Within the cave, a jade-colored light shield emitted intense heat, with the flames within it violently surging and swirling, making it difficult for observers outside to clearly see what was unfolding inside. Floating in midair, the Elder of the Herbs gazed at the jade-colored flame shield, gently exhaling a sigh of relief. His taut face gradually relaxed. Having reached this point, the plan to refine the strange fire was now at least seventy percent successful. As long as Xiao Yan could successfully incorporate the powerful Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire into his Nalings, that fire would become his very essence flame. "Once he completes the refinement of the flame seed, it will be time to use the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire to evolve the Burn Technique. With the strength of the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire's energy, this technique might directly advance to the Xu-level technique," the Elder smiled. With a light chuckle, the herbal elder remained silent once more, and as his stillness spread, the entire cave gradually settled into quiet. A cool mountain breeze seeped in through the cracks in the rock walls, gently replacing the previously stagnant, warm air. Within the cave, a spherical flame aura radiated a soft jade glow. The glow flickered gently on the surface of the aura, casting an ethereal green light onto the cave walls—like ripples in a flowing green stream. Inside the aura, Xiao Yan sat upon the lotus, seemingly in a state of unconscious profundity. His spirit had grown profoundly weary from the earlier struggle against the inner heart-fire of the lotus, drifting aimlessly within his body, yet unable to coalesce into a unified focus. At the very moment when Xiao Yan was in a hazy, half-unconscious state, the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire, which had been slowly flowing through his meridians, suddenly began to circulate along the meridians without any control from him... Now, the Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire, perhaps due to having been previously refined and absorbed by Xiao Yan, no longer emitted its usual terrifying heat but instead had become somewhat cool. As it flowed through the meridians, fine strands of pale green magma separated from it and, gently pulsing against the already damaged meridian walls—so weakened that they had nearly lost their capacity to contain qi—gradually seeped and fused into the meridian walls themselves. As these strands of glowing, faintly flame-like green magma penetrated deeper into the meridians, the meridians, which had previously been twisted and knotted like dried, twisted strands of celery, began to slowly unfurl, much like grass blades in a desert finding renewed life after coming into contact with water. Countless meridians within the body suddenly emitted vibrant, excited sounds. The jade-lotus earth-heart flame left behind in its wake—once a liquid, jade-colored lava—was swiftly consumed at a terrifying pace by the constantly expanding and contracting meridians. As these meridians greedily absorbed the liquid, the grayish-white hues gradually faded, replaced by a lively, pale green tone. The jade-lotus earth-heart flame flowed along each meridian, reviving withered pathways, and healing cracked bones and scorched muscles at a most encouraging rate. Moreover, the meridians, bones, and tissues that had been restored exhibited a strength far exceeding their original condition prior to the flame’s arrival. Though the flame had inflicted significant damage, the compensation it had provided clearly proved to be well worth the cost, making the vital organs within feel thoroughly satisfied. As the Qinglian Earthfire repaired the damage within Xiao Yan's body, the blood-streaked exterior of his frame gradually healed—blood cracks fused, blood scars rapidly emerged and then fell away, leaving no trace. Muscles beneath the skin swiftly strengthened; though not yet on par with the muscular men, a surge of explosive power began to gather with each arm movement. The outer layer of skin peeled off like a snake shedding its skin, rapidly discarding layers of dry, flaking epidermis. While the newly revealed skin, once a deep copper tone earned through months of desert training, now returned to a pale, delicate hue resembling that of a woman, its defensive strength and sensitivity to celestial energies were now several times greater than before. At this moment, Xiao Yan, benefiting from his unusual state, was seeing the immense and almost terrifying energy contained within the Qinglian Earth Heart Fire rapidly strengthening and repairing his shattered body—a truly fortunate circumstance. The process of repair and enhancement unfolded slowly. Once the Qinglian Earth Heart Fire had healed the final injured meridian, Xiao Yan's severely damaged body was restored to nearly perfect condition. At this point, the combat power his body could now generate was undoubtedly far superior to that of his earlier form. After having thoroughly repaired and refined both his internal and external structure, the Qinglian Earth Heart Fire, unattended and idle, turned its attention once again to the qi vortex in his lower abdomen, which had nearly depleted itself. Now, due to the previous extravagant expenditure of energy, the qi vortex was almost entirely empty, with only three droplets of purple liquid energy drifting alone within it—appearing quite forlorn. The Qinglian Earth-Heart Flame slowly spiraled around the aura vortex. After a moment of relative stillness, it suddenly plunged into the vortex. As the Qinglian Earth-Heart Flame entered, the previously calm and still aura vortex—like a pond of stagnant water—began to surge violently, sending out concentric ripples of energy that continuously swayed within its core. The jade-like molten rock formed by the Qinglian Earth-Heart Flame flowed steadily through the vortex. The three fragile drops of purple liquid energy seemed to struggle to escape, yet upon touching the jade molten rock, they were instantly scorched and reduced to nothing, as if being cleared away like debris. Once these last three drops of liquid energy were consumed, the aura vortex—originally serving as Xiang Yin’s storage for his Qi—was completely seized and firmly claimed by the Qinglian Earth-Heart Flame. After the cyclone had been fully claimed, the azure magma drifted slowly. After a while, slender streams of pure, gaseous energy emerged from within it, swiftly gathering and converging inside the cyclone. In just a brief moment, the once-empty cyclone was completely filled with this faintly glowing azure energy. The gaseous energy rapidly expanded within the cyclone, and as more and more gaseous energy flowed out from the azure magma, a subtle dampness began to swirl around the cyclone. A short while later, a single droplet of azure liquid energy suddenly appeared... Once the first droplet of azure liquid energy appeared, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction within the cyclone—successive droplets, resembling jade, emerged continuously from the misty energy, then fell into the cyclone, like playful little fish. One by one, liquid energies that previously required Xiao Yan several days of dedicated cultivation to gather and condense now fell like a steady light rain, continuously splashing into the air. Within a short span of time, the liquid energy had filled nearly half of the swirling vortex. Initially, from a one-star to a two-star Battle Master, Xiao Yan had gathered a total of fifteen such droplets. Now, the total number within the vortex likely exceeded one hundred. Fifteen droplets—equivalent to a two-star Battle Master—what about one hundred? How many stars does that represent? If Xiao Yan were awake at this moment, he would surely leap with joy. Of course, this all thanks to his current semi-comatose, half-dreamy state. Otherwise, the otherwise idle Qinglian Earth-Heart Fire would never have willingly expended its own energy to mend Xiao Yan’s body. When the liquid energy within the cyclone reached a hundred drops, the languidly circulating Qinglian Earth-fire, which had previously been steadily generating energy, suddenly ceased its activity and gently swayed its body, drifting toward a small gray luminous spot at the center of the cyclone. The molten rock body, now slightly brighter due to the light, seemed much like a child discovering a beloved toy. At the very center of the cyclone, the small gray luminous spot floated suspended. Within the spot lay an endless depth of darkness, and at the far edge of that darkness, it appeared as though another realm was concealed—remarkably enigmatic. The Qinglian heart-fire drifted around the gray glow, seemingly curious about it, attempting to touch it several times. Yet perhaps under an unspoken sense of hesitation, its movements remained hesitant. Among the fire spirits, refined over centuries by the earth's enduring grace and now possessing a touch of wisdom, it vaguely understood that if it touched this gray glow, it would lose its eternal freedom. The jade-like magma slowly spiraled around the glow, pondering, and ultimately decided against the daring act—sacrificing freedom for a rare toy was not something it wished to endure. After one more circuit, the jade magma finally ceased its lingering, shifting its body and turning to depart from this place that had unsettled it. Yet, as the Qinglian heart-fire prepared to leave, the soul of Xiao Yan, clearly unconscious, suddenly stirred, then fully awakened. After his soul awoke, Xiao Yan's mind instinctively and swiftly scanned throughout his body. The renewed vitality within him left him momentarily stunned—yet when his mind reached the center of the spiraling energy, and he gazed upon the jade-like molten rock, only a short distance away from the gray light points, he was first struck dumb, then a surge of indescribable joy surged through him. With no time for thought, his mind forcefully surged into the spiraling energy, and then—drawing upon all his inner strength, Xiao Yan's mind powerfully collided with the jade molten rock that was attempting to retreat. At the very moment of contact, the gray light point surged with intense brilliance, and a terrifying suction force erupted, swiftly drawing in the Qinglian Earth-Core Flame that had failed to escape—crushing it completely within with a sharp hiss... After successfully incorporating the Qinglian Earth-Core Flame, an absolute stillness settled within his body. This small gray light point was precisely the miniature Nalings that the Yeold had previously projected into Xiao Yan's body. The final and most crucial step in transforming the hetero-flames into fundamental fire seeds required forcing the Qinglian Earth-Core Flame to be compressed and fully contained within the space formed by the Nalings. Only upon complete incorporation and assimilation of the Qinglian Earth-Core Flame into the Nalings could the transformation be deemed truly perfected. This step had originally been exceedingly difficult, as the fire spirits within the hetero-flames possessed a certain degree of awareness and instinctively resisted hazardous elements. Should the forced containment fail, the initially partially transformed hetero-flames might well reverse their effects and reassert their influence.