The Hidden Cave - Magic Beast Mountain Range.
The days blurred into nights, and the nights blurred into pain.
For the next two months, Tang Chen's life was a cycle of hunting, bleeding, and boiling.
"Jump in," Yao Lao commanded.
In the center of the cave, the iron medicinal cauldron was bubbling. Yao Lao had filled it with spring water and Green Wood Grass, heating it with his own white flame until the liquid turned a vibrant, toxic-looking green.
"It's boiling!" Tang Chen protested, looking at the steam.
"It is tempering," Yao Lao corrected, floating nearby with his arms crossed. "You have the will of an adult, but the body of a six-year-old. If you want to fight magical beasts, your skin must be tough as leather and your bones as hard as iron. Get in."
Tang Chen gritted his teeth. He stripped off his clothes and climbed into the cauldron.
"Gah!"
It felt like a thousand ants were biting him simultaneously. The medicinal energy drilled into his pores, repairing the micro-tears in his muscles while hardening his skin.
"Cycle your Qi!" Yao Lao barked. "Don't waste the medicine!"
Tang Chen closed his eyes, forcing his breathing to steady. 'I will be strong. I won't be a greenhouse flower.'
Two Months Later.
The Magic Beast Mountain Range was unforgiving, but it was fair. It rewarded effort with survival.
Tang Chen stood in a clearing below the cliff. He was shirtless, his small body covered in fading bruises and scratches. He looked different—leaner, sharper, his baby fat replaced by wiry, explosive muscle.
In front of him circled a 1-Star Wind Wolf.
The wolf lunged, a blur of grey fur and teeth.
Tang Chen didn't panic. He didn't use flashy techniques. He simply pivoted on his heel, reading the wolf's trajectory with his Di State Soul Perception. He ducked under the jaws and drove his fist into the wolf's exposed ribs.
Crack.
The wolf whimpered and collapsed, twitching twice before dying.
Tang Chen stood over it, breathing heavily. He felt a surge of warmth in his lower abdomen. The Dou Qi in his meridians, which had been bubbling for weeks, finally boiled over.
Pop.
A faint, muffled sound echoed from his body.
Tang Chen closed his eyes. He felt the gas-like Dou Qi in his body become significantly denser, flowing with a heavy, stable rhythm.
"6-Star Dou Disciple... Peak," Tang Chen exhaled, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Not bad," Yao Lao floated out from the ring. "You are slow, but steady. You didn't rush. Your foundation is solid as a rock."
"Slow is fine," Tang Chen muttered, harvesting the beast core from the wolf. "I'm alive."
He looked at his spatial bracelet. He frowned.
"Mister Yao, we have a problem. I'm out of rations. And my bag is full of low-level beast cores. We need to resupply."
Yao Lao looked toward the direction of civilization. "Then we go to the city. But be quick. My soul senses have been restless lately. I feel... watched."
"I'll be careful," Tang Chen nodded. He put on his oversized grey cloak, pulling the hood low to hide his distinctive red hair. "Just a quick trip to Wu Tan City. Sell the loot, buy rice, and vanish."
Wu Tan City.
The city was bustling with activity. Mercenaries shouted, merchants hawked wares, and the smell of food filled the air. For Tang Chen, who had been living like a savage, it was overwhelming.
He kept his head down and walked straight to the Miteer Auction House.
He knew Miteer was the safest place to fence stolen goods or large quantities of beast cores without awkward questions. He approached the reception counter.
"I wish to sell a batch of Class-1 Magic Cores," Tang Chen said, pitching his voice to sound raspier and older.
The receptionist, a young woman in a silk uniform, looked at the small, cloaked figure. She glanced at the bloodstained bag he placed on the counter.
"One moment, sir," she said. Her smile was polite, but her eyes lingered on him a second too long. "I will get a senior appraiser."
Tang Chen leaned against the wall, waiting.
Minutes ticked by.
'Too long,' Tang Chen thought, his instincts flaring. 'Evaluating a bag of low-level cores takes seconds. Why are they stalling?'
He pushed off the wall. 'Something is wrong.'
He turned to the exit.
Clack.
The heavy oak main doors of the auction house slammed shut. The locking mechanism engaged with a heavy thud.
Tang Chen stiffened. He channeled his 6-Star Dou Qi, dropping into a combat stance, though he knew he was trapped.
"Little friend," a smooth, velvety voice echoed from the grand staircase.
Tang Chen looked up.
Walking down the stairs was a woman in a tight red cheongsam. She was stunningly beautiful, possessing a charm that could bewitch men, but right now, she looked like a hunter who had just snared a rabbit.
Ya Fei.
But Tang Chen didn't look at her. His gaze was fixed on the person standing behind her.
It was an old man in unassuming grey robes. He looked ordinary, but the pressure radiating from him made the air in the hall feel like lead.
'Dou Spirit!' Yao Lao's voice screamed in Tang Chen's mind. 'Hide your aura! Do not provoke him!'
Tang Chen didn't hide. He let his arms drop to his sides. He stared at the small flame emblem stitched onto the old man's chest.
The Burning Flame Valley.
"We found you," the old man said calmly. He let out a long, weary sigh of relief. "Young Master Tang Chen."
Tang Chen took a step back, his back hitting the locked door.
"You have the wrong person," Tang Chen said, his voice tight.
"Do I?" The old man, Elder Li, smiled sadly. "We traced you from the Black Corner Region. You stowed away on a Miteer caravan in Maple City. The Miteer family keeps excellent records of their cargo... and they are very eager to claim the favor of the Burning Flame Valley."
Ya Fei stepped forward, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, little guy. But your father offered a reward that was... simply too generous to refuse. Even for Miteer. Business is business."
Tang Chen clenched his fists.
'Mister Yao?' he asked internally.
"Don't," Yao Lao whispered back, his voice tense. "If I manifest to fight a Dou Spirit, I expose my soul signature. The Hall of Souls might sense me. And... he called you 'Young Master'. This is your family. They won't kill you. Surrender."
Tang Chen closed his eyes. The game was up.
He reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing his messy red hair and dirt-streaked, defiant face.
"Hi, Uncle Li," Tang Chen said dryly.
Elder Li bowed deeply, ignoring the dirt on the boy's clothes. "Young Master. You have led us on quite a chase. The Valley Master has been... waiting."
"I bet he is," Tang Chen muttered. "Is he going to break my legs?"
"He is relieved," Elder Li said softly. "Please. A Skyship is waiting outside the city limits. We are going home immediately."
Tang Chen glared at Ya Fei as he walked past her toward the side exit, flanked by Burning Flame Valley guards.
"I'll remember this," Tang Chen warned her.
Ya Fei just winked, unfazed. "Come back when you're older, Young Master. We'll give you a VIP discount."
The Journey Home.
The trip back to the Central Plains wasn't in a crate. It was in the luxurious private cabin of a massive Sky Void Boat, tearing through the clouds at high speed.
Tang Chen sat on the silk bed, staring out the window. His "freedom arc" had lasted less than a year.
"You are quiet," Elder Li noted, sitting across from him.
"I'm calculating," Tang Chen replied.
Elder Li reached out and checked Tang Chen's pulse. His eyes widened slightly.
"6-Star Dou Disciple," Elder Li muttered. "You left as a 5-Star. In months of running for your life, surviving in the wild... you advanced a full star and reached the peak? Most children would have regressed or died."
"I didn't run away to die," Tang Chen said stubbornly. "I ran away to live."
Inside the ring, Yao Lao stayed completely, deathly silent.
He had sensed the power of the Void Boat. He knew they were heading to a major power. But he dared not extend his senses to check which one. He was a fugitive soul, and the Central Plains was dangerous.
Burning Flame Valley - Inner Sanctum.
Three days later.
The Void Boat descended.
Through the window, the view changed from white clouds to an apocalyptic landscape of terrifying beauty.
Massive volcanoes pierced the sky. Rivers of magma flowed like water, illuminating the red stone palaces built into the caldera walls. The air shimmered with intense fire energy.
Thousands of disciples in red robes trained in the squares below.
Inside the ring.
Yao Lao froze.
He saw the banners. BURNING FLAME VALLEY.
He saw the geographical layout—the massive Nine Dragon Lightning Flame formation array that protected the valley.
"Burning Flame Valley," Yao Lao whispered in the dark space of the ring, his face turning pale. "One of the Three Great Valleys."
He looked at the boy—his "little runaway" disciple who argued about chili powder.
"Tang Chen... Tang..."
The realization hit Yao Lao like a hammer.
"Tang Zhen's son. I accepted the Prince of the Burning Flame Valley as my disciple?!"
Yao Lao immediately retracted every wisp of his soul. He went into a deep, dormant state, shielding his presence entirely. 'Tang Zhen is a 5-Star Dou Zun. If he senses a foreign soul on his son, he will incinerate me instantly. I must not make a sound.'
The Throne Room.
The heat in the hall was intense, enough to melt iron, but for the Tang bloodline, it was comfortable.
Tang Chen walked to the center of the massive obsidian room.
At the end of the hall, sitting on the throne of magma rock, was his father.
Tang Zhen. The Valley Master.
Tang Zhen stood up. He walked down the steps, his face like granite. The pressure in the room was suffocating.
"You ran away," Tang Zhen said softly.
"I wanted to see the world," Tang Chen replied, looking his father in the eye. He didn't flinch.
Tang Zhen stopped in front of him. He grabbed Tang Chen's wrist, checking his internal state.
"6-Star Dou Disciple," Tang Zhen muttered. "Your foundation is solid. Your physical body is tougher than before. You ate some bitterness outside."
"It was educational," Tang Chen said.
Tang Zhen stared at him for a long moment. Then, the tension in his shoulders dropped. He sighed.
"You are reckless. You could have been killed by the Hall of Souls. You could have been eaten by beasts. But... you survived. And you grew stronger."
Tang Zhen patted Tang Chen's head. It was a heavy, awkward affection.
"Go to your room. You are grounded. You will not leave the Valley until you become a Dou Fighter (Dou Zhe)."
Tang Chen looked up. "And after that?"
"We will see," Tang Zhen grunted. "Now go. Your mother has been crying for months."
Tang Chen bowed and walked away.
As he walked down the hallway back to his luxurious room, he touched the black ring.
'Teacher? You there?'
Silence.
Tang Chen smirked. He knew the old ghost was terrified.
'Don't worry, Mister Yao. My dad won't find you. And now... I have the resources of the entire Burning Flame Valley to help me practice the Flame Mantra. This isn't a prison. It's a vault.'
He opened the door to his room. He was back in the greenhouse, but this time, he was the one controlling the temperature.