After some more time berating himself for his actions, Damian stood up from where he was and went back to the beginning of the cave. He had to finish healing his wounds. As Damian approached the rest of the team, he noticed Cedric giving him a look with a hint of worry and berating. When he approached a few steps from Cedric, he told him. "Are you okay? That decision was the action of a brave man or a madman, although I haven't decided which of the two you are."

Damian just gave him a sheepish shrug and replied. "Sometimes I also question it, you know. I like to believe that I am brave, but in cases like this, I think I am rather insane." Damian let out a sigh, donned his face with a smile, and told him. "I think I may need to rely on you next time I try to do something insane."

Cedric just scoffed at his actions, then he said. "I'm sure you need to rest. I hope you recover soon. It would be a shame if the rest of us consume all the Qi in the cave," Cedric gave him a playful smirk.

Damian wanted to continue the conversation. After all, talking to the person he likes gave him some sort of comfort from the pain he currently felt. Damian, however, knew better. He had to rest or his injuries could worsen. So he continued towards the entrance of the cave. Nathan and Christine also exchanged some words with him, mainly asking whether he was alright. Damian reassured them he sustained some injuries, but nothing a little rest and some healing pills couldn't fix. They appeared to have regained their calm and continued to cultivate. Damian left them to it and reached the entrance of the cave.

Once there, he pulled one healing pill and threw it in his mouth. He then sat to meditate and throughout guide the healing effect of the pill in his body.

__________

In outer space, Tian Long opened his eyes. He muttered to himself, "So that kid was the first to find one of the divine flames I leave on earth. I wonder, will he keep the benefits of the flame to himself? Would he share it with his clan, or with the city even?."

Tian Long pondered his thoughts as he observed the team. He lost interest a few moments later and continued to cultivate.

_________

Time passed inside the cave. Two days passed and Damian had completely healed. He hadn't moved from the entrance of the cave. The rest of the party had continued to advance at their own pace. They were now way closer to the entrance to the hallway that led to the next chamber. Cedric was the only one that was directly in front of the hallway.

Damian stood, and after stretching for a bit, he moved forward and reached the hallway. He continued a few more steps inside the hallway until he felt he could not advance further without incurring damage. Damian sat to cultivate once more.

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The party fell into a routine, they cultivated until they needed either to eat something or throw their waste. For hunger, they consumed sustainment pills, and for the disposal of their waste, they exited the cave. After the casting of a cleansing technique, no evidence of their waste remained.

It was easy to lose themselves cultivating. After all, cultivation was even more addictive than drugs. Cultivators felt the ever so slowly and steady increase in their cultivation base, making them much more than they were before.

Soon eight months passed. All the members of the party were fully in the second chamber, close to the white flame. All of them had grown fairly stronger. Damian was now at the eighth layer of the Golden Core. Cedric reached the seventh layer. Christine and Nathan had reached the sixth layer. Adrian and Agnes, on their part, reached the fourth layer.

All of them had shared the changes to their dantian's went through. All of them had their Qi sea purified and increased, before it was of a translucent color, now it was of an intense pearly white. Their Foundation pillars had gained a white hue, and now streaks of pearly white adorned the otherwise gray pillars. Their core's showed unique patterns of golden and white. The size of the changes varied from person to person.

Even if they had yet to measure up against others on the same layer. They knew each of them was far stronger than a normal peer at the same layer.

Damian exhibited the greatest changes of them all. He could only guess, but he felt he could easily wing against ten of him at the eighth layer without going through the baptism of fire.

He knew the flame was a treasure. Damian had read enough novels and was aware enough because of his profession of the greed that humans could exhibit. He had been pondering about how to proceed once they returned to the city with the flame. He had noticed the flame had lost some energy and heat. As such, it was unlikely to share the flame with the city. The flame most likely could not sustain the consumption of the entire city, draining it from Qi. Perhaps he should only share with special members of his clan, and on special occasions, in order to let the flame recharge.

That, however, brought the next issue if he decided that. Three members of the Lambert clan were aware of the existence of the flame. Would he need to silence them? Could he trust them?, perhaps share the use of the flame with them on special occasions.

Similar thoughts had been invading Damian's mind like a plague during the past few months. If not, he believed he would have already reached the ninth layer of the Golden Core realm.

Today Damian had finally reached a decision. He would take the flame and fight to restrict the use of the flame to a few clan members, including the council. Then, every five years, they should host a tournament for the young clan members. The reward would be access to the flame for a time period. They could also use it as a reward to clan members for their service to the clan. They would grant the Lambert clan five or ten tokens to allow them access to the flame every five years. This way, they could garnish the favor of the Lambert clan. Even if they would not receive the full benefit of the flame, they would still benefit. As for the council members of the Lambert clan, they would have a period of access every year.