Chapter 391: Fire Axe

When Chu Junshan asked Hua Changxi whether she was the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall, he was not guessing blindly.

First, the revival of the Dansheng Hall, the emergence of the Stargazing Tower, and the appearance of the Xuanyuan Residence were almost all directly linked to Hua Changxi; thus, her connection to Lingguang Hall came as no surprise.

Second, Hua Changxi possessed a Fire Spiritual Root and cultivated fire-based techniques, yet her true strength remained a mystery.

Third, despite the massive events unfolding in Nanxiang County, the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall never appeared, which puzzled everyone. However, if Hua Changxi were indeed the Hall Master, trapped within this blessed land and unable to escape, her absence would be perfectly explained.

"Chu Junshan, have you lost your mind?"

Zhu Yan, unwilling to believe the red-robed female cultivator opposite him was the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall, loudly challenged Chu Junshan.

Chu Junshan himself lacked full confidence and turned to Zhu Yan: "When did you enter?"

Zhu Yan replied: "September 20th."

Chu Junshan asked: "September 20th of which year?"

The question made Zhu Yan pause; after a moment of stupor, he answered: "The 28th year of Yongxing, of course."

Chu Junshan stated: "The day I entered this blessed land was the 8th day of the 8th month in the 32nd year of Yongxing."

Upon hearing this, both Zhu Yan and Hua Changxi's expressions changed.

After entering the Zhurong Tomb, neither had perceived the passage of time, never expecting that four years had already passed.

Ignoring Zhu Yan's shock, Chu Junshan spoke again: "As for Hua Changxi, did she enter before you or after you?"

Zhu Yan answered: "After me, though likely not by much."

Chu Junshan turned his gaze back to Hua Changxi, his expression now filled with certainty: "The Zhu Que Army lost contact with the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall at the end of September in the 28th year of Yongxing, which coincides exactly with the time you entered this blessed land. Is that not too much of a coincidence?"

Pausing briefly, he spoke with conviction: "Hua Changxi, you are the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall!"

Zhu Yan still found it hard to believe and looked at Hua Changxi as if seeking verification, hoping she would deny it.

Unfortunately, Hua Changxi remained completely unresponsive.

Unable to endure such an ambiguous, neither-here-nor-there situation, Zhu Yan instantly erupted in anger: "If you are or aren't the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall, just say something! Have you turned mute?"

Hua Changxi could not be bothered to attend to Zhu Yan's fury; at this moment, her thoughts were entirely consumed by the passage of time.

She had not expected time to fly so quickly; after entering the Zhurong Tomb, feeling as though she had accomplished nothing, four years had somehow already passed.

Disapproving of Zhu Yan's shouting, Chu Junshan spoke again: "Hua Changxi, do you wish to know the current situation of the Zhu Que Army? Do you wish to know the state of affairs in Nanxiang County?"

These words indeed caught Hua Changxi's attention.

Hua Changxi truly cared about the Zhu Que Army and Nanxiang County; after a moment's hesitation, she condensed her spiritual energy to form a line of large, fiery red characters floating in the air: I do not know the technique of voice transmission!

Seeing these words, Zhu Yan and Chu Junshan instantly felt as though thousands upon thousands of 'grass-mud horses' were galloping through their hearts.

The Voice Transmission Technique was a very basic spell, after all.

Not knowing divine sense transmission could be attributed to an unopened spiritual platform, but not knowing spiritual energy transmission either... Was this person some savage who had wandered out from the wilds?

Zhu Yan looked at Chu Junshan with a mix of amusement and exasperation, his eyes full of questioning: Could someone who doesn't even know the Voice Transmission Technique possibly be the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall?

Chu Junshan was also stunned, his previous certainty turning into hesitation.

It might be understandable for an ordinary cultivator not to know the Voice Transmission Technique, but for the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall to lack such a basic skill was truly baffling.

However, given that Hua Changxi was extremely reclusive and cut off from information, it perhaps made sense that she wouldn't even know the Voice Transmission Technique?

Although Hua Changxi desperately wanted to know the current status of the Zhu Que Army and Nanxiang County, she knew she could not ask proactively; to ask would be tantamount to indirectly admitting she was the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall.

She could only suppress her urgency, continue sitting in meditation to regulate her breath, and adopt an attitude of indifference regarding whether Chu Junshan chose to speak or not.

Seeing her behave this way, Chu Junshan became even less certain whether his earlier speculation was accurate.

However, being well-versed in the art of negotiation, he naturally would not voluntarily offer answers or deliver news; since Hua Changxi pretended not to care, he turned away to explore the space.

After extensive exploration, he quickly discovered that this space was internally vast and boundless; unless one had cultivated divine abilities related to spatial teleportation, moving within it would be nearly impossible.

Unfortunately, he had never cultivated any divine abilities related to spatial teleportation.

However, he did possess a transformation divine ability.

Chu Junshan immediately activated the 'Pangu True Body' divine ability; his body suddenly grew larger and taller, and in an instant, he became a giant capable of supporting the heavens and standing upon the earth.

Having transformed into a giant resembling a mountain range, Chu Junshan eagerly began striding through the space; a single step of his equaled hundreds of steps for Zhu Yan or Hua Changxi.

Initially, both Hua Changxi and Zhu Yan felt somewhat tense, but soon, their suspended hearts settled back down.

For no other reason than that although Chu Junshan's strides were huge, his movement within the vast space was still extremely slow; his speed of travel was not even as fast as when Zhu Yan activated the 'Dou Zhuan Xing Yi' divine ability.

However, before the two could fully relax, their hearts were lifted in alarm once again.

It turned out that Chu Junshan, seeing that the 'Pangu True Body' divine ability was of little use within the egg-like space, activated another divine ability—the Furnace True Body.

This technique transformed his physical body into a furnace, strengthening himself by devouring and tempering various energies within the space.

Once the 'Furnace True Body' was activated, blood rain and red wind began to fall within the originally chaotic space.

All this blood rain and red wind surged toward Chu Junshan; at this moment, he resembled a bottomless black hole, continuously devouring the blood and qi force, the fire law force, and the soul force within the egg-like space.

Had this occurred elsewhere, the energy within the space would surely have been drained by him very quickly.

However, within the egg-like space, apart from some turbulence in the area where Chu Junshan stood, other regions remained completely unaffected.

Nevertheless, this still brought great shock to Hua Changxi and Zhu Yan.

"How has another Fire Axe appeared?"

Zhu Yan stared dumbfounded at the Fire Axe before Chu Junshan; he had always believed the Fire Axe was a token of this blessed land, something unique to him.

Yet now, there was also one before Chu Junshan, and it was even larger than the one before him.

Hua Changxi also wore a look of astonishment, but soon fell into deep thought.

If the Fire Axe was not the token of the Master of the Zhurong Tomb, then it could only be a tool for trial within this space.

How did the Fire Axe emerge?

Hua Changxi had not seen how Zhu Yan produced his Fire Axe, but Chu Junshan's appeared immediately after he activated a fire-based divine ability.

Fire-based divine abilities...

Hua Changxi's eyes flashed with light; she waved her right hand, and a mass of rapidly rotating flames manifested.

Once the Ten Thousand Fires Paying Homage divine ability was unleashed, a fiery meteor shower appeared, its magnitude a hundred times greater than the blood rain and red wind triggered by Chu Junshan.

In that instant, the originally chaotic space suddenly became filled with flying sparks.

Countless sparks converged into a meteor shower, simultaneously flying toward Hua Changxi's right hand.

At the same time, a radiant, colorful fire axe materialized before Hua Changxi.