While in Battle Through the Heavens, one can pre-appoint oneself as an emperor.

Four days after the conclusion of the Strong Ranking Competition, the Inner Courtyard, which had been quiet for a short while, became lively again.

Because the top ten strongest individuals on today's ranking list are the ones who can enter the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower to undergo the tempering of their primordial heart fire.

Everyone in the inner courtyard knew that as long as they could endure this body tempering, they would be able to pave the way for their future advancement to the Dou Wang level. This rare and precious opportunity was enough to make anyone envious and covetous.

As the sun rose in the east, when Chen Xiao and Zi Yan arrived outside the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower, hundreds of people had already gathered there.

Some of these people were there to send their gang leaders, while others were simply there to watch the excitement. Today, because the top ten on the ranking list were to enter the bottom of the tower, the inner courtyard had prohibited other students from entering. Although this move drew some complaints from the crowd, they understood that it was a rule passed down through the ages and could only accept it helplessly.

"They seem to be afraid of you."

Following Chen Xiao, Zi Yan saw that the other people in the top ten of the rankings were nodding kindly to Chen Xiao from afar, but did not dare to go up and greet him. She immediately giggled.

Seeing the girl's feigned ignorance, Chen Xiao was speechless.

After the two arrived, they waited for about half an hour. Suddenly, the sound of wind breaking came from the sky, and several old figures appeared outside the tower gate. Leading the way was the First Elder, Su Qian.

"Hehe, it seems you're all very eager. Well then, I won't waste any more words."

Su Qian glanced around and saw that the top ten had all arrived. Without wasting any more words, he waved his hand, and the heavy tower gate slowly opened with a creaking sound.

"The top ten on the ranking list, come in with me. Everyone else is not allowed to enter today. Otherwise, you won't be able to enter for the next six months."

With a casual remark, Su Qian ignored the crowd who were cowering in fear at the severe punishment and turned to walk into the tower.

Watching Su Qian's retreating figure, the ten people at the front exchanged glances, and amidst the envious gazes, they all followed suit and stepped into the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower!

Upon entering the tower, the bright light suddenly dimmed, and the ten people looked up to see Su Qian waiting for them.

"Just follow me. Don't walk alone. Once you reach the lower levels of the tower, don't wander around. No matter what noises you hear, don't look around. Otherwise, I will disqualify you. Understand?"

As she spoke, Su Qianduo glanced at Zi Yan.

Clearly, of the ten people, this little dragon man was the one he was most worried about.

Zi Yan slightly pursed her lips. She was just a little impulsive, not really stupid, and naturally knew what was important.

After everyone nodded, Su Qian turned around and led the way. The route he took was different from the usual route down the tower. Instead of taking the steps, he opened the iron gate that was usually locked.

With curious eyes, the ten people followed closely behind.

Entering through the iron gate, there is a winding passage. The light inside becomes even dimmer, and one can barely see the path ahead with the naked eye.

Fortunately, thanks to their perception through the power of their souls, this did not affect their speed of progress.

The ten people followed Su Qian in silence, turning left and right. After a few minutes, they saw an elder sitting cross-legged like a statue, guarding the place. They saw another elder every few minutes along the way.

Such tight defenses, coupled with the dim atmosphere, left several senior students, unaware of the situation, speechless with astonishment, wondering why such strict security was necessary.

Chen Xiao and Zi Yan knew more; these elders guarding the area weren't actually there to protect the students.

What they were guarding against was the Fallen Heart Flame that was suppressed at the bottom of the tower!

This oppressive journey, which lasted for nearly half an hour, was finally broken by the light that appeared at the end of the dim passage.

"We've arrived!" Su Qian's voice rang out.

The ten people then took a closer look and found that they were in an extremely spacious and empty space inside the tower. It covered a vast area, and judging by the distance, it was no smaller than any of the floors above. Moreover, since there were no cultivation rooms here, it felt even more spacious and empty at first glance.

As their gazes shifted, everyone's eyes soon settled on the central location.

There, there is a huge opening, several tens of meters wide, which is exactly the same as the huge deep hole in the center of each of the upper levels, corresponding to it from afar.

"Come forward, all of you."

As Su Qian spoke, she stepped closer to the central cave, with the others following closely behind.

Su Qian stopped when he was about twenty meters away from the entrance of the deep cave. With a wave of his hand, two figures appeared out of nowhere and stopped about ten meters away from the cave entrance.

"Sit down, everyone!" Su Qian pointed to the ground on the right.

There were ten specially made jade platforms, shaped like futons, prepared in advance, and they looked as green as jade.

Upon hearing this, the ten people quickly followed the instructions and each found a jade platform to sit on. They could all feel a faint coolness coming from beneath their seats, which largely isolated them from the heat at the bottom of the tower.

Seeing that everyone was seated comfortably, Su Qian turned around and whispered a few words to the two elders.

The next moment, the two elders slowly approached the entrance of the deep cave, their hands flashing as they formed hand seals, and finally they whispered a deep shout.

As the two shouted, a ripple suddenly appeared around the empty cave, and then a layer of somewhat illusory energy ripples slowly appeared in everyone's sight.

After the energy ripple shield appeared, the two elders waved their hands, and instantly, a pale white light shield the size of a human head slowly floated out from the deep hole, finally seeping out rings of energy ripples, hovering two meters above the ground, rising and falling.

Shortly after the first pale white light barrier appeared, more light barriers followed one after another, and soon, exactly ten orbs of light appeared in front of everyone.

Seeing the anticipation in the eyes of the ten people, Su Qian chuckled and waved his sleeve, causing the light orb to quickly become transparent.

If you look closely now, you can see a strange flame that seems invisible but can be observed with the naked eye, rising slowly within its own ball of light.

"This is the Origin Heart Flame that you've been longing for. The Inner Academy spends a lot of effort every year, but can only capture three or four of them. Otherwise, the Strong Ranking Competition wouldn't be held only once every five years."

"I won't go into the details of the effects of this Primal Heart Flame, as you all already know them. What I want to remind you is that using it to temper your body also carries considerable risks. The pain of tempering is unbearable, and if you are not careful, you will not only fail but also cause considerable damage to yourself."

"Therefore, when you are training your body, if you feel that you have reached your limit, you should stop. Even if you cannot break through immediately afterward, it will pave the way for you. Do not rush it!"

Su Qian focused her gaze on several nine-star Dou Ling, including Chen Xiao, and gave them a special reminder.

As for the others, Zi Yan goes without saying; the eight-star and seven-star Dou Ling are still some distance away from breaking through to Dou Wang.

Chen Xiao and the others nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Now that you understand, close your eyes and concentrate. Don't get distracted. If any problems arise, the two elders and I will take action."

Su Qian nodded slightly, and with a flick of his sleeve, ten orbs of light flew to the top of everyone's heads. Finally, under the watchful eyes of everyone, they burst open with a bang, and the invisible flame inside fell straight down and disappeared into the top of everyone's heads!

As the invisible flame entered the heads of the ten people, in an instant, except for Zi Yan who only trembled slightly before returning to normal, the other nine people all trembled to varying degrees. Then, their faces turned as red as burning coals, and even wisps of white mist seeped from their foreheads.

Among these nine people, Chen Xiao, who possesses the ice attribute, reacted the most violently.

Under the watchful eyes of Su Qian and the two elders, Chen Xiao was like a red-hot iron block thrown into cold water; the white mist that rose from it was more terrifying than the combined smoke from the other eight people.

Su Qian casually set up a small barrier to isolate Chen Xiao, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"During the Strong Ranking Competition, this kid easily made it into the top ten, but here, his attributes are at a huge disadvantage. For him, the Heart Flame Origin Body Tempering is really only for tempering the body, with basically no chance of success. The battle qi in his body simply cannot withstand the consumption of the Heart Flame Origin. However, it can pave the way for the future, so it can be considered a gain."

Upon hearing this, the two elders beside him nodded in agreement.

Chen Xiao is not the first ice-attribute player to be in the top ten of the rankings; there have been others before.

However, each time, those with the ice attribute can only last the shortest time here, because the Heart Flame enters their bodies and reacts most violently with their battle qi, resulting in greater consumption and more intense pain than others.

...

Pain, heart-piercing pain!

This is how Chen Xiao feels right now.

After the Heart Flame Core entered his body, Chen Xiao felt as if his body had become a battlefield filled with gunfire, with the Heart Flame being the invader and the ice-attribute battle qi within his body being the defender.

The two sides seemed to have an irreconcilable blood feud. Upon first contact, they launched a self-destructive war without any explanation. Every time the Heart Flame flowed through his meridians, it would "perish together" with a large amount of fighting spirit, causing Chen Xiao's fighting spirit to be rapidly consumed, and leaving the place in ruins.

At this moment, Chen Xiao was sweating profusely, his veins bulging, gritting his teeth and enduring pain that was ten or a hundred times more intense than the Earth Core Tempering Milk bath. He frantically circulated his cultivation technique and mobilized his internal fighting spirit to stop the rampage of the Heart Flame.

However, while he could grit his teeth and endure the pain, what worried Chen Xiao the most was whether he could withstand the drain of the Heart Flame.

At this moment, Chen Xiao understood why it was difficult for people with ice attributes to successfully accept the Heart Fire Body Tempering Source, because the consumption of such energy far exceeded that of ordinary people, which was simply not something that ordinary people could withstand.

Chen Xiao is currently cultivating a mid-level Earth-rank technique, and his mana bar is much longer than others.

Even so, in just a few minutes, he felt that 30% of his fighting spirit had been consumed!

On the other hand, the rampant nature of the Heart Flame within the body had only slowed down by two points.

What Chen Xiao didn't know was that Su Qian and the two elders were already very surprised to see him able to hold on for a few minutes.

"It's because of the cultivation technique. The technique he cultivates is above the Earth Rank, but it's still difficult. I remember that ten years ago, there was also a top ten ice attribute cultivator who also cultivated a low-level Earth Rank technique, but he only lasted for a quarter of an hour."

An elder shook his head and said that he still did not think Chen Xiao could succeed.

As time passed and he gradually became numb to the excruciating pain, Chen Xiao was finally able to feel the benefits brought by the Heart Flame Body Tempering.

In the clash between ice and fire, his bones, meridians, and even muscles, like steel tempered in the flames, were forged at a noticeable speed, becoming increasingly tough and explosive.

In other words, this battlefield is now even more impregnable.

"Refine it for me!"

Feeling the benefits, Chen Xiao was even more unwilling to end it here. The battle crystals in his body spun wildly, and powerful streams rushed towards the source of the Heart Flame, like a suicide squad ready to die.

30%, 50%, 80%...

His internal fighting spirit gradually dwindled, and a quarter of an hour had passed.

Seeing that Chen Xiao was still struggling to hold on, Su Qian and the two elders were astonished.

Suddenly, Su Qian seemed to have thought of something.

"I remember there were two mid-level Earth-rank cultivation techniques in the outer courtyard's library, one ice and one fire, both left behind by the Dean. The ice-attribute technique... wait, does that mean this kid actually has a chance of succeeding?"

Su Qian's eyes lit up, clearly guessing what Chen Xiao had gained in the library. However, she only spoke halfway through her sentence, causing the two elders beside her to hesitate and stop speaking.

You should at least tell me the whole story.

Riddlers deserve to die!

Just as Su Qian had guessed, after persisting for more than twenty minutes, Chen Xiao's fighting spirit was completely exhausted.

However, this does not mean that he has failed.

Because he also possesses an Ice Soul Talisman!

The hidden energy is being activated for the first time at this very moment!

Time passed second by second, half an hour, until nearly an hour later, Chen Xiao finally felt that the chaotic army of heart flames raging in his body had finally been extinguished by the fearless ice attribute battle qi.

In an instant, all the pain vanished, and the taut string was finally released.

Chen Xiao slowly opened his eyes, his throat moved, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

However, Chen Xiao was completely unaffected, and his face beamed with an even brighter smile.

This blood was simply the stagnant blood that was expelled after the meridians and flesh were strengthened.

"Are you alright?"

Su Qian appeared beside him in a flash, her eyes filled with undisguised admiration.

The two elders on the other side were even more dumbfounded, never expecting that he would actually succeed!

Sensing the elder's concern, Chen Xiao shook his head slightly.

"It's nothing, just rinsing my mouth."