I Am Overlord c1-962

by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu

  Not wasting any time, he started searching the depths of the pool. It was time to subdue the millennium earthcore fire.

  Chapter 204: Shall I Cultivate the Power of Flame?

  The millennium earthcore fire was a flame that had only managed to become a high-level flame after 1,000 years of growth. The entirety of the volcanic crater was the turf of the millennium earthcore fire, and for now, this was the only place it could actually move around freely. This would only change when it became a ten millennium earthcore fire. By then, it would be able to change into any form it wanted and leave the place.

  After obtaining the flame taming technique from the human skin, Xiang Shaoyun would naturally not give up on subduing the millennium earthcore fire. If it was anyone else who had fallen into the lava, even if that person survived, moving around freely would still be impossible.

  In the pool of pure lava and raging flame, it was almost impossible for one to see clearly. Thus, it would be extremely hard to search for the millennium earthcore fire when it was within the lava. However, Xiang Shaoyun had his Nether Soul Domain, which could let him sense his surroundings clearly. In fact, it granted Xiang Shaoyun a full view.

  Currently, Xiang Shaoyun was already rather proficient in using the Nether Soul Domain. Inwardly, he thought to himself, In the future, nobody can hope to ambush me anymore since I can now easily sense my surroundings. Too bad the range is still too short. Maybe after my cultivation level increases and my soul power grows, the range will increase as well.

  He could sense that the millennium earthcore fire was not far underneath him. Apart from that, he also sensed that there was a living being near the millennium earthcore fire. That living being was not exactly a demonic beast. Rather, it was a herb. For now, he was unable to sense clearly what herb it was. He would have to get nearer for that.

  It was unknown if the millennium earthcore fire had actually sensed him approaching, but it suddenly became agitated. It kept changing shapes as its flame pulsed repeatedly, looking incredibly mystical.

  Xiang Shaoyun advanced with all his strength, completely ignoring the lava around him. When he was near the millennium earthcore fire, it suddenly transformed into a flame beast king before pouncing him.

  Bang! Bang!

  The dreadful power of flame emanating from this flame beast king was much scarier than ordinary flame. Not even king-grade weapons could hope to stop the attack. Xiang Shaoyun was greatly frightened, but his only choice was to shut his eyes and pray that the human skin could resist the attack.

  The human skin was worthy of being an item from the ancient times. Its fire resistance was far stronger than Xiang Shaoyun's imagination. The millennium earthcore fire's attack arrived but was stopped by the incorporeal power the human skin was emanating. Xiang Shaoyun was completely protected within the skin.

  The millennium earthcore fire could not accept it. It attacked continuously to no avail, making it so angry it assumed the form of a furious face. Xiang Shaoyun was overjoyed to discover that he would be perfectly fine facing the millennium earthcore fire.

  Haha, time for me to tame you! Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself as he started chanting the flame taming mantra.

  The so-called flame taming technique was in fact a technique allowing one to form some sort of resonance with the earthcore fire, allowing the earthcore fire to sense the tamer's goodwill. It would tell the earthcore fire that the tamer would not harm it and would even treat it well, giving it a sense of intimacy.

  That might sound simple, but a large amount of patience and perseverance was required. After all, the millennium earthcore fire only had a vague consciousness, and it did not actually know any spoken words. Time would be required to convey the sense of intimacy to it.

  The benefit of using a flame taming technique was that after subduing the flame, the compatibility between the tamer and the flame would be near perfect, and usage of the flame would feel much more natural.

  Xiang Shaoyun completely emptied his mind and focused only on courting the millennium earthcore fire. This millennium earthcore fire had only come into being not long ago. Thus, it was still rather simple-minded. When it sensed the goodwill Xiang Shaoyun was trying to convey, it slowly calmed down.

  However, it no longer rashly approached Xiang Shaoyun like it had. A few days passed, and Xiang Shaoyun found that the millennium earthcore fire was less opposed to him. However, it still refused to let Xiang Shaoyun get anywhere near it.

  What is the issue here? Xiang Shaoyun pondered.

  With his ancient flame taming technique, he should have been able to easily tame this innocent flame. But he was not succeeding. After thinking about it for a bit, he finally understood the issue.

  Xiang Shaoyun cried out in realization, "I don't cultivate the power of flame!"

  He only had the power of lightning and gold within him, and he had zero intimacy with the power of flame. Even if he had a flame taming technique, he still wouldn't be able to make the millennium earthcore fire approach him. If he actually cultivated the power of flame, taming the millennium earthcore fire would be much easier.

  The realization caused Xiang Shaoyun to feel somewhat disheartened. One might cultivate many types of power, but most cultivators would only focus on one. Only that way would one be able to fully unleash the power one decided to cultivate.

  Cultivating more than one type of power would cause one's inner stars to be split in terms of specialization and be unable to fully unleash the strength of any of the cultivated powers. Of course, there was also a benefit to cultivating multiple powers. One would be extremely flexible during battle, and the different powers could complement each other during different situations. Through good combinations of different powers, one would still be able to unleash greatly destructive attacks.

  Most cultivators would choose to cultivate two or three types of powers if they decided to cultivate more than one. It was very unlikely for one to cultivate more than three powers because it would only make things messy, causing the strength of any particular power to be more limited. That was why Xiang Shaoyun was hesitating on whether he should cultivate the power of flame.

  In the ancient times, there were freaks who only cultivated one type of power, filling all nine stars with one type of energy and exercising perfect control over the chosen power. A person like that is even capable of directly drawing out all the energy from an opponent's star—provided the opponent cultivated the same type of power. Doing so would also cause an imbalance of energy in their opponent's stars, eventually resulting in the opponent's self-destruction.

  There were also freaks cultivating two types of powers of either opposing or supplementary elements. They could manipulate the powers in a way that the combination results in a power no weaker than those cultivating only one type of power. In fact, such combinations are even more extraordinary.

  As for those cultivating three or four types of powers, there are no records. On the other hand, there exist records of those cultivating five types of powers, also otherwise known as the five elements. These people are recorded to possess the primal astral physique, a physique said to be born for battle. People with this physique naturally have five stars, but this physique is different from ordinary five-star physiques. It is a physique that innately allows one to store five different powers and transform them into a primal astral energy that will make one undefeatable in battle.

  As for those cultivating six or more types of powers, these people are almost always known as people with mediocre accomplishments in cultivation, Xiang Shaoyun pondered. He then recalled something he once read: Nine stars present together; nine origins return to one. Capable of creation and destruction; life, death, and reincarnation with a snap of one's fingers.

  It was in fact a text from a prophecy. It meant that through a nine-star physique, one could store nine types of powers in one's body. With that, one would be able to create and destroy all living beings, possessing the power to control life, death, and reinc
arnation as easy as snapping one's fingers.

  Chapter 205: Yun Flame

  Cultivating nine different powers with a nine-star physique was something many geniuses had attempted since the ancient times. Unfortunately, all of them had failed. It was simply too difficult a cultivation path to pursue. The hard part wasn't gathering nine types of powers; it was cultivating all nine powers to the extremes, accomplishing a never-done-before feat.

  Although Xiang Shaoyun had an insane nine-star physique, he was not so arrogant that he believed himself capable of cultivating nine powers to the extremes, reaching the point where he could merge the nine stars into one. He had only cultivated two types of powers thus far and was already feeling overstretched. In fact, he even had the urge to abandon his gold energy and focus only on lightning. He was clear that it wouldn't be sensible to start cultivating the power of flame as well.

  Am I going to give up just like that? Xiang Shaoyun questioned himself repeatedly. But at the same time, there was this thought nibbling on his mind, pushing him to absorb this millennium earthcore fire, to not give up on it.

  Xiang Shaoyun sank into a long silence of contemplation with the millennium earthcore fire drifting around him and wondering why this human had suddenly stopped communicating with it.

  Scenes of everything Xiang Shaoyun had experienced before flipped past his mind one after another. He thought back to the oath he once took: the oath to retake all that was his family's and to trample over all who had betrayed him. He wanted to prove everyone who had once belittled and insulted him that they were all blind.

  He wanted to be a man capable of supporting the weight of the heavens on his shoulder. Even so, there was still no need for him to gamble on his future cultivation prospects and step on a cultivation path none had succeeded before. He could still give up on the millennium earthcore fire.

  To refine the white tiger bone, his current surroundings were already enough. But then, he suddenly thought of his father whose whereabouts were still unknown to this day. His father had headed to a forbidden area to battle an opponent, and to search for his father in that place, he needed more strength.

  At that thought, Xiang Shaoyun's gaze turned resolute as he spoke to himself, "Screw it. I will subdue the millennium earthcore fire first and worry later. At worst, I just have to tread a path nobody has walked before, a path nobody will walk after me. With my talent, nothing can stop me!"

  Xiang Shaoyun then started circulating his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual and drew in the strands of flame energy in the air around him. Since he was the one drawing in the power of flame, the human skin did not stop the strands of flame energy from approaching. Thus, flame energy started gathering in Xiang Shaoyun's body.

  The flame energy all gathered in his third star. Xiang Shaoyun was going to turn this star into a star of the fire element. This cultivation session lasted an entire month. A month later, he finally had a considerable amount of flame energy in him, and the cultivation session had also helped consolidate his cultivation base. In fact, his cultivation base was stably growing.

  During the month, he would communicate with the millennium earthcore fire every now and then, never fully severing the connection between them. That was all for the sake of maintaining the intimacy between him and the millennium earthcore fire.

  Another month passed. Xiang Shaoyun once again used his flame taming technique on the millennium earthcore fire. This time, it started approaching him more. Obviously, him cultivating the power of flame had caused the millennium earthcore fire to be even less opposed to him.

  That discovery caused Xiang Shaoyun to be overjoyed. He fully emptied his mind and started focusing on chanting the mantra of the flame taming technique, communicating with the millennium earthcore fire again and again.

  Slowly, Xiang Shaoyun came to understand that a naturally occurring flame like this also had its own emotions. As for the millennium earthcore fire before him, it was like a child without a playmate. It required a friend, it needed love, and it wanted a friend to play with. But it was a type of flame that existed in the form of energy. Only those similar to it would be able to form a resonance with it. Others would never be able to understand its thoughts.

  Xiang Shaoyun possessed an ancient flame taming technique, which was undoubtedly a wondrous technique that allowed him to understand the earthcore fire. It also allowed the earthcore fire to understand him.

  Xiang Shaoyun started persuading the millennium earthcore fire like he would a child, "Just come. A wide and interesting world is waiting out there. Let me take you out to see the world outside. You will definitely like it. I can also help you devour different flames, helping you evolve into an even more powerful existence."

  Three days later, the millennium earthcore fire finally understood what Xiang Shaoyun was trying to say. It started approaching him, and Xiang Shaoyun also reached out to pet it. The millennium earthcore fire was a terrifying existence. Anything that directly touched it would be instantly burned to crisp.

  Even so, Xiang Shaoyun was reaching out to pet it. If others saw, they would definitely say he was a madman. But was Xiang Shaoyun a madman? Of course not! He did that because he knew if the millennium earthcore fire had accepted him, its flame would not harm him. Sure enough, when his hand touched the millennium earthcore fire, he first felt an intense heat that vanished immediately after. He remained completely unharmed.

  Xiang Shaoyun heaved a breath of relief as he thought, The flame taming technique is indeed right. A flame possesses its own wisdom. It is capable of destroying everything. But at the same time, it is also capable of not destroying anything. Everything is on its whim alone. It simply seems destructive because it remains in an agitated mood most of the time. Now that it has accepted me, it will no longer harm me.

  The millennium earthcore fire behaved like a child as it turned into a small clump of flame and hopped onto Xiang Shaoyun's palm. There, it started pulsing and playing around happily like a gleeful child.

  At this point, Xiang Shaoyun was no longer in any rush to draw it into his body. He had to first make it accept everything about him and drop all resistances before doing that. He spent his subsequent days communicating with the millennium earthcore fire. He had even named the millennium earthcore fire Yun Flame, signifying that it was a flame belonging to him alone.

  It was also during this period that Xiang Shaoyun vowed to help Yun Flame evolve into an even higher level of flame, helping it become a hegemon of flames. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. Finally, he started the process of absorbing and refining Yun Flame.

  "Flame, don't resist, and go along with my will. Only by becoming one with me will I be able to take you to the outside world. In the future, I can help you grow stronger. Remember, do not resist. Otherwise, I will die!" Xiang Shaoyun reminded Yun Flame repeatedly. Only after Yun Flame bent down like it was nodding did he start circulating his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual to absorb it into his body.

  Everything progressed smoothly as Yun Flame did not resist at all. It obediently entered his body and entered the third star. Right after it entered his third star, its power of flame soared. It instantly lit the star on fire, turning it into a star of flame. But the power of flame was too potent, to the point the star seemed to be on the brink of destruction. Even Xiang Shaoyun cried out from the pain.

  "AHHHH!"

  Chapter 206: Let's Fuse

  The stars within a person's body were in a sense some sort of energy storage device. The capacity of these stars would grow along with the growth of a person's cultivation level. Xiang Shaoyun was only a third-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. The capacity of his star was far below the energy Yun Flame had, which was the reason for his pain.

  The power of Yun Flame was too much for the star, to the point the star was now on the brink of destruction. If the star really did end up exploding, Xiang Shaoyun might end up crippled, or he might even die immediately.

  Xiang Shaoyun started t
witching in pain, feeling like his entire body had been lit on fire. The pain was so extreme he nearly fainted. Fortunately, he had experienced similar situations in the past when he drew lightning power into his first star and white tiger's ire into his second star. His fortitude had been tempered by the two situations, allowing him to barely stay awake.

  Utilizing what he learned during the two situations, he quickly circulated his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual to redirect some of the flame energy into his astral cosmos sea, using the energy to further expand it. Part of the flame energy was also redirected to his 365 acupoints, expanding their sizes as well.

  But that was far from enough. Yun Flame had taken 1,000 years to form. It was dreadfully powerful, and even a tiny bit of its power was enough to make Xiang Shaoyun suffer. During this moment of crisis, he channeled some of the flame energy into the white tiger bone resting at the corner of his astral cosmos sea.

  He was going to use the excess flame energy to refine the white tiger bone and use it to fix the nicks on his saber. The white tiger bone was worthy of being the bone of a supreme beast. It was terrifyingly tough, and even under the assault of Yun Flame's power, it still remained unaffected.

  When Xiang Shaoyun noticed, he channeled even more flame energy to it. Apart from refining the white tiger bone, he was going to also refine the top-quality goldsteel stones. He was going to fuse them all with his Overlord Skyslaying Saber.

  After splitting the flame energy, Xiang Shaoyun felt much better. But it was not over yet. He had to first expand the size of his star, creating sufficient space to store Yun Flame. The Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual was worthy of being a top-tier ancient technique. After being circulated over and over, a large amount of the flame energy was refined and used to expand the size of the third star, slowly allowing the star to be able to handle the sheer amount of power Yun Flame had.