Word t: 3,369 Words

  ******

  'A Red Fire Crystal Card! Who is this person!'

  Han Yue was greatly surprised when she saw Xiao Yan take out a red Fire Crystal Card. She began to size him up, speg about his true identity.

  Obtaining a Red Fire Crystal Card didn't necessarily require high strength; as long as one had 600 days' worth of Fire Energy, one could exge for it. Moreover, Fire Energy was something that could be traded, meaning that as long as one possessed preedial pills, treasures, or even Qi Methods, one could exge them for a rge amount of Fire Energy.

  "Hehe, if I'm not mistaken, you must be Xiao Yan, right?" Elder Liu, who had just been at the entrance, walked over upon hearing their versation and said with a smile.

  He couldn't help but look Xiao Yan up and down. Although he wasirely certain at first, after seeing Xiao Yan take out the Red Fire Crystal Card, he was now one hundred pert sure.

  It should be hat shortly after Xiao Yaered the Inner Academy, First Elder Su Qian, who was in charge of the Inner Academy, had informed all the elders of Xiao Yan's situation.

  In particur, the various elders overseeing the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower were specifically told about Xiao Yan's circumstances. After all, Xiao Yan possessed a Heavenly Fme, and they were ed that the Heavenly Fme within him might produe kind of rea with the Falle Fme.

  Xiao Yan smiled, cupped his hands, and said, "Student Xiao Yan pays his respects to Elder Liu."

  Elder Liu nodded amicably at Xiao Yan, then turo the silver-robed young dy and asked with a smile, "Yue girl, which floor are you pnning to cultivate on this time?"

  The silver-robed young dy hesitated slightly before replying, "The sixth floor."

  "The sixth floor?!" Her reply immediately caused waves of astonished excmations among the surrounding crowd. "That's a ply accessible to those who have reached the strength of a 6-star Dou Spirit. Has Senior Sister Han Yue already reached that stage?"

  "Eh?" Elder Liu was also somewhat surprised by Han Yue's answer. His eyes, taining a hidden gleam, slowly swept over her. After a moment, he sighed, "It seems that in a few years, you girl will be qualified to pete for an elder's position in the Inner Academy. Such cultivation talent and speed are truly astounding."

  "It's all thanks to the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower. If I were cultivating on my own, I'm afraid I would have just barely reached the Dou Spirit realm by now," Han Yue shook her head.

  Elder Liu looked at Xiao Yan and asked, "What about you, little fellow? Which floor are you pnning to go to?"

  Xiao Yan furrowed his brows in thought for a moment before saying, "I'll also go to the sixth floor."

  ?!

  Elder Liu's eyes fshed, revealing a look of i. Beside him, Han Yue's delicate eyebrows knitted slightly as she g Xiao Yan.

  Xiao Yan quickly waved his hands with a bitter smile and said, "Senior Sister, please don't misuand. I already have someone in my heart. Going to the sixth floor is purely because I believe I cultivate there, not because I'm following you."

  Elder Liu smiled. He knew Xiao Yan's strength and background. Given Xiao Yan's abilities and possession of a Heavenly Fme, entering the sixth floor was indeed reasonable.

  Generally speaking, a 2-star Dou Spirit would find the fifth floor most suitable, but for Xiao Yan, who possessed a Heavenly Fme, the sixth floor was actually more appropriate.

  "If it were someone else, even with the strength of a 6-star Dou Spirit, I wouldn't allow a freshman to ehe sixth floor. But for you kid, it's acceptable." Elder Liu didn't say much more and agreed to Xiao Yan's request.

  Even the always elegant and aloof Han Yue showed a hint of sho her beautiful eyes when she heard Elder Liu firm that Xiao Yan was a freshman.

  A freshman?! A freshman who just arrived is entering the sixth floor!!

  "He—he's a freshman?!"

  "Impossible! How could a freshmaer the sixth floor and even possess a Red Fire Crystal Card?!"

  The surrounding senior students, who were also pnning to go to the floor, immediately began whispering among themselves. Many students in the academy were focused on their own cultivation and hadn't heard of Xiao Yan's 'glorious deeds.'

  Elder Liu saw more and more people gathering. He waved at Xiao Yan and said, "I'll show you around the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower first, then we'll head to the sixth floor."

  "Then I'll have to trouble Elder Liu," Xiao Yan cupped his hands and nodded slightly. His etiquette and manners were impeccable, a clear indication that he was the young master of a .

  "Hehe, o be so polite."

  Within the circur space of the tower, cultivation rooms of varying sizes were arranged. As they walked slowly from east to south, Xiao Yan noticed that all the high-grade cultivation rooms seemed to be located he ter of the tower. Around them were the middle-grade cultivation rooms, and further out were the low-grade ones.

  "In this Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower, these high-, middle-, and low-grade cultivation rooms generally o be obtaihrough your own strength. The stronger you are, the better cultivation ditions you secure. Those with weaker strength only cultivate iermost low-grade cultivation rooms," Elder Liu casually expio Xiao Yan while pointing at a cultivation room beled as high-grade.

  Xiao Yan nodded slightly. Suddenly, his steps paused. Following his line of sight ahead, it could be seen that they had already walked to the tral area of the tower.

  "This is...?"

  Somewhat stunned, he gazed at the bottomless bck hole that appeared before him. He slowly walked forward two steps, came to the edge of the hole, and cautiously looked down. The pitch-bck darkness extended as far as the eye could see. That kind of eerie darkness with almost no light made his head feel a bit dizzy.

  This bck hole seemed to run through the entire Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower. If not for the tower's spire c it, this deep, dark abyss might have been visible from the sky at a gnce.

  Carefully sensing within this pitch-bck deep hole, one could feel that the air here was much hotter than elsewhere. That feeling... it was as if something at the bottom of the deep hole was tinuously emitti, supplying the entire Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

  Xiao Yaended his palm and grasped at the scorg air. Something within his body suddenly throbbed violently.

  'Could it be that down below is...!'

  His throat moved slightly as he stretched his head a little forward, his eyes fixed ily on the deep darkness. After a moment, a wisp of bck fme fshed in his pupils.

  As the bck fme surged into his eyes, the endless dark space below suddenly began to distort slightly. Following that, these distorted spaces, like colorless pythons, climbed upward toward the hole's entra aremely terrifying speed.

  "Xiao Yan, step back!"

  Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength was even strohan Elder Liu's. Before the tter could take a to save him, he had already taken a quick step back, pulling away from the edge.

  In the sed, a massive transparent python emerged from the bck hole, staring fixedly at him.

  'Falle Fme!' Xiao Yan's heart trembled!

  Meow! A voice suddenly sounded in his mind. Mao Wu firmed his thoughts. Moreover, this was not just an ordinary Heavenly Fme but ohat had already gained intelligence—just like Mao Wu!

  'It sehe Heavenly Fme within me, so it came up to take a look?' Xiao Yan roughly uood. There was a strange, perhaps antagonistic retionship between Heavenly Fmes.

  This Falle Fme had already gained intellige sensed his presend awoke from its slumber.

  In the moment, aremely terrifying and a aura slowly emerged from the bck hole, finally bursting out of the seemingly endless deep darkness like lightning tearing through the night.

  The empty space about two meters above the entrance had already bee extremely distorted. That atial seal personally set up by a Dou Vee, inteo fihe Falle Fme!

  After frantically struggling for a while, the colorless Fire Python finally became somewhat exhausted. It let out a hiss filled with rage, then, as the space tio distort, the Fire Python once again became formless and drilled bato the dark depths of the hole.

  Feeling the surrounding temperature decrease, Elder Liu finally let out a long breath and muttered, "That was close. But why did this thing suddenly awaken?"

  Then Elder Liu g Xiao Yan, seemingly guessing the reason.

  Xiao Yan coughed a couple of times and said, "Elder Liu, you wouldn't pn to deprive a student of the right to cultivate in the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower over such a minor i, would you?"

  Elder Liu's eyelids twitched, showing a helpless expression. Indeed, possessing a Heavenly Fme was Xiao Yan's own ability; there was no reason to prevent him from entering the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

  "Sigh, I'll inform the First Elder. Please wait here for a moment."

  Elder Liu walked into a nearby cultivation room used by elders. Han Yue's beautiful eyes were filled with surprise and doubt. She looked at Xiao Yan and asked, "The disturbahis time was because of you?"

  "This time?"

  "Such disturbances occur every on a while. We're used to it."

  A glint of joy fshed in Xiao Yan's eyes as he thought to himself, 'Could it be that I'm really this lucky? Is the Falle Fme about to break free from its seal!'

  'But if this seal still hold for several more years or even a decade, wouldn't that mean I'd have to wait in the Inner Academy for ten years?'

  'I wonder if Mao Wu has a way to open this seal...'

  Before long, Elder Liu returned and said, "Xiao Yan, you ehe sixth floor to cultivate."

  After walking with Elder Liu for about five minutes, Xiao Yan finally felt him slow his pace. Looking ahead, he sairal staircase entra the er not far away. It seemed this should be the entrao the floor.

  "This pce uses spatial mirror arrays. Since you're also going to the sixth floor, just follow the Yue girl all the way down, and you'll reach the sixth floor," Elder Liu said as he quickly arrived at the staircase.

  Elder Liu reached out, took the badge from his chest, and carefully pressed it into a hidden groove on the wall beside him.

  The spa front of them suddenly rippled slightly as the badge ressed in. In just a few blinks, Xiao Yan noticed that the sense of spatial distortion in front of him had pletely disappeared.

  'There are traces of a Dou Vee's methods everywhere here. If I'm not mistaken, this Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower was structed by a Dou Vee.'

  "Remember, if you 't ehe scorg of the Heart Fme on the sixth floor, find a pce to rest for a while," Elder Liu reminded Xiao Yan.

  "Hehe, uood. Thank you, Elder Liu." Elder Liu's kind reminder made Xiao Yan smile and nod. He cupped his hands once more, then his figure fshed as he followed behind Han Yue, darting into the spiral staircase er and disappearing from sight.

  Guards were statio the entrao each floor's staircase, their primary purpose being to check Fire Crystal Cards. Only those with the corresponding Fire Crystal Cards could proceed to the floor.

  Stepping into the sixth floor of the Bzing Sky Qi Refining Tower, Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly as he gazed at the spacious and vast interior, which was even more expahan the previous floors. 'Su enviro and treatment truly befit a pce that only the top experts of the Inner Academy are qualified to enter.'

  The spa the sixth floor was quite rge, but human presence itifully scarce. As Xiao Ya his gaze around, he saw that in this vast area, only a st few figures stood scattered about. pared to the bustling crowds on the upper floors, the difference was like night and day.

  "Let's part ways here," Han Yue said coldly.

  Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Thank you for leading the way, Senior Sister Han."

  The moment Xiao Yan stepped into the area, the whispered versations around suddenly fell silent. Gazes that appeared calm but held cealed sharpness shot out from various dires, finally settling on him. Then, a slight trace of surprise flickered in their eyes as low voices of doubt arose.

  "A 2-star Dou Spirit? Since when could someone of this strength ehe sixth floor? Has the Inner Academy lowered its standards?"

  Xiao Yan paid o these idle whispers and walked toward the outermost cultivation rooms. On the sixth floor, there were more rooms than people, so each cultivation room was essentially indepe. Naturally, the outermost rooms were the least desired.

  As he pushed open the door to a room, a faint red glow shone from the doorway. He instinctively squinted his eyes. After a moment, he slowly opehem and took in the se inside. A hint of amazement grew increasingly intense on his face.

  'Tsk tsk, the fire attribute energy here is truly terrifying. It's a pity there are too many impurities. If oo directly absorb and refi for cultivation, it would be a major hassle.' Xiao Yan shook his head slightly.

  A bck stoform could be seen at the ter of the cultivation room. In front of the stoform was a small groove. Simir to drawing water in a uy, one had to i a Fire Crystal Card to receive the purified Heart Fme suitable for cultivation.

  With a beep, six points of Fire Energy were deducted from his Fire Crystal Card. The first floor ed one point per day, the sed floor two points, and so on.

  A rge cluster of formless Heart Fme rose and lingered near his Qi cye with a whoosh. Following the Fme Mantra, Xiao Yan eled streams of abundant Dou Qi tinuously through his meridians and ihem within.

  When the Dou Qi reappeared after passing through the Heart Fme, what had been as thick as a thumb now became as thin as a strand of crystalliransparent hair.

  'This densation speed!'

  Xiao Yan's heart trembled. After a Qi Method absorbed external Dou Qi, it o be tinuously dehe higher one's cultivation level, the more exaggerated the degree of densation required, and naturally, the slower the progress.

  This was why Qi Methods were so important. If a Dou Spirit were still using a Huang Css Qi Method, advang by oar might take ten years. With a Xuan Css, it might take one or two years. But Xiao Yan was using a Di Css Qi Method!

  A Dou Spirit using a Di Css Qi Method was like driving an F1 race car!

  'I inally thought it would take over half a month to advao a 3-star Dou Spirit. Now, with this Heart Fme assisting in densing Dou Qi, perhaps it won't even take two days to advance by oar!'

  Though Xiao Yan had other pns initially, seeing the cultivation speed with the Heart Fme, how could he resist? He immediately sat cross-legged and pushed the Fme Mantra to its limits!

  Cultivators of other attributes would usually absorb a rge amount of energy elsewhere before io use the Heart Fme for densation. But Xiao Yan was of the fire attribute, so he didn't o go elsewhere. The room was filled with abundant fire attribute energy, and with the Heart Fme's assistance, he didn't have to worry about impurities.

  The dense energy in the room now seemed to form a vortex, crazily surging toward Xiao Yan at its ter!

  The astonishing absorption speed even produced a sound like an engine revving. The clusters of Heart Fme visibly decreased. The Dou Qi that flowed in like streams was refined by the Heart Fme into crystal-clear, hair-thin strands.

  Time flew during cultivation. In the blink of an eye, a day had passed. Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. He g the number on his Fire Crystal Card.

  'Twelve points of Fire Energy have been ed. It's been over a day.'

  'A Di Css Qi Method paired with the Heart Fme is simply too amazing! If I refihe Essence Fme of the Falle Fme and evolve the Fme Mantra to the Tian Css...!'

  A hint of boundless greed fshed in his eyes. He didn't dare to imagine such speed! Wouldn't that mean he could leap to the peak of Dou Spirit ihan half a year, and then with a medial pill, he could bee a Dou King?!

  Moreover, the Dou Qi densed by the Falle Fme was inparably pure and solid without any hollowness. It could be said to be the perfect cheat tool!

  "Calm down, calm down. The more it's like this, the more I 't be impatient. There are two problems to solve if I want to obtain the Falle Fme." Xiao Yan forced himself to calm down.

  "First, the Falle Fme is sealed by a Dou Vee's seal. How to deal with this seal?"

  Meow! Space rippled as a small bck cat emerged from the void, pointing at itself.

  "You mean to cooperate with the Falle Fme from inside and outside? You tear a gap in the seal, and it might be able to break through on its own?" Xiao Yan asked.

  ~o(=∩ω∩=)m

  Mao Wu nodded, indig that's exactly the case.

  Xiao Yan rubbed his and muttered to himself, "Borrowing the Falle Fme's own strength... This is indeed a good method."

  "Then there's the sed problem. After breaking the seal, how the Falle Fme be handled... Although the seal set by a Dou Vee isn't as strong as the Dou Vee themselves, the fact that even a Dou Vee's seal barely tain it means the Falle Fme's strength is at least at the Dou Aor realm."

  "Refining an intelligent Falle Fme with the strength of a Dou Aor—that's a bit difficult."

  The Heavenly Fmes Xiao Yan had previously refined were all without intelligence. In other words, apart from their extremely high temperature making them difficult to approach, these Heavenly Fmes had no offensive power.

  But the Falle Fme was different. Having intelligence meant it was akin to a living being and would attack people!

  'Should I ask the Protector from the Hall of Souls for help? Not to mention that hiring a Protector would cost at least thirty to forty thousand Soul Points, which I don't have. Even if I could afford it, bringing someone from the Hall of Souls into Jia Nan Academy wouldn't be helping; it would be ht robbery.'

  'Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan is already at the peak of Dou Emperor, and there's also the rumored Dou Aor-level First Elder, not to mention those two mysterious Guardians. Could the Bck-er Region's branch hall overpower Jia Nan Academy?'

  Xiao Yan and Mao Wu both sighed. For the moment, her had a good solution.

  Just then! A beam of green light suddenly shot out from Xiao Yan's ste ring. The Green Lotus slowly floated into the air. As it gradually opened, a seven-colored divine light emanated from within.

  Dressed in a geous gown, Queen Medusa stood atop the Green Lotus. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly after surveying her surroundings. Looking down at Xiao Yan from above, she coldly said, "When are you going to restruct my physical body?"

  Xiao Yan's heart surged with immense joy. Isn't this Dou Aor-level bat strength arriving just in time?!!