Chapter 311: Love is Letting Go

Flames roared, and the scorching heat distorted the atmosphere.

Magma boiled, and suddenly a hill-like red flame demon beast—a Yuan Ying-level Flame-Treading Lizard—crashed out from it!

It launched a surprise attack from the south, crashing fiercely into the Lava Immortal Palace.

And on the north side, directly opposite, a Yuan Ying-level Fire-Walking Snake, wrapped in scorching flames, opened its mouth and sprayed a torrent of flames.

The scorching flames roasted the spherical light shield of the Lava Immortal Palace. The light shield was already damaged, and under the pincer attack of the two great Yuan Ying-level beasts, cracks appeared, and the situation was extremely dire.

"Evil beast." Meng Kui let out a cold shout.

Spell—Mysterious Mechanism in the Palm!

Four large handprints condensed, two in each group, rushing toward the Yuan Ying-level demon beasts in the north and south positions respectively.

The Fire-Walking Snake hissed, twisting its huge snake body to dodge.

The Flame-Treading Lizard did not dodge or evade, taking the slap of the large handprints head-on, still attacking the spherical light shield wildly.

The Immortal Palace shook!

Under the fierce attack of the Flame-Treading Lizard, the nearest mechanism buildings collapsed one after another. The ground cracked, and then another corner of the Immortal Palace separated directly from the main body, collapsing and falling into the magma.

Because of the fall of the corner of the Immortal Palace, the magma was stirred up into surging giant waves, rushing toward the broken walls and ruins outside the Immortal Palace.

A large amount of magma took advantage of the spherical light shield not yet closing, spreading into the Lava Immortal Palace, burning more buildings and creating a scene of devastation.

Deep in the clouds and smoke, Meng Kui's gaze was deep, his face expressionless.

Boom boom boom!

In the inner circle of the Lava Immortal Palace, a battle suddenly broke out.

The Shadow Demon Cultivator appeared again, chasing and killing Yang Chanyu!

Because of the impact of the Yuan Ying demon beasts, the Lava Immortal Palace had already awakened almost all the cultivators who had entered the palace.

The battle between the Shadow Demon Cultivator and Yang Chanyu immediately attracted widespread attention from the cultivators.

A golden light, like a rainbow, tore through the sky, quickly approaching the battle group of Yang Chanyu and the Shadow Demon Cultivator.

Seeing this familiar escape light, everyone knew that it was undoubtedly Zhu Xuanji!

The Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment-level red flame demon beasts gathered into waves again, rushing toward the inner circle of the Lava Immortal Palace.

"The opportunity has come." Zhu Xuanji gave a secret order.

Thus, the members of the three-family modification team who held the positions of Pointing Platform and Five Elements Artillery Tower worked together to execute the order.

Under their influence, only a few mechanism creations intercepted in front, blocking the demon beasts from approaching the Gourd Fire Furnace Forest.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was anxious and hurriedly contacted Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo's second-grade position still remained, and his order suppressed everyone in the three-family modification team.

Thus, a large number of mechanism creations gathered toward the direction of the Fire Furnace Forest, and the Five Elements artillery shells were as dense as rain, constantly covering the demon beast tide.

However, with Ning Zhuo intentionally letting water, red flame demon beasts still rushed into the Golden Furnace Ruins.

The real Zhu Xuanji suddenly appeared, and amidst the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's screams, he followed into the Golden Furnace Ruins!

The previous Zhu Xuanji was not the real person, but disguised by Zhu Zhen.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit could not watch Zhu Xuanji at all times; it itself had to be responsible for the huge defense of the Immortal Palace, fighting against the endless attacks of demon beasts.

Therefore, it did not perceive in advance that Zhu Zhen and Zhu Xuanji had secretly swapped identities.

"Young Master, Young Master!"

"Act quickly, act quickly!"

"You must not let Zhu Xuanji find any clues!"

At this moment, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit felt its heart jump to its throat, although it didn't have a heart.

Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Zhu Xuanji, you forced me!"

With the cooperation of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, he fully activated the attack power of the Five Elements Artillery Tower, and the Five Elements artillery shells were like a rainstorm, setting off a shocking offensive, covering the Golden Furnace Ruins completely.

Boom boom boom...

In the intense bombardment, Zhu Xuanji barely managed to hold on for the time being.

He knew that at this very moment, he had to race against time. Time was extremely limited, and he could only choose one to survey.

The No. 2 Golden Furnace, No. 3 Golden Furnace, and No. 4 Golden Furnace had all been destroyed, and they contained clues of great value!

Zhu Xuanji hesitated for a moment, but finally chose the No. 2 Golden Furnace.

The reason was precisely the riddle poem Ning Zhuo gave him.

Zhu Xuanji only took one look at the time and knew the answer was "two."

Zhu Xuanji determined that what Ning Zhuo was referring to was the No. 2 Golden Furnace!

He threw himself onto the ruins of the No. 2 Golden Furnace, his palms touching it, and quite arduously used the spell of tracing the source.

Under the Heavenly Fund Golden Eyes, he saw such a scene.

The door of the No. 2 Golden Furnace opened wide, and the teleportation light circle spat out countless materials.

These materials were of excellent quality, the lowest being Jin Dan level, and the highest quality reaching Yuan Ying level.

Among them, what made people unable to look away at a glance was a dragon body. It was extremely gorgeous and brilliant, the whole body as if carved from crystal, red and orange-red firelight shining in the crystal, burning silently, revealing unbelievable beauty in danger.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Xuanji's pupils shrank fiercely.

Then, he saw these materials all thrown into the Golden Furnace.

The Golden Furnace door closed, ignited, and the sound of a dragon hissing came from inside the furnace.

The forging process was not long.

The cracks on the surface of the Golden Furnace increased rapidly, and after the refining was finished and the fire went out, it directly fell apart and broke into a pile of fragments.

From the Golden Furnace ruins, a small mechanism slowly ascended.

The mechanism was dragon-shaped, and its length was only the length of an adult's forearm.

The dragon head was fierce, the dragon horns branched, the dragon whiskers floated naturally, and the dragon eyes were like red crystals, red with gold.

Its whole body's dragon scales were silver-white, shrouded in a faint golden halo.

The dragon claws were sharp and could be completely retracted into the dragon body through a certain degree of mechanism deformation.

The dragon tail swung flexibly, and the floating tail whiskers contained flames, often leaving a flame tail in mid-air between swings.

Mechanism—Ten Thousand Mile Wandering Dragon!

Zhu Xuanji identified it quickly.

This was a very classic mechanism creation.

From the mortal-level One-Li Hibernating Earthworm, to the Qi Refining-level Ten-Inch Startling Snake, the Foundation Establishment-level Hundred-Foot Rolling Python, the Jin Dan-level Thousand-Zhang Coiling Dragon, and then to the Yuan Ying-level Ten Thousand Mile Wandering Dragon.

The Ten Thousand Mile Wandering Dragon could be big or small, moved very fast, and was continuous and powerful, making it a very excellent mechanism treasure for carrying.

The past images stopped abruptly.

Zhu Xuanji suddenly realized!

"The hint Ning Zhuo gave is of great value."

"I understand!"

"It's the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit that has a problem!!"

Zhu Xuanji regretfully glanced at the ruins of the No. 3 and No. 4 Golden Furnaces; they were already miserable under the bombardment of artillery fire.

Zhu Xuanji also couldn't hold on any longer and could only retreat first.

"Did he discover anything?" The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was nervous.

The artillery fire was too dense, making it impossible for it to observe the situation inside at all.

It knew nothing about Zhu Xuanji's actions inside!

The artillery fire continued to bombard for a while before it stopped.

The original Golden Furnace ruins had become a deep pit, and the bottom and outside of the pit were a mess.

As Zhu Xuanji expected, Zhu Zhen returned empty-handed.

The two secretly calculated, Zhu Xuanji transmitted to Zhu Zhen, informing the latter of the results of his investigation, as well as his inference about the Palace Spirit.

Zhu Zhen felt puzzled and directly asked Zhu Xuanji how he inferred this.

Zhu Xuanji sighed: "That's because you don't know the past reasons of the Lava Immortal Palace, and you don't know the situation of the No. 1 Golden Furnace."

He explained to Zhu Zhen, telling the latter that he had seen royal secrets in the capital...

Hundreds of years ago.

Fire Persimmon Mountain had just erupted, magma covered the ground, poisonous smoke covered the sky, living beings were charred, and it was a tragedy.

The Three Sects Superior was in white monk robes, clean as snow, his sleeves dancing with the wind, slowly drifting down from high altitude.

His face was as steady as an ancient pine, his brows full of compassion and pain, his bearing transcendent.

Another gorgeous golden rainbow broke through the air, fell to the front, and turned into a beautiful woman with graceful bearing.

She was wearing a gorgeous gold-embroidered phoenix robe, colorful, the edges of the lapels dotted with brilliant pearls and jade, her temperament dignified and revealing majesty.

The beautiful woman's phoenix eyes contained evil, staring at the Three Sects Superior, her voice full of resentment and reprimand: "You heartless man, you finally came back! Since you came to my kingdom, why didn't you come to the capital to see me? Do you know how hard I have waited for you?"

The Three Sects Superior didn't look back, only looking down at the scorching mountain land at his feet, his tone extremely flat: "Southern Emperor, many years ago, I already explained to you: the love between you and me is over, it is better to forget each other in the world than to be together."

The beautiful woman was the founding empress of the Southern Bean Kingdom, and she shouted: "You said it's over, so it's over? I don't agree!"

"For so many years, do you know how bitterly I have missed you?"

"Red beans grow in the southern country, spring comes and branches sprout. I wish you would pick more, this is the most lovesick thing..."

"Third Brother, I don't believe you haven't missed me all these years!"

When the Southern Bean Empress said this, her voice trembled and her eyes turned red.

The Three Sects Superior shook his head, sighed deeply, and took out a mechanism model from his bosom.

He threw it lightly, the model flew into the air, and quickly turned into a huge Immortal Palace, blocking the sun and casting a huge shadow on the ground.

The Immortal Palace had red bricks and golden pillars, buildings standing tall, majestic and beautiful; it was the Lava Immortal Palace!

Seeing this, the Southern Bean Empress immediately showed joy, her voice becoming softer: "Third Brother, you really still remember our past."

"At the beginning, you and I were harmonious, together day and night, and built this mechanism palace."

"You laid out the buildings and laid the foundation. And I sculpted the statues, meticulously carving."

"We spent such a wonderful time in this palace."

"We can continue."

"Third Brother, I have already founded the country, and my wish has been fulfilled. Come back, let's live together, just like before!"

The Three Sects Superior always had his back to the Southern Bean Empress, making no response, only casting his Dharma eyes to observe the Fire Persimmon Mountain below.

The Southern Bean Empress floated and flew, wanting to get close, but was blocked by an invisible air wall.

"Third Brother." The Empress called out, sincere and true.

The Three Sects Superior turned a deaf ear, his eyes suddenly fixed, his heart stirred.

Immediately, the Lava Immortal Palace shot out a treasure light, piercing through the mountain body and sinking into the depths of the magma.

The dragon's hiss sounded suddenly, and a Yuan Ying-level Fire-Walking Dragon rushed out of Fire Persimmon Mountain in a rage.

In the Southern Bean Empress's compassionate gaze, the Fire-Walking Dragon rushed toward the Lava Immortal Palace with great courage.

It wanted to crash the Immortal Palace down with one head!

The Three Sects Superior spread his hands lightly.

The body of the Fire-Walking Dragon flying in the air shrank rapidly, and when it was thrown into the hands of the Three Sects Superior, it had already shrunk into a small snake, less than three inches long.

The Fire-Walking Dragon struggled desperately, but could never escape the hands of the Three Sects Superior.

The Lava Immortal Palace descended slowly, like a mountain collapsing, pressing on the atmosphere, bringing out rumbling sounds.

The Three Sects Superior sat cross-legged in the high altitude, beginning to look down at the Lava Immortal Palace.

He pinched the neck of the Fire-Walking Dragon with his fingers and pulled out the soul of the Fire-Walking Dragon.

"Go." The Three Sects Superior flicked his finger lightly.

The soul of the Yuan Ying-level Fire-Walking Dragon, like a meteor chasing the moon, sank directly into the No. 1 Golden Furnace.

Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Unlocking Sutra!

The roaring flames burned rapidly, and after a few breaths, the Golden Furnace collapsed, refining a Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit.

The Southern Bean Empress had been watching, and seeing the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, she couldn't help but be slightly stunned: "It's clearly a dragon snake, why is its spirituality like a dragon turtle?"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was ignorant at first, and after reacting, it roared angrily at the Three Sects Superior.

The Three Sects Superior reached out and grabbed, taking the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit into his palm.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was compressed extremely small, looking up at the Three Sects Superior, like a mortal ant looking up at a heavenly pillar and a Buddha.

The Three Sects Superior spoke slowly: "Eight hundred years later, the killing robbery of heaven and earth will sweep through the universe, blood will flow, and corpses will lie everywhere."

"Dragons and snakes rise to the land, kings appear frequently. Saints descend to the world, clearing the universe again."

"Fire-walking dragon snake, you are formed by the essence of thousands of souls buried in the volcano, combined with the endless fire poison and geothermal heat of the mountain body."

"You are born with heavy sins."

"If you are allowed to develop naturally, you will be killed by a new king, and your foundation will be turned into his material, contributing to the king's hegemony."

"Today, I will save you once."

"From now on, you will act as the Palace Spirit, controlling the Immortal Palace and guarding Fire Persimmon Mountain."

"As long as Fire Persimmon Mountain is favorable in the future, there will be no more killing, no more innocent suffering. Just seven hundred and twenty years, you will be able to pay off your innate sins, get rid of the turtle shell, and truly possess the dragon spirit."

"Look."

The Three Sects Superior raised his hand slightly, signaling the Dragon Spirit to pay attention to its snake body before death.

Although it is a fire-walking dragon, it has fairy talent!

When its life reaches the Yuan Ying level, the fairy talent naturally transforms into a magical power—Gathering Spirit and Condensing Crystal.

This magical power can gather spirit energy, constantly compress and compress again, until it reaches the extreme, turning into solid crystals, which are spirit crystals.

The body of the fire-walking snake lineage was originally composed of qualityless flames, but it was extraordinary by birth, constantly compressing its own fire-attribute spirit energy, gathering spirit and condensing crystals, turning into a solid dragon snake body.

The Three Sects Superior continued: "Your body is reserved for you, only you can use it."

"Wait until seven hundred and twenty years are full, you can use it to build a mechanism body with the help of the Lava Immortal Palace, get rid of the cage, and swim in the world."

After speaking, the Three Sects Superior threw it lightly, throwing the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit into the main hall of the Immortal Palace, and putting the fire crystal dragon body into the treasury of the Immortal Palace.

The Three Sects Superior pointed his index finger at Fire Persimmon Mountain.

The Lava Immortal Palace accelerated its descent because of this.

Watching the witness of his and the Three Sects Superior's past love sink into the mountain and suppress the volcano, the Southern Bean Empress couldn't help but call out: "Third Brother, are you really going to do this? What a cruel heart you have!"

"Where is your love?"

"You once said that even if you enter the Buddhist gate, there is still love!!"

The Three Sects Superior put his palms together and chanted: "Thus I have heard: Tathagata is compassionate, universally bestowing great love, spreading to the boundless world. Great love is the source of Buddha's heart, the welfare of all living beings... If a Bodhisattva has great love in his heart, the four seas and eight wildernesses are all relatives. Without distinction of high or low, all are living beings, equal care, selfless dedication... Therefore, Bodhisattvas watch the suffering of all living beings, just like their own suffering, their hearts are like the ocean, compassion is endless..."

The Southern Bean Empress was full of anger and interrupted: "Third Brother, don't chant anymore!!"

The Three Sects Superior sighed: "This is the great love of the Buddhist gate, not love and desire."

The Southern Bean Empress was extremely angry: "I don't understand!"

The Three Sects Superior was silent for a while: "Love is compassion."

After a pause, he said again: "Love is letting go."

Accompanied by his words, the Lava Immortal Palace had already sunk to the top of Fire Persimmon Mountain.

"Third Brother!" The Southern Bean Empress stared at the Three Sects Superior sorrowfully, shouting bitterly, "I can't let go!"

The Three Sects Superior put his palms together, and under his lowered eyelids, his gaze seemed to penetrate a thousand years.

He chanted softly:

"Golden furnace red fire refines the soul spirit, Immortal Palace buries the mountain to help all living beings."

"I advise the Southern Emperor not to be obsessed, old feelings are like smoke and dust."

"All living beings are bitter and obsessed with desire, thinking they are the master of the wooden puppet body."

"My Buddha is compassionate for great love, letting go of the heart barrier, the Dao is self-accomplished."

The Southern Bean Empress was full of desolation and wept in despair. But the pride of being an empress made her not turn her head and fly away.

She gritted her teeth fiercely, spraying magic power, and forcibly took a treasure from the Immortal Palace.

The treasure fell into her hands and revealed its original form; it was a mirror.

The whole mirror was surrounded by a lifelike golden phoenix, exquisite and beautiful to the extreme. It was the Golden Phoenix Mirror!

The Three Sects Superior's heart was touched, and for the first time, he turned slightly and looked at the Southern Bean Empress.

The Southern Bean Empress gritted her teeth: "This is my thing, I don't want to cooperate with you and make a contribution to your compassion."

The Three Sects Superior shook his head slightly: "Southern Emperor, you didn't have the king's life, but you were able to found the country, relying on my Human Life Hanging Thread magical power."

"If you keep the Golden Phoenix Mirror, it is repaying the cause and effect. This is a good thing for you."

The Southern Bean Empress was slightly stunned, and then moved: "Sure enough, Third Brother, you really miss me in your heart!"

The Three Sects Superior was touched, his eyes flashing: "So that's it, so that's it."

Saying that, he took out a treasure seal from his bosom.

This magic treasure seal looked like gold and jade, with both Buddha and demon sides. The Buddha side was compassionate, the demon head was ferocious, it was truly strange.

My Buddha Heart Demon Seal!

The Three Sects Superior threw the treasure seal directly into the Immortal Palace.

The Southern Bean Empress was shocked: "Third Brother, how can you discard such a heavy treasure? How will you protect yourself in the future?"

"I shouldn't have lost my temper, I will return the Golden Phoenix Mirror, you take back the treasure seal quickly."

The Three Sects Superior changed his sitting posture, stood up, and before leaving, he turned slightly: "The cause and effect are set. Since you took this Golden Phoenix Mirror, you will protect the inheritance of the Immortal Palace for me in the future."

After saying this, his figure was like a light feather, his figure seemed slow, but actually fast as lightning, and in a flash, he was gone, drifting away like a wisp of green smoke and disappearing into the nine heavens.

The Southern Bean Empress was suppressed by invisible power and could not move, only able to watch the Three Sects Superior's back disappear into the horizon in despair.

Her heart was desolate, and she shouted bitterly: "Third Brother—!"

The voice was sorrowful, like a cuckoo crying blood, echoing between heaven and earth, breaking people's hearts.