Btth: The Rise of Qingshan

"This big guy is finally down!"

With the Kui Wood Beast defeated, Yan Qingshan slowly descended to the ground. Though fallen, the Kui Wood Beast had not completely lost its combat power, and upon seeing Yan Qingshan land, it attempted to attack again.

But as soon as it opened its mouth, the Flame Spirit Serpent slithered over and swung its long tail, sending the Kui Wood Beast flying once more.

After repeating this several times, this wood-attributed Fifth-rank magical beast finally admitted defeat, collapsing onto the ground with its limbs limp.

It also realized that Yan Qingshan and the Flame Spirit Serpent didn't seem to intend to take its life. If they truly wanted its life, it would definitely resist to the end or seize an opportunity to escape.

However, although the Flame Spirit Serpent had injured it, it was only a matter of exhaustion, and the injuries weren't severe.

Wood-attributed magical beasts were inherently gentle-natured, and this Kui Wood Beast was no different. However, to be safe, Yan Qingshan chose to use both force and diplomacy, first subduing this fellow before discussing matters of importance.

After a series of extremely "harmonious" conversations, Yan Qingshan, along with Qing Ling and the Flame Spirit Serpent, bid a "reluctant farewell" to the Kui Wood Beast.

Before leaving, they also took a pile of the peach forest's specialties, and of course, the most important thing—the Fifth-rank beast flame, Peach Blossom Flame.

…

"This is the Peach Blossom Flame!"

Inside a canyon in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Yan Qingshan and his group, returning from the peach forest, were sorting their spoils. Besides a large pile of Peach Essence Fruits, two peach fruits radiating pink flames were particularly magnificent.

The seed of the Peach Blossom Flame had been separated from the Kui Wood Beast and stored within the two Peach Essence Fruits that Yan Qingshan had taken.

These fruits already contained pure Peach Blossom Flame energy, making the resulting flame seed much more precious than ordinary ones.

The pink Peach Blossom Flame gently churned within the two Peach Essence Fruits, exuding a hint of peach-like aura, and a faint exotic fragrance permeated the surrounding air.

Yan Qingshan looked at the flame seed in his hand, thinking to himself, "Heavenly Flame energy is violent. Even though I absorbed the Green Lotus energy and made my body somewhat adapted to the Green Lotus Core Flame, the success rate of trying to absorb it directly is still not high.

After all, I'm wood-attributed. To fully absorb and unleash the power of a Heavenly Flame, I need to possess a certain degree of fire attribute.

Besides undergoing another Lionheart baptism, absorbing this beast flame containing wood attribute energy is a good method."

After obtaining the Green Lotus Core Flame and confirming that it might be possible to absorb it, Yan Qingshan naturally became interested in this Heavenly Flame.

Heavenly Flame was one of the most primal energies in this world. Combined with the Flame Mantra (Terminal Blaze), the Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking were the most likely method to break through to the Dou Di realm in this era.

Yan Qingshan himself was wood-attributed and didn't have much interest in the Flame Mantra, but how could he not be tempted by the means to enhance himself with Heavenly Flames?

Since he was tempted and had a Heavenly Flame at hand to try, how could he give up?

He brought Qing Ling and the Flame Spirit Serpent to the peach forest to obtain the Peach Blossom Flame as a preparation for future absorption, laying a foundation for himself.

Yan Qingshan recalled the contents of the alchemist's notes obtained from the Mo family. After all, it was a Fourth-rank peak alchemist, and he naturally had methods to subdue and refine beast flames. "To refine a beast flame, one must first subdue its origin flame seed. The method is..."

Yan Qingshan used his Dou Qi to guide one of the Peach Essence Fruits containing the flame seed to his front.

His soul perception gradually extended into the spirit fruit, and he circulated his Dou Qi, slowly enveloping the Peach Blossom Flame seed within, attempting to separate it.

The first step went smoothly, and a faint pink flame seed appeared on the surface of the Peach Essence Fruit. Yan Qingshan continued to increase his soul perception, attempting to control its rhythm.

"Hiss!"

Yan Qingshan hissed coldly. When he tried to control it, a hint of instinctive resistance faintly emanated from the small pink flame. This was the flame seed's self-preservation instinct.

Yan Qingshan, having anticipated this, wasn't discouraged. He furrowed his brows, his eyes glowing blue as he concentrated, staring intently at the small pink flame.

His mind became more focused, and his perception continuously strengthened, constantly probing the pink flame's eruption patterns.

Although the Peach Blossom Flame seed was quite resistant and unruly, it was, after all, ownerless water without a source. Under Yan Qingshan's repeated harassment and guerrilla tactics, it gradually stopped resisting and was slowly re-imprinted.

After nearly a quarter of an hour, fine beads of sweat appeared on Yan Qingshan's forehead, but he didn't make any unnecessary movements, still concentrating on the flame seed.

At a certain moment, the soul power enveloped in purple flames suddenly trembled and penetrated the defense. Then, more mental thoughts surged into the flame seed like a tide, quickly taking control of everything.

As Yan Qingshan's soul power entered the flame seed, his whole body trembled, and a strange feeling quickly spread throughout his body.

At that moment, almost every pore on his body opened and closed instantly. The feeling was extremely profound and comfortable.

The first step was completed, and now came the crucial part. Whether everything succeeded, whether he would eat meat or just drink soup, depended on what followed, which was to truly absorb the flame seed into his body, open up a space to nurture the flame, and make it his temporary origin flame.

The information after integration and deduction flashed through Yan Qingshan's mind. After savoring it, he nodded, slowly closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged in a cultivation posture, forming cultivation seals with his hands.

His eyes looked at his nose, his nose at his heart, and his mind gradually sank into his body.

His mind circulated through his meridians, finally reaching his dantian Qi sea, where liquid Dou Qi, like flowing liquid, was nurtured. Yan Qingshan's mind carefully made a move.

The cyan Dou Qi stirred up a storm within his body, and a void appeared in the liquid vortex of his dantian. At this moment, Yan Qingshan suddenly opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

Under the guidance of his Dou Qi, the Peach Blossom Flame seed, including the Peach Essence Fruit, was swallowed by Yan Qingshan in one gulp.

Yan Qingshan felt that his mouth might not be big enough for the fist-sized Peach Essence Fruit, but he didn't expect the Peach Essence Fruit, where the flame seed was stored, to be so elastic, and it was directly sucked into his mouth and swallowed.

Yan Qingshan's body immediately underwent earth-shaking changes. The medicinal power of the Peach Essence Fruit quickly spread throughout his body under the effect of Dou Qi, and a faint red mist emanated from Yan Qingshan's pores, accompanied by an unusual fragrance.

The Peach Blossom Flame seed separated and plunged into Yan Qingshan's dantian, accurately taking root in his Dou Qi core.

The moment the flame seed entered his Dou Qi core, his dantian almost exploded, churning and raging as if it was about to burst.

Fortunately, Yan Qingshan was prepared, and his soul power had been locked on and maintained his Qi sea, taking great effort to calm it down.

The flame seed gradually merged into the Dou Qi core, and strands of cyan Dou Qi poured into the flame seed, triggering resonance. The original cyan Dou Qi also began to change.

Within Yan Qingshan's Dou Qi core, the pink energy color deepened, while the cyan color accumulated more and more. When the color deepened to a certain extent, the pink energy trembled violently, and then faint pink flames rose.

The Peach Blossom Flame gradually gained a foothold in Yan Qingshan's body, giving him an extraordinary feeling. The beast flame in his body was initially tamed by him.

Yan Qingshan extended a finger, and suddenly, with a poof, a pink flame lit up, like a fleshy candle, but Yan Qingshan's finger wouldn't disappear as the Peach Blossom Flame burned.

Yan Qingshan's dantian also underwent changes due to the appearance of the flame seed. The energy of the Peach Blossom Flame and the cyan Dou Qi merged, and the origin followed the wood attribute energy. Although the Peach Blossom Flame existed in the form of flames, its origin didn't change.

The energy of the Peach Blossom Flame affected Yan Qingshan's Dou Qi core, and a hint of pink aura appeared in the cyan wood attribute Dou Qi, greatly accelerating the refining and absorption speed of Dou Qi.

Although it didn't achieve the transformation from a Xuan-rank technique to an Di-rank technique, it improved his Dou Qi in all aspects, far surpassing the Dou Qi cultivated by ordinary Xuan-rank high-level Dou Qi Method.

The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, along with Yan Qingshan's subconscious Dou Qi Method circulation, continuously poured into his body, allowing him to receive the baptism of Dou Qi almost every minute and second. Before long, his Dou Qi was full and his blood was replenished.

His cultivation and recovery abilities had increased by about 10%. Don't underestimate this 10%; it was almost a qualitative leap. Such benefits were undoubtedly enormous for Yan Qingshan's cultivation.

The Peach Blossom Flame entered his body and became his origin flame seed, like activating a large circulating machine. The potential within Yan Qingshan's body began to be tapped.

The Peach Blossom Flame needed to absorb wood-attribute Dou Qi to grow, and its internal influence also increased his Dou Qi absorption speed. This perfect combination made Yan Qingshan extremely happy.

"Substantial flames, something that only Dou Spirit or Fourth-Rank alchemists can achieve. Some things can now be put on the agenda."

Yan Qingshan looked at the wisp of pink flame churning at his fingertip, extremely pleased. Substantial flames, even fire-attribute cultivators had to be at least Dou Ling to achieve this, and he was just a Dou Master.

Generally, fire-attribute cultivators below Dou Spirit or Fourth-Rank alchemists could only convert fire-attribute Dou Qi into flames through special tools. As for substantial flames, it had to be Dou Spirit or Fourth-Rank alchemists.

Of course, nothing was absolute. There was a method that required a lot of resources, which was the method Yan Qingshan was currently using—absorbing beast flames.

As long as he successfully tamed and absorbed the flame seed, even low-level cultivators could use substantial flames.

And there was another benefit. Because his own attribute was fire mixed with a trace of wood Qi, most alchemists' Dou Qi was definitely not as pure and powerful as that of pure fire-attribute cultivators.

But with beast flames or even higher-level Heavenly Flames, the flames they unleashed were no ordinary flames. In this situation, it compensated for the lack of power in their own fire-attribute Dou Qi.

Yan Qingshan's problem was even greater than that of alchemists. He didn't have any fire attribute, which was a natural disadvantage. Of course, he had to solve this problem.