Huo Tian could clearly sense that the fire elements in the air were very similar to those of his Martial Soul, the Nether Radiant Vermilion Bird.
"The Bright Phoenix aura is stronger in here. He should be somewhere inside."
The Soul Power fluctuations Huo Tian released kept probing their surroundings, attempting to locate Yan Shaozhe, but some force seemed to have cut off his probing here.
"The entrance is blocked too. We can only keep going deeper."
Xuan Zi carried the Class 8 Soul Tool shield in his hands. He turned to look at the rubble behind them, then looked back at Huo Tian.
Huo Tian was now the true core of this team.
"Go!"
Huo Tian pointed at the forest not far away. Every tree in this forest contained rich fire attributes, and the three strode inside.
From outside, they had not noticed that an entirely different world lay within the Flame Mountain Range. At the very center of the entire region, a small secret realm had formed inside the Flame Mountain Range.
"Xiao Xing, keep an eye on our surroundings. My Soul Power probing has been cut off."
Huo Tian remained constantly alert to his surroundings. His words also put Huo Yutong and Xuan Zi on their guard, and the three continued deeper inside.
After leaving the forest, the three came upon a small grassland. It was completely empty, without a single living Soul Beast.
Through his bloodline perception, Huo Tian could clearly sense that Yan Shaozhe was getting closer to their position. They continued walking across the grassland.
As the three walked, an energy vortex appeared in the center of the grassland. There was no telling where it led.
"Go!"
Huo Tian held Huo Yutong in his arms while grabbing the energy shield Xuan Zi had manifested with his other hand, binding the three into a tight unit.
Huo Tian was not sure whether this energy vortex would separate them, so he had resorted to this measure for safety.
The moment the three touched the energy vortex, white light flashed before their eyes, and their consciousness vanished in an instant.
When the three woke again, Huo Tian was lying in the mud, with Huo Yutong on top of him.
Xuan Zi's entire head was stuck in the mud, cosplaying as ginseng, with two Soul Tools weighing heavily on his body.
Huo Tian released Soul Power fluctuations to probe their surroundings and discovered many dilapidated buildings, each engraved with Vermilion Bird images and inscriptions.
Huo Tian went over to Xuan Zi, grabbed his feet, and pulled him out of the mud. Xuan Zi was still unconscious.
Huo Tian released his Soul Power to supply them with energy. As he poured it in, the two beside him gradually regained consciousness.
"Honestly, this old man is exhausted to death."
Xuan Zi felt pain all over, as though he had been in a fight. He twisted his arms.
Huo Yutong felt dizzy. He had suffered a spiritual backlash, and seeing him like this, Huo Tian poured in a large amount of Soul Power to ease his pain.
"Where are we?"
Huo Yutong raised her head and looked around at the dilapidated buildings in bewilderment. Huo Tian helped him to his feet.
"That energy vortex probably brought us here. Let's go."
The three continued deeper along the broad road. Terrifying echoes occasionally came from the gaps between the buildings beside them.
Huo Tian could confirm that there was no one here. These might be the ancient ruins of the Vermilion Bird Clan.
The three passed through different buildings and arrived at the central plaza, where a middle-aged man was bound.
Yan Shaozhe was on his last breath. He was unconscious, and numerous bloody marks covered his body.
He was bound to an A-frame, his body forming a large cross, with Bright Phoenix feathers embedded in many places.
"Look, it's that brat Yan Shaozhe!"
Xuan Zi's booming voice echoed through the silent plaza. He had wanted to charge over, but Huo Tian stopped him.
"Wait. There must be a trap."
With a calm expression, Huo Tian kept Xuan Zi behind him. Xuan Zi stopped advancing, and the three watched Yan Shaozhe from afar.
With such an obvious target bound in the middle of such a vast, open space, Huo Tian did not even need to think to know that the mysterious Soul Beast was behind it.
Huo Tian stepped into the plaza first. A warm aura burst from beneath his feet, attempting to burn his entire body.
Huo Tian released his Soul Power to counteract these fire elements and retreated outside the plaza. Only then did the plaza reveal its true appearance.
As the ground of the plaza gradually sank, streams of lava erupted from the earth. Before long, the entire area had become a sea of lava.
At the sight, Xuan Zi's heart tightened. He felt that if he fell in, not even his bones would remain.
"As expected of a true member of the Vermilion Bird Clan."
A booming voice came from beneath the lava, and a brilliantly colored bird's head slowly rose out of it.
The three immediately retreated. As the mysterious Soul Beast's enormous body gradually revealed itself before them, Huo Tian finally realized that it actually resembled his Martial Soul somewhat.
This Divine Fire Phoenix Bird, which had lived for 350,000 years, finally revealed its true appearance. Huo Tian could clearly sense that this Soul Beast was a hybrid of a Vermilion Bird and a phoenix.
"What are you after?"
Huo Tian released his Martial Soul, the Nether Radiant Vermilion Bird. Bloodline suppression instantly bore down on the Divine Fire Phoenix Bird before him.
The Divine Fire Phoenix Bird no longer concealed its cultivation either. Cultivation exceeding a million years erupted from it, immediately startling the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm awake inside Huo Yutong.
"Holy shit! This Soul Beast has become a fucking god!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately appeared before the three, though in miniature form. He truly found it unbelievable.
That Soul Beasts could not become gods was a law shared by the entire Douluo Universe, yet the cultivation of the Soul Beast before them had reached the Divine Officer level.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's words also made the three's hearts tighten. They had not expected the mysterious Soul Beast before them to have actually reached God Level.
Huo Tian stepped forward first to withstand the Divine Fire Phoenix Bird's Soul Power pressure. His Vermilion Bird Bone Armor continuously radiated golden light.
"You, fight me. If you win, I'll become your Soul Spirit. If you lose, sacrifice your Vermilion Bird Origin."
The Divine Fire Phoenix Bird raised its proud head, constantly releasing the pressure of its God Level cultivation as it quietly waited for the youth before it to answer.
"All right. I agree."
Huo Tian had no other option. After all, escaping from a God Level Soul Beast was almost impossible, so fighting was the only path.
With Huo Tian's response, the human and the beast vanished from where they stood. Huo Yutong's face was full of worry, and a screen appeared above Xuan Zi and Huo Yutong.
Huo Tian and the Divine Fire Phoenix Bird were now inside a lava secret realm, where they would not be affected by the outside world at all.
Huo Tian stacked all his domains, then, with the enhancement of his bone armor, his cultivation temporarily entered God Level.
If Huo Tian wanted to maintain this state for long, he could only sustain it with the Divine Fire Origin.