Taming Beasts and Cultivating Immortality from Two Realms

Chapter 359 Mingli's Mixed Flames
Crimson Flame Realm, Sky Patrol Palace.

A thin, middle-aged monk dressed in a linen Taoist robe was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

"Hmm?" True Venerable Tao Yan opened his eyes, a strange light flashing in them.

The Crimson Flame Realm is only a middle-thousand world. After its dragon vein origin was stripped away, most of it collapsed, and its actual area is far less than one-tenth of its peak size.

With his Nascent Soul cultivation and the help of the fifth-order Yuan Array set up by the Tianyan Immortal Sect over the years, True Venerable Taoyan's divine sense could almost cover the entire Crimson Flame Realm.

This also means that, as long as he is willing, everything that happens in the Crimson Flame Realm, from ants foraging for food to rare and precious materials maturing, can be clearly reflected in his mind, as if he could see the lines on the palm of his hand.

"The True Monarchs and prodigies of the Shangqing Immortal Sect are indeed extraordinary, adding another layer of uncertainty to the fate of the Yan Emperor," True Venerable Taoyan murmured.

Tian Yan's forty-nine, one of them escapes.

Having reached the level of True Venerable Taoyan, one must have long understood that the workings of heaven and earth cannot remain unchanged forever; there are always some variables and unexpected events. It is reasonable that Zhao Yue was able to discover the secrets of the Crimson Flame.

However, True Venerable Taoyan had no intention of intervening. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the direction of the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.

Fate is hard to come by; if you're slow on one step, you'll be slow on every step.

Before Zhao Yue discovered Yan Di's secret, that opportunity had already set its sights on the prodigies of the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.

Clearly, the little guy already had a goal, but he hadn't made up his mind yet.

Now that Zhao Yue has intervened, the fate of the Yan Emperor is uncertain, and there will likely be some twists and turns.

……

at the same time.

Thirty thousand feet underground, a pair of crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

If a Nascent Soul True Monarch were here, he would be able to discover without activating his divine sense that these eyes were not physical flesh and blood, but a crimson flame whose shape was constantly changing and whose aura was extremely unique.

Sometimes it gathers into human eyes, sometimes it blooms into a lotus flower, and its body is always surrounded by three halos, following the way of the Three Ones.

The flame core is dark yellow, representing the essence of fire and the fundamental essence of the fire palace.

The inner flame is reddish-purple, representing the divine essence of fire, flowing ceaselessly and governing form and substance.

The outer flame is red, representing the vitality of the fire and showcasing the authority of the Fire Emperor.

However, this flame, though seemingly perfect and flawless, as if it had reached the state of "all fires returning to one, evolving and dying," had not yet fully opened its source, embraced its soul, and merged its vital energy to evolve into its true form, thus losing some of its perfection.

It is precisely this missing perfection that gives rise to a lingering obsession in this special elemental being, constantly seeking an opportunity to complete it.

"The Fiery Dao Body is truly rare!" Emperor Yan's gaze never left Yu Zhaohua.

It could faintly sense a pure and powerful fire elemental energy and innate Daoist charm in Yu Zhaohua.

The former is easier to deal with; it can absorb and refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with a thought.

However, the latter is born from the creation of heaven and earth, and secretly aligns with a trace of the true meaning of the innate Great Dao. It cannot be achieved through acquired cultivation, and its rarity far exceeds that of cultivators with Heavenly Spiritual Roots.

If he could form a co-existence contract with this human prodigy, Emperor Yan was confident that he could use the power of the Fiery Dao Body to evolve and complete his own missing perfection.

Unfortunately, this prodigy had already contracted a fire-attribute beast, and it was none other than the Flint Rock Dragon, which it disliked the most.

A mixture of longing and dislike caused Emperor Yan to look away, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.

"what!"

Suddenly, Emperor Yan let out a soft exclamation, sensing something was amiss, and stared intently at Chen Beiwu.

It had no interest in paying attention to any of the other cultivators except for Yu Zhaohua.

Just now, it glanced at Chen Beiwu out of the corner of its eye and actually felt a faint, almost imperceptible tremor in the latter.

Just then, Chen Beiwu paused, looked down at the ground, and his gaze met that of Emperor Yan.

"He found me? How is that possible!"

Emperor Yan was shaken and startled. His body instinctively split in two, transforming into two crimson eyes that frantically fled to the left and right.

It should be noted that its ability to perceive profound mysteries is so subtle that even a True Monarch at the peak of cultivation would find it difficult to detect, yet it cannot escape the notice of a True God Transformation Venerable.

If the other party was able to detect its spying, could it be that a Nascent Soul True Venerable is pretending to be weak while actually being strong?

On the other side, Yu Zhaohua looked down in confusion, glancing in the direction of Chen Beiwu's gaze: "What's wrong? Is something the problem?"

"Something is watching us from the shadows. Everyone be on high alert and take precautions."

Chen Beiwu frowned slightly and looked up to remind him.

At first, only Tie Dan noticed something was wrong; he didn't sense anything at all.

But as he was on his way, a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart, as if he were being watched by some extremely dangerous being.

Chen Beiwu had no doubt about his own spiritual sense. Without a doubt, the opponent who could escape his perception and hide in the dark to spy on him was definitely a Nascent Soul True Monarch level existence!

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhaohua and the other three's expressions changed slightly, and their divine senses subconsciously probed their surroundings.

But there was nothing around except for the scorching hot wind and the boiling, gushing lava.

'Are you a cultivator from the Shangqing Immortal Sect?'

Yu Zhaohua's expression was solemn as he transmitted his thoughts through telepathy.

"It doesn't seem like it," Chen Beiwu replied.

If the cultivators of the Shangqing Immortal Sect were to discover their presence, they would have no need to act furtively; they would simply launch a surprise attack.

'Should we proceed with the plan, or begin clearing the area first?'

Yu Zhaohua glanced at Meng Chengxian almost imperceptibly.

Excluding the Shangqing Immortal Sect, in her view, the hidden danger most likely came from this eccentric Chief of the Dongxuan Sect.

"No need. Let's speed things up and find the nearest spiritual vein hub," Chen Beiwu said.

Unlike the innate Qi array eye, the spiritual vein hub occupies a position for up to two hours, making it vulnerable to siege or being ambushed by cultivators from other sects.

However, the higher the risk, the greater the reward. The immortal sect team that successfully occupies the spiritual vein hub can obtain a powerful earth vein talisman with an extremely wide coverage area.

This talisman is powerful enough to threaten a Nascent Soul True Monarch, provided it hits its mark perfectly.

However, the only drawback of the Earth Vein Mystic Talisman is that its activation speed is too slow, making it easy for even a Nascent Soul True Monarch to dodge.

However, it is an absolute weapon against Golden Core cultivators.

Therefore, at the start of each Heroes' Gathering, the two major spiritual vein hubs set up by the organizers become fiercely contested areas for all the major immortal sects.

There might be an exception this year, because the Shangqing Immortal Sect has produced a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and there is a 50% chance that they will run into each other in the competition for the Earth Vein Mystic Scroll.

In this situation, most cultivators from immortal sects would choose to conceal their tracks, ambush along the only route to the nexus, or hunt other immortal sect teams. It would be highly unlikely that they would risk occupying the spiritual vein nexus.

On the contrary, Chen Beiwu took the initiative to occupy the spiritual vein hub precisely to take a 50% chance of ambushing the Shangqing Immortal Sect cultivators.

As for the enemies currently hiding in the shadows, they will likely step forward and try to reap the benefits.

……

That evening.

The spiritual vein hub slowly disappeared, and Chen Beiwu had an additional Earth Vein Mystic Talisman in his hand. He then looked up at Meng Chengxian.

"There's a 50% chance, so it's normal not to encounter it," the latter said with a calm smile.

"Isn't Fellow Daoist Meng skilled in divination and deduction?" Chen Beiwu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Brother Chen, you overestimate me." Meng Chengxian said with a wry smile, "Fairy Yuexiao is a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and she possesses a supreme treasure that conceals the secrets of heaven. How could I possibly perform divination?" "Then it seems our cooperation can only end here." Chen Beiwu sighed softly.

Upon hearing this, the cultivators of the Dongxuan Immortal Sect changed their expressions drastically and assumed a battle stance.

Only Meng Chengxian continued to wave his fan, his expression calm: "Brother Chen, there's no need to worry. I guarantee that the promise I made earlier still stands."

Chen Beiwu shook his head slightly and glanced at Meng Chengxian: "You only get one chance."

"Ok?"

Meng Chengxian's eyes narrowed; she hadn't expected Chen Beiwu to act so unpredictably.

"Without my array to separate us, Brother Chen, are you confident you can defeat Fairy Yuexiao?"

"There's no need for Fellow Daoist Meng to trouble yourself with this matter."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Beiwu took action.

Since Meng Chengxian is unwilling to cooperate sincerely and chooses to slack off and waste time, he might as well take the five jade tokens and accumulate five more victory points for the Yuqing Immortal Sect, so as to prevent the other party from betraying him at a critical moment.

boom!
boom!
boom!
After exchanging several blows, Meng Chengxian couldn't even see the afterimage of the Three-Phase Black Dragon clearly before spitting out blood and retreating rapidly on his Black Tortoise.

Seeing that the chief was at a disadvantage, the remaining Dongxuan Immortal Sect cultivators became anxious, but were stopped and defeated by Yu Zhaohua and the other three, who then seized the jade token.

"Fine, I give up!"

Meng Chengxian casually tossed the token from his waist, his expression helpless.

What a fighting maniac!
In his view, even if Chen Beiwu forged the Primordial Golden Core and was strong in battle, he could not defeat a True Monarch prodigy like Zhao Yue in a one-on-one confrontation, and he would easily drag the Dongxuan Immortal Sect down with him.

It would be better to avoid the Shangqing Immortal Sect, defeat several other immortal sect teams, accumulate victory points, and then share some of those points to ensure the Dongxuan Immortal Sect's ranking remains stable.

'Humans really do love internal strife!'

Upon seeing this, the Yan Emperor, hidden deep underground, shook his head.

It wasn't stupid; when it realized that Chen Beiwu hadn't caught up immediately, it knew it was probably overthinking things.

The other party was not a Nascent Soul True Venerable at all, but an extraordinary Golden Core True Person!

As for how extraordinary this person is, it needs to test him to be sure.

After all, forming a covenant with a cultivator from the Immortal Alliance is no small matter and requires utmost caution.

If it were entrusted to the wrong person, it might never have the chance to become a fifth-realm demon lord, its future would be ruined, and it would remain at the fourth-realm demon king level.

With this in mind, and considering the rules and restrictions of the Gathering of Heroes, Emperor Yan slightly moved his divine sense, separating a small ball of flame that disappeared, roughly one-twentieth of his body.

"boom!"

The next second, the ground in front of Chen Beiwu and the others suddenly exploded, and a streak of crimson light shot out.

"careful!"

Chen Beiwu was the first to sense something was wrong and instinctively activated his escape light to teleport and dodge.

Mo Qingshuang felt a blur before her eyes, her vision instantly filled with endless flames, and then a pain shot through her chest as the protective barrier of true qi surrounding her shattered like glass.

Seeing this, the Glazed Sword Soul was enraged and unleashed its full power, transforming into a sword and slashing down.

"Clang!" The sound of metal clashing rang out.

Sensing the immense spiritual energy emanating from the firelight, the Glazed Sword Soul revealed an expression of disbelief, then suddenly felt a sharp pain in its brain and completely lost consciousness.

Upon seeing this, Xue Tianyi and Ye Xinya reacted swiftly, forming hand seals and unleashing their innate profound abilities together with the ginseng beast beside them, attempting to protect themselves.

As a result, halfway through their hand seals, another flash of fire appeared.

Xue Tianyi's hand seals changed rapidly, but she couldn't stop the extremely hot flames that could penetrate everything. Her protective true qi shattered, and even the beast beside her was defeated. Her body fell heavily to the ground like a broken kite.

The Heavenly Gang Mystic Beast in front of Ye Xinya also collapsed in the chest, vomiting blood and flying backward, causing Ye Xinya's pupils to contract and a chill to rise in her heart.

Mo Qingshuang was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator capable of defeating enemies beyond her realm, yet she couldn't even withstand a single strike of fire, let alone her!

At this critical moment, Chen Beiwu arrived in a flash and pointed out with a finger.

The Heavenly Tribulation of Dongzhen points out!

In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color, and an incomparably condensed, enormous finger suddenly took shape, striking first and pressing heavily onto the crimson flames.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

After a brief stalemate, the giant finger collapsed, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.

Taking advantage of the situation, Chen Beiwu protected Ye Xinya and retreated rapidly.

Feeling the warm hand in her sleeve, Ye Xinya's heart stirred, and she couldn't help but turn her head to look at Chen Beiwu's face.

"Be alert."

Chen Beiwu did not turn around, his gaze fixed on the crimson flames that had revealed their true form.

It was a blazing, crimson elemental body, beneath which were fifty jade tablets from the Immortal Sect, radiating a warm, lustrous sheen.

But more than anything else, what Chen Beiwu feared most was the wisp of purple aura emanating from the other party, a purple aura that was neither cloud nor rosy and defied description.

'Is this a once-in-a-millennium fifth-tier elemental beast? Or a fifth-realm demon lord, surpassing even a Nascent Soul True Monarch?'

Chen Beiwu considered the situation carefully, but instead of making a move rashly, he confronted the opponent.

If he wasn't mistaken, the sense of crisis he had sensed earlier most likely originated from this flame.

Could this be a special trial?
Yu Zhaohua's eyes narrowed slightly, her expression revealing surprise.

Carrying fifty jade tokens! What does that even mean?
This means that in the eyes of the higher-ups of the Tianyan Immortal Sect, the power of this mysterious flame is equivalent to the combined strength of the ten major immortal sects, or even far more.

Fortunately, due to the rules, these powerful special mystical beasts cannot eliminate cultivators from the immortal sects. They only need to gain their approval to obtain a certain number of special jade tokens based on their evaluation.

These special jade tokens cannot be taken away by cultivators from other sects; they can lock in victory points without diminishing them.

"The three of you have good aptitude, but your combat strength is unqualified!"

As soon as he finished speaking, three thin lines of fire fell.

Mo Qingshuang and Xue Tianyi, who had been in a coma, and their companion beast slowly awoke, their injuries completely healed.

"Thank you, senior."

The two, realizing what had happened, bowed deeply, knowing they had failed the test.

There was one thing they found strange: according to the rules of previous years, shouldn't the special tests for the Heroes' Gathering be announced in advance?

There's no such thing as just forcing it!
Ignoring the emotions of the two, the crimson flames flickered slightly, "looking" at Chen Beiwu.

"With exceptional talent and excellent combat prowess, you will receive ten special jade tokens and a wisp of Mingli Mixed Flame."

In the next instant, eleven streaks of light suddenly shot out and landed in Chen Beiwu's palm.

"The Mingli Hunhuo is a wisp of fire that differentiated from my origin. By incorporating it into the dantian and nurturing it with the Golden Elixir, it can cleanse the yin and turbidity, sublimate the pure spirit, and replace the pure qi of the Heavenly Gang to wash away the turbid qi of the Earthly Fiend True Qi. It is of great benefit to proving the Dao and becoming a Nascent Soul," the Yan Emperor's avatar explained.

"Thank you for your generous gift, senior." Chen Beiwu bowed and suppressed his doubts.

Something is wrong!
Chen Beiwu's intuition told him that this fifth-order Yuan Beast had other plans and was definitely not part of the Tianyan Immortal Sect's plan. Could it be an opportunity that was vaguely mentioned in the sect's intelligence?

But that opportunity was related to the Nascent Soul stage, and it was far beyond what a wisp of Mingli Chaos Fire could compare to!
Could it be that he's overthinking things?
(End of this chapter)