The weight of countless eyes bore down on Aiden, scrutinizing his every move with unwavering intensity. The already chilly air in the room seemed to plummet further, as if responding to the frigid gazes that pierced through him like icy daggers.

Some of those stares were filled with suspicion and malice, trying to tear him apart and expose his innermost thoughts and motive.

Some were already sweating, hoping that things would go smoothly for them. For them, the tension in the air was palpable, a thick oppressive force that threatened to suffocate them.

Some were hoping he would stand against the elder and win.

However, most of those gazes were urging him to go big. They were whispering with their eyes for him to refute the elder, and fall forward on his own face and they would be there to watch him fail, mock him inwardly, and give him a sarcastic nod in the end.

The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the occasional rustle of robes or the soft exhale of held breath, as everyone waited with bated anticipation for Aiden's next move.

Well, he couldn't change the things as there would always be people who lived on the fence and goaded on the other's failure. But they had chosen a wrong target this time.

Aiden smiled casually. He was busy scanning through old man Li's memories, and what he found made things clear for him.

Crystal clear.

There was a big power play here. This Wun Xia Ja, was a prodigy a decade ago, and old man Li liked him a lot and taught him alchemy; he poured his heart into Wun Xia Ja's development and he got stabbed in the back. When he found out about everything, Wun Xia Ja had become a Core Disciple, so old man Li couldn't kill him and could only kick him out of the alchemy hall. Wun Xia Ja joined elder Pan's faction, and they rarely interacted afterwards. It seemed like elder Pan's faction had seized the control of the Alchemy Hall.

Whatever. He had nothing to do with the internal politics of the sect, and he just wanted to become a revered disciple and save himself and, while doing that, he had to reach a higher cultivation level. So high that he could roam freely in this world and wouldn't have to worry about the likes of Mi Tha or others.

However, right now he had to slap this core disciple Wun for the sake of old man Li's memories.

Wait no. What was he thinking? He shouldn't clash with a core disciple openly. Why was he thinking destructively.

"Calm down, Aiden," he murmured inside his mind.

"I don't have the entire day for your answer, junior," Wun Xia Ja said, his tone sharper than a butcher's knife.

"Senior Wun. Of course I'd still participate in the red card exam. If you just want to test the Fire Giving Birth, then I can only try with my measly abilities and try not to embarrass myself," Aiden replied after licking his tongue, pretending to be nervous under the pressure of the core disciple.

Some people gasped, some laughed on their lips, and some glared at him.

Aiden didn't care about the flavor of their stare because he had his own path to travel on.

"Then let's start with you," core disciple Wun said, his face grim as he ate something bad in the morning. "I want to see who has the guts to show their fire control in front of me."

"Poor fella. Isn't he the trash labor disciple Li An? I heard he was thrashed by a senior disciple last week?" someone whispered.

"It must be it. He must have been beaten silly by that senior. Why would he go against the core disciple Wun? He belongs to the most prominent faction," a second person whispered.

"Tell me more. What prominent faction?"

"Alchemy Hall has three factions," the first disciple replied. "One belongs to elder Pan, and the second one belongs to hall master Li. Hall master Li was known to be a lenient person and lead the faction of people who only loved to work on alchemy. Elder San belonged to the neutral faction which wanted to expand the operations of alchemy hall, and elder Pan's faction wants to control the alchemy hall for the sect master."

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"Then why would hall master Li allow core disciple to take over the changed from elder San? It's like insulting elder San in a broad daylight," someone said.

"How would I know what happens in the upper echelon of the alchemy hall? Do I look like an elder to you? I only know this because many senior know this information." The other person snapped back.

Aiden sneered inwardly. Pan faction must have seized control after old man Li's death. But why wasn't the news out yet? It had been a few days, and he heard nothing. If a hall master died, there would be a lot of rumors, commotion, but nothing had happened so far.

Was he missing something?

Curiously, he glanced at Lan Yueya. She was an elder's daughter, so she should know these things.

"Core Disciple Wun, although you are helping me, you can't change the order of the exam. Let's start from the yellow card trial," Elder San said, his voice firm like a protestor ready to put his life on the line.

Wun Xia Ja snorted coldly. "Yellow card exam takers. Display your trash talent or go back home," Wun Xia Ja said in a commanding voice.

Ninety aspiring disciples stiffened, their faces etched with concentration as they raised their palms skyward. The air in the room crackled with anticipation and nervous energy. Some managed to conjure fire instantly, their palms erupting with small, dancing flames that cast flickering shadows on the walls. Others furrowed their brows in frustration, their hands remaining stubbornly empty despite their efforts. A few succeeded on their first try, only to watch their flames sputter and die moments later, leaving wisps of smoke curling between their fingers.

The cold temperature of the room seemed to seep into their bones, making the task even more challenging. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads despite the chill in the air, a proof to their nervousness.

The air felt thick with their frustrations. Their faces were full of disappointment, and their energies dropped by every passing second. The good ones seemed affected as well as their fire was frizzling out.

However, one man seemed happy - more than happy. Wun Xia Ja and Aiden didn't like that. The hatred buried deep inside him surfaced once more, urging him to do something.

"What a crap batch of students. They can't even maintain a common fire. Go back and suck your mother's tits and come back three years after."

"Core disciple Wun, don't demoralize them," Elder San said, his face full of black lines.

"What demoralizing? These cunts are not even fit to be a sweeper in the Alchemy Hall and you want to recruit them? No wonder Alchemy Hall hit rock bottom under your neutral hall's command. I only want one good person, and I can kick everyone else back to their mother's house."

"Wun Xia Ja, don't go overboard." Elder San was seething.

"Elder San, if you recommend these people, then I'll recommend your dismissal. If you were allowed to recruit these dogshit people, then the hall would have been plummeted into the pig's ass. No wonder hall master Li wanted to put a leash on your dog-faces and sent me, an able core disciple to take matters in hand.

Elder San's face contorted as if he wanted to refute, but no word came through his mouth.

Aiden had nothing to do with this at all and he wouldn't care if everyone else than himself failed, but if that happened, then he would come under suspicion. A big suspicion as a nobody disciple would lift to a new height by conjuring a Fire Giving Birth scenario.

Maybe he should just change it. Wun Xia Ja didn't want to recruit a single person, then how about all hundreds?

"Heart Fire"

Heart Fire

Quality: Rare

Grade: High Tier Silver Grade

"A fire born out of one's pain is never extinguished."

A mystical power that bridges the gap between the fire in the heart and the fire in the surroundings. Allows a fine control on the fire in the surrounding by utilizing your own fire.

It allows to give and take.

50% efficiency when taking the fire from others.

Cost: 10 mana/second

Warning: Overuse of the Heart Fire will damage your heart.

Heart Fire. It was time to use the power of fire to defeat fire.

A smug smile played on his lips as he called upon the mana from his dantian and channeled it into his heart. Today, he would give Wun Xia Ja a surprise which he would never forget in his entire remaining life.

Heart Fire.

A fire burned above his heart, illuminating the darkness inside his chest. It used mana to burn, and it had a strange connection with all the fires in this world. It was a fire that couldn't be extinguished as long as there was sufficient mana to channel into.

A strange sensation appeared within his heart, and he felt his senses expanding around him, forming a bubble of invisible energy around him, and he could feel every ounce of fire within this bubble. Within this bubble, he could connect with the fire and manipulate it to his will. He could see through the fire control of all disciples, and with a thought, a disciple's fire bloomed up and turned into a beast - a serpent.

The feeling was so surreal that he almost forgot his own decision and let the fire go of the control, but a twig at the back of his mind reminded him of the reasons he had learned the Heart Fire.

Aiden focused on another disciple's arm and the fizzling fire burst up and turned into a cat.

Then the third one conjured a tree, the fourth one a cicada, and the fifth one a parrot.

One by one, fifty disciples produced a Fire Giving Birth, their faces laden with fear, and the elder's faces laden with shock and envy.

Aiden chuckled inside his heart. Heart Fire was a crazy discovery, and he was going to use it to slap this Wun Xia Ja.

System: Warning. The host has burned through half of the mana. The mana channel will be seethed if this is continued.