Redfire Burning Art

Under Xu Yan's gaze, a crimson stone shaped like a flame lay quietly inside the Storage Bag.

The stone's surface was brilliantly colored. From a distance, it looked like a burning flame.

"Could this be a fire-aspected spirit ore?"

Xu Yan murmured to himself and took it into his hand, curiosity on his face.

After lowering his head to examine it for a while, Xu Yan soon dismissed his guess.

On the surface of the flame-shaped stone, he discovered densely packed characters resembling tiny tadpoles. These characters formed the shape of a flame, making the stone look as though it were burning.

After spending a long time deciphering them, Xu Yan's expression turned to astonishment.

"This is actually a spell inheritance!"

The spell recorded on the stone was called the Redfire Burning Art. It was a low-grade fire spell that cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Realms could use as their primary spell.

It was also a spell the Blazing Fire Sect taught its disciples. If a disciple showed particular talent in cultivating it, they could be granted the Blazing Fire Sect's core inheritance spell, whose power was naturally in an entirely different league.

Before the Blazing Fire Sect was destroyed, Golden Light Daoist had accumulated considerable merit to exchange for this spell. Otherwise, obtaining a genuine spell as a rogue cultivator was no easy feat.

Joy softened Xu Yan's resolute features. This spell was absolutely worth studying carefully. After all, it was a genuine art of the immortals.

Moreover, mastering a spell would help him survive in the Cultivation World, where the strong devoured the weak.

Golden Light Daoist's actions had laid bare the dangers of the Cultivation World in all their ugly detail.

All Xu Yan could do now was work hard to improve his strength and strive to protect himself in that merciless Cultivation World.

With this thought, Xu Yan calmed the surging blood and qi within his body and began preparing to cultivate the Redfire Burning Art.

But soon, Xu Yan's brow furrowed.

Cultivating this spell required external assistance.

The Redfire Burning Art had to be cultivated in a fiery environment, usually near Earthfire or magma. If no such environment could be found, a first-tier, low-grade fire formation was required instead.

Looking at the Redfire Burning Art in his hand, Xu Yan's face filled with regret.

Over the past three years, he had traveled to quite a few places with Golden Light Daoist, but he had never heard of anywhere with Earthfire or magma.

Even if such places existed, cultivation sects or lineages had already claimed them. Ordinary rogue cultivators would never get a turn.

"It looks like I'll have to use a first-tier, low-grade formation!" Xu Yan made up his mind.

Having decided, Xu Yan looked around the ruined temple and put everything he considered useful into the Storage Bag. He then carefully tucked the bag inside his robes.

He felt that wearing the Storage Bag at his waist would be too conspicuous and did not suit his cautious nature.

After repeatedly checking that nothing was amiss, Xu Yan lit a torch and slowly walked out of the ruined temple.

With a sweep of his right hand, the burning torch landed on the ruined temple. Its already rotten timbers immediately erupted into a raging blaze.

The fire burned for a full half day. Golden Light Daoist's corpse inside the ruined temple was reduced to a heap of ash along with the building.

Once all this was done, Xu Yan turned and headed down the mountain without the slightest lingering attachment.

He intended to try his luck in a city several hundred li away.

It held the only cultivators' market within several hundred li. A year earlier, Golden Light Daoist had taken him past it.

The mountain where the ruined temple stood was called Golden Rooster Mountain, named for its resemblance to a standing rooster when viewed from afar. Golden Rooster Mountain lay within the boundaries of Qinghe Town in Fufeng Commandery.

Fufeng Commandery was one of the Jade Radiance Kingdom's seventy-two commanderies. It contained numerous cultivation powers, with sects large and small standing thick as trees in a forest. Ever since the Blazing Fire Sect's destruction a century earlier, the cultivation powers within Fufeng Commandery had grown increasingly chaotic. People of every stripe mingled there, fish swimming among dragons, which had attracted quite a few rogue cultivators.

The cultivators' market Xu Yan was heading toward had been established sometime in the past century to make it easier for rogue cultivators to exchange cultivation resources.

Now that his cultivation had reached the peak of the first level of Qi Refining, Xu Yan was much more agile than before. Although he had not learned any flying arts, his traveling speed was beyond anything an ordinary person could match.

In just half a day, Xu Yan had traveled more than two hundred li. At this pace, he would reach the market in roughly another half day.

Traveling without stopping for half a day had left Xu Yan rather tired, so he halted and decided to find somewhere to rest before continuing.

Xu Yan stood on an official road, with wild grasses growing thickly on either side and only occasional signs of people.

After looking around for some time, he finally spotted a large willow tree beside the road not far away, its trunk so thick that it would take encircling arms to span it. It was noon, with the blazing sun overhead, and the shade beneath the willow made a fine place to rest.

With that thought, Xu Yan took a few quick steps and sat beneath the large willow.

Yet he had barely sat down when a sound came from behind him. By the time he turned his head, two people were standing right before him.

Xu Yan was startled. He had turned the moment he heard the sound, yet the two of them had moved astonishingly fast.

These two are cultivators!

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and immediately grew wary.

Standing before him were a man and a woman, both surprisingly young. The one in front was an arrogant young man with somewhat effeminate features, dressed in a blue-green Daoist robe. He was looking down at Xu Yan.

Beside the young man stood a pretty, delicate girl with almond-shaped eyes and crimson lips, wearing a bright yellow palace dress. When Xu Yan turned to look at them, she lightly bit her pearly teeth together and let out a mocking laugh.

"Oh, this little beggar is quite alert!"

Xu Yan paid no heed to the girl's mockery. In his tattered clothes, he did look much like a beggar. What concerned him now was the purpose of this man and woman who had suddenly appeared. After all, he had only just experienced the cruelty of the cultivation world firsthand.

Furthermore, he sensed danger from both of them, which meant their cultivation surpassed his own. He had no choice but to stay utterly alert.

While Xu Yan remained on guard, the pretty girl spoke again. "Little beggar, do you know the way to Inkstone City?"

Xu Yan froze for a moment at her words. He was also headed to Inkstone City, since the market was located within it.

"Little sister, I'm afraid you're asking in vain. This little beggar probably hasn't traveled far from home in his entire life. Let's keep going. Senior Qi Yun will be taking disciples soon, so plenty of cultivators have probably come after hearing the news. If we run into any, we can simply follow them."

Seeing Xu Yan freeze, the arrogant young man immediately spoke and reached to pull the girl along so they could continue their journey. They had only stopped on the off chance that the little beggar before them might know where Inkstone City was.

Clearly, this little beggar had disappointed them both.

"True, I was expecting too much. How would a little beggar know where Inkstone City is?"

The girl nodded in agreement and swiftly left with the arrogant young man.