Chapter 349: Sunset Divine Flame

349. Chapter 349: Sunset Divine Flame

"Alright! Then I'll try punching it; don't blame me if I break it."

Long Xuan looked at the toad currently sound asleep, revealing a look of reluctance; the creature was sleeping, and to suddenly punch it—wouldn't that be somewhat too cruel?

Although his true cultivation realm was merely Spirit Sea Early Stage, if he unleashed the power of Firm Fist, gathering his entire strength into a single point to erupt, this attacking power had long since exceeded the scope of Spirit Sea Peak.

Disguising his strength as that of the Spirit Sea Peak Realm was naturally no difficult task for him.

"Your master told me to do this, so don't blame me." Long Xuan's gaze suddenly hardened; he clenched his fist, gathered thirty percent of his total strength into his knuckles, then rushed forward quickly and delivered a heavy blow straight to the toad's belly.

The toad, which had been sound asleep, suddenly opened its eyes and opened its mouth to let out a miserable scream.

"Are you alright?" Master Sun hurriedly ran over; seeing a clear fist mark appear on the stone toad's belly, he revealed an expression of pain as if flesh had been cut.

"Kid! Who told you to use so much force! Do you know you nearly beat my stone toad to death just now!"

Master Sun looked at Long Xuan with unfavorable eyes, a trace of imperceptible solemnity flashing within his gaze.

The reason he had someone punch the stone toad's belly was because the stone toad's defensive power could ignore attacks from Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators.

Yet this person had easily injured the stone toad; this fully proved that his attacking power had already exceeded the scope of a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator—this person was absolutely not simple.

At this moment, Long Xuan revealed an innocent expression; hadn't you told me to hit it? Fearing he would kill the stone toad, he had already reduced his force to thirty percent, yet he hadn't expected it would still wake the stone toad.

"Never mind, you count as one! Next!"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Master Sun stopped dwelling on the matter and prepared to continue assessing the next Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator.

Long Xuan walked to a position behind Master Sun and stood still, while simultaneously observing the others behind him who had already been selected.

Those Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators did not require much of his attention, but those eight Gu Kings wearing expressions of lonely arrogance forced him to pay extra heed.

All eight of these Gu Kings were male: two at Gu King Peak, two at Gu King Late Stage, and four at Gu King Mid Stage.

There was not a single one at Gu King Early Stage; their overall strength could be said to be extremely formidable, and few powers could assemble such a strong lineup of Gu Kings.

One did not know what item Master Sun had offered to invite so many experts, but it was conceivable that the price he paid was by no means small.

He was betting his entire fortune on this battle; to seize the Heavenly Fire, he was truly risking everything.

After Long Xuan waited patiently for a while, Old Sun finally finished selecting personnel, then led all the chosen individuals out of the city, preparing to depart immediately.

Each member of this group released a domineering aura, causing everyone at the city gate to turn their heads, revealing traces of apprehension.

"Let's take my boat; my Flying Boat is the fastest."

An elder radiating the aura of Gu King Peak took a white Flying Boat out of his Storage Ring and placed it on the ground, then turned his head to ask that Master Sun:

"I don't know which direction to fly; now you can tell us which power you are preparing to attack, correct?"

The reason he actively produced his own Flying Boat was precisely to elicit this statement.

He urgently wanted to know whether the power this Master Sun intended to attack was easy to deal with, and whether it was something he could afford to offend.

If this Master Sun was preparing to attack the Shui Clan or the Zhu Clan, then he would definitely leave right now; even if this Master Sun offered more Pills, he would have no intention of accepting them.

At this moment, the others also pricked up their ears to listen, curiously wanting to know which power Master Sun intended to attack.

Although Master Sun had never stated that he was gathering people to invade other clans, everyone at this moment concluded that he intended to attack some clan; otherwise, why would there be a need to mobilize such a powerful force of Gu Cultivators?

Master Sun revealed a bitter smile and said, "Let's discuss this on the boat; this is not the place for talk. Head north now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Master Sun actively walked toward the boat, and after pausing for a moment, the others also boarded one by one.

At this time, including Master Sun and those eight Gu Kings, there were a total of eighty-nine people on the boat; among these eighty-nine, not a single person was below the Spirit Sea Late Stage realm, and there were not even many Gu Cultivators at the Spirit Sea Late Stage realm.

The Flying Boat slowly ascended into the sky, and after heading north, another elder at Gu King Peak spoke: "Now you can finally tell us, can't you?"

Master Sun nodded and said solemnly, "I was only afraid the news would leak, allowing them to make preparations in advance, thereby increasing the difficulty of this mission; that is why I concealed things from you all, and I hope you can understand."

"But now that we have departed, with a Gu King Peak piloting the Flying Boat, it won't take long to reach that place, so there is no longer any need for me to keep secrets."

"The power I intend to attack is the Yan Clan of the Yan Ting Empire."

Master Sun's gaze sharpened: "Of course, one cannot exactly call it an 'attack'; that word sounds somewhat unpleasant. I merely wish to go to the Yan Clan to trade a treasure for that clump of Heavenly Fire; you all are simply guards I have hired."

"If they agree to the trade, then naturally there is no need for us to make a huge fuss; you all can obtain the Pills refined by me, Master Sun, without exerting the slightest effort."

"However, if they fail to recognize the current situation, then we can only resort to forceful plundering; this is also unavoidable."

"Treasures belong to those capable enough to claim them; if I do not employ extraordinary means, it is impossible for me to find another kind of Heavenly Fire in this lifetime."

Master Sun tightened his fist, revealing a ruthless glint in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, the others looked at each other, each flashing a trace of solemnity in their eyes.

The Yan Clan of the Yan Ting Empire was not so easily provoked; they were once the number one Great Clan of the Yan Ting Empire, but gradually declined, and now possess only five Gu Kings.

The strength of five Gu Kings is insufficient compared to the highest but superior to the lowest; moreover, a starved camel is still larger than a horse—how could the Yan Clan be so easily provoked?

However, the lineup of their group was equally not to be underestimated; the number of Gu Kings and their overall cultivation realms were considerably higher than those of the Yan Clan.

The number and overall cultivation realms of the Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators were also higher than those of the Yan Clan's Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators; as long as no accidents occurred this time, there was a high probability it would be a victorious battle.

Therefore, under the lure of immense benefits, even though everyone knew the Yan Clan was not to be trifled with, no one proposed disembarking at this time.

"Does the Yan Clan possess a Heavenly Fire? How come I've never heard of it?" a Gu King at Late Stage asked.

"Hmph! If even you could know this news, that Heavenly Fire would have long been snatched away by others; I suppose this Heavenly Fire is one the Yan Clan just found in some location, correct?"

"And it was inadvertently discovered as a Secret by Master Sun again." Another Gu King at Late Stage looked toward Master Sun.

"I wonder what kind of Heavenly Fire this is; could you satisfy our curiosity?" he added with a smile.

"It is the Sunset Divine Flame, the Sunset Divine Flame ranked twenty-eighth on the Heavenly Fire List." Master Sun said with an excited expression: "The Sunset Divine Flame possesses the Heaven-defying effect of purifying Spiritual Power."

"Once a Gu Cultivator's Spiritual Power is purified, setting aside other benefits, the more refined Spiritual Power can exert a stronger impact on bottlenecks, greatly increasing the probability of breaking through from Spirit Sea Peak to Gu King."

"I am a genius in terms of Alchemy, but my Aptitude in cultivation is extremely poor; even after consuming massive quantities of King-Rushing Pills, I have still failed to break through to Gu King."

"This Sunset Divine Flame may well be my opportunity to break through to Gu King; I will pay any price to obtain it." Master Sun clenched his fist, his emotions somewhat agitated.

Upon hearing that the Heavenly Fire found by the Yan Clan was the Sunset Divine Flame, many Gu Cultivators on the boat flashed their eyes, revealing traces of greed.

The Sunset Divine Flame could purify Spiritual Power; who wouldn't want it?

With high purity of Spiritual Power, attacking power would be greater, combat endurance would be higher, not to mention the promoting effect on breakthroughs—who wouldn't covet it?

Yet upon recalling the exceedingly high mortality rate of devouring Heavenly Fire, everyone shuddered, immediately retracting the slight schemes that had just arisen in their hearts.

How could Heavenly Fire be so easily devoured? Gu Cultivators are all beings of flesh and blood; how could flesh and blood withstand the burning of Heavenly Fire?

Heavenly Fire is not something normal people can devour; the mortality rate of devouring Heavenly Fire approaches infinity.

Therefore, everyone on the boat abandoned the thought of seizing the Heavenly Fire, including those eight Gu Kings.

Only Long Xuan did not regard the dangers of devouring Heavenly Fire with any concern; after all, it was the Yan Clone who would devour the Heavenly Fire, not him, so what did he have to fear?

At worst, he could research the Pills mentioned in novels that could be used to devour Heavenly Fire, which would greatly increase the success rate of his clone devouring the Heavenly Fire.

The Sunset Divine Flame's ability to purify Spiritual Power was clearly extremely tempting to him.

His five types of Mutated Spiritual Power were already terrifyingly strong; if this were further purified by the Sunset Divine Flame, the results would be unimaginable.

By that time, surely no one in the entire Gu World would possess Spiritual Power of higher quality than his?

At this moment, the Gu King Peak who had spoken first said with a grave expression, "The power of Heavenly Fire is truly too terrifying; a person possessing Heavenly Fire is invincible among peers of the same cultivation realm."

"Whether the Sunset Divine Flame has actually been devoured by a Yan Clan Gu Cultivator, and if so, who exactly devoured the Sunset Divine Flame, remains to be seen; can we truly defeat someone who commands Heavenly Fire?"

"Have you investigated these matters clearly?"

He stared intently into Master Sun's eyes, asking earnestly.

"Rest assured, the one who devoured the Sunset Divine Flame is the Yan Clan Head, Yan Tiexin, who is at the Gu King Late Stage cultivation realm."

"The Yan Clan has long declined; up to now, he is their only Gu King Late Stage."

"If the two of you at Gu King Peak and the two at Gu King Late Stage attack together, that will be sufficient to annihilate him."

"Moreover, the power of Heavenly Fire is not so easily controlled; it requires a great deal of time to become familiar with it before one can manipulate Heavenly Fire perfectly."

"Although Heavenly Fire grants a Gu Cultivator invincibility among peers of the same realm, after all, he has possessed the Heavenly Fire for far too short a time; without sufficient time to master it proficiently, the Heavenly Fire simply cannot boost his combat power by much."

"The four of you acting together is more than enough; I have already Predicted Enemy Generously, and I do not believe Yan Tiexin can fight four opponents across a major realm gap."

"As for the other four Gu Kings of the Yan Clan, the remaining four of you Gu Kings need only contain them; this expedition will be absolutely foolproof." Master Sun revealed a confident smile.

"Good, since you say so, I am relieved."

"Not to mention that he has not fully mastered the Heavenly Fire; even if he had truly perfected his control over the power of Heavenly Fire, the four of us joining forces would still be sufficient to annihilate him."

"This Sunset Divine Flame is definitely yours!" (End of Chapter)