Chapter 785

"What did you make me eat!"

Xue Tong immediately screamed, trying to stick his fingers down his throat to induce vomiting—but if the poison pill Xiao Yixian had made could be neutralized by vomiting, she wouldn't deserve the title Calamity Poison Immortal.

Xiao Yan clapped his hands and said lazily, "Nothing much—just a poison pill."

"Poison pill!!!" Xue Tong's face instantly turned ashen; he immediately activated his cultivation method, trying to use Spiritual Energy to expel the poison.

But no matter what he did, he couldn't sense any abnormality inside his body—he couldn't detect the poison at all. Yet he knew he had been poisoned, because the instant the poison pill entered his body, it transformed into a freezing current that spread through every inch of him—cold enough to pierce the bone!

Xue Tong's face was now completely devoid of color; he realized he had encountered a formidable opponent!

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian clapped their hands, paying not the slightest heed to this clown; instead, Xiao Yan felt a flicker of interest in the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Saint Sect. He was very curious to see just how the pinnacle Pill Alchemy of the Great Thousand World truly looked—and how much he himself still lagged behind its greatest Alchemists.

"If you have the guts, give me your name! I swear I'll never let you live—I'll make you pay!" Xue Tong roared furiously toward the direction where Xiao Yan had vanished, his eyes filled with venomous hatred, his teeth ground to shards—he longed at that moment to tear Xiao Yan into a thousand pieces.

Seeing this, everyone exchanged glances—this time, the enmity between Xiao Yan, Xue Tong, and the Heavenly Saint Sect had been sealed.

"Soul Palace, Flame Sovereign."

Xiao Yan's voice drifted faintly through the air; after regaining his strength and leaving Ning Tian Continent, he had begun to make his name known.

Xue Tong silently memorized the name and flew toward the Wood Realm—he needed to find the Young Sect Master to cure the poison!

After Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian departed, they continued onward, ascending toward the summit of Fire God Mountain. As they delved deeper, the flames of Fire God Mountain grew fiercer and fiercer, unbearably scorching.

Xiao Yixian was now sweating profusely; the place they stood in now held far fewer weapons being nurtured, yet every single one of the artifacts here was of Sacred Artifact rank.

"The Strange Flame once appeared here," Xiao Yan suddenly stopped, looking down at his surroundings, then flipped his hand—the Strange Flame transformed into a compass, its needle pointing directly beneath his feet.

"But there's nothing here," Xiao Yixian frowned slightly; around them, not even plants, trees, weapons, or rocks existed—just barren land.

At that moment, the Strange Flame Compass in Xiao Yan's hand emitted a faint glow, its concentrated firelight pointing in one direction, adjusting continuously as Xiao Yan changed his stance.

Although Xiao Yan had not yet obtained the true original Strange Flame, this Strange Flame had grown by devouring dark matter in the universe and possessed the trait of Gravity Pull. With Xiao Yan's years of experience manipulating fire, crafting such a compass was no great feat.

This was one of the key uses of the Strange Flame Compass: when Xiao Yan channeled Spiritual Energy through it, it could point precisely in the direction he desired.

"Sometimes, the true treasure isn't what's visible on the surface," Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened; the volcanic rock was littered with weapons driven into the ground—even if the weapons had been removed, they left behind pits and traces.

But this place was most peculiar: not only was there nothing, there were no traces at all—meaning no one had ever planted weapons here to nurture them.

"Bore through this realm?" Xiao Yixian naturally understood Xiao Yan wouldn't speak without reason—something must be buried here.

Xiao Yan slowly shook his head, looking up toward the Cave not far off, and said, "This isn't the entrance. Since it's inside Fire God Mountain, the entrance must be from the summit. And once you enter Fire God Mountain, you'll never get a chance to claim the treasure at the very top."

Xiao Yixian covered her mouth with a light laugh, her beautiful eyes soft with affection: "We're here already?"

"Of course—we're here, so we must take something," Xiao Yan seized Xiao Yixian's Jade Hand, and in one step, they teleported to the summit of Fire God Mountain.

At the volcano's mouth, a sphere the size of a human head floated in midair, continuously absorbing the unique fire-elemental Spiritual Energy surging from Fire God Mountain. The sphere flickered dimly and brightly, as if breathing.

This was the mountain's treasured artifact—a High-Rank Sacred Object!

The Five Elements Spirit Soil had opened many times; every time the Fire Realm opened, prodigies came to Fire God Mountain to try—but none succeeded. Rumor had it that the Fire Spirit Clan once secretly sent a Great Perfection Earth Supreme to compete for it, hoping to make this High-Rank Sacred Object recognize a master—yet all attempts ended in failure.

"The Fire Spirit Clan truly knows fire," Xiao Yan's eyes blazed as he stared into the sphere; this was an unfinished embryo—not because it hadn't been forged, but because its form had not yet been decided.

This embryo had already been fully forged and had even developed a spirit; when it recognized its master, it would automatically take the shape of the weapon the master envisioned—a swordsman would see it become a sword, a blade-wielder would see it become a blade, and if Xiao Yan claimed it, it would become a giant ruler.

"No wonder even the Fire Spirit Clan's ancestral elder couldn't take it away," Xiao Yan observed, then said, "This embryo is bound to Fire God Mountain—if forcibly removed, it would trigger the mountain's eruption."

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian didn't hesitate—they both unleashed their Soul Force to communicate with the High-Rank Sacred Object embryo—but the result was as expected: no matter how they tried, the object remained indifferent.

"Incredible—this High-Rank Sacred Object truly is extraordinary," everyone was moved upon seeing even Xiao Yan fail; the Flame Sovereign, who possessed a Strange Flame, had been rejected.

Xiao Yan's strength was undeniable—yet he had still failed.

"It seems to have rejected us," Xiao Yan said calmly.

Xiao Yixian nodded, her voice serene as she echoed, "Yes, it rejected us."

They exchanged glances; Xiao Yan smiled faintly, while Xiao Yixian gave a wry, resigned shake of her head—she knew what Xiao Yan intended to do.

Refuse the wine? Then drink the punishment.

"Some things must be seized by force," Xiao Yan said directly, his Soul Palace manifesting.

A cultivator can't accept "no" as an answer—you must strive! You must fight! You must have ambition!

As if hearing Xiao Yan's words, the High-Rank Sacred Object trembled slightly.

Without another word, Xiao Yan leapt straight down into the heart of Fire God Mountain.

"Kuang! He's insane!!"

"This is suicide! Even an Earth Supreme would be refined to ash inside Fire God Mountain!!"

Seeing Xiao Yan leap, the cultivators below who had been attempting to claim weapons were stunned—Fire God Mountain could forge High-Rank Sacred Objects, let alone a mere human!

As Xiao Yan fell deeper, the flames around him grew fiercer and fiercer until he resembled a living fire—his entire body engulfed in flames, his form indistinguishable.

Looking down, the base of Fire God Mountain was a sea of magma; everywhere the eye could reach, molten rock flowed. The mountain's structure was peculiar, like a network of veins, with magma slowly pulsing through it with a thump-thump-thump.

It was as if this were an ocean of magma; standing here felt like being trapped in hell itself—especially when the scorching heat waves slammed into you, making you feel you'd be reduced to ash in an instant.

The magma here was terrifying—even Divine Weapons and Sacred Artifacts dropped into it would melt away.

With a splash, Xiao Yan dove into the magma ocean like a fish entering the sea.

"Dou Technique Body!" Xiao Yan mentally roared; with a thought, a colossal technique body instantly appeared, and the scorching magma cascaded down it like a waterfall.

Meow!! Huh-huh-huh!! The next second, a roar of flames erupted as a black flame surged from the Dou Technique Body.

"Dou Technique, Dark Space!" Xiao Yan formed a hand seal—the Strange Flame Dou Technique manifested in the Great Thousand World!

Hummm! As Xiao Yan activated his Dou Technique Body, his Dou Qi surged to its peak—the space trembled. In that instant, all light and power lost their luster; heaven and earth darkened, the sun and moon dimmed.

Even the crimson magma turned black and white, as if the entire world had shifted from color to monochrome outlines.

At that moment, Xiao Yan's entire body emitted a faint flame glow—like wisps of dark mist. In that instant, heaven and earth were shrouded in darkness, as if Xiao Yan had replaced the world with his own night.

Hummmmm!!! Every weapon embedded across Fire God Mountain lost its nurturing connection to the mountain—all trembled violently.

"What's happening?!"

Even the High-Rank Sacred Object sensed something—trying to flee—but it was already too late.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Dozens of black flame sealing chains shot skyward from Fire God Mountain, instantly converging to form a sealed domain—within this space, all Spiritual Energy lost its power!

In this dark space, all things under heaven and earth lost their luster; even spiritual energy became as ordinary as air, and everything was sealed. Here, all things lost their color, lost their life force, as if time no longer existed and molecules ceased to move.

Although Mao Wu had not yet fully unleashed his greatest power, after entering the Fire Realm, he may have feasted well and now could wield seven or eight tenths of his peak strength.

At this moment, Xiao Yixian's eyes turned a gray-white, her hair visibly turned gray-white, and she condensed a cluster of gray poison in her hand. Zizizizi—when the poison appeared, the space itself began to melt!

Eternal Calamity Poison cannot be measured by Rank; poison is the most mysterious thing—if one has strong poison resistance, they may not be poisoned, but if one lacks resistance, even an Earth Supreme will be killed by even a tiny amount of this deadly toxin.

Xiao Yixian's Innate Calamity Poison Body is not acquired later in life—it is an Innate Calamity Poison Body, one of the Original Physical Forms, with immense toxic power.

How could a weapon possibly have poison resistance? Especially since this Sacred Artifact is merely a weapon embryo, still unformed. Once it comes into contact with this deadly poison—even a trace—it may lose its ability to take shape, and even its spiritual essence could be destroyed.

Normally, it could control the flames within Fire God Mountain to counterattack, or even slip into the magma world beneath Fire God Mountain—no Earth Supreme, not even a Fully Cultivated one, could ever find it.

It never imagined that this man, whose spiritual energy was only Two-Star Sovereign, could sever the connection to Fire God Mountain! Even a Fully Cultivated Earth Supreme could not break Fire God Mountain's fire veins—how did he do it?!

And this man wasn't even afraid of Fire God Mountain's flames!! After activating his Supreme Physical Form, his power suddenly leapt to Earth Supreme!

How could there be such a bizarre person?! You're not human!

The weapon embryo tried to flee, but it had nowhere to run!

After reaching Emperor-level flame, Mao Wu's Flame Dou Technique became even more terrifying—it could suppress Fire God Mountain. Or rather, this couldn't even be called suppression; Mao Wu himself was a Heavenly Flame, and had refined a seed of a Heavenly Flame from the Great Thousand World, granting him special powers to commune with the flames of the Great Thousand World.

The principle that "when a Heavenly Flame appears, all other flames submit" holds true even in the Great Thousand World. The flames of Fire God Mountain are not Heavenly Flames—they are merely the power released by a fire vein. The true Heavenly Flame lies within the vein.

Pupupupu!!! In an instant, all the weapons nurtured within Fire God Mountain burst forth from the soil, flying into the sky, no longer daring to approach Fire God Mountain—as if Fire God Mountain had transformed from a sacred land into a cursed one!

"T-this—this—this can't be real!" An elder, staring at this scene, muttered in shock. Even he, who had lived for thousands of years, remained stunned for a long time.

"I—I heard Divine Weapons automatically recognize their masters—but how could they run away?!" Someone else couldn't help but gape.

Everyone had heard that when a peerless prodigy came to Fire God Mountain, countless Divine Weapons would vie to recognize him as master—but today, they saw Divine Weapons fleeing?! Not just Divine Weapons—even several Sacred Artifacts fled!

As if encountering some great horror! Had weapons gone mad?

Xiao Yixian slowly floated before the Sacred Artifact bound by Black Flame Spiritual Energy Sealing Chains, caressing the glowing orb. Instantly, the orb trembled—and everyone's hearts leapt into their throats.

The Sacred Artifact embryo had calculated and planned endlessly, but never anticipated that Xiao Yan possessed Emperor-level Black Flame, and also wielded the power of a Great Thousand World Heavenly Flame, capable of communing with Fire God Mountain and severing its connection, leaving it without protection.

Xiao Yixian offered a serene smile and whispered softly: "My husband excels in Spiritual Soul—he can erase your spiritual essence and recast it with Heavenly Flame."

A threat! A naked threat!!

Wengwengweng!! The High-Rank Sacred Artifact embryo emitted a burst of light, as if enraged, as if declaring it would not submit to threats!

Seeing the High-Rank Sacred Artifact unleash Saint Might as if preparing to retaliate autonomously, those below sighed in relief.

"Looks like threats won't work."

"Though we don't know what the Flame Sovereign did, Sacred Artifacts have their own pride—how could they submit just because they're threatened?"

"Exactly. A Sacred Artifact's pride—even if it means self-destruction—will never accept a threat."

Now that the Sacred Artifact embryo refused to recognize Xiao Yan, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of excitement—no one wanted others to succeed.

Yet, in the next instant, another transformation occurred—beneath Fire God Mountain, a three-headed, six-armed giant statue slowly emerged.

Catching up yesterday's update.

Five and a half hours left; updating today's chapter at 12:30 tonight—will write as much as I can, minimum six thousand characters.

Occasionally need to rest and meet friends—please understand.

(End of Chapter)