Soaring the Heavens

Qian'Er and Xue'Er couldn't help looking at each other at the sound of this.

Miao Yi asked in astonishment, "This thing can act as the formation core of a transcendent artifact too?"

With a flick of his wrist, Yao Ruoxian grabbed the Qilin head and raised it up. Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed forth as the entire Qilin head burst into flames. The fire billowed violently, and the Qilin looked as if it had instantly come to life, casting a furious gaze at the crowd through the roaring flames. The temperature immediately skyrocketed to jaw-dropping heights, and was already much hotter than the flames produced by Blaze Resins.

Terrified, Qian'Er and Xue'Er quickly backed away. Meanwhile, Miao Yi found a sense of familiarity within the powerful blaze, as though he was back in the sea of flames of the Supreme Fire Palace. However, this fire did not possess the menacing attack capabilities that the sea of flames around the Supreme Fire Palace did. Miao Yi was able to quickly repel the heat through his heat-controlling technique.

Outside the gate, the two lion statues instantly exploded from the intense heat. The stone tiles on the ground started to fracture, while the grass around the area quickly withered and went up in flames. Cracks also appeared on the courtyard walls, and the large wooden gates that were pushed to the side were already set ablaze.

It seemed that Yao Ruoxian couldn't take such a powerful heat for too long either. After a while, he quickly tossed the burning Qilin head over to Miao Yi. Strangely enough, the second it left Yao Ruoxian's grasp, the terrifying flames instantly vanished, and an icy Qilin head statue fell into Miao Yi's hands instead.

Yao Ruoxian then quickly turned around, and with a flick of his sleeves, he activated his transcendence energy and immediately put out the burning grass in the area. The flames on the door swiftly subsided, and plumes of gray smoke rose from its blackened husk.

Holding onto the icy Qilin head, Miao Yi asked, "Did this flame come from the Qilin head?"

"No shit!" Yao Ruoxian turned back and said sarcastically, "Do you think my body can generate flames?"

Miao Yi clicked his tongue in astonishment as he fumbled around with the Qilin head. He asked, "Old man, how did you do it?"

"Simple. Just imbue it with your transcendence energy!" Yao Ruoxian replied in an irritated manner.

As Miao Yi messed around with the Qilin head, a rumbling sound soon echoed forth, and it erupted with a violent flame once again. Moreover, the intensity of the flame was quickly rising, as though it was going to reduce everything to cinders.

Yao Ruoxian immediately cried out, "Are you trying to burn down my house?!"

The moment Miao Yi stopped channeling his transcendence energy, the rumbling fire instantly vanished. Yao Ruoxian then hurriedly put out the surrounding flames, while Miao Yi hugged the Qilin head excitedly. It was just as the old man had said—only by channeling transcendence energy would this Supreme Fire Crystal be ignited. If the supply of transcendence energy was stopped, then the fire would instantly die out. Moreover, the intensity of the flames was entirely dependent on the amount of transcendence energy being channeled into the Qilin statue. This meant that even without any refining, this thing was practically a natural transcendence artifact!

Miao Yi lovingly fumbled around the Qilin head in his grasp. However, when he noticed its hollowed insides, his expression immediately froze as he felt a terrible pang in his heart. He finally understood how significant the material he had scooped out and tossed away was, and also why Yao Ruoxian was so frustrated over it.

"Now do you feel the pain?" Yao Ruoxian scoffed, "You rotten child. Other people could normally only dream about entering a place like the Supreme Fire Palace, and you… You bastard, after painstakingly making your way inside, you actually overlooked such an important thing! Not only did you neglect to take as much of this precious material as you could back with you, worse yet, but you also threw it all away! Do you know how much the thing you threw away is worth, how many Orbs of Will it can be exchanged for?! I've never seen anyone as big an idiot like you!"

"Don't say it anymore!" Miao Yi groaned. He had one hand on the Qilin head, while he raised the other one with its palm facing Yao Ruoxian. His heart wouldn't be able to take it if the other party continued scolding him like this. With a pained expression, he said, "You have no idea how bad the situation was back then. The entire Supreme Fire Palace actually hovers within a giant fire array, and I didn't know why, but something must have happened at the time, causing the place to be on the verge of collapse. I was too scared to spend another second there. Besides that, I didn't want to wreck the Supreme Fire Palace. After all, I was still in the Sea of Constellations. Out of fear of offending Supreme Yao Lord Lie Huan, I didn't dare to go overboard with my actions."

Yao Ruoxian stomped his feet angrily and barked, "Then why did you have to hollow out the insides of the Qilin head?! Did you have nothing better to do?! How bored must you be to go this far, you pig-brained idiot?!"

Miao Yi replied helplessly, "Do you think I had that much free time on my hands?! I had to come up with a way to save myself, you know! You have no idea how terrifying that giant fire array was. I nearly lost my life trying to pass through it, and even now, I have no clue how I managed to do it! I had to empty out this Qilin head and hide inside to go through the fire array the second time. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have brought it out in the first place! Shit, that was the palace of Supreme Yao Lord Lie Huan, I tell you! How many people would dare to go inside and tear the place apart?! Old man, even if you were inside, I doubt you'd have the guts to lay a finger on a single piece of rock. It's good enough that I managed to chop down such a giant head and bring it back. Not to mention, it's not like I knew what this Qilin head was made of. Who would've guessed that the stones used to construct that massive palace was actually such a precious material?! Back then, I thought that it could only repel fire!"

"Even so, you didn't have to throw away the pieces you scraped out! Would it kill you to bring them back?!"

"I told you, there was too much stuff to take back then! I didn't have time to pick up the more valuable things that were right beside me. What kind of person would go and pick up the shattered chunks of rock he'd dug out and tossed on the ground?! Even if I did dig up a couple of pieces of brick from the floor, I wouldn't bother cleaning up any stone fragments lying around!"

"Damn it, I'm so angry! I'm not going to argue with you anymore!" Yao Ruoxian quickly went over and grabbed the Qilin head, then tucked it away into his storage bangle. He then flicked his sleeves and started walking away.

"Wait up! Say, old coot, now that you have the necessary material to act as a formation core, aren't you going to refine a top-tier Second Grade Transcendent Artifact for me?" Miao Yi quickly followed behind and asked.

"Stop bugging me. I get annoyed every time I look at you and your rotten face," Yao Ruoxian said curtly, before disappearing into thin air.

Miao Yi halted his footsteps, and without even turning around, he made a beckoning gesture to the two girls standing at the back. Both Qian'Er and Xue'Er then immediately walked over, ready to receive his orders.

Just as Miao Yi was about to instruct the two young ladies to work their magic, the sound of rushing wind suddenly resounded, and Yao Ruoxian re-appeared before the three of them.

"What are the three of you sneakily talking about?" Yao Ruoxian swept a cautious gaze at Miao Yi and the girls, then warned, "You girls! You can't always help the outsider, understand?"

"Heh heh… You're overthinking things..." Miao Yi laughed drily as if nothing happened.

Yao Ruoxian placed his hands behind his back, then said plainly, "Well, I don't mind helping refine one for you. However, you have to stop bringing that fatso around with you from now on. You already have three treasured artifacts on you, and after this, I'll be making another for you as well, so even without the damned fatso's legs, I doubt you'll be in too much danger. Have the fatso stay here for the time being so that I can deepen our relationship. I get pretty bored staying here on my own anyway."

Miao Yi gave the proposition some thought. He guessed that the old man was probably itching to use up some of those Yao Cores now that he had plenty of them to burn. Well, the other party did have a point. As long as he didn't bump into any Red Lotus experts, he'd be able to handle the situation well enough with the treasures he had at hand. Not to mention, if he did end up having to fight a Red Lotus expert, chances were he'd be dragging Charcoal down as well. In that case, why not have Charcoal stay here? At least that way, the damned fatso would be able to eat his fill of Yao Cores and improve his strength. Miao Yi had already confirmed that Charcoal grew stronger after eating Yao Cores. However, back then, he didn't have enough of them to feed the damned fatso. Now that he did, he wouldn't be skimping out any longer.

Miao Yi turned around and blew a sharp whistle.

In the distance, the surface of the lake immediately started rippling, and amidst the tossing waves, Charcoal popped his head out from under the water as he swiftly swam over to shore.

Ever since he arrived, Charcoal was as happy as he could be. This place had plenty of water in the area, which to him meant seafood galore. This was practically his heaven! Whenever he didn't have to go out with Miao Yi, his daily cycle consisted of purely eating and sleeping. After filling his appetite, he would go to sleep. Then after waking up, he would jump into the water and eat some fish.

When he saw Charcoal swimming over, Yao Ruoxian looked like he'd already forgotten his frustration from before. His eyes started gleaming as if he was looking at some sort of treasure, and he quickly walked over to the edge of the lake to welcome Charcoal. He even held out a bunch of Yao Cores in an enticing manner and said, "Hey fatso, over here, over here!"

On the other hand, it seemed Charcoal was still a little afraid of Yao Ruoxian. When he saw the old man, he immediately remembered the time he was buried alive by the latter, and couldn't help thinking of Yao Ruoxian as a bad man. Charcoal immediately swam away, going ashore from a different area, then quickly strutted over to Miao Yi.

Seeing his warm welcome being received so coldly, Yao Ruoxian was a little lost for words. He couldn't help grumbling, "It's already been so many years. How can you still be holding a grudge against me?!"

Seeing that his ploy didn't work, Yao Ruoxian coughed drily, then walked over to Miao Yi with his hands behind his back. However, his eyes quickly widened in shock when his gaze fell upon Charcoal's body. Pointing at the horrifying scars all over Charcoal's skin, he asked, "How the hell did this happen?"

"How else could it have happened? How many dragon steeds do you think could survive the entire Sea of Constellations Subjugation Crusade? He's already very fortunate!" Miao Yi sighed and replied. Back then, he never thought he'd have the chance to see Charcoal again after being separated for so many years.

"You scoundrel! Back then, I told you not to take him with you, but you never listened. If anything were to happen to him, you'd definitely regret it!" Yao Ruoxian pointed a finger at Miao Yi's nose and scolded him as though the other party had done something incredibly infuriating.

Unwilling to continue further on this subject, Miao Yi waved his hand and said, "There, I've already called the fatso over for you. You can refine the transcendent artifact for me now, right?"

Yao Ruoxian paid no attention to him at all and simply focused on Charcoal. Grabbing a bunch of Yao Cores, he raised them up to the side of Charcoal's mouth. However, Charcoal simply avoided his hand, unwilling to eat the things that he was offering. What if he got buried again after eating this old guy's stuff?

"Who doesn't know what a big glutton you are? Stop pretending like you're innocent!" Miao Yi immediately walked over and kicked Charcoal right in the rump. He then pulled Charcoal by the ear and pointed over to Yao Ruoxian, saying in a commanding tone, "He was only joking with you before. He actually treats you better than I do. From now on, you're going to stay here obediently."

Charcoal seemed to understand what Miao Yi was telling him. His expression looked a little dejected as he finally stopped hiding behind Miao Yi.

"Why do you always have to be so violent to him?" Yao Ruoxian said with a chuckle. He played the role of a 'harmless' old man perfectly as he offered the Yao Cores back up to Charcoal's mouth to feed him.

Charcoal turned his head away again, afraid of eating whatever Yao Ruoxian was giving to him. He still felt a deep sense of rejection towards this old man. However, Miao Yi quickly gave a resounding slap to his head and said, "If you don't want to eat it, then stop drooling whenever you see Yao Cores from now on!"

Charcoal immediately turned his head back and cautiously rolled out his tongue, sweeping up the five to six Yao Cores in Yao Ruoxian's hand in a single breath. As he swallowed them down his throat, he couldn't help licking his lips, and his eyes looked a little brighter than before. It seemed those Yao Cores tasted quite well indeed.

Yao Ruoxian then suddenly raised both hands up to Charcoal, holding another two batches of Yao Cores in them. Charcoal's tongue swiftly whipped back and forth, sweeping up all the Yao Cores in the blink of an eye.

After which, Yao Ruoxian took out another two batches again. Seeing this, Miao Yi started to grow anxious, and he hurriedly raised his hand to stop the other party. He asked, "Old man, are you sure it'll be alright to feed him so many in one go?"

"He can even digest Second Grade Yao Cores. What can a few First Grade Yao Cores possibly do to him?" Yao Ruoxian replied as he brushed Miao Yi's hand aside. He continued to take out more and more Yao Cores, as though they didn't cost a single dime. On the other hand, Charcoal looked like he'd completely forgotten about his dissatisfaction from before, and he quickly cozied up to Yao Ruoxian while swishing his tail excitedly.

Seeing that the rift between him and Charcoal had been effectively healed, Yao Ruoxian burst out with joy. With a swing of his arm, he tossed out a pile of Yao Cores on the ground as though he was just throwing out some candy, and had Charcoal eat them on his own. Miao Yi and the two girls couldn't help their astonishment at the sight of this.

Stroking his beard with one hand, Yao Ruoxian rubbed Charcoal's mane with the other and chuckled, "Don't worry, no one is going to take them from you. Take your time and eat. We have more than enough Yao Cores for you!"