13 The Flame

To improve Soul Dao, I must study souls in their natural form. To capture souls, I need a soul orb. A soul flame could purify souls, making them easy to handle and study.

The soul flame made the souls a blank slate, purifying all the resentment and other negative emotions acclimated upon death. I would then transfer the negative emotions into a resentment weapon.

'Storing all the negative emotions in a resentment weapon would give Soul Dao practitioners a hidden card. Soul Dao practitioners would also delve into the Slaughter Dao as cultivating Soul Dao required killing and processing the souls of many creatures.'

I could naturally understand Slaughter Dao during this process.

This scripture was comprehensive. It detailed how I could create a soul orb and a resentment weapon. To form my Soulflame, I would need to learn the [Flint \u0026 Steel Art].

With this Art, I would use Devil qi as the flint \u0026 steel and Soul qi as the timber igniting my Soul qi turning it into Soulflame qi. Through practicing the [Flint and Steel Art], I would temper my Soul qi and Devil qi while understanding the Fire Dao.

This scripture was so comprehensive it also had a soul servant technique, however, to use that would require me to capture a soul. The best souls come from humanoid species, beasts, or plants that have gained sentience.

The technique required me to capture a serpent demon beast soul.

With the soul, I could create a serpent flame soul servant that could protect me and battle in my place. I ignored this part as it was too far away for me.

I needed to learn the [Flint \u0026 Steel Art] then I could forge my soul orb and resentment weapon.

My Devil Ancestor sure took my personality into understanding when giving me this technique. It would take me into the doorway to the Soul Dao and to practice it fully I would have to learn blacksmithing.

That cunning old devil, once I learn blacksmithing I'll be quickly kicked out! I need to improve my vision so I can sneak out. Otherwise, I won't be able to swindle some resources from my dear father.

I practiced the [Flint \u0026 Steel Art]. It was imperative I improved the quality of my Devil qi, only then would my grainy vision improve enough for me to sneak out.

Only with thorough improvement would I be able to escape!

First, I must forge my Devil qi as the flint \u0026 steel. I sat in a lotus position creating a floating pea-sized ball of Soul qi in front of me.

I then gathered Devil qi within both of my hands. It was difficult, this was my first time controlling Devil qi and Soul qi outside of my body. I could only create a little of each.

The ball of Soul qi I created was only the size of a marble.

I coated my hands in Devil qi then he brought them together at a 90-degree angle. One hand was the flint, the other was the steel.

How could I do all of this if I could not see it?

My qi was a part of my body. Both the Soul qi and the Devil qi I created were like extra arms. I could feel them when they were outside his body. So it was easy for me to practice this exercise.

'Devil qi as the flint and steel, Soul qi as the timber. Ignite the Soul qi!'

I was excited. This was my first time practicing a Devil Art. After my first attempt, nothing happened.

I didn't create any sparks! I was not disappointed. To practice Devil Arts was a process. I wasn't foolish enough to think of myself as some kind of genius.

This will be more difficult than I thought. The key to this technique lies in control. I must properly visualize the Devil qi as flint and steel while viewing the Soul qi as timber. Only then can this Devil Art work!

After a while of failing at my attempt at mastering a Devil Art in a single bound, I took a break and thought about the times I had gone camping within the Wesser forest as a youth. All the devil youths would love these trips. An Elder would guide us to learn of the plants and demon beasts that lived in the Wesser forest.

Learning to live off the fat of the land! It was classic wilderness survival training in the yearly summer camp for Hudson clan youths. We would even get to battle with the mortal realm demon beasts polishing our battle skills.

I had learned to create fire with flint \u0026 steel before. I pondered about the difficulty I first experienced while attempting this archaic technique. When I had done this before as a youth and encountered difficulties the best way to solve it was to leave a bit of flint on the timber.

Just a little sprinkle of flint would make igniting the timber much easier. Then you have a small flame going, you would add more timber to stabilize the fire.

It seems I missed several key steps in this technique. If I change it with my experience of using flint \u0026 timber in real life it should work better.

I changed the technique to mirror the real-life application of flint \u0026 steel. I sprinkled a bit of Devil qi on the Soul qi ball and then tried to ignite it.

'Devil qi as the flint and steel, Soul qi as the timber. Ignite the Soul qi!'

"It worked! The Soul qi caught a fire becoming Soulflame qi!" I said.

The Soulflame qi quickly extinguished itself using up the small bit of Soul qi. It looks like I need to pour Soul qi into the Soulflame qi continually to keep it ablaze, just like a normal fire requires fuel to stay lit.

I quickly attempted the Devil Art again, finally bringing a stable bit of Soulflame qi into his hands.

"I'm a fucking genius!" I said loudly in pure excitement.

I quickly put the Soulflame qi out and looked around, hoping my Devil Ancestor didn't hear me. If he caught me with Soulflame qi, I would have to learn blacksmithing.

How could I escape and get resources to recruit lackeys if I was forced to be under that old devil's nose?

I am more cunning than that old devil!