Heading west, the mountains and rivers beneath his feet gradually changed color.
The once lush, verdant landscape brimming with Spiritual Energy gradually faded away, replaced by an indescribable desolation and oppression. Ravines crisscrossed the land as though torn apart by the claws of colossal beasts. Charred earth lay everywhere, and the air was thick with an inescapable stench of blood and a baleful aura that seeped into the bones. The deeper they went, the heavier that baleful aura became. It even began eroding the minds of living creatures, giving even formerly docile little beasts a vicious temperament.
Li Cha sat atop Mo Ran's back, his brows faintly furrowed. He knew full well that someone was meddling in the shadows. Within the range of his Spiritual Sense, countless Wraiths could faintly be heard wailing from the depths of the Western Land. This was Demon Ancestor Luohu's handiwork. To refine the infamous Four Swords of Zhu Xian, he had used the Earth Veins of the Western Land as his foundation to lay down a heaven-shaking Demon Array. In secret, he gathered the corpses and souls of those who had fallen in the war among the three clans, cast them into a blood pool and demonic furnace, and tempered the sword edges with boundless baleful aura and Resentment Power to enhance their might.
What grand handiwork. What a ruthless heart. Li Cha had no intention of intervening. The conflict between Luohu and Hongjun was the Dao-Devil War, a crucial part of the Heavenly Dao's evolution within the Primordial Wilderness. As an anomaly, rashly involving himself in such a great tide of fate might invite backlash from the Heavenly Dao. The losses would outweigh the gains. His goal had always been clear: collect materials, perfect the Tea Dao, and perhaps cause a little "trouble" for the future Dao Ancestor Hongjun while he was at it. He only wondered whether Fellow Daoist Yang Mei, whom he had just parted with, would make a move in this Dao-Devil War. With his methods as the Space Demon God, if he took another step forward and reached Peak Quasi-Saint, he might not necessarily be at a disadvantage even against Luohu alone.
As he pondered, Mo Ran carried him through the air for more than thirty years. Over those years, they had crossed countless volcanoes, underground fire veins, and places where remnants of True Sun Fire remained. Whenever Li Cha sensed an area rich in fire spiritual energy, he would personally descend to investigate. Yet top-grade fire-element divine stones were things one could only encounter by chance. Most of what he found were ordinary Fire Crystals and Flame Jade, nowhere near sufficient for refining acquired Five-Colored Stone.
Just as Mo Ran carried Li Cha toward the borders of the Western Land, a sudden change erupted!
A seemingly dormant dead volcano ahead began to shake violently without warning! The mountain rumbled, massive boulders tumbled down, and then a crimson pillar of fire burst from the crater with a deafening roar, shooting straight into the heavens! Scorching magma poured down like floodwaters from a breached dam, instantly incinerating the already sparse vegetation around the mountain. The air filled with the pungent stench of sulfur and incomparably pure fire spiritual energy.
"Master, this..." Mo Ran halted, watching the erupting volcano warily.
But a hint of delight flashed through Li Cha's eyes. Such an immense and pure eruption of fire spiritual power likely meant that an extraordinary treasure had been born. "Mo Ran, let's go take a look."
Having received the order, Mo Ran rode a cloud of auspicious mist, resisting the blazing heat and splattering magma as he rapidly approached the crater. Before they arrived, a clear phoenix cry filled with fury rang out from within the volcano, piercing through metal and shattering stone!
"Screech!"
Along with that phoenix cry, an extraordinarily majestic Fire Phoenix suddenly spread her wings and soared out from the surging magma! Her body was long and graceful, her feathers golden-red, and her tail plumes trailed long streams of flame. Blazing fire enveloped her entire body, dyeing half the sky crimson. Her aura was clearly at the early Golden Immortal stage, but with the power of this volcano, her might was enough to rival a mid-stage Golden Immortal.
The Fire Phoenix clearly regarded the volcano as her territory. Seeing someone approach, especially after sensing the Kirin Clan aura on Mo Ran, she flew into a rage.
"You mongrel from the Kirin Clan! You dare come to this lady's territory? You're courting death!" A crisp but vicious female voice came from the Fire Phoenix's beak. With a beat of her wings, countless flaming feathers condensed from the essence of True Sun Fire shot toward Mo Ran and Li Cha like a rain of arrows, blotting out the sky!
In the past, the proud Mo Ran would have flown into a rage at such insults and charged forward to fight. But after receiving Li Cha's enlightenment through the Tea Dao and hearing the sound of the Great Dao, his mind had become clear and tranquil. He was not swayed by her words. With a low roar, the black Qilin Armor around him gleamed with dark light, forming a solid barrier that blocked every dense flaming feather, producing a series of crackling explosions.
Li Cha's gaze did not linger on the aggressive Fire Phoenix. His Spiritual Sense had already pierced through the churning magma and locked onto a golden-red divine stone floating deep within the volcano's belly, emitting a pure Bing Fire aura—the Fire Bath Stone!
"Mo Ran, restrain her. Do not harm her life," Li Cha instructed calmly as he raised a hand and made a grasping motion toward the depths of the magma.
"By your command!" Mo Ran's body suddenly expanded as he returned to his true form. The powerful aura of a Peak Golden Immortal erupted without reservation, pressing down upon the Fire Phoenix like a mountain. His four hooves stepped through the air, creating water-like ripples beneath them, containing a trace of his rudimentary comprehension of the spatial Dao. In an instant, he broke through the blockade of flaming feathers and appeared above the Fire Phoenix. A massive claw covered in heavy scales descended mercilessly with overwhelming force!
Though the Fire Phoenix had the advantage of terrain, the gap in cultivation was simply too great. She had never expected this Ink Qilin to possess such command of spatial techniques. She felt the space around her suddenly congeal, slowing her movements. The next moment, the enormous qilin claw viciously pinned her to the ground still flowing with magma. No matter how she struggled or burned with flames, she could not move it in the slightest.
"Let me go! You damned mongrel! Trash of the Kirin Clan!" The Fire Phoenix was both humiliated and enraged, yet her curses did not cease. Had Mo Ran's temperament not been so steady, her insults toward his clan alone would have gotten her torn to pieces long ago.
Li Cha turned a deaf ear to the curses behind him. As his magic power circulated, the Fire Bath Stone within the magma seemed drawn by an invisible force. It transformed into a golden-red streak of light, broke through the molten rock, and landed steadily in his palm. The divine stone felt warm and smooth to the touch, yet it contained terrifying heat that seemed capable of incinerating all things, along with a pure Bing Fire origin. It was precisely the top-grade fire-element divine stone he needed!
"Not bad." Li Cha nodded in satisfaction and put away the Fire Bath Stone. He had now obtained four of the Five Elements Divine Stone. Only the final metal-element divine stone remained.
Only then did he turn around and look at the Fire Phoenix, whom Mo Ran had firmly pinned to the ground. Beneath the anger and humiliation in her eyes, a thread of blood-red malice lingered even deeper. Clearly, after living for so long along the edge of the Western Realm, which had been corroded by Luohu's Demonic Energy, even a sacred bird like a phoenix could not avoid being affected. Her temperament had become increasingly violent and irritable.
"By obtaining your opportunity here, I have formed a karmic bond with you," Li Cha said softly. "I will give you a bowl of tea as compensation."
With a thought, he summoned a cup of tea from the Chaos Pearl. This was not freshly brewed tea, but some leftover Enlightenment Tea from his own drink the previous day—essentially overnight tea. Its Dao rhythm was not as rich as when freshly brewed, and its flavor was somewhat inferior, but its effects of soothing the mind and cleansing baleful aura remained.
Li Cha flicked his finger, and that cup of overnight tea transformed into a clear stream that accurately fell into the Fire Phoenix's open beak as she cursed.
The tea entered her throat, and a cool, gentle power carrying profound Dao rhythm instantly spread throughout the Fire Phoenix's body. An indescribable comfort replaced her previous agitation. The chaotic killing intent and resentment in her mind seemed washed away by clear water, rapidly fading. The blood-red tint in her eyes also visibly receded, restoring the clear, bright crimson of her pupils.
She stopped struggling and blankly sensed the peaceful power within her, a power filled with wisdom and vitality. It even stirred her comprehension of the Dao of Fire. Dao rhythm began to emerge and circulate around her body of its own accord.
Seeing that she had regained clarity and fallen into a state of enlightenment, Mo Ran followed Li Cha's intent and released his massive claw.
Freed from her restraint, the Fire Phoenix did not attack again. Instead, she looked deeply at Li Cha, her gaze complicated, containing gratitude, confusion, and a trace of realization. She said nothing further. Letting out a joyful cry, she beat her wings and plunged straight into the roiling magma below, clearly using the tea's power to enter seclusion and digest its effects.
Li Cha smiled faintly and did not linger, drifting back onto Mo Ran's back.
"Let's go. Continue westward. The metal-element divine stone may lie in the farthest west, where Geng Metal Qi is at its sharpest."
Mo Ran answered with a low roar. Stepping upon auspicious clouds and carrying Li Cha, he became a streak of black light and continued toward the depths of the West, where baleful aura was heavy and demonic shadows loomed everywhere.
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