The lotus platform was ice blue, with eight petals. It appeared as though it were a flawless blue sapphire, a masterpiece of nature, crystal clear and captivating at first glance, making it difficult for anyone to tear their eyes away.
Atop the ice-blue lotus platform, the fire spirit, Little Han, was busy at work, guiding the cold energy from the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow—which was embedded in the ground around them—into the lotus platform below.
Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on the lotus platform, while behind him stood a hazy, ice-blue figure. A majestic and unparalleled aura radiated from Huo Yuhao's body, and at the same time, countless brilliant ice-blue lights burst from within him, as if snowflakes were gently falling in the surrounding air.
Although the figure's face was unclear, it was faintly visible that in its hand, it held an ice-blue long sword. This figure was the shadow of the Ice God, Huo Yuhao's second Spirit.
Using the Ice God Spirit and the Mystic Ice Lotus Platform as conduits, Huo Yuhao was guiding the terrifying cold energy of the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow into his body's meridians.
Just moments ago, the arrogant and powerful silver flame, which had been fiercely battling against the Profound Ice Cold Flame, was now being utterly suppressed by the overwhelming cold energy. Not even a trace of its searing heat could be released.
Although it was a spiritual entity born of the world's elemental essence, the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow was also a rare and peerless treasure formed by the ultimate cold energy of heaven and earth. Using the marrow's cold energy to suppress the silver flame's heat was a perfect strategy.
Huo Yuhao's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and the savage and violent expression caused by the pain also calmed. He exhaled lightly and released his spiritual power, attempting to merge it with the silver flame so that he could refine it with his Flame Mantra.
As expected, under the suppression of the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow, the silver flame could no longer unleash the extreme heat that burned spiritual power, and it appeared as though it had been frozen solid.
Even the flame could not have imagined that Huo Yuhao's external supports were so numerous and formidable that even a rampant flame like itself had to be subdued.
Within the crystal-clear meridians, the silver flames surged wildly like waves. Huo Yuhao controlled the flow of the silver flame with his spiritual power, guiding it through several circulations along his meridians before channeling it into his lower abdomen, the dantian.
At the same time, the Profound Ice Cold Flame, which had been residing in his Spirit Core, also seemed to react. Waves of icy white flames surged forth and collided with the silver flames.
Since both were heavenly Flames, they were inherently destructive. When two heavenly Flames collided, there were only two outcomes: either one devoured the other, or it was devoured itself. There was no third option. As soon as the Profound Ice Cold Flame emerged, even though the silver flame was being suppressed by the marrow's cold energy, it instinctively began to stir.
Of course, it wasn't just the silver flame that became restless. The Profound Ice Cold Flame also began to surge, driven by its nature to try and devour the silver flame, as doing so would make it even stronger.
"If I didn't have the Flame Mantra, attempting to fuse them would be like setting myself on fire," Huo Yuhao thought to himself. "But now…"
"Little Han, keep your little brother in check!"
The fire spirit, Little Han, let out a cute chirp, and following its cry, the previously restless Profound Ice Cold Flame immediately stopped surging. It no longer had the desire to devour the silver flame.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao further suppressed the silver flame with even more cold energy, ensuring that it too remained still.
"Now… let the fusion begin."
With a slight glint in his eyes, Huo Yuhao finally stopped hesitating. Under his control, the two different heavenly Flames collided with each other like two shooting stars.
"Boom!"
Even though there was a layer of Flame Mantra spirit power between the two flames, their collision still produced a low, rumbling sound.
The two flames surged like ocean waves, releasing intense heat, as if they were competing against one another.
A steady stream of Flame Mantra spirit power flowed through his meridians, continuously merging into the two flames. As this spirit power was infused, the two flames—once volatile and ready to explode at the slightest provocation—gradually calmed down.
Focusing all of his attention on the situation in his dantian, Huo Yuhao cautiously withdrew the thin membrane of spirit power that had been separating the two flames.
At the same time, the ice-white and silver flames finally made direct contact with one another.
As they touched, Huo Yuhao quickly channeled a large amount of spirit power into them, using the Flame Mantra to maintain peace between the two flames and prevent an explosion.
Within his dantian, the two flames were now completely intertwined. In one corner of the flames, a small cluster of flame that had been entangled for who knows how long suddenly emitted a faint glow. In that glow, the two flames began to slowly blend together, and finally, they fused into one.
At that moment, both the ice-white and silver flames completely vanished, replaced by a small cluster of silver-white flame.
"It's starting to fuse…"
A sense of joy immediately welled up in Huo Yuhao's heart. Although it was just a small flicker of flame, it signified an extremely promising beginning and confirmed that he was on the right path.
Watching the newly-born silver-white flame, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smile. Since the fusion was proceeding correctly, all that remained was to patiently wait for the complete integration of the two flames.
Although the fusion process was agonizingly slow, the faint light of victory could already be seen.
Once the two heavenly Flames fully merged and transformed into pure silver-white flames, it would signal the evolution of the Flame Mantra, and at that time, Huo Yuhao's combat power would surge to a new height.
Of course, the newly fused flame would also inherit the properties of both Heavenly Flames and likely possess even greater power.
"Congratulations, Yuhao. It seems that your strength is about to increase once again," Elder Yi said from the side.
"I must thank you, teacher, for providing the lead on this Heavenly Flame, and for your guidance at the critical moment, which helped me suppress its power," Huo Yuhao replied, turning to another teacher, Yao Lao. "Also, your Earth Spirit Pill was crucial. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to control the silver flame and extinguish its intelligence."
"All right, all right, stop flattering us old geezers!" Yao Lao waved his hand with a chuckle. "By the way, this silver flame still doesn't have a name. You can come up with one now."
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then smiled.
"Since this Heavenly Flame was given to me by you, teacher, its name should reflect that. You are from the Holy Demon Continent, known as the Necromancer Sage and the Calamity of the Undead. Therefore, I'll take the word 'Holy' and the word 'Spirit' from your titles, making it the Holy Spirit."
"This flame burns and devours spiritual power, and it can even incinerate souls, so its name should also include 'Devouring Flame'."
"So, I'll call it the Holy Spirit Devouring Flame!"