanced at a shadowy corner of the tower.
"I thought these little ones were interesting, so I didn't show myself. Besides, we'll have to lend a hand shortly anyway," came the voice of Elder Su as he emerged, smiling.
"Let's get started—some of them are already nearing their limit."
Elder Liu gestured toward the flushed and steaming figures, faces like glowing coals.
Nodding, Elder Su stepped forward with him. The two raised gnarled hands, their claw-like fingers glowing with milky-white flames that spun into small fiery vortexes at their fingertips.
Flicking the vortices toward the students, the flames hovered a foot from each student's chest.
"Come out!"
With a gentle spin of their palms, the vortexes accelerated, releasing a suction force that tugged invisible, distorted wisps of flame from the students' hearts. These wisps were drawn into the vortexes and swiftly shredded into nothing.
As the Heart Flame fragments left their bodies, the students collapsed to the ground, their scorched faces paling. Gasping like oxen, they sat limp and dazed—too exhausted to register the crowd around them.
Just as the two elders prepared to repeat the process, a cheerful voice interrupted.
"No need, elders. Leave this part to me."
They turned to find Xiao Yuan smiling at them.
"You?" they blinked. "You woke up on your own?"
"Is that so strange?" Xiao Yuan blinked innocently.
Elder Liu was briefly speechless before noticing another student beginning to tremble violently.
Before he could act, Xiao Yuan flickered forward. His hand, wrapped in black-and-white flames, formed a claw and reached toward the student's chest from a short distance.
A wisp of invisible flame was drawn out effortlessly.
Elder Liu's face subtly changed. That... was likely a Heavenly Flame.
Elder Su, who already knew Xiao Yuan possessed one, was still surprised—Xiao Yuan could even extract Heart Flame fragments from others.
While they watched in disbelief, Xiao Yuan calmly absorbed the Heart Flame fragment, wrapping it in his Yin-Yang Dual Flame and drawing it into his own body for cultivation.
Other people couldn't handle these flames.
But he could.
So, under the astonished eyes of both elders and the watching senior students, Xiao Yuan went on to extract every remaining Heart Flame fragment from his fellow new students.
Though these flame projections had already spent much of their energy, the essence they provided still refined about half of one of Xiao Yuan's energy cores—no small gain.
As Xiao Yuan finished, the elders exchanged a long look—clearly impressed.
The Heart Flame trial was often used to gauge potential. Most new students couldn't dispel it on their own, and the longer one resisted, the better their potential was assumed to be.
But Xiao Yuan?
He not only woke himself up—he helped everyone else too.
And to extract a Heart Flame without harming the student required masterful control over one's Dou Qi. Just that alone qualified him to take on high-level Academy tasks.
"Thank you both for watching over us."
Finishing his cultivation, Xiao Yuan bowed slightly.
"No need to be polite. Had I known you were this capable, I wouldn't have bothered to show up."
Elder Su grinned, clearly pleased.
"This batch of new students is something else," Elder Liu added, smiling.
A student like Xiao Yuan—gifted, possessed of a Heavenly Flame, and bound for greatness—deserved goodwill and support.
"I've still got business to attend to, so I'll leave you here, Old Liu. Show this little rascal around."
Inside the tower, matters would be simpler. Su nodded at Elder Liu and secretly passed him a message:
"The Grand Elder said to provide Xiao Yuan with extra privileges if possible. Handle it accordingly."
With that, he turned and left.
Elder Liu blinked, then glanced at Xiao Yuan with suspicion.
...They didn't even look related.
"Elder Liu, I'm new here and still have much to learn. Could you show me around?"
Xiao Yuan smiled politely and gave a respectful bow.
"Ah, right. Come with me."
Pulled from his musings, Elder Liu smiled back and began leading the way. Xiao Yuan followed, and behind them, Atai signaled for the other students to give space and trail from a distance.
As they walked, Xiao Yuan was surprised by the size of the tower's first level—it could easily accommodate five hundred cultivators at once.
The space was circular, lined with various training chambers. Most were already occupied. Each door had a red plaque above it labeled "Low," "Mid," or "High"—denoting the room's quality.
High-grade rooms were closest to the center, mid-grade rooms formed a ring around them, and low-grade rooms lined the outermost edge.
"In this tower, rooms are won by strength. The stronger you are, the better the room you get," Elder Liu explained.
"Interestingly, the daily cost in Fire Energy is the same for all rooms on the same floor—one day costs one Fire Energy, regardless of room grade."
"So it's pay the same, fight for more benefits? Makes sense."
Xiao Yuan nodded in understanding.
Elder Liu nodded in approval.
Eventually, Liu arranged for Atai and the others to train in high-end mid-grade rooms—ones nearly as effective as the best chambers.
Xiao Yuan, though, asked to go deeper. He had a Heavenly Flame, he said, and could endure more.
Though concerned, Elder Liu agreed once he saw the flame with his own eyes. Compared to the Heart Flame fragments from earlier, this was a fully refined and controlled Heavenly Flame—truly authentic.
With a Green Fire Crystal Card in hand, Xiao Yuan could descend even to the sixth floor—normally reserved for six-star Dou Ling experts. But that might be overkill; even Liu thought it might harm rather than help him.
As they walked, Xiao Yuan suddenly stopped. They'd reached the tower's very center.
"What's that…?"
Ahead was a deep, pitch-black hole.
Curious, Xiao Yuan stepped forward and peered down. The darkness seemed endless, dizzying. The temperature in the air was clearly hotter here—as if something at the bottom radiated pure heat upward.
That must be the Fallen Heart Flame…
As he leaned in, his eyes flared with Yin-Yang Fire, piercing the gloom.
But just as the view began to clarify, every hair on his body stood on end.
Within that deep void, the space itself began to twist—like invisible serpents coiling upward with terrifying speed.
"Xiao Yuan, get back!"
Elder Liu's shout came too late—barely. He yanked Xiao Yuan back just as the spatial distortions surged upward.
"Hssss…"
Crackling sounds like lightning burst from the pit. The air grew blindingly hot, the light flaring, the temperature soaring.
Two meters above the pit's mouth, the very space became distorted. To the naked eye, it looked like nothing—but to those sensitive enough, it was unmistakably wrong.
Elder Liu paled, dragging Xiao Yuan farther away. He'd heard rumors about what lay below—but never seen it.
He didn't notice, though, that Xiao Yuan's body was slowly melting under the intense heat.
With eyes cloaked in dual flames, Xiao Yuan saw what no one else could.
From the pit surged a terrifying entity—a massive, formless fire serpent, ten meters thick and of unknown length.
And as the beast emerged, the Yin-Yang Dual Flame within him resonated.
So this… is the Fallen Heart Flame?
(END CHAPTER)
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