'Samsara' Ability

Eight Ridges Mountain Sage Tomb, within the underground palace. Yan Kuan, having leaped into the air, finally mastered enough skill after multiple attempts at riding Divine Radiance to fly. His figure moved again, and he appeared before the Chime Bells that continuously emitted celestial music.

Flame light flickered in his eyes, resplendent and colorful. The Empyrean Flame Seed, formed by fusing thousands of strange fires, appeared in Yan Kuan's palm. His gaze locked onto that row of Chime Bells.

After cultivating the Burning Art, Yan Kuan naturally thought first of seeking special flames. And within his own body, he possessed an extremely precious Empyrean Flame Seed.

Of course, during his journey through the heavens, the original power of the Empyrean Flame Seed had been nearly exhausted, leaving only residual energy. Thus, refining the Empyrean Flame only caused his cultivation method to undergo an initial transformation and granted him a single strange fire ability—nothing more.

The first strange fire ability he obtained was called 'Reincarnation.' It touched upon time, space, and karma, connecting to reincarnation, tracing the past, understanding three lifetimes, and illuminating destiny—its wondrous uses were endless.

In short, this ability could use a medium to 'channel spirits,' illuminating living or dead things to trace the past. This past referred not only to events that had occurred but could even trace back to previous lives, revealing the secrets of three lifetimes. In theory, it could help him obtain countless wondrous techniques and mental formulas.

After gaining the Reincarnation ability, Yan Kuan had tested it many times. Unfortunately, he had few medium objects related to cultivators. From some antiques, he had obtained much information about the past thousand years, involving many historical truths, but most of it was useless to him.

The only time he had a major gain was when he used the Empyrean Flame's Reincarnation ability to illuminate the Trigram Treasure Box. However, due to his current insufficient strength, he only obtained a single complete secret technique from it.

But this also made him understand that to maximize the Reincarnation ability's effect, he should seek ancient objects related to cultivators. And in this tomb, wasn't that exactly where such objects were most abundant?

"My cultivation has broken through one realm and reached Life Spring. This time, I should be able to obtain a longer 'Reincarnation' duration. Among the objects in this tomb directly connected to Grand Sage Red Pine, this row of Chime Bells is the most suitable for now."

Yan Kuan slowly approached the row of exquisite Chime Bells. Wisps of multicolored light shot out, and strange flames of every hue flew toward the bells. The brilliant fire gradually covered all the bells but did not incinerate them—instead, it refined some peculiar spiritual essence.

These Chime Bells were ancient but well-preserved, without a trace of damage—objects tempered by a cultivator over a thousand refinements. However, they contained no Dao marks inside, only a brand resembling essence, energy, and spirit. It seemed they were Grand Sage Red Pine's beloved possessions.

When the colorful flames fully covered the entire row of Chime Bells, Yan Kuan's figure instantly froze in place. Countless reflections flickered in his eyes, as if he had crossed a thousand years of reincarnation and arrived in a distant age.

Countless images flashed through Yan Kuan's mind, vast amounts of information flowing past. Suddenly, the picture froze.

"Is this... Grand Sage Chisongzi?"

Yan Kuan's pupils sharply contracted. Within his 'sight,' a blurry figure appeared. It sat cross-legged, surrounded by immeasurable divine light, as if it were the embodiment of Dao principles, difficult to look at directly.

Through the strange perspective of the ancient Chime Bells, he observed many ancient messages concerning Grand Sage Chisongzi, including some wondrous techniques and insights into Dao performance.

Strange melodies echoed in Yan Kuan's ears. When this celestial music finally faded, the colorful Empyrean Flame gradually withdrew back into Yan Kuan's body.

This 'Reincarnation journey' ended. Yan Kuan had gained much, but unfortunately, due to his limited strength, most of the cultivation information he obtained was fragmented and incomplete. It could guide his cultivation, but he did not gain many profound techniques.

Yan Kuan's mind slowly sank into his body. In just that short moment, the route of the Burning Art's Wheel Sea Chapter within him had become more than ten percent more complex—and this was merely from obtaining some of the Grand Sage's insights into Dao performance. It could only be said that the gap between that level of expert and Yan Kuan was too vast; even a sliver of their insight was precious to him.

"Sword Cleansing Heart Refining Melody, Celestial Music Divine Chapter—this is a rare sound-based mystical technique."

Yan Kuan rubbed his brow. The originally bright flame mark had dimmed somewhat, but his gain this time was undoubtedly enormous. Aside from scattered cultivation knowledge, he had also obtained a mystical technique that could both aid cultivation and serve as a means of combat.

"This is... a strand of Grand Sage Chisongzi's spiritual imprint. I never thought the Empyrean Flame's Reincarnation ability could refine something like this."

Just as Yan Kuan was carefully recalling his previous experience, the Empyrean Flame covering the Chime Bells gradually dissipated. The final wisp of colored flame returned to his palm.

At the center of the colored flame, a strange spiritual essence flickered. After carefully sensing it, Yan Kuan's heart stirred. These Chime Bells were Grand Sage Red Pine's beloved possessions. Having stayed by his side for so long, they had been imbued with a spiritual imprint akin to a Dao soul.

The bursts of celestial music in this underground palace were the subconscious action of this spiritual imprint. Now that Yan Kuan had refined it, the Chime Bells, having lost their spiritual imprint, were merely mundane objects and could naturally no longer play celestial melodies.

"These treasures may not be magical artifacts, but they are perfect for cultivating the Celestial Music Divine Chapter. However, such a complete set of Chime Bells—I can't let it see the light!"

Yan Kuan casually scattered divine light and carefully stored the entire row of Chime Bells into his own Sea of Bitterness. Then his gaze shifted, looking at the flickering firelight deeper in the tomb. After a moment, his eyes dimmed again.

"Pity. I'd better not take the risk for now."

After obtaining Grand Sage Chisongzi's spiritual imprint, Yan Kuan had a momentary impulse to go deeper into the tomb and try to gain more benefits. But in the end, reason overcame impulse.

His current strength was insufficient—that didn't mean it would always be. This place was known only to him. There would be other days; he could plan carefully. There was no need to take risks now.

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Kuan walked toward the outer edge of the White Jade Stairs. The clanging sound of swords entered his ears again. He arrived before a strange stone wall.

This ancient stone wall was covered in all kinds of sword marks, and a resonant clanging sound continuously emanated from it. This was the Sword Sharpening Stone once used by Grand Sage Red Pine.

Even after tens of thousands of years, such a stone used by a top-tier expert to sharpen his sword could still be heard ringing with sword sounds, because it had absorbed their Sword Intent. To many, this was a treasure.

After using the Reincarnation ability multiple times, Yan Kuan had gained enough understanding of it. If he could touch the Sword Sharpening Stone and refine it, using it as a medium for a 'Reincarnation journey,' he should be able to obtain precious Sword Intent mystical techniques.