Chapter 177: Great Sun Divine Flame

"Senior, are you alright?"

Seeing Hua Changxi's brows tightly furrowed, cold sweat on her forehead, and pained expression, Bai Li Changfeng quickly stepped forward with concern to ask.

Hua Changxi shook her head. Her qi sea had already calmed down; she was just still a bit shaken from the scare.

Absorbing seven types of strange fires at once was indeed too rash of her.

Hua Changxi looked inward at her dantian qi sea.

Seven strands of strange fire floated within her qi sea, like lamp wicks, stirring up seven enormous whirlpools.

It was precisely because of these seven whirlpools that her qi sea had become unstable.

Fortunately, above the qi sea, the Five Finger Mountain seal hung in midair, emitting mountain force that firmly suppressed the qi sea.

'The mountain seal actually has the power to suppress the qi sea!'

An unstable qi sea would cause spiritual energy to run rampant; at best it damages the spiritual root, at worst it injures the dantian.

Damage to the spiritual root affects cultivation aptitude and speed; damage to the dantian might directly prevent one from being a cultivator.

From this it could be seen that maintaining the stability of the qi sea was extremely important. And anything that could suppress the qi sea was undoubtedly a supreme treasure.

No wonder Old Daoist Jiang fought so desperately to seize Five Finger Mountain; aside from wanting the resources inside, there must also be the reason of wanting the Five Finger Mountain seal.

Since the mountain seal could suppress the qi sea, if she had the chance in the future, she would need to occupy several more cultivation grounds.

Hua Changxi withdrew her thoughts, calmed her mood, and holding the Floating Light Sword, continued forward.

Bai Li Changfeng led his two disciples quickly to follow. Seeing that Hua Changxi was as usual and even had spare energy to swing her longsword to continue capturing purple flames, the shock in his heart was considerable.

This person's strength was far deeper than he had imagined!

Although the Divine Fusang Tree was still hidden within the spatial rift between realms, and the fire source law force it emitted was still very scarce, and the power of the seven strange fires was not yet particularly strong, being able to subdue all the strange fires at once was not something just anyone could do.

Most importantly, the purple flame had the power to burn and damage the soul.

Just now, seeing Hua Changxi's expression change, he was very worried, thinking she had been injured by the purple flame, but watching her swing her longsword and absorb another wisp of purple flame, he knew he was wrong.

Her soul wasn't hurt by the purple flame, showing that her spiritual body was very strong.

Bai Li Changfeng's eyes flickered unceasingly. This person had cultivated divine sense without even advancing to the Spiritual Platform realm!

Matters of divine sense were too private to ask about, so Bai Li Changfeng asked about something else: "Senior, do you cultivate both the Dharma and the physical body?"

If one only cultivated the Dharma, even a Nascent Soul realm late-stage cultivator's physical strength could not withstand being burned by seven strange fires simultaneously.

Hua Changxi glanced at him but did not respond. They had only met by chance, and although they had traveled together for a while, strictly speaking they were still strangers. She would not discuss her own affairs with strangers.

Not getting a response, Bai Li Changfeng was not discouraged and continued: "Senior, I don't mean to pry into your privacy. To be honest with you, most artifact refiners like us also cultivate both Dharma and body. If the body is not sturdy enough, it cannot withstand the vibrations caused by forging."

"Body cultivation requires frequent sparring. After we leave this place and return to the mortal world, if you don't mind, Senior, we can serve as your sparring partners, and it will also be an exchange of cultivation insights."

Hua Changxi thought that she had always fought alone before, and since she wanted to expand her circle of cultivators, she did not refuse Bai Li Changfeng's offer: "Alright, if I have time, I will come find you for sparring."

Seeing that she actually agreed, Bai Li Changfeng's expression lit up with joy, and even Xia Yang and Xia Xue, walking behind, had bright eyes.

It had been less than two years since the full spiritual energy recovery; Nascent Soul realm could be said to be the strongest level of strength. Being able to spar with a Nascent Soul cultivator was definitely a good thing for them.

As the Floating Light Sword absorbed more and more purple flames, the amplitude of its vibration grew larger. After absorbing the ninth wisp of purple flame, the Floating Light Sword suddenly burst with brilliant spiritual light.

At first, red flames emerged, swirling around the sword body, as if tempering the Floating Light Sword.

"Boom boom boom~"

The Floating Light Sword emitted a rhythmic sword hum like a heartbeat.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's expression changed. Just then they had reached the valley bottom, so she said quickly to Bai Li and his two disciples: "I need to rest here for a while. If you're in a hurry, you can leave first."

Having said that, she found a spot leaning against the mountain wall with rocks for cover and quickly set up an isolation array and a defensive array.

Once the isolation array was activated, Bai Li and his two disciples could no longer see Hua Changxi or the Floating Light Sword.

Xia Yang: "Master, what grade of spiritual sword is that?"

Xia Xue: "Having absorbed so many strange fires, its grade must be extremely high."

As a direct disciple of the Artifact Saint Palace, Bai Li Changfeng knew many things about the center of the formation. At this moment, looking at where Hua Changxi was, his expression was complicated: "Do you know why the Divine Fusang Tree gave birth to strange fires of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple?"

Xia Yang and Xia Xue shook their heads simultaneously.

Baili Changfeng sighed. "The Fusang Divine Tree is where the sun rests. The flames it nurtures are naturally related to the sun. Once the seven variant flames—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—are fused, they will generate the Great Sun Divine Flame. That sword has absorbed so many variant flames…"

Though he didn’t finish the sentence, Xia Yang and Xia Xue both understood.

As disciples of the Artifact Saint Palace, they knew what the Great Sun Divine Flame represented.

Divine Flame—bearing the character 'Divine'—is naturally something only deities possess.

The Great Sun Divine Flame is a divine flame nurtured by the Fusang Divine Tree and is the treasured guardian treasure of the Artifact Saint Palace. In ancient times, aside from a few deities of the Southern Vermilion Bird Continent, only high-rank artifact refiners of the Artifact Saint Palace could possibly possess the Great Sun Divine Flame.

They did not know Hua Changxi’s background. Now that this outsider might acquire the Artifact Saint Palace’s divine flame, the master and his two disciples were all extremely unsettled.

Xia Yang said, with little confidence, "Maybe that sword only absorbed the variant flames to temper its blade."

Xia Xue, however, said, "If that sword can truly fuse the seven variant flames and generate the Great Sun Divine Flame, then it is a divine sword." As she spoke, she looked at Baili Changfeng. "Being able to produce such a supreme treasure, Senior Hua’s origins must be exceedingly noble."

After hearing this, Baili Changfeng let out a long sigh. "Those families that detected the recovery of spiritual energy early on are seizing the first opportunities everywhere. How can those who come later compete with them?"

He did not approve of Lu Yan’s method of stealing the divine hammer, yet Lu Yan’s worry that the Artifact Saint Palace would fall into the hands of the imperial family or the powerful was not without reason.

As far as he knew, the Alchemy Saint Hall was now under the control of the imperial family, and with its mixed internal factions, it was uncertain whether the Alchemy Saint Hall could remain an independent sacred land.

Seeing that both his master and junior sister were dejected, Xia Yang could not help saying, "If that sword really generates the Great Sun Divine Flame, Senior Hua may not be able to subdue it; perhaps even the sword itself may leave her."

Upon hearing this, Baili Changfeng’s eyes suddenly brightened.

It wasn’t that he coveted that sword—he truly did not want to see the Great Sun Divine Flame fall into an outsider’s hands.

However, soon his gaze dimmed again.

The Great Sun Divine Flame is naturally something that a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot control. But the problem was that the Fusang Divine Tree was still in the spatial rift, and only a small amount of its fire source power had leaked out to nurture the seven variant flames.

Since the variant flames were weakened versions, the power of the resulting Great Sun Divine Flame was naturally greatly reduced.

With dual cultivation of both Dharma and body, and having cultivated divine sense, Senior Hua might actually be able to subdue the Great Sun Divine Flame.

The master and his two disciples were troubled, but none of them left. Instead, they rested on the spot, waiting for Hua Changxi.

There was no other choice—they had no idea what the situation was like inside the Tang Valley, and having a Nascent Soul cultivator around at least allowed them to be safer.