Chapter 446: Trial of the Fire Mansion

The Fire Path set up by Xu Jia consists partly of real flames, requiring one to practice Sitting in Fire and fire-control techniques to pass through.

Part of it consists of heart fire and liver fire, which can incite nameless rage in a person and hook into their inner demons.

Walking on this chain, the chain is quite scorching to the feet; it is difficult to fly even if one wants to, and one would only fall into the pit of fire.

Most of the Leftist Path of the Huashan Sect would certainly not be able to pass through, but aside from the Leftist Path, the Huashan Sect itself still retained some roots, though their cultivation was weak.

Regardless of them, Xu Jia entered the depths of the stone chamber in Huaxi Dongtian and saw nothing else but a Dantian, as large as a room, with eight fire vents around it and eight fire toads, which had yin-yang knobs on their bodies; it was precisely a set of alchemy equipment that could control the release of gentle fire and fierce fire.

Beneath the Dantian sat the Earth Vein of Huaxi Dongtian.

Twisting open the lid of the Dantian, he saw one Dandan lying inside, along with seven or eight medium pills and over a hundred small pills.

Xu Jia calculated for a moment; these were Immortal Pills that the Dutian Liehuo Ancestor had begun refining sixty years before his ascension. The small pills were Fire Dragon Pills, the medium pills were called "Dutian True Fire Pills," and the large pill was the "Qiantian Yang Fire Pearl."

This Qiantian Yang Fire Pearl was intended to serve as a Dragon Pearl for nine fire dragons, to refine these nine fire dragons into magic treasures to be passed down to his descendants.

It was just that this Dandan had not yet been refined when he ascended early, and the magic treasures had not been forged either.

This furnace of pills was not for consumption but for assisting in the practice of methods; they were all refined from gold, stone, and minerals.

The Fire Dragon Pill could assist a Human Immortal level practitioner in cultivating Fire Method, while the Dutian Zhenhuo Dan belonged to the category of external pills and could store Dutian Liehuo Zhenqi.

Xu Jia had refined the nine fire dragons into Protectors and was not ascending, so naturally, he did not need to seek far for what was near by refining them into magic treasures; he simply took the Qiantian Yang Fire Pearl and breathed a breath of energy onto it, and immediately the bead manifested the phantom form of his own Fire Boy Saint Infant.

Xu Jia left a brand-new oral formula and Daoism in the alchemy room and instructed the Saint Infant phantom: "Later, let them undergo the trial. Those who can cultivate it within one incense stick of time, grant them one Dutian Zhenhuo Dan; those who can cultivate it within half an hour, grant them one Fire Dragon Pill. As for the rest, block them here; if they want to fight you, then fight. Only use three-tenths of your strength; if they win, let them enter."

Even if it was just Xu Jia's breath manifesting through the Qiantian Yang Fire Pearl, it was no less than an expert at the late stage of Earth Immortal; being able to defeat him while he used three-tenths of his strength could indeed be considered an expert.

After Xu Jia finished the means for the second trial, he continued further inside.

Inside was the meditation stone chamber, the place where Dutian Liehuo Zushi had practiced; it was quite cold and desolate.

There was a stone couch, a round table, and a prayer mat.

Hanging on the wall by the stone couch was a sword, which was the Dutian Liehuo Sword.

On the round table sat a box, inside which was the true inheritance.

On the prayer mat lay a piece of clothing.

Dutian Liehuo Zushi practiced here by refining his physical body with his Primordial Spirit and then ascending; because his physical body was not seen, only his robes remained.

This robe was also a magic treasure, named "Nine Purples Li Fire Rosy Cloud Robe."

Of course, the prayer mat was also a treasure, but Xu Jia did not think much of it, nor did he care for these old rags or the Dutian Liehuo Sword.

He frowned slightly: "Didn't they say there were eighteen Dutian Liehuo Qi? Why is it just this junk?"

He immediately opened the box, and in an instant, three fierce fire Gold Needles shot out from the box.

This made Xu Jia laugh in anger: "No wonder he is an ancestor of the Leftist Path; with such a temperament, what kind of disciples and successors is he looking for?"

However, it was written inside the box: "If you are my disciple, even if I am not here, you must kowtow to the prayer mat and robes; if you are not my disciple and take this box directly, you shall receive a small punishment."

But inside there were still three golden pages.

One page was a Fire Method scripture reaching the Heavenly Immortal realm, created by Dutian Liehuo Zushi by integrating the formulas left by the original Huashan Sect's Ancestor Chen Tuan, adding his own Leftist Path techniques, combining theories from other fragments of orthodox methods he had collected, and adding his own hundreds of years of practical cultivation and verification; it was named "Dutian Qianyang Liehuo True Scripture." One page was for alchemy and weapon-refining formulas. The last was the Leftist Path techniques of Dutian Liehuo Zushi, including various Divine Abilities and arts.

All were recorded on it in Fire Talisman characters as thin as fly legs.

Besides the three golden pages, there was also a token below, with the two characters "Fire Mansion" written on it.

To obtain the eighteen Dutian Liehuo Qi, one had to enter the Fire Mansion and pass through the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen.

But there was no explanation of how to break the array, nor was there any information about the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen.

Xu Jia felt it was a bit interesting; this box inheritance was definitely incomplete. It looked like the three golden pages were quite good, and he had the Heavenly Immortal Great Method, but no matter how he looked at it, it was a trap.

That legendary top-tier immortal sword, the "Nanming Li Fire Sword," was not seen either; it must be in the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen of the Fire Mansion.

The treasures collected by Dutian Liehuo Zushi and the orthodox Daoist scriptures of the Huashan Sect must all be inside.

"Still wanting people to kowtow to your clothes, playing games, are we?"

Xu Jia used a sword Qi to destroy the prayer mat, and sure enough, he saw a golden page inside the prayer mat, which recorded the "Dutian Liehuo Dazhen," containing the method of consecrating the flags, the way to set up the array, and even the philosophy of Array Dao.

Xu Jia thought for a moment, took his Ruyi, pointed it at the Nine Purples Li Fire Rosy Cloud Robe, and chanted: "Ruyi, Ruyi, follow my will, manifest your spirit quickly."

Immediately, the clothing stood up, the energy inside gradually changed, and it transformed into a projection of Dutian Liehuo Zushi.

The Dutian Liehuo Sword hummed, and Xu Jia said: "This trial is to test their level of sword Dao; only injure, do not kill."

As he was speaking, the phantom of Dutian Liehuo Zushi looked at Xu Jia with a half-smile, as if a True Person had descended, yet it answered with a single word: "Good."

Xu Jia saw the change and knew this was "like the consecration of a deity statue"; this Dutian Liehuo Zushi could at most pay attention to this place, but he could not cross the chasm between the Desire Realm and the Dharma Realm to directly use magic to influence things.

Xu Jia's actions were actually already considered "blasphemy," but this did not matter; even if he really descended, Xu Jia would not be afraid.

Xu Jia then used the Fire Mansion token to escape, and sure enough, he entered a space filled entirely with fire.

The fire here included Heavenly Fire, Earth Fire, Human Fire, Beast Fire, Karma Fire, Desire Fire... infinite flames, as if constructing a world of fire; in the world of fire, there were Fire Mansion Immortals, fire dragons, fire flood dragons, fire phoenixes, fire oxen, fire tigers, fire foxes...

Besides this, there was a flaming sun in the sky, the ground was magma, the grass was fire grass, the flowers were fire flowers, and the trees were like charcoal, burning with raging flames.

Even though Xu Jia had Heavenly Fire protecting his body at this time and had practiced Sitting in Fire, he still felt his nose and mouth scorching and blisters forming on the soles of his feet, as if Sun Wukong had arrived at Huoyanshan or entered the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

"The 'Dutian' in this Dutian Fierce Fire actually truly created a world of fire!"

This Fire Mansion was not a Cave Heaven space but an array world created by the eighteen Dutian Liehuo Qi, even more "Huoyanshan" than Huoyanshan itself.

It was just not fully activated yet; otherwise, even if it were not equivalent to the core of the sun, it would at least be equivalent to the surface of the sun.

Xu Jia looked at the golden page recording the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen, which stated that the Liehuo Zushi had refined several famous enemies to death within the array, turning them into Fire Gods within the Liehuo flags; although they could not be counted as true gods, only as false gods or Demigods, they still grasped a portion of the Quanshen of fire.

Only by defeating a Fire God could one obtain the restriction rights to one of the Liehuo flags; one had to master at least six Liehuo flags to enter the core of the array and seize the core of the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen.

The golden page said that the core of the Dutian Liehuo Dazhen was that Nanming Li Fire Sword, which was a Xiantian divine flame collected by Dutian Liehuo Zushi from the universe, representing the fire energy among the four elements of chaos—earth, water, fire, and wind; it was rumored to be the heart of the sun, and some said it was the true fire of the Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird was a noble among phoenixes, and its fire also carried the power of rebirth; by mastering this fire, one could cultivate an immortal body.

Refining this Nanming Li Fire into the Nanming Li Fire Sword made it an existence comparable to Xu Jia's Weiji Immortal Sword made of Xiantian Kun Steel.

However, Weiji corresponded to the "Qingping Sword."

The Executioner of Immortals Sword Array corresponded to "re-enacting the four elements, earth, water, fire, and wind," and this Nanming Li Fire Sword could correspond to the "fire" sword among them.

Xu Jia at this time released the nine divine fire dragons; they protected Xu Jia and turned the "Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover" into a "Nine Dragon Fire-Avoiding Cover."

That Dutian Liehuo Zushi certainly could not have imagined that the nine divine fire dragons he left behind to test his descendants would actually be subdued by someone else.

Among the nine divine fire dragons, the one that was just the most rigid yet also the most cowardly said: "Eh, I'm familiar with this place. Back when the old master refined this array, I even assisted. How could the old master control so many array flags alone? It was all us brothers; one dragon controlled two. Nine is the number of Qian, Flying Dragon in the Sky, fire is divided into Bing and Ding; only then can the Li and Qian phases be reconciled."

"Hehe, new master, if you want to break this array, it won't work without our help. Even if you have a powerful flying sword, it won't work; there is also a powerful flying sword in this array!"

Xu Jia said: "Stop talking nonsense, quickly take me to the array hub."

"This array is a Nine Palaces overlap, mutually three-dimensional, yin and yang reconciling. Back then, it refined to death Kongkong Patriarch, Kunxu Patriarch, Ma Yuan Great Sage, Six-Armed Arhat..."

Although Xu Jia said not to talk nonsense, he was still counting his battle achievements there, making Xu Jia unable to help but feel annoyed. He channeled his Divine Ability, muted him, and immediately began calculating the entire cycle.

In the end, it is a Nine Palaces Array; ten thousand changes never depart from their origin.

Xu Jia first walked south. The universe here is vast. After driving away large swaths of fire oxen, fire horses, and fire donkeys, Xu Jia saw this flame Demon God sitting in the south.

This fire demon had three heads: one snake head with eyes, one tiger head, and one pig head. Its body was enormous, and it held a fire whip in its hand.

This is precisely the Demon God among all fires that represents "beast fire." It was refined by Dutian Liehuo Zushi by collecting the flames of hundreds of exotic beasts, and he also refined and killed three thousand-year Great Demons in the array to forge this type, corresponding to the celestial constellations: Wing Fire Snake, Tail Fire Tiger, Room Fire Pig...

This beast-fire Demon God spat out multicolored flame colors.

But the next moment, a sword flew out, and all three heads were severed.

But this Demon God did not dissipate; even the innate killing intent did not kill it.

As the saying goes, "water and fire are heartless." They are inherently heartless things, so how could they fear killing intent?

Moreover, the core of this array is the Li Fire Sword, which possesses an "undying body," so it is indeed difficult to kill it.

The beast heads fell to the ground, instantly absorbing the flame power, and turned into three different Demon Gods, while the original body grew heads again.

At the same time, the great array began to operate, concentrating its power to start dealing with Xu Jia.

The firmament turned into an infinite sea of flames, and streaks of Heavenly Fire Divine Thunder fell down.

This thunder is called thunder, but it actually looks like a large fireball. Once it falls, it explodes into mushroom clouds. That fire thunder falls and looks like some kind of glue or mucus, with extremely strong adhesion, burning everything.

Xu Jia had no choice but to channel the Nine Fire Divine Dragons again. The Nine Fire Divine Dragons chuckled and said: "New master, why did you forget to wear the old master's Nine Purple Li Fire Cloud Robe? That garment can avoid fire; it was refined from the fur of the wind raccoon from the legendary Ten Continents Immortal Islands."

Xu Jia had left that robe outside as a trial for the three passes.

Xu Jia couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this nagging fire dragon, thinking in his heart to take them back to that world to fire boilers. Using such a Yang Spirit-level fire dragon as power would be enough to directly turn a "nuclear-powered aircraft carrier."

It is impossible for the Immortal sword not to be able to extinguish it; it just hasn't been applied to the actual point.

Xu Jia channeled the Heavenly Escape Sword Technique, but the true intent was "Kan Water," using this to correspond to this "Li Fire." He used this sword to cut through the original meaning of "Water Fire Not Yet Completed."

The sword light was brilliant, with a faint sense of "Underworld Messenger's error."

That beast-fire Demon God immediately disintegrated, unable to absorb the flames in the array to recover.

Xu Jia stepped over the Demon God and obtained a fire crystal. The fire crystal dispersed the power of spatial distortion, and he saw a huge flag seven or eight zhang tall. The flagpole was golden yellow, the flag surface was crimson, and it was embroidered with golden Register Text, inscribed with the "Fire Department Red Book."

It is difficult to pull up the array flag, but it is enough to refine it.

Xu Jia placed his brand. He sensed his soul being scorched by the fierce fire, but he was not afraid. True gold fears no fire; the Pure Yang Primordial Spirit becomes ten times purer the more it is refined.

Thus, he continued toward the southwest corner. The array Demon God in the southwest corner was something resembling a Western evil dragon, with a lizard body and bat wings, exceptionally ferocious.

(End of this chapter)