Celestial Peak

As he closed his eyes the water aggressive fell upon his naked body and slowly tempered it. Every time water touches his skin, its temperature would rise. The heat coming from his body was too intense that the stream of water was beginning to increase in temperature.

His body and flame was too hot and it was just the beginning. As white flames escaped from his body starting from his fingertips all the way to his hair, w.a.n.g Ling began to create steam and soon turned to mist.

Mist covered his surroundings and the entirety of the river, from inside the mist was a flickering white light that exuded holiness. It was powerful and purifying, it carried a kind of s strength unique to it.

The flickering light began to wave, the flame was increasing its temperature and its incorporeal self was beginning to take shape. A long body that slithers across his toned and well-developed muscles, a white snake made of pure flames slithered and revealed a part of its tongue.

The flame had taken shape to that of a snake that was merely the size of a few inches. No longer than a forearm and no thicker than his wrist. It wrapped itself around w.a.n.g Ling"s wrist and soon a jolt attacked his mind.

[It is coming, the third ignition.] w.a.n.g Ling was only trying to start the second ignition which is to create an "avatar" that represents his flames. The snake was the shape it had taken shape even before he knew what was going on.

However, he could not completely turn the Heavenly Flame into a snake. Something was hindering his progress and that barrier was the third ignition.

The True Chaos Flames he used to base the True Heavenly Flames had known five ignitions. The first ignition is meant to let the fire rage and show its form to the world. The second ignition was meant to exhibit the control of the cultivator with his flame by forming it to a shape he or she can manipulate freely.

The True Chaos Flames was a technique of his era, but its origins stretch back to the previous eras to the point it was hard to point out. The last Grandmaster who achieved the third ignition were merely three and the power of the third ignition was something even the great Blood Seeking Celestial had to be careful of.

If the second form was to make it take form, hence the name Avatar Creation. The third was something else that defied the natural laws of nature. The third ignition was a phase that "breathes life" or forms a link to the flames so he can control it which explains its name, Ascendance or Transcendence.

The Third Ignition had many more names but the term Ascendance or Transcendence stuck around more so than any of the names that had to be.

Normally, ascendance only happens when the flames reach its maximum temperature or had reached a kind of temperature that could burn the entire continent. The Heavenly Flames had long reached such a degree.

But he did not think the second requisite had been met without his knowledge which was deep comprehension of his own flames.

He did not know he knew more about the white flames than what he had reckoned, but he was not so surprised. After all, the Holy Lord bloodline commands the elements and the flame was no different.

Aside from its counterpart, the h.e.l.l Flames. He could control most flames to a degree. And so, with his attempt to undergo the second ignition his qi unknowingly flowed at a direction that dictates when he should undergo the third ignition.

He had been concentrating for the past week and right now was at the perfect time to complete the process of making his True Heavenly Flames become something else entirely.

And so, he gathered his qi and flames inside his energy palace where the core of the flames was. He set the core of the Heavenly Flames ablaze and then slowly transformed it to a snake that is the same size as his Saint Soul.

A giant snake was beginning to form and as it completed its form. The white snake had its head directed at the incorporeal self of w.a.n.g Ling. The flame had no life and only its form was there.

With that said, w.a.n.g Ling carefully drew out the core from his energy palace and then had it circulate around his meridians where he let the white snake revolve around his meridians sixty-nine times.

The first circulation must consist of sixty-nine revolutions to complete the sixty-nine cycles of the flame"s life.  From the records of the True Chaos Flames, the revolution of the flames will dye his meridians with the color of the flames and let it recognize the form of the flame.

The meridians would be one of the dwelling places of the flames in the near future, a path must be made for the snake to move into. With that said, w.a.n.g Ling recalled the white snake and had it dive into the water of the Spirit Ocean where his qi was the densest.

The white snake became a serpent of the Spirit Ocean and began absorbing the qi of the Spirit Ocean. A grand expenditure of qi surfaced and his qi began to sap away at a terrifying rate.

w.a.n.g Ling"s qi was dense and pure, but it was nothing in the face of the white serpent"s greed. With a motion, his bloodline was activated to supplement the large expenditure of qi.

But it only took him a few seconds to realize that something was wrong.

[The absorption of the serpent is too strong, I can"t keep up with it!] He was alarmed, for the longest time his qi had never seen the bottom of his qi pillars.

But right now, a single serpent was trying to empty him. Not only that, but his life was also in danger.

[If my qi can"t keep up then this serpent will surely go for my blood essence or worst my life essence might be sucked out of my body.

This flame has yet to have a proper connection with me, so it has no idea what is doing.]

He was in a bind, he knew that he was in trouble. Soon, the flames was becoming more and more violent that his body had been tempered for years with the most ravenous flames which is the h.e.l.l Flames.

But at this moment, the increasing heat of his own flames was taking over him and was destroying him from the inside. The more he loses qi, the more he loses control of the flames.

Once he runs out of qi, he will die from not only running dry but also turning into charcoal.

So, without missing a beat he opened his eyes and then brought out his storage ring which contained most of his treasures that contains dense qi and threw it to the lake where he spread them all out.

From the souls of other humans to resources he raided from different sects, w.a.n.g Ling was like a tyrant who threw his possession to a lake turning the lake into a literal treasure in of itself.

w.a.n.g Ling opened his eyes and kicked the stone he was sitting on and dove down the water. He dove down and sank deep into the river. The river had its flow, but he made sure not to let the treasures flow away from his grasp.

He bounded them close to him with his qi and began absorbing them without hesitation. The souls numbered at thousands and the treasures was the same?

Different types of qi entered his body. And the qi contained from the soul he was devouring was gathering on a single point and was being imbued by the angelic qi with its own properties.

The qi from the souls traveled to the serpent and the serpent a.s.similated that qi. The more w.a.n.g Ling absorbed qi, from souls, the more he found that something was wrong.

Something from inside of him was beginning to change and as if the Heavens knew something was up, a gathering of lightning formed above the river he was in.

Lightning began to roll as nine bolts of lightning was seen hovering overhead. The students of the academy saw this and knew that something was up. A lightning tribulation had formed overhead and w.a.n.g Ling was the prime target of the tribulation.

Rumble! Lightning was rolling about and as w.a.n.g Ling drowned at the heat of his own flames, a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens and bathed him with its radiance.

Boom!

The water surrounding him evaporated the moment the lightning was brought down. The grounds of the academy shook and the nearby students began to run away from the lightning tribulation.

An open s.p.a.ce was carved on the lake and turned most of his treasures and souls to dust. But w.a.n.g Ling could not care less about the treasures at the moment because his life was in danger.

This was not the time for him to be facing a tribulation. He was too preoccupied with his inner problems and now something else was creating trouble?

"f.u.c.k!" He spat out a curse and looked at the heavens, "I have no time for you, tsk, I already have a problem and this thing is adding to that? This is not something I want to deal with right now…"

But he could not finish his words because another bolt of lightning fell from the dark clouds.

Roar!

A roar echoed from deep within w.a.n.g Ling, a beast was disturbed, a dense killing intent that resembled that of a savage beast burst out.

"What is this? The serpent… it is howling!" w.a.n.g Ling"s qi was rolling and the serpent deep within his Spirit Ocean was literally having life breathed into it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As three more bolts of lightning crashed onto his body and made the flame serpent roar (hiss) in pain, w.a.n.g Ling was left to endure the full brunt of the flames and lightning.

Boom!

On the sixth bolt of lightning, the flame serpent jolted. As if it had awoken, a bright dark light resembling that of the h.e.l.l Flames appeared.

Boom!

At the seventh lightning, its body began to become more and more corporeal as it was beginning to turn alive.

On the eight lightning, I howled at the pain and in response to my pained howl, the serpent rushes out of the Spirit Ocean and traveled through my meridians. And as the ninth bolt of lightning descended, it escaped from my right hand and with a body as large as ten meters, it wrapped itself around my body and s.h.i.+elded me from the last bolt of lightning.

Unwrapped itself and turned its head to w.a.n.g Ling, the white serpent lowered its head towards w.a.n.g Ling and rubbed it against his face. 

"Father." A shaky voice was heard.