Chapter 196: Flame Controlling Technique The Firefish clan chief chuckled. “No problem! As long as you can defeat Tie Ling, you will be in charge of the operation.” Tie Fan and Tie Fei looked relaxed, too, which made Yunxiao feel interested and curious. They seemed very confident of winning. Duan Yue was vaguely worried as he watched the fish heads smile sinisterly. “Do you have confidence, Young Master Yun?” Yunxiao snorted and said disdainfully, “If I lose, I’ll eat these few fish heads!” “Ugh, I’m just asking. You don’t have to swear such a venomous oath, do you? You are too cruel on yourself!” Duan Yue held up a thumb and praised, but then he was relieved. He knew this lad’s strength, and he knew the latter would not say that if he were not sure. Tie Ling gazed coldly at him and said mockingly, “Let’s compete in this great hall. You will set the rules.” Yunxiao said, “Fire control is nothing more than precision and strength. Well, I’ll make a few moves. If you can imitate them, you win. If not, I win. How about that?” With a playful smile on his face, Tie Ling made a gesture, signaling his approval. Yunxiao’s eyes grew cold. He could not believe he was despised by a group of fish-heads, and he could not help but feel a little angry. He sneered in his heart and thought, ‘Let’s see if you can still smile later!’ He was slightly provoked by Tie Ling’s disdainful and provocative glance. ‘It looks like if I don’t show you some of my abilities, you bunch of fish heads will never stop looking down upon me!’ He pondered a moment and reached out his right hand as he said in a cold voice, “Watch carefully!” With a ‘poof’, a wisp of flame rose in his hand, and he used Primordial Qi to protect it as he pushed away the surrounding water, creating a vacuum area. But, the air under the water was not as plenty as on land after all. Yunxiao’s expression changed slightly as he discovered then that it was very difficult to control fire underwater. He took no chances and began to carefully control it. Under the control of Primordial Qi, the flame in his palm began to slowly grow larger, thinner, and longer, like a thumb-size little sapling beginning to grow at a rate visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it was as thick as an arm, and the details of the little tree gradually emerged while its trunk, branches, and even leaves began to slowly grow out. The eyes of the clan chief, Tie Fan, and the others gradually grew wider as they stared at the artistic control in shock, their faces filled with disbelief. Even Duan Yue was dumbstruck. He was cultivating the element of fire as well, but all this while, he just kept increasing its power and never thought of controlling it in such a playful manner. ‘Heaven, this is no longer playful, but freakish! Gods, what exactly have I seen!’ He was so astounded that his eyeballs almost fell. Yunxiao’s fiery tree had grown to four or five feet tall, so thick that it took half a man to embrace it. By now, even its bark was imitated, with wrinkles clearly visible across it. And the leaves…He saw veins emerge on the surface of those leaves formed by millions of tiny flames! Everyone took a few steps backward in horror. ‘Heaven! Is this still human? This is simply god’s work! Even the God of Fire cannot control flames to such an extent, can he?’ Looking at the petrified look of all the people, Yunxiao snorted coldly and clapped his hands. With that, the tall fiery tree vanished instantly, and the whole great hall suddenly dimmed down. Only then did the people come back to their senses, but the way they looked at him was one of being totally convinced. Tie Ling’s face was livid now with a shocked look. “Have you seen everything clearly, boy? It’s your turn.” “Human alchemists are indeed amazing! I haven’t tried such a fine imitation before, but it’s not necessarily impossible!” Tie Ling gnashed his teeth and walked to the center of the hall. His face was extremely serious as he began to mimic Yunxiao, producing a wisp of flame in his hand and then slowly following the steps. However, when the little tree was half-grown, he frowned and quenched the fire, sinking in thoughts. At last, there was a glimmer of understanding in his eyes after quite a while, and a wisp of flame began to gradually grow in his hand. He mimicked Yunxiao’s steps again, and this time, he did not give up halfway but held on to the last, gradually conjuring a tree that was two to three meters tall. Although it was not as spiritual as Yunxiao’s, it was still well-formed. Pa! Tie Ling clapped his hands, and the fiery tree vanished; he bowed his head and said nothing. Although he also successfully conjured a fiery tree, the quality was obviously inferior. The Firefish clan chief was a sly old fish. Fearing that Tie Ling might directly throw in the towel due to his pride from a young age, he quickly said, “Haha! Not bad! This should also be regarded as a success, right? Human, what other tricks do you have? Show them all to us.” Yunxiao was not upset, but just looked at Tie Ling in shock. He nodded and praised, “Although this is your first attempt, you can already reach this level. You have a great talent in controlling fire. I’m not as good as you at innate talent. You try the following one. This time, I’ll show my best fire controlling technique. If you can do it, I will admit defeat.” Tie Ling quickly retreated to the side, his face slightly warm. He was a proud Firefish, so he felt ashamed to gain an extra advantage by unfair means. Even then, the way he looked at Yunxiao began to be filled with respect. When Duan Yue, the clan chief, and the others heard that, their nerves tensed up. What came next would determine the winner, they knew. But, judging from Yunxiao’s previous means, there was little chance of losing. Yunxiao walked to the center of the hall again as he folded his arms over his chest and thought for a while. Only then did he narrow his eyes. A tremendous wave of Primordial Qi exuded from his body, and with a ‘poof’, plumes of flames blazed all around him, as if they were about to form into a sea of fire. “Watch carefully!” Yunxiao shouted. The sea of fire around him suddenly began to transform and kept spreading out, and the whole great hall was filled with a sea of red flames in just a flash. Even the guards at the door were alerted, but Tie Fan waved at them, sending the shocked guards away. “This is?” Everyone was taken aback as they saw the roaring sea of flames begin to transform into a forest. The few people present all gasped. It was really a forest! Although each tree was not as detailed as the previous one, there were many of them, and every tree looked different and lifelike. Suddenly, a bird’s cry rang out, and then a little red bird flew out from between trees and kept chirping while flapping its pair of tiny wings. It looked like a real bird. Just as everyone was completely petrified, their brains frozen and unable to think, numerous bird cries echoed throughout the forest. For a moment, all kinds of birds flew out and began to chase and play with one another in the fiery forest… The scene completely turned everyone’s mind blank. ‘Is this still fire control? Even the God of Fire cannot control flames to such an extent, can he? Heaven, am I dreaming now?’ The Firefish clan chief’s fish eyes almost fell out as he watched a bird made of flames fly past. “It’s not over yet. Keep your eyes open!” Yunxiao shouted with a cold face. “What I’m going to imitate is the scene of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. I have the birds now but lack the phoenix! Watch carefully, Tie Ling, if you can do this, I’ll admit defeat!” ‘Heaven, it’s not over yet!’ The few Firefish people almost fainted, and they all kept crying in their hearts, ‘Finished, finished, we’re completely finished!’ Tie Ling was dumbstruck. The reason the Firefish clan had a ‘fire’ in their name was that they were proud of their fire controlling ability passed down from generation to generation. But now, in the face of Yunxiao’s performance, his proudest ability was like a stone compared to a pearl. At that moment, all his pride and confidence collapsed, and he murmured numbly to himself, “It’s not over yet…” Yunxiao took a deep breath, and his face turned pale instantly. “Since it is a scene of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, I need to come out with a real phoenix!” There was a hideous gleam in his eyes. He was sure to win the match, for even if Tie Ling could conjure a forest and a hundred birds, he would never be able to conjure a real fire phoenix! “Condense now, Phoenix True Flame!” He shouted as the flaming cloud symbol between his eyebrows appeared abruptly, and a long cry of the phoenix seemed to come from the boundless void. Everyone in the great hall was startled and began to glance around in horror. An illusory phoenix flew out from between his eyebrows, bringing with it a faint fiery-red color as it danced gracefully in the fiery forest. “Am I still only able to condense its illusory form?” Yunxiao was slightly disappointed. The Phoenix True Flame was too powerful! Even with his current peak strength, he could not condense its corporeal form, and just a wisp of its projection. But even so, it was enough to stand out amongst all the other flames. After the illusory fire phoenix appeared, the whole fiery forest and all the birds immediately retreated in terror, as if they had seen something terrible, fleeing toward both sides of the great hall. In just a flash, all the shapes were destroyed. With the emergence of the illusory phoenix, Yunxiao’s body also began to turn into the Glazed Body, gradually becoming transparent. Unfortunately, it still could not meet the ideal requirements. He sighed softly and clapped his hands; all the flames vanished, and the great hall grew dimmed instantly. Suddenly, he felt a throbbing sensation gradually rising from within him, and a surge of Primordial Qi began to flow through his meridians. “Hah! I’m a two-stars Great Martial Master now? This is so slow!” Yunxiao smiled faintly as he sensed his own advancement. In fact, his speed was already very heaven-defying, but it was still not enough compared to his requirements and expectations. “Hey! What are you doing?!” He looked up and was instantly taken aback by the petrified look of the few people. Duan Yue and the four Firefish people were completely frozen, almost turning into statues, with their mouths wide opened and their eyes widened. Compared to the shock from his fire controlling technique, his advancement to a two-stars Great Martial Master was completely ignored by everyone. Yunxiao shouted at them and even knocked Duan Yue on the head a few times, and only then did the latter come to his senses and cry out, “Young Master Yun, you are so amazing! I really want to kneel down before you!” Plop! As soon as he finished that, the Firefish clan chief on the side knelt down directly!