Chapter 624 - 469: Newborn Ghost Fire (2)
Chapter 624: Chapter 469: Newborn Ghost Fire (2)
The newborn ghost fire was faint and tiny, far smaller than even a fingernail. It seemed as if a mere gust of wind could extinguish it.
A newborn ghost fire hadn’t appeared in this swamp for many years. But whenever one did, it immediately became a target for the seven existing ghost fires, all of them scrambling to absorb and devour it.
Its appearance made it a target not only for the five smaller ghost fires, but especially for the yellow ghost fire that had just lost a tenth of its main body.
If it absorbed the newborn, it could recover a portion of its body. If it couldn’t restore its form, it was highly likely to become a target for the slightly larger yellow ghost fire.
The newborn ghost fire’s red, smoky flame was extremely faint. It seemed to catch the scent of an exciting fiery aura. It shot out from a skull and darted toward the lingering aura left behind by the Golden Crow.
It bobbed along, like a firefly dancing in the night, flickering in and out of sight. Suddenly, an orange-yellow ghost fire twice its size appeared, about to make contact.
An innate, danger-avoiding instinct made the newborn ghost fire immediately accelerate toward the source of the Fire Element Energy.
However, it wasn’t as fast as the orange-yellow ghost fire. It was caught in no time.
This particular orange-yellow ghost fire was the one that had advanced by absorbing a piece of the yellow ghost fire. The moment it touched the newborn, it immediately extended its own ghostly energy to probe into the red flame.
’Such pure energy!’ This nascent energy was mesmerizing.
But just then, the smaller yellow ghost fire emerged from nowhere. It instantly appeared behind the orange-yellow ghost fire and plunged its essence into the other’s body.
It began to frantically absorb the orange-yellow ghost fire’s energy, paying no mind to the newborn. Compared to the main course that was the orange-yellow fire, the newborn’s energy wasn’t even enough to get stuck in its teeth.
After being saved, the newborn ghost fire’s already faint body had shrunk until it was as thin as a hair. If not for the utter lack of light in the Land of Silence, it would have been impossible to spot.
The orange-yellow ghost fire’s body was right behind it, being absorbed by the other yellow ghost fire.
’A perfect chance!’
’To survive in this swamp, it had to grow stronger.’
So, it turned back and, while the yellow ghost fire was busy absorbing its prey, frantically snatched what it could of the orange-yellow ghost fire’s energy.
In just a short moment, it grew from a wisp as thin as a hair, gradually strengthening until its body was about the size of a fingernail.
When the yellow ghost fire, having its meal shared, realized something was wrong, the newborn shrewdly abandoned the remaining energy and darted far away, finding a crevice in the mud and slipping inside.
The swamp was solid matter, which ghost fires could not pass through. Therefore, finding a suitable hiding place was a good way to avoid risk.
On the first day of its existence, it had already learned how to survive.
The yellow ghost fire was helpless to do anything. It had no choice but to give up chasing the little thief that had stolen its prize and return to its own territory.
Its body still had not fully recovered. It had to be wary of a sneak attack from the other yellow ghost fire.
Although the newborn ghost fire had grown to the size of a fingernail after absorbing some of the orange-yellow ghost fire’s energy, it was still the weakest one in the dark swamp.
’If it wanted to survive, it had to find a chance to grow stronger! To surpass even the largest yellow ghost fire.’
A familiar Fire Element Energy was constantly calling to it, but it couldn’t go out. It could feel an energy far more powerful than itself watching it.
The ghost fires here devoured each other to grow. The larger the body, the more energy it contained.
Red was the lowest rank. A step above was orange-yellow, and then yellow. The purer the energy, the faster the ghost fire, and the quicker it could devour its own kind.
The newborn ghost fire stirred restlessly in the black mud, wanting to get closer to the Fire Element Energy and absorb it. For some reason, it felt that if it could just absorb that energy, its own form would undergo a massive change.
But at the same time, it could clearly sense six ghost fires, all much larger than itself, lurking and lying in ambush nearby.
Especially the two yellow ghost fires. Though they weren’t out in the open, it knew that the moment it showed itself, they would catch and devour it.
’It couldn’t risk it.’
Besides the two yellow ghost fires, there were four orange-yellow ones. Although their energy level wasn’t as high as the yellow ones’, the newborn was still no match for them.
The remnant Fire Element Energy was fierce and domineering. In this dark and dreary Land of Silence, it was like a brilliant beacon, drawing these energy beings toward it. They were like moths to a flame, willing to risk everything.
The newborn ghost fire hid in the mud and waited.
A day, two days, a week, a month...
The two yellow ghost fires, having no concept of time, kept watch outside the newborn’s hiding spot.
Another month passed.
In the Land of Silence, the Death Energy was potent. Foreign substances would eventually be assimilated or dispersed by it.
Even an aura as domineering and powerful as the Fire Element Energy left by the Golden Crow began to show signs of dissipating.
The newborn ghost fire was the first to sense the change in the Fire Element Energy. It grew anxious, but so did the other six ghost fires, including the yellow ones.
They had waited here for centuries, if not millennia, for new ghost fires to appear, and in all that time, they had only managed to reach the yellow stage. This Fire Element Energy was far too precious to them.
The two ghost fires, which had been patiently waiting for the newborn to emerge so they could devour it, finally lost their patience.
The swamp was vast, and any ghost fire born here was unable to leave it.
So, the two yellow ghost fires appeared beside the Fire Element Energy once again. Learning from their last experience, they didn’t rush in to absorb it directly this time.
Positioning themselves on the left and right edges of the Fire Element Energy, they worked to compress their bodies to the smallest possible size. This would both reduce the mutual annihilation with the Fire Element Energy and allow them to rush into its core more quickly to devour it.
However, the moment they rushed into the Fire Element Energy together, its rampaging power once again blasted them apart.
But this time, because the Fire Element Energy had begun to dissipate, it didn’t strike both ghost fires with a single blow as it had before.
The unscathed yellow ghost fire sensed that something was wrong. It immediately split off a part of its main body and fled.
As long as a part of its main body survived, the separated pieces could eventually rejoin it.