Beast Taming: I gained the talent of a spirit pet.

Chapter 560 The Terrible Thousand Flame Island!

Even cultivators, unless they are Golden Core cultivators, will inevitably be affected by fire poison if they stay on Thousand Flame Island for too long, which may damage their foundation over time.

In mild cases, it can cause irritability and unbearable pain. In severe cases, it can lead to stagnation in cultivation or even complete loss of cultivation.

Therefore, this is not a good place.

However... although Thousand Flame Island has a harsh environment, it also produces many rare fire-attribute spiritual herbs, and even some spiritual iron and rare gold mines.

For this reason, some of the disciples under the Old Man of Hun Tian have been stationed here year-round, and have sent people to collect spiritual herbs and mine spiritual minerals.

Of course, most of them are cultivators at the Celestial Realm or Golden Core stage cultivators, and occasionally there are Yin God giants here.

Because of the intense fire poison here, prolonged exposure would hinder cultivation. Therefore, guarding this place is a thankless and arduous task.

Gu Yuan went alone, and as long as he was careful, there would be no problem at all.

However... now Gu Yuan's two aliases, whether it's Chu He or Wang Chan, have become famous. The accents, appearances, figures, and even the aura and habits of the two aliases are probably known to many people.

Under these circumstances, continuing to use these two identities would inevitably be somewhat inappropriate.

So... he needs to adopt a different identity next.

……

Several days later, Gu Yuan arrived near Thousand Flame Island.

He was concealed, gazing at Thousand Flame Island from afar.

On Thousand Flame Island not far away, the mountains stretched endlessly, most of them red or dark red in color, with little vegetation.

In many places, plumes of white and black smoke with a sulfurous smell rise from the ground, and in some places, there are even hot springs of varying sizes.

Of course, there are also some dangerous areas where lava is already erupting, with streams of lava gushing from the ground and spreading in all directions, and billowing black smoke enveloping the surroundings.

Gu Yuan took a breath and felt a pungent sulfur smell mixed with heat rushing to his nose, which also contained a faint trace of fire poison.

With a thought, Gu Yuan automatically formed an invisible protective layer on his body, blocking these adverse factors from the outside.

If it weren't for his special constitution, which made him indifferent to these things, he would have been in considerable discomfort for quite some time.

He released his divine sense to scan the area and, seeing nothing amiss, he then launched his escape light and flew towards Thousand Flame Island.

Over the next few days, Gu Yuan concealed his presence and wandered around Thousand Flame Island. After figuring out the specifics of the island, he went directly to a mine.

Before long, a mine came into view.

There were also a few cultivators standing around, many of whom held long whips or other magical artifacts, and their eyes were sharp as they watched the miners around them.

These miners were almost all thin, with hunched backs, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs, holding pickaxes in their hands, and covered in dust and stone powder, making it almost impossible to recognize their original colors.

It is worth mentioning that the vast majority of these miners are cultivators, but their cultivation levels are sealed. Apart from having stronger physiques and sharper reactions than ordinary people, they are basically no different from ordinary people in other aspects.

Furthermore, due to their long stay on Thousand Flame Island, the foundation of their cultivation has long been eroded by the fire poison. Even if the seal within their bodies is broken and they regain their original cultivation, it will be difficult for them to make any further progress, and there is even a greater possibility that their cultivation will regress.

Snapped!
"Stop dawdling and hurry up!" Suddenly, a guard raised his whip and lashed it hard at an old man.

Although the whip was of low quality, it was still a magical artifact. With one lash, it left a long, bloody welt on the old man's body, tearing his clothes to shreds. The flesh on both sides of the wound rolled up, and blood flowed freely, making him look ferocious and terrifying.

The old man stumbled, nearly falling headfirst to the ground, his mouth twitching and his face contorted in pain.

But he dared not say anything more, or even look at the guard. He adjusted the basket on his back, emptied the spirit ore inside, and then turned and continued walking into the mine.

The other miners and guards around also witnessed this scene, but no one found it strange, and no one showed any unusual expression. The miners' expressions were numb and cold, as if they had long been accustomed to this situation.

The old man wasn't the only one being beaten; other miners were also whipped and kicked from time to time.

Gu Yuan even witnessed a middle-aged miner, after being beaten, reveal a hint of resentment in his eyes, which was then noticed by others.

"Oh ho... You dare look at me like that? Looks like you're tired of living... In that case, I'll grant your wish!"

A ruthless glint appeared in the guard's eyes. He raised the whip in his hand, channeled his inner energy, and began to lash out wildly without any rhyme or reason.

The magical whip, imbued with true energy, was incredibly powerful, radiating a chilling spiritual light. With a single lash, it was like a long sword, capable of shattering gold and breaking iron.

Even though the middle-aged man was physically strong and had cultivation, his cultivation was sealed, leaving him with only a fraction of his original strength. Under the long whip of the magic weapon, he could only scream and fall to the ground.

After a few lashes, one of his arms was broken, more than a dozen bones were shattered, and his whole body was covered in blood and flesh.

Even so, they showed no mercy.

He was whipped several more times, and the man stopped howling in pain. His breathing became weak and he was on the verge of death, barely breathing.

The guard snorted coldly and stopped. He then beckoned two miners and ordered them to throw him off the cliff.

Seeing this, the other miners around them couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow, a mix of resentment, pain, and helplessness. However, under the intimidation of the other guards around them, they dared not do anything more.

Before long, at the guards' beckoning, the miners lined up in a long queue in front of a wooden shed.

Under the wooden shed were several fat, burly butchers. When the miner approached, one of them handed him a grayish-brown flatbread, followed by a bowl of not-so-clean thin porridge.

Then, the miner turned around, walked to the side, squatted down, and began to wolf down his food.

Another miner stepped forward and took the flatbread and porridge from him.

Gu Yuan glanced at it a few times and couldn't help but be amazed by the stinginess of the old man Hun Tian's disciples and their followers.

The flatbreads in the miners' hands were clearly made from a kind of spirit grain, but judging from their color, they were probably mostly bran from the spirit grain, and didn't contain much spiritual energy.

As for the porridge, it was so thin that you could hardly see any rice grains.

Under normal circumstances, in order to maintain their daily needs, cultivators need to consume some spiritual grains and spiritual food in addition to their daily breathing exercises.

Those with more wealth simply subsist on grain-based elixirs such as Bigu Dan and Yujing Dan.

(End of this chapter)