Long Chen could not help Mo Xiaolang absorb the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire; it was all up to Xiaolang himself. Even though this was Xiaolang’s business, Long Chen was anxious too, seeing as this was a matter of life and death.
The Burning Heaven Emperor had mentioned that even the best of the ten great empires had died from the reactionary response of the ancestral fire while trying to absorb it. Xiaolang was only at the Earth-tier now, and if not for the extraordinary capabilities of the Sun Devouring Wolf, he would never even be able to dream of absorbing the ancestral fire.
Xiaolang leaped from Long Chen’s arms to the ground. He turned to give Long Chen a determined look, then he quietly stepped on the hard ice and went towards the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire. Long Chen followed him. Even though he couldn’t help, he wanted to watch the absorption process to feel more reassured.
The temperature dropped deep into the cave. After walking for about a hundred meters, Long Chen sensed a layer of frost forming on his body. If not for Qi beneath the surface of his body, pumping heat on overdrive, he would have been frozen to death.
And this was with Long Chen’s body being much hardier than that of the average person. Other people would have felt worse. This was a clear display of the wrath of the ancestral fire.
Ancestral fire, ancestral dragon. These are the oldest, most terrifying things. That sliver of inherited blood essence I have—if that is the Ancient Bloodsoul Dragon’s blood …
Long Chen recalled how his growth had been sped up by the Inherited Blood Essence. It had given him Blood Transmutation, the Dragon Soul Transformation, and extraordinary talent, plus that strong feeling he had in his mind. He believed that the Inherited Blood Essence in his sea of consciousness was from the Ancient Bloodsoul Dragon, which was the ancestral dragon of blood and massacre!
I hope that happens. If Xiaolang succeeds with the ancestral fire, then I should have the Inherited Blood Essence of the ancestral dragon to keep up with him. Will I be able to get more blood essence in the future? Long Chen thought with great excitement. In reality, he knew that despite the power of the inherited blood essence, he had something else that was even more powerful—the mysterious jade pendant, because it suppressed the ancestral dragon’s inherited blood essence.
As he thought over the matter, the space ahead suddenly opened up to reveal a one-hundred-meter-wide underground room surrounded by thick, black ice. Long Chen’s gaze was instantly attracted to the center of the space. There was an altar-like platform that was pitch-black with dense, strange symbols carved on it. The symbols radiated a faint, black glow.
About two meters in the air above the altar was a palm-sized flame floating in the air. It was a black flame that burned calmly, as tranquil as a flame in an oil lamp, flickering very slowly.
Long Chen had seen many similar black flames outside, but none of them gave them the same feeling as this. Just like the first time he encountered the Ancient Bloodsoul Dragon’s blood essence, a thick, ancient aura blasted in his face, and his eyes were fixated on the black flame. For a brief moment, he felt like he could see the world in its first few moments in the fire. All he saw was gray mist, so visibility was low. Air currents rose and fell, but the world remained completely blurry.
Then came countless screams and wails. Long Chen felt as if he was looking at hell itself. Pieces of corpses were scattered across the ground with blood everywhere. This was a hell-like place with an eerie, black fire burning violently in the sky. The flame was gigantic, and it suddenly spread across the entire sky in a second, turning it into an upside-down black flame. Countless tiny flames fell like rain, covering the earth. Then the fire destroyed the world.
“Is … is this the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire?” Long Chen suddenly woke up, gawking at the black flame above the altar. The flame did indeed look very normal, but it was not.
When Long Chen saw the flame, he was merely impressed, but Xiaolang felt much different. His breathing grew heavy and his body slowly expanded. Very soon, he returned to the Sun Devouring Wolf’s combat state. With four limbs on the ground, standing next to the ancestral fire, Xiaolang’s back almost touched the ceiling.
When they first entered, Long Chen could guess that the ancestral fire was in a deep slumber from the speed of its flickers. The approaching Xiaolang must have startled it awake, because the speed of the flickering slowly increased, and Long Chen felt the air getting colder.
“Xiaolang, hurry.” Long Chen knew that his chances of success would be higher if the fire was still asleep.
Xiaolang growled deeply at the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire and then opened his mouth without hesitation. Long Chen felt an eerie but familiar sensation. His enemies felt this whenever he used the Blood Devouring Domain and Soul Swallowing Gaze techniques.
A black whirpool the size of a human head appeared in the Sun Devouring Wolf’s mouth, generating a strange gravitational pull. This was the wolf’s powerful absorption ability. It was a devouring technique that was different from Long Chen’s technique. Long Chen devoured blood via the Blood Transmutation technique, but Mo Xiaolang could devour fire—as well as anything related to fire—and turn it into energy for himself.
When the black whirlpool appeared, the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire shuddered and moved towards the wolf. As it moved, its black flames flickered faster. When it was almost inside Xiaolang’s mouth, it seemed to wake up completely!
Instantly, a soul-piercing shriek rang through Long Chen’s sea of consciousness, directly acting on his soul. He felt a piercing pain inside his head. He had not expected the ancestral fire to hold soul-affecting power like a real human.
The temperature of their surroundings fell even more.
Left with no choice, Long Chen could only retreat. He was worried for Xiaolang’s safety but could not do anything about it. All he could do was shout, “Do not force yourself!”
He knew that Xiaolang would not back down, but this was a matter related to Xiaolang’s destiny, so Long Chen could not interfere. He ran back the way they came for a while, and the bone-chilling sensation lessened. He knew that if he had not escaped in time, he would have died from the cold.
It was only a piece of the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire, but it was beyond terrifying. Extremes of anything created the opposite effect. This place was extremely cold, so anyone who entered would assume the fire was cold. However, they would be burned to death instantly if they touched it!
Xiaolang, all I can do is ask the damn heavens to watch over you.
Long Chen sighed, controlling the Qi flow in his body with great difficulty as he waited far away. If Mo Xiaolang succeeded, he would be overjoyed.
Since the Burning Heaven Emperor had supported him, Long Chen felt like Xiaolang had a high chance of success, seeing as the Burning Heaven Emperor thought the Sun Devouring Wolf to be a terrifying being.
Time passed slowly. He could constantly hear sounds of shuffling and panting from the depths of the cave, as well as the sound of airflow. Long Chen was very anxious at the start, but after two hours, he realized that the temperature of his surroundings was starting to rise. This was an amazing sign.
He quickly sprinted into the depths of the cave and peered inside. The Nine Devils Ancestral Fire had disappeared and Xiaolang was lying on the black ice with his eyes closed. Long Chen could see roaring, black flames covering his whole body. The flames looked cold and radiated cold. That was undeniably the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire.
Has Xiaolang succeeded? Long Chen was excited. He was not sure yet, so he continued waiting.
Another two hours later, the temperature of the surroundings had risen to almost normal room temperature. At this point, the black flames on Xiaolang’s body had completely disappeared. Long Chen noticed that the injuries on his body had disappeared too. He seemed to have returned to his usual form, or rather, an even stronger form.
Finally, Xiaolang opened his eyes. For a brief moment, Long Chen saw a cold, black flame burning in his eyes, and the sight made his soul shudder.
When Xiaolang saw Long Chen, he looked ecstatic. Probably because he felt like his combat form was too large, he turned back into his previous, adorable form and ran cutely up to Long Chen, lifting his head to stare at him.
Long Chen was knocked out by how cute his expression and actions were. Xiaolang was not deliberately trying to look cute, he was merely not very familiar with his new body, which was why his butt swayed so much when he ran.
“We’ll talk while we walk.” When Long Chen saw that his injuries had healed, he did not waste time on small talk. Grabbing him by the scruff, he lifted Xiaolang up and sprinted out because he could tell that due to the absence of the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire, the temperature was rising and the ancient ice around them was starting to melt.
“Xiaolang, have you fully absorbed the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire?” Long Chen asked excitedly.
Xiaolang gave a dazed look, nodded, then shook his head.
This inability to converse was an inconvenient problem. Long Chen did not understand him at all and did not even know what to say. At this point, he could only do his best to guess and let Xiaolang nod if he somehow made a correct guess.
Xiaolang opened his jaw, and Long Chen saw a cold flame dancing on his tongue. It looked like a small version of the ancestral fire. The awakened Nine Devils Ancestral Fire was violent and destructive, while the flame on his tongue danced with child-like mischief. Under Xiaolang’s control, it moved from left to right.
Xiaolang closed his mouth, and the flame disappeared.
“I understand now. You didn’t absorb it to turn it into your own power, you took control of the ancestral fire and made it recognize you as its master. That way, despite not receiving the benefit of an instant increase in strength, you still receive many other benefits,” Long Chen guessed.
Xiaolang nodded, his eyes squinting so they looked like crescent moons.
“Fuck, don’t act cute in front of me!” Long Chen scolded him jokingly.
Mo Xiaolang sulked.