The scorching sensation intensified upon entering the secret realm.
Looking around, there was only one color.
They passed through a crimson forest and arrived in a desert.
The land was rugged and uneven, fierce and sharp, with no place suitable for recuperation.
This was the secret realm!
Closing his eyes, in his perception, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged like a furious wave, wild and chaotic.
Yin, Yang, the five elements, the vital energy of all things seemed completely imbalanced here, and the invisible scorching force in the air constantly consumed the vital energy within the body.
Xu Chuan's expression sank.
If he hadn't cultivated the Profound Yang Art and transformed all his vital energy into Great Sun vital energy, the consumption now would have been multiplied.
Even so, Xu Chuan's vital energy wouldn't last long.
"Be careful of the spiritual energy here, something is not right!"
Xu Chuan whispered a warning, but failed to notice that Su Miaoyin was completely unaffected by the secret realm.
She was currently looking around curiously.
Half a day later.
They stopped in a scorched land filled with fire, utterly devoid of life.
Gazing forward.
Fire!
High temperature!
Apart from a few rocks that had turned to charcoal, all that met the eye was rolling lava and fierce flames.
In such a place, ordinary Qi Gathering realm cultivators would likely struggle to adapt.
Only Xu Chuan and Su Miaoyin could pause here briefly.
Continuing onward, they passed through the flames and lava.
As they walked, Xu Chuan found that the temperature around them began to gradually decrease, and the wild spiritual energy of heaven and earth also began to calm down.
Seeing this, Xu Chuan knew they were getting close.
Ahead, a phoenix-shaped hill appeared within their sight.
"Boom!"
As they were about to approach, the ground shook violently, and the phoenix-shaped hill shattered, with debris constantly falling. Xu Chuan quickly pulled Su Miaoyin away to a safe distance.
Boom boom boom!
The rumbling continued, and this process lasted for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn. Finally, the hill stopped shattering.
When the dust settled, Xu Chuan looked at the location where the hill had been.
The former phoenix-shaped hill had vanished, replaced by a circular basin.
"Phoenix!?"
Xu Chuan exclaimed in surprise.
What was he seeing?
A phoenix corpse, with the head of a qilin, the tail of a fish, the neck of a snake, the patterns of a dragon, the body of a turtle, the chin of a swallow, the beak of a rooster, and wings like those of a roc, lay in the basin.
Even though it was a corpse, it emanated infinite flames, filling the surroundings.
This exerted immense pressure on Xu Chuan.
Then, Xu Chuan made another discovery.
Amidst the fierce flames, a pitch-black saber was embedded in the phoenix's head.
The phoenix's cause of death was likely due to this.
The terrifying flames had caused no damage to the saber.
Xu Chuan's eyes lit up. He happened to be in need of a weapon.
Since this saber could kill a phoenix, it was undoubtedly extraordinary.
One had to know that a phoenix capable of creating a secret realm before its death was at least at the Heaven Reaching realm.
A saber that could inflict fatal damage on a Heaven Reaching realm cultivator must be a weapon of the same tier.
He just didn't know how to bypass the flames and get the saber.
The flames were too terrifying. Xu Chuan was certain that the moment he touched them, he would be engulfed and turned to ashes.
Su Miaoyin, who was beside him, involuntarily walked towards the phoenix corpse the moment she saw it.
"Careful!"
Seeing that Su Miaoyin was about to be engulfed by the flames, he finally reacted and quickly called out to stop her.
But Su Miaoyin seemed not to hear him, continuing to move forward.
Just as Xu Chuan thought she would be burned to ashes,
A miraculous scene occurred!
The flames that even Xu Chuan dreaded did not harm Su Miaoyin at all.
She walked directly to the phoenix corpse and met its gaze.
Xu Chuan clicked his tongue in amazement.
As expected.
This phoenix secret realm was prepared for her.
For anyone else, it would be impossible to approach the phoenix corpse.
The flames of the Heaven Reaching realm, even without anyone controlling them, were not something a mere second-level Qi Gathering cultivator could resist.
Xu Chuan felt a pang of disappointment.
However, the thought of the saber stuck in the phoenix's head perked him up again.
It seemed obtaining the phoenix's inheritance was impossible, but if he could get this saber that could kill a Heaven Reaching realm cultivator,
It would still be a worthwhile trip.
In fact, it might even be better than obtaining the phoenix's inheritance.
The moment Su Miaoyin touched the phoenix corpse, wisps of strange energy fluctuations emanated from within the corpse.
"This is..."
The scene that followed stunned Xu Chuan.
The energy emanating from the phoenix corpse slowly solidified, forming a human-shaped soul phantom.
The phantom was peerlessly beautiful, with an innate noble spirit. Its gaze was so commanding that the heavens and earth seemed to lose their color.
With every movement, it exuded infinite dignity, dazzling and resplendent.
Although it was merely a soul phantom, one could infer its appearance in its prime from this glimpse.
"You've finally come."
The phantom spoke.
"Who... who are you? Why do I feel so close to you?"
When Su Miaoyin saw the ethereal human figure before her,
She felt an immense sense of familiarity and closeness, though a hint of fear remained in her eyes.
After all, this was clearly an existence beyond her ability to provoke.
"I am the phoenix before you, and you are the successor I have chosen."
The phoenix phantom answered Su Miaoyin's question truthfully.
"Ah?"
"You're not dead? You want to be reborn by possessing my body?"
"Can you find someone else? I'm just a good-for-nothing. I haven't even avenged my parents yet!"
Upon hearing the phoenix phantom's words, Su Miaoyin's tension only increased, rather than eased.
She had heard that some powerful beings, after death, their souls would not dissipate and would seize the opportunity to possess a body under the guise of inheritance.
The phantom before her now had a dark line across its forehead, finding Su Miaoyin's bizarre train of thought both amusing and exasperating.
"You need not worry so much. I only have a trace of soul phantom left, and I will dissipate soon."
"The reason I could temporarily awaken was because I sensed your arrival."
"Once you accept the inheritance, my task will be complete."
With that, it no longer paid attention to the somewhat foolish girl. It touched her forehead, and in an instant, Su Miaoyin, who had been lively moments before, collapsed to the ground.
The terrifying flames that had surrounded the phoenix corpse then surged into Su Miaoyin's body.
Seeing this, the phantom nodded with satisfaction and then dissipated into specks of starlight.
The moment the phantom completely vanished, the phoenix corpse, which had remained uncorroded in death, gradually weathered away into a pile of dust.
A generation of Heaven Reaching realm experts had thus truly perished.
The saber, along with the dissolving phoenix corpse, fell to the ground.
Seeing that Su Miaoyin was not in danger, Xu Chuan felt relieved.
He then focused his gaze on the saber.
His hands trembled slightly as he picked up the saber and examined it carefully.
Engraved at the root of the blade were the characters "Sha Shen," likely the name of this saber.
This saber had been stuck in the phoenix's head for an unknown number of years. Its blade was pitch black and covered in rust, making one doubt if it was just an ordinary knife.
However, Xu Chuan did not believe it. For it to remain unharmed after being inserted into the phoenix's head for so long and subjected to those terrifying flames, it must be extraordinary.
Its current state was merely a manifestation of its divine nature in hiding.
One day, it would regain its former glory in Xu Chuan's hands.