'That foolish Inheritor actually dared to call me, a God King, shameless! Hmph. But this precious Flame Origin of his is quite extraordinary. I wonder where it came from.'
Taoyan God King returned to his residence, paying no mind to what Yang Xiao was doing outside.
He took out the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame, which had already reached the Yellow Flame Realm.
The more he looked at it, the more satisfied he felt.
'Although it only appears to be at the third level of a Mortal Fire, the essence of this Flame Origin is exceedingly noble. I, this God King, once heard that during Ancient Times and the Ancient Era, a Supreme Divine King named Overlord Heaven Flame Emperor appeared, his consciousness born from a Heaven and Earth Origin Fire. Could it be that this tiny flame is also a Heaven and Earth Origin Flame?'
Taoyan God King thought for a moment, then shook his head. 'It's probably not. How precious is a Heaven and Earth Origin Flame? It's a flame nurtured by the Power of Heaven and Earth Origin, a true Child of Heaven and Earth, more precious than any True Dragon or Fire Phoenix. A mere mortal, even one with some luck who managed to become the Northern Wilderness's Inheritor, could never possibly obtain a flame of such a precious level. After thinking it over, I believe this must be some kind of unique Source of Divine Fire.'
At this thought, a hint of pleasant surprise appeared on Taoyan God King's face.
With a thought,
the Heart of Fire Spirit within his body flew out.
If Yang Xiao were here, he would likely be greatly astonished.
Because although Taoyan God King's aura was only at the Demigod Level, his Heart of Fire Spirit was actually at the True God Level. In other words, the Origin he possessed was, shockingly, a Fire God's Heart.
Moreover, it was a Fire God's Heart formed from a terrifying Divine Fire that was cold to the absolute extreme.
'Everyone in the world thinks I, Taiyan, was formed from ordinary Fiery Yang Divine Fire, but they don't know that this God King possesses a Yin Yang Divine Fire Body. My Origin is divided into yin and yang aspects; the Yin Fire is supremely cold, and the Yang Fire is intensely fierce. If not for this, I'm afraid I would be dead now, even with the precautions I left behind.'
Thinking of the battle from hundreds of thousands of years ago,
Taiyan's entire body shuddered.
Though he was a God King, and a powerful one at that, he had always hidden his true strength. If he hadn't, he would have long been recognized as the most powerful God King under the Northern Wilderness Divine King.
Aside from the Celestial Poison God King, who gave him some pause, he didn't even give the Golden Roc God King a second thought.
Otherwise, how would he have dared to make a move against the Primordial Golden Crow, a Top-level Divine Beast?
That creature was a hornet's nest, even more troublesome to provoke than the Golden-winged Roc Clan.
But Taoyan God King provoked it anyway.
This showed the confidence he had in his own power.
Unfortunately, after killing a scion of the Golden Crow Race, Taoyan God King didn't have time to study it much before being summoned by the Northern Wilderness Divine King for that life-or-death battle.
During that battle, although Taoyan God King had long prepared by leaving his Yin Fire Origin behind and splitting off half of his Divine Soul to stay here, the outcome still shocked him.
'That person was simply too terrifying. He wasn't some ordinary Great Emperor; even a Saint Emperor might not have been his match. With just a wave of his hand, that fellow, the Northern Wilderness Divine King, was instantly obliterated. And Celestial Poison, and Han Zhantian, and those hundreds of thousands of True Divine War Generals—all died from that single wave.'
'Even I, Taiyan, was powerless to resist. It was horrifying!'
As for the opponent in that battle,
even now, Taoyan God King's Heart Spirit trembled whenever he thought of him.
One had to understand, the Northern Wilderness Divine King's power was great enough to slay an ordinary Great Emperor, and he could even escape from a Peak Emperor. Yet, in front of that person,
he couldn't even withstand the force of a casual wave.
It was utterly terrifying.
And then there was himself. Although he had made preparations before leaving, splitting his Divine Soul in half,
that single wave of power
not only annihilated the Divine King body he had there and destroyed that half of his Divine Soul, but it even shattered the half of his Divine Soul hidden back in the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion.
If he hadn't made a split-second decision to sever the connection between the two halves,
he feared that even this remaining half of his Divine Soul would have been annihilated.
But even so,
Taoyan God King's remaining half-soul was reduced to a mere remnant. Only after millions of years of nourishment did it slowly begin to recover recently.
Furthermore, because his Divine Soul Origin was damaged, his Spirit Will, though intact, was now flawed. He had used up all the treasures in his mansion,
only managing to restore his state of being to the Demigod Level.
But now... 'What I lack most is Origin Power. If I can fuse with this precious Origin Fire and use the Origin Power within it to nourish my Divine Soul, it won't be long before I recover. I can even feel that although this flame's level is low, its essence is extremely noble, even more so than my previous Yin Yang Divine Fire. If I can absorb it, my very essence of life will probably transform.'
By then, Taoyan God King felt that he might even be able to slay a Great Emperor, just like the Northern Wilderness Divine King once could.
'There's no time to lose. I must fuse with it immediately before anything unexpected happens.'
Taoyan God King's heart raced with excitement.
He directly fused Yang Xiao's Heaven and Earth Origin Flame into his Fire God's Heart—into that mass of Supreme Yin Cold Fire Origin. The Heaven and Earth Origin Fire, for its part, showed no signs of resistance.
It simply merged with it,
as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
This brought great joy to the initially nervous Taoyan God King.
'It's done! Now, as long as I integrate it into my body, my Divine Soul and my flame body will both be nourished. Before long, I, Taoyan God King, will shock the world once again! HA HA HA...!'
Taoyan God King couldn't help but laugh out loud.
But just as his hand reached for the Fire God's Heart, which had now fused with the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame, the heart—originally of the same source as him—suddenly erupted with a terrifyingly cold current.
In an instant, it froze Taoyan God King's flaming hand solid.
Immediately after,
the Fire God's Heart shot through the air,
flying out of Taoyan God King's residence.
This sudden change
left Taoyan God King dumbfounded, staring blankly, unsure of what had just happened. But he was a God King, after all, and he quickly reacted.
He channeled the Power of Fire accumulated in his body over millions of years to expel the Yin Fire.
With a flash,
he tore through the void and followed it out.
When he arrived outside,
he saw something.
Yang Xiao was holding his Fire God's Heart, a mocking expression on his face as he looked back at him.
That look
was enough to make Taoyan God King want to go mad.
Unfortunately,
he had once made a Heaven and Earth Contract with the Northern Wilderness Divine King. He could never harm the Northern Wilderness Divine King, nor could he attack his Inheritor—the successor of the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion.
If he were to strike,
the Northern Wilderness Divine King's power remaining on the Inheritance Altar would trigger the Power of Heaven and Earth
and strike him down.
When he had attacked Yang Xiao earlier, he had been hit by the backlash of this Power of Heaven and Earth.
He had suffered a minor injury.
And that was only because it was his first time attacking.
The Power of Heaven and Earth hadn't been particularly strong.
But if he were to attack again...
Taoyan God King knew what the consequences would be just by thinking about it.
But to just let this Inheritor walk away with his Fire God's Heart...
How could Taoyan God King possibly accept that?
After a moment of hesitation, a stiff, fawning smile appeared on Taoyan God King's face. He shamelessly stepped forward and said to Yang Xiao, "Lord Inheritor, I was rude just now. Please don't hold it against me. You see, I am also a member of the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion. How about... you return my Fire God's Heart? I can help you separate that flame from it, Lord Inheritor. I absolutely won't touch it again. What do you say, is that acceptable?"