The Furnace Opens, Starflame Appears!

As they ventured deeper into the Fallen Fire Sect, ruined buildings covered in solidified magma could be seen everywhere.

The sights within grew increasingly horrifying.

As far as the eye could see, there were almost no intact ruins—only rolling mountains piled from cooled magma. How did this resemble the remains of an ancient sect at all?

The air was so scorching it seemed ready to ignite, and the dense fire-attributed energy stung even as it entered their lungs.

But gradually, Qin Han sensed something unusual.

Amid the violent, pure fire energy was mixed an indescribable scent.

It was like some poisonous gas formed when magma, steaming to its utmost limit, reacted with a certain mineral.

"Fire poison?!"

The term sprang into Qin Han's mind.

"Zi Yan, take a careful sniff. Doesn't the smell here resemble the one beneath the Heavenly Refining Qi Tower?"

Already overheated, Zi Yan had taken off her outer garment and tied it around her waist. She wore only a close-fitting pale-purple top.

She had also rolled her trouser legs above her knees, revealing arms and legs as fair and crystalline as lotus roots.

At Qin Han's words, she immediately wrinkled her little nose and took several deep breaths. "Yes, yes, yes! It's that feeling! It's denser here, and mixed with some other strange smell. It isn't as pure as the scent of that big snake beneath the tower!"

With that confirmation, Qin Han's heart tightened.

The fire poison beneath the Heavenly Refining Qi Tower was a violent substance derived after the Fallen Heart Flame had absorbed and refined the violent fire-attributed energy in the underground magma over endless years.

It dispersed into the tower along with the Heart Flame, but after being filtered by the Fallen Heart Flame, seventy to eighty percent of its toxicity had already been weakened before the fire poison rose upward.

Even if inhaled, it could naturally be expelled from the body, so long as it was not allowed to repeatedly accumulate and seep into the body over a prolonged period.

The fire poison here was not suppressed by the Fallen Heart Flame, and its violent properties were many times stronger.

"Still, with fire poison at such a high concentration, could there be some enormous source of earthfire connected beneath the Fallen Fire Sect?"

Before Qin Han could think further, the area ahead suddenly opened up.

They had arrived at the heart of the Fallen Fire Sect—the Myriad Fire Furnace Plaza.

Scattered groups of people stood throughout the plaza, mutually wary and watchful.

At this moment, everyone's gaze was fixed on the center of the plaza.

The enormous pale-green cauldron was trembling faintly. Multicolored halos flickered from its mouth, while the complex runes covering its surface dimmed at a visible rate.

A dark-red figure stood directly before the furnace, forming Seal Gestures with both hands as he frantically poured his last remaining Dou Qi into several core runes at its base.

Several people stood guard behind him, one of whom was Yun Sha, who had escaped from the Fire Pavilion.

With a sweep of his gaze, Qin Han quickly located the Jia Nan Academy group and silently darted over with Zi Yan.

"Vice Dean, old man," Qin Han greeted in a low voice.

Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang both nodded slightly upon seeing him arrive.

"You came at the right time. Yun Lie can no longer withstand the pressure from all sides. The seal is about to be fully opened."

Qin Han glanced at Yun Lie, who seemed to be exhausting every last ounce of strength, and asked doubtfully, "Is he really willing? This is the greatest inheritance left behind by his ancestors."

"What choice does he have if he isn't?"

Hu Gan gestured with his chin toward the front. "The Black Emperor Sect's Great Elder Mo Tianquan, the Blood Sect's Sect Leader Fan Lao, Silver Elder of the Gold and Silver Elders, plus this old man and one or two lone strong experts—there are six or seven Dou Emperors here alone.

Earthflame Gate is merely a second-rate sect. If they dare say no, extermination will befall them immediately.

If he opens the seal, he might at least be able to snatch a few scraps amid the chaos."

After saying that, Hu Gan deliberately turned to Qin Han and the others. "Once the seal breaks, if treasures appear, the struggle for them will surely become a bloody storm.

Remember: do not be greedy, and do not stray from one another. Your foremost goal is to protect yourselves. In a situation like this, Jia Nan Academy's name holds limited deterrent power."

"Understood!"

Taking the opportunity, Qin Han cast his gaze around the plaza.

Most of the Black Corner Region Dou Wangs and Dou Lings who had been frightened away from the Fire Pavilion by Old Yao were now gathered at the edges of the plaza's outer perimeter. Each craned their necks to watch, yet none dared approach the Core Region.

They clearly understood that in the coming struggle, even a stray wisp of energy aftershock could cost them their lives. Yet they were unwilling to simply leave.

There was an old saying on the Dou Qi Continent: since you were already here.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Qin Han noticed a figure in the crowd wearing loose robes.

"So this guy came too..."

Qin Han understood at once.

With Old Yao's Soul Power concealing him, Xiao Yan could not possibly miss this final feast.

"Open!"

In the field, Yun Lie let out a roar that was nearly drained of strength, then fiercely thrust his Seal Gestures upward with both hands!

Buzz!!!!

The Myriad Fire Furnace let out a long, muffled boom, and every Rune on its body went dark in an instant.

The invisible sealing power enveloping it dissipated with a crash.

Immediately after, an indescribably vast aura, like stars and moon that had slumbered for eternity, suddenly awakened.

Radiant light shot into the sky.

Strands of strange flames drifted out as though they possessed life.

The flames displayed an incomparably gorgeous coloration, with specks of silvery-white radiance flowing amid dark green.

Upon closer sensing, their edges were not steadily burning, but constantly fluctuating, extending, and contracting.

Even the heat they emitted was not one of pure scorching intensity, but a warmth that encompassed all things and carried a strange rhythm of life.

The Myriad Stars Flame had been born!

Everyone in the plaza fell briefly into a daze, staring blankly at the gorgeous Stellar Flames drifting across the sky.

Even well-traveled figures like Hu Gan and Mo Tianquan had shock filling their eyes.

"Is this... the pinnacle creation of Man-made Flame?"

Unlike Beast Flames, Earth Flames, and most natural flames, the rank of Man-made Flame was extremely difficult to define.

It was not like Beast Flames, whose intensity was basically tied to the rank of the source Magical Beast.

Nor was it like Heavenly Flames, whose strength was distinguished by ranking.

The power of a Man-made Flame depended on its materials, formation arrays, the realm and philosophy of its refiner, as well as a bit of luck.

Especially a strange flame like the Myriad Stars Flame, rumored to have been forged by drawing upon the power of stars and moon and fusing the properties of countless flames—its rank was even more of a mystery.

But the [Myriad Flames Compendium] gave Qin Han the answer.

As he felt the jade-like Stellar Flame flowing silkily across his palm, a voice rang out in his mind.

[Flame cataloging triggered. Eighth Rank Man-made Flame, Myriad Stars Flame, detected.]

[Origin Fire Seed replication and cataloging in progress... Myriad Stars Flame replication successful... Current development level: 10%.]

The Compendium shone brilliantly. Behind the Lava Scale Flame illustration, a miniature nebula flame pattern was vividly imprinted.

Qin Han's heart burned with excitement as he swallowed.

The intensity, potential for growth, and power of an Eighth Rank Flame still could not compare to a Heavenly Flame, but it was by no means comparable to Lava Scale Flame or Profound Nether Ice Flame.

With the Myriad Stars Flame, the latter two no longer had any value in cultivation and could be fed in as nutrients at any time.

However, almost at the exact moment the Compendium successfully cataloged it, a sudden change occurred!

From deep within the Myriad Fire Furnace, which was spewing Stellar Flames, came an even more violent tremor. Seven or eight extremely fast streams of Flowing Light shot out!

Unlike the ethereal Myriad Stars Flame, the Flowing Light was solid like ribbons, with faint phantoms of even more complex Runes flowing over their surfaces.

No one knew exactly what they were—pills? Scrolls? Strange treasures?

If, when the Fallen Fire Sect's great calamity descended a century ago, there had been a safest place in the sect to store its precious treasures, it would undoubtedly have been the Myriad Fire Furnace.

"A precious treasure has emerged!"

"Snatch it!!!"

No one knew who was the first to roar, but everyone's greed was completely ignited at that instant.

"Move!"

Mo Tianquan's eyes flashed as his figure was the first to blur.

"This item is fated to belong to my Blood Sect!"

"Get lost!"

"Protect Master Han and seize the flame!"

Unlike the other factions, Han Ya's target was not the treasures within the furnace, but the Myriad Stars Flame itself. He was cautiously approaching the furnace.

"Careful! Don't split up!"

On Jia Nan Academy's side, before Hu Gan could finish his warning, Zi Yan had already charged out.

She could not really be blamed. One stream of Flowing Light had been flying toward Jia Nan Academy to begin with.

Several figures trailed behind it, looking ready to charge straight at Jia Nan Academy. It would have been strange if that little ancestor could hold herself back.