Chapter 51: Human Flame, Ghost Flame, Dragon Flame, Heavenly Flame
Since it was so, Xiao Chen no longer hesitated. When the auctioneer started the bids, he immediately called out his bid. Just like before, it was 10 million gold taels.
The chaos that Xiao Chen thought would occur did not happen. The people below were already numb to it. The only people feeling anxious were those who had placed the item for auction.
Their current emotions could be described as mingled hope and fear. They were afraid that Xiao Chen was just bragging. However, when they thought of Linlang Pavilion’s reputation, they felt that it would be impossible for them to go back on their words.
After the auction ended, someone immediately brought the three items that Xiao Chen bid on to his booth so that he could carefully inspect them. None of the items (the Rainbow Flame Python inner core, Inferior Grade Spirit Stone, and Superior Grade Frost Iron) seemed to have any problems.
Xiao Chen did not immediately leave. He handed the Frost Iron to Ao Jiao saying, “Can you purify this here? I can feel that there are two people outside watching me.”
Ao Jiao indifferently said, “Your perception is quite decent. There are indeed two ‘houseflies’ hiding outside. There are no special requirements on location for purifying this Superior Grade Frost Iron.”
That piece of Frost Iron was about the size of a bag. When Xiao Chen held it in his hands, he felt that it was at least 100 kg. Its appearance was pitch black and it looked especially sturdy.
Ao Jiao gently raised the Frost Iron in her hands, weighing it in a relaxed manner. Then she threw it into the air, and a white flame came from her palms that enveloped the Frost Iron.
Xiao Chen carefully observed each and every move of Ao Jiao. He remembered every step she took in his heart. The technique of purifying the Superior Grade Frost Iron was a very rare and carefully guarded secret technique. The number of people who knew this technique were few in numbers.
Only the Heavenly Craft Manor had this kind of technique in the Great Qin Nation. This was a great learning opportunity in front of him.
As the white flames continued to burn, Xiao Chen discovered that this flame was incredibly strange. It was not as tyrannical or fierce as a normal flame. In fact, it gave off a feeling of warmth.
What kind of flame is this? Xiao Chen thought puzzledly.
Ao Jiao patiently instructed Xiao Chen as she continued to maintain the flame, “This flame is not the flame condensed by a cultivator. This is a naturally formed Human Flame; it is called Bone Specter Flames.”
“Back when he was alive, Thunder Emperor Sang Mu subdued it while cultivating in the Nine Layers of Purgatory. After he died, he handed it over to me.”
Human Flame? To think that there was such a strange flame in this world. What an eye opener! However, he did not know what the merits of such flames were.
Ao Jiao continued to explain, “In this world, there are four types of extremely precious flames. They are Human Flame, Dragon Flame, Ghost Flame, and Heavenly Flame.”
“In the Tianwu Continent, there were millions of li of territory. There were a total of nine huge Dragon Veins. At the end of these veins, there was the Flame of the Emperor’s path.”
“There are nine Dragon Flames, and it is known that five of them have already been taken. The remaining four have not been found yet. Aside from being buried thousands of meters underneath the ground, as well as the vile environment, the most important factor was that the four Dragon Veins are able to change their location.”
“According to the legends, the possessor of the Dragon Flames would be able to establish a nation. A person without an Emperor’s Mandate would not be able to find a Dragon Flame.”
“Ghost Flames exist in places with extreme amounts of negative energy. It is veiled in mystery, and contains the might of revenants. In the Tianwu Continent, there are two such places of extreme negative energy. They were in mysterious caves tens of thousands of meters deep. They were known as Living Hell and Nine Layers of Purgatory.”
“These two places are forbidden zones of the Tianwu Continent. However, the Ghost Flame that existed there had been taken away by experts thousands of years ago. In these few years, the Ghost Flame has rarely appeared, and these two places of extreme negative energy did not generate any new Ghost Flames. However, this was something that outsiders would not realize.”
“Heavenly Flames, this is recognized as the most terrifying flame in the world. According to the legends, it was able to refine everything under the sky. This kind of flame was only recorded in history books. It appeared under the possession of the Tianwu Emperor when he unified the entire continent and established the Tianwu dynasty tens of thousands of years ago.”
“Following the demise of the Tianwu dynasty, this heaven-defying flame disappeared into history long ago.”
“Finally, Human Flames are a little special. They are not naturally produced flames. Or it could be said that they are not completely formed naturally. They were the result of the strongest cultivators in this world, Martial Gods, dying. The flame is formed by the remnants of the Martial God’s power, body, and soul.”
“After a Martial God died, the huge amount of energy in his body would not disappear. After this energy settled down, they would turn into all sorts of strange flames. These are known as Human Flames.”
After Xiao Chen heard the entire introduction, he felt ripples in his mind. Such a strange thing was definitely something that could not be seen in this insignificant Mohe City.
He had the impulse to leave his home and wander the world. Unfortunately, the Promise of Ten Years had not arrived yet. Xiao Chen would naturally accomplish the things he had promised. He would not just leave like that now.
“Do Martial Gods truly exist in this world?” Xiao Chen asked.
Ao Jiao’s gaze never left the Frost Iron that was enveloped in flames. She replied, “Of course, although they were rare, they still existed.”
“Furthermore, according to the legends, there are mysterious existences that were above Martial Gods.”
Xiao Chen continued to ask, “Then did Thunder Emperor Sang Mu break through to become a Martial God?”
Ao Jiao said indifferently, “Just as he was making his final push, he was murdered. I can only say that it was not his destiny.”
It was difficult for Xiao Chen to calm his heart, even after a long time. Such a strong existence like the Thunder Emperor was still killed by someone in the end. It was unbelievable. Were the people who killed him the legendary Martial Gods?
He then told Ao Jiao of his suspicions. Ao Jiao indifferently said, “This is not something that you should think about. Although you have inherited the Thunder Wood Sword, you do not have the responsibility of taking revenge for him.”
Something did not seem right. How could there be such a benefit where he did not have to pay a price? Since he did not need to shoulder any responsibility, it caused Xiao Chen to feel surprised.
Ever since Ao Jiao appeared, Xiao Chen felt more worry rather than joy. When he heard her say this, he felt slightly relieved in his heart.
However, Ao Jiao’s following words nearly caused Xiao Chen to vomit blood, “Although you do not need to shoulder the responsibility to take revenge, it would be hard to say whether trouble would come and find you. Thus, this trashy master better quickly grow strong.”
Xiao Chen was thoroughly speechless, There were too many secrets in Ao Jiao’s body. Why was the sword in the Thunder Emperor’s cave broken? Who killed the Thunder Emperor? How did he end up becoming her master?”
Currently, Xiao Chen did not know much. Furthermore, whenever he questioned Ao Jiao, she would not say anything. Today, she finally revealed something but it caused him to feel like he was wandering around in fog.
“Hu Chi!”
The black colored metal enveloped in the flames had already turned into a ball of molten liquid. It was obvious that the temperature of this Bone Specter Flames was much higher than what it showed on the surface.
The two of them had only spoken for about five minutes and this Superior Grade Frost Iron already turned into a ball of molten liquid. If Xiao Chen used his Purple Thunder True Fire to do this, it would require at least half a day. With such a big difference, it was easy to imagine the strength of this Bone Specter Flames.
Ao Jiao shouted gently. When that serious expression appeared on her cute face, he was unable to restrain a smile.
Suddenly, a glowing broken sword appeared, dancing around the molten liquid within the flames.
In a split second, sparks filled the entire booth. Every spark gave off an intense explosive sound. When Xiao Chen saw this, he quickly hid behind Ao Jiao.
Every time a column of flames shot out, the molten liquid in the Bone Specter Flames would decrease by a drop. Xiao Chen thought in his heart, These must be the impurities within the Superior Grade Frost Iron.
Once the quality of the Frost Iron reaches Superior Grade, there would be very few impurities within it. In order to clear out the impurities, aside from needing very good vision, it required very fast movements. Although the molten liquid looked still, the inner parts were actually flowing very fast.
Xiao Chen released his Spiritual Sense and entered into the inner world of the molten liquid. In front of him was a fiery-red world. Even after entering it with his Spiritual Sense, he could feel that terrifying temperature.
Within this fiery-red world, there was a substance in there that Xiao Chen did not recognize. It was continuously flowing around. After observing carefully for a long time, he finally got a rough idea.
The pure black substance should be the quintessence of the Frost Iron. Occasionally, there would be some gray colored impure iron that was removed.
The short sword that Ao Jiao was using was like the precision instruments of his previous life. When the gray colored substance was removed, the quintessence of the Frost Iron would be completely preserved.
Xiao Chen withdrew his Spiritual Sense, looking at that cute face, his eyes were now filled with respect. Ao Jiao could not only refine medicines... The technique that she displayed now was not something that could be done by anyone.
What secrets was this girl hiding? Can I really completely trust her?[a]
“It’s done!” Ao Jiao exhaled and said somewhat joyfully.
Retrieving the Bone Specter Flames back into her hands, she gently waved and a piece of Frost Iron that was as large as a fist appeared in her hands. There was an expression of joy in her eyes.
“Trashy Master! For you!”
Xiao Chen received the Peak Grade Frost Iron from Ao Jiao, feeling incomparably joyful in his heart. This Peak Grade Frost Iron, the size of a fist, was more than a hundred times more valuable than the earlier Superior Grade Frost Iron.
However, at this moment, Xiao Chen discovered that Ao Jiao’s expression seemed to have turned even weaker. Feeling slightly angry in his heart, “You lied to me earlier, right? Your complexion is so poor now, you must have gone and done something dangerous earlier.”
“To think that you tried to lie to me saying that the bodies of Sword Spirits are different from humans, that you cannot use complexion to judge such matters. Your current situation is definitely caused by you over exhausting yourself when you purified the Frost Iron.”
Ao Jiao quibbled, “To think that you are still using the measure of humans to measure a Sword Spirit. You are not only trashy, you are stupid as well. You can go deal with those ‘houseflies’ outside yourself.”
After Ao Jiao finished saying that, she seemed to know that she was in the wrong and went back into the Universe Ring. She did not come out again after that.
Xiao Chen sighed in his heart, No wonder you were called Ao Jiao. The Thunder Emperor did not give you the wrong name; your character is indeed lovable, arrogant, and proud.
[TL notes: Ao Jiao (熬娇), the first character means proud and arrogant and the second character means lovable.]
Releasing his Spiritual Sense again, carefully observing the two Tang Clan disciples that were hiding, Xiao Chen’s lips curled up in a cold smile. You are too inexperienced to mess around with me.