In the next instant, its size expanded several times over.

If before it had been like the smallest setting of a lighter flame, now it was like the largest.

It even seemed to bounce slightly with excitement.

What a strange flame.

Even at such close range, he felt no heat at all.

Recalling the information he had received earlier, Xiao Shou speculated that the reason the terrestrial fox black flame could so easily destroy the Seven Deadly Sins might be because the latter was originally a mutated plant lifeform that had consumed countless humans and sea beasts as nutrients, accumulating immense sin and impurity.

As for what kind of "burn away all sins and impurities of the mortal world" this flame specifically countered, Xiao Shou did not dwell on it.

Seeing that he now had a reliable method to destroy the Seven Deadly Sins, he finally relaxed.

As he stretching his body lazily, he prepared to go out and collect more of the substance to feed the flame and strengthen it further.

At that moment, the communication jade at his waist suddenly lit up.

His disciple?

Xiao Shou’s eyes brightened with delight as he quickly activated it.

Inside the communication jade’s light screen, Fu Young looked at Xiao Shou with a trace of concern and asked, "Master, where are you right now?"

"Of course I am still in Yingzhou. What is it? You look like you are worried," Xiao Shou replied feeling puzzled.

Fu Young seemed slightly surprised by the question.

A flicker of doubt passed through his eyes before he spoke with certainty, "Then you definitely have not gone out or gathered any information in the past two days."

"Uh... I have been busy these past few days..." Xiao Shou scratched his head as he thought about it.

After losing track of Yu Lin yesterday, he had gone to buy spirit flames and then focused entirely on fusion.

Later, searching for materials had taken a long time, likely the whole night and more.

When he checked the sunlight outside, it was already dusk.

Had it really been nearly two full days?

In order to preserve his dignity as a master and show his disciple that he had not been slacking off, Xiao Shou quickly raised a finger and showed the small flame. "Heh... I have been refining this. I got a bit too focused."

"Terrestrial Fox Black Flame? A fox flame that can only be refined by those with pure terrestrial fox bloodline. A legendary flame said to purify all sins and impurities of the mortal world. An extremely rare existence that might not appear even among hundreds of thousands of terrestrial fox bloodlines. A flame that completely went extinct after the Destruction of the Moon Disaster."

Fu Young stared at the black flame on Xiao Shou’s finger in surprise.

He had not expected that something recorded as extinct in ancient inheritances would appear in his master’s hands.

Xiao Shou felt a bit unwilling.

Once again, his disciple knew more than he did.

How was it that his own disciple always seemed more knowledgeable?

Still, hearing his disciple describe the little flame made it sound incredibly impressive.

Xiao Shou could not help but feel a bit pleased.

"Well, it was not that hard. It was actually quite simple to refine," he said.

"Quite simple? Master, please tell me how simple it was," Fu Young replied with a bright smile, though there was a faint hint of dissatisfaction in his heart.

Many people said he had a great destiny and would one day bring destruction and creation. Yet somehow, he always felt that if he was not careful, his master would surprise him instead.

His master seemed more formidable in every way.

Except perhaps being a bit slow at times.

Xiao Shou gave an awkward laugh and quickly changed the subject. "It is not that amazing. It just happens to counter the Seven Deadly Sins."

"It counters the Seven Deadly Sins? I see. Then I am relieved," Fu Young said, visibly relaxing.

Seeing this, Xiao Shou asked, "What is it? What were you worried about?"

"Master, you have not been paying attention to outside news these past two days, so you do not know. Just now, I was gathering information from the Alliance of Myriad Celestia about the Heaven Origin Realm. I originally wanted to check on the situation in the Sunfall Domain, but instead I found reports that in many remote regions across the realm, small scale outbreaks of a strange plague have appeared. The entire areas have even experienced mass disappearances. The conditions are very similar to the effects of the Seven Deadly Sins."

A sharp glint flashed through Fu Young’s youthful eyes.

He then spoke in a steady tone, "I also mapped out a simulation based on the information I gathered. The total area affected by this suspected Seven Deadly Sins outbreak has already reached several regions across the mainland. It is now slowly moving toward the center of the continent. Two of these waves are already approaching the regions of Azure Origin City and Crimson Dusk City. I suspect that the Seven Deadly Sins either has its own consciousness or is being controlled."

When Xiao Shou heard this, he was greatly shocked.

Thinking back to what he had witnessed yesterday with Yu Lin, combined with his disciple’s findings, his mind became completely tangled.

He could not make sense of it at all.

So he simply told Fu Young everything he had seen and learned.

He believed that with Fu Young’s intelligence, he might be able to figure out the intentions of someone as calculating as Yu Lin.

After finishing, he gave Fu Young a moment to think, then asked, "So what do you think Yu Lin is trying to achieve with all this? How can she control the Seven Deadly Sins to attack Jian Li? And how did she even release it in the first place?"

"You are saying that Yu Lin and Xiao Ran are the two women from the secret realm, that they have a deep blood feud, that Xiao Ran is one of the survivors of Xiao Family Village, and also the lover of Jian Li? And Yu Lin once pursued Jian Li, but now attacked him, exposing the fact that he possesses the Vermilion Bird Flame?"