255: Chapter 255 Which Path Should We Take?

Tongbao City, though a border trading city, had various forces operating points there. Su Cheng spent 1,500 Spirit Stones to rent a top-tier cultivation room for three days.

After Sun Boyong entered the cultivation room, he first used the Formation Flags he brought to cover and reinforce the existing Formation. Then, he used third-rank Array Inscriptionss to lay sixteen Seal loops on the floor, suspending the dark purple strange fire in the center of the Array Inscriptionss, bit by bit peeling away the resentful Impurities wrapped around the outer layer.

Su Cheng watched the entire process from the side.

He could not help; this was a delicate operation at the Golden Core level, and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's spiritual power could not intervene at all.

But watching was learning in itself.

The sealing techniques Sun Boyong used when handling the strange fire, the logic of the Array Inscriptions arrangement, and the rhythm of his mana output—every single thing was at the Great Master level.

By noon on the third day, the Seal was complete.

Seven-tenths of the gloomy black layer on the outer surface of the dark purple flame had faded. The remaining three-tenths were sealed by Sun Boyong into the deepest part of the flame's core using Array Inscriptionss, so it would not leak out during normal use.

The color of the flame changed from dark purple to a deep purple hue. The white spot in the flame's heart was still there, but that sense of evil had vanished.

"Do you know the refining steps?"

Su Cheng thought for a moment: "Theoretically, yes."

Sun Boyong rolled his eyes and took a Jade Slip from his sleeve, tossing it to him. "The method is on there. Follow it, and don't try to be clever."

Su Cheng took the Jade Slip and scanned it. It broke down the process of refining the third-rank strange fire into seventeen steps, with precise data for the spiritual power output and duration of each step marked out.

If this were sold, it would be worth at least ten thousand Spirit Stones.

"Senior, for this great kindness, Su Cheng will remember it."

"Don't talk about great kindness all the time; it sounds awkward." Sun Boyong picked up his wine flask and shook it—it was empty. "After you refine it, we should get on the road. This old man has been delayed here for too long."

Following the steps on the Jade Slip, Su Cheng spent two days initially refining the strange fire.

Although the evil nature of this thing had been suppressed by more than half by Sun Boyong, the refining process was still not pleasant. Fortunately, the Qi of Creation could melt everything, greatly shortening the refining time.

The moment the strange fire seed entered his body, that gloomy aura burrowed along his Meridians toward his Sea of Consciousness. Su Cheng intercepted it with the Qi of Creation, and the two spiritual powers stalemated deep within his Meridians for several hours before the hierarchy was truly established.

He did not lead the strange fire into his Dantian, but instead incorporated it into an independent area at the edge of his Sea of Consciousness to be sealed.

Controlling the strange fire with Divine Sense was more delicate and more covert than driving it with spiritual power.

The Dantian is the root of spiritual power, and the Sea of Consciousness is the nest of Divine Sense. Keeping a third-rank strange fire in the Sea of Consciousness required extremely high standards for his Divine Soul cultivation. If his Divine Soul had not already broken through to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, this path would have been impossible.

Sun Boyong knew this was his plan and did not object, only adding a sentence:

"The Sea of Consciousness is more fragile than the Dantian. If that strange fire isn't controlled well, your Divine Sense will suffer first. Weigh it yourself and don't push your luck."

Su Cheng took note.

The strange fire was sealed in a corner of his Sea of Consciousness, nurtured behind a thin membrane of the Qi of Creation. When it was not moving, it looked like a dark purple point of light, very calm.

Su Cheng stared at it for a moment, recalling his father saying this thing rose from boiling magma, and then thinking of the dozen or so corpses at the bottom of the valley that had been completely devoured. After thinking for a long time, he gave this fire a name.

Mingyuan.

There was no great logic to it; it was just the feeling that aura gave people—beneath the abyss, in a place without light, something born from deathly silence.

Early on the third morning, Su Cheng and Su Chengyuan left the inn and walked toward the north of the city.

The others had already left the city a step earlier.

According to Sun Boyong's wishes, the city was crowded and complex. A dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators exiting the city gate one after another would be too conspicuous. It was better to scatter in advance, exit from different city gates, and rendezvous at a mountain hollow twenty miles outside the city.

Zhao Shan had led the twelve Loose Cultivator Guards to pack their bags last night and had left before dawn. Li Shi and the two brothers, Liu and Wang, had gone with them.

Su Cheng and his father were leaving the city with Sun Boyong and his disciple, Zhou Changgeng.

Seeing Su Cheng and the others approach, Zhao Shan and the others hurriedly cupped their hands in salute.

Sun Boyong walked to the center of the open space, paused, and spread his Divine Sense out. Every blade of grass and tree within a radius of several miles was laid bare before his eyes.

After confirming there were no other Cultivator auras nearby, he took a palm-sized wooden boat model from his Storage Pouch and threw it into the air.

The boat model expanded rapidly in mid-air, and within three breaths, it turned into an awning-covered spirit boat over ten feet long.

This was a low-grade Treasure Artifact spirit boat, not at all on the same level as the Magical Artifacts used for ordinary travel.

The boat hull was made of thousand-year-old black wood, covered with a thin layer of spirit silver lacquer, and the entire body was engraved with dual Array Inscriptionss for gathering spiritual energy and reducing resistance.

Twelve wind-traveling stones were suspended under the boat, floating half a foot high, perfectly still.

The ten-foot-long hull was divided into three independent cabins—front, middle, and back—separated by spirit wood partitions and Formation barriers, with more than enough space.

Seeing something the size of a palm turn into such a large boat in the blink of an eye, everyone stepped back. It was their first time seeing a Golden Core Great Cultivator manifest an artifact in person, and that sense of oppression was not something they could withstand.

Sun Boyong scanned the group, nodded, and walked to the control console at the stern.

"Everyone, get on."

The group boarded the boat one after another.

Zhao Shan, Li Shi, and the others dispersed into the middle and rear cabins. The ten-foot hull was not crowded for these people; each cabin was lined with meditation cushions, and in the corners were Spirit Stone lamps and simple Formation Plates for gathering spiritual energy.

Sun Boyong tapped several incantations onto the outer walls of the cabins. The Array Inscriptionss on the cabin walls lit up one by one, and a layer of pale golden light film spread along the inner walls, sealing the three cabins tightly.

"The Formations on the cabin walls were engraved by me personally to isolate spiritual power fluctuations and prevent the leakage of auras. As long as you stay in the cabins and don't come out, even if a Golden Core Cultivator passes by outside, they won't be able to detect how many people are inside."

Hearing this, Zhao Shan, Li Shi, and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and the cabin doors were locked from the inside.

Only Su Cheng, his father, and Sun Boyong's master-disciple pair remained on the deck.

"All set?" Sun Boyong asked from the control console.

"All set," Su Cheng replied.

Sun Boyong pressed his hands onto the Array Inscriptions hub, pouring in his mana. The twelve wind-traveling stones hummed in unison. The hull rose steadily, crossing over the few withered trees at the edge of the open space, and shot toward the northeastern horizon.

The speed was very fast.

The wind brushed past both sides, blowing Su Cheng's Dao robe until it snapped loudly.

The wind-traveling stone Array Inscriptionss at the bottom of the boat hummed, the twelve stones firing in turns, providing a continuous thrust.

The speed and endurance of this Treasure Artifact were not comparable to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's flight by Magical Artifact, provided there were enough Spirit Stones.

Sun Boyong stood at the stern's control console, hands pressed on the Array Inscriptions hub, mana pouring evenly into the boat's body.

His boat-piloting technique was extremely steady. The spirit boat flew at an altitude of six thousand feet, where the air currents were turbulent, but the hull barely swayed.

Su Cheng looked at the thickness of the clouds around them and silently estimated—three thousand feet was already far beyond the perception limit of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator; people on the ground could not detect them at all.

Were they safe? Not necessarily.

This route had to traverse the entire Ningyuan Prefecture, and it was still over fifty thousand miles to the Tianlan Province City.

There were many uninhabited areas on the road, but there were also many small and medium-sized towns and territories under the jurisdiction of Sect forces.

No matter how high the spirit boat flew, there would always be spiritual power fluctuations, and it was not impossible to encounter a Golden Core Cultivator investigating.

"Senior Sun, which route are we taking?" Su Cheng turned his head to ask.

(Big shots, update times have been a bit unstable these past few days, my apologies. It should be back to normal by the day after tomorrow, still updating in the morning.)