The white robed monk looked at Xiao Shou in surprise, unable to understand such a cold reaction.

But Xiao Shou was eager to return and begin fusing the spirit flames.

He had no mood to deal with this.

Without another word, he turned around and ran off without looking back.

Leaving the white robed monk and the gray robed monk standing there in confusion.

Xiao Shou who never concerned himself with what happened behind him skillfully used illusion techniques to transform back into the appearance of a middle aged cultivator.

After returning to his cave dwelling, he began fusing spirit flames.

At first, combining these miscellaneous and varied spirit flames was relatively simple. But as their grade increased, the process became more and more difficult.

Matching them with fire attributed materials and high-grade treasures of the same level required even greater care.

If he was not careful, the different fire attributes would clash with one another.

He could only rely on the Void-Time Calyx’s brief predictive ability and repeatedly foreseeing the outcome of each fusion.

It was mentally exhausting.

After much effort, he finally succeeded in creating several Tier 5 spirit flames.

Because these flames were created through his Absolute Fusion ability, even though they possessed a trace of sentience, they were very close to him and obediently stayed by his side without moving.

When he prepared to advance them to Tier 6, he searched through his storage ring and was surprised to find that he was missing one crucial Tier 5 fire attributed material.

It was exactly the same situation as when his ability had advanced to Tier 4.

He could not give up now.

Maybe he could find a suitable substitute and still succeed.

Had that not been how he succeeded back then?

As he encouraging himself, Xiao Shou began rummaging through the pile of treasures given to him by Tushan Qing.

He ignored the spirit stones, pills, formation plates, and talismans, focusing only on materials.

He searched and searched, all the way until the next morning, but still could not find anything suitable.

The materials Tushan Qing had given him were all too high-grade and beyond what his current Absolute Fusion ability could handle.

They were treasures he could only admire but not use.

It was incredibly frustrating.

Tushan Qing’s personality was truly terrible.

How could he treat his own grandson like this?

What happened to grandfatherly affection?

Xiao Shou snorted and stuffed all of Tushan Qing’s gifts back, then turned to search through his own storage.

After quite some time, he finally found a blood red crystal with a faint fire attribute aura.

This was something he had randomly created during a previous large-scale fusion.

It was called a Tier 5 Scarlet Fox Orb.

The materials used had been a chaotic mix, but one of them had been extremely sharp and had cut his hand, staining it with his blood.

Unexpectedly, after fusion, the result had upgraded from what should have been Tier 4 to Tier 5.

The name was interesting, but its effect was unclear.

Its description contained only a single line: essence condensed from fox blood.

Regardless of its function, since it had some fire attribute aura and was Tier 5, he decided to give it a try.

Xiao Shou placed it together with several Tier 5 spirit flames and other Tier 5 fire attributed materials.

He then used the Void-Time Calyx to predict the outcome.

The prediction showed that the fusion would succeed.

However, the result would be a black flame.

Just looking at it gave off an ominous feeling.

Xiao Shou hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to continue the fusion.

Very quickly, all the spirit flames and materials merged together under the glow of his fusion ability.

When the light faded, a palm-sized jet-black flame appeared before him.

Its fire flickered gently, giving off a faint sense of awareness as if it possessed a trace of intelligence.

Since it had no true consciousness, Xiao Shou could not tell whether he felt disappointed or relieved.

Knowing that anything created by his Absolute Fusion ability would not harm him, he cautiously brought his hand closer to the black flame.

In an instant, a stream of information flowed into his mind.

...

[ Terrestrial Fox Black Flame ]

Grade: Tier 6

Description: A pure spirit flame that was refined from terrestrial fox bloodline.

It possesses the ability to burn away all sins and impurities of the mortal world, converting them into spirit flame for its own absorption.

Even substances one tier higher fall within its range of incineration.

A spirit flame that was perfect for terrestrial fox bloodline.

...

Xiao Shou froze in surprise.

But before he could react further, the black flame seeped into his fingertip and entered his body, instantly merging into his Nascent Soul and settling within his dantian.

It began slowly absorbing spiritual energy.

At the same time, he felt an extremely intimate connection with it.

It was as if he and the flame were one and the same.

Xiao Shou could not help but complain inwardly.

It just went straight into his Nascent Soul without asking.

Where were its manners?

Still, he did not forget his original purpose.

He released a small amount of the Seven Deadly Sins and summoned a wisp of the black fox flame to burn it.

He had expected some complications, given his usual luck.

But to his surprise, the moment the tiny flame flickered, the released Seven Deadly Sins vanished instantly.

At the same time, the small flame trembled slightly and seemed to grow a bit larger.

It was that easy?

This was something that normally required flames like the Vermilion Bird Flame or Golden Sun Flame to destroy.

In disbelief, Xiao Shou released an even larger amount of the Seven Deadly Sins for the flame to consume.

As if mocking his ignorance, the black flame leapt eagerly like a greedy child.

In just a few quick motions, it devoured the massive compressed cluster of the Seven Deadly Sins.