Second Flame Of Romance

Chapter 23 - Die with a tiny bit of dignity

WT 23 - Die with a tiny bit of dignity

While Wan Ting felt a little grateful that they had not stripped all her clothes, allowing her to die with a tiny bit of dignity before forcing her into a large bronze cauldron, she still does not want to die.

Thankfully, the water was only to her chest level when she was forced to sit down to accommodate the space. The lid was placed above her, rendering the space dark, with occasional bright flashes on the wall from the fire. The heat as the cauldron was boiling was starting to get even hotter and her cultivation level was doing very little to help her withstand it.

Wan Ting knew they were refining her with the Flame Spirit inside her by using numerous rare ingredients. She could only identify less than ten of it. Most of them had already dissolved into the water, its fragrance clinging onto her.

Were they trying to kill her and force the Flame Spirit to absorb her soul, occupying her body? As the Flame Spirit that had not matured could not live without a living host, were they trying to force its growth with these ingredients so that it could leave her body? Or was there a new host right outside of the cauldron, waiting for Wan Ting to take her last breath?

The tight space without much light gave her a suffocating feeling that got stronger the longer she was stuck here. She had even started hallucinating, hearing a strange noise as if it came from afar, but she could somehow understand what that noise was trying to convey.

That noise wanted something.

The suffocating feeling had her start coughing on nothing and she was unable to calm it down. Desperate, she started hitting the boiling cauldron, yelling to let her out. Her hands were scalded from the hot temperature but she does not seem to feel pain as she continues banging every spot of the cauldron, trying to find a way to escape like a trapped white mouse.

Outside the boiling cauldron with the scent of the ingredients emitting from it, Shiyi and the other Shadow Tree apprentice watched on, waiting for a fortuitous result.

Jiu, the ninth direct disciple of the sect leader of Shadow Tree, looked on coldly. "We must not disappoint the Master again."

"That is the best we could do without other samples to test on," Shiyi said rather regretfully.

This was their first time encountering a new-born Flame Spirit in an adult body. There were hidden records of a human being the Flame Spirit's chosen host before maturing, but those humans were all babies. Those children usually died before reaching adulthood, where the Flame Spirit refined the host's soul as its energy and enhanced its growth.

The weak children could never win against the Flame Spirit that was the natural predator.

Their information gatherer was unable to find out how long had that girl hosted the Flame Spirit in her, and does not want to risk letting this rare treasure slipping out of their hands now that the orthodox sect became aware of her existence. Their Master thought of this way to forcefully make the Flame Spirit mature, but this method was untested. If this method failed, they had already prepared a baby to let it enter into.

A disciple attired in full black hurried into the hall and greeted the direct disciples before whispering to Jiu's ears.

Even if Shiyi had enhanced hearing, the disciple had conveyed the message secretly with only Jiu able to hear it. But the moment the disciple took out a short, thin scroll, Shiyi had an inkling of what had happened. That tiny scroll was a method used by the guards of their secret realm's entrance as a way to inform those that were inside of the danger outside of their secret realm.

"Shiyi, I will look after the Flame Spirit. You and the others will deal with the enemies."

"Alright," Shiyi agreed readily. Between them, Jiu was the better pill master and if anything happened to the Flame Spirit, the problem will be borne by his senior brother.

"Also find out if Shiba had returned or not with the living pill. The energy is running out."

Shiyi nodded. "I will have the living pill continue providing the energy quickly."

Once Shiyi stepped out of the hall, his calm expression became distorted. "It must be the Fruity Tree sect that followed us to the tea shop... or Shiba is in their hands."

Only the direct disciples would know the location of the guards' travel. Hence the other disciples must have a direct disciple to lead their team whenever they leave their sect or they will never be able to return.

"Senior martial brother Shiba had not returned yet," the disciple answered.

"Then it is him that exposed our location... that little traitor will be punished heavily once I get him back~ Tsk, that living pill is currently even weaker than an average mortal, yet that Shiba manages to let him run far enough to find help... so angry ah."

Shiyi turned to the disciple who looked unaffected by his outburst. Who in the Shadow Tree sect was not two-faced?

"Gather the disciples with good martial arts and quickly deal with those pesky ants..."

Before Shiyi finished his order, the originally dark sky of the sect suddenly glowed red, blinking like a firefly. The entrance to the sect from the wine jar was forcefully being sealed.

"The guards-!" The disciple's calm expression became panicked.

They could count in one hand how many times the entrance guards were changed because they had died from protecting the sect's entrance. Those chosen to be guards must be strong, and usually was one of the sect elders.

Shadow Tree's sect elders were not weak and had many means to protect themselves. It was not difficult to accept if a strong orthodox sect had killed their guards, but this time, it was the Fruity Tree Sect that well known for their talent in pills, not martial arts!

"Oh? We had underestimated the Fruity Tree Sect!" Shiyi gritted his teeth in annoyance.

The door to the hall opened and Shiyi's composure was back. "Senior brother Jiu."

Jiu was frowning, clearly not pleased with how the situation outside the secret realm was heading. "Shiyi, go out using the other entrance and deal with the problem quickly. We must not bother Master's rest any further."

"Understood."

It was noisy outside, but it was silent and still inside the boiling cauldron. The ingredients inside the cauldron had completely melted and mixed into the water. Compared to before, the water level was much lesser, with them being absorbed into Wan Ting's body.

Wan Ting looked as if she had fainted, but inside her mind, her soul was fighting against the unknown which could not speak, but she could understand its intention. This unknown must be the Flame Spirit, and it wanted to devour her soul to get stronger.

The Shadow Tree Sect had thought well in providing the rare ingredients that help in strengthening the Flame Spirit so that it has more strength to absorb Wan Ting's soul and finally reach adulthood. But what they had not expected was that Wan Ting was a talented refiner and snatched the opportunity given to the Flame Spirit for herself.

She could sense the Flame Spirit was angry and wanted to snatch back the properties from her, but how could she easily let go? Not only that, she even increased her absorption speed, not even giving a drop of opportunity to the other.

Enraged, the Flame Spirit launched an attack at her soul but was terrified when Wan Ting, who was absorbing the ingredients, accidentally absorbed a little of the Flame Spirit's essence.

Realizing its mistake, the terrified Flame Spirit backed away, but Wan Ting, who had discovered she could absorb it, quickly expanded her absorption area like a hungry beast. The young Flame Spirit was weak against Wan Ting, especially after she had strengthened her soul with the ingredients.

Although the Shadow Tree sect discovered that Wan Ting barely knew how to use the Flame Spirit and hence, assumed she had no control over it, they neglected the fact that she was an experienced pill forger with a strong will to live.

Unknown to how long time had passed, Wan Ting finally absorbed nearly all of the Flame Spirit's essence and felt bloated, as if she had overeaten. Her soul instinctively went to rest to fully digest the rich essence and she no longer knew what happened after that.