Chapter 150: Begin Absorption?

Rather than being restrained by the rings, the Earth Vein Golden Flame spread rapidly along one of the crimson mana patterns connecting them!

HISS!

The previously stable ring of fire began disappearing at a visible rate the instant it came into contact with the pale golden flames!

"What?!"

The middle-aged mage’s expression changed drastically.

He could feel the mana he had poured into the rings being devoured by the golden flame at a terrifying rate!

As the absorption continued, the Earth Vein Golden Flame expanded even more violently!

BOOM!

A golden tongue of flame shot along the mana connection, heading straight for the reddish-copper container in the mage’s hand!

"Not good!" He quickly severed the mana connection and retreated.

Unfortunately, his reaction came too late. The golden tongue of flame had already touched the runes on the container’s surface.

CRACK!

Despite the countless runes engraved upon it, a fracture appeared across the reddish-copper container!

Immediately afterward, the fire-attribute mana stored inside lost control and erupted into a mass of crimson flames!

BOOM!

The middle-aged mage hurriedly raised a mana shield to block the explosion. However, the powerful impact forced him back several steps, while flying sparks burned holes in his sleeves.

"Captain!" The two swordsmen rushed over.

"Stay back!" the mage roared before putting away the damaged container.

He stared at the golden flame, now even more active than before, his expression darkening.

He had merely attempted to seal it, yet ended up providing it with even more energy!

Even a magical tool specifically designed to preserve special flame seeds had been unable to withstand its power.

Clearly, this flame was far more powerful than he had expected.

On the other side, however, Victor had seen exactly what he wanted.

When the Earth Vein Golden Flame spread along the rings, he had used his High Level Fire Element Affinity to observe the changes in the surrounding energy.

He could now confirm that the flame was capable of actively devouring nearby fire-attribute mana and spreading along energy connections.

Yet what truly interested him was not its devouring ability, but the noticeable contraction that followed after it absorbed the three rings of fire.

The golden fireball, which had been nearly a meter in diameter, shrank by almost half within moments.

At the same time, the earth vein patterns throughout the cavern temporarily dimmed.

It was as though the Earth Vein Golden Flame needed a brief period to readjust its power after absorbing so much energy.

"So that’s how it works."

The flame did not remain in the same state at all times. Whenever it absorbed a large amount of external fire elements, it would enter a brief contraction phase.

That brief interval was also the best opportunity to come into contact with its true flame origin.

Victor glanced at the distance between himself and the magma pool.

Even with this knowledge, actually reaching the origin would still be extremely difficult.

Unless...

His gaze fell on the Crimson Flame Fang in his hand before shifting toward the dark golden patterns channeling energy around the cavern.

A bold idea took shape.

Since the flame could travel along mana connections, perhaps he did not need to enter the magma pool himself.

As long as he could establish a sufficiently stable fire-element channel in the right location, the flame would naturally approach him.

Of course, this also meant confronting the power of a high tier natural flame directly.

The slightest mistake could allow it to travel along the mana channel and turn its power against him.

But Victor had little time to hesitate.

Although the Level 41 mage had lost a magical tool, he clearly had no intention of giving up the treasure.

"Keep an eye on that brat!" the middle-aged mage ordered when he noticed the look on Victor’s face. "Once I suppress the flame again, don’t let him get anywhere near it!"

The Level 35 swordsman tightened his grip on his weapon and advanced toward Victor.

"Brat, you managed to escape once earlier. Let’s see where you can run this time!"

Victor gave him a bored look. "Are you sure you want to fight me right now?"

"Of course!" The towering swordsman sneered. "There aren’t nearly as many broken rocks for you to jump between in here!"

With that, he swung his broad-bladed sword fiercely.

The aura of a Second Tier professional erupted!

This time, however, Victor did not engage him directly as he had before.

The instant his opponent charged, he moved sideways, arriving beside a dark golden pattern near the magma pool.

He swung the Crimson Flame Fang toward the ground!

Heaven Burning Sword Art!

Flame Line!

HISS!

Highly compressed fire elements erupted along the blade, striking precisely at the intersection of two earth vein patterns!

BOOM!

With a muffled explosion, the fire elements flowing along the rock walls changed direction.

A large amount of energy that had been converging toward the center surged outward through the newly opened crack!

"What are you doing?!" The Level 35 swordsman’s eyes widened.

He had already closed in on Victor when he noticed the rocks beneath his feet growing intensely hot.

Several dark-red cracks spread outward from the point of destruction.

This was no ordinary sword attack. Victor had actually altered the energy flow of the nearby earth veins!

Of course, all he could accomplish was temporarily redirecting a small portion of that energy. He could not truly control the entire earth vein node, but for his current purpose, that was enough.

Almost as soon as the flow of fire elements changed, the Earth Vein Golden Flame at the center of the magma pool responded.

HUM!

A strand of pale golden flame extended from the surface of the enormous fireball, spreading along the newly formed energy channel.

"Here it comes!"

Victor didn’t increase his mana output any further. Instead, he kept the fire elements within his body stable, maintaining the narrow energy channel.

Meanwhile, the flames surrounding the Crimson Flame Fang rapidly contracted.

Victor pushed the mana circulation method of the Heaven Burning Sword Art to the limits of his current control.

Rather than using Flame Line to attack, he guided his fire-attribute mana along the internal patterns of the sword, attempting to turn the entire Crimson Flame Fang into a medium for channeling the natural flame.

After all, absorbing a high tier natural flame was one of the requirements for evolving the Heaven Burning Sword Art.

If the sword art itself could not withstand this power, Victor would have even less hope of succeeding with his current strength.

In the next moment, the strand of pale golden flame finally touched the sword tip!

BOOM!

A terrifying surge of scorching energy rushed along the blade!

Victor’s previously stable fire-attribute mana was suppressed almost instantly!

"Hiss!"

He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his right arm tightening.

Intense burning pain shot through the palm gripping his sword, as though his entire arm had been plunged into boiling lava.

Although the Crimson Flame Fang was an Epic-grade fire-attribute longsword capable of withstanding extremely powerful fire-element impacts, this high tier natural flame clearly exceeded the limits of ordinary fire-attribute mana.

Worse still, the instant the Earth Vein Golden Flame established a connection with the blade, it began devouring the fire-attribute mana he was pouring into it!

Seeing his mana reserves decline so quickly in real time, Victor’s expression grew solemn.

If this continued, his mana would be completely exhausted before he could absorb the flame origin.

He had to change his approach!

Just then, a powerful warning from his Combat Intuition flashed through his mind!

Without thinking, he twisted his body to the side.

CLANG!

A broad-bladed sword slammed into the Crimson Flame Fang!

"Get the hell out of the way!"

The Level 35 swordsman had finally caught up!

He had no idea what Victor was doing. All he knew was that this First Tier brat seemed to be trying to steal the precious natural flame.

Therefore, he showed no mercy in his attack.

But the moment their swords collided, a streak of pale golden flame shot along the Crimson Flame Fang’s blade!

HISS!

Upon coming into contact with the golden flame, the broad-bladed sword in the swordsman’s hand instantly turned bright red!

"What?!"

The towering swordsman’s expression darkened, and he hurriedly released his grip. But he was too late. Scorching golden flames spread along the blade, and the hardened metal began showing signs of softening!

"Argh!"

The swordsman hastily retreated, his right palm already burned.

Victor seized the brief opening to deliberately cut off part of his outward mana flow.

HUM!

The golden flames pouring wildly into the sword paused for an instant.

Victor’s eyes sharpened as he noticed something.

Although the Earth Vein Golden Flame could devour fire-attribute mana, its true origin would not simply disappear when the supply of ordinary mana decreased.

Without enough external energy to sustain them, the expanding golden flames began contracting toward the center!

At this moment, Victor stopped trying to contend with the entire mass of flame.

He altered the mana circulation method of the Heaven Burning Sword Art, gathering the fire elements previously distributed throughout the blade and concentrating them at its tip.

In the next moment, the golden flames spreading along the sword were forcibly compressed into an extremely condensed thread of pale golden fire!

The other end of that thread was connected directly to the true origin of the Earth Vein Golden Flame!

Victor’s heart stirred at the sight.

Success! He had successfully established a connection with the flame’s true origin!

But he did not relax. He knew the most dangerous part was only beginning.

Merely guiding a strand of the outer flame could not be considered genuine absorption.

What he needed was to completely incorporate the natural flame’s origin into the mana circulation of the Heaven Burning Sword Art!

Just then, the System notification sounded again.

[Ding!]

[Detected that the host has successfully made contact with the origin of the Earth Vein Golden Flame!]

[Begin absorption?]