btth: crafting even heaven

The flickering blue flame inside the crafting realm wasn't ordinary fire—it was purpose. It was will, heat, and ambition molded into brilliance. Tianzun stood barefoot upon the black obsidian tiles of his soul-crafted chamber, shirtless, skin slick with sweat, eyes glowing dimly. His breathing was even, controlled, but his aura pulsed with strange irregularities.

"Let's see… if I condense my Dou Qi into a stable bead, not as a pill, not as a technique… but pure Qi… will it hold?"

His hand hovered, palm facing up.

A slow swirl of deep crimson Dou Qi began to concentrate. It rotated gently, drawn together by the subtle tug of Tianzun's powerful meridians. Then, with precise pressure, he compacted the swirl into a perfectly round sphere the size of a plum.

It hovered, then dropped lightly into his other palm.

"Not bad," he muttered.

The orb pulsed with pure energy.

"Not a senzu bean. But good enough. Energy-recovery potential… 6.2% at my current level. Not worth it in battle, but... if stored in multiples?"

He smiled.

"Exactly."

With each bead, his control sharpened. His breathing, his Qi threads, even the rhythm of his heartbeat—all synchronized.

📿 [Qi Storage Beads: 1/∞ Created]

And most importantly:

📈 [Control over Dou Qi Circulation: +3.8%]

"Again."

Hours passed. Then days.

Tianzun continued creating and storing Qi beads. With each formation, he stored them near his Dou Qi vortex. He placed them into subtle tributaries like a celestial irrigation system. They wouldn't boost his cultivation directly—but in battle or crisis?

He'd be a bottomless well.

---

📅 Time Mapping Panel – Host-Created Utility

> 📆 Current Time: Day 12 post-Auction Listing ⌛ Days until Xun'er's Arrival: 39 Days 🔥 Emperor Flame Seed Integration: 0.057% (Soul-bound structure active)

"Thirty-nine days… I can reach Dou Shi before then."

He narrowed his eyes.

"If I push. But I won't rush. Rushing is what weak men do."

---

🔥 He knelt before the sealed flame altar.

The Seed of the Emperor Flame hovered midair—tiny, inconspicuous, but unnaturally dense.

"So much power… and yet so small."

Tianzun had already calculated that consuming this seed in the outside world would take six full years.

Six years? He scoffed.

"I don't have that kind of time."

But his soul realm—his crafting realm—was five times faster.

⏱️ "Six years divided by five… roughly 438 days in this space. That's 87 days in the real world. Still too long."

He pressed fingers to his temple.

"Not if I remain soul-form. I'll absorb in this state. Flame and soul—merged. No body interference. That gives me control. Full control."

His eyes flashed.

"And if I succeed… the flame won't just integrate with my body. It'll bond to my very soul."

A rare smile curled his lips.

"Complete ownership. Not wielding a flame… but becoming one."

---

He activated a soul-cycle formation.

Time twisted.

Days passed.

He cultivated not only through the seed, but with the Celestial Shards too.

He let them flow like rivers—feeding his soul, his inner space, his understanding. And not in foolish bursts. He layered them carefully, tracing paths through every major meridian, letting the heat stretch his awareness until it filled every corner of his spiritual plane.

📊 [Celestial Shards Consumed: 3,800 in spiritual density array format] 📈 [Cultivation Efficiency: +42% in soul domain]

Tianzun sat cross-legged, hovering.

He wasn't in a hurry. Because now, he understood:

"I could've reached Dou Wang already. But a Dou Wang with a shallow root… dies like a weed in a storm."

He closed his eyes. Flame surged behind them.

"I'm not growing fast. I'm becoming inevitable."

And the seed pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

📈 [Cultivation: Dou Zhe – 7-Star Stable Phase] 📈 [Qi Flow Strength: 128% above average baseline] 📈 [Soul Integration: 34.5% with Emperor Flame Seed]

He adjusted his breathing.

Time ticked onward in the crafting realm.

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📆 Time Mapping Panel Update

> 📅 Time Passed in Crafting Realm: 19 Days ⏳ Real World Time Passed: 3.8 Days 🧪 Qi Storage Beads: 47 Created 📈 Emperor Flame Seed Integration: 46% 🌀 Cultivation Flow Reconstructed: 61%

He stood.

"Foundations stable. Energy reservoirs built. Flow pathways mapped."

He smirked to himself.

"Xun'er… I'll greet you not as a child. But as a rising storm."

---

End of Chapter 14