In a world of crimson fire spirit energy.
This place seemed like a forbidden land, untouched by humans. Countless years had passed, and no one had set foot here.
But today, the tranquility was shattered.
A figure was moving deeper and deeper from the outside, drawing ever closer to the source of the mineral vein.
The potent fire spirit energy, like a deadly poison to other human martial artists, danced and cheered around this figure.
This figure was naturally Ling Fan.
Looking down, the fire spirit energy at this depth was no longer mere mist; it had even condensed into spirit liquid, flowing forward like a river of lava.
Ling Fan was slightly surprised, not expecting this fire spirit vein to be of such considerable scale.
At the same time, his anticipation grew.
The more abundant the spirit energy, the more extraordinary the things nurtured here would be.
Soon, the view opened up before him.
Countless winding streams of fire flowed from all directions, and at the center, a flame resembling a red lotus swayed, absorbing the myriad streams of fire spirit energy.
The moment he saw this lotus-shaped flame, Ling Fan's pupils contracted slightly.
Demon Fire Red Lotus!
He couldn't help but laugh heartily.
"Hahaha, I never expected to encounter such a heavenly treasure in this lower realm. What a pleasant surprise!"
This Demon Fire Red Lotus was a peculiar spiritual fire, its power so immense that it could incinerate all things.
Moreover, it could continuously grow stronger. At its peak, it could burn the sky and destroy the earth, engulfing an entire world without effort.
In the Hongmeng Heaven Realm where Ling Fan once resided, there was a peerless expert who subdued a spiritual fire that nearly destroyed a small realm. He styled himself as the Flame Heaven Venerable, dominating a region of the Hongmeng Heaven Realm and commanding endless territories. The Flame Heaven Venerable alone had burned to death no less than five Heaven Venerable powerhouses with his spiritual fire.
Ling Fan distinctly remembered that this Flame Heaven Venerable had also participated in the final battle to besiege him.
His spiritual fire had almost been dispersed by Ling Fan's sword.
However, due to the sheer number of Heaven Venerables involved in that battle, Ling Fan, no matter how powerful or astonishing, could not contend with dozens or hundreds of Heaven Venerables simultaneously.
Otherwise, the mere Flame Heaven Venerable would be insignificant in Ling Fan's eyes.
Among the countless heavenly spiritual fires nurtured in the vast sea of stars, the Demon Fire Red Lotus was a terrifying existence ranked within the top thirty of the Spiritual Fire Ranking.
The spiritual fire subdued by that Flame Heaven Venerable was ranked lower than the Demon Fire Red Lotus, yet it possessed such might, demonstrating the Demon Fire Red Lotus's power.
Of course, this Demon Fire Red Lotus was merely a very young sprout and could not be compared to a spiritual fire that had grown to the point of nearly destroying a world.
Rankings only indicated a spiritual fire's potential for growth, not its absolute strength.
But it was foreseeable that this Demon Fire Red Lotus would shine with unprecedented brilliance in Ling Fan's hands.
Ling Fan immediately conceived the idea of subduing this Demon Fire Red Lotus.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind at lightning speed.
The Nine Revolutions Fire God Dharma Idol of the Fire God Sect?
Its power was not insignificant, but it required at least the cultivation of the Giant Spirit Realm to refine. No.
The Soul Fire Great Art from the Myriad Evil Heaven Realm?
This art utilized the power of spiritual fire, allowing one to abandon a frail physical body, transform into fire, and reshape the body with fire. At its highest level, it granted near immortality, as long as the spiritual fire remained unextinguished, one would exist eternally!
Ling Fan shook his head.
Abandoning the physical body was clearly not the righteous path.
The human body was a treasure trove of divine secrets. Abandoning it was akin to severing an arm. How could one further advance beyond the Heaven Venerable realm by doing so?
One by one, his ideas were rejected by Ling Fan.
Suddenly, Ling Fan's eyes lit up.
After becoming an Emperor in his previous life, he had traveled to the Heavenly Demon Realm and slain a Demon Realm Imperial Son. From that Demon Realm Imperial Son, he had obtained a supreme town-realm secret art of the Heavenly Demon Realm royal family.
Heavenly Demon Eye.
As a supreme secret technique of the Heavenly Demon Realm royal family, the Heavenly Demon Eye, when cultivated to great success, could control myriad gods and demons with boundless pupil power, seeing through the illusions of heaven and earth with a single glance, rendering nothing unbreakable.
The accompanying Heavenly Demon Eye Fire, upon its release, would transform into unquenchable demonic flames that swept across billions of miles, capable of turning a realm into an inferno in an instant.
Ling Fan intended to cultivate the Heavenly Demon Eye for two reasons: first, the Demon Fire Red Lotus was highly compatible with the Heavenly Demon Eye cultivation technique, complementing each other perfectly.
Second, to strengthen his own eyes. Third, to utilize the formidable power of the Demon Fire Red Lotus to cultivate pupil fire as a life-saving trump card.
The naturally cultivated Heavenly Demon Eye already possessed extremely terrifying accompanying pupil fire. If cultivated with a super fire seed like the Demon Fire Red Lotus, ranked within the top thirty of the Spiritual Fire Ranking, its power would likely far exceed imagination.
Having settled on this plan, Ling Fan acted swiftly.
Ling Fan first drew upon the power of the local fire spirit energy and set up a Nine Dragon Binding Fire Grand Array around himself. This was to prevent himself from being directly burned to death by the Demon Fire Red Lotus in case of a failed attempt at control.
In his previous life, even the most complex formations could be completed with a mere thought.
But now, it was different. Even though he had scaled down the Nine Dragon Binding Fire Array by dozens of times, it still took him three full days to complete the formation.
The moment the formation was completed, nine dragon patterns flashed, then transformed back into fire spirit energy and hid within the array.
Only after setting up this grand array did Ling Fan feel a slight sense of relief.
Subduing spiritual fire was an extremely perilous undertaking, with the risk of death at any moment.
Moreover, he was attempting to subdue a top-ranked super fire seed like the Demon Fire Red Lotus.
And Ling Fan's current strength had far from recovered to its peak, so there was still considerable danger.
Having completed all this, Ling Fan finally sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the Heavenly Demon Eye secret technique.
Within his eyes, lines of blood and invisible strands of mental power climbed onto his eyeballs, beginning to outline countless complex demonic runes.
Every thirty-six runes formed a formation, imprinted onto Ling Fan's eyeballs, becoming a mark.
The Heavenly Demon Eye required a total of seventy-two formations, comprising two thousand five hundred and ninety-two demonic runes.
This process was extremely time-consuming. Even with Ling Fan's powerful mental strength and rich experience, his progress was slow.
The depths of the earth returned to silence.
Ling Fan sat quietly, his eyes open. If one looked closely, countless tiny, peculiar black dots could be seen wriggling and shifting within his eyes.
Not far from him, the young Demon Fire Red Lotus continued to sway gently, emitting an alluring, beautiful red glow.
...
Meanwhile, at Mogan Mountain, the Lan Family Fortress.
As the construction of the Lan Family Fortress entered its final stages, a magnificent and grand castle gradually appeared in everyone's sight.
It resembled a robust, colossal beast, nestled amidst the towering mountains.
Anyone who saw it was awestruck by its sheer scale.
Such a castle would require an immense amount of manpower, financial resources, and material wealth.
For any other family in Jiangnan City, even the City Lord's Mansion, it would be difficult to construct. Only the new, wealthy Lan family, who had acquired the fire crystal mineral vein and possessed inexhaustible wealth, could accomplish this.
When the construction of the Lan Family Fortress was first proposed, many Lan family members opposed the relocation, believing that they were living well in Jiangnan City and saw no reason to endure hardship in this remote wilderness.