Slaying Fire Fiends, Listening for Echoes

Lu Xuan leaped down, falling roughly ten zhang before touching the ground.

A height of ten zhang still posed some risk to an Embryonic Breath Realm cultivator, but to a Qi Refining cultivator, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Cloud Qi clung to Lu Xuan's soles as he landed steadily.

"Boom!"

Before he could examine the scene within the cave, a crimson fireball came crashing toward his head.

"Clang!"

Though Lu Xuan had yet to undergo Opening the Orifices and possessed no spiritual sense, his five senses were keen and his reactions swift. Drawing his sword, he slashed. The fireball was as solid as matter and was cleaved cleanly in two, whistling past either side of Lu Xuan's head before striking the rocks behind him with an explosive roar.

The Red Crow Sword was a spirit weapon, capable of cutting through lesser spells.

"Kree!"

Yet close behind the fireball came a scorching crimson figure.

The figure stood about a zhang tall, immensely imposing, like a giant made of flame. Yet a layer of gray stone clung to its body, giving the originally illusory spirit body physical substance.

Once a spirit body gained substance, it could interfere with reality and attack cultivators.

At that moment, the crimson figure let out a strange cry and pounced. Its five claws were like blades, immensely powerful, and their blazing heat made the light and shadows in the air distort slightly.

But Lu Xuan reacted even faster. Cloud Qi gathered beneath his feet, and he spun back in a flash, instantly opening a distance of several zhang and leaving the crimson figure grasping at empty air.

Not only that, Lu Xuan halted in midair. Then Cloud Qi surged forth, accelerating him in an instant as he closed the distance while the crimson figure's pounce had exhausted its force.

At the same time, he raised his sword in his right hand and slashed down fiercely.

"Screech!"

The Red Crow Sword carved a fragmented rainbow through the air, cleaving open a grayish-white head.

"Pfft!"

Its head split apart, and the crimson figure immediately deflated like a punctured leather ball. In the end, it turned into a wisp of crimson fire qi and dispersed into heaven and earth.

All that remained was a thumb-sized "shard of stone" radiating a faint firelight.

So this is the Fire Fiend Core?

Lu Xuan mused inwardly.

He had already learned of the origins of Fire Fiends in the Thousand-Scripture Pavilion.

So-called Fire Fiends were formed when the fire spirit qi within this cave mixed with the filthy qi of the earth veins, falling like "raindrops" and attaching themselves to a "core," thereby taking shape and delighting in attacking living creatures.

Different "cores" produced different forms of fire spirits.

Yet these "cores" were nothing mystical. They were simply the stones, grass, soil, insects, and other things commonly found in the cave.

Anything capable of carrying a wisp of spirit qi could be called a core.

The Fire Fiend that had just attacked him wore stone armor because fire qi and turbid qi had mixed together and fallen onto a "shard of stone," borrowing the power of stone to gain the form of stone.

"It can fetch a few spirit stone fragments, at least."

With a sweep of his sleeve, Lu Xuan stowed the core in his storage pouch.

Then he raised his gaze and looked into the cave.

The structure of Sunfire Cave was quite peculiar, like a pair of branching bull horns. Each horn had its own passage, winding downward before eventually converging in the "bull's skull."

The cave entrance was not wide, only enough for three people to stand abreast, but it was quite lofty. Even a zhang-tall Fire Fiend did not seem crowded within it.

The rocks on either side were all jagged. From time to time, crimson sparks burst from cracks in the stone, then exploded into balls of flame upon touching the fire qi in the cave, blazing and scorching.

After sweeping his gaze over the cave and determining his direction, Lu Xuan did not move immediately. Instead, he stood where he was and adjusted his breathing.

"Huff, huff!"

His formerly steady breathing suddenly became rapid. Sparks seemed to billow from his mouth and nose, carrying a burning heat.

"Hiss, hiss!"

Not only that, strange hissing sounds arose from within his body.

His already tall frame abruptly grew more muscular, while his formerly loose Daoist robe became tight against his body, revealing the contours of his torso.

The "qi" within him also grew stronger.

Life-Burning Talisman!

Lu Xuan directly activated the Life-Burning Talisman. This technique used blood as its source, burning it to produce a stronger body and qi.

This technique was Senior Sister Lin's family art. After generations of refinement, it could already control the rate at which blood burned, and thus control the technique's power.

The contest within Sunfire Cave was simple.

Whoever seized the [Sunfire Branch] first would win.

The [Sunfire Branch] lay in the center of the cave. Thus, whoever arrived first could claim victory and might even avoid a battle.

Therefore, he had to travel quickly.

He also had to kill Fire Fiends swiftly.

Thus, the Life-Burning Talisman could not wait!

It had to be activated the moment he entered the cave.

"Whoosh!"

The instant the Life-Burning Talisman was activated, Lu Xuan felt even his Qi Sea turn scorching and violent. With a surge of Cloud Qi, he shot into the air and sped toward the depths of the cave.

"Kree!"

The Fire Fiends in the cave were exceedingly sensitive to spirit qi. If Lu Xuan traveled slowly, he would not stir much commotion, but now that his Cloud Qi erupted explosively, he instantly drew their attention.

Before he had even ventured deep into the cave, Fire Fiends began shrieking one after another and pouncing into his path.

Lu Xuan's expression did not change. Sword light moved like a nimble serpent yet carried tremendous force, extinguishing Fire Fiends one after another in the blink of an eye as he pressed deeper into the cave.

Sunfire Cave was quite deep, and there were many Fire Fiends.

That was why it had been chosen as the site of the contest.

Though Lu Xuan had activated the Life-Burning Talisman, slaughtered Fire Fiends at high speed, and driven his Cloud Qi swiftly, he still could not reach the center of the cave in a short time.

But as he continued deeper, he noticed something unusual.

"Since when did this cave have so much [Tiger Tendon Grass]?"

From the cracks in the rocks on either side of the cave, spirit herbs occasionally emerged, their leaves thick and tough as leather, shaped like sinews.

Lu Xuan recognized this herb. It was a lower second-tier spirit herb, Tiger Tendon Grass.

When this grass was scorched by spirit fire, it released a peculiar spirit mist. The mist eased muscles and restored strength; it was like eating tiger tendons, making it a most unusual herb.

"Pfft!"

Just as Lu Xuan pondered this, sparks erupted within the cave and fell upon the grass. In an instant, a flame flared up, releasing a vast layer of white mist.

"Huff!"

Enveloped by the mist, the soreness in Lu Xuan's muscles immediately faded. His breathing became steady and powerful again, while a layer of white vapor also rose from his body.

"The Bright Apes are strong, while my qi is powerful. Using this grass to restore our strength gives the Bright Apes a slight advantage..."

Quick-witted as he was, Lu Xuan immediately guessed the purpose and origin of this grass.

It must have been the work of the Bright Ape Clan.

Was it taking a shortcut? It certainly was.

But he benefited from it as well, and during a cave trial, the growth of spirit objects and a few unforeseen changes were only natural.

There was no absolute fairness.

The Heaven-Gazing Sect would not nurture greenhouse flowers who could cultivate only in fixed conditions.

Even if it were the Xie Clan here today, the Bright Apes would have done the same.

Lu Xuan took note of it, but he did not complain.

"Boom!"

Faintly, he heard the sound of spirit qi surging and Fire Fiends exploding from an extremely distant place.

The echoes in Sunfire Cave carried far. So long as the two sides were not too far apart, they could hear each other's movements.

This, too, was intentional on both sides' part.

The enemy was about to reach the Sunfire Branch!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

Lu Xuan had not expected that Bright Ape to be so fast.

It was likely truly an extraordinary specimen.

But there was no time to think further.

Cloud Qi surged forth. Lu Xuan activated the Life-Burning Talisman once more, increasing his speed again. His majestic sword light cut down Fire Fiends as he rushed toward the center of the cave.

At that moment, within the northern cave passage, the golden Bright Ape also heard echoes from the opposite direction. Its expression turned urgent, its fur gleaming with dazzling golden light. It used some unknown technique, and its speed increased drastically as well as it sprinted toward the depths of Sunfire Cave.