150: Wake up

When Lin Xiu opened his eyes, he saw a beam of golden sunlight penetrating through the hole above his head.

A chill emanated from beneath his hands, and a thin layer of white mist enveloped the surroundings.

“Lin Xiu, you’re finally awake. How does your body feel now?”

On the shore not far away, Su Qian’s face showed a faint smile.

Flipping up, Lin Xiu landed in front of him, bowing respectfully, “Thank you, Elder, for saving my life. This student’s body is perfectly fine.”

“No need for formalities. I am Su Qian. I was originally going to check on your Fire Spirit cultivation, but I didn’t expect the Fallen Heart Flame to suddenly erupt.”

Su Qian shook his head slightly, “This incident was the academy’s oversight. That you could survive is entirely due to your own fortune. Once you return to the academy, I will arrange compensation for you.”

“No need, Elder. These past few days, you’ve used a great many Spirit Medicines on me. Without them, I wouldn’t have recovered so quickly.”

Lin Xiu waved his hand, actively refusing.

He then held his right palm upwards.

A ten-centimeter-tall, half-human, half-beast Fire Spirit emerged, with a pair of ox horns on its head, its body primarily azure, and red light burning within.

On its body’s surface, faint patterns intertwined.

“You’ve actually cultivated the Fire Spirit to this extent?” Su Qian fixed his gaze on it, a little surprised.

The aura emitted by the Fire Spirit was no weaker than a fifth or sixth-tier Beast Flame.

Compared to the actual flames condensed by many fire-attribute Elders in the academy, it was incomparably stronger.

Even Elder Huo, the Alchemist closest to the sixth-rank in the academy, had an actual flame condensed within him that was not as good as this Fire Spirit.

Moreover, this Fire Spirit looked somewhat lively, not at all rigid, and was similar to the cunning Fallen Heart Flame.

The only difference was that its strength was a bit weaker.

Su Qian felt that being a bit weaker was normal, after all, the Fallen Heart Flame was ranked fourteenth on the Strange Flame Ranking.

“Lin Xiu, can you now use it to contend with the Fallen Heart Flame?”

Su Qian immediately asked.

Lin Xiu shook his head, “Elder, it was injured in the previous struggle with the Fallen Heart Flame. It now needs to be perfected again.”

The Fire Spirit’s form expanded, revealing dense scars all over its body, like a piece of glazed glass about to shatter.

Alas… If I had gone to the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower earlier, and contacted Lin Xiu sooner, the Fallen Heart Flame wouldn’t have had the chance to harm him.

In that case, with this Fire Spirit, it would have been enough to resolve the hidden danger of the Fallen Heart Flame.

Hearing Lin Xiu’s words, a trace of regret flashed across Su Qian’s face, but it was very quick and he immediately concealed it.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and perfect it. The academy has time to wait for you.”

Su Qian patted Lin Xiu’s shoulder.

This child had just walked through the gates of death; it was better not to continue pressuring him.

“Oh, and you should avoid going to the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower for now.”

Su Qian suddenly remembered something. Seeing Lin Xiu frown, he continued, “The Fallen Heart Flame has always held grudges. If it didn’t deal with you this time and appears again, it will definitely go berserk. You should Cultivate in the Inner Academy for now.”

“Understood, Elder.” Lin Xiu realized, and nodded.

It doesn’t matter if I can’t go. At most, in another two months, after the Inner Academy Strong Ranking Tournament ends, the Fallen Heart Flame will completely erupt.

Once I obtain it, I won’t need to go to the Qi Refining Tower anymore.

As for the slower Cultivation speed during this period, I’ll just bear with it.

Angering the Fallen Heart Flame again might require using full strength, and without Han Feng and the others to restrain the Elder, I wouldn’t have the chance to seize the Fallen Heart Flame.

“When you were unconscious, Zi Yan searched many mountains for various Spirit Medicines for you, not closing her eyes for days and nights. When you go back later, take her with you and take good care of her.”

Su Qian pointed to the small, sleeping figure on a simple stone platform not far away.

“Rest assured, Elder, I will.” Lin Xiu replied with an extremely serious expression.

He was only unconscious for the first few days; he knew everything that happened afterward clearly.

Therefore, Lin Xiu kept all of Zi Yan’s actions in mind.

In fact, from their initial contact, Lin Xiu did indeed have an ulterior motive, deliberately approaching Zi Yan.

After all, this little girl’s background on the Dou Qi Continent was in no way inferior to Xun'er’s.

“Hmm, the Inner Academy Strong Ranking Tournament is still waiting for me to handle. These past two weeks, because of you, a lot of time has been delayed, so I also need to hurry.”

Su Qian hastily gave a few instructions, and in a blink of an eye, he left the cave.

Walking to the stone platform, Lin Xiu reached out and picked up Zi Yan.

Even though Lin Xiu tried his best to make his movements as light as possible, Zi Yan’s eyes still opened a crack.

“Lin Xiu, are you better? I took so many hits for you; you have to help me get them back.”

Zi Yan spoke in a childish voice, completely in a half-asleep, half-awake state.

“Okay, you can point them out to me one by one then.”

Lin Xiu chuckled as he replied.

Hearing this, Zi Yan smacked her lips a few times and fell asleep again. Even when Lin Xiu carried her on his back, she showed no reaction.

In the cave, accompanied by the gradually fading footsteps, silence slowly descended.

Lin Xiu first returned to the dormitory.

He placed Zi Yan on his bed and then walked outside.

Lin Dun and Du Chaoping were excited to see Lin Xiu return, expressing their worries over the past few days.

When something happened at the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower, others who weren’t familiar with Lin Xiu didn’t know much.

But they were different; not seeing Lin Xiu, they were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, pacing in circles.

Later, Zi Yan became a bit impatient and told them that Lin Xiu would definitely be fine and would return after a while, which gradually calmed them down.

“Did you encounter any trouble while I was away?”

Lin Xiu briefly mentioned his own situation, then changed the subject.

The two exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Just then, Lin Dun seemed to remember something and suddenly looked up, “Brother Xiu, Xiao Yan has been coming very frequently lately. It seems he’s looking for you about something.”

“Yes, a month ago, he wanted to find you, but at that time, you were always on the eighth floor of the Qi Refining Tower, and we couldn’t go down, so we couldn’t tell you.”

Du Chaoping echoed, “Initially, it seemed to be Senior Lin Yan from the Inner Academy who brought him over. We asked what it was about, but he didn’t say.”

Uh… Could it be that Xiao Yan had intended to trade for the azure wood immortal vine with me a long time ago?

A trace of surprise flashed in Lin Xiu’s eyes.

As he was thinking, footsteps came from outside the door, and the three looked over.

A black-robed youth walked in.

His expression was somewhat blank, as if he had repeated the same thing many times.

“Excuse me…”

As soon as Xiao Yan spoke, his gaze fell upon the figure sitting with Lin Dun and Du Chaoping, and he immediately froze.

He was somewhat astonished, “Senior Lin Xiu?!”

“Come, sit. I heard them say you’ve looked for me many times. Is there something you need?”

Waving to Xiao Yan, Lin Xiu smiled, showing no sign of knowing the answer already.

“Senior Lin Xiu, I heard that you have an azure wood immortal vine. May I ask if it’s still with you?”

Xiao Yan’s excitement was hard to hide.

After all that, he came to buy something?

Du Chaoping and Lin Dun quietly exchanged a glance, somewhat surprised.

“Are you referring to this?”

Lin Xiu took out a vine from his naring, roughly the length of an adult’s arm, its surface emitting a soft glow.

Staring at the vine on the table, Xiao Yan’s eyes lit up. He took it closer to examine it carefully.

“The age is sufficient; it can be used for alchemy.”

Yao Chen’s voice sounded in Xiao Yan’s mind.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan reluctantly put down the vine, met Lin Xiu’s gaze, and nodded, “That’s right, Senior. I want to buy it. Name your price.”