120: Chapter 120 Holy Maiden of the Holy Fire Cult, Hengyuan Cave
The Sacred Fire Cult is a Sect with an ancient Legacy, revering the Dao of fire, especially the path of Supreme Fire; the entire Sect honors Supreme Fire above all else.
This Sect ranks among the top of the many Golden Core Upper Sects in the Great Qi Cultivation Kingdom, possessing more than one Golden Core True Monarch to suppress its Luck and intimidate all directions.
A Golden Core Upper Sect like the Xuan Yuan Sect, which has a Late Stage Golden Core True Monarch, is nothing in front of the Sacred Fire Cult; it is not worth mentioning.
Even the Zhiyang Sect, which has the Burning Absolute True Monarch, is wary of the Sacred Fire Cult. It is far from as simple as it appears on the surface, with a deep and unfathomable foundation; even if a Nascent Soul Earth Immortal were to arrive in person, the Sect would likely have means to deal with them.
In terms of strength and foundation, the Western Territory of Great Qi is stronger than the Eastern Territory of Great Qi.
Among the four territories of the Great Qi Cultivation Kingdom, the Eastern Territory can be said to be at the bottom, producing the fewest powerhouses, especially in the Xuan Prefecture.
Under the rule of the Xuan Yuan Sect, many talented Cultivators are either suppressed or die inexplicably.
Especially those Prodigy Cultivators qualified to achieve the Golden Core True Monarch Realm; none have succeeded, and the shadow of the Xuan Yuan Sect is behind all of this.
This Golden Core Upper Sect has long been rotten to the core; were it not for the Slaying Halberd True Monarch, it would have been attacked by all and destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Within the Xuan Prefecture, most False Core Cultivators are forced to consume Golden Nature due to the might of the Xuan Yuan Sect, condensing a False Core, which basically cuts off their future path of Dao.
Like Artifact Inscription of the Qi Xuan Sect, he is special. With the guarantee of True Monarch Shuxuan and the assistance of many parties, he was able to withstand the pressure of the Xuan Yuan Sect, refining the False into the True and transforming the False Core into a Golden Core.
The Golden Core Upper Sects within Great Qi, especially those that existed before the founding of Great Qi, cannot be underestimated. Every one of them was wealthy in the past and has an incomparably deep foundation; their founding Ancestral Masters were at least Nascent Soul Earth Immortal Venerables.
For example, the founding Ancestral Master of the Xuan Yuan Sect was an ancient existence known as Great Venerable Xuan Yuan Gui Li, referred to as Great Venerable Xuan Yuan. Being addressed as a Great Venerable among many Earth Immortal Venerables, his strength and status go without saying.
The Sacred Fire Cult is the same. The founding Ancestral Master was a Great Venerable who walked the path of Supreme Fire, titled the Saint Profound Ultimate Fire Virtue Great Venerable, whose strength was even above that of Great Venerable Xuan Yuan.
After all, the Dao of fire was at Perfection, possessing all the characteristics of the Five Methods, and the path of Supreme Fire ranks first among the five fires in terms of lethality and destructive power; its Dou Zhan ability is even a notch stronger than the killing path of Geng Metal.
As for the origin of the Sacred Fire Cult's name, it comes from an Immortal Fire obtained by the Ancestral Master of the Sacred Fire Cult, which was discovered in the deepest part of the Dragon Spine Desert and is suspected to have been left behind by an Immortal Lord level figure.
The Ancestral Master of the Sacred Fire Cult only slowly rose to power after obtaining the Immortal Fire, finally achieving the position of Great Venerable and intimidating the world with the prestige of Supreme Fire.
Nowadays, the Ancestral Master of the Sacred Fire Cult has fallen, but that Immortal Fire is still enshrined within the Sacred Fire Cult, suppressing the Sacred Fire Cult's Luck and protecting the Sacred Fire Cult.
This world-class great cult is a School with the Cult Master and the Saintess as its core; the former is the leader of the School, and the latter is its spiritual symbol.
The selection of each generation of Sacred Fire Cult Saintess must be approved by the Immortal Fire to be established; if the Immortal Fire does not agree, then a new Saintess must be appointed.
Furthermore, the Saintess of the Sacred Fire Cult must be pure and flawless, sacred and noble, untainted by the mundane world.
Simply put, she must be beautiful, the kind that brings disaster to the country and the people, and she must be a virgin.
If a certain generation of Saintess loses her virginity due to an accident, she will be stripped of her position as Saintess and sent to the Immortal Fire Prison to atone for her actions before the Immortal Fire.
The current Sacred Fire Cult Saintess is named Liu Tingshu. She was born with supernatural features; at birth, there was an omen of fire filling the sky, which even caused the Immortal Fire to move, taking the initiative to grant a blessing and leaving a child fire within her body for the purpose of protecting her Dao.
This current Saintess is known as the number one talent of the Sacred Fire Cult in thirty thousand years. She is a Nascent Soul Immortal Seed heavily cultivated by the Sacred Fire Cult and is destined for Immortal Ascension in the future.
But what happened next changed her destiny.
After Chen Zhuxiao entered the Dragon Spine Desert, he encountered many crises, which he passed with his powerful combat strength, slaying many Foundation Establishment sand bandits.
Several times, he encountered crises at the Purple Mansion level. Fortunately, with the two Spirit Treasures, 'vast thunder' and 'prison breaker', he not only escaped a disaster but also injured several Purple Mansion True Persons.
After all, they are Spirit Treasures, Magical Artifacts more powerful than top-grade Spiritual Artifacts. Even a Purple Mansion True Person must be careful when facing them, even if the holder is a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator.
Of course, Chen Zhuxiao also has an Immortal Artifact from the Ancient Thunder Palace in his body; this is his greatest reliance for daring to traverse the Dragon Spine Desert.
An Immortal Artifact, even if damaged, can still erupt with unparalleled power, enough to shock a Golden Core True Monarch.
He did not know whether Artifact Inscription had completely repaired this Immortal Artifact, but he could vaguely feel that the xuan shu thunder punishment seal was not at Perfection; it was incomplete.
Although Artifact Inscription is an Artifact Refining Grandmaster standing at the pinnacle, he was only at the False Core level when repairing the xuan shu thunder punishment seal. How could he completely repair an ancient Immortal Artifact?
Only an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster at the Nascent Soul Venerable level has the certainty to refine and repair items at the Immortal Artifact level. In the entire Great Qi Cultivation Kingdom, there is only one such person: the Pavilion Master of the Great Qi Heavenly Craft Pavilion.
But this Pavilion Master is not a local Cultivator, but comes from the Heavenly Craft Pavilion, a behemoth that spans many countries.
A year after entering the Dragon Spine Desert, Chen Zhuxiao met Liu Tingshu, the current Saintess of the Sacred Fire Cult.
The two met in a city within the Dragon Spine Desert; it was fate.
That city was called Desert City, a city built on a desert oasis, a supply station on the many routes crossing the Dragon Spine Desert, so there were many Cultivators coming and going.
Because of the harsh environment of the Dragon Spine Desert, the Cultivators nurtured there are all vicious and evil, especially the local Cultivators.
Chen Zhuxiao was originally of a nature that hated evil, and he also cultivated Divine Thunder. As a swordsman, he naturally drew his sword to help when he saw injustice on the road.
Liu Tingshu cultivated Supreme Fire, and her nature was also explosive. As the Saintess of the Sacred Fire Cult, she was fearless and could not stand seeing bullying of men and women.
Therefore, the two fought fiercely in Desert City and joined forces to slay the son of the Desert City Lord, an arrogant and domineering playboy.
The consequence was naturally attracting the pursuit of the Desert City Lord, a Late-stage Purple Mansion True Person.
The two fled all the way, setting traps along the way to injure several of the Desert City Lord's Purple Mansion subordinates, making the Desert City Lord furious.
But the Desert City Lord was, after all, a Late-stage Purple Mansion True Person, with powerful Divine Ability and mysterious means, gradually pushing the two into a dead end.
Just as Chen Zhuxiao was preparing to sacrifice the xuan shu thunder punishment seal and Liu Tingshu was preparing to use the means to protect her Dao, a super sandstorm that made all Cultivators in the Dragon Spine Desert turn pale appeared.
The storm raised by a sandstorm of this level is enough to make Purple Mansion True Persons fearful. The power at the center is no less than a Violet Palace Peak using a Divine Ability of the Five Dharma Manifestations, and even a Great True Person at the Purple Mansion Perfection level would have to retreat, not daring to approach.
Liu Tingshu used a Golden Core method to protect herself and Chen Zhuxiao. The Desert City Lord was not so lucky; coincidentally, he was caught in the center of the storm and was torn to pieces in an instant.
The great power of nature, even a Purple Mansion True Person, must be in awe.
It is rumored that in the deepest part of the Dragon Spine Desert, there exists a Forbidden Ground where even Golden Core True Monarchs would have life-threatening dangers.
The thirty million miles of Dragon Spine Desert does not seem very wide to those above the Golden Core level, but what they fear is the true dragon spine deeply buried in the desert floor.
An existence of that level, even if fallen, its corpse still possesses unparalleled Divine Might, which is not something they can profane.
After the super sandstorm passed, Chen Zhuxiao and the other did not know what area they had been swept into, a place of desolation and dead silence, as if they had come to a death Forbidden Ground that made all Cultivators terrified.
In that area, the wind that blew was black, the space was as fragile as thin paper in front of it, and skeletons glowing with fluorescence were buried under the yellow sand, having not decayed after countless years.
They seemed to have come to an ancient battlefield, full of corpses and broken weapons.
"At the very least, they are powerful Cultivators at the False Core level." This was what Liu Tingshu said after checking.
The Sacred Fire Cult has an ancient history, and the classics in the cult are numerous, recording many rumors about the Dragon Spine Desert.
"The area we are in should be a Forbidden Ground, an undiscovered Forbidden Ground."
Just like that, the two began to explore within the Forbidden Ground.
Chen Zhuxiao had the protection of the xuan shu thunder punishment seal, while Liu Tingshu had the means to protect her Dao left to her by the Sacred Fire Cult.
Afterwards, the two discovered an ancient Immortal Cave in the depths of the Forbidden Ground, inscribed with the words 'Hengyuan'.
After careful consideration, the two decided to join forces to explore the ancient Immortal Cave Hengyuan.
After going through all kinds of hardships and passing through many barriers, they arrived at the core of the Hengyuan Immortal Cave and saw the guardian of the Immortal Cave.
He claimed to be Hongji, an Earth Immortal under the command of Immortal Lord Hengyuan, and was ordered by Immortal Lord Hengyuan to guard the Immortal Cave. They were the first batch of Cultivators to enter this place in millions of years.
Then there was a lot of boasting, all praising the achievements of Immortal Lord Hengyuan and so on.
This Immortal Lord Hengyuan did not Cultivate the Five Elements, did not walk the Four Symbols, nor did he walk the path of frost, wind, and thunder, but walked the path of Clear Qi, claiming to be able to purify all things and clear the filth of the world.
It is a pity that Chen Zhuxiao and Liu Tingshu had already established their Dao paths and could not change to the path of Clear Qi.
However, the path of Clear Qi can also be used as an auxiliary to other paths, and one can use techniques related to Clear Qi to make one's own mana, Physical Body, and Divine Soul more pure and flawless.
Just like that, the two accepted the test set by Immortal Lord Hengyuan.
The process was originally very smooth, but the Immortal Fire child fire within Liu Tingshu's body rioted inexplicably after contacting the Clear Qi, vaguely incompatible with the Clear Qi.
Finally, under the guidance of Hongji, Chen Zhuxiao used the Dual Cultivation method of Clear Qi to reconcile Yin and Yang, calm the excess 'Turbid Qi' in Liu Tingshu's body, and saved her life.
With the help of Dual Cultivation, Chen Zhuxiao's Realm also broke through, from the Late Foundation Establishment Stage to the Foundation Establishment Peak.
After Liu Tingshu woke up, she immediately understood everything, and she had a very complicated feeling for Chen Zhuxiao.
From the time they met to the time they had a relationship, they experienced life and death several times on the way, and Chen Zhuxiao did it to save her.
If she were an ordinary female Cultivator, it would be fine; she could just leave with Chen Zhuxiao, but she happened to be the Saintess of the Sacred Fire Cult, which undoubtedly violated a taboo.
Before leaving, she gave Chen Zhuxiao a fiery red jade pendant, and then left without looking back.
A year later, the fiery red jade pendant was activated on its own, guiding Chen Zhuxiao, leading him to find a baby girl, who was his daughter with Liu Tingshu.
There was also a letter on the baby girl, written to him by Liu Tingshu.
If he could achieve the Golden Core, he could go to the Sacred Fire Cult to find her; if he could not, then they would never see each other again in this life, just treating it as a dream bubble.
As for the baby girl's name, Chen Zhuxiao had already thought of it; it would be called, Chen Xianting.