Yan Zhen had no idea that after he and Long Ying left, his Dean Little Aunt and Mentor Aunt dove into some intimate girl talk between besties before smoothly returning to the Yan Huang Tower in the Inner Academy.
The original plan had been for three to five days, but it was only noon on the second day. Yan Meng’er, Yan Ruyu, Mi Xue’er, and Xiao Xinyan had all headed to the Firmament Nine-Story Tower to cultivate, leaving Cai Lian alone in the tower—or rather, just her and her daughter Yan Yan.
Cai Lian was reading by the window when she sensed a familiar presence. She immediately opened the window and poked her head out, spotting Yan Zhen and Long Ying sneaking around furtively.
“You two are back so soon?”
Yan Zhen was in the middle of warning Long Ying not to tell Cai Lian about his poisoning when he heard his Wife Lady’s voice, nearly jumping out of his skin. Instead of going through the front door, he leaped straight up to the third floor and slipped in through the window, squeezing lightly into the spot next to where Cai Lian sat.
Long Ying hurried after him. With a flicker of spatial power, she landed right between Yan Zhen and Cai Lian.
Yan Zhen had been hoping for a hug from Cai Lian, but the loli dragon girl cut in, ruining it.
Cai Lian gently stroked Long Ying’s little head and asked warmly, “Weren’t you supposed to be gone for three to five days?”
Yan Zhen explained, “The Yu family has connections in the Merchant Alliance, so we got everything quickly.”
“Then when do you plan to enter the thunder pool?”
“I’ll check with Master first. We should have everything ready by tomorrow and make our move the day after.”
“Prepare thoroughly. The Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire is incredibly violent. You need to suppress it completely to subdue it successfully.”
“I know, don’t worry, Cai Lian.”
The Sovereign Lady let out a tsundere huff. Suddenly, Yan Yan’s childish loli voice echoed from her belly: “Is Father Emperor going to subdue the Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire? I can help, you know.”
Cai Lian’s beautiful eyes lit up at this. Yan Yan had inherited his past life’s prodigious fire control talent from Yan Zhen, making her even better at it than he was now.
But Yan Zhen shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. You two stay put. I’ll be fine. It’s just the twenty-first ranked extreme flame—nothing to get so worked up about.”
Such words would sound insanely arrogant coming from a Mystic General, especially since even someone like the Thunder Supreme couldn’t do anything to the Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire. But to Cai Lian and Long Ying, they rang perfectly true.
Because he was the future Flame Emperor, the sovereign of all flames. Before long, every extreme flame would bow to his palm.
After chatting a bit longer, Yan Zhen activated his Star Shifting Fire Seal and vanished into the Fire Refining Starry Sky.
…
On the vast plaza lined with towering pillars, at the central altar.
Yan Zhen sat cross-legged, a pill furnace shaped like a volcano placed before him. Crimson flames as vivid as blood danced within.
One stalk of medicinal herb after another floated up from in front of him, wrapped in mystic power as they were fed into the Volcanic Cauldron. Under the scorching of the Great Crimson Heaven Flame, they were refined into one glob of pure, thick liquid after another.
Once these liquids had been purified to a certain degree, he controlled them to slowly merge in specific steps.
Throughout the process, he had to maintain the perfect heat level—blazing hot when needed, gentle when required. The slightest mistake would lower the quality of the medicine or cause outright failure.
This time, he was refining a medicinal liquid rather than pills, so there was no need to form them. Still, the difficulty wasn’t low, as it was Fifth-Tier Medicinal Liquid.
With his beautiful master guiding him by the side, Yan Zhen managed to succeed, at least.
The emerald-green medicinal liquid emerged from the furnace and was bottled in the Jade Cleansing Bottle. Chen Xi levitated it over from afar, examined it, and said, “Not bad. Mid-to-high quality—progress from before.”
With that, multicolored Starlight Glazed Fire ignited in Chen Xi’s hand, further purifying the liquid until it approached supreme grade.
This bottle of Fifth-Tier Medicinal Liquid wasn’t the final product yet; the Sixth-Tier main ingredient, Ancient Wood Spirit Marrow, still needed to be added. Once it was, it would become Sixth-Tier Medicinal Liquid.
Sixth-Tier pills were beyond Yan Zhen’s capabilities, so his beautiful master handled it.
She didn’t even need a pill furnace. In less than half an hour, she had refined the Sixth-Tier Medicinal Liquid. Yan Zhen couldn’t help but sigh—the Flame Saint was truly a Flame Saint. He, her sole direct disciple, still had a long way to go.
With the medicinal liquid ready, next came setting up the Thunder Avoidance Array.
For convenience, they first drew the array diagram and prepared the array flags. When it was time to deploy, they could just lay them out.
Yan Zhen couldn’t help much here and could only watch enviously as his beautiful master worked.
Of the Five Arts of Artifact Refining—pill refining, artifact forging, talisman making, array setting, and beast taming—his beautiful master was top-tier in all but beast taming. Even there, she had some skill; it was just not on par with the others.
By the time the array diagram was finished and the array flags complete, it was already morning the next day.
Yan Zhen stored everything in his storage ring and circled behind his beautiful master, saying attentively, “Master worked hard. Let me give you a shoulder rub.”
He knelt down and started massaging her shoulders with both hands.
“It’s just a small task,” Chen Xi said with a laugh. “When I refined that certain Ninth-Tier pill before, it took a full forty-nine days. This is nothing.”
Forty-nine days… Cold sweat beaded on Yan Zhen’s forehead as he thought how ridiculously long that was. No wonder Pill Refiners always demanded exorbitant prices when taking commissions—pill refining and artifact forging were no joke.
Lost in thought, Yan Zhen steadied himself, only for his gaze to accidentally drift to his beautiful master’s collar.
From this angle, he had a perfect view of the majestic swell of her sacred snow peaks, even glimpsing the bottomless valley between them.
Yan Zhen gulped, suddenly overcome with intense craving and the urge to cup them in his hands.
Chen Xi suddenly turned her head and chided him playfully, “Zhen’er~”
Yan Zhen hastily wiped the drool from his mouth. “Master, I didn’t—I wasn’t—”
“Alright. If you really want to comfort Master, then let Master hold you. Come here to Master’s bosom, Zhen’er.”
“Master… Okay.”
Yan Zhen shyly scratched his cheek before nestling into his beautiful master’s embrace as instructed, burying his little face in that fragrant, soft chasm.
Chen Xi naturally wrapped her arms around her precious disciple. A holy, loving smile graced her stunning immortal features as her free hand stroked his head. She felt utterly healed, her body and mind completely relaxed.
Yan Zhen felt the same, as if his beautiful master was spoiling him into a baby. He wanted to stay in her arms forever, nuzzling and cuddling.
“Master.”
“Mm?”
“I-I’m a little hungry.”
“Shall we go out for some food?” Chen Xi said with a chuckle. “Sure, we can. Come back after you’ve eaten your fill, and I’ll teach you how to set up the Thunder Avoidance Array.”
“Master~”
Yan Zhen snuggled against his beautiful master’s chest, acting like a child who refused to grow up.
Chen Xi’s heart melted, her eyes brimming with indulgent affection.
Her sash came undone without a sound, her collar loosening. Chen Xi offered up her heart to her precious disciple.
In the heat of the moment, tender words slipped from her lips: “Good Zhen’er, everything Master has is yours.”
