Chapter 245

When Shi Xuan regained consciousness, he felt sore all over. He didn't know how many times he'd been tossed around by the seawater and smashed into the rocks. Fortunately, he'd activated the Golden Dragon Armor Spell in time and managed to survive.

When he took a deep breath, it was dry, hot, and smelly. Shi Xuan's sense of smell was almost ruined.

After carefully looking around, Shi Xuan discovered that he'd been washed to some place by the seawater. He was in a long passageway, but whether it was the walls on either side of the passageway, the ceiling above, or even the stone path he was lying on, they were all burning. Fortunately, Penglai's outer disciple robes had elementary fire and water repellent properties, and this was only an ordinary fire, so Shi Xuan hadn't been reduced to a charred corpse in his coma.

The other end of the passageway had already been blocked by collapsed rocks. Shi Xuan tried to hack at it with the Thousand Manifestation Shadowless Sword a few times, but he only managed to leave a small white mark. The rocks here must have been calcined for who knew how many years, and they'd already become incomparably hard and unknown materials.

Shi Xuan carefully picked up a few of these rocks and used a spell technique to form a thick layer of soil around them. He then put them in his storage pouch. When he got out of here, he'd find someone to take a look at these materials.

Since there was only one way out, Shi Xuan could only continue forward.

After recovering his energy, he cast a few defensive spells on himself and activated the Golden Dragon Armor Spell. Shi Xuan took out the Soul Confounding Flag, and rays of black light fell down from it. He then slowly walked to the other side of the passageway.

After leaving this passageway, he found himself in another passageway. These passageways didn't seem to be formed naturally. They must be some kind of ruin. However, this passageway was very wide and tall, more than ten times the normal width. Whose ruin could it be?

In this maze-like passageway, Shi Xuan walked and stopped, but he couldn't find a way out. He wanted to judge which side was hotter, which was the core, and which side was the exit. However, Shi Xuan found that all sides were equally hot.

Suddenly, not long after Shi Xuan entered a passageway, a few small birds made of fire flew out from the flames on either side of the passageway, pouncing on Shi Xuan. Shi Xuan waved the Soul Confounding Flag, and the black light swept towards the birds. However, as soon as it touched the birds, the black light began to sizzle, like snow meeting the scorching sun, and receded.

With great difficulty, he finally killed these fire birds, but they only turned into blossoms of fire and slowly extinguished, leaving nothing behind.

It seemed that the power of the Enchanting Flag was greatly reduced in this extremely hot and Yang environment. It was extremely difficult for it to deal with a few birds just now. Shi Xuan could only take out the Wanxiang Shadowless Sword. It was better to use it later. As for water and ice type spells, Shi Xuan didn't want to use them for the time being. Under the premise of preserving his energy to the greatest extent, using magic weapons would consume a lot less energy.

After a while, those fire birds came back again, one after another, as if they didn't fear death, pouncing towards Shi Xuan. Shi Xuan pointed, and the Wanxiang Shadowless Sword turned into a clear light, flying towards these birds. When it was about to reach them, Shi Xuan formed a sword art, and the sword light of the Wanxiang Shadowless Sword turned into a huge column of clear light, blowing towards the birds like a gale. It was the Wind Sword of the Six Wind Slayer Swords.

The wind blew, leaving only a blank space on the ground. Those fire birds had already been extinguished by the sword light in the wind. Shi Xuan nodded inwardly. The Wind Sword of the Six Wind Slayer Swords, Hurricane, and Whirlwind, were the nemesis of these fire birds. Of course, if they were a little stronger, then it wouldn't be the wind that extinguished the fire, but the wind that fueled the fire.

Shi Xuan had just relaxed a little when he saw a few hundred fire birds flying out from the tunnel he came from. His expression became serious, and he directed the Wanxiang Shadowless Sword to turn into a whirlwind. Then, he fought and retreated, retreating into the depths of the tunnel.

When these hundreds of fire birds were extinguished, and there were no more fire birds chasing after him, Shi Xuan saw two fire giants walking out from both sides of the tunnel, their faces ferocious as they pounced towards him.

Not only did these fire giants look huge, but they also used a spell midway, and one fireball after another fiercely flew towards Shi Xuan. Fortunately, Shi Xuan was focused, and he used a small Cool Breeze Escape to move forward a distance, and only then did he manage to avoid the fierce explosion of these fireballs.

The sword light flashed, and turned into a hurricane, attacking the two fire giants. However, the fire giants were not afraid at all. They let the sword light cut their bodies in half, but under the wind, the flames on their bodies burned even more fiercely. Then, they actually turned into four fire giants and chased after Shi Xuan.

Shi Xuan once again moved a small distance, and dodged the attack of the fireballs. Then, the sword light condensed, and without a sound, passed through the smoke of the explosion, and flew in front of the four fire giants. Then, a clear light streaked from left to right, and those fire giants were cut in half. Moreover, the flames at the places where they were cut were quickly extinguished, as if they had met their natural enemy. In the end, the four fire giants turned into four pieces of cold stone, and no longer moved. This was the Cold Wind Sword.

Before Shi Xuan had the time to be happy, a few more fire giants and hundreds of fire birds pounced at him. Although their intelligence was very low, and they did not know how to dodge, when there were so many of them, it was still very terrifying.

Shi Xuan did not dare to fight for long, and he used a small Cool Breeze Escape, turning into a wisp of cool wind, and controlled the sword light to escape.

Along the way, fire giants and fire birds appeared one after another, and Shi Xuan could only escape to wherever there were fewer monsters. Unknowingly, Shi Xuan escaped into a huge, simple and unadorned hall.

Those fire giants and fire birds seemed to be afraid of something in this hall, and they all blocked the passage, not daring to enter. This allowed Shi Xuan to finally have a moment of respite, it seems that Leaving Aperture Stage cultivators really can't fight for long.

Shi Xuan carefully observed this dilapidated hall, which had a radius of a few miles, and looked simple and dignified. However, there was nothing inside, only a few empty pillars supporting the hall.

Walking around the hall, there were a total of four exits, and a passage leading downwards. Just by standing in front of the passage, Shi Xuan could feel the incomparable heat, and the Fire Resistance Art fixed on his Daoist robe could not reduce the heat in the slightest. One could imagine how hot it was down there.

In a situation where there was still a choice, Shi Xuan naturally did not dare to explore the passage leading downwards. However, when Shi Xuan tried the other three exits, he was forced back by countless fire giants and fire birds.

After sitting cross-legged to recover his energy, Shi Xuan once again examined the hall, hoping to find a secret door or a secret passage, but he did not find anything. Instead, the murals on the walls of the hall gave Shi Xuan some guesses about this place.

Those murals depicted huge birds, with the head of a chicken, the lower jaw of a swallow, the neck of a snake, and the tail of a fish. Their bodies were covered with scarlet wings, and they were flying towards the sky from the flames. From their appearance, it could be seen that these were Vermillion Birds, exactly as described in the Daoist book.

Combined with the fact that the Flame Sea and the Flame Islands were once the residence of the Vermillion Bird Tribe, then this should be the Flame God Mountain where the Vermillion Bird Tribe lived, buried deep under the sea for who knows how many tens of thousands of years.

However, guessing this place did not help Shi Xuan escape from his predicament. He only had a few days' worth of dry rations on him, and there were fire giants outside blocking the way. Was he going to die here until the sect came to rescue him? If this Flame God Mountain was hidden in a spatial storm, then even if he waited for his death, he might not be able to wait until the sect came to rescue him.

Not placing his hopes on others was a habit of Shi Xuan's. He could only take the risk and explore the passage leading downwards.

After casting layers of defensive spells on himself and using the black light of the Enchanting Banner to protect himself, Shi Xuan held the Ten Thousand Invisible Elephants Sword and walked down the passage.

The passage was very quiet. With every step Shi Xuan took, he could hear his own footsteps. The lower he went, the hotter it became. The black light even began to melt.

After walking a few circles, Shi Xuan finally saw a large door up ahead. However, this place was even hotter. The black light had already shrunk to the point where it was almost invisible. The corners of Shi Xuan's robes were also curled up by the heat.

Seeing that the Enchanting Banner was useless in this environment, Shi Xuan could only put it away. He relied solely on the Golden Dragon Armor Incantation and a few other defensive spells to advance.

After exiting the gate, they saw a large lake of flames in front of them. Inside was tumbling magma and flames that were close to purplish blue. These weren't ordinary flames. Judging from the color of these flames and the fact that this was the Vermillion Bird Ruins, this should be the famous Nan Ming Li Fire.

The Nan Ming Li Fire was overbearing, but it was restrained. Thus, starting from the door to the lake of flames, the air didn't become hotter. Otherwise, Shi Xuan would have no choice but to retreat. Because of this, the layers of defensive spells on his body gradually melted. Only the Golden Dragon Armor Incantation was struggling to hold on.

Walking to the edge of the lake of flames, Shi Xuan's heart sank. There was already a cultivator in white sitting cross-legged by the lake. He was carefully absorbing the Nan Ming Li Fire and fusing it with his own fiery red True Qi.

Sensing that someone was coming, the cultivator in white immediately stopped absorbing the Nan Ming Li Fire. He stood up and turned around in one go. Fire-like True Qi revolved around his body. But when he saw that the person in front of him was Shi Xuan, he immediately laughed, "Hehe, Junior Martial Brother Shi, we really are fated." This cultivator in white was Meng Yucang.

Facing a Leaving Aperture Stage cultivator, Meng Yucang didn't care at all. He continued to laugh arrogantly, "It's all thanks to Junior Martial Brother Shi's good fortune. Otherwise, how could I have come to the Vermillion Bird Ruins and discovered the Nan Ming Li Fire? My Flame Dragon Divine Fire True Qi will be much more powerful. Even among the Qi Drawing Stage cultivators, it will be ranked at the top."

Shi Xuan didn't reply. A faintly discernible clear light suddenly appeared beside Meng Yucang and stabbed towards his vitals. Meng Yucang didn't expect Shi Xuan's sword light to be so sneaky. He took a hit from Shi Xuan's sword, but the True Qi revolving around Meng Yucang's body easily blocked Shi Xuan's sword.

"Hmph, you're just a Leaving Aperture Stage cultivator, how can you understand the profoundness of True Qi? Even if I stand here and let you attack me, you won't be able to break my True Qi." Meng Yucang looked at Shi Xuan with disdain. At the same time, he waved his hand and a stream of True Qi turned into a Fire Dragon, pouncing towards Shi Xuan.

Shi Xuan used a small Clear Breeze Escape Technique, but the Fire Dragon followed him like a shadow. Its speed was also incomparably fast. Unable to dodge, Shi Xuan was hit in the back by the Fire Dragon. Although the Golden Dragon Armor Incantation blocked most of the power, Shi Xuan was still seriously injured. His back was burnt black and his meridians were also damaged. He lay there, unable to move.

Meng Yucang became more and more happy. He laughed loudly and walked towards Shi Xuan, "Junior Martial Brother Shi, I will throw you into the Nan Ming Li Fire Lake alive. Let me see how many breaths you can live."