The shaking at the top of the Blazing Sky Tower grew more violent, and the black tower itself began to glow faintly red, as though magma were surging inside it. The awakening dark presence carried a violence that would burn everything to ashes. It resonated fiercely with the flame patterns on the tower, making the surrounding air scorching hot.
"It's the Dark Flame Spirit!" Mo Chen's expression changed drastically. He pulled a yellowed ancient book from his robes and flipped rapidly through it. "The ancient records of the Pill Realm say a 'Dark Flame Spirit' is suppressed at the top of the Blazing Sky Tower. It's a monster born from the fusion and mutation of dark energy and the Pill Realm Origin Fire, and its strength rivals the Origin Venerate Realm!"
The Origin Venerate Realm!
Xiao Yan's heart tightened. This was the strongest dark creature he had encountered since coming to the Great Thousand World. Origin Venerate and Origin Emperor differed by only one word, but their strength was as far apart as heaven and earth. An Origin Venerate Realm expert could already exercise rudimentary control over the laws of heaven and earth, wielding the power to destroy both with every gesture.
"Roar-!"
A piercing roar came from the top of the tower. A pitch-black pillar of flame burst through the roof and shot straight into the clouds. Within it, a black humanoid figure slowly took shape. Its entire body was made of black flames, and its eyes were two clusters of flickering, eerie green fire. Dense dark energy coiled around it. It was the Dark Flame Spirit!
The Dark Flame Spirit swept its gaze over Xiao Yan and Mo Chen below the tower, a trace of greed flashing in its eerie green eyes. Its figure flickered, and it appeared before them as if it had teleported. A fist of black flame smashed toward Xiao Yan with the might to burn mountains and boil seas.
"Retreat!" Xiao Yan shouted, pushing Mo Chen aside as he summoned the Burning Heaven Cauldron to shield himself.
"Clang!"
The black flaming fist struck the Burning Heaven Cauldron with a deafening crash. Xiao Yan felt an immense force slam into him, sending him flying backward like a kite with its string cut. He crashed heavily into the tower doors and spat out a mouthful of blood. The Burning Heaven Cauldron also shuddered violently from the impact, and the Pill Patterns on its surface dimmed somewhat.
"Such power!" Xiao Yan was horrified. The Dark Flame Spirit was far stronger than he had expected; a single blow had left him lightly injured.
Having landed its first strike, the Dark Flame Spirit pressed forward again. Its black flames turned into countless fire serpents that coiled toward Xiao Yan.
"Heavenly Flames: Four Symbols Burn the Heavens!"
Xiao Yan dared not be careless. He drove all four Heavenly Flames to their limits at once. The Green Lotus Core Flame became an azure lion, the Fallen Heart Flame a vermilion bird, the Netherworld Core Flame a black tortoise, and the Netherworld Ghost Flame a white tiger. The four spectral forms revolved around him, forming a sturdy flame barrier that stopped every fire serpent.
"Interesting." The Dark Flame Spirit spoke in a raspy voice like the crackling of a fire. "Human, your Heavenly Flames are quite good. They'll serve nicely to nourish my origin!"
It spread its arms, and black flames gathered before it into a massive vortex. A powerful suction emanated from the vortex, pulling at Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames!
Xiao Yan's expression changed slightly. He could feel his Heavenly Flames being slowly drawn away, and he hurriedly circulated his Origin Qi to strengthen the flame barrier.
"Brother Xiao Yan, I'll help you!" Mo Chen summoned his pill furnace and poured all his Origin Qi into it. The furnace swelled in an instant and hurtled down toward the Dark Flame Spirit's head.
The Dark Flame Spirit snorted disdainfully and sent out a strand of black flame, easily knocking the pill furnace away. The backlash forced Mo Chen back, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Useless. An Origin Emperor Realm ant dares challenge me?" The Dark Flame Spirit sneered and turned its attention back to Xiao Yan. "Hand over your Heavenly Flames obediently, and I can grant you a quick death!"
"You want my Heavenly Flames? You think you're capable?" A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He suddenly noticed the flame runes on the tower doors. The Heart of the Pill Realm fragment at their center was flickering, seemingly repelling the Dark Flame Spirit's energy in some way.
"Brother Mo Chen, find a way to take the fragment off the doors!" Xiao Yan shouted. "It can counter this monster!"
Mo Chen immediately understood Xiao Yan's intention. Enduring his injuries, he charged toward the tower doors again.
"Courting death!" The Dark Flame Spirit saw what Mo Chen intended and sent a whip of black flame lashing toward him.
"Stop it!" Xiao Yan roared, summoning the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone and the Void Origin Stone Fragment at once. Their two spatial powers intertwined to form a wall of space, temporarily blocking the flaming whip.
Mo Chen seized the chance and rushed to the tower doors. He pressed both hands against the flame runes and drove his Origin Qi with all his might, trying to remove the fragment. But the fragment was tightly bound to the runes and did not budge.
"Put more strength into it!" Xiao Yan shouted as he fended off the Dark Flame Spirit's attacks. "Use your Pill Essence power!"
Understanding dawned on Mo Chen. He channeled his Pill Essence power into his hands, and it resonated with the runes, making their light grow ever brighter.
"Crack!"
With a crisp snap, the Heart of the Pill Realm fragment finally came loose from the runes and fell into Mo Chen's hands.
The instant the fragment came free, the Blazing Sky Tower shook violently. The flame patterns on its surface erupted with dazzling red light, and a pure stream of Origin Fire surged out of the tower and swept toward the Dark Flame Spirit.
"No-!" The Dark Flame Spirit let out a terrified roar, as though it had encountered its natural enemy. Its black flames rapidly receded beneath the searing Origin Fire.
The Pill Realm's Origin Fire had been sealed within the flame patterns of the Blazing Sky Tower all along, and the Heart of the Pill Realm fragment was the key to the seal. With the fragment removed, the Origin Fire would naturally awaken and counter the Dark Flame Spirit, a fusion of darkness and flame.
"Now!" A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He fused the four Heavenly Flames with the Burning Heaven Cauldron's pill fire origin. At the same time, he caught the Heart of the Pill Realm fragment Mo Chen tossed to him and poured its energy into the flames.
"Heavenly Flames: Pill Realm Origin Slash!"
The flames, fused with the Pill Realm Origin Fire and the Heart of the Pill Realm's energy, became a golden-red pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth. Bearing the might to purify all darkness, it slashed fiercely toward the Dark Flame Spirit!
Already weakened by the searing Origin Fire, the Dark Flame Spirit was utterly unable to withstand the earth-shaking blow. The pillar of light pierced straight through its body.
"I... will... return..."
The Dark Flame Spirit let out a roar of unwillingness. Its black body rapidly melted away in the golden-red flames, until it vanished completely, leaving only a wisp of pure red flame floating in midair.
This flame was unlike any Heavenly Flame Xiao Yan had seen before. It was pure and warm, containing vast powers of life and creation. It was the final Heavenly Flame mentioned in the Pill God's message-the Pill Realm Origin Fire!
With the Dark Flame Spirit gone, the surrounding dark energy rapidly receded. The Blazing Sky Tower grew calm again, and the flame patterns on its surface glowed a soft red, as though celebrating victory.
Xiao Yan and Mo Chen both breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. The battle had nearly exhausted all their strength.
"It's... finally over." Mo Chen wiped the sweat and blood from his face and smiled faintly.
Xiao Yan smiled too and looked at the Pill Realm Origin Fire floating in midair. He could feel it resonating strongly with his bloodline and the Burning Heaven Cauldron, as though it had been born to belong to him.
He held out his hand. The Pill Realm Origin Fire turned into a streak of red light, landed docilely in his palm, and entered his body.
The five Heavenly Flames circled once within his dantian before gathering together to form a dazzling, multicolored vortex of flame that radiated unprecedented might. Xiao Yan could clearly feel that, the instant the Heavenly Flames fused, his strength had broken through its bottleneck and reached High-Grade Origin Emperor!
High-Grade Origin Emperor! Xiao Yan was overjoyed. Not only had he obtained the final Heavenly Flame, but his strength had also undergone a qualitative leap.
Mo Chen was happy for him as well. He handed Xiao Yan the three Heart of the Pill Realm fragments. "We have three fragments now. I wonder how many more we need to reforge the seal."
Xiao Yan took the fragments, and the three pieces automatically joined together, forming an incomplete crystal ball that emitted a soft glow. There were five gaps in the ball; clearly, they still needed five more fragments.
"Five more," Xiao Yan said. "It looks like we still have a long road ahead of us."
He stood and looked toward the top of the Blazing Sky Tower. "Let's go up and take a look. There might be more clues up there."
Supporting each other, the two entered the Blazing Sky Tower. The tower was hollow, with a spiral staircase at its center leading straight to the top. The walls on either side of the stairs were covered in ancient pill formulas and insights into pill refinement, more profound than even the records in the Pill Region's library.
Xiao Yan read as he walked, stopping from time to time to study the contents of the walls carefully and gaining a great deal. Mo Chen was equally engrossed. These secrets of the pill path were of tremendous help in improving his pill-refining skills.
Half an hour later, the two finally reached the top of the tower.
At the top was a spacious platform, with a small pill furnace in its center and a yellowed jade slip beside it.
Xiao Yan picked up the jade slip and infused it with Origin Qi. Lines of golden text immediately appeared on its surface. They were the Pill God's notes.
The notes recorded in detail the history of the Pill Realm, the events of the dark invasion, and the method for reforging the Pill Realm's seal: all eight Heart of the Pill Realm fragments had to be gathered and placed on the sealing platform in the Primordial Hall at the center of the Pill Realm. Then, by activating it with the Burning Heaven Cauldron and the Pill Realm Origin Fire, the seal could be reforged.
At the end of the notes, the locations of the other five fragments were marked: Medicine God Valley, Soul Refining Prison, Star Sea, Ten Thousand Arrays Cliff, and the Primordial Hall.
"The Primordial Hall..." Xiao Yan murmured. "It seems that's not only where we reforge the seal, but also where the final fragment is hidden."
Mo Chen nodded. "Should we go to Medicine God Valley first?"
"Yes." Xiao Yan put the jade slip away and gazed into the distance. "Medicine God Valley is the Pill Realm's holy land for medicinal herbs. It shouldn't be too dangerous."
He walked to the edge of the platform and looked down over the Pill Realm. After the Dark Flame Spirit's purification, the Pill Realm's sky was clearer and its Pill Essence purer. The distant mountains and rivers radiated abundant life.
One day, I'll restore the Pill Realm to its former glory, Xiao Yan vowed inwardly, his gaze utterly resolute.
Mo Chen came to his side and said with a smile, "Let's go. A new journey has begun."
The two exchanged a smile, then turned and headed down the tower.
The Blazing Sky Tower's flame patterns continued to flicker, as though seeing them off. At the top of the tower, the wisp of Pill Realm Origin Fire that had just been purified seemed to resonate with a distant place, giving off a faint glow.
Medicine God Valley, Soul Refining Prison, Star Sea...
New destinations awaited them, and more challenges and secrets would be unveiled one by one on the journey ahead.
Xiao Yan and Mo Chen's journey through the Pill Realm was only just reaching its climax.