Chapter 5: Cultivating the Three-Colored Flame

Once Bao Lei had left, Wang Hu, Zhang Hua, and the others approached. Wang Hu frowned and asked, "I didn’t quite understand the previous round of cards. When Su Qianqian played an Ace, why did you suddenly say to Hu Xiaotian, 'Did you have a good time going out in February?'"

Hu Xiaotian looked equally puzzled. "Exactly, I was completely confused by that question."

Su Qianqian smiled. "This isn't the first time Xiaofan has used this method to signal us; didn't you know?"

Hu Xiaotian thought for a moment, then suddenly realized. "I get it now! It’s just like when we played 'Heroes Kill' last time. Back then, the first characters of Xiaofan’s words strung together meant 'I am the Loyal One.' This time, it was... 'February/Two out!'"

Lin Rou nodded. "Correct. Even though I wanted to play a two, I wasn't confident. Fortunately, Xiaofan reminded me."

"So that means when Xiaofan said to me later, 'I already told you, whether it’s good or not is up to me. Others have gone to buy diet pills, why haven't you?' he actually meant... 'All are good people!'" Hu Xiaotian said.

Lin Rou nodded again. "Xiaofan meant that all of us playing were on the 'Good' side, with no hidden Landlord. In truth, by that stage of the game, the probability of Bao Lei herself being the hidden Landlord was already very high, but we couldn't be certain. After all, there was still a chance Qiao Xuewei was the hidden one."

"So you intentionally said Qiao Xuewei was the hidden Landlord to stop Bao Lei from bombing you?" Su Qianqian asked.

"Exactly. I figured there were no more bombs left outside. If I hadn't said that, Bao Lei likely would have bombed me, and if she had then led with her two remaining single cards as twos, none of us would have been able to beat them," Lin Rou said, still feeling a lingering sense of fear.

Everyone felt a chill after hearing this. Bao Lei had played too cautiously; if she had just gone all-in with her bomb at that moment and led with a two, she would have won if there were no bombs left.

"She was probably afraid of being bombed too," Zhang Xiaofan said with a sigh of relief. He then looked at Wang Hu and said, "You were too impulsive just now. Since Bao Lei dared to come here alone, she isn't afraid of any of us. By acting rashly, you just gave her a reason to deal with us."

Stung by Zhang Xiaofan’s words, Wang Hu frowned. "I was just anxious at the time."

"I know you were anxious, but I said everything must be done according to my instructions. Did you forget?" Zhang Xiaofan looked at him steadily.

"Fine, I understand," Wang Hu replied.

"I hope there won't be a next time," Zhang Xiaofan said.

Hu Xiaotian tried to smooth things over. "Wang Hu knows he was wrong, let’s drop the subject. By the way, Xiaofan, there’s one thing I don’t get. Since Bao Lei is so strong, why doesn't she just kill us instead of using such a convoluted game to achieve her goal?"

Zhang Xiaofan replied, "One thing is certain for now: as long as we don't attack Bao Lei, she has no right to kill us. That is one of the rules of the game. Secondly, it wasn't she who killed our former classmates, but a much more powerful ghost. In other words, this Bao Lei is being controlled by another entity."

At this point, Zhang Xiaofan felt a sense of frustration. He waved his hand dismissively. "I don't know the goal of the ghost controlling Bao Lei yet, but one thing is certain: everyone needs to improve their own strength. Only when we are strong enough can these problems be solved."

The students nodded in succession. Zhang Xiaofan added, "Wang Hu, you heard what Bao Lei said earlier. She will likely target you tomorrow."

Wang Hu replied with a look of arrogance. "What is there to fear? I only have one life to lose. I wasn't even afraid of Zhu Kai when he wanted to kill me; why should I fear a female ghost who can't even kill me directly?"

"It's still better to be careful," Hu Xiaotian sighed.

"Forget it. Life is short, let's enjoy it while we can," Wang Hu said, turning to his followers. "Let's go find some ladies." With that, the group walked away.

"That jerk. Xiaofan, you mustn't learn such bad habits from him," Lin Rou said through gritted teeth.

Su Qianqian added worriedly, "Xiaofan, you haven't gone, have you? If you do, we will... we will..."

Lin Rou chimed in urgently, "We won't sleep with you anymore."

Su Qianqian’s face turned bright red. She said awkwardly, "That's not what I meant..."

"Oh, still shy in this day and age," Lin Rou teased with a giggle.

Zhang Xiaofan was speechless, but hearing the two girls' words made him secretly happy. He pulled them aside and whispered, "How about... tonight?"

His response was two fierce little punches.

"Get lost!" Lin Rou and Su Qianqian scolded him before walking away, arm in arm.

Zhang Xiaofan returned to the dormitory, shielding his eyes. The teachers rarely came to give lessons anymore, so he had nothing to do all day. He went back to the dorm to refine the White Crystals he had purchased.

After absorbing the White Crystals for several days, a faint trace of white had appeared within his flames. Zhang Xiaofan knew that this trace of white was actually White Fire.

Once White Fire is mastered, besides producing intense heat, it can inflict massive damage on ghosts. It is a cultivation method far more powerful than a simple fire-based human constitution.

After White Fire, the next stage is Black Fire—a flame capable of incinerating everything, even ashes, with ease.

Finally, there is Transparent Fire. According to the records of the cultivation technique, it is incredibly difficult to master, but once achieved, it can even burn through spiritual energy and souls, making it terrifyingly potent.

Zhang Xiaofan took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "I wonder if I'll be able to deal with the ghost behind the Red Envelope Group once I master Transparent Fire? But why would that ghost provide us with the Underworld Taobao and give us Underworld coins? Isn't that just helping us grow stronger?"

"Or is it that he wants us to grow stronger to eventually fulfill some purpose of his own?"

Unable to solve the puzzle, Zhang Xiaofan finally shook his head. "Forget it. One step at a time. I'll start by cultivating the White Fire."

Cultivating the Three-Colored Fire isn't overly complex; one only needs to continuously absorb the energy from the White Crystals. The only trouble is that these crystals are expensive, requiring a vast amount of Underworld coins to purchase.

...

The next day, when Zhang Xiaofan arrived at school, Wang Hu and a few of his followers were bragging about which girl they had been with the night before.

"Brother Hu, you're truly impressive. Handling five girls on your own—I'm in awe."

"Yeah, and those five girls were all lookers. After I had my turn, damn, I couldn't handle it."

"Heh, same here. Those girls kept saying how powerful you were, Brother Hu."

Wang Hu smoked his cigarette and laughed. "That goes without saying. My stamina is enough to scare those girls. I remember being with a little girl once, heh heh heh, I left her so swollen she couldn't get out of bed for a week."

"Brother Hu is the man!"

"Brother Hu, teach us a few tricks!"

Lin Rou stood beside Zhang Xiaofan, sniffing with disdain. "That Wang Hu is disgusting. To brag about something like that..."