Chapter 351: Insufficient Virtue, Leftover Blessings Make Up the Difference

Standing on the suspended island, Hua Changxi's body felt an unprecedented comfort from head to toe, from the inside out, a warmth akin to a spark merging into the mother flame.

The fire spiritual energy on the island was so dense and pure that she had never felt anything like it before.

Although she had not undergone many trials, she reckoned the fire spiritual lands she had visited were not inferior; whether Mount Wuzhi, the Lingguang Hall, or Tang Gu of the Artifact Saint Palace, every location possessed extremely dense fire spiritual energy.

Yet compared to this island, they still fell short by a significant margin.

Hua Changxi looked at the red stones beneath her feet, then glanced at the red jade archway inscribed with the three characters 'Fire Spring Palace'.

Whether it was the red stones forming the island or the red jade used to craft the archway, the fire spiritual power they contained was denser and purer than that of top-grade fire spiritual stones.

Hua Changxi picked up a piece of red stone from the ground and held it in her hand to sense it.

A single top-grade fire spiritual stone contained roughly 1,000 points of fire spiritual power, whereas the red stone in her hand held nearly 10,000 points.

What did this signify?

It signified that the quality of this island surpassed even top-grade fire spiritual mines.

And there were twelve such islands in total.

Hua Changxi exhaled deeply; arriving in this region, even without other gains, securing these twelve islands, which far exceeded top-grade fire spiritual mines, would be enough to elevate her to the ranks of the wealthy.

Hua Changxi gazed at the magnificent palace behind the archway, intending to enter and investigate the situation.

However, when she reached the base of the archway, she was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Cannot enter?!

Hua Changxi paused for a moment but quickly regained her composure, recalling the scene where she explored the Xuanyu Prefecture, suppressed by restrictions, and subsequently lifted them.

Perhaps entering and exiting the Fire Spring Palace also required an identity token similar to the 'Xuanyu Token' to pass freely through the archway?

Hua Changxi withdrew her attention from the Fire Spring Palace behind the archway and turned it toward other parts of the island, soon discovering a red stone stele on the right side of the archway.

There was nothing written on the stele; daring not to be careless, Hua Changxi first infused spiritual power to probe it, and seeing no reaction, she extended her divine sense to investigate.

The moment her divine sense touched the stele, countless pieces of information were instantly stuffed into her mind.

"Virtue perfected, fire can prove the Dao."

"First Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace, Mu Qinghuang, the Brightness Dao Lord."

?

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eighth Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace, Su Qingcang, the Pure Fire Dao Lord."

After reading all the information within the stele, Hua Changxi felt somewhat disheartened; every single Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace had been a Dao-Integration expert.

She had thought that her ability to reach this region meant this land was her opportunity, and that she ought to become the next Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace.

But looking at it now, she seemed somewhat unqualified!

Disappointed, Hua Changxi moved away from the stele, wishing to explore other parts of the island, yet the areas outside the archway were extremely limited; the main region of the island lay behind the archway.

"Forget it, let's go check the other islands."

Hua Changxi leaped down from the central island and flew toward the nearest one, yet this time, she found herself unable to ascend onto the island.

Unwilling to accept this, Hua Changxi flew toward other islands; in the end, she visited all eleven islands, but not a single one allowed her to step foot on it.

With no other choice, Hua Changxi returned to the central island, pondered for a while, then walked toward the stele again and extended her divine sense once more.

Among the twelve suspended islands, only this stele had revealed any information; she wanted to examine it again to see if she had missed anything.

Unfortunately, the stele contained no other information, only the names and Dao titles of the successive Palace Masters of the Fire Spring Palace.

"Hmm?"

When Hua Changxi used her divine sense to probe the stele for the third time, she noticed the first sentence transmitted by the stele: Virtue perfected, fire can prove the Dao.

"Fire can prove the Dao..."

"Prove the Dao?"

"Brightness, Pure Fire, Thunder Control, Nirvana..."

Hua Changxi silently recited the Dao titles of the various Palace Masters, her eyes gradually brightening; these Dao titles felt like some sort of fire-type divine abilities.

After pondering for a moment, Hua Changxi condensed a Karma Fire Red Lotus in her palm.

The next instant, she flung the Karma Fire Red Lotus at the stele.

As soon as the Karma Fire Red Lotus approached, the stele emitted a bright light and swallowed it; immediately after, the stele began to flicker, and after a few flashes, a line of characters appeared on its surface: Virtue insufficient.

Looking at the characters on the stele, Hua Changxi paused; could a single Karma Fire Red Lotus really judge her virtue?

"Virtue..."

Hua Changxi had not expected that cultivation would also require an examination of one's virtue.

Did she possess virtue?

Hua Changxi herself could not answer this question; at this moment, her sole desire was to pass through the 'Fire Spring Palace' archway, so she did not dwell on the matter further.

The fact that the Karma Fire Red Lotus elicited a reaction from the stele showed that her hypothesis was correct.

The previous Palace Masters of the Fire Spring Palace had all cultivated specific fire-type divine abilities, thereby forging their own Dao fruits.

This discovery filled Hua Changxi with joy; although she was merely a Nascent Soul cultivator, catching a glimpse of an opportunity to achieve the Dao was undoubtedly a tremendous gain.

Since the Karma Fire Red Lotus had failed, Hua Changxi employed the Ten Thousand Fires Pay Homage divine ability, condensing a ball of flame with the technique and throwing it at the stele.

This time, after swallowing the flame, the stele flickered for an even longer duration.

When the stele stopped flickering, characters immediately materialized.

"Who comes?"

Seeing this, Hua Changxi was truly surprised, but she quickly used her divine sense to transmit her name into the stele.

Immediately afterward, the stele displayed a line of characters.

"Ten Thousand Fires Pay Homage, inheriting the leftover blessings of Zhu Que, Nascent Soul cultivator Hua Changxi becomes the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace, for a term of one hundred years."

After this line of characters appeared, Hua Changxi saw a fire jade seal shaped like a waterfall fly out from the stele and directly merge into the space between her eyebrows.

At the same time, all information regarding the Nine Heavens Fire Spring flowed into her mind.

For instance, the source of the Fire Spring lies within the Fire Lotus Pool behind the Southern Heavenly Gate of the First Heaven; it was only because Lord Zhu Que, while fishing, accidentally hooked a small hole in the pool's bottom that this Nine-Heavens Fire Spring fell into the mortal realm.

Similarly, the red stones composing the islands are not spirit stones but spirit marrow stones, and the archway itself is crafted from spirit marrow jade.

Spirit marrow ore is a grade higher than spirit stone ore, containing spiritual energy that is denser and more refined.

What concerned Hua Changxi most was that the Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace must obey the orders of the Nanxiangcheng City Lord; whenever the Zhu Que Army had need, they were required to allow the army to station themselves at the Nine-Heavens Fire Spring to temper their bodies.

Hua Changxi sighed with emotion; the masters of the twelve blessed lands of Nanxiangcheng all had to heed the Nanxiangcheng City Lord, proving her earlier suspicions correct.

These eleven blessed lands, including the Karma Fire Platform and the Nine-Heavens Fire Spring, served as training grounds and supply points for the Zhu Que Army!

Hua Changxi's feelings were somewhat complex; it was only by relying on Zhu Que's lingering protection that she had become the Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace.

The drop of Zhu Que's essence blood given by Elder Yi Ming had brought her benefits far greater than she had imagined.

Having obtained the seal of the Nine-Heavens Fire Spring, Hua Changxi would govern the Nine-Heavens Fire Spring for the next hundred years.

Hua Changxi strode toward the archway bearing the sign 'Fire Spring Palace'; this time, there was no obstruction, and she passed through with ease.

The Fire Spring Palace was not built particularly tall; aside from the main hall facing the archway, which stood nine stories high, all other pavilions and halls were below nine stories, connected by long corridors interspersed with pools, rockeries, and gardens.

In contrast to the dilapidation of the Sacred Land and the Xuanyuan Residence, the Fire Spring Palace showed no signs of severe damage.

This was not because the Fire Spring Palace had escaped external attacks, but because the fire marrow jade used to construct it could automatically absorb the fire spiritual energy from the Fire Spring; since ancient times, over endless ages, it had already repaired any damaged areas.

"What is that?"

Hua Changxi wandered to the rear of the Fire Spring Palace and spotted a high platform, so tall that it surpassed even the main hall.

"The Dust-Gazing Platform!"

Hua Changxi approached, recited the platform's name, and then stepped onto this highest elevation at the center of the island.

Climbing high to gaze far.

Standing atop the platform and looking down, her vision pierced through the mist and clouds below, clearly spreading the scenes of the mortal world before her eyes.

Beyond the Nine-Heavens Fire Spring, winding rivers coiled around the earth like silver ribbons, plumes of cooking smoke rose from bustling cities, distant mountain ranges outlined their dark silhouettes against the twilight, and one could even faintly discern travelers on the roads moving slowly like ants.

Her sight was not infinite; Hua Changxi had a strong sensation that the scope she could currently see encompassed the entire Nanxiangcheng.

The twelve blessed lands of Nanxiangcheng together outlined the Zhu Que totem.

Now that she had become the Palace Master of the Fire Spring Palace, Hua Changxi, standing on the Dust-Gazing Platform, could penetrate the spatial barriers and clearly 'see' the locations of the other eleven blessed lands where 'flames soared'.