Chapter 75: Refining Realm of Water and Fire

( ) Chapter 87 Refining Realm of Water and Fire

In the brightness, a Qingwolf Beast's silhouette appeared in the second cave from the left, lingered within Li Bucai and the others' line of sight for a moment, then turned back. Afterwards, a cluster of radiant white light drifted slowly toward them, hovering around the group. It was a swarm of spirits the size of dragonflies but bearing the appearance of maidens, emitting flawless white light from within like luminous fireflies, fluttering two pairs of wings that were even more transparent than a dragonfly's.

They occasionally flashed smiles at them and said something, but their voices were too faint, like mosquitoes, making it hard to hear exactly what they were saying.

"Light Spirits! Usually when they appear, good things follow," Wu Zhuoyue remarked oddly. "They circle the honored master, as if inviting the honored master to go in."

The spirits seemed to understand her words, nodded at Li Bucai, and immediately flew toward the cave where the Qingwolf Beast had just appeared, pausing intermittently to wait for them.

When the group entered the cave, the scenery left Li Bucai astonished; the cavern resembled a distinct wonderland, with vines, shrubs, glass flowers, and low grasses of varied shapes lining the sides. In the air, creatures resembling jellyfish floated everywhere, moving as if in water, waving long, soft tentacles that lifted them upward with each beat and, when they ceased, drifted down slowly like parachutes. Not only these beings emitted light; it seemed that every object in the cave glowed.

As Li Bucai and the others passed, all the floating objects ahead naturally drifted to the sides, clearing a path for them.

The stretch was about three hundred meters long, and ahead a vast sea of fire blocked the way; the flames rose from blue to red, appearing as an intensely hot fire that covered the entire road, obscuring the far side of the blaze.

The Light Spirits flew to the front of the flames and hovered there; when Li Bucai and the others approached, they all moved behind Li Bucai, linking hands to form a spirit rope between Li Bucai and the maidens.

"It seems they don't want you to go forward. Fine, stay here and wait; I'll go alone to see."

"Honored master, be careful."

Li Bucai responded with a nod, stepped to the front of the flames, and pondered how to cross the fire sea. At that moment, a Light Spirit flew over, waved at him, and then entered the fire.

Li Bucai was startled: Could they be immune to water and fire like the undead?

Just as he was thinking, the spirit pushed the flame, and a burst of fire suddenly lunged at him, leaving no time to dodge. He expected to be burned, but when the fire struck, a rush of icy air, like cold river water, surged instead.

"Earlier I heard from Zou Ying that this world contains a kind of cold fire; I suppose this is the 'Refining Realm of Ice and Fire'." Enduring the chill, he strode boldly into the fire sea, immediately feeling a piercing, bone‑deep cold, as if plunging into a frozen lake in mid‑winter, his whole body pricked like needles.

"Ten minutes, ten minutes. At this temperature, under adrenaline, there is no life danger within ten minutes; you must get through quickly." Thinking this, Li Bucai quickened his pace, needing to cross this Refining Realm fire sea within ten minutes, the roaring fire sound behind him as he pressed on.

After running a distance, his body was increasingly pierced by the cold, feeling as if his whole body would freeze solid; his speed no longer matched his earlier pace. Yet the road ahead still showed no end. He resorted to War God Qi, hoping to resist the cold current, but the more he summoned War God Qi, the more his limbs became unresponsive, his two legs moving mechanically back and forth, still propelling him forward. Gradually, he no longer felt the cold at all. He knew that if he stopped now, he would freeze to death here, so he could not stop under any circumstance. Having already traveled several hundred meters, he could not turn back, so he clung to the wall and forced himself onward.

After walking for a while, his limbs gradually regained sensation; the further he went, the more the sting and cold faded. He realized he had adapted to the fire's temperature. After pushing through this unbearable phase, he proceeded a short distance more, and the fire sea reached its end, where the Light Spirits waited. Ahead lay a deep azure water area, only about a hundred meters long but bottomless, with stone walls on both sides as sharp as knives, impossible to bypass, forcing a swim across.

Li Bucai leapt into the water; unlike the fire sea, the water was not icy but at a normal temperature. Yet as soon as he entered, it felt as if countless hands were pulling his feet, preventing him from lifting his head above the surface, making breathing impossible. He struggled in the water for a while, and when he could no longer endure and tried to gasp, a mouthful of water rushed into his lungs, choking him as if his lung lobes would explode. But with the second gulp, he felt his body merge completely with the water; water entered his mouth, passed through his lungs, and seeped out from within, as if he had become part of the water. He ceased struggling, sank to the bottom, stepped on stone steps there, and after a short time emerged from the water, having passed through the cave; six cave entrances suddenly stood behind him, revealing that the six tunnels all led here.

The cave seemed to reach its end here; not far ahead the tunnel narrowed, ending in a stone wall with no further passage.

The Light Spirits guided Li Bucai to the stone wall, where they traced a heart shape with both hands. With a "Boom—" a stone door opened automatically, and a gentle breeze brushed Li Bucai's face. The view opened up, revealing an interior that resembled the mythic Eden.

Inside was a vast space, roughly the size of a dozen football fields and over a hundred meters high, filled with all kinds of flowers, grasses, and trees. In the center lay a verdant lawn, beside which grew a massive tree wide enough for five people to embrace, its dense foliage each leaf uniquely shaped and each shimmering with golden light, illuminating the area like daylight. The enormous canopy resembled an old man's hair, and beneath it, on a trunk ten meters tall, two symmetrical branches stretched upward and downward like human arms.

The eighteen Qing'er Beasts were also present; seventeen crouched on both sides inside the gate, while the Head Wolf stood beneath the opposite tree, looking up at the ancient tree.

The gate acted like a barrier between two worlds; although Li Bucai could see everything inside, everything was motionless, and the ancient tree was conversing with the Head Wolf.

The Head Wolf's worried voice asked, "Mr. Ehe, there's something I'm unsure is right, or perhaps I was too reckless; I actually led him here."

Beneath the canopy, an aged tree voice, weathered and ancient, said, "Someone will always come here; it's only a matter of time. We cannot know right or wrong in advance, so we let time judge. Even if we are wrong, you still wish to change the current situation as soon as possible."