Chapter 332: Ten Thousand Fires Pay Homage

Hua Changxi was not entering Tang Gu for the first time; she knew exactly where the seven-colored exotic flames grew. After separating from Tong Yao and the other two, she rode her Somersault Cloud out of Tang Gu.

Moments later, she appeared at the foot of the mountains just outside the Tang Gu volcanic cluster.

Seeing once again the military formation composed of stone soldier figurines guarding Tang Gu like a moat, Hua Changxi still felt somewhat awestruck.

Compared to her first frantic intrusion into Tang Gu, she was far more composed now; both her cultivation realm and her body-refining strength had improved significantly since last time.

At the very least, climbing the volcanic cluster of Tang Gu now exerted no pressure on her whatsoever.

Hua Changxi did not linger to look at the stone army formation any longer and began climbing toward the crater mouth of the volcanic cluster. She moved swiftly upward, pausing nowhere unless she encountered an exotic flame.

Since she had entered Tang Gu, besides subduing the seven-colored exotic flames, she also intended to visit the Tang Bath Pool.

Soul crystals lay at the bottom of the Tang Bath Pool. Although her cultivation was currently stagnant with no sign of breaking through to the Spirit Platform Realm, she needed to start collecting soul crystals in advance.

The Spirit Platform Realm, the Concentrated Spirit Realm, and the Soul-Exit Realm—these three major realms focus primarily on cultivating the primordial spirit and soul power, making soul crystals an indispensable resource for cultivation.

Knowing that soul crystals existed at the bottom of the Tang Bath Pool, she certainly would not make this trip in vain.

Having prior experience in subduing spiritual flames, Hua Changxi moved even faster this time.

She knew Tong Yao and the other two would surely look for her, but in order to reach the Tang Bath Pool, once she climbed to the crater mouth and began descending deep into the valley floor, she avoided the stone steps, heading instead to remote areas to collect exotic flames.

After spending more than three hours, Hua Changxi had collected all seven-colored exotic flames. Without taking time to fuse them, she headed straight for the Tang Bath Pool.

Before long, the Tang Bath Pool came into her sight.

Hua Changxi walked to the edge of the pool, gazed at the churning, boiling fire spirit liquid, and without further thought, plunged directly in.

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Artifact Sage Palace, Elder Yi Ming stood before a red light curtain, within which everything happening in Tang Gu was displayed with perfect clarity.

Seeing Hua Changxi leap into the Tang Bath Pool, Elder Yi Ming was not particularly surprised.

Within Tang Gu, aside from the seven-colored exotic flames, the Tang Bath Pool itself represented a tremendous opportunity.

During Hua Changxi's first entry into Tang Gu, Master Changfeng and his disciple had placed her in the Tang Bath Pool to heal her injuries; presumably, she already knew the benefits of soaking in the pool.

Unfortunately, the divine screen could only monitor the surface of the Tang Bath Pool and could not probe inside it, so Elder Yi Ming could only swipe across the light curtain.

The next moment, images of Tong Yao, Jing Liao, and Yan Zhenzhen subduing exotic flames appeared on the light curtain.

The three of them were clearly struggling somewhat in subduing the flames. After watching, Elder Yi Ming recalled the smooth speed with which Hua Changxi had subdued her spiritual flame and could not help but fall into deep thought.

Hua Changxi's ability to enter and exit the Tang Bath Pool at will suggested she was most likely a Fire Spirit Body.

However, Jing Liao possessed an Innate Dao Body, Yan Zhenzhen a Five-Elements Spirit Body, and Tong Yao also a Fire Spirit Body; none of their constitutions were inferior to Hua Changxi's. Even accounting for Hua Changxi's prior experience in subduing spiritual flames, the gap in subduing exotic flames should not have been so large.

Hua Changxi had easily subdued all seven-colored exotic flames, whereas Tong Yao and the other two had clearly faced fierce resistance from the exotic flames during their attempts.

"Is it because Hua Changxi cultivates the Zhu Que Divine Art?" That would explain why she enjoyed far greater affinity with the fire laws than Tong Yao and the other two.

Zhu Que presides over the fire image and naturally receives the favor of fire laws. If cultivating the Zhu Que Divine Art did not require one to join the Zhu Que Army, Elder Yi Ming would have considered switching cultivation techniques himself.

This entry into Tang Gu had been officially authorized; therefore, after sneaking into the Tang Bath Pool, Hua Changxi did not intend to linger long. She planned to collect a batch of soul crystals and then quickly exit to reunite with Tong Yao and the others.

However, the moment she entered the Tang Bath Pool, the Sumeru Bead around her neck began vibrating violently.

Upon investigating, Hua Changxi discovered that the box containing the Zhu Que essence blood, which Elder Yi Ming had given her earlier, was the source of the vibration.

Zhu Que essence blood!

A flash of insight struck Hua Changxi. Since her cultivation had stalled, she had focused on body refinement and had now reached the fifth chapter of the "Nine Transformations Mysterious Art"—the Blood Refining Chapter.

The Blood Refining Chapter precisely involved refining essence blood to temper the body.

She had originally planned to absorb and refine this drop of essence blood at the transmission platform in the Lingguang Hall, but now...

The Tang Bath Pool could temper the physical body, and its bottom connected to the space of the Fusang Divine Tree.

The space where the Fusang Divine Tree resided was rich in the power of fire source laws; cultivating beside the divine tree greatly increased the probability of obtaining fire law power.

Her mastery of the 'Karma' and 'Rend' characters within the fire laws was precisely because she had cultivated on the roots of the Fusang Divine Tree at that time.

Amidst these wandering thoughts, Hua Changxi reached the bottom of the Tang Bath Pool.

Standing beside the spatial rift connecting to the Fusang Divine Tree, the Sumeru Bead vibrated even more intensely. After a moment's hesitation, Hua Changxi took out the communication talisman Tong Yao had given her.

"Tong Yao, forgive me for acting first and reporting later. I wish to temper my physical body in the Tang Bath Pool. I am willing to pay the corresponding fees, but I do not know exactly how long it will take..."

"After you have subdued the exotic flames, there is no need to wait for me."

After sending the message, Hua Changxi decisively summoned the Shennong Cauldron and placed it beneath the spatial rift from which the soul river water flowed, positioning it to catch the water.

Next, she took out the Floating Light Sword and began prying at the spatial rift.

Before long, the diameter of the falling soul river water expanded from the thickness of a fist to over a meter wide.

Watching the soul river water continuously flow into the Shennong Cauldron, which seemed ready to accept however much was offered, Hua Changxi stopped paying attention to that side. She sat cross-legged at the pool bottom, took out the Zhu Que essence blood, and swallowed it in one gulp.

The moment the Zhu Que essence blood entered her body, Hua Changxi felt as though she had become a black hole. She watched the previously calm bottom of the Tang Bath Pool begin to churn, forming column after column of whirlpools...

Sensing that this might trigger a massive disturbance, Hua Changxi did not hesitate for an instant; she flashed forward and flew into the nearest spatial rift.

"Hmm?"

At the exact moment Hua Changxi entered the spatial rift, Elder Yi Ming, viewing through the divine screen, saw the surface level of the Tang Bath Pool drop by several meters.

"What is happening?"

Elder Yi Ming's expression suddenly changed drastically: "Could it be that Hua Changxi is refining the Zhu Que essence blood at the bottom of the Tang Bath?"

Meanwhile, after entering the divine tree space, Hua Changxi dared not delay for even a moment and began frantically circulating the body-refining technique of the fifth chapter of the "Nine Transformations Mysterious Art"—the Blood Refining Chapter.

Fortunately, the fire spiritual energy in the Fusang Divine Tree space was dense, continuously filling her black-hole-like body.

Even with a steady stream of fire spiritual energy flooding into her body, Hua Changxi still felt unsatisfied. Now, she had only one sensation: hunger. She needed vast quantities of fire spiritual energy to feed her.

The higher one ascended toward the divine tree, the denser the fire spiritual energy became.

When she first emerged from the spatial rift, Hua Changxi had been at the tree roots. Feeling that the fire spiritual energy around the roots was not dense enough, she began slowly flying upward.

Logically, the pressure exerted by the divine tree should have prevented her from flying very high, yet she stubbornly flew all the way to where the first set of branches grew on the Fusang Divine Tree before stopping.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi sat cross-legged at the fork of the Fusang Divine Tree's branches and entered a state of deep meditation. From a distance, her entirely fire-red form resembled a new tree embryo nurtured by the divine tree.

It was unknown how much time passed before the tree embryo began emitting dazzling red light. The red light churned and twisted, gradually condensing into a bird-shaped illusory figure.

The moment the bird-shaped illusory figure appeared, the Fusang Divine Tree began to rain leaves.

Divine wood leaves fell like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers, all drifting toward the tree womb.

Each falling divine wood leaf turned into flame upon touching the red light, then merged into the bird silhouette.

As the divine wood leaves continued to fall, the illusory bird silhouette grew increasingly solid and lifelike.

"Burp~"

Amid the rain of divine wood leaves, the tree womb suddenly let out a burp, causing the vivid, lifelike bird silhouette to plunge headfirst into the tree womb.

At this moment, the rain of divine wood leaves ceased.

The red light enveloping the tree womb began to slowly fade; only after it vanished completely did a human form emerge.

"Burp~"

Accompanied by another burp, Hua Changxi opened her eyes, flames still burning deep within her pupils.

As consciousness returned, Hua Changxi's face displayed a complex expression; she had not expected that refining the Zhu Que's essence blood would be such a unique experience.

At first, she had nearly starved to death; by the end, she had nearly burst from overfullness!

"Burp~"

Yet another burp escaped.

Hua Changxi patted her chest; although she felt extremely stuffed, her heart was filled with immense excitement.

By refining a single drop of essence blood, she had awakened a Zhu Que bloodline divine ability—Ten Thousand Fires Pay Homage!

Ten Thousand Fires Pay Homage integrated devouring, transformation, and amplification into one; in other words, she could devour and absorb any flame, convert it into energy, and thereby strengthen and heal herself.

This divine ability was simply incredible!

Henceforth, wherever there was fire, it would be her domain!