Chapter 96: Nine-Colored Divine Fire Refines Golden Body

Naturally, there were many people who should view these waves rationally, and were not led astray by these rumors.

"The Yaoguang Shengzi indeed lost that battle, and lost miserably, but the Yaoguang Holy Land claims Jiang Xuan used a Forbidden Artifact; they have had a grudge with Jiang Xuan all along, so naturally they spare no effort in smearing him, saying he used a Forbidden Artifact — what Forbidden Artifact could be so omnipotent?"

"The Ancient Aristocratic Families have their noses in the air; now that a Heaven's Pride has appeared who dares to resist them, they want to strangle him in the cradle. I simply don't believe they can cover the sky with one hand. If they have the ability, let them go issue a warrant for the Yao clan's great power Chi Long Daoren; if they have the ability, let them go hunt down the Thirteen Bandits of the Northern Shan He."

"There are rumors that the Yao clan's Heaven's Pride Jin Chi Xiao Peng Wang from the Eastern Wasteland's central region wants to seek out Jiang Xuan for a battle, saying that among the Eastern Wasteland's Human Race Heaven's Prides, the Yaoguang Shengzi has an undeserved reputation, while Jiang Xuan avoids battle — it's laughable."

Although these pieces of information have not been verified, they do not hinder the Eastern Wasteland's Loose Cultivators' admiration for Jiang Xuan.

Regarding this, the Ancient Ji Family and the Yaoguang Holy Land remained silent, offering no clarification or comparison; they only wanted to seize the time to kill Jiang Xuan to avenge the hatred in their hearts.

However, as time passed, Jiang Xuan seemed to have disappeared again; no one knew where he went, so the world's attention was quickly drawn away by the news of the Bronze Immortal Palace's emergence, and the Ancient Ji Family and Yaoguang Holy Land jointly attacking the Peacock King and Qingyi Wang.

……

Fire Domain Eighth Layer.

Xuan Huang Qi hung down from atop Jiang Xuan's head, emitting brilliant divine light; within a radius of several zhang, the seven-colored flames could not approach. Ye Fan and Pang Bo sat cross-legged, a cauldron and a sword before them.

The cauldron was the Mother Qi Cauldron of All Things; the sword was the Xuan Huang Great Sword.

This small cauldron was only about an inch in size, bore no Dao Pattern imprints, and emitted no divine power fluctuations, yet it gave one a feeling of ancient simplicity and grandeur, heavy as a divine mountain; merely standing there, it was as if one faced a landscape of mountains and rivers, a star domain.

The Mother Qi of All Things is extremely rare, a sacred material for artifact refinement, very hard to obtain; let alone the Source Root of Mother Qi — this is a heaven-and-earth treasure existing only in legend, only produced in small amounts when heaven and earth first opened; yet he actually used it to refine a cauldron.

The more Ye Fan looked, the more delighted he became; he thought that although it was far less marvelous than Jiang Xuan's pagoda, Jiang Xuan was a figure beyond his reach anyway, so why compare with Jiang Xuan.

Beside him, Pang Bo waved the Xuan Huang Great Sword; strands of Xuan Huang Two Qi collapsed space. The main material of his Xuan Huang Great Sword was Xuan Huang Two Qi, but it also incorporated a segment of Source Root of Mother Qi the size of an adult's finger; any more and he couldn't wield it — now it matched him perfectly.

Moreover, the Source Root of Mother Qi has the characteristic of growth; one day, his Xuan Huang Great Sword will surely shatter mountains and rivers wherever its sword radiance points, leaving sun and moon without light.

"Haha, Ye Zi, my Xuan Huang Great Sword is indeed explosive; I just like domineering weapons." Pang Bo gripped the sword with both hands, pointing at the sky vault.

"I wonder how Jiang Xuan's cultivation is going?" Ye Fan looked at Jiang Xuan with some curiosity.

Ever since refining the Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda, Jiang Xuan had sat in meditation here for a full month; if not for the Linglong Pagoda atop his head still dropping Xuan Huang Qi, Ye Fan and Pang Bo would have thought something had happened to Jiang Xuan.

"Jiang Xuan seems to be cultivating some secret art; who knows what he's cultivating." Thinking of Jiang Xuan's various impossible battle achievements, Ye Fan couldn't help but long for them.

Just then, the Xuan Huang Qi fluctuated, pulling Ye Fan's thoughts back.

He saw Jiang Xuan slowly open his eyes, a hint of surprise and doubt in his expression; he hadn't expected this Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda to be so difficult to smelt and refine, even harder to fuse than the Quasi-Emperor weapon Li Huo Saint Furnace; he would need a very long time in closed-door cultivation here.

On second thought, it was quite reasonable; he had only preliminarily fused the Li Huo Divine Furnace, and there was still a very long road ahead; moreover, the Li Huo Divine Furnace's material was relatively ordinary, so that day's smelting only took half a year.

But the Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda — he wanted complete fusion, fusing it into every inch of his flesh and skin, every inch of his bones and hair, even every inch of his particles; the difficulty was incomparable.

This past month, his gains had been minimal.

"Jiang Xuan, how is your cultivation going?" Ye Fan asked.

Jiang Xuan shook his head and said: "My divine ability is still far from initial completion."

Ye Fan was puzzled; he thought the Linglong Pagoda was already formed, stronger than their cauldron and sword by who knows how much, so why did Jiang Xuan still say the divine ability was unformed.

But he knew Jiang Xuan always had a reason for his words, so he didn't inquire further.

"This divine ability of mine — at shortest one year, at longest ten years — only then can it be cultivated to completion; you need not wait for me." Jiang Xuan laughed, striking a ray of light onto the two of them; this way, when he emerged from seclusion, he could find them.

As he spoke, Xuan Huang Qi once more hung down from atop Jiang Xuan's head, reaching beyond the Fire Domain, forming a Xuan Huang Great Dao; the terrifying and violent flames instantly died down, unable to approach.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo watched speechlessly — is this the divine might of the Linglong Pagoda? A great power must be careful in the Fire Domain, yet in Jiang Xuan's eyes at this moment it was simply like walking on flat ground — no, even more stable than walking on flat ground, truly as familiar as the space within his own palm.

The two spoke no more nonsense; they indeed needed to go out and temper themselves; they instructed Jiang Xuan to remember to seek them when he emerged, then turned and stepped onto the Xuan Huang Great Dao, traveling to the outside of the Fire Domain.

……

One month later, Fire Domain.

Jiang Xuan frowned slightly, raising his hand to look at a thread of Xuan Huang Qi at his fingertip, frowning slightly.

"The smelting is too slow; at this speed, I'm afraid even ten years may not achieve thorough fusion."

"Unless..." Jiang Xuan's gaze looked toward the deepest part of the Fire Domain; his black-and-red pupils pierced through the boundless sea of fire, looking at the Fire Domain Ninth Layer.

Atop his head, the Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda's divine light burst forth; Xuan Huang Qi hung down, protecting his body; the Eight Trigrams Furnace Emperor Dao Array Patterns revolved; Immortal Phoenixes cried in unison; Jiang Xuan slowly walked toward the Fire Domain Ninth Layer.

The Ninth Layer's temperature was terrifyingly scorching; even with two supreme treasures protecting him, he still felt his body temperature rise significantly.

"What terrifying flames!"

These were nine-colored flames; these flames seemed to have transcended the category of great powers, reaching another heaven and earth; flames that could burn mountains and boil seas seemed about to incinerate the entire world.

At the edge region of the Ninth Layer lay several streaks of ash — these were great powers overconfident in their strength who wanted to enter the Ninth Layer to forge artifacts, and died here.

Jiang Xuan pushed the two magic treasures to their limits, striving to resist the erosion of the nine-colored flames; these nine-colored flames seemed to possess their own consciousness, constantly leaping and dancing; various grand and majestic sounds reverberated and lingered within the flames, as if entering an ancient battlefield.

Jiang Xuan's left eye was pitch-black like ink, his right eye crimson like blood — like two sharp arrows once more looking toward the deepest part of the Fire Domain.

That was the end of the Fire Domain, only a few li in radius, yet deathly still, without a trace of vitality.

"A tree — no, it's fire, it's Immortal Fire!"

This is Immortal Fire beyond the human Dao realm; perhaps incomplete, unable to fully compare with a complete Immortal, but absolutely not something the current him could touch.

Jiang Xuan looked at this Immortal Fire but did not approach; even with the Linglong Pagoda and Emperor Dao Array Patterns protecting him, he still sensed an extremely strong sense of crisis from this Immortal Fire — a spiritual awareness warning: as long as he dared approach, he would surely be burned until not even slag remained.

Sitting cross-legged amid the nine layers of flames, strands of nine-colored auspicious mist threads entered his mouth and nose; the divine fire in his abdomen surged like a tidal wave; atop his head, the Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda gradually dimmed, growing smaller and smaller, while Jiang Xuan himself emitted Xuan Huang light through his body, his divine radiance becoming increasingly brilliant.

……

Half a year later.

Jiang Xuan opened his eyes, unable to conceal his joy.

"This body is indestructible through ten thousand kalpas — it is the Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Linglong Body!"

(Chapter End)