Chapter 237: The Secret Art of Fire

“I understand.” Lu Fang put away the twenty-two pieces of hard stone and said, “I need a lot of this ore—can you buy it from me long-term?”

Seeing Shen Yue nod with a smile, he chuckled, “By the way, I heard some rumors outside about the sealed site and the ancient alien races—do you know the details?”

“My lord, I actually know about this,” Shen Yue said softly. “The Yao Man somehow found a small upper realm in the Scorched Lands, and inside it lies a sealed site where ancient alien races are imprisoned.”

Lu Fang frowned—he immediately realized the small upper realm and sealed site Shen Yue described were the same ones he had entered before.

Shen Yue continued, “That small upper realm is peculiar—it seems sealed by some force. Supposedly, it wasn’t always a small upper realm; it only became one after the Yao Man extracted the ore from the treasure mountain within the seal.”

“The Yao Man used some secret method to locate the sealed site and entered it, but not everyone can go in—only a portion of them managed to enter.”

“No one knows what happened inside, but nearly all the Yao Man who entered died there. Just as they were preparing to request reinforcements, the Luo Sha Kingdom somehow learned of this and sent a large army to suppress it.”

Lu Fang nodded unconsciously—Shen Yue’s account matched exactly what he knew.

At that moment, Shen Yue lowered her voice: “When the Luo Sha Kingdom’s army entered the small upper realm, they quickly found the sealed site and took control of it.”

“The matter should have ended there.”

“But someone secretly mined ore from another treasure mountain, and combined with the Luo Sha army’s plundering of all heavenly treasures and their destruction of some seals, the small upper realm and the sealed site evolved again.”

“The small upper realm and sealed site changed again?” Lu Fang’s eyelids trembled violently as the future he had seen through Tianji Dao Ren flashed in his mind.

“Yes,” Shen Yue nodded. “The changed small upper realm now fills the air with powerful toxins, and the alien beasts there have also grown stronger—though their peak level is still fourth-rank, their power is absurdly excessive.”

“That’s not the worst part. The worst is, before the Luo Sha army could react, a large group of ancient alien races escaped the sealed site and scattered in all directions.”

“Though all these ancient alien races are only fourth-rank in realm, their abilities and strength are extraordinary—the Luo Sha army suffered heavy losses.”

“The latest reports say most of the ancient alien races have escaped the sealed site and hidden throughout the Scorched Lands. The Luo Sha Kingdom has already dispatched large forces to hunt them down before they fully recover their strength.”

“Even the Luo Sha King has requested the Great Zhou to send its armies to assist in suppressing the ancient alien races.”

Lu Fang’s brows knitted deeper—he had to admit Tianji Dao Ren was truly humanity’s seer; he had foreseen everything. Lu Fang might soon encounter the ancient alien races himself.

“Do you have any protective treasures here? Could I possibly take them on credit? I’ll repay you later with ten-thousand Dao stones.”

He disliked this, but facing ancient alien races, without some life-saving treasures, he truly felt unprepared.

“Of course,” Shen Yue smiled. “My lord, name anything—anything here is yours.”

Lu Fang shook his head. “No need to give them to me. I’ll soon face a great enemy—I must take them on credit. I don’t need much—just a few life-saving treasures.”

“My lord, wait a moment.” Shen Yue left briefly and returned with a storage bag filled with various life-saving treasures, explaining each one’s function to him.

Lu Fang selected only one special life-saving treasure and returned the rest. After finishing, he left the general store.

With enough hard stone acquired, he planned to forge another weapon.

There was a forge within the Ghost Market—he left the market and headed straight for the forging hall. After paying a deposit, he entered a place resembling a blacksmith’s shop.

But he soon encountered a problem: ordinary fire could not melt the hard stone.

Even flames enhanced by special talismans failed to do so.

“You must have a way to melt these hard stones.”

Lu Fang asked silently within his mind: Mo Xin.

Since their last conversation, Mo Xin had grown silent—unless Lu Fang actively questioned it, it rarely spoke.

Clearly, it feared him enough to erase it.

He found this state perfectly acceptable.

Mo Xin: “I can teach you a fire secret art that will melt these hard stones. All forging here uses earth fire—you can cultivate beside it. It will take you at least ten days, at most three months to master.”

“That’s perfect,” Lu Fang sighed in relief.

Mo Xin suddenly laughed. “Teaching you this secret art will consume a great deal of my cultivation essence. Won’t you offer something of equal value in return?”

Lu Fang’s expression remained blank. “What do you want?”

Mo Xin fell silent for a moment, then laughed. “If you could let me absorb your cultivation source again, as before, that would suffice.”

“No,” Lu Fang replied solemnly. “My cultivation is already restricted by Heaven’s Dao. If you absorb even a portion, I won’t know how to advance my realm.”

Thinking of this, he pulled out the white jade skull palm from his storage bag. “But I can offer you this instead.”

Mo Xin gave no answer, remaining silent.

Lu Fang held firm. “I’m not in a hurry to forge the hard stone into a weapon. I could simply avoid the aura of punishment—it’s not worth risking my life. My lifespan is limited; I might never encounter it at all.”

“I’ll give you the white jade skull palm—that’s my limit.”

“If you refuse, or feel it’s unfair, then forget it. Don’t think I’ll back down. I know you’ll accept—so don’t waste my time.”

Mo Xin remained silent. Just as Lu Fang decided to leave, it let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I’ll take the white jade skull palm. But I want you to check the aura of punishment’s current realm as soon as possible.”

“If it grows strong enough, believe me—it will come to you on its own. That would be far too passive.”

“Give me the white jade skull palm first. Once I absorb it, I’ll teach you the fire secret art. With this art, your control over fire will become extraordinary—you’ll be able to concentrate earth fire into a single point to melt the hard stone.”