Chapter 332 Embers and Fire Burner

In a panic, Li Miao glanced down. The island was now only the size of a pancake, and the players on it were like sesame seeds, impossible to make out.

The rush of air streaming past him made the experience all the more intense.

But his panic lasted only a moment before he calmed down. ‘This is probably just a cutscene for Candle Island, or something.’

Sure enough, as the shadow overhead loomed larger, Li Miao’s ascent began to slow, eventually coming to a near-complete stop as he reached a certain point.

By now, Li Miao could see the entire Floating Candle Island and its surroundings.

There was the Candlefire Hall, not magnificent in its size, but filled with a mysterious and ancient aura.

There were the streets lined with rows of stone houses in a somewhat gloomy style, the designated Spirit Candle Buildings outside the hall, and… the unidentified structures floating in the air all around.

[Upper Candle Island]

Azure text flashed across his vision as his body, carried by the current, began to slowly descend, finally touching down on the edge of the area in front of the Candlefire Hall.

The Milestone Spirit Candle materialized before him.

“Awesome!”

Li Miao was now processing what he had just experienced, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The sensation, so close to actual flight, was an incredible thrill.

But excitement aside, Li Miao hadn’t forgotten his mission.

After stepping forward to light the Milestone Spirit Candle, Li Miao glanced around before heading straight down the only main road and entering the Candlefire Hall through a side door.

Along the way, Li Miao curiously eyed the stone houses, trying to enter them to see if there were any hidden items.

But when he reached the doorway, he found himself unable to move forward, and a prompt appeared before his eyes.

[You are not qualified to enter.]

‘Not qualified again?’

‘What are these for, then?’

Li Miao’s expression darkened. He had a feeling that this latest Spirit Candle update included more details that weren’t directly revealed to players, like these houses.

It was ridiculous. Other games couldn’t wait to cram as much as possible into their update announcements, sometimes even padding them out with filler for clickbait titles.

But Spirit Candle was the complete opposite. It wouldn’t even mention important things. Ugh, they just had to hide them!

‘Definitely run by a bunch of amateurs.’

Just as he was walking along the main road, other players began to arrive on the upper level of Candle Island as well.

SMACK.

Li Miao clutched his ass and spun around, cursing, “Fuck, what the hell is wrong with you, you dumbass!”

“Hehehe.” Hearing the curse, Shore, having succeeded in his little prank, just laughed more gleefully. He threw an arm around Li Miao’s shoulders. “I told you to wait for me. How come you flew up on your own?”

“Get off, get off. Piss off.” Li Miao swatted his hand away in disgust. “I deliberately came up without you to avoid your sorry ass, got it?”

“Tsk, when you need something, it’s all ‘Brother Wei’ and ‘Godfather,’ but when you don’t, I’m a ‘sorry ass’…”

Shore shook his head with a tsk, not at all bothered by Li Miao’s sharp tongue.

As he and Li Miao were bantering on their way to the Candlefire Hall, Shore suddenly narrowed his eyes and craned his neck to look at something.

“Miaozi, look. Is that a new NPC? I’ve never seen her before.”

Shore sounded surprised.

Li Miao thought he was just messing with him again, but when he followed his gaze, he saw that there really was a female NPC in one of the stone houses.

Moreover, her stone house looked like it had been deliberately set apart from the others.

“Let’s go check it out.”

They quickly arrived in front of the stone house.

A prompt appeared, and they instantly understood the female NPC’s identity.

[Through the combined efforts of the Candle Spirits and the Candlekeeper, the “Shadow of Deceit” faction has established contact with Candle Island.]

[Hint: This character has an eccentric personality but will not refuse to trade with you. However, to trade with her, you need the currency “Spiritual Material,” also known as “Flame Material.”]

[Wax Oil can be exchanged for this currency at the Spirit Candle inside the Candlefire Hall.]

Noticing the arrival of Li Miao and Shore, Luo Di, who was resting her head in her hand, gave them a sidelong glance.

Then she shifted, turning her back on them completely and pretending she hadn’t seen them.

It seemed she had no intention of doing business and couldn’t wait for them to leave.

“…” Shore figured it out. He pointed at her back. “This NPC doesn’t seem to want to talk to us at all.”

Li Miao didn’t reply, instead pulling up her information.

There wasn’t much, just her name and a single, uninformative sentence.

[Luo Di of the Shadow of Deceit]

[Explanation: The person in charge of the Shadow of Deceit’s communication station on Candle Island.]

“Let’s go exchange for some Spiritual Material. I’m going to buy something from her no matter what.”

Li Miao grinned.

‘A slacker NPC? I’ve got to teach her a lesson.’

Shore’s interest was piqued, and the two immediately turned and headed for the Candlefire Hall.

After they left, another player who had just arrived came whistling over to the spot.

His eyes lit up when he saw Luo Di in the house. But just as he was about to speak, he saw her stand up, toss a sign onto the table, and walk into a back room.

The player leaned in for a closer look.

[Busy]

The player was speechless.

For some reason, he felt like he was looking at himself being forced to work overtime…

…

「Candlefire Hall」

“Holy hell, this is impressive. The sense of scale is just staggering. Our little wax-people island has really leveled up, huh…”

Shore craned his neck, looking all around and touching the walls, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Li Miao’s reaction was much the same; he was incredibly curious about everything inside the Candlefire Hall.

After a while, they both snapped out of it and remembered they had business to attend to.

“Maybe we should forget about that Luo Di for now. Aren’t we here to raise our Ignition Point? We don’t even know if we have enough Wax Oil.”

Shore spread his hands.

Li Miao thought for a moment, then nodded. That made sense.

He was more interested in the [Fire Worship Ceremony] and the [Power of Fire].

Having made their decision, they followed the guide into the spacious hall and first lit the Spirit Candle of the Candlefire Hall.

A new option had now appeared in the Spirit Candle’s Level Up section: [Fire Worship Ceremony].

[Ignition Point has reached “Scorching Charcoal.” Temperature is at its maximum. You may now perform the “Fire Worship Ceremony.”]

[Performing the “Fire Worship Ceremony” requires 1000 Wax Oil. Success rate: 50%. Proceed?]

[Yes/No]

“Shit, a thousand Wax Oil, and only a fifty percent success rate? You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“Whatever, might as well try. I have to upgrade it eventually anyway.”

Shore grumbled, but just as he was about to use the Spirit Candle to perform the ceremony, Li Miao stopped him.

Li Miao said, “Hang on. Let’s find the Candlekeeper and ask him first.”

Shore agreed that was a good idea, so the two of them immediately started yelling at the top of their lungs inside the Candlefire Hall.

“Candlekeeper! Candlekeeper!”

“Candlekeeper—!”

Their voices came to an abrupt stop.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to yell anymore, but that they suddenly couldn’t.

Luo Ge swept an expressionless glance over the two of them.

He had been in the middle of a discussion with Noxia and the Burton Mage, and these two idiots were just howling nonstop in the Candlefire Hall, their echoes booming like the voice of God.

‘An oversight… I’ll have to add a setting to the Spirit Candle later to control these guys’ behavior. The option to summon me should be placed in the hall’s Spirit Candle, too…’

“What can I do for you two, Candle Spirit Warriors?”

“Candlekeeper, what are this Fire Worship Ceremony and Power of Fire? What’s their Effect?” Li Miao asked.

By this time, other Prison Players had started trickling into the spacious Candlefire Hall. Hearing the question, they hurried over to listen.

Among them, naturally, were Prison Players like Faraway and Storyteller.

‘Since everyone’s here, this is a good opportunity to share the information I’ve gathered from the Burton Mage and other texts with the players…’

‘Who knows? Maybe they’ll give me an unexpected surprise once they know the details.’

With this in mind, Luo Ge paused, carefully choosing his words for a moment before he began to address the players gathered before him.

“Fire is the foundation of all life in this world, the very framework of its creation.”

“Beings with a Will as faint as ash, whose Life Force is weak or incomplete, are called the[Residual Ash]. They are weak, yet their numbers are vast…”

“But even among such beings, there are those who have forged a tenacious Will. Some are born strong, while others are tempered through countless trials. From them, [Warfire] is born, and they are known as the [Fire Burners].”

“And through them, one can catch a glimpse of the flame that holds great Power…”

“As long as their Warfire is not extinguished, a Fire Burner with a firm Will can continuously raise their Temperature and break through the limits of their Ignition Point in pursuit of even greater Power.”

“Whether it is [Molten Slag] or [Scorching Charcoal], they are, in essence, all part of a Fire Burner’s process of [Burning Fire]…”

“The only difference between them is the size of a spark in dry grass…”

At this, Luo Ge paused.

He glanced at the expressions of the players around him.

Li Miao and Shore looked a bit lost. Faraway was deep in thought. Storyteller excitedly smacked a fist into his palm.

‘What the hell is he talking about? I’m completely lost. I don’t get it at all… But they all look like they get it, so I guess I’ll just pretend I do too…’ Shore grumbled to himself.

‘I don’t get it either, but it sounds really cool. From now on, I’m going to use ‘Ignition Point’ instead of ‘Tier.’ It sounds way more badass, hehe,’ Li Miao thought.

‘Hmm… so the upgrade from Scorching Charcoal to Flame is like a spark in dry grass transforming into a proper flame. And the Power of Fire is the proof of that transformation?’ Faraway mused.

‘Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! A power system based entirely on the characteristics of fire?’

‘The lore and world-building in this game are so detailed! They’ve practically built an entire world! I can’t… My mind is racing with ideas. I can milk two more videos out of this! No, I should split it into three parts: top, middle, and bottom!’ Storyteller’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

While everyone was either lost in the lore or silent in thought, two strange voices spoke up.

Though they were trying to whisper, everyone heard them clearly. Their voices were just too distinct…

“What’s the Candlekeeper mumbling about? What does any of that mean? I don’t get it.”

“Jeez, Brother Mangzi, keep it down.”

“I am being quiet. It’s fine, they can’t hear us.”

“…”

Luo Ge looked toward the source of the voices.

He saw Brother Mangzi, frowning as he whispered to the person beside him.

Standing next to him was, of course, Bu Long, who wore the expression of someone who had lost the will to live.