The World-Ending Spirit Fire slowly opened its eyes, a hint of confusion still lingering within them.
"Kid? What are you doing here?" The World-Ending Spirit Fire was taken aback upon seeing Ye Ling appear before it. "Could it be that you, like me, are dead?"
After being captured by the Primordial Flame King, the World-Ending Spirit Fire had completely lost consciousness, even believing itself to be dead.
"Can you say something more auspicious, you guy?" Ye Ling rolled his eyes and retorted to the World-Ending Spirit Fire.
"You mean... I'm not dead?"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire came back to its senses and immediately checked its entire body. Finding no defects, it let out a sigh of relief and chuckled, "Seems like it was just a false alarm..."
"Right, kid. Since you were able to rescue me, it means you've dealt with the Primordial Flame King, right? It seems the Primordial Flame King was just so-so. He even held a hostage and still couldn't defeat you."
"Things aren't that simple."
Ye Ling collected the heavily injured Nuo Ying into his small world for nurturing. He then pointed to the crystal core floating in the Primordial Flame Domain and said to the World-Ending Spirit Fire, "Look at that thing..."
"The Flame King Core?"
Upon seeing the red crystal core, the World-Ending Spirit Fire's pupils contracted sharply, and it exclaimed.
"You recognize this thing?" Ye Ling looked at the World-Ending Spirit Fire in surprise.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire pursed its lips and murmured, "So the dream I had... was it all true?"
"What dream did you have?" Ye Ling frowned.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire said, "I dreamt that I was controlled by a disciple of the Primordial Flame King, who said that the Primordial Flame King wanted to use me to break free from the Overseer's seal."
"Even the Overseer doesn't know that the Primordial Flame King originally had two bodies. One body has already been sealed by the Overseer, while the other body, this Flame King Core, has always been hidden in the Primordial Flame Domain."
"Wait a moment..."
Ye Ling quickly stopped the World-Ending Spirit Fire and asked, "You said you were controlled by a disciple of the Primordial Flame King?"
"Yes!" The World-Ending Spirit Fire nodded. "Is there a problem?"
"There's a huge problem!"
Ye Ling's expression turned grave, and he immediately scanned his surroundings vigilantly.
The dream the World-Ending Spirit Fire thought it had was likely a real experience it had while in a daze!
That disciple of the Primordial Flame King clearly existed!
Yet, Ye Ling had been in the Primordial Flame Domain for so long, and had even fought with the World-Ending Spirit Fire, but he hadn't seen any trace of that disciple!
Ye Ling had caused such a commotion in the Primordial Flame Domain, yet the Primordial Flame King's disciple had never appeared... This indicated that the disciple must be brewing something in secret!
"K-kid... Don't scare me!"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire hadn't grasped the situation yet, but seeing Ye Ling's serious expression, it shrunk closer to Ye Ling and became vigilant.
Ye Ling surveyed the surroundings and asked the World-Ending Spirit Fire in a deep voice, "World-Ending Spirit Fire, what does the Primordial Flame King's disciple look like?"
"I forgot..." the World-Ending Spirit Fire replied.
"Forgot?" Ye Ling looked at the World-Ending Spirit Fire in shock. "You can forget something like that?"
"Can you remember every detail of your dreams?" the World-Ending Spirit Fire asked aggrievedly.
"I..." Ye Ling was speechless but couldn't retort. He changed the subject and asked, "Then can you remember his characteristics?"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire pondered for a moment and then said, "That disciple seemed to be highly trusted by the Primordial Flame King, able to freely manipulate the power of the Primordial Flame King and the Primordial Flame Domain."
"Freely manipulate the Primordial Flame King's power?"
Upon hearing the World-Ending Spirit Fire's words, Ye Ling's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He abruptly looked at the Flame King Core floating in the Primordial Flame Domain.
*Screech!*
The moment Ye Ling's gaze fell upon the Flame King Core, magma chains shot out from it towards the World-Ending Spirit Fire, about to ensnare it.
"Again?"
Seeing this, Ye Ling immediately grabbed the World-Ending Spirit Fire and retreated. He then used runes to shatter the magma chains.
"Kid, what is that?" the World-Ending Spirit Fire exclaimed in shock.
"Go into my small world first!"
Fearing that the World-Ending Spirit Fire would be captured by the Primordial Flame King again, Ye Ling quickly stuffed it into his small world. He then looked at the Flame King Core in front of him with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "You've been hiding for so long, now show yourself."
"You possess the Flame King's power. You must be Ye Ling, whom the Flame King mentioned?"
A calm voice emanated from the Flame King Core. Then, the Flame King Core ignited with surging flames, transforming into a fiery figure.
Seeing that the Primordial Flame King's disciple had been hiding within the Flame King Core all along, Ye Ling asked, "Were you hiding in there the whole time?"
"Yes." The Primordial Flame King's disciple did not deny it. "I have been observing you since the moment you entered the Primordial Flame Domain."
"Then why didn't you stop me from rescuing him?" Ye Ling asked again.
"Because it was meaningless." The Primordial Flame King's disciple said, "Your ability to reach the Primordial Flame Domain means you never intended to rescue the Flame King. To us, Nuo Ying is no longer useful, so it's fine if you take her."
"However, the World-Ending Spirit Fire still has some use. But I wasn't fully prepared just now, and it's not worth risking my life for a mere flame."
Hearing the Primordial Flame King's disciple's words, Ye Ling smiled slightly and asked, "Since that's the case, then why have you come out now?"
"I won't be rescuing your master anyway. If you come out and fight me, even if you kill me, it would be meaningless, right?"
The Primordial Flame King's disciple shook his head. "No... the Flame King had already guessed that you might not follow his plan to rescue him, so he made two contingency plans."
"Two contingency plans?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow slightly.
The Primordial Flame King's disciple said, "You should know that there is a tiny crack on the seal that the Overseer used to seal the Flame King."
"The Primordial Flame King did mention that." Ye Ling replied.
"That crack was left by me and my colleagues at the cost of our lives." The Primordial Flame King's disciple said calmly. "For this, apart from me, all my colleagues paid with their lives."
Ye Ling: "I express my condolences."
"Thank you." The Primordial Flame King's disciple said a faint thank you and continued, "Through the crack, the Flame King can continuously transmit his power outwards from the seal."
"However, the Overseers are constantly monitoring the Primordial Chaos. If the Overseers discover that the residual power of the Seven Kings in the outside world becomes too high, they might thoroughly investigate the seal and then discover that crack."
Ye Ling raised an eyebrow. "So, the threshold for the residual power of the Primordial Seven Kings in the Chaos is thirty percent of their peak power?"
"That's right... Thirty percent is the limit. Any higher, and the Seven Kings' power could affect the Primordial Chaos." The Primordial Flame King's disciple said.
"So, if the Flame King sends you thirty percent of his power, it's equivalent to the Flame King's power disappearing from the Primordial Chaos, allowing him to transmit another thirty percent of his power to the outside world."
"I see..."
Ye Ling nodded slightly, then said to the Primordial Flame King's disciple, "So... you're treating me like a warehouse?"
The Primordial Flame King's disciple nodded and said, "Theoretically, yes."