Chapter 178: Scorching Light Descends Upon the Six Directions, All Creation Bows Its Head

Inside the isolation array, Hua Changxi watched with a tense expression as the Floating Light Sword, suspended in mid-air, grew increasingly radiant.

Shortly after the red flame appeared, the Floating Light Sword slipped from her palm and flew directly into the air, completely beyond her control.

Having absorbed the exotic flames, the Floating Light Sword's power had surged; although a connection still existed between her and the sword, allowing her to sense it, her current cultivation seemed insufficient to subdue it.

Hua Changxi knew well that if a spiritual treasure's power was too great while its master's cultivation had not caught up, backlash would occur, filling her with extreme worry.

At first, only red flames swirled around the blade; soon after, orange flames shot out, followed by yellow, then green, then cyan, blue, and finally purple flames.

As more exotic flames emerged, the sword's heartbeat-like hum grew faster, and the air temperature rose sharply; when all seven exotic flames encircled the blade, the Polar Ice Core Jade on Hua Changxi's person began to melt.

The Polar Ice Core Jade, about the size of an infant's palm, was visibly melting and shrinking, causing Hua Changxi's heart to leap into her throat and anxiety to flood her face.

Without the Polar Ice Core Jade, she would most likely be unable to withstand the seven exotic flames.

If she could not endure the exotic flames, to avoid backlash, she would have to abandon the Floating Light Sword and actively sever her connection with it.

Since the Floating Light Sword could absorb exotic flames and was clearly a high-grade spiritual sword, Hua Changxi was naturally unwilling to give it up.

Yet at this moment, gazing at the Floating Light Sword surrounded simultaneously by seven-colored exotic flames, she found herself unable to stop it; she could only sense the sword's extreme exhilaration, as if withered wood were meeting spring.

Just as the Polar Ice Core Jade had melted down to one-third of its original size, the seven distinct exotic flames began to merge.

In an instant, the air temperature skyrocketed several times over.

Hua Changxi discovered with horror that the heat was so intense the air itself began to distort; in the next moment, before her astonished eyes, the Polar Ice Core Jade melted away completely in the blink of an eye.

"Crack—"

The isolation and defensive arrays Hua Changxi had set up were never of high grade to begin with; unable to withstand such extreme temperatures and lacking the Polar Ice Core Jade to buffer them, they collapsed immediately.

In an instant, the Floating Light Sword and Hua Changxi appeared within the line of sight of Baili Changfeng and his two disciples.

Struck by the terrifying heat, all four forgot everything else and, without consultation, simultaneously retreated from the Floating Light Sword, flying far away.

Once they reached a location where the temperature was bearable, Hua Changxi and the three Baili disciples looked back at the distant Floating Light Sword, now blazing with brilliant flames, their hearts still pounding with lingering fear.

Xia Yang stammered, "Master, what is this?"

Xia Xue, equally shocked, exclaimed, "Seven exotic flames merging—could it truly generate the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

The moment these words left her mouth, Baili Changfeng shot Xia Xue a sharp glare.

Xia Xue froze, then immediately noticed Hua Changxi looking at her in surprise.

"Great Sun Divine Flame?"

Hua Changxi looked at Baili Changfeng, seeking confirmation: "Does the fusion of seven exotic flames produce the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

Seeing that his disciple had accidentally revealed the secret, and knowing that Hua Changxi was a Nascent Soul cultivator who would inevitably learn of the Great Sun Divine Flame someday unless she perished prematurely, Baili Changfeng could only nod helplessly.

Indeed, the moment he nodded, Hua Changxi's eyes lit up.

Aware that her master did not wish for outsiders to obtain the Artifact Sage Palace's Great Sun Divine Flame, Xia Xue hastily added, "Senior Hua, the Great Sun Divine Flame is immensely powerful; even though you are a Nascent Soul cultivator, I fear you still cannot subdue it."

Hua Changxi agreed with this assessment; noticing the tension among Baili Changfeng and his two disciples, she said calmly, "Even if the seven exotic flames merge to form the Great Sun Divine Flame, its power will be greatly diminished."

"If its power remained undiminished, we would likely have already been reduced to ash by now." Even the seven-colored exotic flames were beyond what a single Nascent Soul cultivator like her could endure.

Baili Changfeng was not surprised that Hua Changxi had realized this; sighing, he said, "Even so, attempting to subdue the Great Sun Divine Flame remains an extremely dangerous endeavor."

Hua Changxi looked at him and asked, "The Fusang Tree is the divine tree of the Artifact Sage Palace; regarding the Great Sun Divine Flame it nurtures, does the Artifact Sage Palace possess no method to subdue it? Must one truly wait until advancing to the Deity Realm before one can wield the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

To this question, Baili Changfeng gave no answer.

Hua Changxi believed the Artifact Sage Palace must have a method to subdue the Great Sun Divine Flame, but Baili Changfeng would not tell her; thus she said, "Fellow Daoist Baili, why don't we make a trade?"

Baili Changfeng glanced at her but remained silent.

Hua Changxi continued, "Since we now know that merging seven exotic flames can produce the Great Sun Divine Flame, how about this: I help you capture exotic flames, and in return, you tell me the method to fuse them into the Great Sun Divine Flame; this way, we can both possess it."

Hearing this, both Xia Yang and Xia Xue felt tempted; if they could obtain the Great Sun Divine Flame sooner, their strength would surely increase dramatically, and spiritual treasures refined with it would be of even higher quality.

However, Baili Changfeng rejected the proposal without a second thought: "The Great Sun Divine Flame is a precious flame of the Artifact Sage Palace; as a disciple of the Artifact Sage Palace, I will never trade such a treasure with outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi showed regret but said no more, lifting her gaze to look at the distant Floating Light Sword.

Perhaps due to the absence of the Polar Ice Core Jade's influence, Hua Changxi now seemed able to perceive the changes in the Floating Light Sword more clearly; the moment she focused her mind on sensing the sword, her eyes suddenly brightened.

She had perceived how the Floating Light Sword manipulated the fusion process of the seven exotic flames!

Could she then replicate this process to fuse the seven strands of exotic flames within her own dantian into the Great Sun Divine Flame?

Yet, since the power surged dramatically the moment the seven exotic flames began merging, could her dantian possibly withstand it?

Hua Changxi looked at Baili Changfeng again: "Fellow Daoist Baili, that sword was obtained with great difficulty; I do not wish to lose it. Considering that I have saved you and your disciples several times along our journey, could you please tell me how a lower-ranked cultivator can endure the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

Although Baili Changfeng still did not wish to speak, recalling that the Fusang Divine Tree remained hidden within a spatial rift in the realm, making it impossible for Hua Changxi to obtain, he finally said, "If Senior can obtain a branch of the Fusang Divine Tree, with the divine tree suppressing it, you can subdue the Great Sun Divine Flame."

This answer left Hua Changxi speechless; the Fusang Divine Tree was hidden within a spatial rift—where could she possibly find it?

"Aside from the Fusang Divine Tree, is there no other method?"

Baili Changfeng shook his head: "I only know this one method."

Hua Changxi furrowed her brows; unable to withstand the terrifying power of the Great Sun Divine Flame, did she truly have to abandon the Floating Light Sword?

As the seven-colored exotic flames continued to intertwine and merge, the color of the flame glow gradually faded, slowly shifting from multicolored to pure white.

When the flames encircling the sword turned completely white, the Floating Light Sword transformed into a sword of white fire, and a terrifying force of supreme yang swept across the entire Tang Gu like a tornado.

In an instant, Hua Changxi and the three Baili disciples were all forced down with a "thud," pressed to their knees by that heart-seizing immense power, unable even to lift their heads.

Baili Changfeng spoke with a trembling voice: "When the Great Sun Divine Flame emerges, scorching light descends upon the six directions, and all creation bows its head."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi felt shaken in her heart, but disliking the posture of kneeling on the ground with her head bowed, she immediately circulated her spiritual energy, striving to resist the crushing force and stand up.

While she was channeling her spiritual energy with full effort, the closed eyes of her Nascent Soul, hovering above the qi sea in her dantian, slowly opened slightly, half-closed like a bodhisattva in a temple, gazing down upon the qi sea below.

The Nascent Soul spread its arms and began forming hand seals.

In an instant, the qi sea began to boil, and the fire spiritual energy within it started rising upward.

As the fire spiritual energy continued to ascend, a Zhu Que condensed above the qi sea.

The Zhu Que attempted to spread its wings and soar high, but was suppressed by the external force.

Sensing the obstruction, the Nascent Soul frowned; at that very moment, the black flame at the Nascent Soul's heart ignited, rapidly spreading to cover half of its face.

Pressed to her knees by the Great Sun Divine Flame, Hua Changxi felt a crisis; this sense of danger triggered anxiety and fear within her heart. At first, the anxiety and fear were not too intense, but when the black flame ignited, they instantly magnified several times over.

Submerged in anxiety and fear, Hua Changxi felt the threat of death, and an urge for destruction welled up in her heart.

Once the urge for destruction lingered in her mind, the black flame at the core of her Nascent Soul burned even more fiercely, covering not only half the Nascent Soul's face but also rapidly spreading over its body and arms.

Just then, searing pain shot through the back of her hand, pulling Hua Changxi out of the threat of death.

Looking at the back of her hand, she saw a black fish pattern emerge; the color of this black fish was the deepest it had ever been since she possessed the Awakening Mark.

The black fish mark, dark as ink, reminded Hua Changxi to control the emotions in her heart that were being manipulated by the fear of death.

The Awakening Mark perceives one's own desires; simultaneously, it serves as the manifesting vessel for the black flame.

Hua Changxi quickly performed internal vision on her dantian and saw that the black flame was nearly covering half of her Nascent Soul's body. Terrified, she immediately began silently reciting the Heart-Calming Mantra given by Master Wuchen.

Just as she struggled to control the fear in her heart, three beams of golden light flew toward the Floating Light Sword like meteors.

"It is the Great Sun Divine Flame."

The newcomer shouted in alarm, then threw back his head and laughed loudly.

"Big Brother, we possess the Golden Crow bloodline; this Great Sun Divine Flame was prepared specifically for us."

"The Great Sun Divine Flame is the supreme yang fire where ten thousand suns return to one; it specifically counters the nether yin power of the Nine Netherworlds. Once we subdue it, we will be able to roam the Nine Netherworlds freely. Even if we return to the human world, we will no longer need to hide."

Hearing that these three actually possessed the Golden Crow bloodline, Hua Changxi and the master-disciple trio of Baili grew anxious.

It was well known that before ancient times, the Great Sun Divine Flame was the innate life-bound flame of purebred Golden Crows.

"You three scum of the human race, do not think you can seize the precious flame of the Artifact Saint Palace."

Hearing Baili Changfeng's furious roar, Hua Changxi instinctively felt disaster approaching. Originally, those three had not noticed them at all, but with this shout, they had exposed themselves.

Just as Hua Changxi had anticipated, once the three discovered the four of them kneeling on the ground, they immediately radiated killing intent.

"Third Brother, go and eliminate those four!"

Sensing a dense demonic qi rapidly approaching, Hua Changxi grew frantic; abandoning the silent recitation of the Heart-Calming Mantra, she once again circulated her spiritual power with all her might.

The newcomer moved with extreme speed, arriving at the location of Hua Changxi and the other three within a few breaths.

"To have reached this place, you are quite capable. Now, die!"

As soon as the words fell, the newcomer launched a fierce attack against the four.

As a lethal crisis of death descended, the black flame in Hua Changxi's dantian qi sea suddenly erupted with a 'boom,' expanding several times over and covering half of her Nascent Soul's body. The Zhu Que, previously suppressed and unable to spread its wings and soar, suddenly blazed with intense red light and burst violently out of the dantian.

"Li—"

A Zhu Que radiating colorful rosy light flew out from within Hua Changxi's body; it not only dispersed the attack but also sent the demonic follower who had attacked the four of them flying far away.