424: Chapter 424 First Question

The group, led by Qin Pojun, followed by Ye Tian, Shui Qingdie, Yun Wuji, Yu Miaoqing, Feng Xuan, Pei Tieshan, Dongfang Xinghe, and Han Xiao (carrying the Ghost Girl on his back), stepped into the crimson halo one after another.

The light and shadows before their eyes shifted, and a sense of scorching heat instantly enveloped their entire bodies.

It was not a burning sensation, but rather like being immersed in a pool of warm, flowing lava.

Everywhere they looked was filled with dancing crimson, and a roar like the beating of the earth's core echoed in their ears.

When the light and shadows stabilized, they found themselves standing on a boundless crimson wasteland.

The sky was filled with eternal burning clouds, the earth was cracked, and dark red lava flowed through the fissures, causing the air to distort and heat waves to rise.

In the distance, one could vaguely see volcanoes erupting with raging flames.

"Is this... the Heart-Questioning?" Xiahou Ba wiped the sweat that instantly poured from his forehead and looked around.

No sooner had he spoken than crimson lava suddenly surged into the sky from a massive fissure nearest to them, rapidly coalescing in the air!

In the blink of an eye, a giant, five zhang tall and composed entirely of crimson lava and raging flames, with a blurred face, stood before them!

In the giant's eye sockets were two dancing golden flames; as its gaze swept over them, everyone felt a jolt in their hearts, as if their Divine Soul were being scorched by invisible fire.

The giant's aura was majestic, shockingly reaching the Peak of the Fifth Stage of Sea Transformation!

Moreover, in this world of fire, its pressure was even more terrifying.

"Do we fight?" Xiahou Ba gripped the handle of his axe.

"I fear it is not that simple." Ye Tian observed intently.

He noticed that after the lava giant appeared, it did not attack immediately. Instead, its dancing golden flame "gaze" swept across everyone's faces one by one, as if it were identifying them.

When its "gaze" fell upon Ye Tian, it paused slightly.

Ye Tian clearly felt the fire jade essence in his bosom heat up slightly.

The flames in the lava giant's eye sockets seemed to brighten for an instant as well.

Immediately after, an ancient thought exploded in everyone's mind: "What is fire?"

It was not a voice, but a direct inquiry to the mind and spirit!

At the same time, the lava giant moved.

It lifted its massive foot, composed entirely of lava, and stomped heavily forward!

"Boom!" The earth shook violently, and countless fire snakes erupted from beneath its feet, spreading rapidly along the ground toward everyone!

Wherever the fire snakes passed, rocks melted and the air exploded with noise; their power was enough to instantly severely injure any Cultivator below the Fourth Stage of Sea Transformation!

This was not just a physical attack; each fire snake contained a will of violence, destruction, and burning everything, charging straight into everyone's Sea of Consciousness!

A dual attack! The Physical Body and the mind and spirit were simultaneously enduring scorching and interrogation!

"Scatter! Block!" Qin Pojun roared. His long spear stirred up crimson True Essence, and with a single thrust, the spear light resembled a Dragon, shredding several fire snakes attacking him.

However, the destructive will contained in the fire snakes surged into his mind, causing his vision to darken slightly and his movements to slow by a fraction. The hem of his clothes was grazed by a fire snake that slipped through, instantly turning charred black.

Xiahou Ba bellowed, his giant axe bringing down a yellow Protective Aura, severing most of the fire snakes in front of him. But the impact of the destructive will caused his temples to throb, and blood seeped from his nostrils.

Yun Wuji, Yu Miaoqing, and Feng Xuan intertwined their sword lights into a web, struggling to defend themselves, but each of their faces rapidly turned pale, clearly having suffered significant damage to their minds and spirits.

Pei Tieshan roared as he blocked in front of Dongfang Xinghe and Han Xiao, hard-resisting several fire snakes. The yellow True Essence on his body fluctuated violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Dongfang Xinghe's face turned white, and he gritted his teeth to activate several protective Talismans, but they had little effect.

Han Xiao's Sword Qi formed a screen, protecting himself and the Ghost Girl on his back, but the sword light flickered unsteadily under the impact of the fire snakes.

Shui Qingdie guarded Ye Tian's side, her water-blue True Essence transforming into a light screen. However, due to the elemental opposition, the light screen quickly dimmed, and she let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Ye Tian did not move.

He stood where he was, and sword remained unsheathed.

The fire snakes containing the destructive will lunged toward him, but he turned a blind eye to them. He simply raised his head, looking at the dancing golden flames in the lava giant's eye sockets, and looking at this crimson, burning world.

"What is fire?"

That grand thought impacted his mind and spirit again, ten times, a hundred times stronger than the will contained in the fire snakes!

It was as if countless voices were hissing, roaring, and questioning in his mind: Burning! Destruction! Violence! Devouring! This is fire! Submit to destruction! Embrace the burning!

In Ye Tian's Sea of Consciousness, the chaos bead shone with brilliant light, guarding his spiritual platform and isolating most of the violent mental impact.

He did not pay attention to the fire snakes that had lunged before his eyes.

Amidst the exclamations of the others, he suddenly closed his eyes.

In his mind, flashes appeared: the scorching heat of the Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Fruit from the Land of Flowing Fire, the churning lava of the Flame Cave, the aura of Venerable Jiehuo's remnant soul which was as vast as the scorching sun, and also the trace of Chaos intent within his own Chaos True Essence—that ability to simulate, accommodate, and ultimately return all violence to tranquility.

Fire is destruction, it is burning, it is violence.

But fire is also light, it is warmth, it is the beginning of civilization, it is the first ray of power that breaks through Chaos, bringing vitality and change.

It is the tempering that refines iron into steel, the warmth that dispels the bitter cold, and the light that guides the way in the darkness.

Destruction and rebirth, violence and warmth, ravaging and control... two sides of the same coin.

He did not Cultivate a purely fire-attribute Cultivation Technique, but his understanding of "fire," due to the accommodating nature of his Chaos True Essence, the Karma of Venerable Jiehuo, and his repeated experiences of struggling to survive in flames, had long surpassed simple elemental cognition.

"Fire..." Ye Tian opened his eyes, and a scene of subterranean fire erupting seemed to flash through his pupils.

He did not answer the thought's inquiry, but instead slowly raised his right hand, palm upward.

A wisp of Chaos True Essence appeared in his palm.

The next moment, this wisp of True Essence began to change; its color turned crimson, and it emitted a scorching aura.

But this flame did not have the tyranny and destructive feeling of ordinary flames; instead, it carried a peaceful, gentle warmth.

Using Chaos, he simulated, evolved, and interpreted the "fire" in his heart.

The instant this wisp of Chaos fire appeared, the incoming fire snakes, as if subjects seeing their king, docilely circled and spiraled, then transformed into fire-attribute Spiritual Qi, absorbed by the wisp of Chaos fire in Ye Tian's palm.

The second step the lava giant was about to take froze in mid-air.

The golden flames dancing in its eye sockets flickered violently, as if it had seen something incomprehensible, yet something that made them instinctively feel awe.

The violent flames on the giant's body surface also seemed to calm down a little.

The heat and violence of the entire crimson wasteland appeared to stagnate at this moment.

Ye Tian held the wisp of Chaos fire levelly, his gaze calmly looking at the lava giant, and through it, looking toward the core of this trial space.

"My fire is like this."

The lava giant fell silent.

After a few breaths, the thought sounded again, but the violence and questioning intent within it had already dissipated.

The lava giant's massive body collapsed with a boom, turning back into crimson lava, falling into the fissures, and disappearing.

The scorching heat and destructive will filling the sky retreated.

The wasteland was still the same wasteland, but the oppressive feeling it gave people had diminished by more than ninety percent.

Ahead, in the burning sky, a crimson light ladder slowly descended, extending toward the Peak of the highest volcano in the distance.

At the end of the light ladder, the outline of a portal could be vaguely seen.

The First Question, passed.

Everyone looked at each other, all seeing shock and lingering fear in each other's eyes.

They had fought with all their might to block the fire snakes and suffered damage to their minds and spirits, yet Ye Tian had resolved the crisis so easily.

That wisp of gray and red intertwined fire... what exactly was it?

"Let's go." Ye Tian put away the Chaos fire in his palm, his face seemingly turning a shade paler; clearly, the seemingly easy response had also consumed quite a bit from him.

He did not explain, walking first toward the crimson light ladder.

Everyone hurriedly followed, the clouds of doubt and a certain inexplicable conviction in their hearts deepening.

The moment he stepped onto the light ladder, the fire jade essence in Ye Tian's bosom seemed to move gently again, and a trace of warmth, so faint it was almost imperceptible, flowed out, merging into his body and making his spirit feel slightly refreshed.

He paused for a moment, but did not look back.