Chapter 387: Under Control

If it could be said that the Nine Heavens Fire Spring uses the roaring sound of the fire spring to induce resonance in the internal organs for body refinement, then the first stage of entering the Zhurong Tomb is to allow 'fire elements' to enter the body, illuminate the entire body, and manifest the meridians.

Now, under Hua Changxi's internal vision, the network of meridians throughout her body has been fully manifested. The next step is to light up the eighty-one nodes where the meridians intersect.

Hua Changxi has already lit one node through the Zhurong Stone that Jingsheng gave her. She knows that to light the other nodes, she must go deeper into the blood-red bone mountain ahead.

And to enter the bone mountain, she must first deal with the royal scion at its base.

Zhu Yan also discovered Hua Changxi at the first moment. He was extremely astonished that someone could still enter this blessed cave under the tight surveillance of the Zhu clan and the Duke Chengen Estate.

The two fire beings, dozens of meters apart, stared at each other from afar.

Although each regarded the other as a threat, neither acted rashly.

The reason was simple: both were enduring unimaginable burning pain at this moment.

On the surface of their bodies, flames covered them; inside, fire elements scorched every cell.

The pain, penetrating to the marrow, constantly tested their willpower. The slightest disturbance would amplify the suffering they bore.

"Who are you?"

Zhu Yan, less composed than Hua Changxi, spoke first.

Hua Changxi: "The master of this place."

Hearing her say this, Zhu Yan immediately sneered: "If you were the master here, I would never have been able to enter."

Hua Changxi: "Not yet, but soon I will be."

Zhu Yan, as if hearing a joke: "Fellow Daoist's tone is a bit too arrogant."

Hua Changxi couldn't be bothered to waste words with him and directly flung a fire lotus at Zhu Yan.

The fire lotus grew visibly larger in midair. Zhu Yan tried to dodge it, but his evasive speed wasn't fast enough.

The fire lotus enveloped Zhu Yan, landed, took root, and in an instant formed a sealed lotus domain space.

Zhu Yan tried to break out of the fire lotus, but he simply couldn't breach the lotus domain. He attempted to escape by transforming into flames, but that also failed.

To eliminate Zhu Yan, Hua Changxi also flew into the lotus domain and directly summoned the Floating Light Sword, aiming for a quick resolution.

Unfortunately, after several swings of the sword, she only managed to wound Zhu Yan but not kill him. At critical moments, Zhu Yan could barely avoid fatal danger.

Not wanting to waste too much time on Zhu Yan, Hua Changxi realized she couldn't kill him in a short time, so she decided to seal him inside the fire lotus and let it drain him to death.

Just as she was about to leave the fire lotus, a layer of black flames suddenly emerged on Zhu Yan's body.

Seeing the black flames, Hua Changxi's mind suddenly became dazed. Her pupils were instantly filled with black flames. Then an unquestionable voice sounded in her mind: 'Slit your throat with your sword.'

Hua Changxi's gaze flickered. The hand gripping the Floating Light Sword trembled violently. At the same time, the black flames imprinted on her pupils swayed unsteadily, like flickering flames about to go out in a storm.

Seeing that Hua Changxi did not obey, Zhu Yan's expression changed. He realized his opponent had strong will and could not be controlled. After hesitating, he reluctantly spoke again: 'Dispel the fire lotus.'

This time, Hua Changxi complied. With a wave of her hand, the fire lotus turned into petals of flame rain, quickly disintegrating and dissipating.

Feeling that the dark flame's control over Hua Changxi was weakening, Zhu Yan, though wanting to kill her, wisely chose to retreat for the moment and quickly rushed toward the bone mountain.

Just as he ran a hundred meters, the black flames in Hua Changxi's eyes died out, and her mind cleared.

She did not chase after Zhu Yan but instead clutched her chest, breathing heavily in lingering fear.

Just now, the black flames on her Nascent Soul heart had engulfed her entire heart, instantly seizing all her consciousness, turning her into an unconscious person.

If not for the occasional cry of a Vermilion Bird in her dantian that briefly pulled her back to awareness, she would have truly become a puppet controlled by others.

Hua Changxi watched Zhu Yan's figure flying into the bone mountain, her eyes filled with killing intent.

That man must die!

Originally, Hua Changxi had planned to grab a few Zhurong Stones and leave the Zhurong Tomb. But now, she changed her mind. No matter how important the situation in Nanxiang County was, it couldn't be more important than her life. If that man didn't die, she wouldn't leave the Zhurong Tomb.

After calming her frantic emotions, Hua Changxi went after him.

Unfortunately, once inside the bone mountain, Zhu Yan had disappeared from sight.

Recalling that Zhu Yan had the ability to transform into fire, Hua Changxi could only patiently delve deeper into the bone mountain, searching slowly.

If entering the Zhurong Tomb and walking the path of flames burning the body and 'fire elements' entering the body was the first stage, then now, entering the bone mountain is the second stage.

The qi and blood power emanating from the Bone Mountain was exceptionally rich and pure, and the deeper one ventured into the mountain, the purer it became.

Having previously used her spiritual sense to draw the qi and blood power from the Zhurong Stone to light up meridian nodes while at Jingsheng's place, Hua Changxi immediately realized upon entering the Bone Mountain that the second stage of entering the Zhurong Tomb was to guide the qi and blood power from the Bone Mountain into her body to light up her meridian nodes.

After that, Hua Changxi continued to venture deeper into the Bone Mountain to search for her target while simultaneously practicing the Zhurong Meridian Expansion Technique.

Practicing the Zhurong Meridian Expansion Technique within the Bone Mountain proved extremely effective. Not long after she started, she lit up her second meridian node, followed by the third, the fourth...

Every time a meridian node lit up, Hua Changxi felt grateful that she had met Jingsheng and learned the Zhurong Meridian Expansion Technique before entering the Zhurong Tomb.

Otherwise, even if she had entered the Zhurong Tomb and faced such a Bone Mountain, she would have been powerless to do anything but stare.

Practicing the Zhurong Meridian Expansion Technique required using her spiritual sense to guide the qi and blood power into her body, which consumed a great deal of spiritual sense. Fortunately, Hua Changxi had Soul River Water to replenish her spiritual sense in time. If it had been anyone else, they probably couldn't have persisted for long.

Walking through the Bone Mountain, Hua Changxi could no longer perceive the passage of time.

When half of the eighty-one meridian nodes had been lit, she arrived at the heart of the Bone Mountain and saw an egg-shaped chaotic space.

The person she had come to kill was inside that space, frantically chasing a blazing fire axe.

Upon seeing this, Hua Changxi's expression grew somewhat anxious. Could that fire axe be the token of the Zhurong Tomb's master?

Worried as she was, Hua Changxi did not rashly enter the chaotic space. Instead, she sat down cross-legged and focused on practicing the Zhurong Meridian Expansion Technique, wanting to quickly light up all eighty-one meridian nodes.

The more her strength increased, the more power she would have to fight back the next time that royal clansman tried to control her again.

Inside the egg-shaped space, Zhu Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Hua Changxi hadn't entered. However, seeing that she could draw the qi and blood power from the Bone Mountain into her body, he grew anxious again.

He truly hadn't expected that the person would know a secret ancestral shaman technique that even the Zhu clan themselves didn't possess.

The sense of crisis in Zhu Yan's heart grew stronger and stronger, forcing him to chase the fire axe with even greater urgency.

Meanwhile, outside, the imperial family had secretly contacted the Phoenix Clan of the demon race, intending to seize the cave heaven blessed land closest to Lingguang Hall.

The imperial family's original plan was to divert the attention of the Lingguang Hall Master and all other parties away from the Ghost Fire Well by exposing the location of this cave heaven blessed land.

Therefore, from the very beginning, they had never intended to do it secretly.

As soon as the phoenix demon race appeared, the imperial family spread the news.

As expected, it quickly drew the attention of the Vermilion Bird Army. Almost upon first encounter, the Vermilion Bird Army and the Phoenix Clan engaged in battle.

At the same time, the attention of all other forces was also drawn over, but none of them joined the fray.

First, they felt that guarding Nanxiang City was the duty of the Vermilion Bird Army and not closely related to them. Joining the battlefield would inevitably result in casualties, and no one wanted to deplete their own strength.

Second, they wanted to take the opportunity to gauge the capabilities of both the Vermilion Bird Army and the demon clan.

Third, the Lingguang Hall Master's recent mass arrests and killings had caused much resentment, and staying out of it now could be seen as a form of retaliation.

The imperial family's plan was very successful. The only thing that displeased them was that the Phoenix Clan had already fought several rounds with the Vermilion Bird Army, yet the Lingguang Hall Master never appeared.

The appearance of the Phoenix Clan plunged Nanxiang County into even greater chaos.

Fortunately, the Vermilion Bird Army single-handedly bore all the storms brought by the Phoenix Clan, demonstrating through their actions their fearlessness and bravery in defending Nanxiang City.

Although the previous impersonation incidents had caused the people of Nanxiang County to lose trust in the Vermilion Bird Army, after the great battle with the Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Army's military prestige was restored.

All the Phoenix Clan members deployed were at the Core Formation stage or above. The Vermilion Bird Army was somewhat weaker as a whole, but every soldier who participated in the battle wore a Vermilion Bird Token. Whenever they encountered danger, a Vermilion Bird spirit shadow would fly out, dealing heavy damage to large numbers of the demon clan.

After several exchanges, the Phoenix Clan gained little advantage.

At first, the situation developed as the imperial family had envisioned: the Phoenix Clan and the Vermilion Bird Army held each other in check, while the imperial family secretly sought an opportunity to enter the cave heaven blessed land.

Unfortunately, the imperial family underestimated the greed of other forces for the cave heaven blessed land.

While the imperial family was looking for a chance to seize the cave heaven blessed land, the other forces also used various means. Because the barrier was attacked too frequently, it was directly exposed.