The two quietly returned to the mountain Great Stronghold.
Xiao Yun instructed Spirit Flame Maiden not to use this weapon unless it was a moment of crisis, to avoid using it under other people's noses as much as possible, and to keep it mysterious if she could.
Spirit Flame Maiden nodded. "I understand." After returning to the Bamboo Building, she put the Flame Spirit Spear into her Storage Ring.
That night, Xiao Yun was reading in the Study Room when he suddenly sensed the Martial Soul Bead stirring deep within the Hundred Thousand Volcanoes.
Its Fire Attribute energy was full.
Xiao Yun stood and quickly walked out of the Bamboo Building.
Spirit Flame Maiden was practicing in the courtyard. When she saw him come out, she stopped. "Teacher Xiao, what's wrong?"
"I have an urgent matter and need to leave for a while. I don't know when I'll be back." Xiao Yun summoned his Flying Sword, leaped onto it, and turned into a streak of green light that vanished into the horizon.
Spirit Flame Maiden stood in the courtyard, watching that receding streak of green light, her eyes filled with worry.
The Flying Sword sped through the night sky. A moment later, Xiao Yun stopped above the crater where he had previously placed the Martial Soul Bead.
Deep inside the crater, dark red magma churned.
He sensed the Martial Soul Bead's location. It was still beneath the lava rock, stuck in a crevice.
But there was an additional Soul Beast in the crater—a huge bird with a body entirely of fiery red, an Undying Firebird. Its feathers were like burning flames, and three golden crest feathers grew from its head. It was a bit smaller than the hundred-thousand-year Fire God Bird from before, but its aura was not weak either.