Who Was Playing Whom
The cave was pitch black, and a chilly feeling greeted the eye upon entering Yue Qianchou found it odd; normally, fluorite was used for lighting in such places, so why wasn't it used here, forcing people to walk in the dark? Also, in caves with underground fire, one could usually feel the temperature gradually increasing upon entering, but here it was chilly—something was abnormal.
Could this idiot be playing dumb to trick me? Yue Qianchou immediately became extremely alert, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. Unable to see the road, he relied on the sound of He Li's footsteps to guide him, while simultaneously releasing his Divine Sense to probe the path; the terrain was constantly sloping downwards. He Li noticed his Divine Sense but said nothing.
After a while, their Divine Sense detected a bend ahead. The two turned into it, and a hazy green light appeared before them, making the outline of the cave more or less visible. At the end of the bend, there was another bend. Turning into it again, the space suddenly opened up, and a few meters ahead, a blue light screen several meters in diameter rippled like water, its Azure Nether color both beautiful and somewhat eerie.
He Li pointed ahead and said, "Inside is the Azure Flame, which is extremely hot. With your cultivation level, you should be prepared to use your internal energy to resist it."
"But I didn't feel any heat at all, what's going on?" Yue Qianchou asked, puzzled.
"Did you see that light barrier? That's the formation set up by the Divine Craftsman. It can prevent the temperature inside from leaking out. The azure flame inside is protected by a light shield, so you can't feel the high temperature," He Li explained.
"Tsk tsk! There's even an insulated formation. It seems the temperature of this Azure Flame is truly extraordinary, otherwise there would be no need to go to such lengths." Yue Qianchou nodded, his eyes filled with surprise as he tried to see through the light barrier.
"The main reason for preventing the high temperature from leaking out is to prevent too many people from knowing that there is a Green Flame here. The same reason is for the large array outside the valley." He Li said, then pointed to the way they came and said, "The entrance to the cave was deliberately dug so windingly to prevent the light of the Green Flame from leaking out and attracting attention."
"Oh!" Yue Qianchou nodded in understanding and said, "The outer array harbors hidden murderous intent, so it must have more than just heat insulation capabilities!"
"If you don't know the trick, it's easy to get in but hard to get out. You'll eventually be roasted to death by the Azure Flame. I doubt anyone in the human world can stay near the Azure Flame forever. Unless the Azure Flame goes out, it's not so bad. This formation is maintained by the energy of the Azure Flame. Once the Azure Flame goes out, the formation will cease to exist." As he said this, He Li walked and laughed, "Didn't you want to see it? You can go in and take a look now."
A ripple appeared on the light screen, and he walked into it effortlessly. Yue Qianchou his tongue in amazement and carefully followed. He felt no resistance; it was as if a gentle breeze was caressing his face, and he was already inside.
Upon entering, Yue Qianchou, though prepared with his inner energy, was still greatly surprised. The temperature was so high that he almost suffocated on the spot. Even with his True Essence energy circulating at its limit, he still couldn't withstand it. This was something he had never encountered since he began cultivating the Fire Technique. He was supposed to be unafraid of He Lie, but he was still overwhelmed by the heat emanating from the azure flames. He immediately circulated the Fire Technique in secret, and after a while, he finally managed to withstand the almost cruelly high temperature. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He knew before that the Fire Technique could absorb ordinary fires like earth fire, but he wasn't sure if it would work on the azure flames. Now that he had tried it, his doubts were dispelled, and he finally had the mind to look around.
This was a huge hemispherical space, enveloped by a light shield. The ground was very flat, and it was estimated to be about four or five hundred meters in diameter. In the middle was a pit about several tens of meters wide. A ball of blue flames rose up from the pit with a "whoosh" sound. It burned wildly, beautifully, lonely, and passionately, illuminating the entire underground space with its blue light. Everything was a bright, blue color.
Without a doubt, this was the legendary Azure Flame! Yue Qianchou was startled again. The Azure Flame in the pit was at least two hundred meters away from where he was standing. The temperature of its light spread was probably higher than the flames released from his body. If he extracted the fire element and used it with fire techniques, what would happen!
After the initial shock, a surge of joy filled his heart. His gaze fell upon the two of them, and he noticed that their hair, skin, and clothing had all been tinged with a bluish hue by the firelight. Looking at He Li's face, he saw a fleeting look of surprise that vanished quickly when he looked over. Yue Qianchou, perceptive as ever, sensed something was amiss, yet couldn't immediately pinpoint what the problem was.
"Brother Yue is indeed a man of great hidden talent. His Core Formation stage cultivation is so strong that he can withstand the intense heat of the Azure Flame. Although I cannot see through Brother Yue's cultivation level, I'm afraid he is more than just Core Formation stage cultivator!" He Li asked with a smile.
Yue Qianchou's pupils constricted sharply, finally realizing what was wrong. His heart skipped a beat. This guy knew perfectly well that Core Formation stage cultivation couldn't withstand this, yet he didn't tell me and brought me along. What was he planning? He feigned ignorance and said with a wry smile, "Brother He, you flatter me. The power of this Azure Flame is indeed no joke. I've already pushed my True Essence to its limit and am simply enduring it. I wanted to get closer to take a look, but I simply don't have the cultivation. Sigh! Just a glimpse from afar is enough. Forget it, Brother He, let's go back quickly! If we stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll lose my life here."
Having said that, he turned to leave, secretly clutching a small silver ball in his palm containing a drop of his own Essence Blood. He planned to leave the silver ball on the path in the cave when he found an opportunity, so that he could easily retrieve it the next time he came. However, the light barrier that had allowed him to enter effortlessly suddenly rebounded upon contact with his body when he tried to leave, sending him staggering back several steps.
Yue Qianchou turned around in surprise and asked, "What's going on?"
"Brother Yue, have you forgotten what I told you at the beginning? Trying to enter or leave this great formation protecting the Azure Flame is easy to enter but difficult to leave if you don't know the trick, and you will eventually be burned to death by the Azure Flame." He Li shook his head and sighed.
Yue Qianchou slapped his forehead and said, "Look at my memory! I forgot what I just said. Hey! Brother He, take me out of here! If I stay any longer, I'm really going to be burned to death by this green fire."
The smile on He Li's face suddenly turned sinister under the light of the blue fire, and he said with a sinister laugh, "Didn't you go to great lengths to trick me into bringing you to see the Blue Fire? Now that you're here, stay and watch to your heart's content!"
After speaking, he cast a Method Formula towards the light barrier, his figure swiftly passing through and flashing away. Although Yue Qianchou's cultivation and speed were inferior to his, his reaction was not slow either. As soon as his opponent moved, he immediately closed in, but ultimately he was still a bit too slow. Once his opponent passed through the light barrier, he tried to follow, but was immediately blasted back more than ten steps by a tremendous rebound force. Then, He Li's smug laughter came from outside. "Yue Qianchou, I forgot to tell you, don't underestimate this light barrier. The greater the force it receives, the greater the rebound force. Even a Spirit Transformation stage expert who goes in will have a hard time getting out without the help of a good spiritual treasure, haha!"
It turned out that the room wasn't soundproof Yue Qianchou leisurely looked around inside, but said in an extremely tense tone, "Brother He, stop joking. If this continues, someone will die."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" He Li sneered. "Yue Qianchou, don't blame me. Blame yourself for coming to the Demon Ghost Domain, blame yourself for letting that old geezer take a liking to you. Blame yourself for trying to be clever, treating others like fools, and insisting on coming to see Qinghuo. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't dare to make a move against you, hahaha!"
"Uh..." Yue Qianchou's expression twitched. It turned out that he had been tricked in the end. Considering the other party's words, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Old geezer? He Li, are you talking about Bi Changchun, the old Bi Changchun?"
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