Chapter 526: Purple Sun Spirit Flame
Chapter 526: Purple Sun Spirit Flame
"Husband, what is it?" Cen Zikin asked, noticing the look of surprise on Chu Ning's face.
"It's nothing. I just need a moment to collect myself," Chu Ning replied, shaking his head.
The old demon was steeped in evil deeds and negative energy, and the heavy death qi was making Chu Ning feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, he had experienced dealing with such situations and immediately began cultivating the Refining God Technique to stabilize his spiritual sense and calm his emotions.
After a while, he stood up and shook his head at Cen Zikin.
"I didn't find much information about Paradise Valley in his memories, and the other sects in Wangshan City didn't seem to be involved either. However, I did discover another secret. It seems there's a treasure called the Purple Sun Spirit Flame in the Yin Demon Sect's lair in the Jade Mountains."
As he spoke, a glint of excitement flashed in Chu Ning's eyes.
Cen Zikin immediately asked, "Husband, is the Purple Sun Spirit Flame also a Heavenly Earthly Flame?"
Chu Ning nodded slightly, but a hint of doubt remained on his face.
"Based on the old demon's memories, it's likely a Heavenly Earthly Flame. However, when I looked at the list of twenty-five Heavenly Earthly Flames, I didn't find any mention of the Purple Sun Spirit Flame. Unless..."
At this point, a gleam of insight flashed in Chu Ning's eyes.
"...unless the Purple Sun Spirit Flame is ranked among the top three Heavenly Earthly Flames! The list I obtained only mentioned the fourth-ranked Black Tortoise Thunderfire and didn't provide any information about the top three. Since the Purple Sun Spirit Flame is a Heavenly Earthly Flame and isn't listed among the remaining twenty-two, it's possible that it's one of the top three."
"One of the top three Heavenly Earthly Flames?" Cen Zikin's eyes widened in surprise as well. "It must be incredibly powerful, then."
"If it's true, then yes, it's extremely powerful," Chu Ning said in a low voice. "The Frost Ice Flame was ranked sixth, but according to the list, the gap in power becomes more pronounced with each higher ranking. My Green Yin Qingyan has merged with two types of Heavenly Earthly Flames, but in terms of power, it should be comparable to the fifth-ranked Shadow Devil Flame or the fourth-ranked Black Tortoise Thunderfire. It might also fall somewhere in between."
Chu Ning turned to Cen Zikin and smiled. "Zikin, it looks like we'll have to pay a visit to the Yin Demon Sect's lair before heading to Mount Xiao Yao."
Chu Ning's tone remained calm, as if he were discussing something utterly mundane. In truth, through the old demon's memories, he had learned that the Yin Demon Sect no longer had any Nascent Soul cultivators. This meant that even if they had a large number of cultivators, they would be nothing more than spectators in the face of three Nascent Soul cultivators—Chu Ning, Cen Zikin, and Bailling.
Now that he knew there might be a treasure ranked among the top three Heavenly Earthly Flames, Chu Ning was determined to explore their lair.
Cen Zikin, of course, had no objections to this plan. Her primary goal for this trip was to avenge Paradise Valley by killing the old demon, and now that her wish had been fulfilled, she was happy to follow Chu Ning's lead.
Without further ado, the two transformed into rays of light and sped toward the Yin Demon Sect's lair.
As they entered the Jade Mountains, Chu Ning felt less restrained. Although several of the major demonic sects in the mountains had Nascent Soul cultivators, the strongest among them were the Black Robed Demon Lord and the old demon. Chu Ning had no fear of encountering anyone else.
However, his primary goal was the Purple Sun Spirit Flame, so he didn't want to cause too much of a stir initially. With their cultivation levels and Bailling's assistance, they could easily avoid detection by the Yin Demon Sect's cultivators.
Indeed, they encountered no obstacles on their way to the Black Death Cave.
The old demon had been cautious before leaving and had left a Golden Core cultivator with several Foundation Establishment cultivators to guard the cave. When they saw Chu Ning and Cen Zikin, the Golden Core elder, who had been meditating, suddenly shouted, "Who dares to trespass in the Black Death Cave?"
But as his gaze landed on Chu Ning and Cen Zikin, his face paled in shock. "Nascent Soul cultivators!"
In the next instant, the Golden Core elder reached for his storage bag, but his body suddenly froze, and he found himself unable to move. Before he could react further, a figure appeared before him, and he lost consciousness.
Chu Ning and Bailling easily dealt with the guards outside the Black Death Cave. Chu Ning asked Bailling to lead him into the cave while Cen Zikin stayed behind.
"Husband, you should let Bailling take you in. I'll stay here and keep watch. If any Yin Demon Sect cultivators show up, they might notice something amiss," Cen Zikin suggested.
Chu Ning considered her suggestion and nodded in agreement. "Good point. If there's nothing unusual inside, I'll have Bailling come out and let you know."
With that, Chu Ning, aided by Bailling's innate secret technique, vanished into the Black Death Cave.
The cave served as the old demon's regular cultivation site, and he had set up some formations, but Chu Ning wasn't particularly interested in them at the moment.
After figuring out the direction in the cave, Chu Ning ventured deeper into the Black Death Cave, following the indications in the Yin Demon Elder's memory.
Passing through several restrictions and delving thousands of feet underground, Chu Ning finally arrived before a sea of purple flames.
At the same time, he caught sight of a deep purple flame floating within this sea of fire.
"Could this be the Zi Yang Spirit Flame?"
A strange light flickered in Chu Ning's eyes as he beheld the deep purple flame.
Even from a distance, he could sense the immense power it emanated.
"Its aura surpasses even the Xuan Yin Qing Yan. It must be one of the top three Spirit Flames in the world!"
Excitement gleamed in Chu Ning's eyes.
"I wonder which of the top three it is."
Chu Ning murmured to himself, then turned to Bai Ling, who looked unwell, and said, "Go outside and let Zixin know I'm safe. I'll attempt to collect this Zi Yang Spirit Flame here."
Once Bai Ling left, Chu Ning focused solely on the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
Having captured Spirit Flames before, he knew that refining such a powerful flame in a short time was nearly impossible.
His only option was to seal the Spirit Flame first and then figure out the refinement process gradually.
According to the Yin Demon Elder's memories, he had attempted to forcibly refine the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
Chu Ning thought it was absurd to believe that one could refine the Zi Yang Spirit Flame in a few decades or even a century, regardless of its feasibility.
To be precise, the Yin Demon Elder had only managed to harness a fraction of the Zi Yang Spirit Flame's power before it had fully matured and solidified.
After a moment's thought, Chu Ning summoned the Earth Vein Essence Fire.
While the Zi Yang Spirit Flame was evidently an extremely Yang flame, the Earth Vein Essence Fire also possessed Yang attributes, though to a lesser degree. Being born from earth fire, it possessed both Yin and Yang attributes and wasn't as extremely Yang as the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
With careful control, Chu Ning brought the Earth Vein Essence Fire in front of the Zi Yang Spirit Flame. Then, with a delicate pinch of his fingers, the Earth Vein Essence Fire enveloped the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
However, Chu Ning's eyebrows furrowed slightly as the Earth Vein Essence Fire instantly scattered upon contact, some of it even being drawn into the Zi Yang Spirit Flame as if absorbed and refined by the powerful spirit flame.
"Is it because the power of the Earth Vein Essence Fire pales in comparison, or is it because their attributes are too similar?
Perhaps my previous idea was mistaken. It's possible since the attributes of the Earth Vein Essence Fire I used were completely different when I captured the Xuan Bing Yan."
With a wave of his hand, Chu Ning condensed a ball of Xuan Yin Qing Yan and gently flicked it towards the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
Under his control, the Xuan Yin Qing Yan unfurled and wrapped around the Zi Yang Spirit Flame from below.
Instantly, Chu Ning felt a strong repulsive force from the Zi Yang Spirit Flame, bringing a smile to his face.
At least the Zi Yang Spirit Flame wasn't directly devouring and refining the Xuan Yin Qing Yan.
He waved his hand again, sending two more balls of Xuan Yin Qing Yan towards the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
As they joined together, they slowly enveloped the Zi Yang Spirit Flame.
The Xuan Yin Qing Yan, which had been pushed back initially, finally stabilized.
However, as Chu Ning cast more spells, attempting to proceed further, he shook his head.
"It's not enough. This level of power is insufficient to capture and seal it!"
Chu Ning ceased casting spells and summoned two additional balls of Xuan Yin Qing Yan.
"Still not enough!"
He continued adding more until there was only a tiny spark of Xuan Yin Qing Yan left in his body, and all usable amounts had been exhausted.
With one final attempt, the violent resistance of the Zi Yang Spirit Flame seemed to be suppressed.
Enveloped in the Xuan Yin Qing Yan, it rose from the purple sea of flames below.
Chu Ning could clearly sense that, without its power source, the Zi Yang Spirit Flame's resistance and repulsion towards the Xuan Yin Qing Yan had lessened significantly.
Without hesitation, he continuously cast spells, layering one after another onto the green light ball containing the flame.
However, even with the Zi Yang Spirit Flame detached from its power source, sealing it completely proved challenging.
It was only after exhausting almost all of his spiritual power that the Zi Yang Spirit Flame finally stopped leaking, its seal seemingly complete.
"Finally!"
Chu Ning sighed in relief and examined the green ice ball, about the size of a fist, that held the faintly visible deep purple flame.
He considered compressing the seal further but decided against it, as both his Xuan Yin Qing Yan and spiritual power were insufficient for the task.
"From its power, it seems likely that the Zi Yang Spirit Flame is the third-ranked Spirit Flame in the world."
A smile of satisfaction appeared on Chu Ning's face.
He retrieved a larger jade box from his storage bag, carefully placed the ice ball inside, and left the underground cave.
(End of Chapter)
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