Charging into the ranks of the Flame Demons, Liu Bai looked like a god of war. The supreme spiritual weapon, the Purple Heaven Sword, also revealed its true edge. Wherever its blade passed, limbs were sent flying.
The Flame Demons, whose physical strength was renowned, proved utterly powerless before the Purple Heaven Sword filled with thunderous might.
The battle lasted for a full fifteen minutes. When Liu Bai returned, the four Flame Demons had been utterly reduced to fragments. His body was covered with burns, but under a layer of soft white radiance, his wounds rapidly healed.
"Eh? You've got some pretty impressive recovery abilities. You're almost catching up to my Undying Flame," Jiuyou remarked in astonishment.
She had witnessed the battle clearly. It could not be called life-threatening, but it had been perilously close.
These Flame Demons possessed immense combat power. Under equal cultivation levels, a human cultivator would need both an extremely powerful spiritual weapon and sufficiently advanced attack techniques to defeat them.
Even then, their bodies were wrapped in searing flames, making close combat exceedingly difficult.
Unless one was like Liu Bai—charging straight in without caring about the damage from the flames.
Of course, Liu Bai only dared to do so because he trusted in his own defense and regenerative power to withstand the fire. If anyone else tried to imitate him, they would be burned to ashes before even getting close.
Glancing at his experience points, Liu Bai noted that slaying the Flame Demon leader had earned him five hundred thousand experience. These four ordinary Flame Demons possessed Spirit Disaster strength as well, granting triple experience rewards—two hundred and ten thousand each, totaling eight hundred and forty thousand.
Thus, Liu Bai's experience points instantly surpassed one million once again, soaring past one million four hundred thousand—enough for him to step into the Sovereign Realm.
Of course, there was still that one condition: to advance to the Sovereign Realm, one must first overcome the Minor Three Disaster. Only then could experience be used to enhance cultivation. Simply put, the process could be expedited, but the body's transformation still had to proceed step by step.
"Time to go."
He had stolen the sacred flame of their tribe and slain their priests. If he didn't leave now, when would he?
Jiuyou, however, smirked mischievously. "Now you're thinking about running? Do you even realize that all those patrol squads outside have already gathered together? You won't be able to hide this time."
"Hmph. If I can't hide, then I'll just force my way through!" Liu Bai waved his hand boldly, his spirit brimming with confidence.
If not for fear of alerting the powerful Flame Demon experts, he would have already gone on a killing spree here—raking in another mountain of experience.
Unfortunately, the Flame Demons neither belonged to the Human nor the Beast race, so they yielded neither Spiritual Pulse points nor Beast Soul points—what a pity.
Still, Liu Bai wanted to leave quickly. He feared that others might covet the Divine Flame. If he got surrounded, it would spell disaster.
Suppressing the Divine Flame with the Innate Five-Spirit Disc, Liu Bai collected both into his Qi Sea space. Then his figure turned into a streak of rainbow light, dashing toward the outer layers of the subterranean world.
At that same moment, when the Divine Flame emerged, deep within the Fire God Sect, inside a great crimson hall shaped like a Golden Crow, a divine being shrouded in flames slowly opened his eyes.
A sharp gleam pierced through space as a golden bird flashed across his pupils. The surrounding fire contracted rapidly, revealing the figure wrapped within—it was the Supreme Elder, Jin Chi.
"The Divine Flame was born ahead of time? Impossible. Could it be the Flame Demons' doing?"
His sword-like brows furrowed, and his entire aura turned into that of a volcano on the verge of eruption.
He had discovered this Divine Flame three hundred years ago and had even made an agreement with the previous Sect Master of the Fire God Sect—he would guard the sect for five hundred years, and in return, the sect would ensure that no one laid a hand on the flame.
However, a century ago, a small tribe among the underground Flame Demon race discovered the Golden Sun Crow Altar and sensed the flame seed within. They began worshiping it daily, using their unique methods to nurture the fire.
When Jin Chi learned of this, he had considered exterminating them. But upon realizing that their ritualistic methods actually accelerated the flame's growth, he chose to make use of them instead.
He had already calculated the exact time of the Divine Flame's emergence—it was supposed to be three years later. That was why he had been so relaxed.
Yet now, the Flame Demons had somehow triggered its birth three years early.
But so what? He had set up a warning array upon the altar. The moment the flame appeared, he would sense it. With the Flame Demons' meager strength, could they possibly seize the Divine Flame from him?
Jin Chi coldly snorted to himself, though a murderous intent toward the Flame Demons had already arisen in his heart.
His figure flickered, vanishing from the hall. Accompanied by a piercing cry of a Golden Crow, he shot out of the Fire God Sect's territory, flying toward the entrance of the subterranean world.
Meanwhile, Liu Bai finally broke through the Flame Demons' relentless pursuit and deliberately took a longer route toward the exit.
He did this precisely to avoid running into certain individuals who might be on their way. The precaution proved wise—for shortly after he escaped, a golden streak of light tore through the void and arrived at the Golden Crow Altar.
There, Jin Chi found only an empty altar and shattered Flame Demon corpses scattered about.
"Damn it, someone got here before me?!"
The sight filled him with fury and disbelief.
His earlier confidence stemmed from the fact that this place lay within the Fire God Sect's heartland—no outsiders could possibly enter.
Though his agreement had been with the previous Sect Master and had nothing to do with the current one, the old master had ascended to the Upper Sect, not perished. No one dared violate their pact.
"But it seems now someone has grown ambitious…"
Jin Chi's gaunt face turned cold, his sharp eyes radiating killing intent.
Although the Flame Demon tribe was small, its chieftain possessed Sovereign-level strength. For someone to wipe them out so effortlessly and seize the Divine Flame, that person had to be at least a First Grade Sovereign.
Furthermore, the lingering thunderous aura here had not yet dissipated, meaning the intruder specialized in lightning arts.
A Sovereign expert proficient in lightning—there were only a few such figures within the Fire God Sect…
In an instant, Jin Chi narrowed his list of suspects, none of which included Liu Bai.
When Liu Bai returned to the Fire God Sect, everything appeared the same. The long queue of hopefuls seeking entry remained, though it was clearly a different group from yesterday.
As a proper Outer Sect disciple now, Liu Bai simply presented his token and passed through the gates with ease, drawing envious looks from those waiting in line.
That left Liu Bai somewhat speechless. An Outer Sect disciple—was that really worth envying?
If not for the Inner Sect trials being a month away, he wouldn't have bothered living among this bunch of self-satisfied fools.
"Next step—breaking through the Spiritual Energy Disaster…"
With a massive amount of experience stored up, his priority was naturally to raise his cultivation first. After all, strength was the foundation of everything, and also the key to Liu Bai unlocking more techniques.
"Tsk tsk, aren't you planning to first merge the Divine Flame with your spiritual energy? You know that would greatly help you when crossing the Spiritual Energy Disaster," Jiuyou said lazily, her human form reclining on the room's only chair. Her curvaceous figure exuded an unrestrained allure.
Liu Bai cast her a glance, then calmly looked away. "That's not a good idea. At least not while I'm still in the Fire God Sect. I don't want to expose the Divine Flame."
"Afraid that old crow will come after you?" Jiuyou teased with a knowing grin.
Liu Bai did not deny it. He nodded. "Correct. Whether or not this Divine Flame has any connection to Jin Chi, I have no desire to invite unnecessary trouble."
To put it plainly, he was here only for cultivation techniques and a Sovereign Celestial Body. Once he achieved his goal, he planned to leave quietly. There was no need to create complications before then.
"That's a pity. You should know that fusing a divine object provides immense benefits. Your Five Elemental Divine Lightning may be powerful, but in the end, it's still an external force. You won't always have the chance to use it freely."
Liu Bai naturally understood this well. In the original story, Mu Chen had been able to continue his rampage even after Jiuyou fell into slumber precisely because he had fused with a strand of her violet Undying Flame.
"You're right. My current combat power could indeed use another boost. But the Divine Flame can wait—I have a better alternative," Liu Bai said with a faint smile.
"Alternative? What alternative?" Jiuyou asked, puzzled.
At first, she did not think much of it, but then she caught the mischievous gleam in Liu Bai's eyes as he stared at her and immediately realized his intent.
"Well, well! You dare set your sights on me?"
"Hehe, don't put it like that. We've risked our lives together, haven't we? I just need a tiny wisp of your Undying Flame. It won't affect you at all."
Liu Bai wasn't wrong.
At this stage, fusing with a flame was different from merging with the Sovereign Celestial Body or integrating spiritual essence. What he sought was to borrow a trace of the flame's power for combat, not to permanently alter his own spiritual energy's attributes.
Attempting a full fusion now would only end with him burned alive by the Undying Flame.
Jiuyou snorted twice, clearly uncomfortable under Liu Bai's grinning gaze. She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
"Alright, alright, I'll agree," she said at last.
As she spoke, a wisp of deep violet flame rose from her fingertip and drifted toward Liu Bai.
Though it seemed small, Liu Bai immediately sensed extreme danger—as if it could incinerate him completely the instant it erupted.
That sense was not wrong. This seemingly minuscule wisp of flame originated from a Fourth Grade Sovereign and was a top-tier Undying Flame. Even a Sovereign would suffer heavily upon contact, let alone someone still at the Human-Body Disaster Realm.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Bai drew the wisp into his body.
No terrifying reaction followed.
The flame remained under Jiuyou's control for now, so as long as she willed it, it would not harm him. This spared Liu Bai a great deal of pain.
After all, in the original story, Mu Chen had obtained a wisp of Undying Flame from a slumbering Jiuyou and was forced to fuse it on his own. One wrong move and he would have been burned to death.
Liu Bai couldn't help thinking that Mu Chen had survived back then purely thanks to his protagonist's luck.
With the flame now inside him, Liu Bai began to circulate his spiritual energy, attempting to envelop and fuse with the wisp.
This was the only method for merging with a divine object. If the divine object resisted too strongly, it could lead to irreversible backlash or even death.
Yet even so, countless cultivators were willing to risk their lives for the chance to obtain such power.
Liu Bai's five-colored spiritual energy surged mightily, its Five Elemental Radiance dazzling and vast. But in front of the Undying Flame, it suddenly seemed far less imposing.
The moment the five-colored energy touched the violet flame, it began to evaporate rapidly under the intense heat. The rainbow light filling his inner world diminished visibly by the second.
The process lasted for fifteen minutes.
When Liu Bai felt his spiritual energy starting to deplete, he frowned slightly, then immediately poured in three hundred and fifty thousand experience points.
Boom!
Violent spiritual power erupted from his body. If not for a sudden surge of light forming a protective barrier around the room, the entire courtyard would have been obliterated by the outburst.
Even so, the chamber trembled violently, startling the nearby Outer Sect disciples out of their meditation.
"What's going on? Did someone just break through again? That shockwave's insane!"
Though many had seen others break through before, never had anyone caused such a massive disturbance.
After all, most Outer Sect disciples were only at the Three Heaven Realm, and their breakthroughs could not even shake the protective formations of the compound.
Of course, a few older disciples who had been around longer seemed to realize something.
"Hey, isn't the Five Sect Grand Tournament in three months? That guy's probably one of those aiming for the Upper Sect."
"Figures. Only someone like that would already have such strength yet still join one of the Lower Five Sects as an Outer Sect disciple."
Most of them could only grumble enviously. The gap between them and such geniuses was simply too vast for them to even hope for contact.
Still, quite a few disciples cursed quietly under their breath.
"Damn it, those freaks again. Looks like we're doomed in next month's Inner Sect assessment. I spent half a year preparing for that chance!"
...
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