"Little chick, come here." Lin Zhou beckoned to it.
The chick clucked and trotted over, rubbing against Lin Zhou's trouser leg and pecking its little head at his hand, as if it were being affectionate.
"Don't you breathe fire?" Lin Zhou poked its head. "Show me how you do it."
The chick tilted its head, seemingly not understanding.
Lin Zhou wasn't in a hurry. He casually dug a pond about ten feet wide in the center of the courtyard, and then moved several huge stones to surround the pond, forming a simple stone pond.
"Alright, breathe fire into the pool," Lin Zhou said to the chick, pointing to the stone pool.
This time, the chick seemed to understand. It flapped its wings and jumped onto the boulder by the pond, stretched its neck, and "poof" spat out a small flame—a pale gold flame that landed on the mud at the bottom of the pond and instantly scorched the mud black.
“Further emphasize,” Lin Zhou said.
The chick seemed to get excited and took another deep breath. This time, the flame it exhaled was as thick as an arm and a richer gold color, turning the stones at the bottom of the pool red-hot.
"Not bad, not bad." Lin Zhou nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Shi Tou and said, "Take off your clothes and jump in."
Shi Tou was stunned: "Master, jump...jump into the pool?"
“Hmm,” Lin Zhou pointed to the flames at the bottom of the pool, “Let the chicks heat it up for you, and try circulating the Nine Netherworld Burning Heaven Technique inside.”
Although Shi Tou felt a little strange, he obediently took off his coat, leaving him in only shorts, and carefully jumped into the stone pool.
With a "plop," he had just steadied himself when the chick, as if receiving a command, began to breathe fire into the pool. Pale golden flames burned at the bottom of the pool, the temperature soared instantly, the air around the stone pool distorted, and even the old locust tree next to it seemed to wilt its leaves.
"Awooo—!"
The stone was immediately scalded and jumped up, its skin turning bright red, like a shrimp about to be cooked.
"Stop jumping, circulate your energy!" Lin Zhou shouted.
Shi Tou gritted his teeth, enduring the burning pain, and quickly sat down cross-legged, circulating his spiritual power according to the body-refining method of the "Nine Netherworld Burning Heaven Technique".
A strange scene unfolded—as the cultivation technique circulated, the chilling aura within his body was stimulated by the flames at the bottom of the pool, and began to flow slowly. The original biting cold gradually transformed into a scorching power under the high temperature, traveling along his meridians. Wherever it passed, the burning pain from the burns he had suffered was significantly reduced.
“Yes, that’s it.” Lin Zhou stood by the pool, watching the stone’s internal energy gradually stabilize, a smile flashing in his eyes.
The chicks continued to breathe fire, and the golden flames grew stronger and stronger, turning the stone pool red-hot, like a giant furnace.
The stone in the pool initially bared its teeth and grimaced, but gradually calmed down and eventually closed its eyes, its brows relaxing, clearly entering a meditative state.
Lin Zhou stroked his chin, looking at the little chick that was still working hard to breathe fire, and muttered, "Looks like I didn't make a mistake in picking it up. This little guy is indeed a phoenix chick... It's just that it's still too weak right now, and the fire it breathes looks like a lighter."
He turned and went back to his small courtyard, leaving the stone to cultivate in the fire pool, while the chicks diligently breathed fire at the edge of the pool.
Sunlight streamed down on the Qingyun Sect, casting long shadows of the thatched huts. The golden light in the Flame Pool reflected the distant green mountains and clear waters, creating a strange yet harmonious scene.
No one knows what kind of earth-shattering demon god will be born from this seemingly random pool of fire.
Meanwhile, the turmoil in the four regions is becoming increasingly turbulent due to the bounty issued by the Xuantian Sect.
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