Chapter 151: Devouring the Golden Flame

When he saw the options come up, Victor didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

"Begin!"

[Confirmation successful!]

[Guiding the origin of the high tier natural flame...]

BOOM!

As the notification appeared, the golden fireball hovering above the magma pool suddenly began contracting violently!

Massive amounts of pale golden flame surged along the narrow energy channel toward the Crimson Flame Fang in Victor’s hand!

At the same time, a scorching energy far more terrifying than anything before surged directly into his body through the sword!

"Urgh!"

Victor let out a muffled groan.

It felt as though a genuine flame was burning inside his body!

His mana circulation instantly fell into chaos.

The fire elements he had previously controlled with ease now began spreading uncontrollably in every direction!

Even the surrounding air visibly distorted as fire-attribute mana continuously overflowed from his body.

However, Victor did not stop.

He forcibly steadied his breathing and relied on his High Level Fire Element Affinity to continuously adjust the flow of mana within his body.

Gradually, he guided the foreign golden flame along the original circulation pathways of the Heaven Burning Sword Art.

At first, the entire process was almost impossible.

But as he continued making adjustments, the golden flame that had been rampaging wildly within him finally began showing signs of change.

It no longer spread randomly in every direction.

Instead, it gradually began flowing along a fixed mana pathway.

Although the movement was extremely slow, at least it was beginning to show signs of being controlled.

"Just a little more..." Victor gritted his teeth.

His mana continued draining, and fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead.

What he needed most now was to make the flame truly accept the circulation method of the Heaven Burning Sword Art, not to forcibly suppress it using his own mana.

After all, in terms of energy quality alone, his current fire-attribute mana was far inferior to the Earth Vein Golden Flame.

If he continued confronting it head-on, he would ultimately be the one to suffer.

Realizing this, Victor stopped trying to expand his control. He deliberately slowed his mana circulation, allowing the golden flame to flow according to its own natural rhythm.

Meanwhile, he continuously adjusted the mana pathways of the Heaven Burning Sword Art, gradually bringing them into harmony with the flame.

HUM!

Finally, when the last strand of pale golden flame entered his body through the sword, Victor suddenly felt the violently surging mana within him become completely calm.

[Ding!]

[High tier natural flame successfully absorbed!]

[Host has obtained: Earth Vein Golden Flame!]

[One of the evolution requirements for the Heaven Burning Sword Art has been completed!]

[Condition One: Raise proficiency to Perfection — Incomplete!]

[Condition Two: Absorb one type of high tier natural flame — Complete!]

[The Heaven Burning Sword Art has not yet met all evolution requirements!]

"Phew." Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

But even before he could catch his breath, the earth vein node that had maintained the entire cavern’s energy circulation suddenly began trembling violently!

RUMBLE!

Without the natural flame drawing them inward, the fire elements that had originally been converging along the dark golden patterns began spreading wildly in every direction!

Large sections of rock cracked and collapsed one after another.

Boom! Boom!

Scorching magma surged out of the fractures in the ground, almost instantly flooding parts of the original passage!

"Retreat!"

In the distance, the middle-aged mage finally reacted.

He had watched helplessly as the precious high tier natural flame disappeared before his eyes, and his expression was now uglier than ever.

However, this was clearly no longer the time to continue fighting over the treasure. If they remained here, even Second Tier professionals like themselves might not escape safely.

"Captain! That brat took the flame!"

The Level 35 swordsman shouted angrily, clutching his injured right hand.

"I saw it!"

The middle-aged mage roared back.

"Get out first!"

He fiercely swung his staff, forming a thick crimson protective barrier in front of the three of them.

Then, he led his two companions in a rapid retreat toward the original passage.

Meanwhile, Victor had already noticed that a crack in the rock wall behind him, originally only as thick as an arm, was gradually widening with the earth vein tremors.

On the other side of the crack, he could vaguely make out a natural passage extending downward.

"Looks like this is the only way out."

He secured his storage ring, gripped the Crimson Flame Fang, and charged toward the crack.

Just before a large section of rock behind him completely collapsed...

Shadow Blink!

HUM!

His figure abruptly disappeared!

In the next instant, Victor appeared on a relatively intact rocky platform less than eight yards away, on the other side of the fissure.

RUMBLE!

A deafening roar erupted behind him!

The rocky path that had originally led toward the center of the cavern completely shattered under the violent earth vein tremors.

Massive amounts of scorching magma poured from the cracks, gradually engulfing the entire cavern.

Only after traveling several hundred meters along the natural passage, when the surrounding tremors had gradually weakened, did Victor finally stop.

"Phew..."

He leaned against a relatively smooth section of rock wall and slowly exhaled.

"That thing really wasn’t easy to obtain."

Victor lowered his gaze toward his right hand.

There were already obvious burn marks on his palm, and more than half of his mana had been consumed.

Nevertheless, a satisfied smile appeared on Victor’s face.

"Looks like this trip into the secret realm is going even more smoothly than I expected."

However, his smile quickly faded.

He had collected only one of the three High Purity Fire Element Cores needed to evolve his High Level Fire Element Affinity to Top Level. Two more were still required.

Moreover, that Level 41 fire mage clearly would not give up so easily.

Although the earth vein eruption had temporarily separated the two sides, the mage now knew that Victor had successfully taken the high tier natural flame.

If they encountered each other again in the future, trouble would probably be unavoidable.

Victor tightened his grip on the Crimson Flame Fang.

In the very next moment, the Earth Vein Golden Flame he had just absorbed produced an extremely faint fluctuation within his body.

Victor immediately stopped moving. He could sense that although the flame had successfully integrated into the mana circulation of the Heaven Burning Sword Art, it still retained a certain special activity.

Moreover, when he had just attempted to circulate his fire-attribute mana, the Earth Vein Golden Flame seemed to have responded.

"Hmm?"

Victor closed his eyes again and carefully examined the changes within his body.

After a while, he finally discovered an interesting phenomenon.

Although the Earth Vein Golden Flame could not currently evolve the Heaven Burning Sword Art, it produced an extremely subtle resonance whenever his fire-attribute mana circulated.

This resonance did not directly increase the sword art’s power.

Instead, it allowed him to perceive the flow of fire elements within his body with much greater clarity.

It was as though certain mana fluctuations that he could previously understand only through experience were now providing much clearer feedback through the reactions of the pale golden flame.

"It can even do something like this?" Victor became even more interested.

If he could use this resonance to assist his training, perhaps he could further deepen his understanding of the Heaven Burning Sword Art.

However, the extent of this effect would have to be verified gradually in the future.

Besides, now was clearly not the time for cultivation.

He had only just completed the absorption of a high tier natural flame, and his mana had yet to fully recover.

Forcefully circulating the sword art again could easily cause another bout of instability.

Naturally, Victor was not about to risk his body merely to satisfy his curiosity.

He retrieved a recovery potion from his storage ring, removed the stopper, and drank it directly.

As the potion took effect, his severely depleted mana finally began recovering slowly.

Victor rested against the rock wall for a while.

Only after the burning pain in his right arm had eased somewhat did he stand up again. Then, he took out the secret realm map he had carried since entering and attempted to determine his location based on the surrounding terrain.

Because he had traveled a considerable distance through the underground passage, it was now difficult to find any markings on the map that matched his surroundings exactly.

He could only roughly confirm that he was still somewhere within the middle region of the Inferno Prison Secret Realm.

As for his exact direction, he would probably have to find an exit before he could determine that.

"Forget it." Victor put away the map. "I’ll find my way out first."

Having made his decision, he gripped the Crimson Flame Fang and continued forward along the natural passage.

Not long after he departed, in the distant earth vein cavern, which was gradually being swallowed by magma, the last few dark golden patterns finally went completely dark.

The Earth Vein Golden Flame, which had been nurtured for countless years, no longer existed there.