Chapter 44: Chapter 44
"Junior Sister Liana, if you’re willing to trust me, let me try." Ethan’s voice was steady as he met the anxious girl’s eyes.
Liana looked back uncertain, clutching a handful of spirit herbs and icy flowers. "How can you help? Do you have powerful water- or cold-attribute treasures?" she asked, voice tinged with hope but also doubt.
Ethan shook his head.
"Not those, but I can absorb part of Ashira’s flame myself."
"Absorb? Are you insane?" Liana shook her head fiercely.
"Ashira’s beast fire is violent even for her! If you try to draw that beast flame into your body, won’t you just explode? I don’t want to implicate anyone innocent just to save my spirit pet."
Ethan only smiled—a winning, confident arc. "Don’t worry. I have my ways. This flame can’t and won’t harm me at all."
Liana gazed at him skeptically, but Ethan’s assurance was hard to refute.
"You’re really that sure? Well—if you start burning, I’ll stuff all these medicine herbs and elixirs down your throat!" she threatened, gesturing at her lap full of spiritual plants.
"I’ll be fine, you don’t have to worry" Ethan promised. Inwardly, his excitement grew. This was the chance he’d been waiting for. If he could channel the Blue Phoenix’s flame and pair it with his Dirt World Flower and Mystic Marrow Tempering Lotion, the late stage of the Celestial Jade Physique Scripture’s third level would be within grasp.
He nodded for Liana to follow and led her—and Ashira—to the deepest, most frigid region at the heart of the Ancestral Tomb. Here, the world was muffled and blue with cold, and even wild fire would be at least affected by frost.
Ashira lay on the stony floor, already showing signs of distress as her breath flickered blue. She wheezed and whimpered, a wisp of fire curling from her sharp beak. It looked like she was coughing out blue flames. The situation was urgent.
Taking care, Ethan hastily carved defensive arrays in the rock platform around them and then sat cross-legged in the frost, just beside the ailing blue bird.
He inhaled, calmed the surge of excitement, and opened himself to the Divine Flame Body Building technique.
Carefully, he extended his senses, drawing upon the power etched deep within his bones and meridians.
At Ethan’s wordless urging, the blue flames that crackled and surged around Ashira began to detach, gathering toward his body like silken threads in a storm.
A faint blue vortex hovered above Ethan’s brow. The Divine Flame body building technique flared to life, and his body, already honed tough as jade, began greedily extracting the essence of the fire. It poured into his chest, dove into his heart, and flowed along every meridian, burning away impurities and unlocking new, latent strength.
On the side, Liana clutched her medicine herbs and elixirs tightly, watching in open anxiety as Ethan’s body was bathed in blue fire.
Sweat gathered on her brow, but Ethan gave no sign of pain—instead, his breathing deepened and the tension melted from Ashira’s tiny form.
As expected of the pure bloodline of an ancient spiritual beast Ethan mused inwardly. This fire’s not only powerful, but incredibly dense and clean—a perfect fuel.
For half a month, Ethan quietly practiced, sharing a silent vigil with Liana and Ashira. The cold air muffled the world, and time seemed to pass in the shimmer of icy light and gentle flames.
When Ethan finally opened his eyes, he could feel it—the edge of breakthrough. With this flame, and his other treasures, he’d be able to push forward in the Celestial Jade Physique to its third-level late stage.
Ashira stirred at almost the same moment. She lifted her head, shed of exhaustion, her feathers glimmering with a healthy azure, and hopped over, rubbing her crown fondly against Ethan’s cheek. She chirped in gratitude—sweet and soft, but filled with vitality.
Liana hurried to Ashira’s side, delighted tears springing to her eyes as she saw her spiritual pet so lively again. She stroked the blue feathers, voice trembling,
"Ashira, how do you feel?"
The blue phoenix nodded—if a bird could show humanlike relief, Ashira did.
Liana turned to Ethan and, with sincere gratitude, bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Ethan. I will never forget what you’ve done for us both. If you ever need anything, come find me. I will do everything I can to help."
Ethan grinned, only half-joking. "I may take you up on that, Junior Sister. Right now, I’m always looking for rare fire-attributed heavenly treasures—the higher and rarer the quality, the better." He didn’t want charity, only fair exchange.
"Of course, I’ll pay in spirit stones or trade for treasures of equal value."
Liana nodded earnestly. "If I find anything, I’ll let you know immediately. It’s the least I can do!"
Ethan stood, shaking off the months’ worth of cold and fatigue, and started to make his way out. Ashira, however, darted in front of him and, after a strange chirp, opened her tiny beak.
A bead of gleaming blue-green flame floated out, hovering in the icy air.
Ethan’s eyes sharpened with shock. This was not like the flames he’d just helped absorb. It pulsed with immense life and resonated with the pressure of the phoenix’s bloodline.
Realization dawned instantly: This is the seed of Ashira’s natal flame! For a spiritual beast, the loss of their natal flame would mean losing their true power, perhaps crippling them forever.
He hesitated. The opportunity was incredible—a seed like this, matured, would one day become a true innate spiritual fire, the Azure Flame. It was an inheritance of miracles. But to take it from Ashira would be an unspeakable loss for the bird—possibly fatal, certainly life-altering.
Seeing his silent indecision, Ashira chirped once more, and then, incredibly, opened her beak again. A second bead of living green-blue fire was lying in her mouth—two seeds, each radiant and strong.
Ethan’s breath caught. "You—have two...? How?"
Ancient texts had always claimed a spiritual beast could only condense a single flame of its kind.