Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 403 Two Spiritual Fires

Chapter 403: Chapter 403 Two Spiritual Fires

After arriving at the Fu Family, Shi Hao immediately found a place to begin refining the Cloud Flame Fire.

He was now a distinguished guest of the Fu Family and naturally had a private guest room.

Undisturbed, he took out the Cloud Flame Fire and saw the Spirit Fire pulsating in his palm, almost like a small animal.

Shi Hao couldn’t help but smile, "Don’t be afraid, I’m just extracting your Rune; it won’t hurt you."

The Spirit Fire flickered, as if curious like a child.

Shi Hao activated Fire Scorches the Heavens, and the Cloud Flame Fire immediately shrunk back, a fear instinctual in nature.

However, Shi Hao only extracted a tiny bit of the flame.

All he needed was the Rune that made up the Cloud Flame Fire, naturally not requiring much.

As the peerless secret technique of the Phoenix Clan operated, Shi Hao unwound it like drawing silk from a cocoon, revealing the essence of the Cloud Flame Fire.

This was extremely hard, but Shi Hao had experience, and the grade of the Cloud Flame Fire wasn’t necessarily higher than Sunfire, so although it was a completely different variety, it was a familiar path for Shi Hao.

Gradually, a Rune appeared in Shi Hao’s mind.

It was damaged.

This was to be expected, as Shi Hao was not yet adept enough to extract a complete Rune in one go.

Once more.

After seven consecutive attempts, Shi Hao finally obtained a complete Rune, and the Cloud Flame Fire seemed to have spent a great deal of its Vital Energy, appearing listless.

After some thought, Shi Hao tossed an Elixir over, which the Cloud Flame Fire immediately engulfed, the Elixir turning to ash instantly, but the flame seemed somewhat restored.

Huh, so this Spirit Fire actually consumes Elixirs?

Shi Hao then threw over several more Elixirs, for if there was anything he didn’t lack, it was certainly Elixirs.

Next, he focused on fusing the Spirit Fires.

The Rune of the Spirit Fire was very complex, and to perfectly fuse two Spirit Fires was incredibly difficult.

Shi Hao kept fusing without pause, completely forgetting about hunger.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but he finally succeeded, the two Spirit Fire Runes fused perfectly. A thought would make them shine, echoing each other, and enhancing their power.

— As for that Mortal Fire Rune, naturally, Shi Hao ignored it, it being little better than nothing.

Shi Hao opened his eyes, feeling extremely hungry.

How much time had gone by?

Shi Hao went out, called for a servant to bring food, and then asked about the time, only to find out he had spent nineteen days merging the Spirit Fires.

That was indeed a long process!

He hastily began to eat, and the Cloud Flame Fire also leaped onto his shoulder, twisting and turning as if asking for food.

Shi Hao laughed heartily, tossing several more Elixirs to it, and the Cloud Flame Fire pounced upon them, joyfully "eating" away.

In fact, he no longer needed the Cloud Flame Fire.

By expending Soul Force, he could manifest the Cloud Flame Fire at will, whether for Alchemy or combat.

However, the Cloud Flame Fire seemed quite happy following him, so he didn’t mind "keeping" it.

One must say, if not for being a Pill Master, probably no one could afford to keep such a creature that eats Elixirs like meals, a true squanderer.

After eating, he went back into closed-door cultivation again.

He was already close to the Peak of the Sixth Island, and as days passed, even though he wasn’t focused on cultivation, whenever his Soul Force was full, he would instinctively circulate the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture. So now, he possessed the qualifications to strike at the Seventh Island.

Of course, there was no hesitation—begin.

Everything was as usual, only the pulling force of the Sea of Suffering grew stronger, making the breakthrough increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, Shi Hao was too strong. He believed that at least before the Nine Islands, he didn’t need to worry at all.

But a short while later, the seventh Soul Island appeared.

Seven Islands.

Having improved by a small realm and fused with the second Spirit Fire, Shi Hao couldn’t help but anticipate the terrifying might that Fire Scorches the Heavens could now unleash.

He quietly left the Fu Family and headed to the barren hills outside the city.

Come!

He executed Fire Scorches the Heavens, and flames transformed into a Phoenix, blasting towards the distance.

With a loud boom, the mountain was instantly pierced through, and the Fire Phoenix continued flying towards the sky for a long time before it finally dissipated.

Shi Hao glanced at it and couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.

The hole that was punched through was bigger than before, and even now, magma was still dripping down, a testament to its terrifying power.

The Cloud Flame Fire flickered, astonishingly taking on a human form, its hands dancing as though it conveyed surprise or perhaps excitement.

Shi Hao laughed heartily and placed the Cloud Flame Fire back on his shoulder.

After merging two Spirit Fires, his understanding of Fire Scorches the Heavens deepened as well.

The power of this move was limited by both the Spirit Fire and his own combat power.

——Even if he could now merge with a Spirit Fire capable of killing a Heaven Ascension Road powerhouse, releasing it from his hands would at most have the power to kill a Peak Self-Observation. However, if he merged with a Spirit Fire that could only incinerate the Other Shore, unleashing it from his hands could instantly annihilate the Nine Islands.

Yes, the level of the Spirit Fire is important, but so is his cultivation—it’s a dual restriction.

Therefore, under the premise of a fixed realm, if one wishes to enhance the power of Fire Scorches the Heavens, what’s more important is actually increasing the number of Spirit Fires merged. Of course, having potent Spirit Fires is also good, but the increase is relatively limited.

Which is more formidable, Sunfire or Cloud Flame Fire?

Shi Hao compared the two and found that their Rune complexity was roughly the same, indicating they were likely on the same level.

"However, after merging with two Spirit Fires, Fire Scorches the Heavens unexpectedly took the shape of a Phoenix!"

"This is so cool, but if it leads people to speculate a connection with the secret techniques of the Phoenix Clan, it could bring me unnecessary troubles."

"Therefore, if used against enemies, it’s better to avoid manifesting the Fire Phoenix as much as possible."

Shi Hao returned to the Fu Family and met with Fu Ling.

He had only been in isolated cultivation for twenty days, yet many significant events had occurred in the Eastern Fire Continent.

——A large number of sects had been invaded and taken over by foreign forces.

Why was this happening?

Shi Hao couldn’t understand. The Eastern Fire Continent was relatively poor in resources, why would it catch the attention of other continents?

The situation in the Alchemy Dao was no different; Longxiao Pavilion had sent people again, and this time a six-star Pill Master was accompanied by a Supplementing Divine Temple powerhouse, blatantly establishing a domineering presence, as if intending to take charge.

Though few in number, whether it was martial arts prowess or Alchemy Dao capability, Longxiao Pavilion held an overwhelming advantage. If Fu Ling and the others chose to confront them directly, it could likely result in a fight to the death.

What made them hesitant was that Longxiao Pavilion claimed they would stay at most for a year and would withdraw to the Northern Silver Continent after that.

Could this be true?

If they really were going to leave after a year, then naturally, Fu Ling and the others wouldn’t want to fight to the death, deeming it better to endure for a year. But, what if the others were just using this claim to placate them, and actually planned to consolidate their rule during this year?

After that year, if Fu Ling and his group still wanted to reclaim their dominion, the chances of success would definitely be dismal.

Humans are incredibly adaptive creatures; once they form an attitude of "this is good enough," it becomes almost impossible to push them to the brink.

Therefore, the Five Great Royal Families were in extreme dilemma.

Shi Hao had accomplished his goal here and decided to leave, returning to Jiuwu City.

He had decided that once his cultivation broke through to Self-Observation, he would explore other continents.

——The level of martial arts here was too low; the cultivation resources he could obtain were limited, and the worthy opponents were too few, none able to evoke a sense of urgency in him.

Thus, after another day had passed, he set off with the Dark Patterned Leopard and Cloud Flame Fire, heading back to Jiuwu City.