So it wouldn’t happen for no reason—such a surge of spiritual energy must have been attracted by Mr. Night.

William Carter surrounded the black flame with his divine sense, feeling the changes in the black flame. Not only did the black flame not flicker in the wind, but it actually burned even more fiercely, as if it had been fueled.

“It’s the battle energy attracting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!” A glint flashed in William Carter’s eyes.

William Carter immediately placed his hand on Mr. Night’s wrist, channeling immortal energy into Mr. Night’s body, observing Mr. Night’s condition. Sure enough, the old man was automatically circulating the incantation.

William Carter grinned. He basically already understood the general reason—he had overcomplicated things before, which was why he’d gotten stuck in a dead end.

Actually, Mr. Night’s battle energy hadn’t mutated; what had changed was the way Mr. Night operated it. On one hand, Mr. Night was releasing battle energy according to the Black Heaven Demon Flame’s technique, but at the same time, he was instinctively circulating the immortal energy refining incantation.

This incantation itself had the effect of refining immortal energy, but inside Mr. Night, there was no immortal energy left to refine.

So Mr. Night’s body began to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. After all, immortal energy is refined from spiritual energy; the relationship between immortal energy and spiritual energy is like that between pure oxygen and air—immortal energy is a purer form of energy, while spiritual energy is mixed with impurities.

While Mr. Night was releasing battle energy, his body was inefficiently refining spiritual energy. This was the reason why Mr. Night’s battle energy had greatly increased endurance.

Although this state was good, only Mr. Night could achieve it; it couldn’t be replicated by anyone else, because it was a matter of instinct. Mr. Night had a superstitious reverence for the incantation, but others might not be able to multitask like this.

“Mr. Night…” William Carter grinned. “Remember our agreement?”

Volume Two: The Tyrant of Yan City

Chapter 0014: Don’t Flaunt Your Wealth

Mr. Night was quite a good research subject. William Carter could freely conduct all sorts of investigations on Mr. Night.

Moreover, Mr. Night’s battle energy was basically inexhaustible—at least during research, Mr. Night almost never complained of fatigue.

William Carter had also compared immortal energy, magic power, and battle energy. In terms of pure energy, immortal energy should be the higher-level energy, magic power leans more toward the soul, and battle energy is more physical.

At the same time, William Carter also learned that when both battle energy and magic power reach the fifth rank, they will condense their own battle heart or magic soul, respectively.

Whether it’s a magic soul or a battle heart, both are unique, like a person’s fingerprint.

Different techniques, different people, personalities, environments, cultivation methods, and breakthrough methods will all result in different battle hearts and magic souls.

William Carter hadn’t studied magic souls, but he had researched Mr. Night’s battle heart. Mr. Night’s battle heart was a black dragon.

Although it was just a form, it was an extension of battle energy. It had no consciousness, but it possessed combat instincts. After advancing to the fifth rank, influenced by one’s state of mind, the battle heart would also display different emotions—rage, fury, excitement, or even fear.

After the fifth rank, with each advancement, the battle heart would undergo different growth. In William Carter’s understanding, this growth was akin to evolution, becoming more spiritual.

In fact, the battle heart was very similar to a cultivator’s nascent soul, except that the nascent soul couldn’t fight. If the nascent soul was destroyed, the cultivator would be utterly annihilated—one could say the nascent soul was the cultivator’s avatar.

The battle heart, on the other hand, was condensed from battle energy. It had form but no consciousness, so even if destroyed, another identical battle heart would quickly condense, though its master would still suffer some impact and loss.

The battle heart seemed more practical, but the improvement brought by the nascent soul was immeasurable. If the gap between the fifth and fourth ranks was like heaven and earth, then the difference between a nascent soul stage cultivator and one before the nascent soul stage was like that between a human and a god.

A nascent soul stage cultivator’s abilities could be described as earth-shattering, able to summon wind and rain, and their physical bodies were already at an immortal level, with lifespans increased several times over.

William Carter’s research on Mr. Night lasted more than ten years, and the results gave William Carter a comprehensive understanding of battle energy.

Ten years ago, Mr. Night had proactively requested Henry Carter to become William Carter’s attendant and protect William Carter.

In fact, it was also William Carter who had arranged for Mr. Night to stay by his side, making it convenient for his research.

Thirty li outside Yan City, there was a chaotic stone forest, with stone pillars of varying lengths and shapes, covering a full hundred li around William Carter—a truly spectacular sight.

This was a natural wonder formed over millions of years. The residents of Yan City all called it the Rocky Heap.

Because rocks often fell in the Rocky Heap, few people came here. But at this moment, there were two figures among the rocks.

A young man was leaning against a stone pillar, sheltering from the scorching sun, holding a large, bright red apple and taking a bite.

Not far away, Mr. Night lightly struck out with his palm. The force was strong and carried a scorching black wind, striking a huge boulder ahead.

The massive boulder, five zhang wide, shattered on impact, fragments flying in all directions. A fist-sized piece of rock suddenly shot toward William Carter.

Mr. Night was shocked. His mind went blank, and with a low shout, he pushed both palms toward William Carter from above.