txolops Chapter 246 Divine Burning Technique
Chapter 246 Divine Burning Technique
"Could I have guessed wrong? He didn't come for this island?" Luo Ming frowned slightly, landing on the island with a hint of doubt in his mind. But since he was already here, he had to investigate. He easily found the crack leading underground that he remembered, and in a flash, he disappeared into it.
Once again, we arrive at this strange cave where earth fire and yin energy intertwine. The two extreme energies of intense heat and icy cold still clash and entangle here, forming a unique force field that is both chaotic and stable.
Luo Ming sensed that the damage caused by the energy surge when the Zhiyang Bird advanced had been largely restored over the decades by the slow adjustment of the earth's veins, and had once again reached a fragile dynamic balance.
"The circulation of Yin energy in this place is quite mysterious," Luo Ming thought to himself. Then, with a thought, the Five Elements Bracelet on his wrist flashed, and the Fat Yang Bird flapped its wings and flew out.
Now, it is a size larger than it was back then, and its feathers are a deeper and more gorgeous crimson gold. Its tail feathers are long and surrounded by faint golden flames, and its aura has reached the mid-level of level six.
"The fire vein here should be very beneficial to you. Now that your strength has greatly improved, try to dive deeper and explore to see if there are any unusual things," Luo Ming instructed.
The Zhiyang bird affectionately nuzzled Luo Ming's palm with its head, letting out a clear and melodious cry. Then, its body blazed with fire, transforming into a huge, incredibly condensed golden-red fireball. With a "whoosh," it disappeared into the fiery fissure filled with churning dark red magma and scorching air currents, disappearing in an instant as if it were in its element.
Luo Ming sat cross-legged in a relatively stable area of the cave, closed his eyes and concentrated, sharing part of the Zhiyang Bird's perception through mental connection, and observed the situation deep within the earth fire.
The Fat Sun Bird moved with incredible speed through the scorching magma and fiery earth, plunging over a thousand feet in no time. The surrounding area was no longer just liquid magma; instead, large quantities of solidified, crimson crystals imbued with pure fire elemental power appeared—these were "fire crystals," a common material for crafting fire-attribute magical artifacts. These crystals were of decent quality, but given Luo Ming's current cultivation level and wealth, he naturally looked down on them.
The Fat Sun Bird continued its descent, until it reached a depth of nearly two thousand feet. At that moment, the surrounding pressure increased dramatically, and the earth fire turned a dark red, almost black, with a temperature high enough to instantly melt magical artifacts. Just then, a blurry, almost transparent crimson shadow flashed past the edge of the Fat Sun Bird's consciousness like lightning!
"Huh?" Luo Ming was also taken aback when he "saw" the shadow through the mental connection. The thing did not seem to be a physical entity, but rather a pure flame with a trace of spirituality.
The Zhiyang Bird instantly became excited! To this fire spirit, such a fire spirit born from the depths of the earth's fire was an unparalleled delicacy and tonic! Without Luo Ming urging it, it let out a joyful cry, its golden flames surged, and its speed increased by another third, transforming into a golden streak of light as it chased after the fleeing fire shadow!
Luo Ming was wondering what kind of strange fire spirit the fire shadow was when suddenly his eyebrows twitched. His powerful divine sense detected a streak of light, light blue, flying straight towards the island from beyond. Judging from its undisguised light and aura, the newcomer was probably at the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm.
"Troublesome." Luo Ming frowned slightly, but didn't pay much attention. As long as a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator didn't bother him or covet the Fat Sun Bird underground, he wouldn't bother with them. Most of his attention was still focused on the Fat Sun Bird's pursuit underground. The fire shadow was quite slippery, knowing how to use the complex energy flow and high temperature environment in the earth fire to evade, and for a time, the Fat Sun Bird couldn't immediately succeed.
A moment later, the blue light landed on the island and headed straight for the Yin Vein Cave of Earth Fire. The light faded, revealing a short, stout man with a face covered in red spots, wearing a set of blue leather armor, whose aura carried a soft, water-attribute quality.
The burly man strode into the cave and immediately spotted Luo Ming sitting cross-legged inside. Seeing that Luo Ming was alone and his aura suggested he was just an ordinary Core Formation cultivator, the man frowned and barked angrily, "Which faction does this fellow Daoist come from? Don't you know that this 'Yinhuo Island' already belongs to my Yuan Gui Island?"
"Yuan Gui Island?" Luo Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping over the burly man.
Isn't Yuan Gui Island the territory of that Crimson Fire Old Monster? The Crimson Fire Old Monster is a well-known late-stage Core Formation cultivator who has been entrenched on Yuan Gui Island. He cultivates the Kui Shui Demon Art and acts tyrannically. He has quite a fearsome reputation in the Inner Star Sea and is recognized as one of the most promising Core Formation cultivators to condense a Nascent Soul in the Chaotic Star Sea. Unfortunately, he was tricked by the Star Palace in the Void Heaven Palace.
Seeing that Luo Ming remained calm and composed after hearing the names "Yuan Gui Island" and "Red Fire Old Monster," the burly man with red spots became even more displeased. He assumed that Luo Ming was the kind of arrogant rogue cultivator who didn't know his place. His face darkened, and his magical power began to fluctuate, as if he was about to lash out.
Just then, a golden flame suddenly flashed deep within Luo Ming's eyes, followed by a tangible phantom of flame that instantly enveloped the other party.
The burly man stood there motionless, his body trembling like a leaf, his face pale, and beads of cold sweat dripping from his brow.
The burly man felt his soul instantly enveloped in a scorching flame. A chilling sensation emanating from the depths of his soul made his hair stand on end. He felt as if he were being targeted by a giant fire beast. The little figure in his sea of consciousness was now staring in terror at the surrounding flames, constantly expending his divine power to resist them.
"Senior...please calm down! This junior was blind and offended you! This junior will leave now!" The burly man's soul was terrified and tried to expel the flames that had invaded his sea of consciousness, but he found that his consciousness was like fuel for those flames, igniting as soon as it touched them.
The big man was filled with regret. He had been arrogant because of his reputation as the Crimson Fire Monster, but he never expected to encounter an old monster who had hidden his cultivation level and attacked him without warning.
He knew that with his Core Formation stage cultivation, he couldn't escape this old monster; his only hope was that the monster would be in a good mood and let him go.
"You're out of luck today. I'm going to be hosting a very important guest soon, so I can't afford any accidents."
Luo Ming's eyes narrowed involuntarily, and then he poured all his divine sense into the burly man. The golden flames in the man's sea of consciousness suddenly intensified, and after a few breaths, the man's primordial spirit was burned to ashes.
The burly man's body slowly collapsed, and a golden flame surged from his head, then spread throughout his entire body, burning away in no time.
Luo Ming reached out and took the other party's storage bag. Looking at the corpse that had turned to ashes, a hint of joy appeared on his face. He thought to himself, "I didn't expect that the Divine Burning Technique of the Qianyang Fire Eye, with the support of powerful divine sense and the spiritual fire of the Zhiyang Bird, would cause such great damage to a cultivator's soul."
Since his Qianyang Fire Eyes advanced to the second level, his eye-based supernatural abilities have also increased significantly. In addition to being able to see through some illusions and formations, he has gained an offensive magical supernatural ability, namely the Burning God Technique.
This supernatural ability allows one to concentrate the spiritual fire used during the cultivation of the Qianyang Fire Eyes at the eye level, attacking the enemy's sea of consciousness at close range. Unlike the point-based attack of the God-Breaking Cone, its original description only mentioned that it could be used to launch a sneak attack at a crucial moment to affect the opponent's consciousness and disrupt their attack rhythm; it did not possess such strong power.
However, Luo Ming relied on his divine sense, which was comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, and the natural restraint of the spirit soul by the Zhiyang Bird Spirit Fire, to forcefully increase the power of this technique to an extremely terrifying level.
However, he also knew that this technique was only good for bullying cultivators whose spiritual sense was far lower than his own. If he were to deal with those with strong spiritual sense, he might even suffer a backlash.
Just as he had dismissed the uninvited guest and was about to continue focusing on the underground, a thought suddenly struck him, and a subtle hint of joy involuntarily appeared on his face.
At the edge of his perception, a luxurious carriage, entirely dark purple with gilded trim, swirling with pale purple demonic energy, and pulled by a four-winged azure phoenix demonic bird, was leisurely flying towards the deserted island at a moderate pace. What else could it be but Wen Tianren's purple-gold dragon-patterned chariot?
"I knew it! He finally came here!" Luo Ming felt a sense of relief, but then a sense of urgency rose within him.
He immediately used his mind to urgently call out to the Zhiyang Bird, which was chasing after him deep in the earth fire, urging it to return quickly.
At the same time, he took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and his eyes became sharp and calm again as he looked in the direction from which the beast-drawn carriage had come.
"Senior Tianjing," Luo Ming whispered in his mind, "you shouldn't have any problems with Wen Tianren's Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror, right?"
Within his sea of consciousness, the aged yet arrogant voice of the Heavenly Mirror Hermit immediately rang out, tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction: "Hmph, brat, are you doubting my abilities? If that person dares to use that treasure against you, I can snatch it back for you in an instant."
The purple-gold dragon-patterned chariot flew slowly to the airspace above the deserted island, without immediately landing. The chariot curtain moved without wind, slightly lifting a corner, and Wen Tianren's scrutinizing and faintly imposing gaze swept across the island below as if it were a tangible thing, finally landing precisely on Luo Ming, who stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the cave.
Two gazes met in mid-air. Luo Ming's gaze was calm and deep, like an ancient well with a cold pool; Wen Tianren's eyes, on the other hand, carried a condescending inquiry and a hint of amusement, as if he were assessing something interesting.
"Peak of the mid-stage Core Formation... solid aura, and considerable spiritual sense." Wen Tianren made a quick judgment, the playful smile on his face deepening slightly. Anyone who dared to stand alone here, directly confronting his iconic chariot, was either a fool or had something to rely on. He leaned more towards the latter.
Young Master Wen clearly didn't recognize Luo Ming, whom he had fought before. If Luo Ming hadn't had the help of that demonic blade back then, he might have had to flee in panic.
The girl in green and the four black-robed cultivators locked their gazes warily on Luo Ming. The four-winged azure phoenix let out a clear cry and landed on the carriage shaft, its sharp eyes also fixed on Luo Ming.
Wen Tianren did not get out of the car, but remained casually leaning against it. He simply turned his gaze entirely to Luo Ming and spoke first, his voice clear yet carrying an undeniable air of authority:
"This fellow Daoist is quite intrigued, lingering in such a desolate place. May I ask your name? And what brings you here?" His tone was calm, as if it were just a casual question, but the interrogative undertones of someone accustomed to a superior position were clearly discernible.