Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 235 Netherworld Cold Flame
"Master, there's nothing inside." After a search, Lin Quan came back to report.

"Is there anything unusual about that sarcophagus?"

"We only discovered some unknown patterns inside, like ghostly scribbles, just like the patterns carved on the outer perimeter of the hall."

"Since there's no danger, let's all go in and check it out carefully."

Song Xian led everyone into the inner room. Although they had talismans and light shields to protect them, they still couldn't resist the invasion of the cold. He didn't know where this coldness came from, as if it came from the bottom of his heart.

The spacious hall is now half collapsed, with ruins everywhere.

The closer you get to the sarcophagus, the colder it becomes.

Song Xian went straight to the sarcophagus. The entire hall was covered with thick frost, but the sarcophagus was the only one that hadn't moved at all. So he was sure that there must be something strange about it. When he walked in to take a look, he saw that the inside of the sarcophagus was engraved with densely packed characters that looked like ghostly scribbles.

He stretched out his hand to touch the symbols, but instead of feeling cold, he felt warmth.

What's going on? Could it be that the cold isn't coming from this sarcophagus? Where does that coldness come from?

Song Xian couldn't help but look at the ball of ghostly green fire next to him, which was wrapped in a crystal clear shell. The ball of ghostly fire was about the size of a palm, and the shell that wrapped it was like amber.

Just as he was about to investigate what the green ghost fire was, he suddenly heard Zhong Wenyuan beside him exclaim in surprise.

"What's wrong, Senior Brother Wenyuan? Did you find anything?" Song Xian immediately looked at him.

"There seems to be something wrong with the bottom of this sarcophagus!" Zhong Wenyuan stroked the bottom of the sarcophagus with his palm, frowned, and then knocked on the sarcophagus again and again, listening attentively to the dull echo it made.

When he heard a slightly different sound from one of the echoes, Zhong Wenyuan immediately said with certainty, "There's a secret compartment underneath."

After saying that, he felt around again and found the secret compartment. With a slight sound, the stone slabs at the bottom of the sarcophagus opened, revealing two black books inside.

Song Xian took them and looked at the two books. One was called Xuantian Ronghuo Jue Gongfa, and the other was an autobiography.

It turns out that the owner of this place is a monk named He Andao. The book tells his life story and the reason why he built this temple.

He Andao was in the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm during his lifetime. During an exploration of a secret ruin, he suffered a severe blow, which damaged his foundation of Taoism and cut off his path to the Great Dao.

He was unwilling to see his path of cultivation cut off, nor did he want to just wait for death, so he took a different approach and wanted to become a ghost cultivator.

In his early years, he had obtained the secret method of ghost cultivation, so he exchanged all his property for the Yin Po Pearl, and went to the underworld to absorb and store the Yin energy.

After everything was ready, he built a tomb in this cave and became a ghost cultivator.

The reason why he chose this place was because he was originally a cultivator from Anyuan City. When he was young, he was playing with his friends in this mountain stream and met an injured foundation-building cultivator who was hiding here from his enemies.

Because he took care of the foundation-building cultivator for a period of time, he was accepted as his disciple and embarked on the path of cultivation from then on.

This is where his practice started and will also be where it will end.

Because he himself didn't know whether he would be successful in transforming into a ghost cultivator, and even if he succeeded, he would not be his original self, so he left this autobiography as a commemoration.

As for the Xuantian Ronghuo Jue, it was what he was looking for in the secret realm of the ruins.

In addition, he also found the Netherworld Cold Flame in that secret realm. This was a fire from heaven and earth, possessing the power of extreme cold and yin.

This is also one of the reasons why He Andao turned into a ghost cultivator. The Netherworld Cold Flame is of great help to ghost cultivators, and the Xuantian Ronghuo Jue he found in the secret realm of the ruins can help him fuse this fire.

However, ghost cultivators have no physical form, so they must cultivate to the level of Ghost King and condense into a real body before they can fuse with the Netherworld Cold Flame.

After reading He Andao's autobiography and understanding the cause and effect, Song Xian immediately flipped through another book, Xuantian Ronghuo Jue.

You don't know until you see it, and once you see it, you will be shocked. The strangeness of this martial art is beyond words.

According to the technique, fire is the origin of heaven and earth. Fire first appeared in the world, then the five elements were born, and then wind and thunder were derived, gradually forming all things in the world.

And everything is born from fire, so fire is the source of the world.

There are all kinds of flames in the world, such as the Netherworld Cold Flame, which is one of the strange fires.

The Xuantian Ronghuo Jue technique is able to combine all the different types of flames in the world into one and use them for one's own benefit.

Practicing this technique can not only greatly enhance the power of fire-attributed magical skills, but also make the power of fire even more powerful every time a kind of strange fire is absorbed.

What was most shocking was that the Xuantian Ronghuo Jue was divided into two volumes, and the upper volume was in his hand.

This first volume alone describes the cultivation methods from the early stage of Qi Refining to the late stage of Nascent Soul.

In other words, the second volume of Xuantian Ronghuo Jue is all about the cultivation methods above the Nascent Soul stage.

There are four major realms in the world of cultivation: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul.

Yuanying is already the top cultivator in the world. What is above Yuanying?
He is an immortal from the fairy world, and the second volume of Xuantian Ronghuo Jue actually contains the immortal's cultivation method.

Song Xian stared at the Xuantian Ronghuo Jue in his hand in amazement, his mind racing. The story of the fairyland was widely circulated in the cultivation world. It was rumored that as long as one broke through the Nascent Soul Realm, one could ascend to the fairyland.

But no one in the world has ever seen the fairyland, and no one has ever seen a cultivator who has broken through the Nascent Soul stage and ascended to the fairyland.

So much so that many people believe that the fairyland and immortals are just illusory legends.

The world of cultivation has been around for more than 30,000 years, and the term "Daoli Sanjia" comes from this, meaning the 30,000th year of cultivation in the world.

Legend has it that 30,000 years ago, there were no practitioners in the world until a Taoist scripture came into being, which helped people embark on the path of cultivation.

As for where the Taoist scriptures came from, the more unified view in the cultivation world is that they were passed down by immortals from the fairyland. Therefore, there are legends about immortals in the fairyland, which believe that as long as one ascends to the fairyland, one can have endless life.

Although no one has ever seen an immortal, every cultivator who enters the world of cultivation is working towards this goal.

Although the immortals in the fairy world are illusory, the increase in lifespan with each advancement in realm is real. This alone is enough to attract countless cultivators to throw themselves at them like moths to a flame.

Song Xian was originally skeptical about the legends of the fairy world, but at this moment, holding the first volume of Xuantian Ronghuo Jue in his hand, his yearning for immortals suddenly became extremely strong.

It was as if what he held in his hand was not a book on martial arts, but a ticket to the fairyland.

"Master, what's wrong with you?" Zhong Wenyuan asked when he saw him staring blankly at the book in his hand, motionless, as if petrified.

"It's okay." Song Xian came back to his senses and quickly put away the book. This Xuantian Ronghuo Jue must not be made public, otherwise if others knew about it, it would bring disaster to the entire sect.

This is not just a book of the secrets of practicing the world's top martial arts. Song Xian even has reason to believe that this thing is not something that only exists in this world, but like the Taoist scriptures, it may have been passed down from the fairy world.

The first volume alone is enough to cultivate to the late Nascent Soul stage, so the second volume must be above the late Nascent Soul stage.

The highest level of cultivation in the world is the late Nascent Soul stage. If this technique was not passed down from the fairyland, who could have written it?

It is no wonder that He Andao, after obtaining this item, made up his mind to become a ghost cultivator and start practicing from scratch.

Seeing Song Xian's strange behavior and expression, Zhong Wenyuan didn't ask any more questions. However, Zhang Ningyuan, who was always outspoken, couldn't help but ask: "Master, what are these two books?"

"One contains the secrets of a fire-attributed technique, and the other is a book written by the original owner of this place." Song Xian replied ambiguously, "Now is not the time to discuss these matters. Let's look carefully to see if there are any hidden compartments elsewhere. There might be a secret treasure hidden inside."

After hearing this, everyone dispersed and began to carefully feel around and knock around, looking for any hidden compartments.

"Senior Brother Lin, don't touch that thing." Seeing that Lin Quan wanted to touch the Netherworld Cold Flame hidden in the Ice Soul, Song Xian hurriedly spoke out to stop him.

The icy aura within the tomb was caused by this Netherworld Cold Flame, and its crystal-clear outer shell was no ordinary artifact; it was a thousand-year-old ice spirit, used to seal the Netherworld Cold Flame. Presumably, when the hall collapsed, the stone wall struck the thousand-year-old ice spirit, causing it to lose some of its strength, thus allowing the Netherworld Cold Flame's icy aura to escape.

Many external objects in the world have the effect of mutual promotion and mutual restraint. Ice soul is specially used to seal cold and yin objects, but it is not tough and can be easily damaged by external factors.

If the Ice Soul were to completely shatter, with the power of this Netherworld Cold Flame, I'm afraid everyone would all turn into ice cubes.

Lin Quan was startled by his sudden shout and looked at him in surprise: "Master, what's wrong?"

"This thing is not simple, let me do it." Song Xian did not explain too much. He stretched out his hand and picked up the thousand-year-old ice soul. In an instant, he felt as if his whole body was frozen.

It was as if the body was covered by a talismanic light shield, otherwise he might have been frozen.

He endured the icy coldness that penetrated deep into his bones and carefully placed the Ice Soul into the sarcophagus.

After a closer look, he discovered that there was a tiny crack in the thousand-year-old ice soul. He wondered if it was caused by the rocks that had just collapsed from the hall.

After the Netherworld Cold Flame wrapped in the thousand-year-old ice soul was placed in the sarcophagus, the cold air immediately weakened.

This sarcophagus is also extraordinary. It is made of thousand-year-old Xuanyin stone and can isolate the cold air.

All of this is clearly stated in the autobiography left by He Andao.

Song Xian closed the coffin lid, and the cold air was indeed isolated.

Everyone searched the hall for a long time but found no other secret compartments.

Song Xian then ordered all the Yin Po beads in the tomb courtyard to be collected, and the sarcophagus was carried out and left.

On the way back, everyone looked solemn and unhappy.

They had come all the way here to look for treasure, hoping to gain something, but in the end, they found nothing except the Yin Po Pearl and a strange sarcophagus whose function was unknown.

Not only that, but so many people were killed or injured, so naturally everyone was not in a good mood.

Although Song Xian obtained the priceless treasures such as the Xuantian Ronghuo Jue and the Netherworld Cold Flame, he was distracted and worried because Su Zhirou was injured and still in a coma.

The sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky.

Several Canglan birds carried the stone coffin and the bodies of more than a dozen victims and injured disciples on their backs and headed west.

Originally, Song Xian planned to stay in Anyuan City and take Su Zhirou back after she woke up and recovered from her injuries.

However, this Netherworld Cold Flame is too precious and must be stored in a stone coffin to prevent its coldness from leaking out.

He couldn't carry a sarcophagus with him all the time; it would be too conspicuous and might even cause trouble.

If he asked Zhong Wenyuan and others to escort the sarcophagus back, he was worried that something might happen on the way. After all, these people didn't know the origin of the Netherworld Cold Flame, so he had to go back with them.

They traveled day and night, and no one knew how long it had been. Suddenly, the unconscious person in his arms moved a little, and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Zhirou." Song Xian was overjoyed and called softly.

"Husband." Su Zhirou's face was pale and she called out weakly.

"It's okay, I'm here! Let's go home now." Song Xian hugged her tightly in his arms, and a stone that had been hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.

.........

At night, the moon is bright and the wind is clear.

Bianxi City, Qiyuan Mountain, the headquarters of the Beast Taming Sect.

In the brightly lit room, Xu Hao pushed the door open and bowed to Jiang Feng.

"Master, someone just reported that Uncle Fang seems quite interested in the Tianshan situation. He has personally gone to inspect the newly built Sunset Ridge and Ziwu Ridge inspection areas."

Jiang Feng nodded calmly. This was the first time the sect had sent someone to conduct an inspection since he took office as the head of Bianxi City.

On the surface, this was just a normal routine inspection, but he knew in his heart that this inspection was actually not simple. It could be said to be an important assessment of his tenure in Bianxi City.

Before this, he had already received news that Yang Jinzhang, who was transferred to Jieli Peak as the head, was sent to Qianyuan Mountain Spirit Mine as the head.

This meant that the suppression of Song Zhongping's faction had ended. Because of the sect's spy incident, Song Zhongping's close confidants were targeted, and some disciples who held important positions were transferred to marginal positions with no real power.

But in recent years, these people have returned to some important positions.

It was for this reason that he squeezed out Yang Jinzhang and took the position of head of Bianxi City.

Now that these people have been reinstated, they naturally want to take back this position, especially Yang Jinzhang.

The conflict between the two had long been made public, and he had contributed to the effort to squeeze Yang Jinzhang out.

There is no doubt that even if Yang Jinzhang can no longer return to the position of head of Bianxi City, he will find ways to squeeze him out.

Of course, the key is not Yang Jinzhang. He is just a small character. He is not as good as him in terms of cultivation and qualifications, and he does not have enough say in the sect.

But unfortunately, his connections are very strong. His father-in-law is an elder in foreign affairs, and this is the person he is really worried about.

As the elder of foreign affairs, he has a lot of say in the selection of the person in charge of Bianxi City, and he himself is not from Song Zhongping's faction.

If Song Zhongping takes action, it will be difficult for him to maintain this position.

Fortunately, Fang Qian, who was inspecting the affairs of Bianxi City this time, was not Song Zhongping's confidant, but it was hard to say whether Song Zhongping had secretly instructed him.

After all, having a relatively neutral person report and expose the problem and find out the problem is more convincing than having Song Zhongping send his own confidants.

During the years he has been in office, he thinks he has done a good job in other things.

The only thing that might be used against me is the Tianshan incident.

Tianshan originally worked for the sect, but he forcibly handed Tianshan over to Hunyuan Sect for management. No matter what the reason was, it would be easy for people to make a fuss and be criticized.

When he heard that Fang Qian was going to the Sunset Ridge and Ziwu Ridge inspection areas in person, he became even more worried.

Obviously, Fang Qian had known about the incident in Tianshan a long time ago, and one of the important tasks of this inspection was probably to find out what happened in Tianshan.

"Have you said hello to those over at Tianshan?" Jiang Feng asked after a long silence.

"According to reports, Song Xian went to Anyuan City and is no longer in Tianshan. I have sent someone to inform the elders in charge of Tianshan."

"Is everything ready?"

"Everything is ready." As soon as Xu Hao finished speaking, another disciple hurried here.

"Uncle Jiang, Uncle Fang Qian has returned to the headquarters."

"I understand." Jiang Feng's eyes flashed and he waved his hand to let him leave.

(End of this chapter)