Chapter 1809: Chapter 1809: Shocking Awakening

However, this flame power was ultimately far too surging and massive.

In Xiao Yi’s estimation, this so‑called "short time" would probably still be at least over a year.

Of course, a mere year or so was actually already a very short time.

But for Xiao Yi, it still felt far too long.

Xiao Yi frowned, holding the Ancient Emperor’s Martial Arts Saint Pill in his hand, furrowing his brows in deep thought.

This Martial Arts Saint Pill, he could completely use it for his Martial Soul’s second Awakening.

For any Martial Artist, the second Awakening of the Martial Soul was absolutely of paramount importance.

After all, the Martial Soul was something that accompanied a Martial Artist for a lifetime, it was their foundation, the most important of all.

Xiao Yi had also been looking forward to the second Awakening of his Martial Soul for a long time now.

Whether it was the Eighteen Mansions’s Talents he had encountered, or the Five Great Academy Talents, every single one of them had already completed their second Martial Soul Awakening.

That was why their Cultivation could pull so far ahead of him.

Even though he had been training at his limits, constantly pushing his Cultivation, he still couldn’t catch up.

No, to be precise, he had caught up to a portion, but ultimately could not completely pull even.

His vast Small World and Qi Spring were one reason; his Martial Soul not having undergone a second Awakening was another.

As long as he combined it with this pure and vast flame power left behind by the old man, Xiao Yi was confident he could let his Martial Soul successfully undergo its second Awakening.

But if he did that...

This enormous flame power would be "wasted" on the Martial Soul’s breakthrough.

Whereas if he did not carry out the second Martial Soul Awakening right now, this flame would absolutely be enough for his Cultivation to instantly step into the Legendary Level.

Moreover, after completely absorbing this flame and then slowly absorbing it within his body in the days to come, at most within a year, his Cultivation would definitely be able to catch up to the level of Chengfeng Hall Master and Hengtian Palace Master.

He might even surpass them.

After all, the old man’s strength when alive had been terrifying.

Even in a Spiritual Sense state, the might of the flame he controlled—just the aura alone—already far, far surpassed both Chengfeng Hall Master and Hengtian Palace Master.

The gap was so great that Xiao Yi couldn’t even accurately judge it; it was simply too huge.

Thus, this pure flame formed from the old man’s lifetime of Cultivation was definitely enough to make his Cultivation soar to an extremely high level.

Xiao Yi sank into contemplation.

Should this flame be used for the Martial Soul’s second Awakening, or should it be used for a Cultivation breakthrough?

He could only choose one of the two, and Xiao Yi was somewhat wavering.

"I have a little over half a year left." Xiao Yi stared at the flame before him, frowning and murmuring to himself.

There were only a little more than six months left before the three‑year agreement.

Since Xiao Yi had made the promise, he would see it done.

This promise didn’t actually have all that much to do with Cang Yue.

It came from the two goals he had set for himself before coming to the Central Region.

In truth, even without this agreement, he no longer wished to endure and hide himself for much longer.

Or, more accurately, he did not want her to wait too long.

"If you really are waiting, that kind of torment must be hard to bear, right." Xiao Yi muttered in a low voice.

After a while.

Xiao Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly; he had made his decision.

"If I simply absorb this flame power, at most within a year, I’ll have the strength to truly run rampant across the Central Region, fearing no one."

"If I use it for a Martial Soul breakthrough, my Cultivation will also improve, just not by as much."

"But a Martial Soul breakthrough is a qualitative leap."

"And there’s still more than half a year left. In this half‑year, it’s not like I can’t rely on myself to catch up in Cultivation."

Right—if the second Martial Soul Awakening succeeded, his foundation, talent, and everything else would undergo a qualitative transformation.

Although directly absorbing this flame would make his Cultivation skyrocket in the shortest time...

With a stronger Martial Soul, in half a year, it wasn’t necessarily impossible for him to catch up to that degree of Cultivation increase.

A trace of confidence appeared beneath Xiao Yi’s handsome, otherworldly features.

A hint of resolve flickered in his clear eyes.

Xiao Yi immediately sat cross‑legged, tossing one Elixir Elixir after another into his mouth.

He had to heal his injuries first.

In breaking those eighteen layers of Prohibition, he had ultimately suffered no light injuries and backlash.

An hour later.

"Hoo." Xiao Yi slowly let out a breath.

The injuries on his body had already healed.

At this moment, his essence, energy, and spirit were all completely full.

Right now, he was in peak condition.

Xiao Yi swallowed the Martial Arts Saint Pill that was emitting a dense black radiance in a single gulp.

Once in his abdomen, the Martial Arts Saint Pill automatically entered the Small World.

Under Xiao Yi’s control, the Martial Arts Saint Pill floated to the front of the Fire Control Beast Martial Soul.

Xiao Yi had long prepared for the second Awakening of his Martial Soul; the Fire Control Beast had already reached Deep Purple Rank and could break through to the next level at any time.

Gulp.

Inside the Small World, the Fire Control Beast looked at the Martial Arts Saint Pill floating before it, opened its mouth, and swallowed it down in one bite.

"Absorb." Xiao Yi shouted in a low voice.

Xiao Yi thrust out both hands, rapidly absorbing the pure flame power before him.

Once drawn into his body, the flame power automatically surged into the Small World.

Xiao Yi did not convert it into Primordial Power, but controlled it, stretching it out toward the Fire Control Beast.

The dazed and adorable Fire Control Beast once again opened its mouth and gulped it down in one bite.

Outside, Xiao Yi constantly absorbed this flame power.

Within the Small World, the pure flame power turned into a Flame River, continuously flowing toward the Fire Control Beast.

The Fire Control Beast’s mouth kept opening and closing, opening and closing, smacking as it swallowed mouthful after mouthful of this flame power.

To it, this seemed like an incredibly delicious feast.

Smack smack, it gulped down bite after bite, just like when it used to swallow those Martial Arts Power.

While absorbing, Xiao Yi also used introspection to observe the situation within the Small World.

Looking at the Fire Control Beast’s cute, animated appearance, Xiao Yi couldn’t help curling his lips.

Who would have thought that the infamous Purple Flame Yi Xiao, the Purple Flame Yi Xiao who made countless Evil Cultivators tremble in fear, the Purple Flame Yi Xiao who controlled boundless purple flames to Destroying Everything—his Martial Soul would actually be such a completely unthreatening little thing.

If those Evil Cultivators who had died in Yi Xiao’s hands knew that the flames that burned them to ash were actually being controlled by such a dumb, silly Fire Control Beast, they would probably be enraged to death on the spot.

Not long after, Xiao Yi had drawn the entire mass of flame into the Small World.

Next, he had to control the digestion of the flame.

Normally, for a Martial Artist’s second Martial Soul Awakening, they needed a senior with Cultivation far surpassing their own to act as a guide.

In other words, to lead the way.

But Xiao Yi, in truth, did not need an outsider’s guidance.

With his precise control, it was more than enough.

"In a few hours, I should be able to complete the breakthrough." Xiao Yi murmured.

Normally, the stronger the Martial Soul, the more difficult its second Awakening, and the higher the chance of failure.

Right now, although the Fire Control Beast Martial Soul’s tier was high, having reached Peak Stage of the Purple Rank, it was itself only the weakest Fire Control Beast type, so the difficulty shouldn’t be too great.

However—

A few hours later.

Xiao Yi used introspection to observe the situation inside the Small World. The Fire Control Beast was still smacking away at its feast, but it itself had shown no change.

Half a day later.

Roughly one‑third of the entire flame mass had been absorbed by the Fire Control Beast.

Yet the Fire Control Beast still showed no change.

"How is that possible." Xiao Yi frowned.

Even he couldn’t hope to digest one‑third of this flame power in such a short time.

Another half‑day passed.

Most of the entire flame mass had been absorbed.

The Fire Control Beast still showed no change.

A day later, at most about a quarter of the flame remained.

The Fire Control Beast still showed no change.

"H‑how... how is this possible..." Xiao Yi’s expression changed drastically.

This flame power was so pure and immense that even a Martial Artist at the Legendary Realm wouldn’t be able to digest so much in a short time.

Yet the Fire Control Beast had almost completely digested it in just a little more than a day?

It was fine if it absorbed and digested it—but there had to be some change!

With absolutely no sign of a breakthrough, didn’t that mean this Martial Arts Saint Pill and this immense flame power had all gone to waste?

"I’m... I’m screwed." Xiao Yi froze on the spot.

...

Third update.