Minor Offering Completed, Burning Heart Sunfire

A tengshe flew without feet; a flying squirrel exhausted itself with five skills.

After only a brief consideration, Lu Xuan reached his decision.

He would choose slaughter and conquest!

He possessed the Ancient Characters on the Jade Disc, so naturally he had to strive for perfection.

With his mind made up, Lu Xuan no longer taxed himself with thought. He simply sat cross-legged, calmed his heart, and quietly waited for the right moment.

Before long, the night deepened. The heavens were dark, and the vast mountain cliffs lay silent. Within the Ritual Chamber, only Lu Xuan's own breathing could be heard.

He calmed his heart and breathed in and out until the night grew utterly profound.

Then Lu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, took out a token, inserted it into the slot of the golden furnace, and silently recited the character "fire."

"Boom!"

In an instant, the golden furnace trembled slightly, drawing upon the earthfire. Crimson flames erupted from within, rising more than a foot high.

Had an Embryonic Breath Realm cultivator been present, they would immediately have broken into a drenching sweat, their hair and fur scorched away.

This was a second-rank spirit fire, Rooster-Yang Earthfire. It was no divine fire of the world, but it excelled in purity and was especially suited for refining spiritual objects.

Lu Xuan remained cross-legged and motionless, merely watching the Rooster-Yang Earthfire surge forth.

"Boom!!"

As time passed, the height of the flames instead declined to just half a foot. Yet their crimson glow lit Lu Xuan's cheeks like fire.

When the flames rose half a foot, crimson as the sun, it was the best moment to refine spiritual objects.

Seizing the moment, Lu Xuan swept out a hand. The Sunfire Branch immediately fell into the Rooster-Yang Earthfire before him.

"Boom!"

In an instant, the Rooster-Yang Earthfire erupted violently, shooting toward the heavens to a height of three feet.

The Sunfire Branch was originally an object that gathered fire. Now that it collided with the Rooster-Yang Earthfire, it was naturally like heavenly thunder stirring earthly fire, and the blaze surged wildly.

Yet Lu Xuan remained unmoved. Only wisps of "qi" flowed from his nose and mouth.

This "qi" seemed to possess spirituality. Upon striking the scorching flames before him, it immediately condensed into a crimson little dragon with distinct scales and lifelike form.

Qianyuan Six-Dragon Imperial Heaven True Scripture!

This scripture drew upon the meaning of commanding six dragons to drive the sun and patrol the Heavenly Cycle. It was a method for condensing true spirits and circulating spiritual qi.

Thus, cultivating this scripture produced a phenomenon.

The spiritual qi around one's body could condense into crimson dragons. The crimson dragons roamed the Heavenly Cycle, transported spiritual qi, then returned to the body in a circuit, like driving the sun home, increasing the cultivator's spiritual qi.

At this moment, this crimson dragon was the phenomenon produced by Lu Xuan circulating the True Scripture. It truly could transport spiritual qi and merge it into his body.

But what Lu Xuan wanted now was not to transport spiritual qi.

It was... to command fire and refine an object.

I gather Dawn Radiance True Qi and cultivate the Qianyuan Six-Dragon Imperial Heaven True Scripture. Naturally, I possess the ability to command fire and control temperature...

With a thought from Lu Xuan, the crimson dragon swam. The previously surging Rooster-Yang Earthfire immediately became docile, yet its temperature did not decrease. Instead, it became even hotter, even turning crimson-gold as it tightly wrapped the Sunfire Branch within.

This Ritual Chamber connected to earthfire, and its spirit fire was practically inexhaustible. So long as it was properly controlled, it could burn for a hundred years without issue.

Naturally, Lu Xuan had no need for so long.

As time passed, the charred-black branch of the Sunfire Branch seemed unable to withstand the heat and began to crack.

"Crackle!"

The moment the Sunfire Branch split open, a molten-gold liquid, like magma, flowed from within.

As soon as this liquid emerged, it showed signs of dispersing into the void and returning to heaven and earth.

Yet at the same time, a vague, intangible thought surfaced along with the flowing liquid.

Lu Xuan only felt his Mud-Pill Palace itch. At the same time, there was a faint pain and a sensation of blockage, as though a thought wished to emerge but could not.

"Go!"

Without hesitation, Lu Xuan moved his mind. The crimson dragon within the spirit fire swam once, swallowing every drop of the Sunfire Branch's liquid. Then, in an instant, it transformed into crimson qi and returned through Lu Xuan's nose and mouth.

"Boom!"

When the crimson dragon returned to his body, it brought back the "True Source" of a first-class high-grade spiritual object.

In an instant, Lu Xuan felt a violent shock at his brow. A surging force flooded through his Mud-Pill Palace, smashing through darkness and breaking through shackles.

"Cheng—"

A soft sound rang out, as though it came from within his skull, yet also as though it descended from beyond the nine heavens.

His vision changed—

Lu Xuan saw the flow of his blood, the circulation of spiritual qi, and the endlessly rolling clouds of qi within the Ritual Chamber behind him.

An unprecedented lightness rose in his heart, as though a man burdened by a hundred-pound shackle had finally shed his restraints.

The Mind Aperture opened, and Spiritual Sense arose on its own.

Lu Xuan sat upright upon the meditation cushion, yet he could see everything within thirty feet.

Above and below, left and right, before and behind—everything lay within his perception.

Every hair was plainly visible, as clear as examining lines in one's palm.

Not only that, but his Qi Sea, blood, five viscera, meridians, and every aspect of his body were all clearly visible.

Spiritual Sense had formed!

From this day onward, even without using his eyes, Lu Xuan could see everything around him—and see it even more clearly.

It was as though he had gained another organ.

Even the flow of heaven and earth's spiritual qi was visible.

"No wonder it is the dwelling place of spirits, the court where the Dao transforms. It truly is wondrous..."

Lu Xuan closed his eyes and savored the sensation, unable to keep himself from sighing.

It was a novel and mysterious experience, beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.

The joy of cultivation lay precisely here.

"But it isn't over yet..."

Yet Lu Xuan only experienced it for a few breaths before suppressing his delight and looking once more at the spirit fire before him.

This time, however, his perception was completely different.

Lu Xuan not only saw the spirit fire, but sensed it as well. Every inch of its boundaries, the air it scorched, the flames it spat forth—all lay within his perception.

It was like an invisible giant hand that, in an instant, felt out everything and understood it with perfect clarity.

Within the spirit fire, the Sunfire Branch had already broken into fragments, like charcoal suspended amid the flames.

The Sunfire Branch had shattered, but because it was fire-aspected, it could still float within the spirit fire. If it fell to the ground, however, it would turn into ash in an instant and scatter between heaven and earth.

Lu Xuan would not allow such a thing to happen.

Because the Minor Offering Ritual still required the "Sunfire Branch."

"Go!"

With a sweep of his sleeve, Lu Xuan immediately took six golden lamps from his storage bag and suspended them around the spirit fire in six directions.

Not only that, he took out three Minor Offering Seal Scripts that he had written beforehand and tossed them into the spirit fire before him.

"Boom!!"

In an instant, the spirit fire churned. The spiritual impetus of heaven and earth shifted, and it seemed as though an intangible will descended upon this place.

The Minor Offering Ritual method of the Qianyuan Six-Dragon Imperial Heaven True Scripture was Verification Offering: proving it through action. Once successful, one could receive great power and achieve a Daoist art.

Using Golden-Cup Fire and Minor Offering Seal Scripts to arrange the ritual, Lu Xuan had already stirred a trace of Dao resonance.

Next came the proof.

And obtaining the Daoist art of Burning was also simple: use Spiritual Sense to connect earthfire and heavenly light, reshape the spiritual object's True Source, and bring the Sunfire Branch into existence once more. Then success would be achieved.

Trace the source to form spirit, recreate heaven and earth, and gain a Dao bestowed by heaven.

Lu Xuan had long since studied the True Scripture thoroughly. He already had an eighty percent grasp of how to "connect earthfire and heavenly light" and "reshape the True Source."

After all, this was merely a Minor Offering Ritual, not an extremely difficult task.

But matters of cultivation could not be treated carelessly. He naturally had to give it his all.

Thus, he waited for dawn, for the moment daybreak broke.

"It's here!"

Every moment had been calculated by Lu Xuan. Just then, light appeared upon the distant horizon, illuminating mountains and rivers for ten thousand miles.

The morning sun rose, and darkness scattered.

Within Lu Xuan's Qi Sea, Dawn Radiance True Qi flowed. In the unseen realm, a mysterious realization entered his heart.

The crucial points he had not been entirely sure of were now all clear.

"Rise!"

Lu Xuan gave a low shout. In an instant, his Spiritual Sense poured forth like rolling water, like an enormous invisible hand enveloping the Rooster-Yang Earthfire atop the golden furnace and the Sunfire Branch's remnants.

Not only that, qi flowed from his nose and mouth, transforming into a crimson dragon that swam through the spirit fire.

Following the True Scripture's method, Lu Xuan used Spiritual Sense and True Qi to stir the spirit fire, extracting a thread of intangible Fire Essence. At that very moment, light shone into the Ritual Chamber from outside, falling upon the golden furnace. The crimson dragon caught it and kneaded it into a bead of light.

Under Lu Xuan's Spiritual Sense, the Fire Essence and light bead slowly fused.

Fire transformed, the bead melted, and liquid formed.

But it was not over yet. Lu Xuan muttered an incantation, and the crimson dragon within the spirit fire immediately spewed fire from its scales, completely transforming into a fire dragon.

The fire dragon swam, transformed into a strand of qi, and fell into the liquid.

The liquid immediately blazed with fire, becoming incomparably scalding.

"Go—"

Lu Xuan controlled it with all his strength, guiding the liquid into the Sunfire Branch's broken remnants.

"Rustle—"

In an instant, it was like withered wood encountering spring. The Sunfire Branch, which had originally shattered into dregs, slowly began to restore itself within the liquid.

The broken branches reunited, and spiritual patterns reappeared.

For a moment, it seemed as though everything had returned to how it was before.

The only difference was that crimson fire now spread across the Sunfire Branch, scorching hot and carrying an overbearing blaze.

"Whoosh!"

A faint breeze suddenly rose within the Ritual Chamber. It seemed as though an intangible Dao resonance flowed through the air and entered Lu Xuan's heart.

But at that moment, an ancient character also entered Lu Xuan's body at an unimaginable speed.

Success!

Once the Minor Offering Ritual was completed, he should have obtained Burning Heartfire.

But with the addition bestowed by the character Sharpness, the Daoist art changed accordingly, becoming Burning Heart Sunfire.