Chapter 248 The Nine Heaven-scorching Flames (1/2)

”D*mn, boy! Finally, you're awake! You've put quite a scare into us when you were not even breathing! We thought you were dead!”

Zi Mo's voice was the first thing Xiao Chen heard as he opened his eyes.

”H-huh? I-it's really three days?!” Xiao Chen gasped to himself. It was lucky that he had merely been gone for three days, not three years, or his friends might have buried him instead.

”D*mmit boy. Did you realize that you've slept for three days?” Zi Mo barked at him.

A thin smile curled on Xiao Chen's lips. Then he saw Perfected Immortals Qing Chen and Fengxi both present. He got up. ”My thanks and apologies to you, Seniors. I am fine now.”

The door of his room swung opened suddenly to admit Yu Yifeng, Murong Xian'er, Luo Shangyan, Li Muxue and the twelve of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon. They had heard his voice from outside and immediately came in. Murong Xian'er threw herself headfirst into him and began wailing. ”I thought I will never be able to see you again, Brother Xiao Chen!”

In a soft voice, Xiao Chen said to her, gently stroking her hair, ”Everything's all fine. There's no need to cry, dear sister.”

Three days had passed since he slept without breathing, Xiao Chen reflected. ”So that must be the Dimension of the Frigid Void, one of the three most bizarre dimensions from history.”

There is no known way of entering this Dimension, save through a dream or vision. Then he realized how lucky he was; the laws of Time and Space that governed the Dimension operated differently to the actual world he was from. He could have been trapped inside, forever stuck in another eon and unable to return.

Zi Mo and the Perfected Immortals then took their leaves and left, leaving Xiao Chen to deal with his friends. But he did not elaborate in detail of what he saw, merely saying to his friends that he has had a vision that had helped enlighten him, a fortuitous encounter that might prove to be a boon to his powers.

”That reminds me, Lil Chen.” Yu Yifeng suddenly remembered. ”There were people from the Fallen Immortals Sect here to look for you yesterday. But they left after hearing what happened to you. You'd best be careful; they will be back.”

Xiao Chen's expression darkened. ”What were they thinking of, coming to here to seek me?” But he knew the answer to his own question: a challenge to a duel. He nodded and replied, ”I know. All of you will have to be careful too. But we'd pay no heed to them as long as they keep out of our way.”

Night came swiftly that evening. Xiao Chen waited until his friends left before he took out his little black box again. Only this time, the box opened easily at the merest force. It was empty inside, and he had a feeling that that might be the only time he had ever stepped foot into the Dimension of the Frigid Void.

He placed the box back onto the table, his gaze fixated upon the burning wick of his lamp. The words of the Heaven's Bane reverberated in his mind: Long has the Natural Law lost its purpose; all mortal beings must now rise to fight for their freedom.

He shook his ways, clearing his mind of the tainted thoughts. No matter what, he had only one purpose: to look for his teacher! He would never allow himself to be distracted! Not ever again!

There was no point in dwelling on the affairs which he had no power in swaying. No matter what his role was upon this huge chessboard of Destiny, he would only concentrate on his goal. ”No one!” Xiao Chen swore to himself, ”No one will stand in my way!”

Still, he could not shake off the feeling that a hand has always been at his back, guiding him through a veil of mists even if he refused to.

He took out the manual for the Nine Heaven-scorching Flames spell he bought from the old man during his visit to the Myriad Immortals Pavilion and riffled through its pages. It was not an ordinary magical spell, but rather, a magical formation with powers that outstrips even the Nine Yang Extreme Heat Formation by a great length.

But magical formations could only be fully utilized in battle if a conjurer could cast the magic without any delay in his craft. Moreover, most conjurers today rarely saw any importance in the study of magical circles. ”It was true, what the old man said,” he mused, ”that it is by Fate that this magic falls into my hand. I might be the only one in this era who can fully put it to good use.”

He smiled to himself, ”This is indeed money well-spent!”

He spent the next two hours reading the manual, committing to his mind as many details as possible about the Nine Heaven-scorching Flames. He drew the outlines of the magical circle on his left palm, along with several runes to activate its magic, and nine little emerald-green balls of flame sprouted from his palm, hovering just above his opened palm.

The nine balls of flames circled above his hand, crackling gently like little screeching dragons. He has no doubt that a single ball of flame would be powerful enough to raze the entire lodging house to the ground.

He closed his palm and deactivated the magic. He decided that he would look for an empty spot in the hills nearby at first light tomorrow to test the full power of this spell.

Having slept continuously for three days, Xiao Chen did not feel tired. He spent the whole night memorizing the details of the spell. At the break of dawn the following day, he put on his clothes and informed his friends about his departure before slipping out of town.