Chapter 39 First published on Jinjiang Literature City: I serve you as my master, and will be your servant for life (Part 5)...
The human and the fox walked back to the same path they had once walked. This path held memories of their past misery, and their frantic escape seemed vivid in their minds. Ri Jiu bared her teeth above her head and said, "I've prepared a lot of water this time. I'll extinguish them all!"
Yao Sisi: "I don't know if the fire inside is sentient enough to be absorbed."
Ri Jiu: "Does Sisi want to absorb this? Then you absorb it first, and once you've absorbed enough, I'll teach them a lesson!"
Yao Sisi's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Look at you, so capable."
Rijiu: "Who told them to go so far?"
Yao Sisi simply released a wisp of flame to scout ahead. She sensed that the flames in the large pool ahead were still blazing. When she reached the corner, she stopped.
Countless tongues of fire emerged from her body and slithered forward, growing wildly like vines. The flames branched out into tiny tendrils, like veins crawling into the fire pool.
With a deafening roar, the raging fire within the fire pool seemed to explode, intensifying its attack on Yao Sisi's spiritual fire as if it had discovered a traitor.
Her Earth Core Flame was not like that mindless flame that only knew how to savagely charge. It seemed small and not even that hot, but it was the most resilient. The Earth Core Flame was trying to refine the accompanying flame in the pool.
From a distance, Yao Sisi took out a prayer mat and said to Ri Jiu, "Protect me, and I will give it a boost."
With her addition, the Earth Core Flame became even more arrogant, swimming freely and gracefully in the fire pool like a fish. The flames refined by it were absorbed into the body, strengthening its own power. At the same time, Yao Sisi also felt the feedback from the spiritual fire.
The fluctuations of spiritual energy around her became increasingly obvious, and even Ri Jiu noticed it, "Sisi's cultivation has improved again."
The demon race doesn't have much of a concept of human cultivation levels, and their advancement system is different. For them, there are only major stages of advancement, and minor stages are just the difference between the early and middle stages. Unlike humans, who divide the Qi Refining stage into many levels.
Ri Jiu stayed with her as she refined the flames. A whole day passed, and less than half of the flames in the pool had disappeared. The Earth Core Flame stretched lazily in the fire pool and slowly returned to Yao Sisi's body.
Ri Jiu pursed her lips, looking at the spiritually vibrant Earth Core Flame with intense envy, "Sisi, spiritual fire can also take human form..."
It's a bit too much for you two to be together like this, spending every day together.
Yao Sisi: "It'll be thousands of years before it can take human form. But what do you think the spirit fire will look like when it takes human form?"
Ri Jiu wasn't entirely satisfied: "It doesn't necessarily have to take that long. If you feed it regularly, the transformation will be much faster." He automatically filtered out the image of the strange fire transforming into a handsome man in human form in his mind, and said pettily, "It might transform into a child, right?"
Yao Sisi asked doubtfully, "Really? I thought that the strange fire would follow its master and transform into a woman like me."
Rijiu knew in her heart that the possibility was extremely low, but she still echoed her, saying, "Perhaps she will turn into a woman like Sisi..."
Yao Sisi put away the prayer mat and said to him, "Didn't you want revenge? You seem a little down."
Ri Jiuqiang mustered his spirits, but the thought of the strange fire vying for his favor made him so angry that he wanted to extinguish it. Helpless, he hid in the Earth Core Flame inside Yao Sisi's body and put all his efforts into the fire pool, his two ears twitching as if to raise his flag and sound the alarm.
Seeing that Ri Jiu truly hated these flames, Yao Sisi couldn't help but touch her nose. Once he had vented his anger, he probably wouldn't have any bad thoughts about the Earth Core Flame in her body anymore.
Even someone as careless as her could sense Ri Jiu's dislike for the Earth Core Flame. However, considering that he had narrowly escaped death and was seriously injured, it was understandable that he disliked the Earth Core Flame...
The raging fire pool gradually died down as the two of them exhausted themselves. Yao Sisi came to the edge of the fire pool and looked down. She saw several fiery red ores and flame essence inside. She jumped down and collected them.
Flame essence can heal injuries from different flames and also purify the purity of fire spirit roots, making it a rare treasure. As for other ores, they are excellent refining materials, which complement each other perfectly when used to create magical artifacts suitable for cultivators with fire spirit roots.
"We've really struck gold this time!"
Things that can purify spiritual roots are highly sought after in the cultivation world!
Ri Jiu: "Sisi has a fire elemental root, shouldn't we use it now?"
Yao Sisi happily took out a essence from her storage bag and held it in her hand. "The Contract Flame itself has the effect of purifying spiritual roots and can even temper the body. My spiritual root purity should be quite high now, so I'm not in a hurry to use it. I'll wait until I have a chance to measure the specific value before deciding. What about you? Do you want to use it?"
Ri Jiu hesitated, "Our innate skills aren't related to fire, so I don't know whether we should use them..."
Yao Sisi: "Isn't it said that spirit foxes all have foxfire?"
Ri Jiu: "That's another race. Their fur is easily recognizable as fiery red, while mine is white. Their talents and skills are all concentrated in illusion."
Yao Sisi: "What would happen if we tried this?"
Ri Jiu flipped through the inherited memories. "There's not much information. The consequences might be unpredictable..."
Yao Sisi tossed the spiritual marrow in her hand. “It’s rare that we have such a good thing. It would be a waste not to use it. You can also condense foxfire now, but this fire is only used for auxiliary abilities and has very low damage. You can try it first. If it doesn’t work, just interrupt the refining. I will protect you. If it’s still not right, use the Earth Core Flame to sweep it away.”
Ri Jiu stared at the essence of the flames, nodded and said, "I'll give it a try! If we succeed in refining it, we'll have more security when we cross the Mystic Beast Forest."
Yao Sisi tossed it lightly, and the essence of flames landed in Ri Jiu's palm. When it was in Yao Sisi's hand, it was very well-behaved and the temperature was moderate, but when it was in Ri Jiu's hand, it was as hot as a branding iron.
He switched it between his left and right hands, and finally used his demonic power to suspend it in mid-air. Seeing that he was having trouble dealing with the essence of fire, Yao Sisi simply took it in her hand and said, "I'll hold it in place for you, and you can absorb the fire essence inside."
Ri Jiu nodded, his ears twitching as if he were afraid. The two sat very close together to facilitate the ritual.
Their knees were almost touching. Ri Jiu slowly absorbed energy from the essence. Streams of red, viscous, blood-like substance were slowly absorbed into his body through the foxfire he summoned. Ri Jiu's face turned increasingly red, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
It was so difficult from the very beginning, and gradually the atmosphere became strange. Ri Jiu looked like she had been given a dose of aphrodisiac, her face flushed and she was breathing heavily, with an incomprehensible look of pain in her eyes.
Yao Sisi frowned as she looked at the Fire Essence between the two. Even after absorbing it for so long, the internal flames were still too intense. The scorching temperature, even after being transformed and refined by foxfire, was still unbearable for Ri Jiu. He gradually began to let out soft groans, his voice carrying the allure of the fox clan…
Yao Sisi sat opposite him, her forehead gradually sweating. She didn't know if it was cold sweat or something else, but the tips of her ears did turn red. She sighed softly, and seeing that he could still endure it, she continued to help him regulate the essence of the flame. She even slowly closed her eyes and stopped looking, using only her divine sense to sense his condition.
She suddenly felt a pang of regret. She should have turned him into a little fox for the ritual instead of distracting him like this.
Rijiu persevered for a while longer, but couldn't help but say, "Sisi, I can't take it anymore..."
Yao Sisi shrewdly withdrew the essence of the flames, forcefully interrupting his current refining process. Ri Jiu seemed to be finally released, his body going limp as he collapsed in front of her.
Rijiu took a breath. "Sisi, this thing is too domineering."
Yao Sisi asked, "So, how has your foxfire changed after the refinement?"
Ri Jiu mustered his energy to check the foxfire within his body, but he was reluctant to get off Yao Sisi. This was a rare moment when he was in human form. Sisi didn't push him away; well, it was probably because he was too weak right now, and she was too embarrassed to do so.
Suddenly I found Sisi's weakness!
His cunning fox eyes, as if washed clean after a great battle, shone with a captivating luster. His eyes flickered, as if he had suddenly gained some kind of insight.
"You've become a bit stronger, Sisi. When is the next training session?"
Yao Sisi glanced at the essence he had absorbed; at least two-thirds of it was still there. "Let's talk about it after you've sorted everything out in your body!"
Ri Jiu sensed that his foxfire hadn't fully fused, but he was focused and would soon complete the transformation. He happily exclaimed, "Then Sisi will have to protect me!"
Yao Sisi: "I'll protect you, but first turn me into a fox."
Riku: "!!"
His large tail drooped instantly, looking listless. Oops... I miscalculated...
Yao Sisi seemed like an indifferent hermit, oblivious to his disappointment. "Practice makes perfect, try to finish the next ritual in one go."
Ri Jiu's ears twitched, and its big tail slowly wrapped around Yao Sisi's waist from behind. "Sisi didn't feel sorry for me when I was in so much pain. I'm not happy!"
Yao Sisi: "..."
Why are you acting all cute all of a sudden?
She took out the big plate chicken, a favorite dish of the fox clan, from her storage bag. "Here, have some!"
When Rijiu saw the food, his eyes lit up. He loved it when Sisi fed him. "I love Sisi's chicken the most. The ones she bought for me last time are almost gone. I don't even want to eat them anymore."
Yao Sisi clicked her tongue. "I can't speak for anything else, but when it comes to chicken, I'll give you as much of this as you want."
Seeing that Sisi hadn't offered him chopsticks for human use, Rijiu transformed into its original form, its little paws clutching the chicken as it gnawed on it, its cheeks bulging out in a very cute way. As it ate, it said, "Sisi, are you about to fulfill that contract? Can I go? I'm afraid that young master will seduce you."
Sisi belongs to him. If anyone should be seducing someone, it should be him. Who are the others?
Yao Sisi reached out and stroked the fox's head: "You don't even know them, why are you going to join in the fun? Besides, you might fall out with them any day. Don't forget we're leaving soon. If you go and get caught, it will become a weakness that holds me back, which is more of a loss than a gain."
Rijiu's little fox eyes darted around, looking quite clever. "Am I Sisi's weakness?"
Seeing how much it was eating, Yao Sisi couldn't resist pinching its little cheek. "What do you think?"
Ri Jiu was satisfied: "Since Si Si won't let me go, then I'll obediently wait for you in the cave."
With that matter settled, Yao Sisi rushed back to her private residence overnight. Next, she had to face Qi Mu's engagement. She sat cross-legged in the room, unable to calm down. "The matter of the spirit spring is still undecided. I need to find out what he thinks about it soon."
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Author's Note: Sharp Investigation: Let me see who has twisted the plot?
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