Chapter 1965: Chapter 724: Devouring Minghuo, Returning Favor with Gratitude
On the serene garden path, two figures slowly walked one after the other.
Luo Chen’s gaze was fixated on the charred footprints left by Elder Minghuo.
Those footprints were extremely conspicuous, but often faded away after three steps, as if nothing had ever happened.
But Luo Chen knew, this was by no means an illusion!
"An esteemed Middle Stage Nascent Soul cultivator, unable to suppress his own True Fire, letting it spill out?"
This bizarre thought emerged in Luo Chen’s mind.
Being a master of the Dao of Fire, he could naturally tell that those charred footprints were caused by the leakage of a certain dead, solemn True Fire.
Considering his opponent’s title—Minghuo, it was apparent that Elder Minghuo was also skilled in the Dao of Fire and had refined a type of Sourceless Fire into Original Source True Fire.
The strange part was, how could a cultivator fail to suppress his own Original Source True Fire?
Unless...
"Huang Independent Cultivator, can you see any clues?"
An old hoarse voice reached his ears, Luo Chen’s expression remained calm as he nodded slightly.
The other’s "embarrassment" was obviously intentional; if he couldn’t see through it, he wouldn’t have been invited to the back hall alone.
Elder Minghuo forced a bitter smile, "Perhaps you think I’m doing this on purpose, but the situation within my body is actually as precarious as a crumbling egg."
Luo Chen probed, "Could it be that the Original Source True Fire you refined has turned on you?"
"Hm."
Just a faint "hm," yet it contained extremely complex emotions.
Elder Minghuo sighed and began recounting past events.
"That Mu Lan Gaoxiong, even when his path was severed for life, used my injuries and Shuang Liu’s downfall as stepping stones to reestablish his notorious reputation."
"The world only sees me and Shuang Liu as inadequate, but how could they know the inside story?"
Faced with Minghuo’s eagerness to talk, Luo Chen did not interrupt.
He knew Shuang Liu, who should have been one of the Nascent Soul Early Stage experts personally slain by Mu Lan Gaoxiong in his past battles.
However, as far as he was concerned, even heavily injured, Elder Minghuo still possessed an impressive inherent might. That Mu Lan Gaoxiong managed to injure him severely, seemed utterly unbelievable.
Sure enough, Elder Minghuo explained the underlying reason from years ago.
"With my strength, while I couldn’t outright defeat Mu Lan Gaoxiong, overpowering him was always within reach."
"Upon learning of Shuang Liu’s demise, I personally joined the battle, only to unexpectedly have my True Fire rampage during the fight. I was defeated not by Mu Lan Gaoxiong, but by my own hand!"
"Now, that Minghuo wanders all over my body, burning my organs, scorching my acupoints, and has even occupied the Purple Mansion within, intending to take over entirely!"
Listening to this, Luo Chen’s heart raced, even feeling a subtle sense of fear.
Indeed, this was almost exactly as he had suspected.
"Lord Liu, has your Original Source True Fire become sentient?"
Elder Minghuo gave a bitter laugh, "You’ve indeed seen through it. My Minghuo has truly become sentient, gaining its own consciousness."
Luo Chen, baffled, "Even if True Fire becomes sentient, it should still comply with its master’s will. Why would it backfire? Unless its spirituality..."
A glazed precious vase appeared in Elder Minghuo’s hand.
It was exactly the vase containing the Soul Essence!
"Previously, the Yuan Mo Sect Soul Refining Lineage voluntarily passed on the method to refine Soul Essence to the forces beside the North Sea, but they did not transmit the method of utilizing it."
"After the Demon Sect’s demise, we, the sect cultivators, have all been pondering how to make use of such strange objects as Soul Essence."
"I don’t know how others researched it, but I took a wrong path back then, attempting to nurture the spirituality of True Fire with a large amount of Soul Essence. This led to the rapid growth of consciousness in the Minghuo I refined, to the point that even my own Divine Soul couldn’t suppress it."
"This is the reason it turned against me during a critical moment!"
Upon receiving this answer, Luo Chen realized and appeared unsurprised.
Back then, he too nearly fell into a similar predicament.
After all, the higher the True Fire’s spirituality, the greater benefit it provides in both Pill Refinement, Artifact Refining, and combat against enemies.
But ultimately, Luo Chen suppressed that impulse.
He always restrained the spirituality of the Prosperity and Decline True Fire, until after achieving the Nascent Soul Stage, he fully let the True Fire’s spirit intelligence grow.
If compared to human intelligence, the spirituality of his current Prosperity and Decline True Fire has grown to roughly that of a seven or eight-year-old child.
Yet its inherent might is solid and without any discount.
He could hardly imagine how Elder Minghuo’s Minghuo had grown its spirit intelligence to such an extent after absorbing a large amount of Soul Essence, daring to rebel against its master, even attempting to seize the master’s position!
However, what connection does this have to private conversations with me?
He didn’t know that his Prosperity and Decline True Fire, with the assistance of the "Phoenix Nirvana Sutra," had gained the ability to devour other Sourceless Fires.
As if sensing Luo Chen’s doubts, Elder Minghuo stopped his steps.
He turned to look at Luo Chen, an imposing aura rising inexplicably.
It was the Nascent Soul Domain!
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, also releasing his Nascent Soul Domain.
The two domains attracted Heaven and Earth Qi, especially fire attribute Heaven and Earth Qi, to engage in tentative clashes in this small garden.
Overall, Luo Chen was at a disadvantage.
But in particular, his Senluo Fire Prison was continuously melting the other’s domain.
Seeing this scene, Elder Minghuo breathed a sigh of relief, "Indeed, I wasn’t mistaken. You have absolute control over your Original Source True Fire, even achieving a resonance level, causing a qualitative change in the domain. It can be imagined, your True Fire itself possesses even stronger melting power."
The Nascent Soul Domain was released and retracted instantaneously.
Luo Chen also withdrew his domain, frowning, "Lord Liu, what does this mean?"