From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 646 Innate Fire Spirit
Amid Wu Nanfeng's trepidation, half an hour later, Li Yang, his face darkening, finally emerged from the lava.

However, he was in a very bad state. His clothes were charred black, his hair was burned and curled, and half of his right eyebrow was burned away.

"As expected of a primordial fire spirit, it moves with ease in the magma, even faster than my escape technique!"

"Since I entered the Daoist path, I have never suffered such a loss!"

Li Yang's expression turned cold, yet he became increasingly interested in this innate fire spirit.

"You really think that hiding in lava means I can't do anything to you...?"

“Senior Uncle, although the fire crows are a race, their numbers are extremely small. There are only sixteen in this vast Flame Domain. Some Immortal Lords often sit empty-handed for months without any harvest.”

"The reason why my junior brother was able to catch it was because the Grand Elder bestowed upon him a Fire Crow Immortal Spirit to refine into an external avatar. Only in this way could he barely sense the Fire Crows under the Flame Domain below and occasionally make a catch."

Wu Nan hurriedly explained, fearing that Li Yang might do something rash and go down to fight Huo Ya again.

"I see……"

Li Yang waved his hand and flew with Wu Nanfeng to a mountain peak where they could land. They wandered around and pondered, slowly forming a plan in their minds.

"So be it. Since this beast is not meant for me, I will not force it."

Li Yang sighed, then immediately bid farewell to Wu Nanfeng and flew back to his cave.

Wu Nanfeng watched Li Yang's departing figure before finally letting out a long sigh of relief and wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Why has my master become so impatient since returning from our ancestral planet this time...?"

"However, my senior uncle is indeed my senior uncle. Even though he has fallen to the Human Immortal realm, his combat power is still frighteningly high. He was able to stay in the magma for so long. He will definitely be able to secure a place at the Yaochi Dharma Assembly in six months!"

The Valley of Purgatory is full of experts, and naturally there are different factions and degrees of closeness. Wu Nanfeng's master is Immortal Lord Danyu Wu Qiye, and Yan Jin, as Immortal Lord Danyu's Daoist partner, is naturally also a senior in his lineage.

The higher Yan Jin's status and the stronger his combat power, the more influence and benefits Wu Nanfeng would have in Purgatory Valley. Therefore, Wu Nanfeng paid special attention to Yan Jin's affairs.

As he thought about it, Wu Nanfeng's expression gradually brightened, and he immediately got up and flew back to his room.

Fifteen minutes after Wu Nanfeng left, Li Yang's figure reappeared, this time having changed his clothes, turned a corner, and turned back.

The so-called Flame Domain is a sea of ​​magma and fire, with solitary peaks standing on it in a staggered pattern, serving as the training ground and living ground for the cultivators of Purgatory Valley.

"Some things are better done in secret..."

Standing on the cliff, Li Yang looked down at the magma that had returned to calm a thousand meters below, licked his lips, and still had thoughts about this innate fire spirit.

These fire crows move incredibly fast beneath the lava. Unless one unleashes their full power, breaks the seal on their Clear Mind, uses the Golden Light of Leaping Earth, and further enhances their Earthly Fiend Divine Power, achieving perfect harmony between man and sword, there's little chance of success.

However, such a commotion would be too great. Although there were no active Celestial Immortals in Purgatory Valley for the time being, Li Yang was still worried that it would wake up those old people who were in seclusion, which would be a loss.

Since we can't go down to the bottom of the lava to catch it, we can only fish for it.
Li Yang paced back and forth on the cliff, slowly forming a plan in his mind.

Since using pills as bait is unlikely to work, and the Melting Scale Pill is extremely precious, having just been tricked by bait, we absolutely cannot continue to waste precious pills.

His goal as True Lord Baiyun is very simple: to get something for free. Any reciprocation or exchange is out of the question.

"Since this fire crow is an innate fire spirit and has been raised by a celestial giant, it's incredibly picky about food. It definitely won't work if it tries to lure some ordinary things..."

"But this thing is definitely enough to make you take the bait!"

Li Yang sneered, then with a wave of his hand, he retrieved the fragment of the Sun Essence Wheel from his storage ring.
"This Sun Essence Wheel is the natal magic weapon of the Sun Magic, the essence of fire. Every fire cultivator under heaven will be tempted by it. I don't believe it can't seduce you unintelligent beasts."

This wasn't a whim; he had just seen Wu Nanfeng use a fire-elemental magic weapon to fish up a fire crow, which led him to this thought.

Li Yang carefully took out a fragment and wrapped it tightly around the fishing hook. He then leaped down, sat cross-legged above the sea of ​​lava, threw the bound fragment of the Sun Essence Wheel into the lava, and stared intently at the calm surface of the lava.

Li Yang wasn't sure if it would work. He only planned to fish for another day. If he still couldn't catch anything, then it would truly be a lost cause, and he would return to his cave to seclude himself and digest the spiritual materials.

In less than fifteen minutes, Li Yang realized that his worries were unnecessary.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Li Yang felt a sudden, tremendous force on his fishing rod, nearly pulling him into the lava.
"So fast?!"

Li Yang was taken aback at first, then overjoyed. In an instant, the fishing rod in his hand was pulled taut, and he struggled with all his might against the giant creature that had taken the bait from below the lava.
"Earthly Fiend Divine Power, [Summon], [Great Strength]!"

With a roar, Li Yang unleashed a tremendous force from his arms, amplified by the power of his two Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities.

"Ode!"

Lava rained down, and a fiery crow, its body entirely crimson gold, flapped its wings as Li Yang pulled it out of the lava.

It was the same one from before. As if recognizing Li Yang, it circled in the sky once, then tried to plunge back into the lava.
"Still trying to back out?!"

Seeing the Fire Crow's shamelessness, Li Yang no longer held back. With a flick of his wrist, the fragment of the Sun Essence Wheel that the Fire Crow was holding in its beak shook violently.
Seeing this, the fire crow immediately became anxious and tried to wrestle with Li Yang again. However, having escaped the lava, it was no match for Li Yang. Li Yang seized the opportunity, leaped onto its back, and grabbed its neck.
It knew it had encountered a formidable opponent, but it couldn't bear to part with the food it was carrying in its mouth. Its innate intelligence told it that this thing was extremely beneficial to it.
The sun is not only the essence of fire, but also the emperor of fire. The fire crow is a fire spirit, inherently possessing a trace of golden crow bloodline, but to further evolve into the divine bird golden crow, it must absorb enough yang energy.

The abundance of solar energy on this solar energy wheel was something Fire Raven had never seen before.

But it was this moment of greed and hesitation that allowed Li Yang to get close enough to grab her by the neck, and the fragment of the Sun Essence Wheel was forcibly taken back.

"Give me the celestial treasure right now! You promised to give me the celestial treasure after I caught it! Don't try to go back on your word!"

"Wow!"

The fire crow screeched and tried to peck at Li Yang's back, but instead pecked a bloody hole in the back of Li Yang's hand, causing Li Yang to turn pale with pain.

"You cheated, fine, but you dare to hurt me! You wicked beast, behold my Five Elements Divine Thunder!"

Enraged, Li Yang unleashed a palm strike that slammed right into Huo Ya's face.

"Wow!"

The fire crow let out a mournful cry, and fearing it would attract attention, Li Yang quickly reached out and grabbed its beak to silence it.
This was equivalent to being struck directly on the head with Five Elements Divine Thunder. The damage was even more terrifying than Li Yang had imagined. The fire crow immediately rolled its eyes and fainted, about to fall straight into the lava.
Li Yang reacted swiftly, dragging the stunned fire crow to a nearby mountain peak. After checking that no one was coming, he excitedly licked his lips.
The unconscious fire crow was enormous, about three meters tall. Looking at it up close now, it was clear that it truly lived up to its name as an innate fire spirit, its entire body covered in celestial treasures and top-grade materials.

"These feathers are nice. Keep them and we'll weave a robe for Zhao Ziyao and Xiao Zhuoma when we get back to Blue Star..."

"This bird's beak is quite impressive; it can easily pierce my physical body. It would be perfect for refining magical artifacts!"

"Flame Marrow... Never mind, I still have enough Flame Marrow on hand..."

A quarter of an hour later, a huge white-striped fire raven lay on the ground, slowly opening its eyes, watching helplessly as a two-legged beast plucked the last feather from its rear end… “Screech!”

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

The fire crow was completely enraged and was determined to fight Li Yang to the death. It tried to peck at Li Yang, but found that half of its beak had been sawed off at some point.

"Stop making a fuss, we'll take you back right away!"

Li Yang slapped the fire crow on the head, burying its head in the ground. After all, it was a spirit pet raised by a celestial giant, and Li Yang was worried that it might be cursed like Luo Wuji had been. So after much deliberation, he decided to release it.

The fire crow pulled its head out of the ground and stared at Li Yang with an extremely venomous gaze.

"Uncle-Master, is that you?"

Just as he was about to throw the White-Striped Fire Crow back into the lava, a sudden shout startled Li Yang. Seeing someone approaching, the White-Striped Fire Crow tried to let out a long, mournful cry, but Li Yang blasted it unconscious with a palm strike to its face, then stuffed it into his storage ring.

Then, Li Yang swiftly pulled out a fishing rod and cast it into the lava, assuming a fishing pose.
"Uncle-Master, are you still fishing for fire crows?"

As they got closer, they saw that the person was Wu Nanfeng, who was holding a black bag in his hand, the contents of which were unknown.

"Having nothing to do, I wanted to cultivate my mind and character."

Li Yang smiled warmly, as if he were truly cultivating his character.

“My junior brother just saw a huge white creature on the mountainside. He thought it was some kind of rare monster, so he came over to take a look.”

Wu Nanfeng looked around, but the white figure on the mountainside had disappeared without him noticing, which puzzled him.

"Demon beast? What demon beast? Perhaps you're just hallucinating because you've been cultivating too hard, nephew."

Li Yang smiled gently, his expression unchanged, then pointed to the large black bag that Wu Nanfeng was pulling and asked, "What is this thing? It looks like something alive."

"It's alive, but it's practically dead."

Wu Nanfeng immediately gave a cruel smile, then tore open a corner of the bag in front of Li Yang.
The bag contained several naked men, all with sunken eyes, weak breathing, and an extremely faint aura, like remnants in the wind.

At a glance, there were about a dozen people, all naked and unconscious, crammed into the bag like chickens in a refrigerator, mixed with the stench of photinia flowers, which greatly shocked Li Yang.

Some of the men's faces were somewhat familiar. After a moment's thought, Li Yang realized that they were the Immortal cultivators from Purgatory Valley who had been attracted by Wu Qiye's fishing for fire crows a week ago.

But now, they have all fallen from their innate state, looking completely different from their dashing and handsome appearance a week ago.

"Hmph, do you think my master's bedchamber is so easy to climb into? We're already being generous by sparing their lives out of respect for their master!"

"My master has ordered me to send these guys back to their master one by one."

Wu Nanfeng said with a relaxed expression, clearly indicating that this was not the first time such a thing had happened, and he was very experienced in dealing with it.

Li Yang: "Aba aba aba aba aba..."

"Aren't you afraid of retaliation from these people's sects?"

Wu Nanfeng sneered and shook his head: "These cultivators are weak-willed and have been driven by desires. They brought this upon my master themselves. What does it have to do with us? No one will seek revenge for these good-for-nothings."

Li Yang nodded, and upon reflection, he realized that it made perfect sense.
This is the Realm of Ultimate Truth, the Valley of Purgatory, where strength reigns supreme. Everyone is adept at scheming, and the notion of protecting one's own only applies to those who are weaker.

He now admires Yan Jin somewhat.

"So this is the Valley of Purgatory, the Nine Sects of Ultimate Truth...?"

After bidding farewell to Wu Nanfeng, and waiting until Wu Nanfeng had flown quite a distance, he carefully released the Fire Crow, which had been skinned like a white-skinned chicken, from his storage ring.

The fire crow that came out of the storage ring was limp and charred, but it even faintly smelled of meat.

"Hiss? Did I overdo it with that palm strike?"

Li Yang fiddled with the limp fire crow, nervously looking around, knowing he was in trouble.

This was a celestial pet; even a group of terrestrial immortals would have to respectfully release it after catching it, but now it had died at their own hands.

Li Yang's first thought was to destroy the evidence. After surveying the surroundings, he threw the Fire Crow into the lava, cleaned up the scene, and flew back to his cave.

Fifteen minutes later, after much deliberation, Li Yang returned and, with great effort, retrieved the fire crow's corpse from the lava. As he had expected, the lava had no effect on the fire crow's corpse.

Back in his cave, Li Yang first dismissed all the young disciples and servants, locked the cave door, and then took the fire crow's corpse out of his storage ring.

"I know you are a primordial fire spirit. Killing you by accident was not my intention. I hope you will not blame me. May you be reincarnated soon..."

"I will cremate you right now!"

Li Yang hoisted up the three-meter-tall fire crow, and to prevent the celestial being from investigating, he flickered his fingertips with Daoist fire, intending to destroy the evidence.
However, Li Yang underestimated the fire resistance of this innate fire spirit. Although Li Yang's Dao fire was extraordinary, it was not his forte. After a while, the fire crow's corpse was not burned away. Instead, the entire cave was filled with the aroma of meat.

Li Yang frowned, then could only search the cave with great distress, before applying honey and various seasonings to the charred surface of the fire crow...

Li Yang swore that he genuinely wanted to be cremated!
Purgatory Valley, a palace atop a precipitous mountain peak.

A pink bed curtain was placed conspicuously outside the palace.

A moment later, with a man's scream, a pair of jade-like feet, white as lotus roots, lifted the bed curtains and kicked the emaciated, unconscious man off the bed.
Wu Nanfeng, waiting outside the bed curtains, kept her eyes downcast, not daring to look at the scenery beneath them.
"This husband of mine is truly heartless. He's been back in the valley for a week, and hasn't come to see me even once!"

"In that case, I'll have to go find him myself."

After a rustling sound, a bewitching woman dressed in feathered robes emerged from the bed, her bare feet stepping on the unconscious man on the ground. She then transformed into a cloud of fire and rose gracefully into the sky.

Wu Nanfeng followed closely behind, without even glancing at the dozen or so men lying unconscious on the ground.

These on the ground are all rogue cultivators from outside. Their life essence has been drained, and there's no need to send them back. Someone will come later to make the most of their remaining physical bodies and souls.

(End of this chapter)