Immortal Fire

After tens of thousands of years, the sword qi still endured. Since entering Ziwei Palace, Qin Sang had seen too many sights beyond imagination, stunned so many times that he had grown numb to it. This sword mark had severed a mountain and shattered countless ancient halls. Even now, it warned posterity that this mountain was not to be trespassed upon. As Qin Sang stared blankly at the sword mark, a faint snap suddenly reached his ears. He hurriedly raised his wrist to look; a slender fissure had starkly appeared across one of the scales of the dragon-shaped wooden bracelet. "Not good!" Qin Sang's expression changed drastically. The wooden bracelet was about to lose its hold over the imprint. Helping Yunyouzi heal his injuries was a promise he had made long ago. To that end, Yunyouzi had spared no effort in helping him obtain the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit. Having already reaped his own benefit, Qin Sang could not break his word. Fortunately, there was only one crack on the wooden bracelet; it should still be able to hold out for a while. Originally, because the Flying Yaksha's transformation had not yet concluded, Qin Sang and Yunyouzi had agreed to conserve the corpse core's true essence for emergencies. Now, he dared not wait any longer. He immediately unsealed the corpse core and said in a heavy voice, "Senior, guide the way." The two dared not delay and began ascending the mountain at once. Once they stepped into the mountain mists, the peaks and ancient halls vanished from sight. A massive illusion formation enveloped the mountain. Yunyouzi produced a compass-like object and tossed one to Qin Sang as well, instructing him how to use it. It seemed to be a magic tool crafted specifically for the illusion formation here. Once energized with spiritual power, a golden needle appeared at the center of the compass, pointing out their direction. The golden needle led to a mountain path, winding, twisting, and exceedingly treacherous. Fortunately, the journey went smoothly without encountering danger, and they soon reached the summit. At this moment, they stood before a dried-up little lake. Across from it lay stretches of ruins, with endless clouds and mist still swirling in the distance; the entire mountain was cloaked within the illusion formation. Yunyouzi stepped forward, fiddled with his compass, and pointed across the lake, saying in a low voice, "Head there!" Qin Sang led the way, stepping directly onto the lake bed and pressing straight ahead. Passing over several collapsed ancient halls in succession, Qin Sang frequently swept his spiritual sense across the ruins, but found nothing. However, he noticed that the layout of these ancient halls seemed to hold a deeper mystery, serving some special purpose. "From what I know, these ancient halls were likely alchemy chambers belonging to the ancients!" Yunyouzi explained to Qin Sang while using the compass to confirm their bearing, pointing at the channels in the ground among the ruined halls: "These are probably fire conduits, working alongside spirit formations to channel flame from elsewhere to aid in pill concoction." Qin Sang had already found these channels strange and hadn't expected them to truly be fire conduits. He asked with doubt, "Ziwei Palace is so mysterious. Even if those who lived here weren't all almighty figures, their cultivation must have been quite high. Cultivators in the Core Formation stage can summon core fire to concoct pills and craft artifacts, which is more potent than earth fire. What kind of fire could they be channeling to share among so many people, yet still be stronger than spiritual fire manifested from their own true essence?" Qin Sang knew a thing or two about artifact crafting, and pill concoction shared certain similarities with it. Countless ancient halls dotted the mountain. If they were all alchemy chambers, what sort of immortal fire could possibly support so many alchemists concocting pills at once? Yunyouzi said, "Core fire is not necessarily stronger than all earth fire. Brother, do you recall the Mountain within the Mountain of the Xuling Sect? Inside it was a mutated earth fire, far superior to ordinary earth fire, which served as the very foundation of the Xuling Sect's founding. "The unique spiritual fires in the legends of the cultivation world are countless, and some can be called immortal fire, far more powerful than the Nascent fire of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Cultivators who refine these flames and use them for concocting pills or crafting artifacts can achieve twice the results with half the effort, significantly improving their chances of success. "Moreover, these ancient halls must have had powerful restrictions working in concert to contain the flame, requiring no divided attention from the refiners to control it. "As for what flame it is, Brother Qin will soon see..." Qin Sang had also heard about these things. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire sealed inside the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner was just such a unique spiritual fire. Qin Sang had long set his sights on the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, intending to use the demonic fire for artifact crafting. With only a single Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, the help the Nine Nether Demonic Fire could offer was limited. However, Qin Sang already knew how to form a formation with three demonic banners, which would greatly increase the demonic fire's power. Whether that would work would have to wait until he achieved Core Formation and could manipulate the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners at will. Hearing from Yunyouzi that the divine fire in the immortal palace had not yet gone out, Qin Sang could not help but be filled with immense anticipation. This fire was certainly extraordinary—could it be the legendary Lunar True Fire, or Solar Essence Fire? If it truly was an immortal fire rarely found in the world, could he take a page from Patriarch Kuiyin's method of crafting the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners and attempt to subdue it once his cultivation grew higher? At this thought, Qin Sang grew even more motivated and sped forward. The further forward they went, the more thoroughly destroyed the ancient halls became. Calculating their direction in his mind, Qin Sang realized Yunyouzi was actually leading him toward the sword mark—no wonder such terrifying pressure was radiating from ahead. Oppressed by the sword qi, their speed was forced to slow. They dared not fly any longer, trudging forward step by step on the ground as they drew closer and closer to the sword mark. Drenched in sweat, Qin Sang had to resist the sword qi's pressure while also helping Yunyouzi; the true essence in the corpse core was rapidly being depleted. Yet he could hardly care about that now. Along the way up the mountain, a second crack had appeared on the wooden bracelet. With no spare attention to spare for anything else, Qin Sang pushed the corpse core to its limit to protect them, until he finally heard Yunyouzi speak. "We're here." Qin Sang widened his eyes and looked ahead. Before them was a steep cliff face upon which stood a massive stone hall, similar in style to those below, but far taller and more magnificent. To their surprise, this stone hall had not collapsed. However, it was by no means undamaged. The sword mark ran straight through the center of the stone hall, cleaving it cleanly in half. The sheared surfaces were exceedingly smooth where it had split down the middle, while the halves of the stone hall on either side of the sword mark remained intact. Through the passage of years and the erosion of wind and sand, the stone hall had shed all its former luster, pitted and scarred, showing the full weight of the ages. The stone hall's central gates stood wide open, offering an unobstructed view within: it was entirely empty. Bracing against the pressure, the two shuffled step by step into the stone hall. Qin Sang looked curiously in every direction, but saw no sign of spiritual fire anywhere, nor did he sense any strange fluctuations. Yunyouzi looked around and pondered for a moment before walking into the stone hall's interior. Pinpointing a specific stone tile, he squatted down and pressed his hand onto it. A swirl of strange light rippled across it, and deep underground, a rumbling roar suddenly resounded. Yunyouzi said to Qin Sang, "The fire conduits sealing the spiritual fire are actually underground. Just like the immortal platform of the Spirit-Gathering Hall, they are hidden extremely deeply and cannot be sensed from the outside. I only learned of it by chance..." Before his words had even faded, the stone hall's floor suddenly split open, revealing a secret passage leading straight down into the depths. As the secret passage opened, a scorching aura immediately rushed out. The temperature inside the stone hall soared abruptly, and deep within the secret passage, a mass of deep-red firelight emerged. Yunyouzi's expression relaxed, and he said with relief, "Thank goodness! The spiritual fire is still here, undiscovered by anyone else!"