Chapter 646: Collecting the Sacred Flame

“We must gather some flames and send them into the Immortal Prison…”
Su Che gazed at the Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames filling the entire passage, over a thousand feet below. Such a minor action still caught the attention of Lin Jiu and the others.
When Su Che began descending, Lin Jiu moved slightly and immediately blocked his path, asking in a deep voice, “Tian Yu, what are you doing?”
“Gathering flames for study,” Su Che replied calmly.
To find a way to cross the Fire Realm, collecting one or two flames for research made sense. Lin Jiu indeed had no reason to stop him. However, he was worried that Su Che might not return, disappearing directly into the Fire Realm and abandoning everyone…
Though this possibility was extremely low, it still needed to be guarded against.
“I’ll go down with you!”
Lin Jiu first said this in a calm tone, then whispered to Su Che, “It’s best if you don’t play any tricks. Don’t give me any reason to kill you.”
He was warning Su Che that up close, if Su Che showed any intent to escape, he would have enough time to use his divine powers to kill him on the spot.
As a Xuanxian, he indeed possessed such combat strength.
Su Che gave him a cold glance and said nothing more.
Thus, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Su Che and Lin Jiu slowly descended nearly a thousand feet, getting ever closer to the Sacred Flames below.
In fact, even from thousands of feet away, Su Che could collect one or two Sacred Flames. Generally, a cultivator’s spiritual perception range allowed them to gather weightless spiritual flames within that range.
The reason to get as close as possible was that the Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames were extremely special—they could directly harm the original spirit through spiritual perception. The farther away, the longer the process of collecting flames, and even in just a short moment, they could take a few bites.
So, by getting closer, enduring the pain, and allowing them to take just one bite, it should be possible to collect them.
If biting was inevitable, one bite was better than several!
Through intuition, Lin Jiu could tell that Su Che didn’t seem to intend to escape; his vigilance in that regard was at its lowest. Yet, collecting Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames was still a very dangerous task, even for a Xuanxian level—injury was almost certain.
Sacred and unforgiving—such were the greatest characteristics of the Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames.
“Are you nervous?”

Su Che suddenly glanced at Lin Jiu with a slanted eye, his tone laced with obvious mockery: “If you’re scared, you can stay further away.”
Lin Jiu merely snorted coldly and didn’t retort, effectively admitting his own nervousness.
It was like an ordinary person facing a vicious dog that bites—knowing that a few bites wouldn’t kill them instantly, yet still feeling uneasy.
The others above also kept a close eye on Su Che’s every move. Gathering the Chaos Sacred Fire indeed required courage, especially since Su Che was just an ordinary person.
“How much do you want to gather?” Lin Jiu’s question carried no hostility, seemingly showing some concern for Su Che.
Of course, it wasn’t genuine concern—he just didn’t want Su Che to recklessly harm himself to death.
“The more, the better. It depends on how much I can endure.”
Su Che stopped arguing and stared at those pulsating black flames, unable to remain completely relaxed.
As soon as he finished speaking, he gritted his teeth…
Swish!
He raised his hand and aimed at one of the black flames, using his special technique to collect the spiritual fire.
Whoosh!
A small flame floated over and instantly disappeared into his palm.
“It hurts!”
Su Che’s brows twitched as he let out a muffled groan. The excruciating pain as if pierced by thousands of needles struck again—this bite was real, without any pretense.
At that moment, Lin Jiu’s gaze toward Su Che contained tension and wariness, along with a hint of astonishment: “He’s just an ordinary person—how is he capable of this?”
The Chaos Sacred Fire was sacred and untouchable; even true immortals in the immortal realm wouldn’t dare to approach it lightly. A mere mortal like him should die instantly upon touching it!
That flame, which seemed to disappear into Su Che’s palm, was actually taken into the Immortal Prison. Yet, despite the brief process, Su Che’s vital spirit was inevitably damaged.
“One flame is definitely not enough. This requires multiple attempts…”
Su Che gritted his teeth silently and focused on another Chaos Sacred Flame.
Whoosh!
The flame flew over, causing further damage to his vital spirit. Su Che’s expression immediately changed, showing a sickly look. He had barely recovered from the previous curse of weakness—now this again…
“Sigh, this is my fate!”
Su Che laughed self-mockingly, thinking of the Devastation Fist from years ago, which had recklessly drained his life force like self-harm. His feelings were truly indescribable.

The advantage is that after so many years of trials, his tolerance for various kinds of pain has reached an unbelievably extreme level. The kind of intense pain that would make others writhing in agony can, for Su Che, be endured with merely a slight twitch at the corners of his eyes. If “enduring pain” can be considered a skill, Su Che has already reached a mythical level and no longer needs to improve further.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…

With almost no pause, one after another, the Chaos Sacred Flames were gathered. Su Che’s face turned as pale as snow, yet his expression remained eerily calm.

“To what extent has this guy’s primordial spirit strength developed?”

Lin Jiu and the others were secretly shocked. Even they, as Xuanxians, wouldn’t dare collect such flames at this frequency. Was this guy still just an ordinary mortal?

Huhu huhu huhu…

Although Su Che appeared calm on the surface, his body was experiencing violent reactions akin to a tsunami. After gathering over a dozen Chaos Sacred Flames, a large portion of his primordial spirit had been consumed, requiring an enormous amount of vitality and pure soul energy to replenish quickly.

Even so, by the time he reached the twentieth flame, Su Che could no longer hold on and had to stop. At the very least, he wouldn’t be able to do this again for thirty days.

“Let’s stop for now.”

Su Che took a deep breath, like a critically injured patient on the verge of death. He staggered back to his original position, sat cross-legged on the Dao artifact, and fell silent instantly.

“Did he die?”

Including Lianyi, everyone was secretly worried. After carefully assessing his condition, they slightly relaxed, realizing he had only entered a state similar to suspended animation.

“Is it really necessary to push yourself to this extreme? No one is forcing you…”

Lianyi felt a pang of pain in her heart but didn’t dare disturb him and could only mutter to herself.

Lin Jiu transmitted a message to Guangqi: “This guy has actually gathered twenty flames—he’s simply monstrous! Maybe he can really find a way to cross the Fire Region.”

“Yes, this kid seems to have unlimited potential. He’s extremely terrifying!”

A cold glint appeared in Guangqi’s eyes: “If he ascends to the immortal realm and becomes an immortal in the future, with our current cultivation levels, we definitely won’t be his match.”

“Then the only option is to find the right opportunity to ruin his future!”

Lin Jiu clenched his fists tightly. The thought of being trampled underfoot by this kid in the future sparked an almost insane urge for destruction deep within him: He would rather die now than witness that day come to pass!

Another person who held a different view of Su Che was Monroe, who had remained silent and observant throughout. At this moment, he thought to himself, “Not bad. So far, it hasn’t disappointed me…”
As for Su Che, his pretended state of severe injury was merely a ruse; the actual situation was far less serious. While his spiritual core had indeed been severely damaged, it was nothing serious to him. As long as his spiritual core remained intact, even if only a trace of it remained, it could be quickly restored.
What was the weakest point for others became the strongest advantage for him.
Su Che pretended to be seriously injured only to deceive Lin Jiu and the others. His consciousness didn’t need rest at all, and he immediately entered working mode with Lao Hei.
“Gathering the Chaos Holy Flame is indeed quite difficult,” Su Che reminded himself. “Lao Hei, use it sparingly—don’t waste it.”
“Of course!”
Lao Hei replied, “How could I let you suffer needlessly? I think twenty should be enough. We must uphold the spirit of thrift—spend every penny wisely!”
While speaking, Lao Hei sent one of the Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames into the Dan Realm on the third floor of the Immortal Prison.
The Dan Realm on the third floor was filled with tens of millions of kinds of spiritual flames. Besides being used for alchemy and crafting, it was also a special realm for storing and creating spiritual flames.
Back when Su Che underwent trials in the Swallowing-Heavens Realm of the Swallowing-Heavens Rat, there were only a few million kinds of spiritual flames in the Dan Realm on the third floor. Later, during Su Che’s travels in the Spirit Realm, he collected or purchased countless more kinds of spiritual flames, sending them all to the third floor’s Dan Realm to allow them to evolve and create on their own, eventually reaching a scale of tens of millions.
What kind of concept was that—tens of millions of kinds of spiritual flames?
As a result, Su Che and Lao Hei, who spent their days cultivating, simply didn’t have enough time and energy to manage these spiritual flames, so they could only let them develop on their own.
At this moment, as Lao Hei sent one of the Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flames into the Dan Realm on the third floor, intending to divide it into several parts to use sparingly, he suddenly received a message from the Immortal Prison Pagoda…
A few breaths later, Lao Hei relayed the message, “Master, the Immortal Prison Pagoda just informed me that this Chaos Demon-Annihilating Flame possesses sufficient spirituality and a rather noble lineage. It’s very suitable for being transformed into the ruler of the third floor—a character like the Nether Ghost Emperor—to help you manage this realm.”
“A noble lineage?”
Su Che asked curiously, “Do spiritual flames also have lineages?”
Lao Hei scratched his head and chuckled, “It’s just a way of describing it. Master, don’t take it too seriously.”
“Alright then.”

Su Che smiled and said, “I also think that the third layer of the Immortal Prison no longer fits the name ‘Dan Realm.’ After all, its functions are not limited to just pill refinement. So… let’s call it the Fire Realm. A world dominated by fire indeed needs a ruler.”
“There’s another advantage to this,” he added.
Lao He laughed and said, “Once such flames are transformed into the rulers of the third layer, they become your servants. In that case, they will actively help us figure out how to suppress those chaotic demon-destroying flames outside.”