Chapter One Hundred: Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame

Wu Jiang burst in from outside, his face alight with joy.

“Oh? Friend Wu, is it true?” Qin Ming’s whole spirit jolted at the good news.

“Absolutely true,” Wu Jiang said with great certainty.

“As for the method of refining that spirit flame, it is in the hands of a Qi Refining family on Yellow Maple Island.”

“I sounded them out a bit. That kind of secret art will probably not come cheap, so Friend Qin had best be prepared. Still, they are willing to sell it.”

“After all, a heaven and earth spirit flame is far rarer than the method itself. For them to hold on to that manual is like a clever woman without rice to cook with.”

“They might as well sell it.”

“As for the other two spiritual materials, they are in the hands of a down-on-his-luck rogue cultivator.”

After hearing this, Qin Ming could not help patting Wu Jiang on the shoulder.

“Friend Wu truly deserves to be called a local expert. You got the information this quickly. My thanks!”

This fellow really was something. He had done outstanding work time and again.

Without hesitation, Qin Ming took out a small pouch of spirit stones and pressed it into Wu Jiang’s hands. Feeling the weight of it, Wu Jiang’s eyes lit up at once, and he happily accepted it.

“Friend Qin, I’ll take you there right now.”

Three days later.

When Qin Ming returned to his dwelling, he had finally obtained the secret method for refining a heaven and earth spirit flame.

Besides that, he had also acquired two auxiliary ingredients needed for the Foundation Establishment Pill, though both were only seedlings.

But for Qin Ming, that was no problem.

At first, that Qi Refining family had relied on the rarity of the secret method and tried to demand an outrageous price.

They had put on an air of proud scarcity, acting as though the thing were priceless.

Yet the moment Qin Ming brought out the second-rank five-colored spirit rice as a trade item, they obediently handed over the secret art.

Back at his dwelling, Qin Ming eagerly took out the jade slip that recorded the method.

Mysterious Yin Fire Refinement Art.

Not only did it contain the secret to subduing and refining spirit flames, it also recorded many extraordinary spiritual flames that had existed between heaven and earth since ancient times.

Qin Ming focused his mind and read through it again and again.

When he reached the description of one particular heaven and earth spirit flame, he froze.

The flame described there was precisely the blue spirit fire he had obtained from the medicinal garden in the ancient ruins.

Rank Two, Lower Grade Spirit Flame: Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame.

Born from the supreme yang region of earth-core magma, where yang reaches its extreme and yin is born, creating a poisonous yin flame.

Besides its terrifying heat, this venomous flame had one great trait: it could directly scorch and erode a cultivator’s spiritual power.

Once a trace of it clung to someone, it was like a maggot burrowing into the bone, nearly impossible to dispel.

Qin Ming could not help but break out in gooseflesh.

Blue flame, indeed.

If something went wrong during refinement, he would be in real trouble.

For refining a heaven and earth spirit flame meant taking the flame into one’s own body.

Qin Ming also took out the jade bottle containing the blue flame and opened it to take a look.

He confirmed that it was indeed the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame.

After that, he studied the secret art seriously, reading it more than a dozen times over to ensure there was not the slightest mistake.

After all, this concerned his very life. He could not afford the least carelessness.

As he studied the technique, Qin Ming also discovered that this method of refining a heaven and earth spirit flame was not something just anyone could practice.

It came with strict requirements.

First, the body had to meet an extremely high standard. Second, the toughness of one’s meridians had to be far beyond the ordinary.

Otherwise, if the spirit flame turned on its master during refinement, it would be no laughing matter.

Still, setting everything else aside, Qin Ming was quite confident in those two requirements.

He felt he should not run into any problems.

At once, he took out the jade bottle containing the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame.

Then he lightly tapped a finger, unsealing the bottle mouth.

Screech!

A clear cry rang out.

A streak of ice-blue fire shot out from inside, then transformed into a blue firebird and in the blink of an eye flew straight toward the entrance of the dwelling...

All of this happened in the time it takes a spark to fly.

There was no time for him to react.

Qin Ming had not expected the spirit flame to fly off on its own, and the jade slip had contained no such mention. It truly caught him off guard.

Whoosh!

He hurriedly gave chase.

If he really let the spirit flame escape, then there would be nowhere to reason from.

But the instant he got outside, he saw an astonishing scene.

His natal spirit plant, the Longevity Vine, lashed out from midair with countless black tendrils, ferocious and writhing, weaving them into a fine net that trapped the firebird formed from the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame.

No matter how frantically the firebird struggled and flapped within, it was useless.

The streams of poisonous flame it spat out did not damage the black tendrils in the slightest.

Instead, it was whipped so hard by the black vines that it did not dare move an inch.

Before long, it had been tamed into complete obedience, docile beyond measure.

Seeing this, Qin Ming let out a long breath.

“That’s odd. The secret art never said this poison flame could even develop spiritual awareness.”

If not for the black vines being impervious to both water and fire, there was no telling whether the thing would have really gotten away.

That had been far too close.

Qin Ming felt a bit embarrassed.

Without further hesitation, he prepared to refine the spirit flame.

Now was the perfect moment, while the poison flame had just been subdued by the black vines.

He acted at once. With a thought, he ordered the Longevity Vine to part the fine net, and then he invoked the Mysterious Yin Fire Refinement Art, reaching out through the air toward the azure poison flame.

The spirit flame instantly fell into his hand.

What happened next was astonishing: Qin Ming actually picked up the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame, opened his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Then, sitting cross-legged, he began to circulate the secret art and refine the spirit flame.

As he worked, Qin Ming’s body alternated between freezing cold and searing heat.

The aura he gave off fluctuated in stark extremes.

Pain flashed across Qin Ming’s face, for he could feel that the difficulty of subduing this poison flame exceeded his expectations.

At that moment, his natal spirit plant moved again beside him. The black vines danced, and several wisps of dark radiance flickered and vanished into Qin Ming’s body.

The once-restless poison flame immediately grew docile.

Qin Ming steadied his mind and continued driving the secret art, accelerating the refining process.

After more than two full hours, a blue flame like an icicle of light, brilliant and dazzling, rested quietly above Qin Ming’s dantian sea of qi.

The Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame had been completely refined.

From here on, it would only need time and careful nourishment, and it might yet advance further in rank.

By then, Qin Ming was drenched in cold sweat.

That poison flame would have killed him on the spot if not for the miraculous help of his Longevity Vine. Any other cultivator, even with the refinement method in hand, would likely have perished in the backlash of the spirit flame.

Qin Ming wiped the fine sweat from his brow.

Then excitement flooded his heart.

At the Qi Refining stage, he now possessed a Rank Two heaven and earth spirit flame.

Reaching the level of a Rank Two alchemy master was now only a matter of time.

Even more pleasing was the fact that this Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame had become a formidable hidden trump card.

In combat, if used unexpectedly, his opponent would suffer a tremendous loss.

With such a spirit flame in hand, Qin Ming could open a furnace and refine pills anywhere, even without an alchemy room. It was exceedingly convenient.

He took out the purple alchemy furnace.

Then, with a thought, the ice-blue Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame appeared in his palm.

Like a nimble blue firebird, it danced gracefully.

Qin Ming formed a hand seal and pointed, and the blue firebird slipped beneath the furnace, beginning obediently to heat it.

Not only that, he could freely direct the spirit flame and control its temperature. That feeling was several times better than using earth-vein fire.

It was far more effortless and at his command; regulating the heat flowed as smoothly as water.

By now, Qin Ming’s powerful spiritual sense was sufficient for him to manage several tasks at once. He quickly refined the medicinal embryo and prepared the liquid mixture.

He did not even need vessels anymore.

Under the control of his spiritual sense, clusters of spirit liquid rich with medicinal fragrance floated quietly in the air.

When the heat reached the right moment, Qin Ming sent all of the liquid into the furnace.

A moment later, as the pills were taking form, he activated the Yin-Yang Separation Spirit-Control True Art and carried out the final fusion once more.

Screech!

A clear cry sounded from the furnace.

An alluring and unusual fragrance rose up, flooding his nostrils.

Qin Ming’s expression brightened with delight as he drew the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame back into his dantian for nourishment.

At the same time, he raised a hand and beckoned. More than ten spirit pills, shimmering with green medicinal luster, fell from the furnace into his palm.

Supreme-grade Spirit-Nurturing Pills.