Chapter 513: with translation of chapter title

Sand dust filled the sky, dancing; on the surface of the red dunes, traces of creatures wriggling beneath could sometimes be seen.

This is the most mysterious and cruel layer within the Fire Prison Tower.

It is said that the Nanming Lihuo Divine Monarch was not a cruel killer; he was rather upright, and cultivators of his era generally admired him, making few enemies in the cultivation world.

Moreover, the Demon‑Locking Tower imprisoned many sin‑filled demonic cultivators, which can be said to have made a great contribution to the stability of the cultivation world.

Only few know that the monarch also had a place for punishing enemies; the blown‑away red sand revealed a section of snow‑white finger bone, then was covered again by red gravel, as if it had never appeared.

"How much farther?"

"Almost there, almost there."

A person, a tower, and a gourd slowly advance across the dunes—namely Yunhe, Lao Hulu, and Xiao Hongta.

"Back when the monarch was alive, when did they ever get to be this arrogant?"

Xiao Hongta muttered, obviously having suffered a loss before these cultivators and feeling quite displeased.

When Rakshasa Old Devil and the others were taken into the Fire Prison Tower, conflict quickly arose among them.

The originally tense relationship between the demon alliance and human cultivators immediately erupted into fighting; moreover, the abyss clan's great priest, who had somehow also entered the tower, joined the battle—what had been a three‑versus‑four situation was extremely dangerous for the human side, and Rakshasa Old Devil and the others, using all their means, barely managed to fend off the attack of the four demon cultivators, finally reaching a temporary cooperation with the abyss clan's great priest, just enough to fight to a draw, both sides suffering losses; this was pleasing to the little tower, which wished they would all perish together.

But not long after, everyone suddenly, as if by agreement, fled in the same direction.

This left the little tower, which had been watching the show, first stunned, then it quickly grasped the seriousness, hurried to find Yunhe for help, and also wanted to see his embarrassed appearance while practicing the Lihuo Divine Technique.

But it never expected that Yunhe's comprehension ability would be so monstrous! Know that even at the monarch's peak, when geniuses abounded and spiritual qi was plentiful, no disciple had ever grasped the first four layers of the Lihuo Divine Technique this quickly; this made Xiao Hongta feel that following Yunhe was something to look forward to, and Lao Hulu's judgment really is something!

Still, it did not voice these thoughts; although Yunhe's comprehension is excellent, his character cannot be guaranteed, so it can observe a bit more before deciding.

"Where did they go?"

After hearing Xiao Hongta's description, Yunhe actually had a clue: before entering the secret realm, nearly all late‑Nascent Soul cultivators knew that the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm housed a phoenix carrying the true‑spirit blood of the Vermilion Bird.

"This... this."

"What's there to hide?"

Lao Hulu rolled his eyes and lightly bumped Xiao Hongta, like an elder tapping a junior with a chestnut.

"It is the monarch's mount! Before his passing, the monarch feared other cultivators would covet the true‑spirit blood it carried, so he locked it inside the Fire Prison Tower."

Lao Hulu didn't care whether Xiao Hongta wanted to keep hiding it from Yunhe; he blurted it out outright.

"How could you say that!"

The anxious Xiao Hongta emitted a faint red glow, obviously somewhat angry at Lao Hulu's behavior.

"This is no longer a secret; they came here for it!"

Looking at Xiao Hongta before him, Lao Hulu felt frustrated at its inability to grasp even such a small matter.

"How how could it be? I clearly..."

"Indeed, they are probably already near the phoenix's seal."

"Then unlocking the seal still requires the essence blood of three divine birds; they surely..."

"They brought them."

Yunhe's words were like the final straw that broke the camel's back, leaving Xiao Hongta unable to accept it for a moment—who leaked the secret?

"Even without them, other cultivators would come to contend for its true‑spirit blood; how could paper possibly keep the fire..."

Thereafter, they stopped discussing it.

The seventh layer of the Fire Prison Tower is truly strange; even with Yunhe pushing his escape speed to the limit, his speed is less than one‑tenth of that outside, as if these red sands have a slowing effect on evasion.

This won't do; if everyone's escape speed were weakened to that extent, it would still be possible that other cultivators have some means to ignore the red sand. Thinking this, Yunhe wanted to test whether the instantaneous movement of void power would be affected here.

The next second, a purple arc flashed; Yunhe shot through the distorted space to a distance of several li, fortunately not affected like his escape speed, and he felt somewhat relieved.

"Just now... did we just... come over all at once?"

Xiao Hongta recalled what had just happened and was instantly shocked!

This made Lao Hulu, who had been with Yunhe for a while, feel secretly pleased; although when he first learned Yunhe could instant‑move, he too had been that shocked.

"Yeah, instant movement—just a casual, ordinary shift."

Although Lao Hulu's reply was a bit cheeky, it did not diminish Xiao Hongta's astonishment in the least; see, it cheered and jumped, saying,

"Again! Again!"

"Where is the exit of the Fire Prison Tower?"

"With the phoenix..."

"."

It seems we must inevitably meet the phoenix; Yunhe's divine sense suddenly sensed a disturbance—a powerful presence approaching him—"Come in!"

As soon as Yunhe's words fell, Lao Hulu and Xiao Hongta were sucked into a treasure mirror.

"Fellow Daoist Yun, long time no see! This trip surely brings great gains, hahaha."

"Fellow Daoist Red Dust is joking; I, Yun, have come to keep an appointment."

A huge phoenix‑like bird clothed in gold‑red feathers swiftly flew from afar and landed several li away from Yunhe.

Hearing that Yunhe had come to keep an appointment, Red Dust slightly sank in thought, then said to Yunhe.

"Fellow Daoist Yun, you indeed keep your word; however, there are many variables now, so let us first join forces to deal with those few old scoundrels."

Then you'll turn on me afterward? Yunhe smirked inwardly, but Huangquan Old Ancestor is indeed a trouble; if we could use the demon alliance's power to eliminate him, a temporary cooperation would not be out of the question—this cooperation must first ensure balanced strength, and opening the seal also requires cooperation with the demon clan; fortunately, the abyss clan's great priest and Rakshasa Old Devil and the others have already reached a cooperation, otherwise it's truly doubtful whether Rakshasa Old Devil and the others could hold out.

"Fine, cooperation is naturally called for, but if I act in this capacity, releasing any one of them would likely ruin my reputation and bring disaster upon myself."

Yunhe made a furrowed‑brow, thoughtful expression, seeming truly troubled by this matter.

Seeing this, Red Dust immediately seized the moment: "Naturally we won't leave any survivors; Fellow Daoist Yun can rest assured. If you still have reservations, you may simply surrender to my clan; we will treat you with courtesy."

Seeing Yunhe appear somewhat swayed, Red Dust's mouth corners involuntarily curled upward.

"However, I, Yun, still have another method!"

I thought I could easily placate Yunhe, but he actually had another trick; Red Dust's face darkened, yet he still said.

I don't know what method Fellow Daoist Yun has?

I, Yun, earlier obtained a secret method; if aided by monster race essence blood, I can temporarily take on the appearance of that monster race.

Hearing Yunhe's words, Hongchen's face grew even darker, faintly angry; where could one find monster beast essence blood now? Would they have to give their own essence blood to him?

Better to strike first and seize his Ice Phoenix Wings. Seeing Hongchen silent, Yunhe wasn't anxious either; he merely looked at Hongchen with a superficial 'sincerity', while secretly slowly activating the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword. If Hongchen showed any sign of wanting to act, Yunhe would strike first and accompany him in making a fuss.

After a few breaths, Hongchen seemed to have made a decision.

Sensing the faint danger emanating from Yunhe, Hongchen still decided not to act. When he first went to meet Bai Xiaolou and saw Yunhe, he hadn't felt this way; this person has grown so quickly that if not eliminated, future troubles will be endless!

But how to kill him? Obviously relying solely on Hongchen offers no certainty. However, now that we have this leverage over the cooperation, even if we cannot kill Yunhe, we can likely ruin his reputation and cause his downfall.

"Since Fellow Daoist Yun still possesses such ability, this old one will naturally cooperate."

Only saw a clump of essence blood the size of a thumb fly from Hongchen's mouth, heading toward Yunhe.

Yunhe flicked his sleeve, and the essence blood was stored into a specially made bottle for safekeeping.

"Thank you for your understanding, Fellow Daoist Hongchen; I, Yun, will surely give my all! However, should I later seek refuge with the monster race, I would still trouble Fellow Daoist Hongchen to make an introduction."

What Yunhe said seemed extremely moving, giving one the feeling of a scholar dying for his confidant.

Hongchen blinked his eyes, for a moment unable to tell whether Yunhe was speaking truth or falsehood. However, that doesn't matter; as long as Yunhe ends up cooperating with him, it's fine.

After a moment, seeing Hongchen disappear from sight, and with his divine sense scanning and finding no other presence, he then released the Little Red Pagoda and the Old Gourd.

"You! After I trusted you so much, you actually are in league with them!"

As soon as the Little Red Pagoda came out, it was bright red all over, apparently angry due to Yunhe's 'betrayal'; no matter how the Old Gourd tried to block, it couldn't stop, and it even sent the Old Gourd flying several rounds.

"You blockhead, can't you see? My young master is setting him up, huh? Oh dear, this iron-headed lad, this old man is about to split open."

"Really?"

The Little Gourd, having heard this, calmed slightly, flew to Yunhe's front, seemingly wanting to obtain a confirming answer.

"This seat naturally also wants Vermilion Bird essence blood."

Hearing this reply, the Little Red Pagoda flushed red again: "Although the deity's gift satisfies this seat, I will naturally protect the phoenix completely."

"Can't you speak without stopping halfway?"

The Little Red Pagoda actually also knows that Vermilion Bird essence blood's allure to these cultivators is great, but given the phoenix's nature, it would naturally not submit; likely only a dead end.

But since Yunhe said he would protect the phoenix completely, the Little Red Pagoda can only try to trust Yunhe, for they have no other reliance.

"However, can you really transform into the appearance of a monster race?"

"Hmm, not quite yet."

The Little Red Pagoda felt somewhat anxious, realizing that this might be seen as him toying with that red phoenix; what to do? Watching the little tower spin back and forth, extremely anxious, Yunhe had a strange feeling: he, who had always been alone, now on this Vermilion Bird Secret Realm journey had several instrument spirits around him; though somewhat bothersome, the feeling was still not bad.

Actually, speaking of transforming into a monster, the 'Profound Monster Sever Immortal Strategy''s 'Profound Monster Body Exchange' might possibly enable a human body to become a monster body.

However, the crimson phoenix essence blood at this moment still has other uses; talk of turning into or not turning into a monster race is just Yunhe's nonsense for the sake of the essence blood.

Even now, at this point, there is still no trace of the Heavenly Corpse Gu; Yunhe faintly feels uneasy, always sensing it will be like a hidden poisonous snake, delivering a heavy blow at the critical moment.

We still need to make early preparations! Although Yunhe at this moment fears no late Nascent Soul cultivator, if they were to attack en masse, Yunhe would likely have only the option to flee for now. ——————I am the divider——————

"Lord of Huanhu Dao, Yunhe has come to visit the Second Young Master! Report quickly!"

Only saw at the entrance of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, Yunhe carrying some gifts, said to the mountain-guarding little monster:

Under the immense monster aura, the little monster immediately trembled with its legs and hurried to the reception hall.

"Hahaha, rare rare, Brother Yun's visit today must be for some important matter to discuss."

Not long after, Bai Hanwu came out to greet him, although today the Black Wind seemed not to be by his side. "Come, Brother Yun, try this young master's newly acquired purple mountain tea; this is currently the most sought-after item in Heavenly Demon City!"

Seeing Bai Hanwu's beaming smile before him, Yunhe understood the reason for his enthusiasm, but Yunhe's visit this time was not to agree with him; surely he would soon be disappointed.

"I, Yun, wish to ask the Second Young Master to engage in a transaction."

Yunhe had no intention of slowly drinking tea with Bai Hanwu; he went straight to the point. Although it might slight Bai Hanwu's face, this roundabout approach, Yunhe currently has no interest in.

"Brother Yun, you."

"Hahaha. So it turns out Brother Yun came today to do business; I wonder what business it is?"

Although the twitch of Bai Hanwu's mouth corner was quite subtle, Yunhe still noticed it. It's fine; you don't mind for now, wait until I take out the compensation and surely satisfy you. Yunhe thought.

Afterward, Yunhe handed over a storage bag, letting Bai Hanwu examine the compensation himself.

Bai Hanwu briefly gazed at Yunhe, then opened the storage bag, which actually contained ten bottles of elixirs, and moreover most of them were of high quality.

Bai Hanwu immediately put the elixirs back; in the Monster Beast World, alchemists are rare, and even if they exist, their grades are generally low—how could one obtain so many fourth-level elixirs?

Bai Hanwu increasingly felt Yunhe was extraordinary; if earlier he had merely obtained some treasures by chance, what is this now? Could it be that after picking up treasures he also picked up elixirs? But soon he smiled and said: "I don't know what Brother Yun wishes to buy; what could be worth such a price?"

The two settled on a transaction time, and Yunhe then left the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

Watching Yunhe's receding figure, Bai Hanwu's pupils gradually shrank, like a silver needle, his eyes flashing with dangerous light.

"I will surely discover your secret."

(End of chapter)