217: The actions of the Heavenly Fire Sect

Senior Brother Zhou and the female Cultivator followed their companion's gaze, and upon seeing it, both their expressions changed drastically, their bodies stiffening.

A Core Formation Cultivator! Encountering an unfamiliar Core Formation Cultivator in this desolate place suddenly made them tremble with fear.

"Ju... Junior Zhou Yan, with my Junior Brother and Junior Sister, greets Senior!" Senior Brother Zhou quickly bowed, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor.

The other two also hurriedly bowed, not daring to lift their heads.

Before a Core Formation Cultivator, their Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation was simply not worth mentioning.

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the three of them, but he didn't speak, merely nodding slightly in response.

He had no intention of getting entangled with these Juniors, much less bothering to inquire why they were here.

Seeing that they were respectful enough, he ignored them and turned to flee towards the deeper part of the canyon, where nether iron might be forming.

The three Disciples saw that this unfamiliar Senior seemed to have no intention of making things difficult for them, and a great weight was lifted from their hearts, cold sweat soaking their inner garments.

It wasn't until Lin Feng'sEscaping Light disappeared into the distant horizon that the three dared to straighten up, looking at each other, seeing lingering fear in each other's eyes.

"This Senior... what a powerful oppressive feeling. He's probably not much weaker than Grandmaster Chi Yan." The young Disciple patted his chest.

"Silence!" Senior Brother Zhou reprimanded in a low voice. "How can we speculate on the whereabouts of a Core Formation Senior? Quickly gather the Fire Lotuses. If we delay Grandmaster Chi Yan's important task of re-refining the 'chi huang bell,' a few heads won't be enough for us!"

The female Cultivator, while activating a Magical Artifact to probe the center of the lake, lowered her voice: "Senior Brother Zhou, Grandmaster is so anxious to re-refine the chi huang bell, even sending us to these Southern Fire Hills to find Fire Lotuses as a medicinal primer. Is it really related to investigating Junior Martial Uncle Liu's death?"

Senior Brother Zhou nodded gravely: "I heard Grandmaster deduced that Junior Martial Uncle Liu's crimson phoenix sky burning pearl must have fallen into the hands of the killer. By re-refining this chi huang bell, with its power of the same origin, it might be possible to sense the killer's aura within a certain range. Therefore, this mission is crucial. Return to the Sect immediately after gathering them."

"So that's how it is..." The young Disciple suddenly understood, a look of hatred appearing on his face. "If we can find the killer this way, we must dismember them into ten thousand pieces!"

"Alright, mind your words! Focus on the task."

The three said no more, fully activating their magical power, and began to collect the Fire Lotuses glowing with crimson light.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng piloted hisEscaping Light, flying towards the deeper part of the Southern Fire Hills, an area known as the Molten Abyss.

The deeper he went, the hotter and more violent the fire spiritual Qi in the air became. Below, almost no vegetation could be seen, only a crimson, cracked earth and fissures that occasionally spewed magma.

nether iron, a substance of extreme Yin, often forms in the deepest parts of places of extreme Yang; this is the so-called reversal of extremes.

Several days later, at the edge of a colossal, bottomless rift valley, Lin Feng finally stopped.

A hundred zhang below the rift, a cave entrance half-obscured by dark red magma continuously spewed hot air, but at the core of that air, a trace of pure and condensed Yin-cold Qi overflowed.

"This is it." Lin Feng's spirits lifted. He avoided several unstable ground fire eruption points and, like a falling leaf, glided into the dark cave entrance.

The interior of the cave was much wider than expected, with extremely high temperatures and distorted air. The four walls had a glazed texture from prolonged scorching.

At the deepest part of the cave, a dark red magma pool, only about a zhang in circumference, slowly churned. In the center of the pool, a metallic Ore, roughly the size of a fist, entirely dark black, and covered with natural silver patterns, quietly floated.

It was emitting wisps of cold Qi, actually pushing back the surrounding hot magma by an inch, forming a peculiar vacuum zone.

This was, naturally, the nether iron Lin Feng was looking for.

Lin Feng rejoiced in his heart and was about to step forward to collect it when the Little Beast, which had been quite quiet on his shoulder, suddenly moved.

The little fellow was clearly not interested in the chilling nether iron; all its attention was drawn to the pure, almost liquefied fire spiritual Qi filling the cave.

It leaped from Lin Feng's shoulder into the air in front, its purple-gold eyes wide, its small nose twitching vigorously.

Then, the little fellow opened its mouth and took a forceful breath.

In an instant, the dense, almost solidified fire spiritual Qi in the cave transformed into streams of light red air currents, swirling and pouring into its tiny mouth and nose.

Its body was like a bottomless pit, accepting everything.

As the massive amount of fire spiritual Qi poured in, the tuft of crimson fur on its back visibly became more vibrant and lustrous, even emitting a faint warmth.

And its milky-white fur also seemed to become more glossy and soft.

Lin Feng stopped, frozen in place.

This little thing, it could actually devour pure fire spiritual Qi so directly and in such large quantities?

Moreover, judging by its appearance, it not only showed no discomfort but seemed to be greatly enjoying and benefiting from it.

This was certainly not something an ordinary Spirit Beast could do! How could its tiny body contain such vast energy?

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the previously dense fire spiritual Qi in the cave had thinned considerably, and the temperature also seemed to have dropped slightly.

The Little Beast finally stopped absorbing, letting out a small, satisfied burp, with even a wisp of flame escaping from the corner of its mouth.

It rubbed its somewhat round little belly with its paw, its eyes full of contentment and laziness.

Then, with a push of its hind legs, it jumped back onto Lin Feng's shoulder, turned its small head, and rubbed its wet nose against Lin Feng's neck, letting out soft, satisfied "woo woo" sounds. It found a comfortable spot, curled up, tilted its head, and fell into a deep sleep in the blink of an eye.

Lin Feng: "..."

He looked down at the little fellow on his shoulder, whose breathing was even and long, as if it were just taking a nap after a full meal. Then he looked up at the nether iron still emitting cold Qi in front of him, feeling a bit speechless.

The mysteries surrounding this Little Beast seemed to be growing. Not only could it absorb fire spiritual Qi, but it also seemed... quite picky?

Shaking his head, Lin Feng temporarily suppressed the doubts in his heart. He formed a hand seal with his right hand and levitated the dark black Ore into his grasp.

A pure wave of Yin-cold Qi spread up his arm, invigorating him.

The refining of the Stellar Sword Array of Circulating Heaven had only just begun; the nether iron was merely for the future refining of the Ghost Constellation Sword.

Subsequent refining of other Constellation Flying Swords would require more spiritual Materials of various attributes, all extremely rare, such as Star Core Sand, solar essence gold, and even the legendary ten thousand year cold jade said to originate from the extreme depths of the frigid sea.

These Materials were all rare treasures that could only be found by chance, certainly not to be gathered in a remote place like the Southern Fire Hills or the ordinary market towns around the Tianxuan Sect.

Lin Feng looked north. When he went to the North Nether Sea before, he had passed through a massive city called Sea Cliff City.

This city did not belong to any Sect; it was the core hub for trade between the Human Race and overseas Cultivators. Its trade routes extended in all directions, and treasures gathered there, making it a place where great events converged on this continent.

Only there was it most likely to find the Artifact Refining Materials he needed.

However, the journey from the Southern Fire Hills in the southwest to Sea Cliff City in the far north was vast, more than a hundred thousand li.