BTTH: From Genius to Invincible

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, his heart filled with nervous anticipation as he stood at the entrance of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. Gritting his teeth, he gathered his courage, lifted his foot, and stepped heavily into the darkness beyond the gate.

Instantly, his complexion changed dramatically. His once handsome face turned as red as burning charcoal in the blink of an eye. This kind of scene was bizarre to the extreme!

!!!!

'What's happening!' Xiao Yan's heart trembled with a hint of fear as he realized that a wisp of colorless Heart Flame had suddenly emerged and was burning within his body!

Some of the Inner Academy students who were preparing to leave the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower noticed Xiao Yan froze at the entrance. They saw wisps of faint white mist emanating from his body, accompanied by a sizzling sound akin to roasting meat. They couldn't help but sneer with disdain.

"Heh, yet another clueless rookie who rushed into the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower without bothering to inquire."

"The clumsy bird flies early, always thinking they're so special."

"It's strange, though. Didn't the Inner Academy examination end last month? Why is this new student entering the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower now?"

"Who knows? Maybe all the Fire Energy has been plundered by some older students."

The senior students within the tower paid no heed to Xiao Yan whatsoever, nor did they wish to meddle in affairs that weren't their own. More often than not, their faces were painted with mockery and schadenfreude.

At this moment, Xiao Yan couldn't care less about the outside world because this colorless and formless Heart Flame had suddenly appeared within his body. Moreover, it was surrounding his Qi cyclone. Despite his ability to control fire as a 2nd-tier alchemist, he still couldn't manipulate this Heart Flame.

He was now desperately trying to prevent the Heart Flame from getting close to his Qi cyclone. If this Heart Flame were to burn his Qi cyclone, he would be ruined!

'That's not right! Elder Liu and Instructor Ruo Lin are nearby. If there is something wrong with this Heart Flame, they would definitely have intervened to save me!'

'Could it be that this Heart Flame is the reason why the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower accelerates cultivation?!'

Xiao Yan's mind quickly raced through the possibilities, and when he calmed down, he immediately understood what was going on.

The reason the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower could accelerate cultivation was precisely because of this colorless and formless Heart Flame!

Xiao Yan took a deep breath. Although he hadn't been taught by anyone what to do inside the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, he had a rough idea based on a few scraps of information.

'Since the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower is a place for accelerating cultivation, what I need to do now is to cultivate inside in a normal manner to be on the right path.'

Xiao Yan's mind became calm as he began to circulate the Flame Mantra to absorb the surrounding fire attribute energy. This was the Blazing Heaven Qi Refining Tower. Therefore, the fire attribute energy was extremely abundant. As a result, his cultivation progress was twice as fast with half the effort.

His mind stirred slightly as he endured the intense pain of being burned by the flames. Streams of yellow Dou Qi began to circulate through his meridians and converged towards his Qi cyclone like rivers flowing into the sea.

Just as his Dou Qi was about to condense into a stream and merge with the Qi cyclone, the invisible Heart Flame suddenly expanded and burned the converging Dou Qi.

'Huh? The Dou Qi has been purified!'

Xiao Yan was astonished to discover that the originally robust stream of Dou Qi had actually shrunk by nearly half after being burned by the invisible flame! Only an incredibly pure fire attribute Dou Qi remained after all the impurities were burned away.

This saved him the step of purifying the impurities within his Qi cyclone!

Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel delighted. Normally, cultivation not only involved circulating the Qi Method to absorb the surrounding energy and transform it into Dou Qi, which was then collected into the Qi cyclone, but it also required further refinement of the Qi cyclone to remove impurities. The continuous refinement of the Qi cyclone until a qualitative change occurred was what turned a Dou Practitioner into a Dou Master.

Now that this Heart Flame directly cut the process in half, it was no wonder that the cultivation speed increased!

However, the Heart Flame quickly shrank after refining the Dou Qi once.

Xiao Yan's purpose here was not to cultivate. Therefore, he did not bother to draw more Heart Flame. Moreover, one couldn't continuously cultivate in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, as staying here meant enduring the sensation of being constantly burned. Although his physical strength might last for another ten minutes or so, it wouldn't be of much use.

'To be able to suddenly generate a colorless and formless Heart Flame within one's body, it must be the Fallen Heart Flame, which is ranked 14th in the Heavenly Flame Ranking.'

Having figured this out, Xiao Yan circulated the few strands of Bone Chilling Flame within his body. Soon after, a wave of icy coldness quickly dispelled the fiery heat within him.

Then he slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of white air. There was a hint of greed in his eyes as he looked into the deepest part of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. He was almost certain that there must be a Heavenly Flame within the tower.

However, with his current strength, even knowing about the Heavenly Flame was of no use. The 14th-ranked Fallen Heart Flame was still too powerful for him to obtain.

Having come to this realization, Xiao Yan no longer had any lingering attachment and decisively turned around to walk out of the dark tower.

When both Instructor Ruo Lin and Elder Liu saw that Xiao Yan had not even stayed a minute before turning around to leave, they were both stunned.

Hang in there! Aren't you leaving too quickly? Not even a minute?! You won't be able to bring happiness to Xun Er like this!

Instructor Ruo Ling comforted him, "It's okay. You're still in the Dou Practitioner realm. Normally, Dou Practitioners can't even enter here. You will surely be able to endure longer once you truly have the strength to enter the Inner Academy."

Xiao Yan smiled, knowing that Instructor Ruo Lin had misunderstood him. However, he was not the type to seek the limelight or insist on saving face, nor did he feel the need to explain much. His purpose in coming to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower wasn't to accelerate his cultivation but merely to confirm the presence of a Heavenly Flame.

After Xiao Yan left, Elder Liu suddenly realized, 'Huh? That kid regained consciousness on his own after entering the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for the first time?'

'Never mind. I guess the Heart Flame at the entrance was too weak, so it didn't trigger much of a reaction.'

…

In the stillness of the night, as the moon shone like a silver plate and the stars scattered across the sky, Xiao Yan sat alone on a hillside in the forest of the Outer Academy. He lay on the tranquil grass with a blade of grass in his mouth, chewing it lightly and allowing the faint bitterness to spread in his mouth.

Back in Wu Tan City, whenever Xiao Yan had something on his mind, he would retreat to the hillside behind the mountain to gaze at the moon and stars.

"Xiao Yan ge-ge has the leisure to watch the stars and admire the moon?"

Like a purple butterfly, Xun Er gracefully leaped to the hilltop, her delicate figure tracing an enticing arc. Her clear and melodious voice reached Xiao Yan's ears.

Xiao Yan looked at the increasingly radiant and charming girl and smiled slightly, "Have you finished your seclusion?"

Xun Er didn't mind the dirtiness of the lawn and slowly sat down beside him. Her pretty cheeks revealed cute dimples as she smiled gently and asked, "Xiao Yan ge-ge has something on his mind?"

Xiao Yan shrugged and looked at the bright moon in the sky, then said lightly, "Xun Er, do you think I'm strong?"

Xun Er was startled for a moment, then her eyebrows furrowed as she pondered for a moment before replying, "Xiao Yan ge-ge became an 8-star Dou Practitioner at the age of sixteen. Moreover, your strength is comparable to that of Xuan class students. It's hard to find someone of your age who can compete with you in Jia Nan Academy."

"And what if we consider the entire Dou Qi continent?" Xiao Yan looked at Xun Er with a serious expression, his eyes resembling those of a wise sage seeking answers.

Xun Er pondered for a long time before she let out a soft sigh. She did not hide anything as she shook her head gently.

"Even though Jia Nan Academy was founded by an elite Half-Saint and has stood unshaken in the Black-Corner Region for countless years, it is still not considered a top faction in the entire Dou Qi continent." Although she did not answer directly, the implication was clear.

"I thought as much. After all, the Dou Qi continent is so vast…"