64: Chapter 64 Ten Thousand Flames Contend for the Path, Palace Gate

Following closely behind the Tier 3 skeletal giant—which possessed the greatest strength and most imposing aura, causing other flame creatures to retreat wherever it passed—it was the most conspicuous and dangerous "vanguard" in the current chaos!

Gamble! Gamble that the skeletal giant's target was the object inside the palace, and it had no time to spare for the ant behind it! Gamble that at the moment it rushed into the palace gate, he could follow right behind and squeeze through that gap!

A flash of madness crossed Lin Ye's eyes as he staked all his hope on this life-or-death gamble. Holding nothing back, he pushed his Mystic Jade Body to the limit, clinging tightly to the back of the Lava Fire Python, while using the broken flame sun token to communicate with the python with all his might, issuing the clearest of commands—

"Follow that big bone right in front! Charge!"

Although the Lava Fire Python was afraid, under the forced compulsion of the flame sun token's remaining power, it let out a hiss. Its body suddenly straightened like an arrow off a bowstring, keeping close at a distance of about ten zhang behind the Tier 3 skeletal giant, charging toward the slowly opening palace gate!

The magma sea was boiling!

Every step the skeletal giant took stirred up monstrous waves in the magma, sending countless weak flame spirits and low-tier fire beasts flying or crushing them. Yet it did not care; within its golden flame eye sockets, there was only the open palace gate and the aura emanating from behind it that made its Soul tremble and feel immense craving.

Lin Ye steered the Lava Fire Python, traveling through the raging waves and chaos stirred up by the skeletal giant, like a lone boat in a stormy sea, ready to capsize at any moment. The scorching waves, mixed with shattered flames and splashing magma, constantly pounded against the precarious barrier of the flame sun token. The barrier's light flickered uncertainly, and Lin Ye could feel the burning pain on his skin and the creaking sound of the barrier on the verge of collapse.

He gritted his teeth and persisted, crazily pouring his remaining Spiritual Qi into the flame sun token while ordering the python to increase its speed to the limit.

Ten zhang, five zhang, three zhang...

They were getting closer and closer to the skeletal giant, and closer and closer to that palace gate, which was over ten zhang high and slowly opening!

The gap in the palace gate had opened to a zhang in width, and the scene inside was hazy, with only endless golden-red light and vast pressure surging out.

The skeletal giant let out a heaven-shaking roar and suddenly accelerated, its huge bone claws gripping the edge of the palace gate, preparing to squeeze in!

Now!

A bright light flashed in Lin Ye's eyes, and he slapped the Lava Fire Python's head hard!

The Lava Fire Python understood, its body suddenly curling up and then shooting out like a spring, passing through the gap beneath the skeletal giant's massive frame in a narrow escape, shooting straight into the gap of the palace gate!

"Roar—!"

The skeletal giant seemed to have sensed the actions of this "little bug" below. Its golden flame eye sockets suddenly turned downward, and a massive bone claw, carrying a force of destruction, slammed down fiercely toward the Lava Fire Python and Lin Ye, who had just passed beneath its crotch!

Before the bone claw arrived, the terrifying pressure had already caused the flame sun token's barrier to emit a groan of unbearable strain, instantly covering it in cracks!

"Get in!" Lin Ye roared, pouring his last bit of Spiritual Qi into the Lava Fire Python without reservation, while leaping from the python's back, shooting toward the gap in the palace gate like a cannonball!

Boom—!!!

The bone claw slammed down, striking the Lava Fire Python directly!

The Lava Fire Python's massive body was instantly smashed to pieces, turning into red magma that splattered in all directions. It didn't even have time to let out a cry before it was completely annihilated.

As for Lin Ye, borrowing the explosive blast from the Lava Fire Python being smashed and his own full-force leap, his body, like a kite with a broken string, shot at an even faster speed, grazing the edge of the skeletal giant's bone claw, and plunged into the zhang-wide gap of the palace gate in a narrow escape!

Thump!

He fell heavily onto the floor inside the palace, rolling over a dozen times before crashing into a cold metal pillar and stopping.

Blood spewed from his mouth, he didn't know how many bones in his body were broken, and his back and arms were covered in large-area burns. The backlash from the flame sun token, the aftermath of the skeletal giant's pressure, and the forced overdraw of energy sent him into a near-death state instantly.

But he had made it in!

Rumble—!

Behind him, the angry roars of the skeletal giant and the sound of it crashing against the palace gate could be heard. However, the palace gate seemed extremely heavy and special; after the skeletal giant squeezed half its body in, it actually began to slowly close, trapping the giant in the gap, unable to advance or retreat. Other flame creatures were blocked outside.

For the moment... he was safe.

Lin Ye collapsed on the ground, his vision swimming with darkness, without the strength to move even a finger. Only the nearly shattered flame sun token in his arms still emitted a faint warmth, reminding him that he was still alive.

He forced himself to hold onto the last trace of consciousness, fumbling in his Storage Pouch to grab a few Medicinal Pills for healing and stuffing them into his mouth. Regardless of whether their attributes conflicted, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Boundless darkness and excruciating pain.

He did not know how much time had passed; it felt like an instant, yet also like an eternity.

A trace of cool aura came from his left ring finger, slowly seeping into his scorched Meridians, bringing a faint vitality.

It was the ancient ring yuan sha. At the moment its master was near death, it activated autonomously once again, absorbing a certain pure and violent energy (fire attribute?) from the surrounding air, converting it into a trace of gentle star-silver Evil Qi to nourish Lin Ye's broken body.

At the same time, the nearly discarded flame sun token in his arms also heated up slightly, resonating faintly with the surrounding environment, as if it were passively absorbing something, preventing the cracks on its surface from expanding.

Under the protection of these two strange treasures, Lin Ye's vitality, which was on the verge of dissipating, was barely sustained.

Time flowed slowly in this silent and scorching ancient palace.

One day, two days...

When Lin Ye recovered a trace of consciousness again and struggled to open his heavy eyelids, he found himself lying in a vast, indescribably magnificent palace.

The ceiling of the palace was a hundred zhang high, composed of countless crystals burning with eternal flames, illuminating the entire palace in golden-red light. The floor was made of some unknown dark golden metal, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the firelight from the dome. Massive red pillars, each requiring several people to embrace, supported the ceiling. The shafts of the pillars were carved with countless ancient patterns of fire dragons, golden crows, Phoenixes, and other divine beasts, lifelike, as if they would break out of the pillars at any moment.

In the center of the palace was a huge, boiling dark golden magma pool, but unlike the outside, the magma here was as viscous as paste, emitting a heart-stopping pressure and pure-to-the-extreme fire attribute energy, as if it were the core source of the entire Secret Realm of Earth Fire.

And directly above the magma pool, an object was floating.

It was not the Magic Treasure, Medicinal Pill, or Cultivation Technique Jade Slip he had imagined.

It was... a mass of flames constantly changing its form!

The flames would sometimes turn into a golden crow spreading its wings, sometimes into a circling and roaring fire dragon, and sometimes into a slowly blooming lotus... The colors also flowed between red-gold, pure gold, and dark gold. It had no fixed form, yet it emitted a terrifying Dao rhyme that was supreme, as if it could burn down the myriad worlds and yet give birth to all living things!

Just by taking one look, Lin Ye felt his Soul was about to be ignited, purified, and sublimated!

"Is this... an Innate fire spirit? Or the Origin of some kind of heavenly fire seed?" Lin Ye was inexplicably shocked. The fire Dao contained in this object far exceeded any flame he had ever seen, and was even purer, more ancient, and more powerful than the strongest flame described in the Legacy of the Blazing Sun True Explanation!

Beneath that mass of changing flames, at the edge of the magma pool, stood an ancient stone tablet. The tablet was neither metal nor stone, dark red in color, and inscribed with several lines of flamboyant ancient seal characters, as if they had been burned directly by flames.

Lin Ye struggled to sit up, endured the pain to move to the stone tablet, and focused his gaze on it.

"I, Flame Lord, leave this inscription at the Geocentric Furnace before my passing."

"The Geocentric Furnace was forged by me, collecting the marrow of the geocentric fire for ten thousand years and supplementing it with refined star gold from beyond the heavens, used to nourish a wisp of the fire seed of my life-bound true fire—the 'Great Sun Golden Flame'."

"However, in a battle beyond the Realm, my Dao Foundation was damaged, my Origin collapsed, and there was no way to recover. I only leave this fire seed and the furnace here, waiting for a fated person."

"Those who arrive here with my 'flame sun token' (broken) can pass the preliminary test. To obtain the recognition of the 'Great Sun Golden Flame' fire seed, three conditions must be met:"

"First, one must possess an Innate fire spirit Physique, or a special Foundation of Physique that balances ice and fire, and harmonizes Yin and Yang;"

"Second, one's Divine Soul must be resilient, capable of enduring the agony of the golden flames scorching and refining the Divine Soul;"

"Third, one must have a righteous heart and not be a treacherous or violent person."

"If all three are met, use your own essence blood and Divine Soul as a guide to communicate with the fire seed and attempt to refine it. Succeed, and you will obtain the supreme fire Dao Legacy and be able to control the Geocentric Furnace; fail, and your Divine Soul will be extinguished, turning you into firewood for the furnace."

"Be cautious! Be cautious! —The final words of Flame Lord."

Great Sun Golden Flame! Flame Lord! Geocentric Furnace!

Monstrous waves surged in Lin Ye's heart. This turned out to be a place of Legacy left by a mighty expert known as the "Flame Lord," who was at least at the Soul Transformation Realm or even higher! And that mass of flames was actually a wisp of the legendary "Great Sun Golden Flame" fire seed!

No wonder those flame creatures outside, including the Tier 3 skeletal giant, were so frantically trying to get in. For them, this was a supreme sacred object!

And he, holding the broken flame sun token, had accidentally stumbled in and become the so-called "fated person."

But... the conditions for refining were so harsh!

Innate fire spirit Physique? He didn't have it. A special Foundation of Physique that balances ice and fire, and harmonizes Yin and Yang? Because of the conflict between his Ice Soul Sword Art and Blazing Sun True Explanation, as well as multiple fortuitous encounters, he had barely managed to touch the threshold of "balancing ice and fire," but he was still far from a "special Foundation of Physique."

Resilient Divine Soul? Having experienced life and death many times, especially the impact between the Blazing Sun True Explanation and the evil god's remnant thoughts, his Divine Soul was much tougher than those of the same Realm, but whether it could withstand the "Great Sun Golden Flame" scorching and refining the Divine Soul? Unknown.

Righteous heart? He wouldn't dare say he was very upright, but at least he was not a treacherous or violent person.

Of the three conditions, the first might not be met, and the second was a matter of life and death.

Refine it? The success rate was minuscule; it was almost certain death.

Do not refine it? Trapped here, with the Tier 3 skeletal giant Gatekeeper outside, and himself severely injured and dying, how long could he last? Moreover, the flame sun token was ruined; he probably couldn't even leave this palace.

It seemed there was only the path of refining, even if the hope was slim.

But to try rashly like this, how was it any different from throwing his life away?

Lin Ye's gaze swept across the palace. Apart from the magma pool (Geocentric Furnace) in the center and the stone tablet, the surroundings were empty, with nothing else. But in a corner of the palace, he found some scattered cushions and fragments of utensils that had long since turned to dust, as if the Flame Lord had preached or cultivated here in the past.

He struggled to the corner of the palace that was relatively dry and level, sat cross-legged, took out all his Medicinal Pills for healing, including the precious Profound Yin Pill, swallowed them all at once, and began to heal with all his might.

The fire attribute Spiritual Qi here was dense to the extreme, which should have been a dead zone for a Cultivator of the ice attribute like him. But strangely, the Dao rhyme emitted by the "Great Sun Golden Flame" fire seed seemed to be able to harmonize all things, and even the surrounding fire attribute Spiritual Qi became relatively "gentle," at least no longer crazily eroding his Meridians.

Under the nourishment of the Medicinal Pills and the ancient ring yuan sha, combined with the operation of the Ice Soul Sword Art, Lin Ye's injuries began to recover slowly. His broken bones knit together under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi, his burned flesh and skin slowly healed, and his dried-up Meridians regained vitality.

Five days later, Lin Ye's injuries had recovered by sixty or seventy percent, and his cultivation had stabilized at the Peak of Qi Refining Stage 5. However, the hidden danger of the conflict between the ice and fire Spiritual Qi within his body had a tendency to intensify in this extreme fire environment.

He could not wait any longer.

He got up, walked to the stone tablet again, and carefully read the inscription once more, especially the description regarding the "special Foundation of Physique that balances ice and fire, and harmonizes Yin and Yang."

"My situation might touch on it a little... but it is far from enough. If I could further harmonize the ice and fire in my body before trying to communicate with the fire seed, or even actively guide a wisp of the fire seed's aura to stimulate and temper myself, perhaps I could increase the success rate by a fraction?" Lin Ye pondered.

He remembered the two fire attribute supreme treasures in his arms—the geocentric fire lotus and the molten crystal core.

Perhaps... he could make use of them?

He first took out the geocentric fire lotus. The lotus was crystal clear, and it seemed as if liquid flames were flowing inside it, emitting pure and gentle fire attribute energy, which was easier to absorb than the violent geocentric fire outside.

He carefully broke off a petal and put it into his mouth.

The petal melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a warm current that surged into his limbs and bones. This energy was pure and gentle, and it did not violently conflict with the ice-cold Spiritual Qi in his body. Instead, it was like the finest sandpaper, beginning to slowly temper and widen his Meridians, and resonating with the wisp of red-gold fire energy in his body from the Blazing Sun True Explanation, slowly growing stronger.

Lin Ye guided this energy, operating it according to the rough cultivation route in the Blazing Sun True Explanation, while using the ice-cold Spiritual Qi of the Ice Soul Sword Art to protect and harmonize from the side.

Ice and fire formed a delicate balance and cycle within his body. Although it was still painful, it was not unbearable.

After refining one petal, he felt his Meridians were tougher, his affinity for fire attribute Spiritual Qi had increased a bit, and the conflict between ice and fire in his body seemed to have eased by a fraction.

It was effective!

His spirits lifted, and he continued to refine the geocentric fire lotus. It took three whole days to refine and absorb the entire geocentric fire lotus. His cultivation broke through to Qi Refining Stage 6! Moreover, his Physical Body and Meridians were greatly tempered, and his resistance and control over fire attribute Spiritual Qi increased significantly. The ice-cold Spiritual Qi and red-gold fire energy in his body initially formed the prototype of an "ice-fire vortex," which, although still fragile, could already operate slowly on its own, harmonizing the conflict.

Next, he began to refine the molten crystal core. The energy of this object was more violent, and he could only absorb it bit by bit. The process was more painful, but it also made his "ice-fire vortex" more stable, his Physical Body strength reached a higher level, and the Mystic Jade Body faintly touched the threshold of the third level.

When the geocentric fire lotus and the molten crystal core were all refined, Lin Ye opened his eyes, and a flash of red-gold and ice-blue light seemed to pass through them. He stood up, feeling the surging power and the relatively harmonious ice and fire Spiritual Qi in his body, and felt a bit more confident.

Peak of Qi Refining Stage 6! Physical Body strength comparable to the Late Stage of Qi Refining! Resistance to flames greatly increased!

It was time to try communicating with the "Great Sun Golden Flame" fire seed.

He walked to the side of the magma pool (Geocentric Furnace) and looked up at the supreme flame in the air that was constantly changing its form.

He held his breath and focused, adjusting his state to the best.

Then, he cut his fingertip, forcing out three drops of essence blood from his heart, mixed with a wisp of Divine Sense, turning into a bloodline of crimson red with faint blue starlight, slowly flying toward the "Great Sun Golden Flame" fire seed.

Whether he succeeded or not depended on this one move!

The bloodline formed by the essence blood and Divine Sense, like the most devout pilgrim, slowly approached the supreme flame.

The flame seemed to sense something; the speed of its changes paused slightly, and it turned into a slowly rotating golden lotus.

The bloodline touched the edge of the golden lotus.

Hum—!

The entire palace shook violently!

That mass of "Great Sun Golden Flame" fire seed erupted with an indescribably brilliant light! Lin Ye only felt a sea of red-gold before his eyes, and his Soul felt as if it had been thrown into the core of the sun!

The next moment, his consciousness was forcibly pulled away and swept into another world made entirely of flames!

The sky was fire, the earth was fire, the mountains and rivers were fire, and all things were fire!

And in the center of the flame world, a huge, heaven-supporting, earth-standing phantom of a Divine Being, seemingly composed of endless light and heat, slowly opened its eyes. Those eyes were like two shrunken suns, containing a supreme majesty that could burn down the heavens and yet give birth to all living things.

The gaze of the Divine Being phantom, like substance, landed on Lin Ye's conscious body, which was as small as a speck of dust.

A grand, ancient voice, as if coming from the beginning of heaven and earth, resonated directly in his Soul:

"Kid of the later generations... bearing Profound Yin, yet harboring Yang fire... ice and fire intertwined, Dao Foundation initially formed... However, if you wish to inherit my Dao, you must undergo the tribulation of 'Golden Flame Soul Refining'..."

"Nine turns of Soul Refining, each turn is a matter of life and death. If you can pass three turns, you can obtain the recognition of the fire seed; pass six turns, and you can obtain part of the Legacy; pass nine turns... then you will have the qualification to be my successor across generations..."

"Do you dare to try?"