Chapter 102 Flames Of Healing

Blaze.

Orange embers, scorching heat.

Burn.

Flames of guidance, flames of light.

Disintegrate.

A sea of fire, engulfing the world whole.

The Laws worked in mysterious ways. They encompassed the various elements of nature, and organized them into ten layers from just barely scratching the surface to the deepest comprehension. Take fire, for example. At first glance, it was just an element that provided heat and light. But as one begins to study it further, looking beyond just what's on the surface… they find that there is far more to the element of fire than just setting something ablaze.

That is where Golden Flames come in. At first, they had burned Xuan's skin, causing stinging pain. But as he endured, the prickling sensation faded, and a new appreciation came to light. It was warm and beautiful, like the hearth of a campfire and the kindling of hope in a fragile, once-broken heart.

This fire… it was healing.

Xuan was amazed. He never did study the Law of Fire in his past life as that was Nine Heavens' specialization, but now that he had the potential to learn many different techniques all at once regardless of attribute, he was obviously going to take advantage of it.

As the comprehension finished, the golden flames withered away, and Xuan's eyes opened to a System notification.

[Ember of Healing (5th Layer Fire Law) Comprehended.]

To test out his new gains, he opened his palm, and without so much as a thought, a searing orange flame appeared in it. This was normal fire—since comprehending the first layer of the Law of Fire, he could summon fire in its purest form like so whenever he wished, so long as he had the Qi to do so.

But that was not his purpose—something as trivial as that would never need to be tested. Instead, he was attempting to test out something else—but to do that, he'd first need a suitable test subject.

Carefully, he brought the flame closer to his arm in an attempt to burn it, but unfortunately, all it did was create a sort of tingling feeling. These levels of flames were far too weak to harm Xuan's Divine Dragon Body, which had innate resistance to fire. Even though Xuan's Soul Strength was so incredibly high, the Laws did not rely on Soul Strength to dictate their power. They relied solely on the cultivator's layer of comprehension, and one's Soul Strength would only mean they would have a far easier time comprehending and using it.

'What to do…'

Before starting the next test, Xuan needed to make sure his Golden Flames worked, so he could reliably use them should the need arise. The problem was, he didn't want to hurt himself too badly, and something as trivial as a cut would hardly be of any concern…

'Oh, that's right. I have 'that' thing, don't I?'

Smiling to himself, Xuan pulled out what seemed like an empty bottle from his Space Ring, and unscrewed the cap. Immediately, the transparent contents within escaped, slowly taking shape into the form of a magic beast of an odd shape. It had the head of a lion, with a goat sprouted out from its back. Its tail was in fact a rattlesnake in disguise, and on top of that, it carried the grand golden wings of an eagle.

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"Hey there. I'm going to need your help again."

In response, the beast toppled over, eyes rolled completely up as it vomited out the last thing it ate.

"… Huh. The ride was a bit rough?"

Strange. When Fu Mei had let Bai Zhutian out of a similar bottle, he didn't end up throwing up. Did beasts have lower tolerance to motion sickness when stored inside a bottle like this? How curious. Well, either way, this was just a minor setback. Xuan patiently waited until it was done emptying the contents of its stomach, politely turning away, and after about a minute or so, he spoke.

"Done?"

"Grr…"

"Mm. It is understandable that you are quite infuriated with me, but unfortunately, I still need you for the time being. Once you are no longer of use to me, I will set you free, I promise. So—just help me out for the time being, yes? Otherwise, I cannot promise I will let you leave at all…"

"Eep-!"

Near the end there, Xuan activated his Dragon's Aura, causing the chimera to instantly shrink up in fear. It couldn't help it—such was the difference between the different Orders of Magic Beasts, and Dragons in particular. Immediately, any emotion of anger from the chimera evaporated, instead turning into obedience mixed with anxiety.

Seeing the beast nod its head several times rapidly, Xuan smiled warmly and beckoned it closer. The chimera was hesitant, but did it anyway.

"Now then… this should hurt a little."

Still maintaining that same smile, Xuan held up the fire in his palm closer to the beast, causing it to tremble in fear. Thinking that perhaps he'd frightened it too much, Xuan quickly continued to reassure it.

"Oh, but don't worry. If my test succeeds, you will be instantly healed right after."

'And what if it doesn't?!' The chimera's expression seemed to say, but Xuan couldn't talk to beasts. He wouldn't know what it was signaling. Ironically, his attempt to soothe it seemed to have caused it to instead be even more scared. The chimera, however, realized there was no escape, so it just grit its teeth and made up its mind to bear with it. Its trembling stopped, and Xuan, noticing its expression of determination, got the idea that it was ready.

Expression turning serious himself, Xuan slowly brought the flame closer to the beast's body, until it just barely singed the creature's only weakspot—the rattlesnake tail. By nature, chimeras also had some level of resistance to fire—and attacks as a whole—but their tails were their one and only weakness. Xuan knew this, of course, which was precisely why he decided to target there. Unless he inflicted some real damage, this test would be pointless.

"Ee!!"

The chimera let out a cry of pain, and taking that as a sign of it working, Xuan immediately dispersed the flame in his hand before transforming it into a different kind—golden and brilliant, the ember of healing. Quickly, he pressed it close against the chimera's tail, and to the creature's surprise, it felt… amazing.

Like a warmth suddenly coursed through its body, the beast settled down, and closed its eyes. In the blink of an eye, it had gone from screaming in pain to now on the verge of calmly falling asleep. That was how nice the golden flame felt.

Xuan, seeing that his test had indeed succeeded, smiled slightly. Moving his hand away from the creature's tail, he could see that the burn marks he'd just inflicted were no longer there.

"Perfect. Now, with this… I have a reliable way of healing myself when needed."