Silence. Stillness.
After a long while, Evan Lin finally let out a heavy breath.
“I didn’t get the answer I wanted from this trip, but at least I gained something.”
Evan Lin sighed, then turned to look at the Deep-Frost Iceflame blooming with blue and red light atop the stone altar. “Ordinary flames—aside from mundane fire—require certain conditions for anyone to control beast fire, divine fire, or a Strange Flame.”
“To control beast fire, you just need enough strength to suppress it, then refine it into a spiritual artifact and you’ll be able to use it—or you can subdue the beast along with its fire.”
“But to control divine fire or a Strange Flame, you must have a Fire Spirit Body. That’s why Morgan Yang spent decades cultivating here and only increased his power, but still couldn’t subdue the Strange Flame.”
“Honestly, if the Blue-Flame Blood Python’s beast fire wasn’t so unimpressive, I could just absorb it now as a fire spirit source for the Fire-Spirit Mortal Body to refine and digest.”
His mind moved, and Evan glanced at the Blue-Flame Blood Python at his fingertip. The python’s body trembled, shrinking a little, shivering in fear that Evan might completely refine it.
Ever since it lost its serpent body, the Blue-Flame Blood Python is now a pure energy form and can change its size at will. Still, the Scarlet Flame Command is just an ordinary artifact, limiting the python’s growth and strength.
Evan figured that when he had the chance, he’d further refine the Scarlet Flame Command. By then, the Blue-Flame Blood Python might become a formidable ally.
“For now, I’ll just take it. Half a Deep-Frost Iceflame isn’t much use—there are even impurities mixed in. I’ll search for the other half in the future.”
With that thought, Evan reached out his left hand and picked up the Deep-Frost Iceflame, holding it in his palm.
As soon as he touched it, a surge of blue flame started burning along Evan’s wrist, fierce and cold, casting a ghostly blue light.
The extreme cold made Evan unconsciously frown. He snorted, and his lava-like eyes flickered—then his wild, raging flames surged toward the Deep-Frost Iceflame.
Red and blue intertwined, like fire and ice colliding—two extremes in one scene.
......
Outside Heavenly Lake, among the mountains.
A group of more than ten people stood atop a high peak, their eyes coldly fixed on the center of Heavenly Lake.
“Rena, are you sure that person entered the lake from here? The spot is just below us?”
A middle-aged man spoke coldly. Within three meters of him, all the snow on the ground had melted into water. Just by standing there, everyone around could feel the intense heat radiating from his body.
The whole person looked like a ball of fire!
“Yes, that night I saw him sink to the bottom together with the Mutant Frost Ape! Before that, I also saw the cave beneath the ape!”
Rena Luo nodded, her expression firm. “I suspect Morgan Yang spent years cultivating at the bottom of the lake back then.”
“Even if he didn’t get that thing, he must have gained something down there. Otherwise, with his dying body back then, how could he survive entering Heavenly Lake, let alone shatter the Vajra Realm?”
At this point, Rena Luo’s face grew even more excited.
“I can vouch for it.”
“I saw it too. That kid looked like he was burning all over!”
Clark Luo and Gavin Luo nodded repeatedly, clearly intimidated by the man before them.
Among this group, their strength was the lowest, so they had little say.
“Burning all over?” A young man sneered. “You probably don’t even know what it means for a person to be burning all over.”
“I think you’re just making excuses for failing your mission!”
“How could someone like that exist in this world—walking through the blizzards of Changbai Mountain, crossing the thick ice over Heavenly Lake, leaving fire with every step, and even melting the entire lake?”
“It’s the biggest joke I’ve ever heard!”
The young man was full of disdain. “It’s already been a month. Are you trying to tell me that person is going to stay in the lake like Morgan Yang did, for over a decade?”
“If that’s the case, we’ll just come back in ten years, then?”
As soon as he said that, Rena Luo and the others’ faces changed slightly.
“Enough!”
The middle-aged man spoke up, his expression stern. “Since we haven’t found any valuable clues here, let’s head back. Leave one person to keep watch.”
“As for what’s under Heavenly Lake, we’ll have to wait until the Sea of Flames appears again before coming back!”
......
Capitalview City Airport.
A passenger plane from Changbai Mountain landed slowly at Capitalview.
A young man with a backpack stepped out of the cabin, his expression calm, though the people around him looked at him with obvious disdain.
His clothes were a bit wrinkled, making him look rather unkempt.
“I didn’t expect that under the water of Heavenly Lake, more than a month would pass in a flash. Down there, you can’t even feel the passage of time.”
Evan Lin let out a quiet sigh.
“Inside that cave, there was another exit. No matter how strong Morgan Yang was, he was still only human. Cultivating underwater, he would need food. The main entrance was blocked by the Mutant Frost Ape, so it wasn’t easy for him to get out. That saved me from having to swim that stretch again.”
That day, after Evan Lin pulled the Deep-Frost Iceflame from the stone altar at the bottom, the whole flame was swallowed in one gulp by the Left-Hand Dragon.
Now, Evan could barely sense the Deep-Frost Iceflame inside him, but on the body of the Left-Hand Dragon, the fire spirit pattern had gained a half-blossom outline of the flame.
But since it was only half of the Deep-Frost Iceflame, its effect wasn’t great. Evan wasn’t in a hurry to refine it.
Leaving the airport, Evan took a cab into the city.
He went to a phone shop and bought a new phone.
His old Nokia had been in his pocket, but at some point he’d lost it. He hadn’t noticed at the time—just felt a bit sorry, since that phone had been with him for many years.
After leaving Heavenly Lake, Evan first went to the Changbai Mountain Resort Hotel to collect his things. The staff said that Queenie Tong had left just three days before he arrived.
She had probably waited a long time for Evan to return and, disappointed, left Changbai Mountain.
Before she left, she made sure to extend Evan’s room reservation for a long time. Otherwise, he might not have found his backpack.
Evan bought the newest iPhone, but it didn’t matter what phone it was. He only bought it because the salesgirl was so enthusiastic. Even though it was expensive, he paid without a second thought.
With the new phone in hand, Evan went to get a new SIM card.
He had just put the SIM card in when a call came through.