Chapter 295: Chapter 282: Acquiring the [Purifying Blue Lotus Flame]
"Come back."
As the magma waves surged, Zhouyang only glanced calmly at the approaching waves and softly uttered, "Come back."
Then a flash of firelight emerged, and the Vermilion Bird Firebird, which had previously been scorched away by the Fire Qilin Beast’s innate demon fire, returned like a weary bird to its nest. It transformed into a ball of fire, traversed the magma waves, and re-entered the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace in front of Zhouyang.
With the return of the Artifact Soul, the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace, a Tier Four High-grade Spiritual Artifact, suddenly expanded dramatically, swelling rapidly into a gigantic crimson-red cauldron several zhang tall. Zhouyang then waved his hand, and the red cauldron charged toward the magma waves with a forceful collision.
Splash!
The wave splashed in all directions, and the seemingly fierce and unstoppable magma waves were split in two by the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace’s impact. The wave crests instantly withered away, falling and flowing back into the magma river before reaching Zhouyang.
At the same time, Zhouyang stared at the Fire Qilin Beast atop the magma river. Suddenly, he opened his mouth, and a flaming flying sword burning with golden flames flew out, instantly transforming into a streak of golden firelight that slashed at the Fire Qilin Beast.
The golden firelight flickered and disappeared in a flash, striking the Fire Qilin Beast’s chest and abdomen before it could react.
In an instant, a deep gash, about two feet long and half a foot wide, appeared on the Fire Qilin Beast’s chest and abdomen. Strands of golden flames blazed at the wound, burning even more fiercely, almost threatening to spread like wildfire.
Roar!
A roar filled with shock, anger, and fear erupted from the Fire Qilin Beast’s mouth. The beast slightly lowered its head to glance at the wound on its chest and abdomen, then opened its large mouth and spat out a demon pill burning with pale purple flames, aiming it at the wound to try to extinguish the strands of golden flame with the power of the demon pill.
This time, however, it miscalculated.
Though the pale purple flames on the demon pill quickly suppressed the golden flames on its wound, the golden flame didn’t clash directly with the purple flame. Instead, it retreated swiftly, delving into the depth of its wound and entering its body.
The Fire Qilin Beast’s body structure was extremely peculiar. Inside, there were no organs like heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or kidneys, only high-temperature liquid resembling magma.
This high-temperature liquid composed its blood and served as its source of power, alongside the demon pill. Its essence was pure Fire Spirit Power and magma.
Half of its strength resided in the demon pill, and the other half in these high-temperature liquids.
So, if it bled, it would lose power.
Zhouyang’s previous use of the Qianyang Celestial Sword to break its defense had inflicted almost negligible bleeding damage.
After all, its body was seven or eight zhang long, and there was a considerable amount of high-temperature liquid inside. A small wound could hardly cause it to lose much power.
But the Qianyang True Flame was an exception.
The essence of this true flame was no less than that of the Vermilion Bird True Flame. Additionally, because Zhouyang possessed the Qianyang Treasure Body, his Qianyang True Flame was essentially no different from the genuine Vermilion Bird True Flame, incomparable to the weakened version the Vermilion Bird Firebird wielded earlier.
The strands of Qianyang True Flame were now burning inside the Fire Qilin Beast, and the Fire Spirit Power within its high-temperature liquid seemed to be assimilated as fuel. How could this not terrify the Fire Qilin Beast?
If it didn’t quickly extinguish the Qianyang True Flame inside, it was foreseeable that its entire body would soon be reduced to ashes.
As a Celestial Spirit Beast born from magma, being burned alive by an internal fire was likely the most humiliating death for the Fire Qilin Beast’s kind!
Thus, upon realizing that the demon pill’s power couldn’t immediately extinguish the golden flames, the Fire Qilin Beast no longer concerned itself with Zhouyang. It swiftly sank into the magma river, diving toward the magma depths to leverage the dense Fire Spirit Power there to extinguish the golden flames within.
"Gone, is it?"
On the riverside gallery, Zhouyang watched as the Fire Qilin Beast disappeared into the magma, a thoughtful expression crossing his eyes.
He had initially intended to unleash the Flaming Dragon Burst again if the Qianyang Celestial Sword failed to have the desired effect.
However, it seemed unnecessary now as the result of the Qianyang Celestial Sword exceeded his expectations.
"No matter. I’ll retrieve the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame first."
Shaking his head, he no longer pondered the Fire Qilin Beast’s escape. He immediately cast a spell toward the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace, manipulating the artifact to collect the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame from the magma river.
The previous battle hadn’t affected this Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire. It still burned quietly, steadfast and unmoving, in its place.
"Collect!"
As Zhouyang gazed at the quietly burning Purifying Blue Lotus Flame, he summoned it with a thought. The lid of the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace flew up, and a streak of red spiritual light shot out from within, swiftly encircling the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame.
"The Purifying Blue Lotus Flame" is currently ownerless and has yet to develop spirituality, merely an object containing power but unable to wield it.
Faced with the crimson spiritual light emanating from the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace, although it instinctively resisted a few times, it was quickly drawn into the cauldron under Zhouyang’s enhanced magical power.
With a clang, the lid of the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace fell shut, swiftly severing the connection between the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame and the external fire vein spiritual qi.
Without the nourishment from external fire vein spiritual qi, this heaven and earth spiritual fire will soon contain its power to self-preserve, reducing its own consumption.
Thanks to the Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace, a Tier Four High-grade Spiritual Artifact capable of collecting various flames, otherwise Zhouyang would have spent considerable effort to bring the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame back for his Dao Companion Xiao Ying to refine.
Having collected the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame, Zhouyang’s original intention for this outing was fulfilled; he should now return to hand over this heaven and earth spiritual fire to his Dao Companion Xiao Ying for refinement.
However, he did not do so; instead, he gazed contemplatively at the black-red stone where the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame originated.
The Purifying Blue Lotus Flame is not born elsewhere nor carried away by the magma river, definitely connected with that black-red stone.
Though Zhouyang couldn’t determine the origin of the black-red stone, he knew it was certainly not ordinary volcanic lava.
"Whether there is a treasure or not, one test will prove it!"
Murmuring this as he looked at the black-red stone, he waved his sleeve, releasing another magical artifact, the Mother and Child Golden Light Sword, to chop at the black-red stone.
To his surprise, his strike only gouged a mere two-inch deep sword mark on the stone.
"There’s indeed something fishy!"
Joy flashed in Zhouyang’s eyes; he immediately executed another sword strike, slicing off a palm-sized piece of stone along the black-red stone’s edge, then enveloped it with sword light, bringing it before him.
Since he couldn’t visually identify the black-red stone’s origins, Zhouyang didn’t waste time examining it closely; he raised his hand and unleashed the Qianyang True Flame to incinerate the stone.
This black-red stone had existed in magma for countless years, sustaining the burning of the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame; its heat resistance was naturally exceptional.
However, Zhouyang’s Qianyang True Flame had yet to encounter materials it couldn’t melt.
Thus, after incinerating it for a while, the black-red stone swiftly liquefied, dripping black impurities.
Eventually, when Zhouyang stopped burning it, only a grain-sized red metal remained from the palm-sized black-red stone.
"It’s actually Fire Separation Essence Gold!"
"No wonder! No wonder this stone could exist in magma for countless years without melting, no wonder the Purifying Blue Lotus Flame rooted here without drifting elsewhere; it turns out this stone is rich with Fire Separation Essence Gold, this spiritual object!"
Gazing at the red metal grain in his palm, Zhouyang’s eyes were full of delight.
Fire Separation Essence Gold is an extremely valuable artifact refining material; his Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace is so powerful because a large amount of this material was used during its refinement.
In the marketplaces of the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, this material is priced according to weight, costing over a thousand lower-grade spirit stones per liang of Fire Separation Essence Gold!
The largest source of Fire Separation Essence Gold is the ore within magma; thus, Zhouyang wasn’t surprised to find this material in the black-red stone.
Upon realizing this situation, he immediately summoned the Thousand Blade Disc magical artifact to attack the black-red stone.
The Thousand Blade Disc had been infused with a significant amount of Taiyi Essence Gold, making it the sharpest treasure Zhouyang currently possessed.
He then used this magical artifact to cut the black-red stone, quickly slicing off chunks and setting them aside to cool.
Thus, he busied himself for several hours until he’d cut enough black-red stone to fill a storage bag with a three zhang capacity before stopping.
Not that he didn’t wish to take more black-red stone, but operating deep in the magma was demanding on his magical power and damaging to the Thousand Blade Disc.
The black-red stone he extracted was estimated to yield twenty to thirty jin of Fire Separation Essence Gold; he wouldn’t risk destroying the Thousand Blade Disc, a Tier Four High-grade Spiritual Artifact, for greed.
During Zhouyang’s stone-cutting, the fleeing Fire Qilin Beast never reappeared.
Perhaps it had yet to purge the Qianyang True Flame from its body or feared Zhouyang due to their prior battle, not daring to emerge in front of him.
Zhouyang paid it no mind; after packing up the black-red stone, he left the underground cavern with his haul, returning to the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.