BTTH: Starting with the Complete Memories of Yao Chen

Chapter 108: The Unseen Heavenly Flame 

Xiao Yixian struggled slightly, and two lines of clear tears streamed down her cheeks, her reddened eyes appearing painfully distressed.

"Born under a woeful poison body, die under calamity. Brother, will there come a day when I inadvertently cause your death too...?"

Su Yun gently stroked Xiao Yixian's delicate face, wiping her tears away.

"Didn't you always want me to help you become stronger? The delay was precisely because of this. Recently, I've found a technique that can resolve your physical condition."

Xiao Yixian, assuming this referred to the time Su Yun had spent in the Tagore Desert, felt his image increasingly occupy her previously blank slate of a heart, growing ever deeper. Was it to solve my physical condition that he left for so long?

Su Yun had Qing Lin prepare some food, feeding it to her and urging her to rest a bit longer in bed, with Qing Lin taking care of her nearby.

Su Yun walked into the living room and brewed himself a pot of tea.

Unable to hold back, Hai Bodong spoke up. "Young man, what should be done about that girl's constitution?"

Su Yun's expression remained calm as he gazed into the distance. "No worries, it's just a woeful poison body. I have a way to handle it."

Hearing Su Yun's words, Hai Bodong breathed a sigh of relief, though his brows twitched involuntarily. What kind of monster has emerged from which power, to view even a woeful poison body with such disdain? This wasn't his first time harboring such doubts.

At that moment, Luo Qinyun approached. "Master Zhang."

Su Yun nodded.

"What are your plans for the future?"

Luo Qinyun shook her head, her calm eyes filled with desolation, as if she had lost all hope for the future.

Su Yun noticed Luo Qinyun's demeanor and felt helpless. Perhaps time would make things a bit easier.

Then, Luo Qinyun's right hand surged with dou qi as she tore the skin off her snow-white arm, extracting a blood-soaked thin sheet from within.

Su Yun was taken aback. To tear off one's skin so stoically was indeed a ruthless act.

From his spatial ring, Su Yun produced a bottle of topical healing medicine and handed it to Luo Qinyun.

With her blood-soaked hand, Luo Qinyun took the medicine and handed the thin sheet to Su Yun.

Su Yun frowned. Was this... a map? Luo Qinyun hadn't stopped her own bleeding.

"Master Zhang, this map details the location of a heavenly flame."

Su Yun was startled.

Heavenly flame!

"Explain further."

Luo Qinyun was unsurprised; she understood the allure of a heavenly flame to an alchemist.

She was unaware that Su Yun already possessed the Qinglian Earthheart Fire.

"This map is a hereditary treasure of my clan, having been in my family for about three hundred years."

Su Yun was somewhat astonished—a three-hundred-year-old family tradition of a heavenly flame map.

This Luo family must have had a glorious past.

Su Yun awaited further details from Luo Qinyun.

"My clan faced extinction due to this map. Many years ago, we arranged a marriage alliance with the Mu family to aid our clan's development. The price was this map of the heavenly flame. However, after my aunt married into the Mu family, she suffered domestic abuse from Mu Chen. The so-called help from the Mu family was merely superficial."

"My grandfather held onto the map, wanting the Mu family to show some sincerity. But unexpectedly, the Mu family turned hostile. They threatened us, and then started to suppress us."

"Eventually, they bribed the royal family, who accused the Luo family of treason and eradicated us."

At this point, a hint of desolation flickered across Luo Qinyun's face.

Su Yun raised an eyebrow.

The sordid affairs of the Jia Ma Empire truly opened his eyes.

"I was rescued by my teacher who heard of my plight while on the run. My teacher also tried to find the heavenly flame depicted on this map, but never had a clue where to start."

Speaking of the past, Su Yun fell silent. For ordinary people, even when opportunities arise, they fail to grasp them.

Luo Qianyun thanked Su Yun several more times before leaving.

Su Yun had someone bring a basin of clean water and carefully cleaned the map. Although he had gained some loot from fighting monsters, his interest was not particularly high.

He sighed and looked at the map. After a long moment, Su Yun was covered in frustration. "What on earth is this supposed to be?"

Perhaps due to his unfamiliarity with the terrain around the Jia Ma Empire, he couldn't make out the depicted location.

At that moment, Hai Bodong joined him.

Su Yun raised an eyebrow, remembering he had almost forgotten about this person. Honestly, Hai Bodong's skills with maps were not weak. When sealed, he was only a Dou Spirit in cultivation but managed to split a map left by a nine-star Dou Saint in two, although how he did it was a mystery.

Su Yun handed the map to Hai Bodong.

Hai Bodong took the map, visibly eager.

After a while, Hai Bodong smoothed his pale eyebrows, looking somewhat proud. "Kid, I've figured it out. This map depicts the Demon Beast Mountain Range."

"The Demon Beast Mountain Range?" Su Yun was puzzled; he had bought maps of the Demon Beast Mountain Range before during his training there, and it didn't look like this.

Sensing Su Yun's confusion, Hai Bodong explained, "You are familiar with the landscape of the Demon Beast Mountain Range in our Jia Ma Empire, but this map doesn't depict the range within our empire."

Hearing Hai Bodong's explanation, a flash of realization crossed Su Yun's eyes. The Demon Beast Mountain Range wasn't just within the Jia Ma Empire; it extended far beyond into the empire's belly and beyond.

"Can Hai Lao tell which part of the Demon Beast Mountain Range is depicted here?" Su Yun asked.

"Uh... I need to look further," Hai Bodong replied, his expression slightly stiff.

Su Yun chuckled, finding the old man quite amusing. Hai Bodong had looked so pleased with himself earlier, Su Yun thought he had it all figured out.

Hai Bodong was slightly indignant. "What's with that look? Just determining the general location from this map's description is challenging enough. I recognized it as the Demon Beast Mountain Range, which already proves my expertise!"

"Awesome."

Su Yun uttered a simple, unembellished word, not bothering to argue. He reached out to take the map back.

Hai Bodong dodged, giving a sheepish smile. "Hehe, don't rush, kid. Let me make a copy before I return it to you."

Su Yun rolled his eyes and returned to his room, leaving Hai Bodong alone in the living room, obsessively studying the map.

That night.

Su Yun sat by the bedside, watching Xiao Yixian's peacefully sleeping face, lost in thought.

A heavenly flame, any tidbit of information about it could not be overlooked.

Hai Bodong's deep study of the map was telling. Even he said that just pinpointing a rough location was tough; finding it would be even harder.

A glint crossed Su Yun's eyes as he remembered the glass orb in Queen Medusa's hands in the Tagore Desert. The only way to sense the location of a heavenly flame now was through a slight connection between heavenly flames, a mutual resonance.

He also wondered, why hadn't the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, in his later years when he had more free time, developed a secret technique to sense heavenly flames?

(End of Chapter)

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