51: Sunflower

The moment Phoenix Spirit stepped into the Bone-Eroding Fire Forest, she couldn't help but shiver.

The "heat" here was completely different from that of Crimson Flame Ridge.

Crimson Flame Ridge was dry and violent scorching, while here, it was cold and viscous, like countless cold tongues licking her skin, trying to burrow into her bone marrow, causing waves of needle-like stinging pain in her Divine Soul.

The ghostly blue and sickly green flames in the air flickered, making faint popping sounds, interspersed with low whispers that unsettled her, forcing her to guard her mind constantly to avoid being affected.

"It's... so uncomfortable here."

Phoenix Spirit's small face turned pale, and she subconsciously activated the flame rune between her brows.

As the crimson-gold Phoenix True Energy flowed through her body, the feeling of cold erosion was mostly dispelled, but the pressure on her Divine Soul remained.

She took a deep breath, forced herself to adapt, and cautiously explored forward.

However, she hadn't gone far.

Crack!

The charred ground beneath her feet suddenly split open, and a centipede-like Yao Beast covered in pale flames lunged out, moving as fast as lightning, opening its mouth to spew a stream of sickly white fire!

This torrent of fire not only had an extremely high temperature but also carried a strong corrosive energy and a mental shock!

"Hmph!"

Phoenix Spirit reacted extremely quickly, dodging the main impact to the side while waving her hand to set up a wall of crimson-gold fire.

Sss—!

The sickly white fire stream collided with the crimson-gold fire wall, emitting a corrosive sound, and the fire wall dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

At the same time, a chaotic and violent emotion surged along the energy connection, striking Phoenix Spirit's Divine Soul!

"Ugh!" Phoenix Spirit let out a muffled groan, her Sea of Consciousness stinging.

She hurriedly strengthened her Divine Soul defense while increasing the output of her Phoenix True Energy; the crimson-gold flames flared up, finally incinerating the sickly white fire completely.

The pale fire centipede, having missed its strike, twisted its multi-segmented body and lunged again, its mouthparts opening to emit a shrill hiss that disturbed the mind.

"So annoying!"

Phoenix Spirit was becoming irritable from the Divine Soul attacks. She stopped defending passively and met it head-on, her small fist wrapped in condensed crimson-gold flames, smashing toward the centipede's head!

Bang!

Her fist collided with the carapace, making a dull thud.

The centipede's carapace was extremely hard and coated with pale flames, constantly trying to erode Phoenix Spirit's fist. A cold, stinging sensation spread up her arm.

Phoenix Spirit gritted her teeth, and her Phoenix True Energy erupted!

Boom!

The crimson-gold flames surged as if doused in hot oil, instantly flaring up to forcibly push back and purify the pale flames!

The force on her fist also increased suddenly!

Crack!

The centipede's head carapace finally couldn't withstand it and cracked!

Phoenix Spirit pressed her advantage, using her other hand to form a blade with her fingers, the crimson-gold flames condensing into a sharp edge that stabbed fiercely into the crack!

"Hiss—!" The pale fire centipede let out a shrill scream, struggled a few times, and then went still, the pale flames on its body quickly extinguishing.

Phoenix Spirit panted, looking at the charred centipede corpse on the ground. Feeling the lingering cold on her arm and the slight stinging in her Sea of Consciousness, she felt a lingering fear.

The Yao Beasts in this Bone-Eroding Fire Forest were indeed much more troublesome than those in Crimson Flame Ridge; their attacks all came with Divine Soul erosion effects.

She dared not linger and quickly left the spot to find a place to regulate her breathing.

She discovered that in the process of dispelling those cold energies and mental pollution, her Phoenix True Energy seemed to become purer, and her resistance to Divine Soul attacks was slowly increasing.

In the following days, Phoenix Spirit continued to explore the Bone-Eroding Fire Forest.

She encountered various bizarre fire Yao Beasts: Ghost-Faced Fire Foxes that could release hallucinogenic smoke, Shadow Fire Leopards that could shift between physical and ethereal forms, and swarms of Soul-Eroding Fire Ants that gnawed on spiritual energy...

Every battle was fraught with danger; wounds on her body appeared and healed, only to appear again.

The powerful self-healing ability of the Phoenix Undying Body was fully utilized here, but the pain of repeated injuries and the torment of her Divine Soul being eroded were very real.

She began to stop relying solely on brute force and the dominance of the Phoenix True Fire. She started utilizing everything she could!

For instance, she lured Ghost-Faced Fire Foxes into the territory of Shadow Fire Leopards to make them kill each other; upon discovering that Soul-Eroding Fire Ants feared a certain color of flame, she tried to simulate that flame's aura to avoid them...

Her use of the Phoenix True Energy also became increasingly refined.

Instead of large, sweeping firestorms, she began to try condensing it into fine threads, weaving it into nets, or attaching it to the surface of her body to form a thin yet tough fire armor, greatly improving her defense and resistance to energy erosion.

A month later, Phoenix Spirit had penetrated deep into the heart of the Bone-Eroding Fire Forest.

Her aura was more reserved, her gaze sharp and steady, and her movements carried a decisiveness born from having experienced countless battles.

Under constant combat and extreme pressure, her cultivation naturally broke through to the fourth level of the Tongtian Realm.

At this moment, she was lurking outside a mushroom forest burning with ghostly blue flames, targeting a pool of bubbling "Soul-Corroding Spring" not far away.

Beside the spring grew several stalks of "Blazing Sun Flower" that were crystal clear and looked like rubies.

This was a Spirit Medicine of ultimate Yang and rigidity, which could perfectly neutralize the Yin fire here and would be of great benefit to stabilizing her Divine Soul and purifying her Phoenix True Energy.

But guarding the Soul-Corroding Spring was a "Two-Headed Corrosive Fire Wolf" with strength reaching the first level of the Life Soul Realm!

One of the two wolf heads could spew green poisonous fire that corroded the Physical Body, while the other could emit a silent roar that shook the Divine Soul; it was extremely troublesome.

Phoenix Spirit observed for a while.

"The odds of winning aren't good!"

Phoenix Spirit cautiously circled to the downwind side, took out some Yao Beast glands with strong, pungent odors collected from previous battles from her Storage Pouch, and used a weak wind-type Spell to slowly blow the scent toward the Two-Headed Corrosive Fire Wolf.

The wolf's two noses twitched simultaneously, showing an expression of disgust and irritation, and it paced uneasily.

Now is the time!

Phoenix Spirit's figure was like lightning as she lunged out from the side, aiming straight for the Blazing Sun Flowers!

Her speed increased to the limit, almost turning into a streak of crimson-gold light!

"Awoo!" The Two-Headed Corrosive Fire Wolf immediately discovered her; the left wolf head opened its mouth to spew green poisonous fire, while the right wolf head emitted a silent Divine Soul shock!

Phoenix Spirit had been prepared; the crimson-gold fire armor on her body shone, resisting part of the Divine Soul shock, while her body twisted strangely, narrowly avoiding the main coverage area of the poisonous fire, though the hem of her clothes was grazed and instantly corroded into a charred patch.

She reached out to grab the Blazing Sun Flowers!

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the flowers, an unexpected change occurred!

From the Soul-Corroding Spring, a semi-transparent tentacle made entirely of murky energy suddenly shot out, moving with startling speed to wrap around her ankle!

The spring itself was actually aggressive!

A wolf in front, "water" behind!

Phoenix Spirit's pupils constricted. At this moment, her brain was incredibly calm.

She couldn't stop; stopping meant death!

Instead of slowing down, she kicked off the ground fiercely, increasing her speed further!

At the same time, she concentrated most of her Phoenix True Energy at her ankle, the crimson-gold flames burning fiercely!

Sss!

The energy tentacle wrapped around her ankle burning with Phoenix True Fire, emitting a violent corrosive sound, but for a moment, it couldn't break through!

Using the force of the kick, Phoenix Spirit's hand finally grasped the three stalks of Blazing Sun Flowers, and she pulled hard!

Success!

She didn't stop, rolling forward with the momentum, while backhanding several crimson-gold feathers condensed with most of the Phoenix True Energy she could muster at that moment, shooting them at the lunging Two-Headed Corrosive Fire Wolf!

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

The feathers hit the wolf's body; although they didn't cause fatal wounds, the burning pain of the Phoenix True Fire made the Two-Headed Corrosive Fire Wolf let out a pained howl, its movements stalling.

Phoenix Spirit seized this precious moment and fled for her life toward the depths of the mushroom forest without looking back!

A piercing pain came from her ankle; although the energy tentacle had been burned off by the Phoenix True Fire, the residual corrosive energy was still eating away at her flesh.

She dared not stop until she felt she had completely shaken off the pursuit behind her, then she dove into a charred tree hole, immediately set up a few simple concealment Formations, collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, her whole body soaked in cold sweat.

She looked at the three undamaged Blazing Sun Flowers in her hand, which radiated a warm, masculine aura, and then looked at her ankle, which was bloody, tinged with greenish-black, and still being laboriously purified of corrosive energy by her Phoenix True Energy; she managed to pull off a smile.

She had done it!

Under the dual threat of a Life Soul Realm Yao Beast and a bizarre environment, she had snatched food from the tiger's mouth!

Without hesitation, she immediately swallowed one Blazing Sun Flower.

A warm current instantly surged through her whole body, dispelling the cold and fatigue in her Divine Soul, and the corrosive energy at her ankle was also quickly neutralized and purified by this masculine power; the wound began to heal rapidly under the dual effect of the Phoenix Undying Body and the Blazing Sun Flower.

Feeling the strength within her gradually recovering and even surpassing what it was before, as well as her more refined Divine Soul, Phoenix Spirit leaned against the wall of the tree hole and slowly closed her eyes.