Chapter 399: Rumors

The Zhurong Tomb was formed from a fragment of the heart of the ancestral Zhurong Witch, obtained by Zhu Que, the first Emperor of the Four Spirits Realm, during his travels through the primordial universe.

The Zhurong Tomb is divided into three domains.

The outermost layer is the Path of Zhurong—the foundational path where 'Fire is me, and I am fire.'

Amidst the omnipresent origin of fire, both flesh and will undergo extreme tempering, passing through three stages: 'Drawing fire into the body,' 'Merging with fire,' and 'Transforming into fire,' with each stage serving as an ultimate trial of will.

Simultaneously, one gains an initial realization of the laws of fire.

The second layer is the Spine of Zhurong—using the physical body as the foundation to carve out the Great Dao of heaven and earth.

At the Mountain of Blood-Jade Bones, using the physical body as the base and vital energy to clear the way, one opens a Great Dao capable of bearing the laws of heaven and earth, illuminating the nodes of the meridians to ensure they flow without obstruction, allowing one to freely receive the power and laws of heaven and earth.

During this period, cultivators gain a deeper understanding of the laws of fire and begin to comprehend them.

The innermost layer is the Heart of Zhurong—proving the Dao through strength, ensuring eternal light.

Within the egg-like chaotic space, the laws of fire and strength achieve their ultimate fusion; those who master this integration can manifest the laws of fire, summon the fiery might of heaven and earth, and split open the heavens to create the earth.

This stage focuses on manipulating the laws of fire for one's own use.

Hua Changxi carefully read the new information about the Zhurong Tomb that had appeared in her mind, her gaze falling upon the radiant, colorful fire axe hovering above her palm.

This fire axe was not condensed from the laws of fire; rather, it flew out from the depths of chaos when she broke open the egg-like chaotic space.

The fire axe flickered between bright and dim, and the flames swirling around it shifted constantly, sometimes red, sometimes purple, and at other times changing to other colors.

After Hua Changxi refined the fire axe, all the information regarding the Zhurong Tomb flooded into her mind.

The Zhurong Tomb is not only a place to strengthen the physical body but also the ultimate proving ground for proving the Dao through strength; through cultivation based on 'using the flesh to bear heaven and earth, and using the nature of fire to illuminate the original heart,' the physical body is tempered into a furnace capable of containing the fire-type laws of heaven and earth.

Using fire as fuel and strength as the measure, the progressive trials across the three fire domains allow cultivators to temper their bones and muscles, widen their meridians, and bear the laws amidst the collision of flesh and flame, constantly strengthening their physical bodies.

Within the Zhurong Tomb, Hua Changxi was very satisfied with her gains.

She had not only perfected the seventh chapter of the 'Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art' but also cultivated the divine ability 'Law of Heaven and Earth,' which increased her strength by a significant margin.

Although it took ten years, she felt it was worth it.

The only thing that dissatisfied her was that the black flame on her Nascent Soul's heart had grown larger.

Hua Changxi stored the fire axe; after it vanished into her brow, she flipped her right wrist, and a lotus lamp composed of four white jade petals and four black jade petals appeared in her palm.

This was what remained in the egg-like space after Chu Junshan died.

After she became the master of the Zhurong Tomb, she quickly sensed the existence of the lotus lamp.

Unlike when Zhu Yan held it, this lotus lamp was now extinguished.

Hua Changxi tried to draw out the black flame from her Nascent Soul to ignite the lamp, but unfortunately, she found herself unable to mobilize the black flame at all.

She realized that for her, the black flame seemed only capable of passively suffering external influences, such as growing larger, while actively controlling it proved extremely difficult.

When she poured all her consciousness into the black flame, she could at most make it flicker; trying to control its size or split off a wisp of it was nearly impossible.

Thinking of the current situation of the Zhu Que Army, Hua Changxi was eager to deal with it; after storing the eight-petaled black-and-white lotus lamp, she flashed to the entrance of the Zhurong Tomb and began setting up a teleportation array.

The Zhurong Tomb is an excellent place for body refinement; it is a domain of 'tempering the body with fire and breaking barriers with strength,' posing a greater test to the physical body than the Nine Heavens Fire Spring, making it suitable for mid-stage body refinement cultivators to train.

The Nine Heavens Fire Spring is relatively milder, allowing early-stage body refinement cultivators to cultivate within it.

Due to her increased strength, Hua Changxi set up the teleportation array much faster; an array that previously took over half a month to complete now required only five days.

As soon as the teleportation array was set up, Hua Changxi left the Zhurong Tomb.

Her previous battle with Chu Junshan had caused the barrier of the Zhurong Tomb to become visible; after becoming its master, she had concealed the barrier once again.

Although the location of the Zhurong Tomb had been exposed, once the barrier was closed, outsiders could neither enter nor exit, so Hua Changxi returned to the Lingguang Hall with peace of mind.

Compared to the anxiety and unease of recent times, the Lingguang Hall now regained the fighting spirit and confidence it possessed at its founding.

On the sect gate plaza, countless members of the Zhu Que Army were joyfully processing the mountain-like piles of corpses from the Phoenix clan demons.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi did not disturb them; after returning to the main hall, she summoned the 'Zhu Que Army Roster' and began flipping through it quickly.

Over the past ten years, the number of people in the Zhu Que Army had not increased but had instead decreased.

The names of over three thousand people had vanished, while the names of nearly ten thousand were fading.

From this, it was evident that during her ten years in the Zhurong Tomb, the Zhu Que Army had endured difficult times, to the point that when cultivators from all sides gathered in Nanxiang County, no one was willing to join the Zhu Que Army.

After reviewing the 'Zhu Que Army Roster,' Hua Changxi fell silent.

The most urgent task at present was to treat the over ten thousand injured members of the Zhu Que Army.

This would require large quantities of spiritual herbs, pills, and examining physicians.

Although she possessed the Danyuan Secret Realm, the Danyuan Peak was the Danyuan Peak, and the Lingguang Hall was the Lingguang Hall; she could not directly allocate resources from the Danyuan Peak to subsidize the Lingguang Hall.

After pondering for a moment, Hua Changxi took out her Thought-Link and sent a message to Yun You, the manager of the Logistics Department: "Go seek help from the Minister of the Heaven Department; tell him the Zhu Que Army needs healing pills and physicians, and ask him to contact the Medical Bureau."

Upon receiving Hua Changxi's message, Yun You's expression immediately brightened; he hurriedly reported the situation of the Zhu Que Army, emphasizing that the Logistics Department was critically short of various supplies, foremost among them being the life-saving Zhu Que Tokens.

Seeing Yun You's message, Hua Changxi directly teleported to the Cliff of Separating Fire.

Ten years had passed, and the one hundred thousand Zhu Que Tokens had long been refined.

Furthermore, since the Cliff of Separating Fire only contained Nanming Stone and lacked other weapon-refining materials, the weapon refiners, having nothing else to forge, had produced several tens of thousands extra.

"Hall Master!"

Hua Changxi had not set foot on the Cliff of Separating Fire for ten years, leaving everyone there in a state of anxious unease, fearing she had forgotten them; seeing her appear again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was delayed by matters; rest assured, even if I do not come in the future, I will arrange for others to bring you cultivation resources."

After comforting the people of the Cliff of Separating Fire, Hua Changxi took the one hundred thousand Zhu Que Tokens, flew down from the cliff, plunged deep into the sea of fire, and began imprinting the Zhu Que Seal onto the tokens.

Even with her increased strength, imprinting all one hundred thousand Zhu Que Tokens took Hua Changxi a full month.

Hua Changxi placed the one hundred thousand Zhu Que Tokens in the Logistics Department and, without a moment's rest, went to set up the teleportation array leading to the Zhurong Tomb.

Her time was truly insufficient; the matters of the Wutong Forest were yet unresolved, and the Ghost Fire Well required further investigation...

"Hum~"

The Thought-Link vibrated.

Hua Changxi picked it up to look; it was a message from Yun You.

Yun You: "Hall Master, the Head of the Heaven Division is willing to help, but he wishes to meet you."

Hua Changxi: "Tell the Head of the Heaven Division that I am in secluded cultivation."

Yun You: "Hall Master, purchasing elixirs requires spirit stones."

Upon seeing this, Hua Changxi's vision went black.

The Zhu Que Army truly had nothing at all!

Seeing that Hua Changxi had not replied for a long time, Yun You thought for a moment and sent another message: "Hall Master, there is a fire spirit mine within the Wutong Forest."

After reading the message, Hua Changxi perked up: "First, buy on credit from the Medical Bureau; saving lives is urgent, and the spirit stones can be repaid later."

After reading this, Yun You fell silent for quite a while, then hesitated before sending another message: "Hall Master, nowadays, everyone in the outside world is investigating your identity."

Hua Changxi: "Let them investigate; there is no need to pay it any mind."

Yun You: "But recently, a rumor has suddenly spread, claiming that you, Hall Master, are a female cultivator named Hua Changxi."

Hua Changxi: "......"