Immortal Refiner

This was Li Qing’s first time facing a heavenly spirit fire in its full, unweakened state!

Neither the Netherworld Cold Fire nor the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame he had previously subdued were in their prime. They required prolonged internal nourishing to unleash their full power.

When Li Qing first encountered the Netherworld Cold Fire, it was a newly rekindled fire seed, its power still relatively weak. Yet even then, it had given the foundation establishment realm Li Qing a harrowing ordeal.

The Spirit Devouring Demon Flame, upon acquisition, was in even worse condition—a completely extinguished source fire seed. He had to go through countless trials to reignite it.

Now, before him, within the Crimson Radiance Hall, a Profound Yellow True Flame surged with boundless fiery light, hovering within the hall’s interior.

Boom!

Without a doubt, this was a heavenly spirit fire in its full, unweakened state, untouched by any degradation. Subduing it would be no easy task.

Even Li Qing, who already possessed two heavenly spirit fires, couldn’t help but wear a solemn expression.

Subduing a heavenly spirit fire was an extremely perilous process, one that even he had to approach with utmost caution.

”Enter the Crimson Radiance Hall,” Dao Lord Bai Ling’s voice resonated at the opportune moment. ”Once we reinforce the sealing formation, we won’t need to worry about the Formless Demon Ancestor.”

Since the gates of the Crimson Radiance Hall had already opened for him, Li Qing naturally didn’t hesitate.

Even though the hall was ablaze with the fiery light of the Profound Yellow True Flame, he strode confidently inside.

However, he didn’t forget to protect himself with protective true essence.

Having cultivated the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, he naturally gained some protection within the Crimson Radiance Hall.

Li Qing’s figure vanished beyond the hall’s entrance. He had successfully entered the ancient hall—a feat True Lord Qingyang had yearned for countless years but never achieved. Yet here Li Qing was, entering with such ease.

Boom!

The moment Li Qing’s figure appeared within the Crimson Radiance Hall, the Profound Yellow True Flame suddenly surged. The surrounding earth-yellow flames, as if drawn by an invisible force, converged upon him, as if to incinerate him to ashes.

Startled, Li Qing immediately prepared to summon the two heavenly spirit fires within his body to counter the attack.

Dao Lord Bai Ling spoke first, his voice firm:

”No! The Profound Yellow True Flame is a crucial means of suppressing the Formless Demon Ancestor. Do not rashly confront it.”

”This fire has existed for countless ages and has long since become sentient. It likely doesn’t intend to harm you.”

Hearing this, Li Qing suppressed his impulse to summon the two heavenly spirit fires within him for defense.

Yet the surrounding Profound Yellow True Flame was truly terrifying, engulfing the sky and earth. It hardly seemed to have no intention of harming him!

Li Qing’s heart pounded in his chest.

But soon, he realized he had indeed been mistaken.

The surging Profound Yellow True Flame showed no malice. The strands of earthy-yellow fire merely swirled around him, drifting gently.

However, the protective true essence enveloping Li Qing’s body was being steadily drained away by the flame.

”What is this?” Li Qing asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty, while maintaining the flow of protective true essence around his body.

Having reached the peak of the core formation realm, his mana was abundant, so he wasn’t overly concerned about this drain.

Dao Lord Bai Ling, who had been observing from the side for a long time, finally grasped the full picture.

”I understand now. The Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch’s methods were truly extraordinary.”

”He refined this Crimson Radiance Hall, placed the Profound Yellow True Flame within it, and combined it with the Fire Spirit Pearl to create a dual-polarity formation.”

”Using this, the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch eternally sealed the Formless Demon Ancestor’s Dao Body here. By leveraging the supreme yang energies of the two Holy Artifacts as catalysts, he slowly ground down the Demon Ancestor’s Dao Body over countless years.”

Hearing Dao Lord Bai Ling’s explanation, Li Qing was deeply shaken.

It seemed the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch had indeed been remarkably arrogant, and he had the means to back up his arrogance.

Even when facing the Dao Body of a demon ancestor from the demon realm, he refused to merely suppress it. Instead, he sought to harness the heavenly spirit fire and the Fire Spirit Pearl of this world to create a unique terrain, slowly grinding down his opponent over eons.

Unfortunately, unforeseen events disrupted this process.

Over the millennia, outsiders had inevitably infiltrated Fire Cliff Cave—True Lord Qingyang, for example, and those corpse puppets clad in ancient attire.

In the end, the Formless Demon Ancestor, with its ability to manipulate minds, gradually dismantled the inescapable trap set in this place.

If Li Qing hadn’t arrived in time, and True Lord Qingyang had sacrificed the two core formation realm cultivators as offerings, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

”So, does that mean neither the Profound Yellow True Flame nor the Fire Spirit Pearl are meant for me?” Li Qing asked, his voice tinged with reluctance.

Although his primary goal had been to reinforce the sealing formation around the Formless Demon Ancestor’s Dao Body, he would have been overjoyed to obtain these two Holy Artifacts.

Unfortunately, if Dao Lord Bai Ling’s words were true, neither the Fire Spirit Pearl nor the Profound Yellow True Flame could be taken without risking the complete failure of the sealing formation, potentially freeing the Formless Demon Ancestor.

Dao Lord Bai Ling chuckled softly. ”Heh, it’s not entirely hopeless.”

”Over these long years, the Formless Demon Ancestor’s power has been gradually eroded, its condition far weaker than before.”

”You can now reinforce the sealing formation and continue to weaken the Formless Demon Ancestor’s power.”

”Once you reach the nascent soul realm, providing two more sources of heavenly spirit fire might completely obliterate this demon ancestor.”

However, that was a task for Li Qing to undertake after his nascent soul formation. For now, his cultivation and strength were still insufficient.

His only immediate options were to supply the Profound Yellow True Flame with true essence and reinforce the sealing formation to prevent the Formless Demon Ancestor from exploiting any weaknesses.

”Then I’ll retrieve these Holy Artifacts after my nascent soul formation. After all, I’m only at the core formation realm now and can’t subdue any more heavenly spirit fire.”

The Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art had a limitation: starting from the foundation establishment realm, each advancement in cultivation allowed the user to subdue only one additional source of heavenly spirit fire. Attempting to subdue more could lead to severe consequences.

Having already subdued two sources of heavenly spirit fire while still at the core formation realm, Li Qing was indeed unable to subdue a third.

Everything would have to wait until he achieved the nascent soul realm.

Success meant everything would be fine. Failure, however, meant there would be no need to worry about the aftermath, as failure in nascent soul formation typically resulted in death and the dissipation of one’s cultivation, leaving no room for recovery.

Li Qing calmed himself, channeling his true essence to replenish the Profound Yellow True Flame.

As expected, the flame surged with renewed vigor after absorbing Li Qing’s true essence.

Li Qing couldn’t help but wonder if this would only make it harder to subdue the heavenly spirit fire in the future.

Boom!

The intense heavenly spirit fire erupted forth, making the ancient Crimson Radiance Hall appear even more majestic, like a primordial force rooted in the earth’s core, capable of suppressing all existence.

Fueled by Li Qing’s true essence, the Profound Yellow True Flame began autonomously reinforcing the weakening sealing formation.

Deep within the magma sea below, the Formless Demon Ancestor seemed to sense these changes.

Finally enraged, his sinister voice echoed through the core space:

”Stop this at once! Do you not desire the Fire Spirit Pearl?”

”If you continue reinforcing the seal, the Fire Spirit Pearl will remain trapped here forever! You will never have another chance to claim it!”

However, separated by the Crimson Radiance Hall, the Formless Demon Ancestor’s mind-manipulating power had little effect.

Li Qing simply let the words pass through one ear and out the other, ignoring them completely.

At this moment, Li Qing clearly couldn’t afford to consider such matters. Even if he truly desired the Fire Spirit Pearl, that would have to wait until he had a means to completely eradicate the Formless Demon Ancestor’s Dao Body.

Ignoring all else, Li Qing even increased the output of true essence from his body, fully fueling the Profound Yellow True Flame.

He didn’t hesitate to expend a massive quantity of spirit stones to replenish his depleted true essence.

As a result, the sealing formation’s reinforcement accelerated rapidly. It wasn’t until Li Qing had consumed nearly three thousand spirit stones that the reinforcement was finally completed.

Buzz!

In the core space, all traces of dark purple demonic qi had vanished, replaced by a crimson glow.

Though the magma sea below continued to churn violently, the Formless Demon Ancestor’s voice could no longer be heard.

Sensing this, Li Qing finally wore a satisfied smile.

”With this, we won’t need to worry about this calamity for quite some time.”

With that, Li Qing turned his gaze toward the rest of the Crimson Radiance Hall.

Crimson jade slips began flying toward him, as if in gratitude for his earlier efforts.

As for the Profound Yellow True Flame, it had gradually receded, continuing its age-long task of eroding the Formless Demon Ancestor’s power in this place.

Li Qing accepted the jade slips, then clasped his hands toward the center of the hall, respectfully saying, ”Thank you for bestowing these arts!”

Without a doubt, these jade slips contained the inheritance of the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch, the very thing Li Qing had yearned for day and night!

Suppressing his inner excitement, he slowly extended his powerful divine sense, simultaneously examining the contents of the jade slips in his hand.

The complete Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art!

The entire manual, covering stages from the qi refining realm to the divine transformation stage, was included. With this, Li Qing wouldn’t need to worry about cultivation manual chapters for a very long time.

This single cultivation manual alone made his journey immensely rewarding, more than worth the trip.

But that wasn’t all. The other jade slips also contained treasures of considerable value.

For example, one slip recorded the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch’s most proficient daoist arts and divine abilities, as well as profound applications of heavenly spirit fire.

Spirit Power Sacrifice Burning Art, Crimson Blaze Heaven-Veiling Palm, Heavenly Fire Escape, Spirit Fire Sealing Technique.

Li Qing was dazzled by the array of divine abilities and daoist arts, completely overwhelmed by their sheer number.

These techniques were undoubtedly invaluable, some requiring cultivation at the nascent soul realm—a testament to their high threshold and formidable power.

Moreover, the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch had surprisingly mastered both Pill Refinement and artifact refinement to an exceptionally high degree.

The inheritance for both disciplines was remarkably complete, spanning from first-tier to fourth-tier techniques.

Crimson Blaze Artifact Refining Secret Manual, Crimson Blaze Pill Dao Secret Record!

In addition to these, Li Qing discovered several precious pill formulas and dao pattern inheritances. Overwhelmed by this wealth of knowledge, he felt almost faint with joy.

Dizzy and lightheaded, Li Qing quickly regained his composure and continued examining the contents of the remaining jade slips.

One slip contained something truly extraordinary: Methods for Rearing and Evolving Crimson Jade Bees!

In the ancient era, Fire Jade Bees were also known as Crimson Jade Bees, among other names. This variation was hardly surprising.

As the name suggests, this was a Cultivation Method specifically for nurturing Fire Jade Bees.

Li Qing immediately thought of the Red Jade Beehive outside the cave abode. So it was true, he realized. That swarm of Fire Jade Bees was indeed raised by the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch.

He imagined that the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch had once cultivated this swarm to great strength. However, after being left behind in this place, the bees gradually weakened over generations due to the lack of high-quality fire essence nourishment.

So that’s why the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch left the Fire Jade Beehive outside Fire Cliff Cave—to guard the entrance and prevent anyone from approaching the sealing formation deep underground.

Originally, these Fire Jade Bees could enter the earth’s core to feed on magma and Profound Yellow True Flame, both superior fire essence substances. But after the Formless Demon Ancestor interfered, they could no longer access the core.

Deprived of high-quality fire essence, the bees’ strength naturally declined. By the time the queen bee laid her successor egg before dying, the new queen was significantly weaker.

Thus, generation after generation, the Fire Jade Bees in the Red Jade Beehive grew increasingly feeble, until today they could barely threaten cultivators in the foundation establishment realm.

This weakness had created the opportunity for True Lord Qingyang to exploit.

Li Qing sighed inwardly, but a renewed sense of hope surged within him.

The Cultivation Method for nurturing Fire Jade Bees contained invaluable knowledge. By strictly following its methods for breeding and feeding, one could even evolve the bees to a much higher level.

”Once I get out of here, I mustn’t forget to subdue and control that Fire Jade Beehive.”

That rare and precious Fire Jade Beehive would be of immense help to anyone who inherited the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch’s legacy.

One of the pill formulas, in particular, used top-grade Fire Origin Nectar as its primary ingredient. Li Qing couldn’t afford to miss out on this opportunity.

Thus, Li Qing systematically reviewed all the jade slips in his possession, fully absorbing the entire inheritance of the Crimson Radiance Hall.

After memorizing every detail and confirming everything repeatedly, Li Qing bowed deeply toward the grand hall once more.

The treasures he had obtained today were of staggering value, far beyond what could be measured in spirit stones alone.

The complete Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, for instance, was a cultivation manual that could guide one’s cultivation all the way to the divine transformation stage!

Its value was self-evident; if news of its existence were to leak, it would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar even in the Great Wilderness Domain of the southern region.

The other Cultivation Methods and inheritances were equally astonishing. Even a mere fragment of their knowledge could cause significant repercussions if revealed.

”A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure invites disaster,” Li Qing murmured to himself, fully aware of the gravity of the situation. ”These treasures are far too valuable to be carelessly revealed.”

(End of the Chapter)