Master of Strange Dao

A wisp of fire Qi, barely perceptible and unable to concentrate, continuously surged into his heart.

The irritable Red Ape gradually calmed down, sitting there, incessantly absorbing Fire Qi.

As it absorbed the Fire Qi, the fury and madness on the Red Ape's face grew more intense, yet it became increasingly serene.

At the moment a weak little flame ignited in the Red Ape's chest, the fury and madness on its face completely dissipated, and its facial features transformed, solidifying into a menacing and dignified expression.

It sat cross-legged, in a calm and peaceful manner, quietly absorbing Fire Qi.

A sudden realization dawned upon Yu Ziqing's mind.

His Red Heavenly Devil Divine Qi had now truly been cultivated.

This creature absorbed Bing and Ding Fire Qi, further needing to absorb the Qi of his heart to grow; even with the Five Qi Cycle, it could succeed in entering the path.

Yet, to truly cultivate it, it had to absorb his fury, absorb his anger.

However, Yu Ziqing had always been calm and rarely infuriated, and the Red Ape couldn't cross that threshold.

After looking at the Earth Toad, Yu Ziqing suddenly understood why the Earth Toad grew the fastest and was always in that calm and collected state.

Because the Dharma Method represented by the Earth Toad naturally aligned with him, with a good appetite and greed, just like him; whenever he's idle, he just couldn't stop eating.

Of course, this was a lingering effect from everything Yu Ziqing had endured, and even if he got better, it would be hard to completely change his ways.

This unintentionally perfectly aligned with the Earth Toad, keeping it well-fed and naturally growing the fastest.

And now, the Five Little Ones were interconnected, with the Five Qi Cycle, if one grew stronger, the others would too, preventing any major disparities. The Red Ape being slightly weaker had no impact, except it was restless and excitable all the time.

Now that its flaw had been remedied and a flame kindled, the Red Ape's mind returned to normal, becoming as quiet as the Earth Toad.

Yu Ziqing quietly sensed that he believed these methods, meant for Human Devil cultivation, began to transform in his hands.

In the inheritance of Lou Huai, these methods were just ordinary practices.

Yu Ziqing previously used them as auxiliary cultivation Secret Techniques. Now, it seemed these methods also began self-evolving following the Five Qi Cycle, becoming increasingly different in his case.

When Yu Ziqing absorbed all the Fire Qi from Dinghai City and devoured it entirely, the charred city began to collapse massively with a gust of wind.

Everything returned to dust, earth to earth, and the city shattered and collapsed into ashes.

Perhaps in a few decades, this place would be covered with vegetation, with no trace of its past remaining.

When Yang arrived, Yu Ziqing floated in mid-air, watching the dust rise before him.

"What happened? Did you encounter a living person?"

"No, I absorbed all the Fire Qi from Dinghai City, and the city collapsed, turning into ashes."

"You can absorb the residual Fire Qi?"

Yang furrowed his brow.

"That Fire Qi is like dark flame, left after the Alien Fire ignited. Was there no adverse effect from absorbing it so recklessly?"

"Temporarily, I felt nothing wrong. What's more, it felt increasingly better."

"…"

Yang examined Yu Ziqing, completing his daily goal of learning something new.

He extended a hoof, placing it on Yu Ziqing, carefully sensing and ensuring Yu Ziqing was unharmed, then shook his head.

"You are truly bold. I've searched here for a long time without finding traces of the Alien Fire.

According to my estimation, the Alien Fire has probably scattered over this thousands-of-miles expanse.

Those concealed fire energies are parts of the extremely diluted Alien Fire.

To this extent, the Alien Fire doesn't pose much harm.

I assume the Alien Fire was directly struck when Silver Lake fell upon that time, forcibly shattered and dispersed, scattered across this vast land.

As a result, many places here have dark flames smoldering all year, incapable of causing more significant damage.

Therefore, some areas have already started to revive, with vegetation or other life beginning to resurge."

"So, there's actually no big problem here anymore?" Yu Ziqing felt a bit surprised.

"Roughly, there's no big problem, but based on my speculation, the Alien Fire was only shattered and dispersed. Someday, if conditions are right, it will inevitably gather again, setting this entire expanse ablaze once more.

Sealing it was indeed not wrong.

If they had another way to control the Alien Fire and extinguish it completely, it wouldn't have come to this, still needing to be sealed."

Upon hearing this, Yu Ziqing touched his chest, feeling the Red Ape and the small flame burning in its chest, lost in thought.

"The disaster that happened here was in the eighty-eighth year of Dingmao, as recorded in An History Book, already the late period of the Dadui Divine Dynasty.

I think I have a hunch about what that thing is and why it can't be extinguished.

I also know how to resolve it. Whether successful or not, let's give it a try; after all, absorbing some Fire Qi benefits me too."

"In this place, what is there you wouldn't dare to say?" Yang sighed softly, noting Yu Ziqing wouldn't learn from him to be more straightforward, like how he always spoke half of what he thought.