Chapter 332: All Flames Return to the Source

Hua Changxi was not entering the Valley of Spring for the first time; she knew where the seven-colored strange fires grew. After parting with Tong Yao and the other two, she flew out of the Valley of Spring on her somersault cloud.

Moments later, she appeared at the foot of the mountain outside the volcanic pile of the Valley of Spring.

Seeing once again the army formation of stone-carved terracotta soldiers guarding the Valley of Spring like a moat, Hua Changxi was still somewhat awestruck.

Compared to the first time she had stumbled into the Valley of Spring in a sorry state, she was now much more composed. Both her cultivation realm and her physical body refinement had improved significantly from last time.

At least now, climbing the volcanic pile of the Valley of Spring, she felt no pressure at all.

Hua Changxi didn't linger on the stone army formation any longer; she began climbing toward the mouth of the volcanic pile, moving swiftly upward, and did not pause anywhere unless she encountered a strange fire.

Since she had entered the Valley of Spring, aside from subduing the seven-colored strange fires, she also wanted to visit the Hot Spring Bath.

There were soul crystals at the bottom of the Hot Spring Bath. Although her cultivation had stalled and there was no sign of advancing to the Lingtai Realm, she still wanted to collect the soul crystals in advance.

The three major realms—Lingtai, Ningshen, and Chuqiao—all focused on cultivating the primordial spirit soul power, and soul crystals were an indispensable cultivation resource.

Knowing that there were soul crystals at the bottom of the Hot Spring Bath—if she hadn't known, it would be one thing, but since she did know there were cultivation resources here, she certainly couldn't let the trip go to waste.

Having experience in subduing spiritual fire, Hua Changxi was even faster this time around.

She knew that Tong Yao and the other two would surely look for her, but in order to go to the Hot Spring Bath, after she climbed to the mouth of the volcanic pile and began descending into the valley bottom, she did not take the stone steps but went to remote places to collect strange fires.

It took over three hours, but Hua Changxi collected all seven-colored strange fires. Without bothering to fuse them, she headed straight for the Hot Spring Bath.

Before long, the Hot Spring Bath appeared in her sight.

Hua Changxi walked to the edge of the Hot Spring Bath, looked at the surging, boiling fire spirit liquid, and without a second thought, plunged headfirst into it.

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Artifact Saint Palace, Great Elder Yiming was standing before a red light screen. Within the red light screen, everything happening in the Valley of Spring was displayed clearly.

Seeing Hua Changxi jump into the Hot Spring Bath, Great Elder Yiming was not particularly surprised.

In the Valley of Spring, aside from the seven-colored strange fires, the Hot Spring Bath was also a remarkable opportunity.

When Hua Changxi first entered the Valley of Spring, Changfeng and his apprentice had placed her in the Hot Spring Bath to heal her wounds, so presumably she knew the benefits of soaking in the hot spring.

Unfortunately, the divine screen could only monitor the Hot Spring Bath, not see inside the pool itself. Great Elder Yiming could only swipe his hand over the light screen.

The next moment, the light screen showed scenes of Tong Yao, Jing Liao, and Yan Zhenzhen subduing strange fires.

The three of them were clearly having some difficulty subduing the strange fires. After watching, Great Elder Yiming recalled the smooth speed with which Hua Changxi had subdued spiritual fire and couldn't help but fall into thought.

Hua Changxi could freely come and go in the Hot Spring Bath; ten to one she had a Fire Spirit Body.

However, Jing Liao had a Innate Dao Body, Yan Zhenzhen had a Five Elements Spirit Body, and Tong Yao also had a Fire Spirit Body. Their physiques were not inferior to Hua Changxi's. Even if Hua Changxi had experience subduing spiritual fire, the gap in subduing strange fires shouldn't be this large.

Hua Changxi effortlessly subdued all seven-colored strange fires, whereas Tong Yao and the other two clearly encountered fierce resistance from the strange fires when trying to subdue them.

"Is it because Hua Changxi cultivates the Vermillion Bird Divine Art?" That would explain why Hua Changxi was clearly more favored by the fire laws than Tong Yao and the other two.

The Vermillion Bird governed the fire aspect and was naturally favored by the fire laws. If it weren't for the fact that cultivating the Vermillion Bird Divine Art required becoming a member of the Vermillion Bird Army, Great Elder Yiming would have wanted to switch his cultivation technique.

This entry into the Valley of Spring was done in the open, so after sneaking into the Hot Spring Bath, Hua Changxi did not intend to linger. She planned to collect a batch of soul crystals and then quickly go out to reunite with Tong Yao and the others.

However, as soon as she entered the Hot Spring Bath, the Sumeru Pearl hung around her neck began to vibrate violently.

Hua Changxi checked and found that it was the box containing the Vermillion Bird essence blood that Great Elder Yiming had given her earlier that was vibrating.

Vermillion Bird Essence Blood!!!

A flash of inspiration crossed Hua Changxi's mind. Because her cultivation had stalled, she had begun focusing on body refinement. Now, she had already cultivated up to the fifth chapter of the Nine Cycles Mystic Art—the Blood Refinement chapter.

The Blood Refinement chapter precisely refined the body by refining essence blood.

She had originally planned to absorb and refine this drop of essence blood at the transmission platform of Lingguang Hall, but now...

The Hot Spring Bath could temper the physical body, and the bottom of the pool was connected to the Divine Fusang Tree Space.

In the space where the Divine Fusang Tree was located, the power of fire source laws was dense. Cultivating beside the divine tree could greatly increase the probability of obtaining fire law power.

She had mastered the 'Karma' law and 'Fissure' law within the fire laws precisely because she had cultivated on the roots of the Divine Fusang Tree at that time.

Amidst her wandering thoughts, Hua Changxi arrived at the bottom of the Hot Spring Bath.

Standing beside the spatial rift connecting to the Divine Fusang Tree, the Sumeru Pearl vibrated even more intensely. Hua Changxi hesitated for a moment, then took out the communication talisman that Tong Yao had given her.

"Tong Yao, forgive me for acting first and asking later. I want to temper my physical body in the Hot Spring Bath. I am willing to pay the corresponding fee, but I don't know exactly how long it will take..."

"After you subdue the Strange Fire, you don't have to wait for me."

After sending the message, Hua Changxi decisively summoned the Shennong Cauldron and placed it beneath the spatial rift where the Soul River water was flowing out, to collect the Soul River water.

Next, she took out the Floating Light Sword and began to pry open the spatial rift.

Before long, the falling Soul River water expanded from fist-width to over a meter in diameter.

Watching the Soul River water steadily pour into the Shennong Cauldron, which showed no sign of ever being filled, Hua Changxi stopped paying attention to it. She sat cross-legged on the pool floor, took out the Vermilion Bird Blood Essence, and swallowed it in one gulp.

As soon as the Vermilion Bird Blood Essence entered her body, Hua Changxi felt her entire being turn into a black hole. She watched the once-calm bottom of the hot spring pool begin to churn, and whirlpool columns start to appear...

Sensing that a major disturbance might be triggered, Hua Changxi hesitated not a moment, flashed into the nearest spatial rift, and flew in.

"Hmm?"

The instant Hua Changxi entered the spatial rift, through the divine projection, the Great Elder of Yiming saw the hot spring pool's surface drop by several meters.

"What happened?"

The Great Elder of Yiming’s expression suddenly changed drastically: "That Hua Changxi... could she be refining the Vermilion Bird Blood Essence at the bottom of the hot spring?"

At the same time, after entering the Divine Wood Space, Hua Changxi dared not waste a single moment and began frantically circulating the fifth chapter of the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art — the Blood Refining Chapter's body-tempering technique.

Fortunately, the Fire Qi within the Fusang Divine Tree Space was dense, continuously replenishing her black hole-like body.

Even with an endless influx of Fire Qi pouring into her, Hua Changxi still felt unsatisfied. Now, her only sensation was hunger — she needed a vast amount of Fire Qi to feed her.

The higher she went up the Divine Tree, the denser the Fire Qi became.

When she first emerged from the spatial rift, she was at the tree roots. Sensing that the Fire Qi around the roots was not dense enough, she began to slowly fly upward.

Logically, suppressed by the Divine Tree's pressure, she shouldn't have been able to fly very high. Yet she somehow made it to the place where the first branch of the Fusang Divine Tree grew out before stopping.

Afterward, Hua Changxi sat cross-legged at the fork of the Fusang Divine Tree's branches and entered deep meditation. From afar, her body completely fiery red, she looked like a new tree embryo born from the Divine Tree.

No one knows how much time passed, but the tree embryo began to emit a dazzling red light. The red light surged and twisted, slowly condensing into a bird-shaped phantom.

As soon as the bird-shaped phantom appeared, the Fusang Divine Tree began to rain leaves.

The Divine Tree leaves fell like celestial maidens scattering blossoms, all floating toward the tree embryo.

Every falling Divine Tree leaf, upon touching the red light, turned into flames and merged into the bird shadow.

As the Divine Tree leaves continued to drift down, the illusory bird shadow became increasingly solid and lifelike.

"Burp~"

Amid the rain of Divine Tree leaves, the tree embryo suddenly let out a belch. Only then did the vivid, lifelike bird shadow plunge headfirst into the tree embryo's body.

At this moment, the rain of Divine Tree leaves stopped.

The red light lingering around the tree embryo began to slowly fade. After the red light completely vanished, a human form was revealed.

"Burp~"

Accompanied by another belch, Hua Changxi opened her eyes. Deep within her pupils, flames still burned.

As awareness returned, Hua Changxi's face showed a complex expression. She hadn't expected refining the Vermilion Bird Blood Essence to be such a unique experience.

At first, it nearly starved her to death; in the end, it nearly stuffed her to death!

"Burp~"

Another belch escaped.

Patting her chest, although she was extremely full, Hua Changxi's mood was extraordinarily excited.

By refining a single drop of blood essence, she had activated a Vermilion Bird bloodline divine ability — Myriad Flames Converge!

Myriad Flames Converge integrates devouring, conversion, and empowerment. That is to say, as long as it is a flame, she can devour and absorb it, converting it into energy to strengthen and heal herself.

This divine ability was simply incredible!

From now on, wherever there is fire, it will be her domain!