Sea Heart Flame.
The fifteenth-ranked Heavenly Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, possessing the power to control seawater.
The nature of this Heavenly Flame was very gentle and delicate, but at the same time, it possessed a world-destroying power.
Its delicate aspect could cleanse one's body and enhance the holder's perception, allowing them to notice details that ordinary people could not.
Its world-destroying might could summon waves of flame like a tsunami that blotted out the sky, immense in power and impossible to evade.
Han Feng observed this Heavenly Flame, thinking to himself that this treacherous beast who had betrayed his master was truly lucky.
In his previous life, he had spent considerable effort to capture the twenty-third ranked Mysterious Yellow Flame.
At that time, he had just broken through to the Dou Venerate realm, and the Mysterious Yellow Flame he captured was also at the Dou Venerate level, so it was quite difficult.
As for this Sea Heart Flame, although it was ranked fifteenth, its overall strength was only between the Dou Emperor and Dou Ancestor level. Han Feng had captured it through a clever trick, gaining a huge advantage.
He estimated that this Heavenly Flame had not been fully formed for long. By the common logic that spiritual objects of heaven and earth evolve over centuries, the speed of human progress was ridiculously fast.
The Sea Heart Flame danced joyfully in Han Feng's hand. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but it felt as though the master before it was becoming increasingly familiar and dear.
"First, let's deal with the trouble in this body."
Han Feng sat down cross-legged. The Sea Heart Flame ignited in his Dantian and, accompanied by wisps of Dou Qi, surged throughout his body.
Swoosh, swoosh!
Flames resembling ocean waves lapped against the air. Han Feng formed a seal with his hands, and his spiritual strength suddenly surged.
"As expected!"
Under the solidification of his spiritual strength, enhanced by a secret technique, a black thread appeared inside Han Feng's body.
This was a contingency left in Han Feng's body by Old Man Mu Gu back then.
It was hidden so deeply that even the spiritual strength of a sixth-grade alchemist had failed to detect it.
However, now that it was discovered, it was no longer a problem.
Flames fear no evil spirits!
Han Feng, who had achieved sainthood through the path of fire, had an understanding of flames that far surpassed ordinary people.
Not to mention, he had the assistance of a wondrous item like a Heavenly Flame.
"Sea Heart Flame—Light of the Sea Spirit!"
The Sea Heart Flame emitted a gentle glow, washing away the foreign object in a peculiar way.
This kind of Heavenly Flame skill could only be used by a holder who possessed an extremely high affinity for flames and an uncommon understanding of the Heavenly Flame.
The previous Han Feng's strength was too poor; he had not been able to unleash the true power of the Sea Heart Flame at all.
Only now could it be said that the treasure had found its rightful master. With just an initial period of getting used to each other, it directly washed away the contingency left by a Dou Venerate expert.
"But I can't alert the enemy."
Han Feng thought for a moment, then expended some effort to refine the black thread out from the surface of his body and placed it in a jade bottle.
This way, Old Man Mu Gu would not be able to detect any abnormality.
At this time, Han Feng's strength was weak, so it was not wise to confront the other party head-on.
He needed to be fully prepared before he could make a move against Old Man Mu Gu.
In fact, killing a Dou Venerate was not difficult.
If it were the Han Feng of his previous life, even with only a Dou Ancestor cultivation, he would still have ways to use the right time and place to kill a Dou Venerate expert.
A cultivator's cultivation level was not their only asset. Treasures, medicinal pills, and experience could also be used as means to defeat an enemy.
Below the Dou Saint realm, all are ants. In the eyes of the strong, there was no difference between a Dou Venerate and a Dou Ancestor.
Of course, all these possibilities had now become nothing but illusions.
Everything had to start from scratch.
After purifying the filth, Han Feng continued to carefully inspect his body, frowning from time to time.
A long time later, he withdrew his power and calmed his breath, sighing softly.
Restoring the aptitude and potential of this body would likely be quite difficult.
This Mu Gu was truly vicious. Back then, he taught his former self a malevolent secret technique and later planted a sinister contingency. No wonder he wasn't worried at all about Han Feng roaming around outside alone. He must have been confident long ago, certain that Han Feng would never be able to break through to the Dou Venerate realm in his entire life.
But it didn't matter.
It was just a matter of aptitude. Even if it was difficult, it wasn't impossible to solve.
It was merely a matter of finding heavenly treasures and refining rare medicinal pills.
It could be handled.
Besides the troublesome issue of his aptitude, Han Feng also discovered multiple hidden injuries in his body.
This was likely caused by cultivating the incomplete Flame Mantra.
Thinking of this, Han Feng couldn't help but reveal a scornful smile.
He was laughing at his other self.
To think that a mere Flame Mantra scroll could become a reason for betrayal.
How absurd.
In his previous life, after he had settled down and focused on his cultivation, Yao Chen had taken the initiative to share this miraculous Yellow-rank cultivation technique with him.
The reason he hadn't given it to him before was purely because the technique was too dangerous. How could Yao Chen let Han Feng, whom he regarded as his own son, experiment with it?
A young man's heart is unsettled and too easily influenced by words like "unprecedented" and "unparalleled throughout the ages."
Even if this Flame Mantra was truly that miraculous and could surpass Heaven-rank in the future, allowing Han Feng to become a Dou God with no successor, Yao Chen would not have wanted Han Feng to cultivate it—he knew all too well the difficulty of devouring Heavenly Flames.
He had nearly died just refining one, yet the Flame Mantra required continuous devouring and refining to have a chance of advancing.
In comparison, Yao Chen would rather Han Feng be ordinary, safe, and happy for his entire life than have him go through trials of life and death.
Unfortunately, the other Han Feng would never understand these things.
Han Feng silently recited the complete version of the Flame Mantra in his mind and, following the technique's requirements, completed the Flame Mantra Dou Qi within his body.
Swoosh!
The Sea Heart Flame transformed into the shape of an ocean wave, circling around Han Feng joyfully.
It seemed to have also sensed the improvement of the Flame Mantra. As the first little master of this big family, it was incredibly excited.
Han Feng's hand seals changed. The final piece of the Flame Mantra cultivation technique was completed. The Flame Mantra Dou Qi within his body circulated endlessly, flowing into his limbs and bones, merging perfectly with his body.
"Phew!"
Exhaling a long breath, Han Feng's face showed a hint of joy.
He hadn't expected the Sea Heart Flame to be so potent after completing the technique, directly raising the Flame Mantra to the high Xuan-rank and also pushing his cultivation up another level.
Seven-star Dou Emperor!
He had officially stepped into the ranks of a high-level Dou Emperor. Although it was nothing compared to his previous life, he was already on the path of progress, one step at a time.
"As for the hidden injuries."
Han Feng pondered.
The Sea Heart Flame itself had some healing effects, but to be completely cured, he still needed medicinal pills.
A sixth-grade pill was not a sure thing; a seventh-grade one would be just right.
The name of a medicinal pill appeared in Han Feng's mind.
[Heavenly Life Pill]: A mid-level seventh-grade pill. It uses the leaves of the seventh-tier "Heavenly Fragrance Spirit Wood" as the main ingredient, blended with the sixth-grade "Life Jade Essence," plus more than ten other fifth-tier herbs, to refine the Heavenly Life Pill, which has an extremely potent healing effect.
This seventh-tier "Heavenly Fragrance Spirit Wood" was extremely rare. It used to be easy to find in the Central Plains, but he didn't know if he could find it in the Black-Corner Region.
The sixth-grade "Life Jade Essence" was a supplementary or main ingredient for most sixth-grade healing pills. Although expensive, it was not rare and should be available for purchase.
The other fifth-tier herbs could be gathered by his subordinates.
Refining medicinal pills was not something one could do empty-handed.
The process of gathering the medicinal ingredients was often more tedious.
Han Feng summoned his subordinate.
A young man entered the room and stepped forward, bowing.
"Master, what are your orders?"
Han Feng took a brush and wrote down the names of some medicinal herbs on a piece of paper, then handed it to the man.
"Gather the herbs on this list for me. The quantities are as usual."
"Also, help me investigate who has these two items."
"Yes!"
The man took the paper and left quickly.