Chapter 56: Crimson Lotus Qi Sea

After leaving the crowd and far from the Medicine Valley, Old You activated his lightness skill, treading on branches as lightly as a swallow, and sped swiftly toward the direction of Nanshan.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi realized Old You was trying to test her. After a moment of hesitation, she still used the Lingbo Weibu to chase after him.

Before this, she had planned to develop quietly.

Facing Old You’s test, she could choose to hide her strength—but what about next time?

Should she also hide next time something similar happened?

Having obtained a cultivation opportunity, she ought to be more confident in facing all kinds of situations, and act with greater openness and forthrightness.

If she cowered and worried about everything at the first sign of trouble, then the cultivation opportunity would not be her sharp weapon but her shackles.

With this thought, Hua Changxi’s pace underfoot grew even faster, and afterward she always maintained a distance of about ten meters from Old You.

Ahead, when Old You saw that Hua Changxi had effortlessly caught up to him—and that no matter how much he sped up, she could keep a steady distance—he felt not tension but great joy.

The stronger the ability Hua Changxi revealed, the greater the value of the secrets she carried.

West Chishan, East Chishan, and South Chishan were not solitary peaks but endless mountain ranges crisscrossed with ravines.

As she continuously raced through South Chishan, Hua Changxi could clearly feel the fire spiritual energy in the air growing denser.

An hour later, Hua Changxi followed behind Old You as they delved into the heart of the South Chishan range. In a long, narrow zone between two peaks, a winding, sprawling huge fissure came into view.

The fissure was deep; looking down from above, one could faintly see a red glow emanating from the bottom.

Old You leaped down. Just as Hua Changxi prepared to follow, *kreee!*—a piercing bird cry struck. Then Hua Changxi saw a fiery red figure fly out of the fissure and speed towards Old You.

It was an enormous red eagle, its wings spanning a good five or six meters wide.

Soon, Old You was locked in fierce combat with the red eagle.

After all, Old You was a Grandmaster. He could evade the red eagle’s attacks and initially even suppressed it. But when the red eagle spewed flames over ten meters long, Old You was scorched by the fire and plummeted straight to the ground.

“Kreee~”

As Old You hit the ground, the red eagle immediately dove down, its gleaming, cold beak stabbing toward him like an arrow.

On the crown of a giant tree, Hua Changxi watched this scene, her expression conflicted.

The place with the fire spirit ore was probably inside the fissure. She had already achieved her goal; if Old You died, she wouldn’t have to expose her secret.

But watching an old man die under the red eagle’s beak was something her conscience couldn’t bear.

In the end, the value of human life overriding rationality won out. Hua Changxi gathered spiritual power in her hand, forming a fire blade, and then the fire blade shot toward the red eagle with a whistling sound.

When the eagle’s beak was still two or three meters from Old You, the fire blade pierced through the red eagle’s body.

“Boom~”

The red eagle’s massive body crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up billowing dust.

When the red eagle dove down, Old You had already closed his eyes in despair. When he felt the eagle’s body slam onto him, his heartbeat seemed to stop.

A few breaths later, realizing he was still alive, Old You quickly opened his eyes and saw Hua Changxi descending to land a few meters away.

Old You looked at the motionless red eagle on top of him, struggled to crawl out from under it, and after standing steady, a lingering fear remained on his face.

He had killed many ferocious beasts before, but he had never encountered one that could spit fire.

When the flames came, he couldn’t even release his protective qi in time before being burned.

Free from mortal danger, Old You finally felt the searing, agonizing pain all over his body. Looking down, he saw his limbs charred, flesh and blood mingled with tattered clothes stuck together, the pain unbearable.

“Why save this old man?”

Old You looked at Hua Changxi, confusion in his eyes. Given the cautious nature this girl had shown before, she should have preferred not to let people know she had secrets.

Hua Changxi was craning her neck to look down into the fissure. When she heard this, she turned her head and glanced at Old You: “I can’t turn a blind eye to a human life.”

Old You had never expected to hear such an answer. Ever since he embarked on the path of martial arts, even though he wasn’t bloodthirsty, killing was unavoidable. Having killed many, he had lost his reverence for human life.

He never imagined that today he would be saved precisely because he was a human life.

Old You gazed at Hua Changxi, his expression complicated. Truly, she was still a child, not yet tainted by this perilous and harsh world.

“This old man found the red crystals in this very fissure.”

Old You saw Hua Changxi gazing into the rift and followed her gaze.

"I discovered this rift three years ago. Back then, I could still go down to the bottom to explore, but now, even standing at the top, I find it quite strenuous."

In just a short while, Old You felt drenched in sweat. As sweat trickled over his wounds, the burning pain intensified, and there was also a sensation of being scorched from within.

Watching Hua Changxi, who remained composed and completely unaffected, Old You grew somewhat eager. Enduring the excruciating pain, he humbly asked:

"Miss Hua, you have no inner force within your body, yet you managed to catch up to me and effortlessly slay this beast. Can you tell me how you did it?"

The fire spiritual energy in the rift was extremely dense. Bathing in it, Hua Changxi felt as if she had returned to her mother's womb, her entire body comfortable. Hearing Old You's question, she thought for a moment and said:

"Martial artists train the physical body, cultivate inner force, and generate protective Qi. They stimulate the body's potential, but in essence, they are still consuming the body's foundation."

Old You nodded, strongly agreeing with this statement. A Grandmaster is considered the highest realm of martial arts, but with aging, the decline of qi and blood also leads to a drop in combat power. Once the qi and blood are exhausted, one dies.

Hua Changxi looked at Old You: "I am not a martial artist. I do not consume my own body's foundation. I harness the power of heaven and earth for my own use."

Old You was startled and asked eagerly: "Then how does one harness the power of heaven and earth?"

Hua Changxi smiled: "Old You, bringing me to this rift can only earn you one piece of information. I have already told you that I and martial artists walk different paths."

"Now that you know such a path exists, as for how to set foot on it, you will have to find that out for yourself."

Old You frowned, pointing at the lifeless red eagle on the ground: "I beg you, miss, to solve another puzzle for me. Does this beast walk the same path as you?"

Hua Changxi nodded: "Yes."

This red eagle could no longer be considered a fierce beast; it should be classified as a demonic beast.

Old You's expression changed drastically: "In recent years, the fierce beasts in the mountains have been increasing. Could they all become like this one, able to spit fire?"

Hua Changxi's expression also grew somewhat serious: "It is highly likely that will happen."

Humans can cultivate, and so can animals and plants.

Old You could not imagine how great a threat it would pose to humanity if the mountains were filled with fierce beasts like the red eagle.

But at the moment, he could not spare time to think about these things. The burning wounds hurt so much he could not think clearly, and standing at the rift's edge only intensified the burning pain. He could barely hold on.

Seeing his pained expression, Hua Changxi said: "Old You, go back first and tend to your injuries."

Old You looked at Hua Changxi, knowing she might want to go down and explore the rift. He nodded: "Be careful. Last time I came, I did not encounter this beast."

"Either it came from somewhere else, or it suddenly grew much stronger."

Hua Changxi: "Alright, I will be careful."

The rift did not go straight down; there were protrusions and ledges on the walls. Once Old You left, Hua Changxi stored the red eagle into the Shennong Cauldron, then jumped down, using the protruding walls as steps, descending level by level.

About a hundred meters deep, light red crystals appeared on the rift walls. The deeper she went, the darker the color of the crystals became, and the fire spiritual energy grew denser.

"This really is a fire spirit ore mine!"

Hua Changxi was both excited and thrilled. Last month she was anxious about the lack of cultivation resources, and now not only had she discovered the spiritual plants at the bottom of the stone cliff, but she also found this sizable fire spirit ore mine.

She was about to get rich!

The bottom of the rift looked like a riverbed scoured by water.

The red glow seen from above the rift came entirely from the bright red, translucent crystals.

As Hua Changxi descended all the way to the bottom, she collected four types of crystals.

One type was light in color and cloudy fire spirit stones, about the size of a walnut. When held and absorbed, they could raise one point of spiritual power.

Another type was deep red crystals with many speckled spots. Absorbing one could raise ten spiritual power points.

A third type was even darker red crystals with a few thread-like patterns. Absorbing one could raise one hundred spiritual power points.

The last type was pure red crystals, transparent without any impurity. Absorbing one could raise one thousand spiritual power points.

Hua Changxi did not know how others classified spirit stones. After seeing these four distinct types of fire spirit stones in the rift, she simply divided them into low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, and top-grade spirit stones.

Having encountered a fire spirit ore mine, Hua Changxi naturally wanted to collect spirit stones.

The top-grade spirit stones were only found in the one-meter-long strip at the center of the rift bottom, where the red light was strongest.

With top-grade spirit stones available, Hua Changxi naturally looked down on the others and headed straight for that one-meter strip.

Fortunately, the Shennong's heritage had taught the Wind Control Technique. Hua Changxi gathered spiritual energy, swung out wind blades, and used them to cut the Fire Spirit Ore.

Hua Changxi cheerfully dug her way forward, putting all the excavated top-grade Fire Spirit Ore into the Shennong Cauldron.

She was too focused; as she dug deeper and deeper into the Fire Spirit Ore veins, she didn't even notice.

"Ssss~"

A barely audible hissing sound jolted Hua Changxi from the joy of her harvest. She looked up and realized that as far as the eye could see, there was only Fire Spirit Ore; above her head, the sky was no longer visible.

She had penetrated deep into the heart of the Fire Spirit Ore!

This discovery put Hua Changxi on alert, and the next moment, her hairs stood on end.

Sensing danger, Hua Changxi immediately gathered spiritual energy into her hands, clenched her fists, and instinctively struck forward in the overwhelming red glow.

"Boom~"

A violent crash sounded.

Before Hua Changxi could see what had attacked her, she felt her body being coiled by a soft giant thing as thick as a bucket.

The hissing and coiling made Hua Changxi's scalp tingle instantly; she guessed what kind of creature was attacking her.

She formed her fingers into claws and fiercely grabbed at the snake body around her.

Her fingertips pierced the giant snake's skin, sinking into flesh and blood; at the same time, she concentrated spiritual energy at her fingertips to increase the damage to the giant snake.

The hissing grew louder, and the snake writhed wildly, tightening its coils.

Hua Changxi was struggling to breathe. Having little combat experience, she could only grip the snake's body tightly and continuously increase her spiritual energy output.

"Bang~"

The snake's body was forcibly snapped in two by her.

Even so, the giant snake did not die; it attacked Hua Changxi again.

This time, Hua Changxi saw the glowing snake eyes. She dodged aside to avoid the frontal attack and continuously swung fire blades and fireballs to keep the giant snake at bay.

"Whoosh~"

In the midst of the fight, the giant snake actually spat flames, trying to burn Hua Changxi alive.

Fortunately, Hua Changxi was not afraid of fire and was unharmed.

In the end, when the giant snake had lost too much blood and its movements slowed, Hua Changxi formed her fingers into claws and pierced the snake's vital spot seven inches from its head, killing it completely.

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

Hua Changxi sat on the ore, gasping for breath for a while, then quickly stood up and put the excavated top-grade Fire Spirit Ore and the giant snake into the Shennong Cauldron.

She had been careless. The world she now faced was full of dangers; she could no longer act as casually as before.

Not daring to go deeper, and having already dug up plenty of top-grade spirit stones, Hua Changxi decided to head back. After turning and walking a few steps outward, she suddenly stopped.

Places guarded by demon beasts usually contain treasures.

Hua Changxi hesitated for a moment, then turned around and cautiously continued deeper into the Fire Spirit Ore.

After going about a hundred meters deeper, she smelled a refreshing fragrance.

Having learned her lesson from the giant snake attack, even though she guessed there was a treasure ahead, Hua Changxi did not dare to be careless and warily walked toward the source of the fragrance.

Before long, at a corner, a red lotus bathed in setting-red rays appeared in her sight.

That she could clearly see the red lotus amidst the all-pervading redness of the Fire Spirit Ore was only because the lotus was so brilliantly shimmering, like a frozen, dazzling red firework.

Flowing Light Red Lotus!

A top-grade atavistic fruit in fire-type divine abilities!

Hua Changxi swallowed hard. The fragrance emanating from the Flowing Light Red Lotus was too tempting, but she did not move.

The Spiritual Plant chapter of the "Classic of Herbal Annotations" explained in detail that only by consuming the lotus seed of the Flowing Light Red Lotus could one achieve atavistic effects.

Now, the red lotus bloomed, flowing light spilled out, and the lotus seeds were about to coalesce.

Hua Changxi suppressed her urgent thoughts, waiting for the red lotus to bear seeds while warily scanning her surroundings, afraid that a demon beast might appear from somewhere.

A quarter of an hour later, the rosy clouds dispersed, the flowing light vanished, and the red lotus withered instantly, leaving only thirty-six dazzling red lotus seeds on the seedpod.

Hua Changxi dashed over with a "whoosh," quickly plucked the lotus seeds, and without putting them into the Shennong Cauldron, simply ate them.

Once the lotus seeds left the seedpod, their atavistic effect would sharply diminish, unless there was a special storage box.

She didn't have one, so she had to eat them.

With each lotus seed she ate, Hua Changxi felt a rumbling sound come from her dantian qi sea.

After finishing all thirty-six lotus seeds, Hua Changxi looked inward at her dantian, and her pupils sharply contracted.

Her qi sea was churning and boiling, surging with one red lotus after another.

Sounds came again from deep within the spirit mine. Hua Changxi did not dare linger, swiftly returned along the same path, and half an hour later, she was back above the rift valley.

By now, the sky had turned dark.

Not daring to spend the night in the deep mountains, Hua Changxi exerted all her strength and rushed at full speed toward the Medicine Valley.

It had taken over an hour to come, but the return trip only took a quarter of an hour.

At the entrance of the Medicine Valley, the one-armed man, following Elder You's instructions, was waiting there for Hua Changxi's return.

Seeing that the sky was already dark and Hua Changxi had not yet returned, the one-armed man was about to go back to report when he heard a whistling sound from afar.

Following the sound, he looked and saw Hua Changxi, whose clothes were burned and tattered.

The one-armed man was a bit tongue-tied, pointing at Hua Changxi: "You..."

Hua Changxi glanced at her own body. Earlier in the Fire Spirit Mine, she hadn't paid attention, but now she realized that she had been burned beyond recognition by the fire spewed by the giant serpent.

"I'm fine, I just fell into a fire pit."