After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 243 Fire

Suddenly, the blurry figure in the sea of ​​fire in the sky above fell silent.

Amidst the dazzling, blinding light of the flames, only the howling wind emanating from the intense heat of the flames could be heard.

The previously emotionless Crimson Flame Venerable now slowly began to move his eyes, which were burning with blazing golden flames, as if looking down at Li Musheng, who was sitting on the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

Li Musheng, on the other hand, remained calm throughout, quietly observing the changes in the atmosphere between heaven and earth above, carefully watching the entire process of the other party using their innate divine power.

However, at this moment, he saw that Venerable Crimson Fire suddenly stopped attacking him.

Li Musheng frowned immediately:
"Why did you stop?"

Then, he waved to the blurry figure wreathed in flames above and said:

"continue."

Upon hearing this, the sea of ​​fire enveloping the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion instantly trembled and surged, sending up dozens of fire waves over ten feet high. Then, the blurry fiery figure unleashed a deafening roar like rolling thunder:

"I underestimated you."

Li Musheng remained silent, simply waiting.

Sure enough, as Crimson Flame Venerable's words fell...

The next instant, the flames within a radius of several hundred feet in the sea of ​​fire above suddenly converged into streams of blazing lava, which began to surge back like a tide.

In just a few breaths, all the raging flames, like rivers flowing into the sea, were swept back into the blurry figure.

In an instant, Hundred Refinement City, which had been illuminated by towering flames as if it were daytime, quickly dimmed and was once again shrouded in the black night.

Only a massive, ten-zhang-tall fiery figure condensed above the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

After absorbing the flames of the entire sky, the enormous fiery figure was surrounded by streams of condensed golden-red light, while at its brow was a dark fire core that devoured all the surrounding light, faintly emitting a terrifying temperature that seemed capable of burning everything.

Upon seeing this, Li Musheng's eyes lit up.

It must be said that this divine ability to control fire looks flashy, and the stunning visual effects it displays are very pleasing to the eye.

Of course, this does not mean that the other party's talent and divine ability are merely superficial. In fact, when this ability is used to such a powerful degree, it can easily crush top martial arts masters such as the peak of Hundred Refinements Peak.

At this moment, the fiery figure, like a god of fire descending to earth, stood in mid-air, radiating an incomparably terrifying high temperature and pressure. Then, it spread its arms and made a grasping motion, crashing down towards Li Musheng below.

In an instant, the enormous fiery figure, accompanied by rolling waves of fire, suddenly descended from the sky.

The trailing flames behind it left scorch marks on the night sky like red-hot irons, and the surrounding night sky was scorched by the high temperature, creating ripples like water.

Then, streams of golden-red light converged between the fists clenched by the terrifying fiery figure, and visibly, a section of space atop the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion seemed to collapse and vanish in the blazing firelight.

However, the terrifying punch from the enormous fiery figure, as big as a house, stopped just three feet above Li Musheng's head, just like all the previous attacks, without gaining an inch.

The entire Hundred Fragrance Pavilion beneath Li Musheng remained completely undamaged despite the overwhelming flames pouring down from the beginning.

Upon seeing this, the towering, earth-shattering fiery figure erupted in a violent, boiling flame, letting out a deafening roar.

Immediately, a torrent of fire began to gather and lashed out at Li Musheng below.

One punch, two punches, three punches...

After a dozen or so punches, the area where Li Musheng and the enormous fiery body were located was filled with what seemed to be endless flames.

All that could be seen was the dazzling, towering flames; nothing else could be discerned.

Only after a few breaths had passed and all the firelight had dissipated did the main building of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion become visible.

At the top of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, the enormous figure whose body was surrounded by golden and red flames had stopped throwing punches.

However, Li Musheng was still sitting perfectly fine on the roof ridge of the pavilion, and the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion beneath him was also completely undamaged.

For a moment, the air between them seemed to freeze, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long silence, the fiery figure suddenly spoke in a deep voice, questioning:

"Who exactly are you? I have never heard of a young master with such powerful martial arts skills in the Great Li Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng shook his head but did not answer the other party's question.

They're both about to die, yet they're asking so many questions; it just means they're being a bit too talkative.

It would be better to stick to your strategy and use more moves. That way, even if you lose someone, at least your record will look good.

After all, no one had ever been able to make a move against him so many times before; they were usually defeated in just a couple of moves.

However, Venerable Crimson Fire clearly did not understand Li Musheng's good intentions, and only saw his indifference towards him.

Suddenly, he became furious and began to roar and howl.

"I do not believe your defense is impenetrable!"

The Crimson Flame Venerable's voice was like thunder, and in the next instant, his massive, ten-zhang-tall fiery body suddenly collapsed, the flames swirling around him continuously compressed, and the golden-red flames became incredibly dark and deep.

Visibly, the enormous fiery figure instantly shrunk to its normal size, revealing the true appearance of the Crimson Flame Venerable.

However, although its body had shrunk, its aura had become even more profound and unfathomable.

Moreover, although Venerable Crimson Fire looks like an ordinary middle-aged man, he is not a normal person.

His body was completely naked, and his exposed skin was translucent, with the magma surging in his blood vessels illuminating the outline of his sternum.

The blazing firelight that shone deep within his eye sockets resembled two miniature, collapsed suns. His pupils transformed into incandescent vortexes, and the air within his sight spontaneously combusted, surging into waves of fire several feet high.

At the same time, a black fire core the size of an eye appeared between the brows of the Crimson Fire Venerable, and the place where he was suspended had become a black hole of flames that seemed to devour everything, with flames that seemed to never go out wrapped around its edges.

"Now, let's see if you can still hold out!"

The Crimson Flame Venerable stared intently at Li Musheng below with his burning fiery eyes. His fiery red hair resembled three thousand fiery dragons, which danced with bursts of flames as the waves of fire blew it up.

Then, a streak of dark firelight emanated from the black fire core between the eyebrows of the Crimson Fire Venerable and merged into his fingertips.

Immediately, he pointed at Li Musheng, and a ring of fiery wind arose, containing strands of flames that seemed to be compressed to the extreme.

In an instant, the surrounding space seemed unable to withstand such terrifying high temperatures, and cracks appeared one after another, with barbed pillars of fire burning within the cracks.

Silently, the sky tore open with spiderweb-like cracks, and the space atop the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion seemed to collapse in an instant. All the light and heat of the entire Hundred Refinement City converged at this point, and then, in a flash, a golden-white spot of light, like a solar corona, erupted. At this moment, heaven and earth were completely still. Li Musheng and the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion below were enveloped by that terrifying spot of light, as if a burning sun had fallen on the head of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

A few breaths later, all the light faded away, and everything returned to normal.

The jet-black fire core between the brows of the Crimson Flame Venerable dimmed slightly. He looked down and then frowned.

Although Li Musheng, who was originally sitting on the roof of Baixiang Pavilion, had disappeared, Baixiang Pavilion remained intact as before.

In an instant, a bad premonition arose in the heart of the Crimson Fire Venerable, and his eyes, burning with blazing flames, immediately scanned his surroundings.

As far as the eye could see, the firelight illuminated and the air distorted, but there was no sign of Li Musheng.

"Don't look for me, I'm here."

Just then, Li Musheng's voice floated lightly into the ears of Venerable Crimson Fire.

The flames burning in the eyes of the Crimson Fire Venerable suddenly began to flicker violently. Then, to his shock, he saw Li Musheng's figure appear in mid-air a few feet in front of him.

"How is this possible? How can there be such a powerful defense in the world? It can even withstand the 'Earth Core Fire Core' that I painstakingly refined!"

"How...how did you do that?"

The Crimson Flame Venerable was clearly finding it hard to accept.

Over the past decades, he has used his innate fire-controlling abilities to absorb the essence of the earth's core flames from the molten lava, day after day, until he finally managed to condense a fire core capable of incinerating metal and stone.

Even so, he still couldn't break through Li Musheng's defenses, and he didn't even burn a trace of the other's clothes.

Faced with the question from Venerable Crimson Fire, Li Musheng shook his head and remained silent.

His gaze was fixed on the black fire core between the other's eyebrows, which was only the size of an eye.

Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly, a thoughtful expression on his face. He then glanced at the Crimson Flame Venerable before him and said:
"Your talent and divine abilities are indeed not bad, but you have not reached my level. You do not understand the true unity of heaven and man and where the limit of martial arts is. Although you can control powerful forces, it is useless if you only know how but not why."

Having said that, he ignored the look of surprise and doubt that flashed across the Crimson Flame Venerable's face and immediately raised his hand to grab the black fire core between the other's eyebrows.

The next moment, Venerable Crimson Fire's expression changed drastically. He could clearly feel that the fire core between his eyebrows had suddenly slipped out of his control.

His own bloodline, the flames in his eyes, and the golden-red fire currents swirling around him were all drawn away from his body by an irresistible suction force, converging towards the fire core that was far away from him.

In an instant, the flames around Venerable Crimson Fire extinguished, and his entire body dimmed, returning him to the appearance of an ordinary person.

At this moment, he could only maintain his levitation in mid-air by relying on his own martial arts true energy.

The black fire core, accumulated and condensed over decades, was seized, and the Crimson Fire Venerable's innate divine power immediately lost most of its might.

"No, I still possess martial arts cultivation!"

Suddenly, Venerable Crimson Fire looked at his hands, and a hint of confidence gradually returned to his eyes.

At this moment, Li Musheng, on the other side, made the black fire core float half an inch above his palm, and then glanced at the Crimson Fire Venerable.

Even divine innate abilities couldn't do anything to him, yet he wanted to compete with him in martial arts cultivation? I don't know what he was thinking.

However, he ignored the Crimson Flame Venerable and instead examined the black fire core in front of him, which contained an extremely terrifying temperature.

Just now, he was able to resist the flames of the Crimson Flame Venerable entirely because of his martial arts cultivation level and his control over the entire space by manipulating the true energy of heaven and earth.

In fact, given Li Musheng's current state of perfect harmony with nature, no force can get even a fraction closer to him unless he chooses to.

He had just observed that although the power used by the divine beings with their innate divine abilities was different from the true energy of heaven and earth, the way they controlled and used that power was very similar, and both followed the same "rules of operation".

Therefore, when he reaches a certain insurmountable level, even divine talent cannot do anything to him.

As for why Li Musheng paid attention to the black fire core, it was because he suddenly felt a sense of curiosity.

He had previously created and mastered a martial arts technique called "Indestructible Golden Body." In his opinion, this divine skill was absolutely the number one body-forging and protective technique in the world, making one impervious to swords and spears and immune to all poisons.

Li Musheng wanted to test whether the high temperature of the black fire core could break his indestructible golden body.
With these thoughts in mind, Li Musheng's mind stirred, and golden patterns immediately appeared on his skin, radiating a faint golden glow.

Then, he released the black fire core from its restraints, allowing it to fall into his palm on its own.

During this time, he kept a close eye on the entire process.

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. What if this black fire core accidentally burns through my palm?

At that very moment, a palm, imbued with terrifying flames and boundless martial arts energy, silently pressed down on Li Musheng's chest.

Then came the furious, gloomy voice of the Crimson Flame Venerable:

"You dare to be distracted when facing the true master..."

However, before he could finish speaking, the next moment, the layer of clear light that appeared on Li Musheng's skin rippled slightly, and his palm was sent flying out at an even faster speed than when it came.

Li Musheng glanced at the Crimson Flame Venerable who had been sent flying backward, and then an invisible wisp of true energy pierced directly through the other's brow.

As the Crimson Flame Venerable's life force vanished in an instant, his body seemed to lose all power, and he plummeted into the ditch below the street like a kite with a broken string.

The ravine was already filled with the corpses of a group of experts from Fallen God Peak, including the peak master of Hundred Refinements Peak and the sect leader's eldest disciple.

The corpse of Venerable Crimson Fire fell into it; it seemed that having him one more or one less wouldn't make a difference.

At this moment, Li Musheng withdrew his gaze and continued to observe his experiment.

The black fire core fell into his palm, and the golden patterns covering his skin glowed, blocking the fire core, which contained terrifying high temperature, from entering.

Then, Li Musheng felt a warm sensation coming from his palm.

However, his hands were completely unharmed.

Only the jet-black fire patterns, blending with the golden radiance on its body, emitted a black-gold luster.

Upon seeing this, Li Musheng raised his eyebrows slightly.

The Undying Golden Body technique is truly remarkable; it allows the mortal body to withstand such high temperatures, essentially reaching a superhuman level.

However, in Li Musheng's view, it was still not enough.

After all, he was someone who sought to transcend the martial arts path. Moreover, he suddenly thought that it would be great if there were something like Qilin blood or Azure Dragon True Qi that could further enhance his physical defense.

(End of this chapter)