Chapter 741: Refining the Celestial Fire

Chapter 741: Chapter 742: Refining the Celestial Fire

THUD!

The black Zhenyuan Stone collided with Xu Ping’s battle saber, unleashing a terrifying shockwave. Xu Ping felt his arm go numb as a horrific force traveled up his saber and into his body, shaking his internal organs and bringing the thick taste of blood to his throat.

Ye Xuan, in contrast, remained motionless from the impact, a faint, cold smirk still playing on his lips.

“How is this possible?”

This time, Xu Ping was truly shocked. His last strike had unleashed his full power, imbued with his Battle Saber Martial Soul and a terrifying saber intent, yet it wasn’t even enough to make Ye Xuan take a single step back.

All this time, Xu Ping had never taken Ye Xuan, a mere Tier Seven Martial King, seriously.

In his eyes,

Ye Xuan’s success and rising influence among their great families were entirely due to his skills in Alchemy and Soul Refining. As for his actual combat strength, it was nothing to speak of.

And before, in the great hall, Ye Xuan had only managed to occupy a Restriction Array because of the two terrifying Demon Beasts he had enslaved.

When he heard Ye Xuan say his two Demon Beasts had met with an accident, Xu Ping had completely let his guard down.

But now that he was actually fighting Ye Xuan, he realized he was wrong—terribly wrong.

This young man, who was clearly only a Tier Seven Second Layer cultivator, was not the least bit weaker than him, a Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperor. In fact, he might even be stronger.

‘This…’

BOOM!

Having gained the upper hand with his Zhenyuan Stone, Ye Xuan gave Xu Ping no time to react. WHOOSH! A dense flame erupted in his hand and instantly surged toward Xu Ping.

The corridor, which wasn’t particularly narrow, was instantly engulfed in a sea of fire. The terrifying power of the flames burned holes through the protective layer of Profound Energy around Xu Ping’s body.

The flames passed through the holes and landed on Xu Ping. WHOOSH! He felt his entire body ignite. He tried to resist with his Profound Energy, but to his dismay, even his Profound Energy was set ablaze by the scorching flames.

“What a terrifying flame! Could you have already refined that Earth Fire? No, that’s not right. The aura of this flame is nothing like that Earth Fire! Ah, what is this flame?! Xu Zheng, save me…!”

Xu Ping screamed in terror, his voice shrill and tragic.

“Damn it.”

While Xu Ping was being attacked by Ye Xuan, Xu Zheng was completely dumbfounded. He had thought himself cunning, but Ye Xuan had seen through his scheme long ago. Things had already progressed to a point of no return. With a vicious roar, Xu Zheng lunged forward.

BOOM!

A dazzling light erupted from his palm. Endless Profound Energy gathered, forming a blood-red palm print in the air. Beneath the palm print, a surging tide of Profound Energy, like a vast ocean, swept toward Ye Xuan.

“Blood River Palm!”

The terrifying, blood-colored palm print descended upon Ye Xuan in an instant.

“Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror.” Ye Xuan sneered, his expression unchanging. The Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror materialized before him. Under its hazy glow, it instantly blocked the massive, blood-colored palm print. Moreover, a surging force rebounded from the mirror and slammed into Xu Zheng’s chest.

PFFT!

Xu Zheng’s eyes filled with horror as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string. The next moment, a strange glint flashed in his eyes. WHOOSH! He used the force of the impact to frantically flee deeper into the corridor.

“Xu Ping, you hold that kid back! I’ll avenge you sooner or later!”

Xu Zheng shouted as he fled.

“Xu Zheng, you—”

Xu Ping was completely stunned. BOOM! The Endless Molten Flame burned swiftly. A look of resentment and regret filled his eyes as he was instantly incinerated into nothingness.

Ye Xuan activated his Devouring Martial Soul. A suction force emanated from it, swallowing Xu Ping’s Six-Stars Saber-type Martial Soul.

His Devouring Martial Soul had already reached Six-Stars, so an ordinary Six-Stars Martial Soul wouldn’t provide much of a boost, but it was better than nothing.

‘Thinking of running?’ Ye Xuan sneered at Xu Zheng’s fleeing figure but didn’t give chase himself. With a wave of his hand, the forms of Xiaohai and Erhei appeared.

The aura of the Endless Molten Flame still lingered in the corridor. Xiaohai and Erhei flinched back in fear but then, at Ye Xuan’s command, shot forward with a WHOOSH, chasing after Xu Zheng and disappearing down the passage.

“AHH!”

About a few dozen breaths later, Xu Zheng’s tragic scream rang out, then quickly fell silent.

A short while later, Xiaohai returned, holding a Storage Ring and wearing a look that clearly sought praise.

Erhei, meanwhile, licked its lips. Evidently, Xu Zheng’s body had become its satisfying meal.

Ye Xuan looked down at them. After such a long period of recovery, the spots on Xiaohai and Erhei’s bodies and claws that had been injured by Zhan Shang were still somewhat scorched, but they were much better than before.

From Zhan Shang, Ye Xuan had learned that Xiaohai and Erhei were Spirit Demon Beasts from the Ancient Demon Lands. They were essentially the same as Demon Beasts, but they cultivated Spirit Demon Power, like the Spirit Demon Race, instead of Demonic Energy.

‘These injuries are still affecting Xiaohai and Erhei’s strength. How can I get them to recover?’

Xiaohai and Erhei might not be very effective against a member of the Soul-devouring Race like Zhan Shang, but they were still highly effective against human Martial Artists.

Previously, while they were in the Spirit Pet Bag, Ye Xuan had fed Xiaohai and Erhei many healing Pills, but the effects didn’t seem to be that obvious.

‘I wonder if my Life Martial Soul will work.’

An idea suddenly struck Ye Xuan. He placed his palms on Xiaohai and Erhei, and his Life Martial Soul materialized above his head. A strand of dense life force immediately seeped from his palms into their bodies.

Expressions of comfort immediately appeared on Xiaohai and Erhei’s faces. With a SIZZLING sound, the injuries inflicted by Zhan Shang began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye. After about a dozen breaths, they were completely restored.

Phew!

Ye Xuan let out a long breath. His face was a little pale, but his eyes shone with delight.

He hadn’t expected his Life Martial Soul to have such a powerful healing effect on Xiaohai and Erhei. The only downside was that just healing these minor injuries on the two beasts had left him quite exhausted.

‘Unfortunately, while my Life Martial Soul is powerful, it’s currently only at Three-Stars. If I could raise it to Four-Stars, or even Five-Stars, it would probably become even more formidable. I just don’t know if this Tier Eight Soul Crystal can raise my Life Martial Soul to Five-Stars.’

A Soul Crystal appeared in Ye Xuan’s hand. It was emerald green and radiated a dense aura of life-aspected Soul Power. It was the very same Tier Eight Soul Crystal that the Xu family had obtained from the Restriction Array earlier.

At this stage, Ye Xuan was increasingly aware that his own strength was somewhat lacking. He might not fear Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperors like Xu Zheng, but he would be out of his depth against powerful Third Layer Martial Emperors. As for a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor like the Blood Sword Martial Emperor, he wouldn’t even have the power to resist.

‘First, I’ll absorb that Earth Fire and upgrade my Life Martial Soul. As for my cultivation level, that can’t be rushed.’

Ye Xuan quickly made up his mind. Although he couldn’t raise his cultivation level for the time being, as long as his Life Martial Soul was improved, his overall strength would increase as well.

As for the Earth Fire, once he absorbed the Purple Wound Flame, he could use it to conceal the existence of his Endless Molten Flame. Then he could use it without restraint, and no one would suspect he possessed a Celestial Fire.

However, this corridor was clearly not a good place to cultivate.

An idea came to him. A stick of incense’s time later, he appeared before the cliff face at the end of the corridor.

A dense Demonic Evil Qi rose up. Xiaohai and Erhei both tumbled about excitedly in the Evil Qi. Streams of it merged into their bodies, actually making their Scale Armor more lustrous. Moreover, the auras of Xiaohai and Erhei also seemed to be slowly growing stronger.

Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up.

This Demonic Evil Qi was a treasure for the Spirit Demon Race to temper their bodies. Since Xiaohai and Erhei were Spirit Demon Beasts, perhaps this Demonic Evil Qi was also a great resource for them to increase their strength.

But this wasn’t the time for them to play. Under Ye Xuan’s command, Xiaohai quickly dug a tunnel into the rock wall and then carved out a cave deep inside.

The entire cave was ten meters high, ten meters wide, and ten meters long—a perfect place to cultivate.

“You two, cultivate near the cave entrance in a bit. Make sure to hide yourselves carefully, understand?”

Ye Xuan took out the Demon Stone he had obtained in the third stone chamber, cut it in half with his Sword of Domination, and gave one half to Xiaohai and the other to Erhei.

When Xiaohai and Erhei saw the Demon Stone, their eyes widened in pleasant surprise. They each swallowed half of the Demon Stone and nodded repeatedly.

As the Demon Stone entered their stomachs, Ye Xuan could clearly feel some kind of change occurring within Xiaohai and Erhei’s bodies.

Ye Xuan smiled faintly. This Demon Stone was useless to him, so it was better to give it to Xiaohai and Erhei to increase their strength.

After finishing all this, Ye Xuan sealed the cave entrance and began to cultivate.

The first thing he did was refine the Purple Wound Flame.

As the thirteenth-ranked flame on the Earth Fire List, the Purple Wound Flame was an extremely fearsome type of fire. For an ordinary Alchemist to refine it—even an Eighth Grade Alchemist—it would be impossible in less than half a month.

But Ye Xuan had refined the Heart Marrow Fire, ranked third on the Earth Fire List, in his previous life. In this life, he possessed the Endless Molten Flame, ranked third on the Celestial Fire List. Refining the Purple Wound Flame was naturally much easier for him.

Suppressed by the aura of the Endless Molten Flame, the Purple Wound Flame didn’t dare to resist in the slightest as Ye Xuan integrated it into his body.

「Three days later.」

BOOM!

A purple flame rose from Ye Xuan’s hand, emanating a terrifying power that even he found somewhat startling.

‘The Purple Wound Flame truly lives up to its name. Any flame that can rank in the top twenty of the Earth Fire List is no simple thing.’

Although the Purple Wound Flame was only ranked thirteenth on the Earth Fire List, making its quality much lower than the Endless Molten Flame, the Endless Molten Flame had not yet fully matured. The Purple Wound Flame, however, was in its complete form. Therefore, in terms of sheer power, the current Purple Wound Flame was not actually weaker than his Endless Molten Flame.