Chapter 449: Vermilion Spirit Body

Boom~

The moment the Vermilion Bird's essence blood entered her abdomen, a vast will containing the power of heaven and earth, capable of burning through all ages, exploded within Hua Changxi's body.

As she leaped into the surging sea of magma and flames, the crimson fire waves suddenly froze in that instant, as if heaven and earth held their breath.

The devouring black hole within her body, and every cell screaming wildly, drove Hua Changxi to not activate any protective spirit barrier, letting the scorching magma—capable of melting metal and bones, incinerating souls—carry the might to burn the sky and boil the sea and completely engulf her.

At first, Hua Changxi only felt a heart-rending, lung-splitting burning pain—her skin cracked and charred inch by inch, flesh and blood evaporated into mist, and her soul nearly disintegrated.

But that pain did not last long.

As the Vermilion Bird's essence blood awakened deep within her bloodline, a strange resonance began to spread.

The burning pain gradually numbed, the numbness turned to warmth, and then the warmth actually transformed into a nearly blissful comfort and enjoyment.

Heaven and earth grew quiet; the sound of wind, the roar of fire, the heartbeat... all perceptions melted away completely.

At this moment, Hua Changxi seemed unable to perceive her own existence anymore; she merged with the vast sea of fire, breathing together, burning together, living together.

After who knows how long, deep within the sea of fire, a tiny crimson-gold light quietly lit up.

That light was first like a firefly, then in an instant like the sun.

Immediately after, a second point, a third point... countless points of light rose from the magma, pulling at each other, intertwining and connecting, and finally, when viewed from high above, they were astonishingly woven into a Vermilion Bird totem spanning a thousand zhang!

Its form held its head high and spread its wings, tail feathers like flames, eyes like the sun, lifelike, as if ready at any moment to flap its wings and soar into the sky, burning the entire firmament.

"Hoo~"

"Hiss~"

The crimson-gold light flashed and dimmed, the Vermilion Bird totem breathed in and out, alternating between bright and dark, as if a deity who had slept for ten thousand years was slowly awakening; each breath stirred the tidal flow of heaven and earth's fire essence.

The entire Lingguang Hall, centered on the Skill Transmission Hall, saw its temperature suddenly rise, to the point that ripples appeared in the void.

At the same time, all one hundred thousand Vermilion Bird warriors, no matter where they were, felt a heat at their heart at the same moment.

It was not an ordinary heat, but a resonance originating from deep within the bloodline, a thrill of the soul being awakened.

The weapon-forging master hammering a gun blank at Lihuo Cliff trembled in his arm, and pale golden flames suddenly ignited in his pupils; the Vermilion Bird warrior cultivating in the Parasol Tree Forest abruptly opened his eyes, his robes catching fire without wind yet not being damaged at all; the Vermilion Bird warrior tempering his body under the Nine Heavens Fire Spring had his hair move without wind, each strand wrapped with fine, thread-like fire lines...

The Vermilion Bird warriors in Lingguang Hall and Zhurong Tomb were likewise; at this moment, all Vermilion Bird warriors who had ever received the baptism of the Vermilion Bird's will discovered that their dantian was boiling, and above their qi seas, a Vermilion Bird totem was condensing.

Moreover, in the unknown, sunless Ghost Fire Well, hundreds of Vermilion Bird warriors who were already on the verge of death were infused with a thread of vitality at this moment; in their originally dim and lusterless eyes, flames were reignited.

Bottlenecks were loosening, shackles were breaking...

In Lingguang Hall, waves of auras were erupting one after another; dozens of Vermilion Bird warriors actually broke through from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Spiritual Platform Realm at the same time.

The Xuanwu Mansion, which was relatively close to Nanxiang County, was the first to sense the change in Lingguang Hall's aura; the Five Generals of Xuanwu ascended into the air simultaneously and looked towards the direction of Lingguang Hall.

Qin Feng looked baffled: "What's up with Lingguang Hall again?" Dozens of people breaking through at the same time!

Lu Zhenting also couldn't figure out why; it couldn't be that the Vermilion Bird warriors all had an epiphany at once.

"...The exchanges among all parties are still too few."

After the spiritual energy recovery, although many ruins have appeared, and all parties have obtained many inheritances and ancient texts from them,

However, after all, it has been a very long time from antiquity to the present; many things are not clearly recorded in the inheritances and ancient texts, or are even not mentioned at all.

As a result, many phenomena, or cultivation obstacles, are not well understood by everyone.

"The matter of opening the Dao Transmission Hall needs to be put on the agenda soon; gathering geniuses from all parties together to exchange and learn can make up for many gaps in the inheritances and ancient texts."

As long as communication channels are established, they will quickly know the reason why the Vermilion Bird warriors all broke through together, and won't have to engage in wild guesses like now.

Qin Feng shook his head: "In my opinion, it's still that Lingguang Hall Master being too dishonest; if she revealed her identity, what could others do to her?"

The other four generals agreed with this in their hearts, but did not say anything.

Qin Feng hesitated: "How about I find an opportunity to personally ask Hua Changxi?"

Hearing this, the other four generals all looked at him at the same time.

Qin Feng: "Xuanwu City is supposed to closely interact and cooperate with the Five Holy Lands and the Four Symbols Cities. If the Lingguang Hall Master is so secretive, appearing and disappearing like a dragon, how are we supposed to carry out cooperation?"

The four generals all expressed support: "You may go ahead and try."

At the same time, the elders of the Artifact Saint Palace also noticed the commotion near Lingguang Hall.

"Dozens of people breaking through at the same time—even if it were enlightenment, the area affected wouldn't be this wide..."

"What could have caused the simultaneous breakthroughs in the Vermilion Bird Army?"

"This matter is probably only known to the Azure Dragon Army, White Tiger Army, and Black Tortoise Army."

"It really is strange—among the Four Symbol Cities, Lingguang Hall is the most active, making a huge stir every so often, while the other three Symbol Cities seem as if they don't even exist."

"Don't exist? Impossible. The other three Symbol Cities conduct many things in secret, not like South Symbol City, which is like a torch—a focal point, but also likely to become a target."

Above the ruins of East Symbol City, the brothers Dongfang Hao and Dongfang Xu also ascended into the air at the first moment to gaze towards Lingguang Hall.

Dongfang Hao's eyes flickered: "A hundred thousand Vermilion Bird troops... just recruited in full like this!" Thinking of his Azure Dragon Army, which had only recruited less than half, he felt a headache.

Dongfang Xu looked at his elder brother: "How about we also learn from Lingguang Hall's approach and openly recruit the Azure Dragon Army?"

Dongfang Hao shook his head: "It's not the time yet."

"A battle for fortune between the Human and Demon races is inevitable, and none of the Five Regions can escape."

"In the Central Continent, the focus of the struggle lies among the Five Sacred Grounds, Xuan Yuan City, and the Four Symbol Cities."

"The Five Sacred Grounds—one formation core, four formation eyes—are key defensive points for humanity; the Demon race will most likely avoid them."

"As for Xuan Yuan City, it suppresses the fortune of the human race; unless the Demon race stakes all its fortune to attack, they would not choose it either."

"Thus, only the Four Symbol Cities remain."

"The Demon race will definitely pick one of the Four Symbol Cities as the first trial ground for the battle of fortunes."

Dongfang Xu let out an "Ah": "Battle for fortune between humans and demons? Spiritual energy has only fully revived for a short while; it shouldn't happen too soon, right?"

Dongfang Hao shook his head: "I can't say for sure either; I just have a faint premonition." He paused, "Regardless, being too rash is not advisable. It's better to keep a low profile."

In the underground magma of Lingguang Hall, the sea of fiery magma suddenly began to recoil, forming a gigantic flame lotus.

The entire flame lotus hovered at the center of the magma, slowly rotating, radiating a pressure that made souls tremble.

And at the very heart of the flame lotus, a wisp of light and flame shaped like a firebird hovered silently.

The light and flame was no more than an inch long, yet it burned more fiercely than the nine-day sun.

It did not dazzle the eyes, yet no one dared look directly at it; it did not roar, yet all fires bowed to it.

"Hmm?"

A hazy consciousness awakened from within the light and flame.

Hua Changxi regained her senses and found herself light as nothing, completely translucent, drifting with the fire current. Subconsciously, she tried to raise a hand, but saw no arm; she tried to look down, but found no body.

"How did I turn into fire?"

"Where is my body?"

The moment this thought arose, heaven and earth responded.

The purest wisp of light and flame at the center of the flame lotus suddenly trembled. A glorious golden light blazed forth, then flowed like water, gathering and shaping—bones generated from the flame, meridians extending along fire patterns, flesh woven from light and flame, skin like fresh snow covering jade, lustrous and flawless.

In just one breath, a woman's body, white as jade and spotlessly clean, had taken shape, lying within the lotus's heart, eyes tightly shut, long hair cascading like a waterfall, tiny flames dancing at the tips of every strand.

Hua Changxi's body appeared no different from before, yet was completely distinct—

Beneath her skin, a faint red-gold light flowed, as if what coursed through her veins was not blood but the Nanming Lihuo forged from Vermilion Bird's origin; even her breath exhaled not mortal air, but wisps of pure fire essence, forming a fiery red mist that swirled around her.

Hua Changxi's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes—within them, black and white were gone, replaced by a vast expanse of red-gold, like two rising suns, shining on the nine heavens above and illuminating the nine underworlds below.

She had actually cultivated... a Vermilion Bird Spirit Body!