Chapter 181: The Tang Bath

The Tang Bath Pool was not at all what Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples had imagined; in their view, since this was where the sun bathed, the Tang Bath must be vast, yet the pool before them was pitifully small, resembling merely the mouth of a well.

Xia Xue doubted slightly: "Master, is this truly the Tang Bath?"

Baili Changfeng nodded; the temperature here was the highest in Tang Gu, and if not for the Polar Cold Marrow Jade they carried, they would not have dared approach; moreover, there was no demonic qi in the surrounding area.

"Gurgle, gurgle~"

Watching the Tang Bath churning and boiling like magma, both Xia Yang and Xia Xue felt their scalps numb; if they fell in, they feared they would be instantly melted.

Xia Xue nervously swallowed, looking at Baili Changfeng, and said uncertainly: "Master, do we really need to place Senior Hua into the Tang Bath? Can Senior Hua withstand it?"

Baili Changfeng looked at Hua Changxi, whose eyes were tightly closed: "Senior Hua has subdued the Great Sun Divine Flame, so she should be able to withstand it. Moreover, her injuries are too severe; for me to heal her is impossible, so now we can only hope the Tang Bath will repair her wounds."

Hearing this, Xia Yang lowered Hua Changxi from his back, and together with Xia Xue, each supporting one of her arms, they slowly lowered Hua Changxi into the Tang Bath.

The churning, boiling 'magma water' in the Tang Bath possessed great buoyancy; only Hua Changxi's feet were submerged, and no matter how hard Xia Yang and Xia Xue pressed down on her upper body, they could not force her deeper into the 'magma water'.

"Master, what should we do?"

Xia Yang and Xia Xue looked toward Baili Changfeng for help.

At this, Baili Changfeng was also at a loss.

Just as the master and disciples did not know what to do, Hua Changxi moved on her own; she squatted down and sat cross-legged within the Tang Bath.

Having escaped through a spatial rift, Hua Changxi had not completely lost consciousness; with the crisis not yet resolved, she would not allow herself to faint, but her injuries were too heavy, and within her dantian, the qi sea that once resembled a vast ocean had now dried up; after forcibly storing the Floating Light Sword back into her dantian, her body, covered in wounds, could not even lift her eyelids.

When her feet soaked into the Tang Bath and she felt the surging, dense fire spiritual qi beneath them, before Hua Changxi could even issue commands to her body, her qi-depleted form moved on its own.

After sitting cross-legged in the Tang Bath, Hua Changxi began circulating the *Zhu Que Divine Art* at full speed, causing the already churning and boiling 'magma water' to bubble even more violently.

Next, countless red strands of fire spiritual qi steamed upward, enveloping Hua Changxi's body and quickly converging into a pillar of spiritual qi resembling a tornado.

Witnessing this scene, Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples were all dumbfounded.

"Do Nascent Soul cultivators cultivate this fast?"

Looking at the pillar of spiritual qi enveloping Hua Changxi, Xia Yang and Xia Xue involuntarily swallowed.

Baili Changfeng was also extremely shocked; this was his first time witnessing a Nascent Soul cultivator cultivating, and he had never expected the gap between a Nascent Soul cultivator and a Golden Core cultivator to be so vast.

At Senior Hua's current cultivation speed, the spiritual qi stored in her dantian qi sea must be at least tens of times greater than his, perhaps even more.

This was simply a chasm-like difference!

Baili Changfeng's heart trembled greatly; were other Nascent Soul cultivators like Senior Hua, or was Senior Hua exceptionally powerful?

The thick pillar of spiritual qi enveloping Hua Changxi not only startled Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples but also frightened the three demonic followers hiding in the shadows a hundred meters away.

"Elder Bai is also at the Nascent Soul realm, yet his cultivation speed is not as fast as this female cultivator's."

"Nonsense, that female cultivator can summon the Zhu Que that suppresses all things; she is certainly more monstrous than ordinary people."

"If Elder Bai knew that such a formidable figure had appeared among the humans, he surely wouldn't be able to sleep again."

"What do we do now? That female cultivator is heavily injured; should we take advantage of her not having recovered yet, go over, and ambush and kill her along with the other three?"

"The other three pose little threat, but that female cultivator... are you sure we won't be counter-killed if we go? The three Wu Tong died without even ash remaining."

"..."

"Our objective is to destroy the array eye; while they are distracted, we should hurry to destroy the array eye properly. If we can destroy the array eye before that female cultivator recovers, we might just save our lives."

The three quietly departed.

In the Tang Bath, as the absorbed spiritual qi increased, Hua Changxi's body began to sink; seeing this, Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples grew somewhat anxious.

"Surely Senior Hua won't sink all the way down?"

"Probably not."

Regarding Tang Gu, all Baili Changfeng knew came from ancient texts; he only knew that soaking in the Tang Bath could improve the quality of one's spiritual roots and even shape a spiritual body, but beyond that, he knew nothing.

"Even if she sinks, it probably won't matter... right."

Hua Changxi continued to sink; soon, the 'magma water' submerged her head.

Seeing Hua Changxi completely submerged, the hearts of Master Baili Changfeng and his two disciples rose to their throats.

Yet Hua Changxi, now fully submerged in the 'magma water', did not merely float suspended; she continued sinking further, and after the 'magma water' completely enveloped her body, though she initially felt some discomfort, she slowly adapted once she sensed no danger.

In the water, Hua Changxi's body gradually relaxed and stretched freely; soon, she felt a comfort akin to returning to the womb.

"Thump~"

Sinking deeper and deeper, unaware of how much time had passed, Hua Changxi felt she had hit the bottom; the base was as soft as cotton, her entire body embedded within it, as if she had merged with the water itself.

At this moment, her tightly strained mind finally relaxed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Time slipped away bit by bit; outside the Tang Bath, after waiting for over ten shichen, Master Baili Changfeng and his disciples grew anxious as Hua Changxi still had not floated to the surface.

Especially Baili Changfeng; during the wait, he clearly perceived that the demonic qi in Tang Gu had grown thicker, immediately guessing that the other three demonic followers were destroying the array eye.

After waiting several more shichen and seeing no sign of Hua Changxi emerging, Baili Changfeng said to his two disciples: "We cannot wait any longer; the demonic qi is growing denser, we must go stop those three demons from destroying the array eye."

Hearing this, Xia Yang hesitated: "Master, can we deal with those three demonic followers?"

Baili Changfeng glared: "Even if we cannot deal with them, we must; guarding the array eye is the duty of Qisheng Palace disciples." With that, he took out some spiritual talismans, array disks, and pills, distributing them to his two disciples.

"You two stay here; I will go alone. If Senior Hua recovers, you bring her to find me."

Xia Yang and Xia Xue grew anxious, both insisting on accompanying him.

Baili Changfeng knew the demonic followers would surely be difficult to handle and did not want his two disciples to face danger: "If you two follow, I will have to protect you as well; be obedient, just wait here for Senior Hua."

Having spoken, he paid no more attention to Xia Yang and Xia Xue, turned, and left.

Xia Yang and Xia Xue exchanged a glance, did not obey Baili Changfeng's order, and quietly followed him.