Volume One: The Femme Fatale Chapter 4: The Fire of Rebirth

The headmaster was now going to use his very life flame to help her break through the sealed spiritual veins within her body.

"My life flame is the flame of nirvana. It may not be overwhelmingly fierce, but no mortal body can withstand it. Are you prepared?" Feng Ling'er gazed intently at Jiang Hao seated before her and warned him solemnly.

"Master, just do it. I am ready!"

"If I cannot endure even this little pain today, how can I ever avenge my father and cleanse the blood debt in the future!"

Eighteen-year-old Jiang Hao had exquisitely handsome and vivid features. His brows were lightly arched, and in his clear, deep eyes there shone a trace of unwavering resolve.

His hair fell like a waterfall over his forehead, glimmering with a faint sheen. Every strand carried a natural, blazing aura.

Over the years, there had been no shortage of royal and noble young ladies who prided themselves on immaculate virtue, yet were still willing to ruin kingdoms for the sake of his striking face.

"Good." Feng Ling'er replied softly.

With a thought, a ball of red flame blazed fiercely in her palm. Without the slightest hesitation, she struck it down onto the crown of Jiang Hao's head, sending it straight into the vital point at the top of his skull.

The searing heat of the flame surged in at once, and Jiang Hao's body immediately felt a wave of burning pain, as though some power had begun to race violently through him.

Like a nimble red serpent, the flame coiled and moved through his body, as if countless tiny needles were stabbing recklessly through every limb and bone.

"Ah!"

"So painful! Master, I feel like I'm being melted!" Jiang Hao gritted his teeth so hard that his lips had already split, and blood slowly seeped out.

"No! I cannot give up!"

"For Father, I must endure!"

"I must never collapse here. I still have to kill Ji Yue with my own hands!"

From Jiang Hao's mouth came one groan after another, as though he were suffering torment beyond human endurance.

As Feng Ling'er's flame continued to pour in, Jiang Hao's body was completely wrapped in searing fire, as if he had been cast into a lake of molten lava.

Fine beads of sweat gradually emerged on Jiang Hao's forehead, warm droplets sliding down his cheeks. Yet he did not retreat. He silently repeated his vow to himself over and over, determined to avenge his father.

"I didn't expect this boy to be able to bear it so well," Feng Ling'er murmured.

She watched him quietly, her expression grave and focused. Her palm trembled faintly as she continued to drive the power of the nirvana flame into his body.

The light of the fire danced at her fingertips, illuminating her cold, breathtakingly beautiful face, as if at that very moment her fate and Jiang Hao's had become tightly entwined.

As time passed, Jiang Hao's clothes were already soaked through with sweat, yet his expression only grew firmer. That searing flame kept flowing through his body, as though carving out for him a path toward rebirth.

"I must not fall!" he clenched his teeth.

For a long while, Jiang Hao, already at the end of his strength, suddenly felt a scorching force gathering little by little in his dantian...

Thump. Thump...

Just as Jiang Hao's strength was finally approaching its limit and he was almost about to faint, a series of crisp sounds rang heavily in his ears.

At this moment, the spiritual veins that had lain dormant within Jiang Hao's body for a full eighteen years were finally ignited successfully under the tempering of Feng Ling'er's nirvana flame.

Jiang Hao felt every cell in his body tremble faintly, as though dancing amid blazing fire. The spiritual veins that had slumbered for so long within him, awakened by the power of the nirvana flame, slowly began to flow.

Soon, a powerful surge of spiritual energy burst forth in Jiang Hao's dantian, then rose rapidly!

Spirit Energy Realm first level, Spirit Energy Realm second level...

Until Spirit Energy Realm ninth level, that overwhelming aura of power finally gradually calmed.

"You're rather lucky, boy. Not only did you successfully open your spiritual veins, you even broke all the way through to Spirit Energy Realm ninth level," Feng Ling'er said with a light laugh.

"So it seems that earlier, not only were this boy's spiritual veins sealed, but even his cultivation was sealed along with them," Feng Ling'er sighed inwardly, though she did not say it aloud to Jiang Hao.

"What? I've actually broken through to Spirit Energy Realm ninth level?"

Hearing this, Jiang Hao burst into tears of joy. He had never imagined that one day he, too, would be able to step onto the path of cultivation.

For these eighteen years, though he was the prince of Flame Sun Kingdom, behind his back he had suffered countless sneers and mockery. That deep-seated inferiority and grievance clung to him like a haze that would not disperse.

"Now, calm your mind and sense the changes in the spiritual energy within your body," Feng Ling'er said softly.

"Yes, Master." Jiang Hao nodded in reply, then closed his eyes and began to quietly feel the changes in his body.

As he gradually entered a state of stillness, Jiang Hao distinctly sensed the nine swirling seas of qi within his dantian, each filled with powerful spiritual energy, rising and falling slowly around it.

"Master, what is this?" Jiang Hao opened his eyes and looked toward Feng Ling'er before him.

"This is the ninefold sea of qi of Spirit Energy Realm. Each sea of qi represents one level of the Spirit Energy Realm."

"A cultivator in the Spirit Energy Realm can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nourish the sinews and bones, temper the flesh, and gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the dantian to form spiritual power."

"At this stage, a cultivator can barely perform a few spells. It is the starting point of the path of cultivation," Feng Ling'er explained earnestly.

"So that's how it is..." Jiang Hao nodded with some understanding.

Although he had heard of the nine great realms of cultivators, as an ordinary mortal he had never been able to grasp the details of each level.

Seeing the confusion on Jiang Hao's face, Feng Ling'er patiently went on to explain the cultivation levels of the remaining eight great realms, as well as those of demonic beasts.

Only then did Jiang Hao understand that among human cultivators, only the Spirit Energy Realm was divided into nine minor levels, from first to ninth. The remaining eight great realms were each divided into four minor stages: early, middle, late, and great perfection.

At the same time, the cultivation of demonic beasts was also divided into nine great realms, namely first through ninth tier demonic beasts, and each realm was further subdivided into low, middle, high, and peak stages.

The nine great realms of demonic beasts corresponded one by one to the nine great realms of human cultivators. The difference was that first-tier demonic beasts had no minor subdivisions at all; their strength was already enough to rival a human cultivator at the ninth level of the Spirit Energy Realm.

"Your master is a bit tired and needs to sleep for a while first."

"You may find some first-tier demonic beasts to practice on. If you encounter a second-tier demonic beast, quickly keep your distance. If it is a third-tier demonic beast, you must immediately wake your master," Feng Ling'er's voice carried a trace of strain.

Before Jiang Hao could react, Feng Ling'er had already slipped like a breeze into the pendant on his chest. Presumably, after helping Jiang Hao open his spiritual veins, her soul had become utterly exhausted.

"Oh, right! This spatial ring is your master's gift to you as a disciple. It can hold all things under heaven."

"As for this pendant, you need not put anything else in it. Your master prefers peace and quiet."

As soon as Feng Ling'er's voice faded, a red ring floated before Jiang Hao, resplendent and dazzling.

"Thank you, Master! But Master, don't rush off to sleep yet. At least tell me where we are?" Jiang Hao quickly called out.

"The cultivators here call it the Misty Forest," Feng Ling'er said, and after that, there was no more sound.

"Misty Forest?"

Looking around at the darkness still shrouding everything, while from time to time beastly roars echoed out, Jiang Hao could not help but feel helpless. Why had he never heard his father mention this before?

At this point, Jiang Hao had no other choice but to follow his master's instructions and begin looking for some first-tier demonic beasts to train on. Then he put the spatial ring on the ring finger of his right hand.

"First I should see what kind of spell manuals and spirit weapons Master left for me in the spatial ring," Jiang Hao muttered to himself. Then he drew forth a sliver of spiritual power and sent it into the ring, intending to take a look.

Yet after only a few breaths, Jiang Hao's eyes lost all light, and he stood frozen there like a mindless husk.

After a long moment, Jiang Hao stared blankly and muttered to himself, "What kind of master did the heavens arrange for me? This ring may look incomparably splendid, but inside there isn't even a single hair..."

"Master said this ring could hold everything under heaven, and yet it is practically empty!"

Just as Jiang Hao was complaining about how miserly the spatial ring given by Feng Ling'er was, fierce sounds of combat and a young girl's tragic cries for help came from not far into the woods.

"Help!"

"Is anyone there? Hurry and save me..."

"There are actually other people in this forest!" Jiang Hao frowned and looked toward the direction of the voices. After a moment of hesitation, he seemed to make an impulsive decision.