Chapter 265: Jiang Lin's Flame Color Reaction!
"In the future, I'll still need to search for spirit items of other attributes. Otherwise, the theoretical limit of the Burning Flame Technique requires the crystal cores of seven different attribute Dou Saints. With the vast resources of the Spirit Race, they might possess more than seven Dou Saints, but to find crystal cores of seven different attributes—that's a bit of a delusion."
Jiang Lin turned into a blazing crimson-gold flame, instantly streaking across the no-fly zone above Gama Holy City. Recently, many more no-fly zones had been added around the city, but Jiang Lin was special—he was one of the very few with "Special Gama Empire Transit Privileges." Apart from him, the only other with such rights at his level was the Eagle of Gama, Xiao Lan. Anyone else flying freely around here would have to be a Dou Emperor. Even Dou Kings could only fly in cities outside of Gama Holy City and the frontier strongholds.
Jiang Lin's crimson-gold flames were uniquely beautiful—something that, once seen, could never be forgotten. Within Gama Holy City, his identity was instantly recognizable. As the city guards liked to say: If you see that dazzling, unforgettable crimson-gold flame in the sky, then don't doubt it—that's You Lin!
As the crimson-gold blaze swept past the city walls, many Gama guards equipped with twin-leaf Feather-Sheath wings raised their heads, watching the meteor-like streak race through the heavens, their eyes filled with awe and reverence.
"The captain was right—it's a color that once seen, can never be forgotten." Many new recruits, who had only heard their captain's warnings, gazed at the crimson-gold meteor in admiration and longing.
On the Dou Qi Continent, cultivation methods involving multiple attributes were rare. Usually, one cultivated according to their strongest attribute. For example, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was primarily fire attribute, with just a hint of wood attribute, so he practiced fire techniques. Another example was Hu Lei, whose Dou Qi was fire and lightning. At first, he focused mainly on fire techniques, but later, upon receiving a dual cultivation method from his master, the Soul Forger, he was able to train both fire and lightning.
In general, a person's Dou Qi might contain multiple attributes. These could exist either in a fused or unfused state. Unfused states appeared as combinations like gold within fire for artificers, or wood within fire for alchemists. Fused states resulted in attributes like wind, thunder, or ice. Cultivators normally trained in whichever attribute was most dominant. If their attributes were evenly split, they could either choose one arbitrarily or attempt dual-attribute cultivation techniques—but such methods were extremely rare.
Jiang Lin's fire-gold Dou Qi once reached a 7:3 ratio. Through the refinement of the Burning Flame Technique, what began as simply a bright Dou Qi evolved. Now, fire and gold attributes had developed a unique interaction—similar to how water could instantly destabilize fire. Fire and gold, too, had their own special relationship.
Originally, Jiang Lin's fire-gold Dou Qi had simply been near perfect—a subtle balance where fire was vigorous enough to burn, while gold was tough enough to endure without being consumed. The Burning Flame Technique only strengthened this delicate state. The result was something that, in Jiang Lin's previous life in the laboratory, he would have called a flame color reaction.
Thus, his crimson-gold Dou Qi finally evolved into the unforgettable crimson-gold blaze—an arc across the heavens whose dazzling tail of radiant particles etched itself deeply into the hearts of all who witnessed it.
"I've already found a fire-attribute spirit item, which is like having a permanent fire root. That's far better than Xiao Huo Huo's fire-element crystal core. But where do I find gold, wood, water, and earth? One step at a time. Anyway, crystal cores can carry me up to Dou Emperor. While other factions might not have sixth-rank magic cores, the crystalized nuclei of sixth-rank beasts do exist among certain demi-human and magical beast clans."
Sometimes alchemists used beast cores in refining pills, mainly for their stored energy. This was common for low-level pills, but rare for high-grade ones. Collecting high-rank crystal nuclei would be difficult, but still far easier than obtaining full beast cores.
"At this point, I'm just missing gold and earth attributes. I'll work harder!"
With that, Jiang Lin flew straight toward the Blacksmiths' Guild, passing even through the most tightly restricted zone—the Feather-Sheath Foundry, where even Dou Emperors were forbidden to fly. But Jiang Lin's presence was too distinctive for anyone to stop him.
"Hm? An invitation to the Mo Clan Grand Elder Mo Cheng's birthday banquet?" Upon returning to the Blacksmiths' Guild, Jiang Lin didn't see the lazy Fatty Yuan. Instead, he found only Haimo, a fourth-rank artificer.
"Everyone else is either out or busy forging Four-Leaf Feather-Sheaths. I just finished one myself, so I'm resting. That invitation came from a woman named Mo Lan." Nowadays, the guild was nearly empty, and Jiang Lin only ever ran into Fatty Yuan by coincidence—usually during one of Yuan's breaks. Forging a single fourth-rank item consumed enormous time and energy, leaving artificers exhausted for months at a stretch. This process, called Spirit Forging, doubled as a form of soul cultivation, so no one considered it wasted effort.
Spirit Forging was the most basic soul cultivation technique every artificer learned.
At the moment, Haimo happened to be on duty at the front desk, reading. Unlike Fatty Yuan, his reading material was serious—artificer manuals and optimization drafts for the Four-Leaf Feather-Sheath wings.
This explained why the guild sometimes placed even fourth-rank artificers at the reception desk—something that seemed absurd to alchemists. On one hand, the guild lacked manpower. Sub–fourth-rank artificers were worked like beasts of burden with barely any rest. But fourth-rank artificers required sustainable work-rest cycles, otherwise they risked burning out and dying suddenly.
On the other hand, only fourth-rank artificers had the "sage time" after Spirit Forging, when they could spare the focus to do auxiliary tasks. Still, it amounted to the same—being worked like beasts of burden.
In the end, the real issue was that the guild simply didn't have enough artificers. Sometimes, even President Hu Lei himself would be forced to serve as the receptionist.
(END CHAPTER)
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