Ji Hao hurriedly took out a bottle of Sacred Spring Water and drank it. Life essence continuously surged from his abdomen, and his condition improved dramatically.
The Lihuo Divine Furnace acted again, capturing a large amount of Nine-Colored Divine Fire and injecting it into the Saint Spirit Furnace.
"Keep going! Come on, blacksmith!"
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The sound of forging rang out through the deserted ninth level.
One day, two days, three days... fifteen days... one month.
The Saint Spirit Furnace hung high in the Firmament as Emperor Characters transformed into massive hammers, continuously imprinting and striking its surface.
Strands of nine-colored fire flowed through the hollow patterns engraved upon the Saint Spirit Furnace.
Ji Hao let out a breath of relief. After an entire month, he had finally forged the Saint Spirit Furnace successfully.
If not for the endless supply of Sacred Spring Water, Ji Hao would have died from mental exhaustion after continuously inscribing Emperor Characters for a month.
"Come, let me see how powerful this Saint Spirit Furnace is!"
Ji Hao activated the Saint Spirit Furnace, and its lid rose.
The next moment, an enormous roar resounded through the ninth level.
Heaven-reaching divine flames erupted from the Saint Spirit Furnace, filling the sky and covering the earth, engulfing everything around them. Then, they swept countless strands of Nine-Colored Divine Fire back into the furnace, where a burst of nine-colored Divine Light bloomed.
Innate Patterns condensed once more. Heaven and earth fell silent, leaving only the sound of flames burning.
The Wisdom Light Wheel emerged behind Ji Hao's head, and he entered a state of enlightenment once again.
Three days later, Ji Hao slowly opened his eyes. There was no great commotion, only an unremarkable calmness that carried a sense of Return to Simplicity.
"So fast. Once I finish crossing the tribulation, I'll probably reach Four Extremes Grand Perfection," Ji Hao said with a sigh.
As expected of a cheat. It really was incredible!
"Time to enter the final level." Ji Hao put away the Saint Spirit Furnace and looked ahead.
Immortal Fire was not something one could encounter whenever one wished.
At the end lay an entirely different region. There were no flames of various colors, only deathly stillness. It was barren and lifeless. Legend had it that an immortal had once been burned to death here, and the Desolate Pagoda had floated here for thousands of years to repair itself.
"So this is the tenth level of the Fire Domain!" Ji Hao said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Immortal Fire?"
Holding the Lihuo Divine Furnace, Ji Hao walked forward. Before long, he spotted a small tree at the center, just over half a meter tall and remarkably ancient-looking.
The little tree was moving, making rustling sounds. It was not a tree at all, but fire—Immortal Fire!
The flame flickered and leaped with terrifying power, as though it could burn down the Heavens and Myriad Realms. Its heat was scorching, and Laws intertwined within it.
This was not fire in the ordinary sense, but Immortal Flame. It was formed from Runes and woven from divine chains, with one Symbol after another dancing within it.
Staring at the sapling, Ji Hao discovered that it was entirely composed of countless Great Dao Runes. Great Dao divine chains intertwined through it, while Symbols danced one after another.
"I wonder if I can extract an Immortal Dao Seed from this True Immortal Fire."
"Let's try it!"
Ji Hao activated the power of the Fishing Rod, transforming the Dao Principles contained within the Immortal Fire into a seed. The process was slow, since only a single cluster of flame remained.
Whatever Living Being had once existed here had ultimately perished, and utterly so. Unlike an Immortality Elixir, whose Dao Principles lay dormant within its body, waiting to sprout again one day and perhaps grant it another chance at life.
Just like the Azure Emperor.
The power of the Fishing Rod connected to the River of Time. Anything that existed was bound to leave traces behind. Fine strands of seven-colored radiance shone from the Void, supreme and unmatched. Though tiny, they surpassed everything in the world.
"This is actually a Quasi-Immortal Emperor Dao Seed!" Ji Hao exclaimed in shock.
The Immortal Fire before him seemed to sense something.
"Chirp, chirp!"
Suddenly, the little tree swayed, and a small bird appeared on one of its branches. Its feathers were dazzling, and it chirped without pause as though searching for something. Like the flames, it was composed of Runes. The Runes continuously danced, and with every flap of its wings, layer after layer of Runes flickered in and out of existence. It was unfathomable, as though it could burn down the Heavens and incinerate the myriad worlds.
"A Phoenix?"
Ji Hao was somewhat astonished. It resembled a Phoenix and was lifelike, yet smaller than a palm. It moved amid the flames, mysterious and inscrutable.
"Could he sense the existence of the Dao Seed?" Ji Hao was deeply surprised.
"Perhaps it's only a coincidence."
"And this should be the flame left behind after a True Immortal died. Why has it become that Quasi-Immortal Emperor Fire from back then?"
Ji Hao's mind was filled with question marks.
"Could it be because of my existence? But can the butterfly effect even influence the past?"
The palm-sized Phoenix shook his head and bobbed about, seemingly searching for something.
"Did he sense something?"
"Forget it. I can't comprehend it at my current realm anyway."
"I should study the Runes within the Immortal Fire instead."
"If this is the flame left behind by the Footprint Emperor,"
"then this Immortal Fire seems to contain records of many Great Daos. It merged with Liu Shen and even temporarily helped Huangtian Emperor hold back a Quasi-Immortal Emperor."
"Perhaps I can't comprehend anything at my realm, but I can inscribe the Runes onto the Saint Spirit Furnace."
Ji Hao activated his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes. His glassy eyes fixed intently on the evolution of one Rune.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Ji Hao tried, he recorded only a pitifully small number of Runes.
Soon, the fire tree returned to stillness, and the Phoenix transformed back into a flame and returned to the Immortal Fire.
Ji Hao frowned tightly, unwilling to accept it. He could still comprehend it, but most of the Runes were concealed, making them difficult for someone at his realm to glimpse.
Moreover, the surrounding temperature was simply too high. The Lihuo Divine Furnace's autonomous protection could no longer withstand the heat, and he had to supply it with Divine Power.
Ji Hao took out the seed once more, and the Immortal Fire changed again. A young Qilin stepped out of the Immortal Fire with its head held high.
A pair of bright eyes stared curiously toward where the Dao Seed had appeared.
Finding nothing, it could only return helplessly.
"Six Runes. Nine is the limit, so I'll comprehend three more."
Ji Hao took out the Dao Seed again. This time, the Immortal Fire's transformation lasted much longer, as though it had realized something.
Within the Immortal Fire, Rune-light blazed brilliantly. This time, someone actually emerged from it!
He did not appear large, yet he possessed an aura capable of swallowing mountains and rivers, like a Kun Peng about to soar into the sky.
"What is this?"
Ji Hao looked at the humanoid flame in astonishment. It was truly shocking—far too shocking.
It seemed to possess intelligence. Its eyes were exceptionally lively!
After looking Ji Hao up and down, he could clearly sense that it seemed to pause briefly over his Sea of Reincarnation.
Then it quickly vanished.
Ji Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "Nine Runes will do. Trying to bite off more than I can chew would only backfire."
He had a feeling that his current mental strength could bear at most nine Runes. Any more, and either he would fail to record them or his Divine Soul would be injured.
Ji Hao slowly backed away. The Immortal Fire remained transformed into a small tree, quietly burning. Its Runes flickered in and out of existence. Though it clearly possessed the might to burn an entire world, it seemed utterly harmless as it remained quietly there.
After returning to the ninth level, he took a gulp of Sacred Spring Water to replenish his fluids.