Chapter 478: Review

After settling Gu Jinfan, Hua Changxi returned to Lingguang Hall.

Upon returning to Lingguang Hall, she did not pause, heading straight for the Transmission Stone Cliff beneath the Transmission Hall.

Below the cliff, crimson magma churned like an enraged dragon, the heat waves distorting the void.

Hua Changxi's gaze was cold; with a light tap of her toes, she plummeted like a meteor into the abyss, plunging entirely into the boiling sea of fire.

In an instant, the crimson swallowed her figure.

Once inside the magma, she unleashed the "Ten Thousand Fires Bow to the Ancestor" divine ability, and within moments, a massive vortex of fire formed around her.

The previously violent magma instantly turned into a rolling torrent, madly surging into the vortex.

Deep within the vortex, the murky dark-red firelight transformed into pure, refined streams of red-gold light, which were then rapidly absorbed.

In this extreme heat, under the scouring of pure fire-attribute Qi, the hidden injuries within Hua Changxi's body were stripped away and burned to ash bit by bit, while new flesh shimmered under the baptism of the firelight.

Feeling her body gradually repairing, Hua Changxi slowly relaxed her mind, pouring her consciousness entirely into the perception of her body.

This injury could be said to be the most severe she had suffered since she began cultivating.

Heavenly Punishment...

Recalling that powerful and irresistible terrifying force of erasure, she still felt a deep tremor.

The trip to the Ghost Domain was truly heart-stopping.

This was the closest she had ever been to the Grim Reaper; life and death hung by a thread, and a moment of carelessness would have meant her soul flying away and spirit scattering.

But it also gave her great insight—the origin order cannot be broken; once violated, it invites heavenly condemnation. And Ghost Mother Mountain and Ghost Infant River were the places where the Ghost Domain originated.

Of course, while the crisis was dangerous, the harvest was also great.

Taking the Ghost Fire Well was secondary; what truly shook her mind was, first, that the realm barrier that had troubled her for so long had finally loosened.

Ever since she cultivated to the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage, she had felt as if she were trapped in an invisible cage.

No matter how she circulated her spiritual energy to break through, a thick barrier like an iron curtain always stood in front of her, blocking her firmly outside the Spirit Platform realm.

Yet at this moment, that indestructible iron curtain had finally loosened.

Although it had not completely collapsed, loosening was a good thing, giving her hope of breaking through the realm.

Another harvest that made her excited was that deep within the black flame on her Nascent Soul—which had once left her helpless like a bone-attached gangrene—white sparks had actually ignited.

Although the white sparks were as weak as beans and seemed as if they could be swallowed by the thick black flames at any time, they had finally lit up.

This wisp of light swayed unyieldingly within the wrapping of the black flames, signaling that some kind of essential transformation was taking place.

However, she was a bit confused about the appearance of the white sparks.

After entering the Ghost Domain forbidden area, starting from snatching the Zhu Que bone, her spirit had been highly tense, to the point that she hadn't even noticed when the white sparks ignited or why they ignited.

Hua Changxi carefully recalled everything that happened in the Ghost Domain forbidden area, feeling that it was no different from other adventures she had experienced before.

What exactly caused the white sparks to ignite?

Hua Changxi focused her mind and looked inward, her gaze fixed on the Nascent Soul above her dantian sea.

She saw that on the chest of the Nascent Soul, a mass of black flame as thick as ink was quietly entrenched, and in the depths of that suffocating pitch-black, sporadic white sparks were flickering abruptly.

According to past experience, encountering life-and-death crises, fear would fuel the black flames.

Logically speaking, after experiencing the bombardment of Heavenly Punishment, the black flames on the Nascent Soul should have grown larger, but the actual situation was that the black flames had not grown larger.

Just the sporadic white sparks were enough to curb the expansion of the black flames!

"White flame..."

"Yang flame..."

Could it be the sharpness of the Floating Light Sword splitting Ghost Mother Mountain? No, she had swung the sword countless times in the past and had never seen white flames.

Or was it the slaughter of the karmic fire burning the Ghost Infant River? That shouldn't be it either.

Could it be snatching the Zhu Que bone?

All sorts of external force speculations were rejected by her one by one. Since the black and white flames were flames of desire, the root must be in the state of mind.

"State of mind..."

During the trip to the Ghost Domain, the only two things that truly caused her state of mind to fluctuate were: first, Jing Sheng, and second, the Zhu Que Army.

Jing Sheng used his own strength to guard the Ghost Fire Well alone, not hesitating to exhaust his own blood and Qi; hundreds of Zhu Que Army soldiers, in order to maintain the "Zhu Que Suppressing Prison" from being extinguished, resolutely chose to sacrifice themselves collectively.

Their determination to sacrifice their lives for righteousness shocked her.

Afterwards, witnessing the Zhu Que Army being sacrificed alive by the Ghost Clan, a towering rage rose in her heart.

But...

Hua Changxi frowned slightly, a trace of doubt flashing in her eyes.

This kind of indignation and urgency based on camaraderie was nothing more than human nature, a natural instinctive reaction. In the past, when facing similar scenes, her reaction was about the same.

The ignition of the white flames might be related to the change in state of mind, but it shouldn't be the main factor.

The white flames could curb the expansion of the black flames; the two clearly existed in opposition and restraint. If fear fueled the black flames, could the ignition of the white flames be seen as "fearlessness"?

"Fearlessness..."

These two words flashed through her mind, immediately making Hua Changxi's heart tremble, and also making her recall her state of mind when saving the Zhu Que Army.

At that time, she only had the words "save people" in her eyes; she had no time to weigh or consider anything else, nor could she care about fear. In her heart, there was only the responsibility of saving people as the commander of the Zhu Que Army.

So, was it the fearless heart of responsibility that ignited the white flames?

But if it was responsibility and commitment, she asked herself if she had achieved that in ordinary times as well.

For example, when the barrier of the Instrument Saint Palace exploded, she treated the wounded for free; she fulfilled the duty of a physician. Or like the revival of the Pill Saint Hall and the growth of the Zhu Que Army in Lingguang Hall, she had always been responsible when facing problems and obstacles.

Why didn't the white flames ignite at those times?

Was there a difference between these and the state of mind when saving people in the Ghost Domain?

Time slipped away slowly amidst Hua Changxi's thinking about the yin and yang flames. Until her injuries were completely repaired and her dantian sea was filled again with surging spiritual energy, she still hadn't figured out the specific trigger for the ignition of the white flames.

However, she could be certain that the white flames definitely had some connection with responsibility and commitment.

Hua Changxi's body recovered as before, her complexion relaxed, and the aura around her became even more imposing due to the three-colored lotus flower that flickered in her dantian sea.

Having refined the electric dragon transformed from the power of Heavenly Punishment, her dantian sea was now slightly different.

In the center of the sea of Qi, three fire lotuses of different colors bloomed, sometimes solid, sometimes illusory, emitting a breathtaking beauty and danger.

The red lotus was as crimson as blood, the Zhu Que blazing fire dancing wildly; the green lotus was as eerie as the underworld, the ghost fire flowing gloomily; the silver lotus was like dancing lightning, the thunder fire condensing and erupting.

The three violent forces that should have repelled each other were now circling each other, constructing a perfect and subtle balance.

The three-colored fire lotuses rotated slowly, and every time they circulated, they stirred up layers of terrifying energy ripples, as if they could burn and destroy everything at any time.