69: Heart Fire Refining Soul, First Touch of Source Qi

At the bottom of the Heaven Burning Qi Refining Tower, the milky-white ocean of heart flame churned and roared, the violent aura of the invisible fire python filling every inch of space. The sealing array maintained by Elder Su Qian, though still flickering, was barely stabilized under the enhancement of Xiao Chen's pure soul power, no longer continuing to collapse.

"Kid, your soul power is so unique!" Su Qian's pressure eased slightly, and he looked at Xiao Chen with surprise, especially when he felt a hint of an indescribably supreme aura contained within that soul power, his heart was even more shaken. But he had no time to delve deeper at this moment, fully activating his Dou Qi to reinforce the array, attempting to re-restrain the invisible fire python.

"Roar!"

The invisible fire python, restrained by the power of the array, let out an earth-shattering roar. Its massive body twisted frantically, each impact causing the array to violently shake, and the milky-white heart flame surged like angry waves, crashing against Xiao Chen and Su Qian's defenses. Its crimson snake eyes locked onto Xiao Chen; this tiny human had not only reinforced the cage that trapped it, but the strange object above his head was also constantly stealing its Origin power!

"heaven burning furnace, refine!"

Xiao Chen was single-minded, pushing his Spirit Realm Great Perfection soul power to its limit, fully controlling the fragment of the heaven burning furnace above his head. The runes on the fragment shone with unprecedented brightness, generating a powerful suction force, like a whale sucking water, forcibly tearing strands of pure milky-white heart flame Origin from the surface of the invisible fire python!

This process was extremely perilous! The Origin power of the fallen heart flame was incomparably violent, containing a terrifying will to burn all things and scorch souls. Every wisp of heart flame Origin absorbed into the fragment made Xiao Chen feel as if his soul had been thrown into a furnace, enduring unimaginable searing pain and impact! His face instantly turned pale, his body trembled slightly, and the clan mark on his brow flashed with golden light, fully protecting his sea of consciousness.

However, amidst the crisis, there was also a huge opportunity! Under this extreme high temperature and pressure, Xiao Chen's cultivation, which had just broken through to One-star Dou Zong, was rapidly tempered, and his Dou Qi became even more condensed and pure. More importantly, under the frenzied scorching of this heart flame, the impurities in his soul power were further removed, becoming more transparent and resilient, and his perception and control accuracy of energy reached a new level! The Spirit Realm Great Perfection realm was completely solidified, and he even subtly took a small step towards the elusive threshold of the Heaven Realm!

"Not enough! This is too slow!" Xiao Chen gritted his teeth. Merely stripping away the Origin that diffused from the surface was but a drop in the bucket for the invisible fire python; it couldn't truly weaken it. He had to go deeper!

A crazy idea arose in his mind. While maintaining control over the fragment, he separated a wisp of extremely condensed soul power, like the finest probe, carefully penetrating through layers of fire waves, attempting to contact the deeper core of the invisible fire python!

"Kid, don't!" Su Qian, sensing his intention, cried out in alarm. Directly contacting the core of an abnormal flame was tantamount to suicide! Even he wouldn't easily try it!

But Xiao Chen was undeterred! The Spirit Realm Soul granted him not only power but also unparalleled precision and control! That wisp of soul thread avoided the most violent energy flow of the fire python, like a swimming fish, finally touching the most condensed, almost transparent heart flame Origin Seed at the edge of the fire python's core!

"Boom—!"

The moment of contact, a torrent of energy and will, a thousand times more violent than before, surged back along the soul thread! Xiao Chen felt as if his entire sea of consciousness was about to explode, countless violent and destructive thoughts assailing his consciousness, threatening to assimilate and burn him to ashes!

"Hold on!" Xiao Chen's eyes were bloodshot. The Soul Emperor Canon and Myriad Souls Returning Flow Art frantically operated, the clan mark on his brow erupted with unprecedented brilliant golden light, and the faint Dou Di Bloodline within him seemed to be ignited, spontaneously boiling. An ancient majesty originating from the depths of his bloodline permeated, temporarily resisting the impact of that destructive will!

It was precisely at this critical moment of bloodline boiling and will clashing that an anomaly occurred!

Deep within Xiao Chen's Qi Sea, in the center of the expanded energy ocean due to his breakthrough to Dou Zong, an extremely tiny golden light point, as if existing since ancient times, seemed to be jointly stimulated by the extreme external pressure and the power of his internal bloodline, trembling slightly!

Immediately after, a wisp of pale golden Qi flow, a million times thinner than a strand of hair yet containing an indescribable ancient and creation aura, quietly flowed out from that light point!

Origin Qi! True Origin Qi!

Though this wisp of Origin Qi was so weak as to be almost negligible, its quality was far superior to any trace Xiao Chen had absorbed from the ancestral stone before! It flowed into his meridians, and wherever it passed, the terrifying heart flame energy that had surged back became much gentler, like ice and snow meeting the sun! Though still scorching, it was no longer filled with destructive violence!

At the same time, this wisp of Origin Qi also merged into the portion of Xiao Chen's soul power that was controlling the fragment of the heaven burning furnace!

"Buzz!"

The fragment of the heaven burning furnace suddenly shook, and its suction power abruptly increased severalfold! And it was no longer a forced tearing, but carried a mysterious affinity and guiding force! The heart flame Origin Seed at the core of the invisible fire python actually trembled slightly, actively separating a small wisp of even purer, almost transparent Origin flame, which was smoothly absorbed by the fragment!

"It worked!" Xiao Chen was overjoyed, immediately severed that soul connection, and fully refined this hard-won core Origin.

Within the fragment, milky-white and transparent flames intertwined, refined together by the fragment's power and the Origin Qi Xiao Chen had infused, finally transforming into a drop of liquid as pure as glazed glass, emitting a refreshing aura—Heart Flame Origin Liquid!

As soon as this drop of Origin Liquid formed, Xiao Chen immediately felt a wonderful connection with the surrounding fallen heart flame, as if he had gained a faint trace of "resistance" and "affinity." Although far from enough to control the abnormal flame, at least, the pressure of being in this heart flame ocean drastically reduced!

And the invisible fire python, after losing that small wisp of core Origin, its aura noticeably weakened for an instant, and its offensive also paused for a moment.

"Good opportunity!" Su Qian's insight was sharp; he immediately seized this fleeting chance, forming hand seals, and a vast amount of Dou Qi, like a river breaking its banks, poured into the sealing array!

"Heaven Sealing Array Diagram, suppress!"

The array's light shone brightly, countless runic chains came alive, coiling layer upon layer around the invisible fire python's body, firmly locking it down and dragging it towards the ancient altar deep at the bottom of the tower! The fire python struggled frantically, but after losing a portion of its core Origin, its power greatly diminished, and it was finally re-suppressed amidst unwilling roars!

The commotion at the bottom of the tower gradually subsided. Although the seal was still unstable and would require long-term reinforcement in the future, the immediate crisis was finally averted.

"Pfft!" Xiao Chen could no longer hold on, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face as pale as paper, his body swaying. The earlier risk had placed an immense burden on both his soul and body.

Su Qian rushed forward to support him, infusing a wisp of pure Dou Qi to help him stabilize his injuries, looking at Xiao Chen with an incredibly complex gaze, full of gratitude, shock, and inquiry: "Xiao Chen, this time, it's all thanks to you! If you hadn't risked extracting its Origin and weakening the fire python, the consequences would have been unimaginable! That power you just displayed..."

Xiao Chen weakly shook his head: "Elder, this matter concerns some secrets of this junior; please keep it confidential." He sensed that the wisp of Origin Qi had already re-subsided into the light point deep within his Qi Sea, as if it had never appeared.

Su Qian looked at him deeply and nodded: "Rest assured, what happened at the bottom of the tower today, apart from you and me, no third person will ever know the details. You should rest well; you have rendered great service this time, and the academy will surely reward you handsomely!"

When Su Qian helped the weak but bright-eyed Xiao Chen out of the Heaven Burning Qi Refining Tower, the anxious crowd outside, seeing the tower body return to calm and the two safe and sound, immediately erupted in thunderous cheers! Xiao Chen's name, once again as a hero who saved the academy, spread throughout the Inner Academy!

But only Xiao Chen himself knew that his greatest gain from this shocking incident at the bottom of the tower was not the academy's rewards and the crowd's praise, but the refined drop of Heart Flame Origin Liquid, and... deep within his Qi Sea, that seemingly dormant Origin Qi seed, containing infinite possibilities!

The path ahead seemed to become clearer and broader because of this wisp of true Origin Qi. The threat of the Soul Hall, the mission of the Xiao Clan, and the supreme realm of Dou Di, all had new hope because of this faint light.