Translator: AnubisTL
By now, Li Qing had become a veritable patriarch of fire manipulation in the Human Realm. He possessed three heavenly spirit fires and had mastered the supreme fire dao cultivation technique, the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art.
This technique granted him a unique sensitivity to spirit fires throughout the world.
Yet, despite the Beast Flame Valley's scorching temperatures and the raging inferno deep within its depths, he sensed no trace of a fire seed.
"I knew there wouldn't be a heavenly spirit fire waiting for me to claim here, but these source-less flames are still quite perplexing."
"What kind of fire is this, exactly?"
With these thoughts, Li Qing's figure darted toward the Beast Flame Valley below.
Boom!
Within the valley, grotesque demonic corpses lay piled high, silently enduring the searing flames.
This was Li Qing's purpose in coming to Beast Flame Valley. He selectively harvested demonic corpses, taking only those with remaining essence blood.
"Some of these corpses have been burning too long. Their essence blood has dried up, leaving them with no nourishing value."
Li Qing wasn't interested in just any demonic corpse. He carefully picked through the remains in the valley, meticulously searching for those still containing essence blood, which he then stored in his storage bag.
As he ventured deeper into the valley, the surrounding temperature grew increasingly scorching, yet Li Qing felt no discomfort.
"As expected, the most powerful demonic races from their lifetimes were cast to the very bottom of the valley!"
Within the depths, Li Qing discovered multiple demonic corpses with cultivation levels around the late-stage nascent soul realm.
Demonic qi still lingered within their bones, gradually being purified by the source-less flames. The essence blood remained relatively abundant, with minimal loss.
Overjoyed, Li Qing carefully collected these corpses into his storage bag, storing them separately.
By the time he reached the bottom, he had gathered dozens of powerful demonic corpses.
Of course, not all these demons had been slain by the demon realm's demon kings; most had perished during the dimensional descent process.
Finally, at the very bottom, he spotted a colossal demonic body.
This demonic corpse was remarkably intact, its demonic qi impervious even to the raging flames at the bottom of the valley.
"As expected," Li Qing thought, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "The demon realm survived the demonic cataclysm. The Old Fox Demon truly slew an ancient demon in the divine transformation stage!"
For Li Qing, the corpse of an ancient demon in the divine transformation stage was the most valuable resource he could obtainβhis primary objective in this venture.
The other demonic corpses, even those of late-stage nascent soul demons, would offer minimal benefit, barely better than nothing.
Li Qing moved swiftly, reaching for his storage bag to claim the corpse.
But he abruptly halted, noticing faint, invisible flames flickering across the demonic corpse.
These flames were intangible, invisible to the naked eye, yet undeniably present.
"What is this...?"
Before he could finish, the Spirit of the Profound Yellow True Flame within him sensed something and exclaimed in alarm:
"Boy, that looks like the Life-Annihilation Voidfire!"
The spirit's words confirmed Li Qing's suspicions, causing his pupils to contract sharply.
"Are you certain?!"
Life-Annihilation Voidfire!
This was another type of heavenly spirit fire, but this one was particularly elusive, formless and intangible, making it nearly impossible to detect with either the naked eye or divine sense.
Li Qing had cultivated the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, a cultivation manual that allowed him to sense all types of heavenly spirit fire. It was only when he approached this place that he finally sensed the presence of the Life-Annihilation Voidfire.
"Indeed," the Profound Yellow True Flame confirmed. "When I accompanied the Heavenly Monarch on his trials, I also encountered remnants of the Life-Annihilation Voidfire."
With this confirmation, Li Qing had no reason to doubt further. The Profound Yellow True Flame had served the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch, and its vast experience meant it wouldn't make such a mistake.
Li Qing's heart pounded in his chest as he asked in a trembling voice, "Could there be a Life-Annihilation Voidfire here?"
The Profound Yellow True Flame fell silent for a long moment before finally replying, "It's likely just residual embers. The source fire seed you seek isn't here."
Hearing this, a clear look of disappointment flashed across Li Qing's eyes.
"So, it's not that the fire seed is here, only the remnants..."
But this disappointment lasted only a moment before Li Qing rallied his spirits.
"No, everything leaves a trace!" he declared.
"Since remnants of the Life-Annihilation Voidfire remain here, it proves the source fire seed once visited this place. Perhaps we can find other clues."
The Profound Yellow True Flame countered, "Don't get your hopes up. The Life-Annihilation Voidfire is incredibly bizarre. It can burn eternally, even without fuel. These embers you see might be thousands of years old, or even older."
"The Heavenly Monarch himself once tried to trace the Voidfire's origins in the lower realm, but his efforts were fruitless. He found nothing."
Hearing this, the flicker of hope in Li Qing's heart was immediately extinguished.
"I see... Even the Heavenly Monarch couldn't find the Life-Annihilation Voidfire?" Li Qing frowned.
Yet, he soon detected a subtle nuance in the flame's words.
As he severed the Voidfire-tainted portions from the Divine Transformation demonic corpse, he asked with a smile,
"Since you've been pursuing the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch for so long, do you know the whereabouts of any other heavenly spirit fires in this realm?" Li Qing asked. "Perhaps you could tell me?"
Unfortunately, the Profound Yellow True Flame responded coldly:
"You're overthinking things. By the late stages of his cultivation, the Heavenly Monarch had attained such profound mastery that he could contain all the world's fires within his body.
"Every source fire seed he discovered was refined and subdued by him, and ultimately taken to the upper realm."
Li Qing was deeply disappointed once again. No wonder heavenly spirit fires are so difficult to find in this realm, he thought. Even great powers at the divine transformation stage struggle to obtain a single one.
It seemed the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch's actions were to blame. By ascending to the upper realm with so many heavenly spirit fires, he had left the lower realm barren of these precious flames.
While spirit fires were naturally born from heaven and earth, their creation required eons of accumulation. It might take tens of millions of years for a single spirit fire to naturally arise.
Li Qing was currently only at the nascent soul realm, but he was already planning for his future advancement to the divine transformation stage.
Upon reaching the next realm, he would still need to subdue and refine heavenly spirit fires to unleash the full potential of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art.
After all, the daoist arts he had created were still incomplete, and he couldn't yet switch from his current primary cultivation manual.
"However, the Heavenly Monarch once lingered in three places in the lower realm, explicitly stating that those locations were highly likely to give rise to heavenly spirit fires, though it would require the accumulation of time."
Li Qing's heart leaped at these words.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?! I've been so disheartened for so long!"
"Quick, tell me where those places are!"
Since the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch had made this judgment, Li Qing naturally trusted his assessment.
A great cultivator who had ascended after creating the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art undoubtedly possessed unparalleled mastery and insight into heavenly spirit fires, surpassing anything seen before.
The Profound Yellow True Flame spoke, "I can tell you, but you must agree to a trivial condition. What do you say?"
"What condition? Tell me!"
(End of the Chapter)
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