As soon as the Red Lotus Flame entered his body, Shen Mo felt as if he had swallowed a burning coal.
His body instinctively resisted, trying to expel the foreign flame.
But Shen Mo endured the discomfort, still guiding the Red Lotus Flame towards his dantian.
Meridians, flesh, bones...
Every part of his body that the Red Lotus Flame passed through began to deteriorate to varying degrees.
Because it was so damn hot.
Shen Mo remembered a condition called heat stroke, where high temperatures cause organ failure and cessation of function.
He felt no different from that situation now.
"Hold on, hold on!"
Shen Mo gritted his teeth and downed two bottles of Stabilizing Pills and three bottles of Healing Pills.
At the same time, he activated the Flame Hell Annihilation Technique. The damaged body tissues slowly regenerated.
But they were quickly affected by the high temperature again, deteriorating once more.
Shen Mo's body underwent a prolonged tug-of-war between deterioration and regeneration.
After a full ten days. The Red Lotus Flame finally reached his dantian.
Once there, it was as if it had found a comfortable home. The Red Lotus Flame settled down on the Dao Foundation.
A large amount of spiritual power surged forth, merging into the flame, enhancing its power.
In the blink of an eye, about a third of Shen Mo's spiritual power was consumed.
Fortunately, this devouring only lasted for a dozen breaths before it subsided.
Shen Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thus, the Red Lotus Flame was thoroughly subdued.
From now on, it would respond to his will. With just a thought, this powerful foreign flame would be at his command.
Shen Mo looked down at his body and smiled wryly, "I've lost a lot of weight."
He had already slimmed down considerably. Half of the water in his body had been evaporated.
If not for becoming a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator and possessing a physique much stronger than that of an ordinary person, along with having a top-tier body constitution, the Scorching Sun Flame Body, an ordinary cultivator's body would definitely suffer backlash from forcibly subduing the Red Lotus Flame.
Liu Yunxuan had clearly forced it, which left him with hidden injuries and dark ailments.
Shen Mo introspected his dantian. Originally, his dantian contained a lake of spiritual power, above which was the Dao Foundation.
Now, the spiritual power lake had shrunk significantly. On the Dao Foundation, a red flame quietly burned.
Shen Mo estimated. Even without fighting, the Red Lotus Flame consumed one-tenth of his spiritual power every ten breaths.
This was an alarming figure.
Because, even with the Flame Hell Destruction Manual Technique, a heavenly-grade cultivation method,
and possessing a perfect Dao Foundation, his sea of spiritual power could only replenish one-tenth of his spiritual power every ten breaths.
If he were to use the Red Lotus Flame to fight enemies, the consumption would be even greater.
"I understand now why it's almost impossible for ordinary cultivators to subdue the Red Lotus Flame."
"This thing is a spiritual power sucking vaccum cleaner!"
Shen Mo shook his head.
For an average Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, achieving a top-grade Profound grade cultivation method and a flawless Dao Foundation would be considered quite impressive.
But such methods and foundations could only replenish one-thirtieth of their spiritual power every ten breaths.
Even with rigorous daily cultivation, it would never be enough to satisfy the Red Lotus Flame.
Ultimately, the result would be being drained dry by the Red Lotus Flame, ending up as a dried corpse.
"Well, my realm..."
Shen Mo was about to get up when he suddenly paused, "I'm already at the small achievement stage of the Foundation Establishment realm?!"
"How did I not notice?!"
He thought for a while before realizing.
It was probably because he was too focused on subduing the Red Lotus Flame and neglected his own realm.
Upon reflection, it made sense.
While subduing the Red Lotus Flame, he had been taking Stabilizing Pills and activating the Flame Hell Destruction Manual.
The heat from the Red Lotus Flame accelerated the transformation of the Stabilizing Pills into medicinal power.
This allowed him to rapidly break through to the small achievement stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.
"I still have a lot of Stabilizing Pills, plus the abundant spiritual energy here..."
Shen Mo laughed heartily, "I must not waste this opportunity; I must improve as much as possible!"
He took out all the Stabilizing Pills given to him by Murong Yue, popping them into his mouth like beans.
Then, he began to activate the Flame Hell Annihilation Technique.
His body seemed to become the center of a funnel.
The surrounding spiritual energy rushed towards him wildly.
Moreover, due to the influence of the Red Lotus Flame, the spiritual energy in the Qing Xuan Cave was almost entirely fire spiritual energy.
Shen Mo's physique was also fire attribute.
A perfect match.
His cultivation speed couldn't be described as a snail's pace; it was more like lightning speed!
At the same time, Liu Yunxuan, panting heavily, arrived at the fourth deep cave.
The guidance from the Fire Crystal wasn't very detailed.
He could only deduce that the Red Lotus Flame was either in the fourth or fifth deep cave.
But he guessed wrong and went to the fifth deep cave first.
Finding nothing at the deepest part, he had no choice but to turn back and head to the fourth deep cave.
Now, he was here.
"The temperature seems about the same as in the fifth deep cave. Could I have made another mistake? Or is there something wrong with the Fire Crystal?"
Liu Yunxuan felt uneasy.
Something didn't seem right. Then, he turned a corner and was stunned.
Before him was a vast lake of redish-orange color.
But he quickly realized that this was not a lake but an ocean of flames!
The area was filled with fire spirit energy liquid!
"The Red Lotus Flame must be here, it must be!"
Liu Yunxuan was overjoyed.
He took out a bead exuding a cold aura and quickly crushed it. The bead released layers of cold mist, enveloping his entire body.
This was the Ice Mist Bead, a Profound-grade treasure given to him by his father, Liu Yuanfeng, before entering the Qingxuan Cave.
Each use of the bead would release a protective ice mist, isolating him from the high temperatures.
The ice mist could last for at least a quarter of an hour.
This item wasn't too expensive, but each bead cost three hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.
Liu Yunxuan had already used six Ice Mist Beads along the way.
He didn't have many left in his hand.
He had to save a few to withstand the Red Lotus Flame.
Relying on the protection of the Ice Mist Bead, Liu Yunxuan directly entered the sea of fire and walked towards its center.
One step, two steps, three steps.
He gritted his teeth, persisting with all his might.
Because he knew that hope was right in front of him.
As long as he held on, he could obtain the Red Lotus Flame, subdue it, and become a prodigy who controlled the eternal flame!
In the history of the Qingxuan Sect, no one had ever controlled an eternal flame.
Even the founder of the Qingxuan Sect had not!
If Liu Yunxuan subdued the Red Lotus Flame, he would be the first in the history of the Qingxuan Sect!
Even if he joined another sect in the future, he could rely on the Red Lotus Flame to dominate other geniuses!
So, he had to get it!
A hundred steps, two hundred steps...
Liu Yunxuan finally reached the shore.
Then, in the flames, he saw a figure. The figure was sitting cross-legged on the ground, stark naked.
Surrounded by a tangible red flame, the robust and muscular body looked like a king who commanded fire.
Liu Yunxuan knew that face all too well. He had thought about killing this person day and night.
That person was Shen Mo!
Wasn't that the Red Lotus Flame swirling around Shen Mo?
The Red Lotus Flame he had longed for day and night had been subdued by Shen Mo?
Liu Yunxuan's handsome face instantly twisted with rage.
"Shen Mo, I'll kill you!"
He roared, drew the sword from his waist, and charged at Shen Mo.