Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 945 The Burning Test

As soon as Darren lifted his foot and placed it over the threshold of the door, he noticed how time had seemed to speed up. His heartbeat rose for a moment.

'It feels like my strength is pouring out of my body."

However, Darren held his composure. After all, it was very likely that this was all part of the test.

It only took a few minutes before Darren's strength was completely drained from his body and he had transitioned into a mortal human being. He looked down at his hands and stretched his fingers outwards.

“What kind of test is this?" Darren thought.

There didn't seem to be anyone else there and the room was very dark and empty. He remained standing in place, trying to figure out what to do next. After waiting for a while, a small fire blazed to life a few feet away and then floated towards him.

As the flame stopped an inch away from him, heat flashed in his abdomen. His flame crystal had awakened

"Too weak. It's too weak,"

said a small voice mockingly.

"Wait a minute. You can talk?" Darren asked, looking at the small fire in front of him

"Of course, I can. It's me. I am the Fire Spirit. I have a test for you and you must pass it if you want to continue on.”

"Well, tell me what the test is,” Darren urged.

"Ha-ha." The small fire shook with laughter. "It doesn't matter now. The flame crystal you condensed is too weak. It will be almost impossible for you to pass my test.”

"We'll only know that if you let me try," Darren replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You are so arrogant.”

"I'm not being arrogant. I just know I'm more skilled than you are giving me credit for and I won't be laughed at by a flame. So why are you mocking me?" Darren asked.

The small fire was stunned into a momentary silence by Darren's words.

"Very well. I'll stop wasting your time. The rules of the test are very simple. As long as you can endure the heat of the flames and become a True Fire Spiritual Body, you can pass it," the small fire explained.

"And you'll start now.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The whole area was engulfed with different sets of flames. Each blaze was a different color and intensity and they lit Darren's skin up so that it danced with the colors of the rainbow.

The clusters of flames were admittedly beautiful but the pain from the heat was so insufferable that Darren had to force himself to hold back screams. Now that he was a mortal, even if the flames were further away, he wouldn't be able to withstand them.

Still, Darren didn't panic.

He gritted his teeth and dealt with the pain, all the while trying to come up with a plan.

The moment he had stepped through the door, he had become a mortal. Therefore, he was sure that the flame would not burn him into ashes right away. He had time to think before the temperature became enough to kill him.

After thinking for a while, Darren was able to find an answer. It was very simple. Since the test had to do with flames, he needed the flame crystal that had been condensed by him to pass. Immediately, he gathered up his weak spiritual sense in his elixir field and located the flame crystal. It was attached to the blade core and since Darren hadn't used it for a long time, it looked very dim. 'My body can withstand the high temperature being caused by the flame inside my body. Once my body temperature is increased, it can offset the damage caused by the high temperature outside..." Darren analyzed and then triggered the flame crystal with his weak spiritual sense.

Within seconds, he felt the heat stream through his veins and consume his skin.

"It's working!"

Once his body temperature had increased, the intense pain was lessened so that he could move around.

However, the moment he started to relax, the temperature outside suddenly increased so that it quickly reached his limits.

'I see. He wants to force me to raise my body temperature so that I can have a True Fire Spiritual Body that was described by the Fire Spirit."

Now that Darren understood the test, he strained his body to try and use his spiritual sense. His body temperature rose a few degrees.

Unfortunately, the temperature outside was increasing too fast and his attempt became futile. After more thought, Darren realized that it wasn't working because the level of the flame crystal in his body was too low.

“Tiger Cat said that talent is the key to pass the test. Now I get it."

This test was proving to be so difficult because it was testing his comprehension. He knew that if he constantly increased the level of the flame crystal, he could keep up with the increasing speed of the temperature outside without being killed.

If he had a poor comprehension and was too slow at raising the level of the flame crystal, the fire would turn him into a pile of ashes.

Darren felt his chest fill and puff out with confidence.

He had the talent of the Genuine Domain Degree and he also had the strong ability of assimilating. In fact, there was nobody in the world that was better than him in respect of these talents. Even in the ancient times, there was no one who was more talented than him.

He carefully analyzed the structure of the flame crystal and used his talent and Assimilation Skill to assimilate spiritual energy of the world and the fire spiritual energy.

Buzz.

Slowly, the flame crystal in Darren's body started rotating. A burst of fire spiritual energy entered his elixir field and surrounded the flame crystal, shooting off sparks.

After a few seconds, the flame crystal started glowing and green flames broke through its surface like strobe lights.

'Ha-ha! It's a level higher!"

Feeling elated that it had taken so little time to advance his flame crystal, Darren turned his focus back to the test. He had barely noticed that the temperature outside was once again tolerable.

Of course, the result would be the same as before—the temperature outside would instantly begin to increase.

'I guess it's time to see whose temperature can increase faster.’

Ignoring the pain, Darren focused all his attention on continuing to raise the level of the flame crystal.

Three months were spent with the Fire Spirit who had been observing Darren.

"I can't believe he's still alive,"

the small fire commented. Initially, he had expected Darren to die within hours. He had sensed that the flame crystal Darren possessed was very weak and he wouldn't be able to use it to assist him. However, Darren had managed to increase the level of the crystal in a very short period of time, taking the small fire by complete surprise. It seemed like Darren was the Fire Spirit himself.

In just three months, the temperature outside had risen to a level that could burn human junior holy warriors alive. Since Darren was now in a mortal body, that meant that his flame crystal had become very powerful.

'If he can hold on for another year, he will condense into a True Fire Spiritual Body. I did not see this coming!’ the small fire grumbled internally as he watched Darren continue to cultivate.

'He is arrogant, just like I thought. I'll have to make it harder for him. If he dies, it doesn't matter. It won't be my fault." The Fire Spirit began to flicker and shoot sparks everywhere. Seconds later, a jet of fire streamed out of him, blazing hot.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless flames joined together and the temperature was more than tripled in a few seconds. Sizzling and slightly singed, Darren sat on the ground with his legs crossed. His clothes had been burnt and there were still some pieces hanging from his skin. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and he looked down to see that areas of his skin had turned black.

"It smells so good,” the small fire said.

But Darren was suffering. He understood that he had to try and increase the level of the flame crystal in his body further; however, the flame crystal was spinning so fast that it had begun to crack down the middle.

For the first time, panic ripped through him.

"It must be the small fire who is continuing to increase the temperature. The temperature outside has risen too high.”

Feeling anger replace his anxiety, Darren released his assimilating power. The large amount of fire spiritual energy entered his elixir field, nearly causing his veins to explode.

Despite having advanced the flame crystal in such a short period of time, Darren still couldn't use it to save him. He sighed, knowing that death was coming.