The golden flames surrounding them now were Xiao Se's origin flame. Under his direct control, it no longer carried the same danger as the Fallen Heart Flame had before, and thus posed no threat to Long Kui.
"Then why is Medusa lying in my arms so properly?" Xiao Se asked, frowning. "And why are my clothes completely gone?"
"Big brother's clothes were burned away during the refinement of the Exotic Flames," Long Kui replied with a bright smile. "As for Sister Medusa… she was the one who threw herself into big brother's arms."
Hearing this, a trace of sly amusement flashed through Xiao Se's eyes. He looked down at Medusa and said with shameless schadenfreude, "Queen, you heard what Long Kui just said. You're the one who jumped into my arms. I was the one who suffered a huge loss here. Not only did I not ask you to take responsibility, you even turned around and accused me first—and then tried to attack me."
"You—!"
Hearing Xiao Se's words, Queen Medusa felt her chest tighten violently. She nearly fainted from anger on the spot.
She had seen shameless people before—but never someone this shameless.
Even if she had unconsciously crawled into his arms, this bastard had clearly awakened before her. Instead of immediately backing away, he had actually—
(PS: At this point, he has already surpassed the title of Titled Douluo.)
"All right, all right, I'm done joking." Xiao Se waved his hand, no longer teasing her. He straightened his appearance, then swept his gaze around the surroundings.
Activating the Guiyuan Soul Art, his soul power spread out silently. With the perception of a seventh-grade mid-tier alchemist, he quickly located the exit of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.
"You're still very weak right now," Xiao Se said, turning to Medusa. "I've already found the tower's exit. There's a way out over there. I'll send you out first."
"You're not leaving?" Medusa asked, surprised.
Xiao Se shook his head. "I sensed that there's a second Fallen Heart Flame deep within the magma. Since I've already refined Canaan Academy's Exotic Flame, it's only right that I return one to them."
Hearing this, Queen Medusa's face revealed a rare, gentle smile. "Didn't expect you to be the sentimental type."
Xiao Se replied seriously, "We've been together day and night for two or three years. What kind of person I am—don't you know already? Toward enemies and people I dislike, I'll absolutely scheme them to death. But toward those who treat me sincerely, I'll respond with the same sincerity."
"Who knows?" Medusa turned her head aside, a faint smile flickering across her beautiful face.
Xiao Se shook his head helplessly and didn't explain further. He sat down cross-legged again, entering a cultivation state.
Before leaving, he needed to store the newly fused Exotic Flame into the Spirit-Collecting Core at the center of his qi vortex.
As the golden flames completely entered the Spirit-Collecting Core, undisguised joy appeared on Xiao Se's face.
The Sea Heart Flame and the Fallen Heart Flame—successfully refined at last.
With the complete refinement of the Fallen Heart Flame, Xiao Se immediately sensed a constant generation of heart fire within his body. This heart fire required no conscious control—it continuously tempered his Dou Qi at every moment.
He had a strong premonition.
Even if he did nothing and simply sat still, he would still break through to peak Dou Huang within a year.
Just as Xiao Se was about to stand up and escort Queen Medusa out, his expression suddenly changed.
He felt the golden flame that had just been infused into the Spirit-Collecting Core tremble violently. In the next instant, a scorching evil fire erupted inside his body.
"Damn it—shit! I got carried away and completely forgot about this!"
He couldn't help but shout out loud. His face flushed crimson, and his breathing instantly grew ragged and rapid.
"Big brother, what's wrong?" Long Kui hurried over and supported him, her face filled with worry.
"Long Kui—quickly, enter the Demon Sword!" Xiao Se said hoarsely. "And Queen, hurry and enter the storage pouch at my waist. I'll use a secret technique to take you out. If you don't—something really bad is going to happen!"
His throat rolled violently. His face looked as though it were burning, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at either of them.
Taking in Xiao Se's condition, Queen Medusa frowned slightly and asked with hesitation, "Are you all right?"
"This is a side effect of fusing Exotic Flames," Xiao Se nearly roared. "It's not dangerous—but it produces evil fire. So you understand what that means, right?! Hurry! I—I can't hold it anymore!"
The vast Dou Qi in his body surged wildly as he tried to suppress the raging evil fire. But the more he suppressed it, the more violently it rebounded. It was on the verge of completely breaking free.
Hearing this, both Medusa and Long Kui blushed deeply.
In the next instant, their figures transformed into a streak of seven-colored light and a streak of blue light, disappearing into Xiao Se's waist pouch and the Demon Sword pattern on his right hand respectively.
The moment they entered, Xiao Se shouted in his mind:
"System, use the Doupo Travel Voucher."
[Ding! Doupo Travel Voucher successfully activated. System teleportation in progress.]
As the system notification sounded, space twisted violently. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Se vanished from the magma world.
—
Under a clear sky, a blazing sun hung high above, like a massive fireball endlessly radiating heat, pouring scorching sunlight onto a vast golden desert.
Every grain of sand was baked until it resembled glowing red-hot iron.
In the endless sea of sand, atop a dune somewhere, space suddenly distorted.
Xiao Se stepped out from the void.
The instant his feet touched the ground, he immediately deployed the Vast Sea Protective Barrier, then released Queen Medusa from the storage pouch at his waist.
"Go—go as far as you can. The farther, the better!"
At this moment, Xiao Se's reason was rapidly being overwhelmed by lustful fire. His blood-red eyes locked onto Queen Medusa, his throat rolling repeatedly.
Just as Medusa was about to circulate her Dou Qi and leave this troublesome place, she suddenly noticed a red streak of light rapidly approaching from the distant horizon.
Within that streak of light, she vaguely saw a figure.
As it drew closer and swept past the sky above the Vast Sea Protective Barrier, Queen Medusa finally saw the figure clearly.
The person wore a black robe and a white mask. Even their gloves were iron claws. Most striking of all was the snake tail—and the aura, as well as the crimson Dou Qi wings on their back.
It was almost exactly the same as her own before evolution.
"This is…?"
Staring at the direction where the figure vanished, shock flashed through Medusa's beautiful eyes. She then looked around—
—and realized that everything here felt eerily familiar.
While countless thoughts churned through Queen Medusa's mind, Xiao Se at her side was already on the brink of losing all rationality.
"Big brother… quickly let Long Kui out…"
"Long Kui can help you…"
The voices of Red Kui and Blue Kui echoed together inside the Vast Sea Protective Barrier, but Xiao Se gave no response.
Xiao Se was the master of the Demon Sword. He naturally had full control over access to the sword's internal space.
The moment Long Kui entered, he had already sealed the exit.
He knew exactly what he would be facing once he came out—lust fire devouring the body.
But he would rather endure torment for a while than taint Long Kui's soul in this way.
Besides—
Whether something like that was even possible with a soul body… was still a huge question.
And so, gripping the last shred of his sanity, Xiao Se endured the raging fire alone, as the desert sun blazed endlessly above him.
(End of Chapter)
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