Chapter 577: Forged in Fire

Chapter 577: Forged in Fire

Heat haze suddenly shimmered beside Hui. It grew thicker and thicker, then condensed into a wavering, translucent form of Qian Liqiu. She looked at the clones. Is this your solution?

Senior! Yes. Er, Im still working on the details, but ah, and dont worry! They can be reshaped, Hui added quickly.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. The shape is no issue. These are plants. We are fire.

Yes, yes. Im figuring that out right now, Hui said, nodding.nove(l)bi(n.)com

What is there to figure out? We will burn them, Qian Liqiu said, crossing her arms.

Senior Your Majesty, please. Give me some time. Im seventy percent sure I can solve this, Hui said. I have a lead, after all. Life qi, fire qi, death qi every state but fire qi works. Surely it cant be true. There must be something Im missing.

Beside Hui, Bai Xue gasped. Hui, you never said!

Ah, apologies, Elder Sister. This is Qian Liqiu, the Queen of the Phoenixes

You should have mentioned you liked having women inside you. I could have made that happen a long time ago, Bai Xue said, waggling her eyebrows at him.

Elder Sister, Hui complained.

Indeed. I see you are skilled in dual cultivation, Qian Liqiu said, her eyes flickering over Bai Xue. Such an act is truly an advanced skill.

Eh? Senior, too? Hui cleared his throat. Could we stop talking about horny

Bai Xue nodded. The complete transfer of ones soul and energy into their partner is a difficult task. It requires much trust. Im surprised you were able to accomplish it after such a short time period.

Wait, huh? It isnt horny Ah! I gave in to the worlds logic! Dual cultivation isnt only horny things, its also the simple transfer of energy. I must be careful. If I give in too much to the worlds logic, the next thing I know, Ill be harrumphing and flicking my sleeve and acting haughty toward the next generation of heroes.

Qian Liqiu waved her hand. We had few options. I had to move blindly and with conviction. My people depended on it.

Its not the ratio. What else? What else?

Hui compressed the flame qi, settling it into the clones dantians, separated from most of the clones qi. The clones survived. Hui stepped back, grinning.

Abruptly, fire burned through the clones stomachs. Twisting up like paper, they burned to ash in moments.

Fuck. I thought that would work. It worked for life qi and death qi wait, but I had the soul/body separation. Hmm no, I dont think that will work here. That worked for me because of the cultivation manual I used, because of my specific technique. The phoenixes cant use my technique without starting to cultivate again from scratch in fact, due to being innately flame qi, they may be entirely unable to use my technique!

Lets give it a try but Im not expecting much.

Unlike life qi and death qi, the balance between life qi and flame qi collapsed. Over and over. Seventy. Eighty. Ninety. Circulation patterns. Barriers. Intricate constructs. One after another, every clone he tested burned up.

What is it about the phoenixes that makes them unique? Hui thought, despairing, staring down his last clones. Their flame qi no. Theyre innately flame qi. Thats the problem.

Or is it the solution?

Huis eyes lit up. He reached toward the final clone, and his fingers curled.

Inside the clone, life qi spun, neatly contained in its dantian and qi passages. Under Huis guidance, the life qi cycled to flame qi. The clone began to burn, but before it could fully burn, it cycled back to life qi. A harmonious cycle began as the flame qi fed into the life qi which fed back into the flame qi.

Carefully, Hui drew back his hand. The clone remained standing. Life and flame qi continued to cycle on their own, back and forth, back and forth. As they cycled, the flame qi no longer burned the clones body, but instead invigorated it, slowly seeping into the clone. The clones body began to glow faintly red, its skin blackening. Rather than burning up, it became like charcoal, able to burn for a long time without burning away. The life qi cycle healed the body. Between the flame qi and the life qi, the body grew harder and stronger, until it no longer glowed or became blackened like charcoal, but instead began to glow a faint pale red. More and more, until the clone once more turned a pale white. This time, though, the clone emanated a fierce heat, its body shiny and hard instead of soft and flexible.

How Qian Liqiu whispered.

Bai Xue nodded proudly, her hands on her hips. Thats our Xiao Hui. Hes never let common sense stop him.

Qian Liqiu took a deep breath. She flew forward.

Hui held out his hand. Senior, not yet.