Chapter 507

If one says the Cinnabar Region is a vast plain and streams forming a Jiangnan water town, then the Artifact Region is like Guilin's mountains and waters with scenery.

And the remaining Fire Region is different; compared to the beautiful scenery of the Cinnabar and Artifact Regions, it is simply a barren land. As the cultivation ground of the Divine Lord of Southern Brightness Separate Fire, the Fire Region is even larger than the Cinnabar and Artifact Regions combined!

On this vast land, everywhere are the sparks of divine fire left from the Lord's cultivation, thus forming a vast expanse of flame desert and blazing mountain ranges.

Moreover, the evil demons and strange beasts imprisoned by the Lord are all confined within the Fire Region. Therefore, the danger level of the Fire Region is unmatched by the Cinnabar and Artifact Regions: 'Why does the Lord only lock up these bad people?'

Ling'er seriously questioned the Fire Region information told by Old Gourd; having just come into contact with the outside world, she still lacked a mature understanding of many issues.

Of course it's because the Lord is merciful, giving these demons a chance to reform!

When the little old man speaks of the Lord, his face even shows a proud holy light, making his gourd look oily and bright; I don't know if it's from being handled too long.

As long as these demons are alive, they must endure the pain of divine fire scorching their souls; the Lord's greatest means is his near-immortal 'Southern Brightness Separate Fire'!

Yunhe added, stating a more objective fact. Clearly, the Jade Slip inevitably contains information about the Fire Region.

It also inevitably contains various rumors and data about the Lord: 'Isn't the Lord then very cruel?'

Thinking of how Huohuo sometimes accidentally burns itself and it hurts so much, if the Lord's fire keeps burning, wouldn't one die of pain? 'Eh?' The Lord's loyal follower was about to speak out in rebuttal: 'No, the sins committed by these demons merely merit a lifetime of scorching by divine fire—that's already lenient for them! I also think the Lord is indeed merciful.'

'Ah~' the Lord's loyal follower let out a sound of agreement and praise.

Seeing Ling'er still seemed somewhat confused, Yunhe said nothing more, feeling that Ling'er still needed to realize this herself; once this point clicked, everything else also became clear.

Demon Prison Tower

Old Gourd glanced at a small spire in the distance, still feeling uneasy inside, but didn't dwell on it, turning back to continue introducing the local customs of the Fire Region: 'Let me tell you, back when the Lord had not yet attained divinity, he once encountered a particularly formidable opponent.'

—————— I am the dividing line ——————

Dapeng Shizu

Nanming Lihuo

Huohuo

Five Elements Spirit Nurturing Pearl

'Ha~ I haven't tasted such fresh mutton in ages! Hahaha, so fragrant, so fragrant!'

A furry black giant hand grabbed a headless corpse, like drinking soup, pouring the blood into its big mouth, then letting out an extremely excited roar. This is a half-human, half-beast monster, with horns like a goat's on its head, its fur sparse yet long, its big hand able to directly seize a human cultivator, and even when it stands up, it is estimated to be about nine Chinese feet tall.

Such a monster, at this time not only was it not imprisoned in the Prison Demon Tower, but it could even freely hunt cultivators entering the Fire Region—what exactly happened inside the Prison Demon Tower? 'I still want to eat.'

After stuffing the severed corpse into its big mouth and chewing it up, it swallowed, then still somewhat unsatisfied, sucked on its fingers a few times, then used its thick fingers to pick up that grotesque, five-holed, bleeding skull from beside its foot, crunching it like candy beans, its black-green tongue licking the red-and-white substance around its mouth, revealing an expression of extreme enjoyment.

Nascent Soul Infant Fire

The monster's eyes, filled with bloodshot veins, rolled around, its big mouth pulled up at the cheeks, revealing black-and-yellow fangs, as if it were smiling.

Then it strode off in a direction, running wildly, 'Great Peng Grandmaster, do you truly not wish to return with us?'

Thousand Poisons Myriad Insects Technique

Great Peng Ancestor, the Divine Lord has long since ascended; why do you still bother?

Enough, I know why you've come; don't disturb my meditation any further, leave at once.

Yes.

Inside the Prison Demon Tower, it was empty and vacant; the jail doors holding the prisoners were wide open, yet only a blurry silhouette on the topmost floor remained — — I am the dividing line — —.

Master, the Divine Lord's palace has not yet opened; Master, you might as well use the divine fire of the Fire Realm to properly refine your magical treasure.

Lao Hulu's face broke into a smile like a chrysanthemum, full of fawning expression; obviously he is also very attentive to the current master, actually Yunhe also intends so, and in the Fire Realm, fire-element Spiritual Power is most abundant, so why not use this to boost the Five Elements Nurturing Spirit Pearl's strength a bit.

Yunhe came to a mountain range; the natural cave there suited his taste, and after setting up two great formations to conceal and scout.

He also set up several identical deceptive formations around; in the Fire Realm, experts are many, and if it were a battle formation, it would give the feeling of trying to hide silver but only revealing it, and everyone would know someone is inside.

And those conceal-and-scout deceptive formations are likely to disturb the enemy's sight and hearing; at the slightest movement, Yunhe can react immediately.

After completing the external preparations, he used a huge stone to completely conceal the cave, then summoned Ling'er from within the treasure pearl, who uttered an "Huh?".

Since swallowing the bone wolf, Ling'er often falls into sleep; this time she appeared with a sleepy, half-closed gaze, rubbing her head, as if she would fall asleep again any second.

Ling'er, don't sleep, the fire-element Spiritual Power here...

But in the next second, a cluster of flame appeared on Ling'er's shoulder; the little fire seemed to have arrived in a mortal paradise, joyfully leaping from her shoulder, then waving behind it, a large expanse of even smaller flames appeared. "It's fine, I'll keep sleeping, keep sleeping."

Having said that, Ling'er turned into a beam of white light and returned to the treasure pearl. Since obtaining the Elixir Pavilion, Yunhe no longer needs to refine elixirs himself. With the reserves in the Elixir Pavilion, although they have been somewhat depleted over the years, there is still plenty to refine elixirs that boost mental power and aid in artifact forging.

After taking the elixir, Yunhe felt a refreshing clarity, his spiritual sense seeming even more lucid. "This time refining the artifact, the void essence should be more than enough; I just don't know how high this amount of void essence can elevate the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword."

With that thought, Yunhe began to wholeheartedly refine the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword.

Usually, the hardest part of refining a magical artifact is finding the materials; previously, the materials for forging were just tiny bits added to the main material. Now, however, such a large chunk of void essence has made how to melt it the biggest problem!

But at this time and place, it just so happens to give Yunhe a solution to this problem; just as Yunhe was considering how to deal with the variant flame of the Southern Bright Departing Fire, Lao Hulu said, "Master, are you worried about how to command this Divine Lord's fire without being harmed by it?"

If it weren't Yunhe's illusion, Lao Hulu at this moment was practically about to bend his upper half backward and fold it onto his lower half.

"What can be done?" Yunhe asked. Seeing Lao Hulu's expression, he already had an idea; the fire Lao Hulu uses to refine elixirs is probably related to the Divine Lord as well.

After a moment, Yunhe chanted the fire-dispelling divine incantation, made two hand seals, and the fire-element Spiritual Power in the cave began to grow dense.

Jie!

Sensing the change, the little fire raised its head, immediately bringing the surrounding tiny flames to Yunhe's side, encircling him, extending a tiny claw and beginning to sway left and right in a regular rhythm.

Crimson red mist grew denser and denser, beginning to form a small vortex before Yunhe, its speed increasing ever faster, ever faster!

A cluster of reddish-purple flame thus appeared!

Success!

The moment Yunhe opened his eyes, the flame before him gave a "swish" and then began to burn steadily. "Young master, first use the nascent soul infant fire to touch the departing fire; once the two fires merge, the departing fire can be accomplished."

Lao Hulu couldn't help but interject a reminder, his eyes showing a hint of nostalgia and relief.

Only to see Yunhe's forehead already covered in fine beads of sweat, gritting his teeth, focusing intently as he slowly brought the infant fire into contact with the departing fire.

When the infant fire touched the departing fire, Yunhe felt a tearing pain throughout his body, followed by a wave of dry heat. Though he wanted to grit his teeth and endure it, although uncomfortable, compared to cultivating the "Thousand Poisons Myriad Insects Art", it was already very comfortable; the discomfort lasted only a moment, and Yunhe felt himself enveloped by warmth, the departing fire seeming to merge into his blood vessels throughout his body, burning away all the toxin impurities left from the elixirs he had ingested. "Ha!"

A surge of qi burst outward from Yunhe's body, flinging the nearby circle of little fires two...

The flames disappeared; sensing the fire-element power gradually waning, the little fires felt somewhat disheartened.

Puff

Reddish-purple flames suddenly flared up again, causing the scattered flames to gather once more, waving their claws just as before. Yunhe paid no attention to the flames' movements; at this moment his consciousness entered a strange space, or rather, the memories within the Separating Fire.

A handsome middle-aged man wielded a pair of God-Beating Whips, summoning a huge purplish-red fire dragon that burned the tiger‑like demon beast before him to ashes.

Yunhe could even hear what the Divine Lord had said at that time.

"This Separating Fire actually stores the Divine Lord's memories!?"

Even someone as composed as Yunhe showed a bit of loss of composure.

"Young Master?"

Lao Hulu beside him didn't know what had happened, but it could see that Yunhe had definitely encountered some opportunity just now, and even glimpsed the Divine Lord's memories.

"No problem."

After two breaths, Yunhe began to forge the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword. With the Separating Fire's aid, the forging went smoothly, freeing up most of his original time. Since time was still plentiful, Yunhe thought he might as well forge another treasure, combining the strange demon beast's bone with the remaining Void Essence to see what treasure would result.

In the dark cave where day and night were indistinguishable, Yunhe could feel that the Divine Lord's palace was about to open, and the fire region occasionally trembled.

I don't know whether it's because the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm can hide heavenly secrets from the outside world, but cultivating a top‑grade Fourth Level Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword actually provoked no heavenly disturbance.

But that's fine; it saves Yunhe unnecessary trouble.

The Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword has improved markedly; its sharpness leaves Yunhe in awe, thanks to the Void Essence's special nature and, following the Five Qi Peacock Fan's forging concept, Yunhe engraved the Dragon Scale Pattern into the sword. This caused the sword spirit, the Five-Colored Phoenix, to exhibit draconic traits. Indeed, the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword bearing the Dragon Scale Pattern is now faster than before, able to be wielded as Yunhe mobilizes Void Power.

"Go!"

The Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword turned into a purple light and vanished from Yunhe's hand; the next second, five flying swords appeared above the cave, and then, with a thought of Yunhe's divine sense, the swords reappeared in his hand out of thin air. If the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword was expected, the remaining treasure was truly unexpected.

When Yunhe dissolved the remaining Void Essence into that strange demon beast's bone, the bone that should have been wrapped instead miraculously absorbed all the Void Essence fluid.

What should have been a successfully forged treasure was now only a half‑finished product, but Yunhe was not discouraged, for this half‑finished item was destined to become a renowned treasure under heaven.

"Just as Yunhe was about to leave, a tall, ugly figure appeared! "Hehe, there's a sheep here.""

"The burly man, seeing Yunhe suddenly appear, showed great delight on his face: "Sheep!""

"Yunhe had never seen such a monster, but looking at it he knew it was no good: "Young Master, be careful—this is a Sheep‑Eating Beast, immune to treasure and divine sense attacks, it loves human flesh, and for a Yuan Ying Cultivator it's very hard to deal with!""

Seeing the huge figure, Lao Hulu immediately grew tense as the Sheep‑Eating Beast strode toward Yunhe; hearing Lao Hulu's warning, Yunhe naturally had already prepared his defenses.

But the freshly forged Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword simply had to taste blood!

If it couldn't be wounded, then after further thought all that could be seen was Yunhe pointing his right hand like a sword at the Sheep‑Eating Beast, purple arcs flickering around his body.

"Shoot!"

As Yunhe's words fell, the Sheep‑Eating Beast's steps halted instantly, a pain unlike any before surged through it, making it let out a painful howl: "Ah!"

The Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword pierced the Sheep‑Eating Beast's body in an instant—"treasure can't hurt?" What a joke. Obviously the beast had never suffered such an attack; it was shocked and angry, yet its regenerative power was terrifying: the flesh scorched by the sword's heavenly thunder quickly scabbed over and new flesh grew.

At this point Yunhe also understood what "treasure and divine sense cannot harm" meant—this guy wasn't just thick‑skinned; his healing ability was freakish.

"Young Master, better to temporarily avoid its edge—this fellow is hard to deal with!"

Lao Hulu was anxious and angry: "Who went to the Prison Demon Tower and let this thing out?! Know that inside there are some strange beasts that even give the Divine Lord headaches, with extraordinarily tenacious vitality."

There's another whose strength is on par with the Divine Lord's!

If he also came out, just thinking about it made Lao Hulu's brownish bursts turn somewhat pallid.

(End of chapter)