Early the next morning.
Chen Xiao woke up from his cultivation and followed the flow of people from the senior student team to a core area of the Inner Academy.
The Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower!
Standing on the spacious open ground waiting, looking at the mysterious black tower buried deep underground in front of him, Chen Xiao frowned slightly.
Just standing outside, without even truly entering the tower, he had already sensed something.
This place was not very friendly to him.
The fire attribute energy here was several times more concentrated than in the Tagor Desert, while the energy of other attributes was incredibly sparse in comparison.
"Open the tower!"
After waiting for a long time, as a bell chime fell, an old voice came from inside the black tower.
Immediately, the tightly shut tower gate burst open with a roar, and the senior students waiting outside surged in in groups.
Chen Xiao noticed that the first few groups of people who entered the black tower had badges on their chests, which should be the larger gangs in the academy.
After these few groups entered first, it was the turn of the smaller forces in the academy and those who had not joined any gangs.
Chen Xiao stayed at the back of the line, not rushing, silently feeling the special nature of this Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower. The closer he got, the more he felt a suffocating feeling in his heart.
Arriving at the main entrance, Chen Xiao took a deep breath, suppressed the feeling of annoyance that surged in his heart, lifted his foot, and stepped resolutely into the darkness beyond the main gate.
The light in front of him suddenly dimmed. In an instant, Chen Xiao felt his feet step on a hard stone surface.
Before he could relax, a heart-wrenching burning pain came from within his body, as if an invisible flame had ignited in his meridians, burning wantonly.
Hiss~
Even though he was mentally prepared, Chen Xiao still couldn't help but let out a soft hiss. Immediately, he quickly circulated his cultivation technique, mobilizing the Dou Qi in his body to surround and suppress the rampant invisible flame.
"Chichi~"
In an instant, the icy cold Dou Qi and the invisible flame came into contact, and strange sizzling sounds echoed within Chen Xiao's body. Visible streams of steam overflowed from the pores all over his body, making his appearance at this moment extremely eye-catching.
"Is that a new student?"
"Is the Fire Energy Hunting Competition over?"
Seeing Chen Xiao's appearance, the surrounding senior students were surprised.
While waiting on the open ground outside just now, some senior students had also noticed Chen Xiao, this unfamiliar face, but they hadn't associated him with a new student.
After all, his strength, which was much stronger than most of them, didn't look like something a new student should have.
Although his face was unfamiliar, with over a thousand students in the Inner Academy, it was perfectly normal for an unfamiliar expert to appear.
It wasn't until now that they suddenly realized the truth.
Because only new students entering the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower for the first time would experience the burning of the heart flame!
"Quiet! Go do what you're supposed to do, don't crowd here and block the way."
A soft reprimand sounded, and a simply dressed Inner Academy Elder appeared. He glared at the chattering senior students, then turned his gaze to Chen Xiao.
"Five-star Dou Ling, this year's new students are a bit terrifying. What a pity... it's the ice attribute."
As an Inner Academy Elder, he naturally knew what was suppressed beneath this Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower.
That Fallen Heart Flame was known as a cultivation cheat device.
It was precisely by utilizing the miraculous effects of the Fallen Heart Flame that this Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower became the most desired cultivation place for Inner Academy students.
However, the same environment had completely different effects on people of different attributes.
In this Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower, other attributes could also enjoy some benefits brought by the Fallen Heart Flame.
But the effect was far less than that for those with the fire attribute.
Within ten days to half a month, the difference might not be very obvious, but after a few years, the difference was clearly visible.
Many senior students in the Inner Academy, when they first entered the Inner Academy, their strength far surpassed that of fire attribute students of the same year. However, within just a few years, they would be caught up to, or even surpassed.
Such examples were countless in the Inner Academy!
Chen Xiao didn't pay attention to the situation outside. At this moment, all his thoughts were focused on the strange heart flame within his body.
The heart flame was formless and intangible, yet it could be felt clearly. As soon as the ice attribute Dou Qi came into contact with it, it sizzled, causing the originally thick strands of Dou Qi to rapidly shrink, as if they had suddenly become thinner.
However, Chen Xiao could feel that the Dou Qi that had been roasted by the heart flame within his body had become more condensed compared to the Dou Qi that had not come into contact with the heart flame.
This was a qualitative improvement!
"The Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower is still useful to me!"
With a slight smile in his heart, Chen Xiao relaxed and continuously mobilized the Dou Qi in his body to surge towards that cluster of heart flame.
After an unknown amount of time, the burning sensation in his body subsided, and the heart flame completely disappeared. Only then did Chen Xiao slowly open his eyes.
The first thing that came into view was an old face.
"Ice attribute, entering the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower for the first time, able to last for twenty-one minutes. You are the first. And I can feel that the heart flame in your body has been exhausted. This should be the real reason you woke up, right?"
In other words, twenty-one minutes was not Chen Xiao's limit, but the limit of that heart flame.
Chen Xiao nodded slightly, "Thank you, Elder, for looking after me."
The reason he dared to enter the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower so casually was because he had a sufficient understanding of it and knew that there were Elders guarding it internally, so no accidents would occur.
"It's just my duty. My surname is Liu, you can just call me Elder Liu."
"You're a new student, so I'll say a few more words to you. The Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower is of the least help to people with water and ice attributes, but it can still be used to condense Dou Qi. So, I suggest you spend an hour or two here every day to cultivate, or take a few days a month to condense your Dou Qi. You don't need to be like some of those kids who wish they could sleep in the tower."
Elder Liu shook his head and said.
Reaching Five-star Dou Ling as soon as he arrived at the Inner Academy, such talent was worth his attention.
As for whether Chen Xiao would listen, that was not something he could decide.
"Understood, thank you, Elder Liu."
"Mm, go ahead."
Separating from Elder Liu, Chen Xiao began searching for an empty cultivation room on the first floor of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower.
Unfortunately, this time was the peak period for cultivation, and there were no empty cultivation rooms on the first floor at all.
The second floor was the same.
It wasn't until Chen Xiao entered the third floor, which had higher requirements, that he found a few unoccupied cultivation rooms.
Entering one of them, the process was very simple. Insert the Fire Crystal Card into the slot next to the seat, and the required fire energy for one day would be automatically deducted. Before you leave, no one else will disturb you.
Cultivating until noon, Chen Xiao finally managed to initially condense the Dou Qi within his body with the help of the heart flame that emerged from time to time.
At this moment, the total amount of surging Dou Qi within Chen Xiao's body was nearly half a percent less.
But he could feel that if they were to truly talk about combat power, he should be slightly stronger now compared to the morning.
This was the difference between quality and quantity!
Feeling that the cultivation effect on the third floor of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower was still a bit slow, Chen Xiao put away his Fire Crystal Card, got up, and pushed open the cultivation room, preparing to go to the lower floors to experience them.
However, plans couldn't keep up with changes.
As soon as he pushed open the cultivation room, Chen Xiao saw Zi Yan, dressed in a white dress, sitting outside bored, holding half of an eaten medicinal herb that resembled a spiritual mushroom.
"?"
"Didn't you tell me to come find you when the new student Fire Energy Hunting Competition ended?"
Sensing Chen Xiao's confusion, Zi Yan blinked her big eyes and replied.
Hearing this, Chen Xiao suddenly understood.
Two days had passed, and the Fire Energy Hunting Competition was indeed almost over.
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