Source True Fire

*Chi!* A soft hiss, a wisp of azure flame. Luo Chen stared blankly at the deep azure flame hovering upon his finger. It had taken three years. With the help of the Extreme Cold Ice Prison, he had finally refined the Wither-Bloom Fire that he had taken the perilous risk of swallowing into his body back then. From this day forth, like Danyangzi, he was among the rare few who grasped a source true fire while still in the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet the price he had paid was incomparably heavy. The azure flame dispersed. Luo Chen ran his hand through the long hair draped loosely over his back. Dry and lackluster, the strands were an ashen gray. Were it not for his still smooth and ruddy skin, he would have looked from afar like a withered old man with one foot in the grave. For such a condition to appear on a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator was exceedingly rare. It would only happen to someone whose lifespan was near its end, whose vital energy and blood had declined to the point where they could no longer control their spiritual power. Moreover! Luo Chen possessed the physique of Desolate Ancient Tier 3. Even if he could not yet regenerate from a single drop of blood, he could certainly boast skin like an infant's and hair as lustrous as black silk. Yet his hair now bore this unsightly, ashen gray color. And the cause of all this... "In the end, I only have myself to blame!" Luo Chen murmured hoarsely to himself. "Sometimes, progressing too quickly in cultivation can be a curse." Counting the time he had genuinely devoted to all-out cultivation: At the start of his transmigration, he had been twenty-six years old. It had taken a year to max out his proficiency in Fasting Powder. After turning twenty-seven, he began practicing the Myriad Wonders Pill. Relying on the immense profits and spirit stone earnings brought by this pill, he had begun to enjoy the rapid cultivation fueled by medicinal support. From that point on, across barely thirty years, he had reached the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment at his current age of fifty-seven, and was infinitesimally close to the eighth layer! Such cultivation speed. Even if placed within a Nascent Soul sect, he would be an elite among elites. The legendary Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators were said to take only ten years to establish their foundation and a hundred years to form a core. Luo Chen's cultivation speed was truly excessive. During this process, difficulties had certainly arisen. His mediocre five-element spiritual root aptitude, pill tolerance, leftover pill toxins from breaking through realms, and so forth. He had resolved each and every one of those difficulties. Reasonably speaking, no major problem should have surfaced. Even though he relied on pills to accelerate his cultivation, under his five-element spiritual roots—seemingly mediocre, yet broad and forgiving in truth—matters had remained well under control. In particular, he had shored up the deficiencies in his physique and soul. With this three-pronged approach, he was more than capable of sustaining rapid cultivation. However! Even with such astounding cultivation speed, Luo Chen's greed had still not been satisfied, and he had taken another shortcut. "A pseudo-Tier-3 spiritual land!" "Now I understand why the great sects—even though fully capable of laying down pseudo-Tier-3 spiritual lands to supply large numbers of disciples for cultivation—stubbornly hoard them and only provide them to Dao Children." "The supposed limits of the physical body and meridians aren't the primary issue at all." "The greatest issue is that such spiritual lands transcend realms!" "They can serve as a temporary sprint for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but they cannot replace the steady work of accumulation." Only cultivators at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment were truly suited to cultivating in such spiritual lands. Not only could they sprint toward the Great Perfection realm, but they could also adapt in advance to the authentic Tier 3 spiritual land environment required when breaking through to the Golden Core stage. Whereas Luo Chen had cultivated in pseudo-Tier-3 spiritual lands at both the fifth and seventh layers of Foundation Establishment. Lacking the slow, steady grind accumulated day by day, no matter how well his physique could endure the scour of spiritual energy, no matter how unwearied his foundational soul felt, progressing too quickly would inevitably breed impetuousness in his temperament. Temperament had nothing to do with the depth of one's soul, nor did it depend on sheer strength of will; it reflected only one's fundamental outlook on the world. And Luo Chen had cultivated for too short a time. Along the way, though he considered his path arduous, it had nonetheless been smooth sailing. Fierce enemies were many, yet they had all ended as wisps of departed souls under his sword. No matter how harsh the adversity, by holding fast to an unyielding heart, he had always overcome it. Only... excessive success caused one to become carried away. With his cultivation constantly soaring and formidable foes falling one after another beneath his hands—even Di Wanyun had died by his blade, and Qin Tairan could do nothing against him outside Danxia Peak—as these achievements piled up, Luo Chen's mindset had unconsciously drifted into arrogance. Thus, when the Yan Alliance suffered its slaughter and suddenly plunged into decline, he realized it was an unprecedented opportunity, and recklessly resolved to seize it. Even though people around him advised caution, even though many obstacles lay ahead. Yet, bolstered by Haoranzi's Tier 3 cave dwelling on Tianlan Peak, with his realm continuously surging, Luo Chen had remained reckless and headstrong. He believed he could! He believed he could pull it off! In the end, he truly had pulled it off. Yet looking back at the process now, he could not help breaking into a cold sweat. Relying on his own strength to travel everywhere, tugging at the heartstrings of great sects—it could only be called brazen and reckless. With merely a Foundation Establishment cultivation, going in person to an immortal city under the Yan Alliance's banner was practically walking into the tiger's den. In the Battle of Incense Valley, crossing a major realm to confront Qin Tairan head-on was the height of reckless madness. All these actions—which of them was not like a toddler brandishing a massive saber, courting nothing short of death? This manner of doing things bore some resemblance to his past style, yet it had exceeded it by far too much! Luo Chen's true style was a blend of caution with a touch of boldness, steady and prudent without lacking decisiveness. How could it ever have been like this: sheer audacity with only a sliver of caution, and absolute recklessness masquerading as decisiveness? Only charging blindly forward! If it succeeded, fine; if not, he had casually told himself, "At worst, we'll just disband." However! Why would anyone let you simply walk away? Looking back on the entire operation, Luo Chen felt his mouth go dry. A spark of realization surfaced in his mind. "I must have fallen into a mental demon!" In cultivation, there was a tribulation known as the "heart demon." This tribulation was formless and traceless, yet across countless millennia, an untold number of cultivators had perished beneath it. None could say for certain what a heart demon truly was. Yet over such a vast span of time, people had summarized some of its patterns. Obsession, demonic delusions, disorientation, chaos, stagnation... When various negative emotions wrapped around a Dao heart, they would unconsciously spawn a "heart demon tribulation." This time, Luo Chen had fallen into a delusion. Due to his overly rapid cultivation speed, his continuous smooth journey, and the stifling hatred of being pinned down at his own doorstep by Qin Tairan, he had fallen into a delusion without even realizing it. Especially during his second cultivation stint in a pseudo-Tier-3 spiritual land. Watching his realm rise relentlessly, his desire for vengeance had burned ever fiercer. Ultimately, it had driven him to take that step. Fortunately, he had succeeded, and nothing had gone awry along the way. Otherwise, even with ten thousand lives, he would have perished inside Incense Valley. How could Qin Tairan be someone to provoke lightly? At the time, the man had fought one against two without falling into disadvantage. In order to kill him, Qin Tairan had taken two strikes from fellow cultivators of the same rank, suffering grievous wounds. Later, he had endured a blast from the Immortal Thunder Bead, nearly dying. Even in such a state, Luo Chen had almost failed to take him down. Thinking back on that peril now sent another jolt of terror through his heart. "Furthermore, was that the only risk I took this time?" Luo Chen stroked his ashen-gray hair, a bitter look surfacing on his face. The intelligence Tianxingzi brought back then had been extensive—vastly extensive! From minor details like the exact numbers of Yan Alliance cultivators to major matters like arrays, land veins, and more. Relying on that intelligence, he had possessed the confidence and audacity to assault their mountain gates. And among that intelligence, one dossier had been extraordinarily unique! It originated from the grand elder of the Luoyun Sect—True Master Han Zhan! The man had seemingly become certain that Luo Chen had rescued his grandson, Han Zheng. Therefore, that particular piece of intelligence had been gifted not in exchange for the Century Thunder Core, but purely to repay the life-saving debt on Han Zheng's behalf. And that intelligence had concerned the very wondrous Wither-Bloom Fire that the Yan Alliance had passed down for three hundred years. True Master Han Zhan had stated frankly that after three hundred years of nurturing by the Yan Alliance, the wondrous fire had already reached Tier 3. Only someone whose physique had likewise reached Tier 3 could forcefully absorb it. Luo Chen happened to fulfill this exact condition. Add to that the fact that he was an alchemist, naturally yearning for a source true fire belonging solely to himself—a bona fide "true fire"! It had to be said that True Master Han Zhan's gift had scratched Luo Chen right where it itched. Thus, he had begun arranging to scheme for this flame back then. Min Longyu, who originally had not been part of the plan to assault the Yan Alliance, had been specially mobilized by him. All so that Min Longyu could slip into Incense Valley amid the chaos and use his mastery of formations to locate the Wither-Bloom Fire. Guided by the intelligence, Min Longyu indeed found it and set up the corresponding array in advance. Only then had Luo Chen used the battle as cover to descend into the subterranean cavern. How to absorb the flame into his body was no difficult feat for Luo Chen. Because many years ago, for the sake of alchemy, he had specifically researched secret arts and techniques in this area. It was nothing more than four stages: fire control, fire fusion, fire absorption, and fire refining. With the Flame Manipulation Incantation, he had perfected the fire control stage. Then, using the Duan family's Fire Fusion Secret Technique along with a One Qi Flame Conveyance technique, he had mastered the fire fusion stage, gradually bringing it to perfection through years of alchemy. As for the fire absorption aspect, he had dabbled extensively. Whether in the *Blazing Sun True Scripture* from Huo Hu's legacy or the Tier 2 fire-attribute manual *Green Sun Art* he had acquired, both contained secret techniques for housing sourceless flames within one's body to forge a source true fire. However, while sourceless flames were not unheard of, they were not something ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivators could touch at will. Most Yan Alliance disciples merely took in a minuscule wisp of the Wither-Bloom Fire into their bodies and nourished it separately with their natal spiritual power. Even then, few did so, as it genuinely hindered one's cultivation progress. And for the Golden Core cultivators of the Yan Alliance, the combat enhancement gained from swallowing the Wither-Bloom Fire was far less advantageous than using the fire to forge magical artifacts en masse to amass wealth and resources. After all, this sourceless fire belonged to the Yan Alliance as a whole, not to any single individual. Thus, this wondrous flame had been preserved. In the end, it had fallen into Luo Chen's hands. "Some bargain that was!" Luo Chen let out a long sigh. Never could he have imagined that once taken into his body, this flame was not at Tier 3 at all! It was at the threshold of Tier 4. Moreover, it clearly occupied a bizarre transitional state—freshly stepped into Tier 4, unstable, and without even having had time to birth a spiritual consciousness. Reflecting on it now, Fei Ming's effortless breach of the Fire Burning Array back then was likely related to the transformation of this ancestral wondrous fire. At that time, someone must have been using the Fire Burning Array to push the Wither-Bloom Fire into an upgrade, just as Min Longyu had once used the Nine Transformations Flame Dragon Array to help Luo Chen temper the Profound Fire Sword. A Tier 4 Wither-Bloom Fire, though having yet to awaken sentience, already possessed rigorous conditions for recognizing a master. First was the powerful physique originally mentioned by Han Zhan. Only a sufficiently robust physical body could bear a sourceless fire and refine it into a source true fire. Second! It was the intrinsic property of the Wither-Bloom Fire: one wither, one bloom. To achieve flourishing vitality through this flame, one had to supply a corresponding amount of life force. And the one whose life force was drawn upon would naturally sink into the "withered" aspect. And those were the conditions after its advancement; had it not advanced, it would have been utterly uncontrollable and drained far more. Over these three years of refinement, Luo Chen had grown increasingly familiar with this flame's characteristics, gradually understanding why not a single Golden Core cultivator of the Yan Alliance had ever attempted to refine it, nor had anyone from the outside coveted it. Refining it would devour one's life force and diminish lifespan. Yet leaving it unrefined allowed them to rely on the Incense Spirit-Seizing Array to plunder the life force of other living beings and merge it into the flame. Not only could this elevate its grade and quality, but it could also channel a portion of the converted life force to sustain Golden Core cultivators running out of lifespan, allowing them to prolong their feeble existence. And that was precisely why the Yan Alliance had suddenly revealed the foundation of over a dozen Golden Core cultivators back then. Naturally, this method carried a massive drawback. Cultivators who relied on this flame to prolong their lives could not move around freely under normal circumstances, and upon death, their entire essence would be sacrificed to the Wither-Bloom Fire. Now, relying on his formidable physique and the extreme environment of the Extreme Cold Ice Prison, Luo Chen had spent three full years forcibly refining the Wither-Bloom Fire. Thereby, he obtained a source true fire belonging solely to him. The cost was that half of his life force had been swallowed by the flame! In the system's panel under Lifespan, what should have been 【57/260】 had now become 【57/160】. In other words, of the two hundred years of lifespan he had originally had remaining, half had been ruthlessly devoured. One hundred years! "I truly don't know whether Han Zhan gave me a magnificent gift or a lethal poison." "Yet back then, trapped in my delusion and convinced everything was under my control, I forced myself to swallow this poison." A profoundly complex expression crossed Luo Chen's face. Half weeping, half smiling, bitter yet sweet, filled with relief yet tinged with melancholy. Even the veteran, award-winning actors he had seen in his previous life could hardly have portrayed such an expression. All that lifespan, accumulated with such difficulty through years of painstaking cultivation! To lose more than half in an instant—who wouldn't grieve? Any ordinary cultivator would likely have had their Dao heart shatter, unable to accept such reality. Only Luo Chen! With an unyielding will, having just broken through his delusion to regain a clear and lucid state of mind, he did not dwell excessively on the pain. He calculated clearly: at his current pace of cultivation, even without the aid of a Tier 3 spiritual land, he could complete his Foundation Establishment cultivation within a century. Once he successfully formed his core and broke through to the next realm, his lifespan would surge once more! Moreover! In the Foundation Establishment stage, he was somewhat different from others. His lifespan limit was not fixed by racial bounds. Instead, it increased by small increments each time he advanced a minor realm. Though it appeared he had only a hundred years of lifespan left, the remaining two minor realms—the eighth and ninth layers—could provide him with another ten to twenty years. "Barring any unforeseen accidents, time is still reasonably ample." Luo Chen rose, washed his body, and changed into clean, crisp robes. Then he gathered his loose, ashen-gray hair behind him and secured it with a Daoist hairpin. After tidying himself up, that handsome, elegant Luo Chen had returned once more. Beneath his extraordinary bearing, he possessed a few more touches of composure and gravitas than in the past. The ashen-gray hair imparted a tinge of weathered age to his youthful countenance. Combined with his deep, dark eyes, anyone who saw him would praise his striking presence. Luo Chen groomed himself in this manner naturally not just for good looks, but because he knew guests would arrive before long. Doing this was merely a mark of respect toward others. After straightening his appearance, an object appeared in Luo Chen's hand. It was a jade thumb ring. Seemingly a thumb ring, it was actually a storage treasure. And this was his only other harvest from the battle to annihilate the Yan Alliance, aside from the Wither-Bloom Fire. The legacy of Qin Tairan.