Chapter 175: Strange Fire

The Floating Light Sword had always been impossible to draw, and the Floating Light Sword Technique was exceedingly difficult to cultivate; now, sensing a disturbance in the Floating Light Sword, Hua Changxi glanced at the trio of Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples walking ahead, pondered for a moment, and then drew the Floating Light Sword.

Once the Floating Light Sword was drawn, her position was exposed, so there was no longer any need to remain invisible.

Thus, Hua Changxi removed the Invisibility Talisman.

As soon as the Invisibility Talisman was removed, Hua Changxi, clad in a black cloak, appeared in the sight of Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples.

The hood of the cloak covered most of Hua Changxi's face; though her features were indistinct, Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples could still tell from her figure and the exposed parts of her face that she was not old.

At this, the trio felt a stir in their hearts; all three simultaneously suspected that Hua Changxi was an elder who had consumed some elixir of rejuvenation.

The giant platform was difficult to climb, and the air temperature was too high; even with spiritual talismans applied, Xia Yang and Xia Xue were struggling to endure, while Baili Changfeng had also applied a talisman to resist fire spiritual energy and was holding another out to ask Hua Changxi.

"Senior, do you need a talisman?"

"I can still endure; you two protect yourselves."

Baili Changfeng felt Hua Changxi's voice was far too youthful; he stole another glance at her and began to doubt his earlier guess that she was an elder who had consumed a rejuvenation pill.

With the resurgence of spiritual energy, the descendants of cultivation families who had seized the initiative indeed gained a head start; although these families controlled abundant cultivation resources, cultivation also depended on opportunity and talent, and some juniors, blessed with high talent and great fortune, would instead overtake many such descendants.

This female cultivator before him, at the Infant Transformation stage, might not necessarily be an elder who had cultivated for many years.

Since Hua Changxi refused the talisman, Baili Changfeng said no more; after retrieving it, he continued forward.

The fire spiritual energy in the air was extremely dense, but unfortunately, it was mixed with demonic qi and thus could not be absorbed; otherwise, this place would absolutely be an excellent cultivation ground for cultivators with fire spiritual roots.

The higher they climbed, the more scorching the air became, and the more violently the Floating Light Sword in Hua Changxi's hand trembled; along the strange path ahead, she used her spiritual power to suppress the sword while vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Before stepping onto the giant platform, she had not seen clearly what it was built from; now, walking upon it, she discovered that not only did the platform resemble a volcanic mound in shape, but its material also seemed like volcanic rock, as if formed from cooled magma.

"Master, why do I feel this giant platform is even taller than the highest peak of Mount Kunlun?"

Xia Yang and Xia Xue were struggling greatly as they advanced; seeing that they had climbed for so long yet the summit of the giant platform remained just as distant, they could not help but speak up to ask.

Baili Changfeng replied, "Have I not told you about spatial folding? Which of the blessed lands or ancient ruins that have appeared on the Central Continent does not look small from the outside yet contain an entire universe within?"

"This is the center of one of the four array nodes of the Demon Prison, the place where the Fusang Divine Tree grows; the Fusang Divine Tree connects the human world and the Nine Netherworlds—do you think this place is large or not?"

Hearing this, Xia Yang and Xia Xue exchanged a bitter glance.

Before this, both had believed their early Core Formation cultivation made them experts capable of withdrawing safely from any trial ground; now, they realized how ridiculous their previous thoughts had been.

Just then, a wisp of crimson flame suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shot straight toward Xia Xue, who had the lowest cultivation.

Seeing this, Baili Changfeng's expression changed drastically: "It's Strange Fire! Dodge quickly!"

The red flame was too fast for Xia Xue to evade; just as it was about to touch her, Hua Changxi swung the Floating Light Sword, blocking it before Xia Xue, and the red flame plunged directly into the sword.

As soon as the red flame entered the Floating Light Sword, Hua Changxi felt a sensation akin to long-awaited rain after a drought; this feeling did not come from her, but from the Floating Light Sword itself.

Strange Fire was beneficial to the Floating Light Sword!

"Thank you, Senior, for acting; if my disciple had been struck by the Strange Fire, she would surely have become its fuel."

Seeing that Xia Xue was unharmed, Baili Changfeng hurriedly thanked Hua Changxi; at the same time, he glanced at the Floating Light Sword in her hand, wondering what grade of spiritual sword it was to be capable of absorbing Strange Fire.

"It was merely a trivial effort. Since Fellow Daoist mentioned earlier that there is much Strange Fire here, let me lead the way."

Since Strange Fire benefited the Floating Light Sword, Hua Changxi intended to let it absorb more.

Hearing this, Baili Changfeng immediately felt relieved and thanked her again.

Strange Fire was most abundant along these stone steps, intended precisely to prevent anyone from breaking into the array node's center; moreover, the closer one got to the summit of the giant platform, the more frequent and powerful the Strange Fire would become. Even though he was a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, he could not protect his two disciples.

Afterward, Hua Changxi took the lead to clear the path.

As they continued climbing upward, the frequency of Strange Fire appearances increased; each time it appeared, any attack directed at them was intercepted by Hua Changxi with the Floating Light Sword.

After the Floating Light Sword absorbed nine wisps of red flame, Hua Changxi no longer felt that nourishing sensation of long-awaited rain after a drought; realizing that red flames were no longer effective for the sword, she simply struck the next incoming red flame apart with her blade.

The red flame turned into sparks and sank into the volcanic rock beneath their feet, vanishing quickly.

Seeing this, Xia Yang showed regret: "Strange Fire is a rare treasure for cultivators with fire spiritual roots to increase their strength; if my cultivation were strong enough to subdue it, I wouldn't have to scatter it."

Baili Changfeng also felt deep regret, as his current strength was insufficient to subdue Strange Fire either, so he spoke up: "The Fusang Divine Tree can nurture Strange Fire; even after being scattered, it will be nurtured anew."

Though they could not subdue Strange Fire, Hua Changxi could; reminded by Master Baili Changfeng and his disciples, she easily drew a wisp of red flame into her dantian.

Seeing this, all three of the Baili master-disciple trio felt extremely envious.

Afterward, the four climbed for another hour; when Strange Fire attacked them again, it was no longer red flame, but orange flame.

The temperature of the orange flame was clearly several times higher than that of the red flame; as soon as it appeared, it made Xia Yang and Xia Xue feel suffocated.

Hua Changxi, however, sensed the Floating Light Sword's excitement and immediately swung it, striking directly at the Strange Fire.

Once the orange flame plunged into the Floating Light Sword, the sword once again manifested that joyful sensation of long-awaited rain after a drought.

Thus, climbing all the way up, Hua Changxi wielded the Floating Light Sword to absorb enough red, orange, and yellow Strange Fires before she and Master Baili Changfeng's trio finally reached the summit of the giant platform.

Before ascending, Hua Changxi had assumed the summit was a spacious platform arranged with arrays; upon arriving, she discovered it was nothing of the sort—this was no giant platform, but rather a volcanic crater.

"Fellow Daoist, must we go down further?"

Baili Changfeng nodded: "Yes."

Having reached the top of the volcanic crater, the temperature had risen to a terrifying level; the yellow Strange Fire that had just appeared was hot enough to scorch Hua Changxi. If they went deeper, even more powerful Strange Fires would surely appear.

Hua Changxi looked at Baili Changfeng: "Are you certain you still want to go down? Can you endure it?"

Baili Changfeng replied, "Even if we cannot endure it, we must; we must stop those six demons." With that, he took out four sky-blue stones.

As soon as the sky-blue stones were produced, the temperature of the surrounding air dropped sharply.

"These are Polar Cold Marrow Jades; they can help us block the attacks of fire spiritual energy at the array node's center."

Polar Cold Marrow Jades were extremely rare; Baili Changfeng gave one to each of his two disciples, then, with visible reluctance, handed one to Hua Changxi.

There was no choice; they needed this person to block the Strange Fire for them, and perhaps, upon reaching the array node's center, they would also need her help to deal with those six demons.

Although Polar Cold Marrow Jades were rare and precious, the stability of the array node was more important.

Since the Floating Light Sword needed to absorb Strange Fire, and furthermore, there was a Demon-Suppressing Guard General outside the stone soldier statues who wanted to capture her, Hua Changxi, though aware that Baili Changfeng had intentions to use her, still reached out and accepted the Polar Cold Marrow Jade.