Lou Gao lowered his head and once again looked at the imprint on his arm. He then pressed a hand against his scorching chest, sensing the unfamiliar yet vast power surging within his body, power that felt as though it could ignite him at any moment.
"I feel like there's a living volcano stuffed inside my body right now. The power is surging nonstop, but it's far too violent, I can't control it at all and it's so hot, the heat is seeping out from my bones…"
Sweat streamed down his forehead like rivulets, dripping onto the blistering ground and instantly turning into wisps of white vapor.
"Bathe in fire, bathe in fire…"
Lin Xia frowned deeply, repeatedly chewing over those two words under his breath. His mind raced, combining his own past experience of body reconstruction with the divine authority of the Phoenix God, attempting to decipher their meaning.
"Taken literally, it means bathing in flames," Lin Xia analyzed.
"But this is clearly not ordinary fire. Teacher, do you remember what I went through before?"
"I was burned by the Sun Essence until only a skeleton remained, then my body was reconstructed by the Phoenix God's power. In essence, that was also a form of 'bathing in fire', obtaining rebirth through ultimate destructive flames."
"Your trial is also called 'Bathe in Fire.' Could it mean that you, too, must undergo a similar trial, an internal and external baptism by flames?"
Lin Xia's gaze sharpened.
"Phoenix nirvana, rebirth through fire! That is the Phoenix's most fundamental profundity!"
"This trial likely requires you to actively draw out the flame power bestowed by the divine trial imprint, allowing it to completely burn your body, your soul power, and even, your soul itself!"
"At the pinnacle of destruction, you must seize that single chance at rebirth and complete a total transformation!"
As Lou Gao listened to Lin Xia's analysis, his expression shifted repeatedly.
Drawing out that violent power within his body, power that seemed capable of incinerating everything to burn himself?
That sounded no different from suicide!
Yet recalling the sight of Lin Xia's skeleton scattering apart before instantly reforming, along with the legends of phoenix nirvana, this explanation was undoubtedly the closest to the truth.
"But…"
Lou Gao swallowed with difficulty, his throat painfully dry.
"How do I draw it out? How do I control it? To what extent do I trigger it? And what exactly is the standard for 'rebirth'? There's no guidance at all! What if, what if I lose control and truly set myself ablaze wouldn't that mean…"
At that moment, cheerful crunch, crunch sounds of chewing echoed from nearby.
Larvitar was hugging a dark red stone rich in fire crystal ore, gnawing on it with relish. Nourished by the ore's energy, the runes flowing across its dull lava armor grew increasingly bright.
Lin Xia's gaze swept over Larvitar, then returned to the imprint on Lou Gao's arm. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning!
"The imprint!"
Lin Xia abruptly grabbed Lou Gao's arm and pointed at the crimson-gold phoenix imprint.
"Teacher, try focusing your mind and using your consciousness to communicate with the imprint! Just like how I activated my imprint to resonate with the mineral vein before!"
"This imprint is the core of the divine trial—it's the conduit connecting you to the Phoenix God's power! The key to 'bathing in fire' likely lies in how you use this imprint to communicate with and guide that god-granted flame power within you!"
Lou Gao's spirits jolted.
That's right!
The imprint was the key!
He immediately sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, forcing himself to cast aside all external distractions, including the noise of Larvitar chewing ore and the unbearable heat raging inside his body.
He gathered all his consciousness with extreme focus, like tempering refined iron during forging, cautiously extending his awareness toward the phoenix imprint on the inner side of his arm, which radiated warmth and divine authority.
At first, there was only chaotic heat. But as his focus intensified and he attempted to "touch" the imprint, an extraordinary sense of connection emerged!
He seemed to see the imprint come alive, transforming into a miniature phoenix formed of pure golden flames, spreading its wings and soaring through the ocean of his consciousness!
At the same time, the violent, restless divine flame power within his body, nowhere to be contained, seemed to find an outlet, beginning to flow steadily and instinctively toward the imprint!
Lou Gao's heart tightened. He immediately tried to guide this power with his consciousness—not suppressing it, but directing it like molten metal within a furnace, attempting to make it flow according to his will.
"Weng—"
The phoenix imprint on his arm suddenly flared with brilliance!
Crimson-gold light instantly engulfed his entire body!
A temperature far purer and far more terrifying than before erupted violently from him as the epicenter!
"Ugh—AAAH—!"
This time, it was true agony!
Lou Gao could not help but let out a deep, hoarse roar of pain.
He felt his skin, muscles, bones, internal organs, even the blood flowing through his veins and his soul power itself, being frantically scorched by the divine flames drawn forth by the imprint!
This was not fire burning him from the outside, but a destructive blaze igniting simultaneously from the deepest part of his body, down to every single cell!
Lou Gao's skin instantly turned bright red, like an overcooked shrimp. Fine beads of blood even began seeping from his pores, only to be vaporized in the next instant by the extreme heat, forming a thin veil of blood mist that swirled around his body.
His tattered clothes were instantly reduced to ash, revealing a violently trembling body beneath—muscles bulging, veins protruding under the skin like writhing crimson earthworms!
Sweat?
It no longer existed.
All moisture within his body was being rapidly evaporated!
"Teacher!"
Lin Xia cried out in alarm, instinctively rushing forward, only to be violently repelled by the extremely intense divine flame energy field surrounding Lou Gao!
That temperature was even more terrifying than when they had been devouring the mineral vein earlier!
"Larvitar?!"
Larvitar also stopped chewing, staring warily at Lou Gao enveloped in crimson-gold flames. Golden fire flickered within its scarlet eyes, carrying a trace of concern.
Lou Gao sat cross-legged on the ground, his body shaking violently, teeth clenched so tightly that grinding sounds escaped between them.
He felt like an ordinary piece of iron thrown into a god's furnace, undergoing the most brutal tempering, hammering, and quenching.
The pain was like billions of red-hot steel needles, piercing mercilessly through every nerve in his body.
The Soul Sage–level soul power he once took pride in was as fragile as paper before this divine flame, easily ignited, burned away, and assimilated!
Behind him, the phantom image of his martial soul, the Molding Pen, flickered violently, releasing a mournful hum as if it too were on the verge of melting within the flames.
"No… I can't give up… This is a divine trial… This is the chance Xiao Xia fought for me…"
Lou Gao's consciousness rose and fell within an endless ocean of agony. One thought, firm as bedrock, supported him unwaveringly.
The heart of a craftsman is like iron; only through countless refinements can steel be forged!
Lin Xia's eyes split wide with anguish, his heart seeming to be crushed by an icy hand.
Overwhelming fear and boundless regret instantly drowned him.
He regretted it!
Lin Xia regretted showing off with words before a god.
He regretted pushing his elderly teacher onto the razor's edge!
Touching the realm of gods? Refusing to remain mediocre?
Before this cruel divine flame, one capable of incinerating a Soul Sage into ashes in an instant, those ideals seemed unbearably naïve and laughable!
Lin Xia had believed that divine trials would be like the "tests" from his memories of his previous life—clear guidance, step-by-step progression, buffers, and preparation time.
He had even planned to take his teacher to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, to use the immortal herbs there to stabilize his foundation and build his strength before calmly facing the divine trial…
But now?
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