Chapter 48 (continued)
They walked a few hundred meters more.
Shan Heyuan was staring intently ahead when a flash of white suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
He immediately grabbed Shen Duheng's wrist and whispered to him, "There it is, right ahead!"
Shen Duheng saw it too.
Just as they were talking, the white figure in front of them vanished in a flash.
Shan Heyuan was taken aback, then immediately realized, "Let me check, it must have burrowed into the mine tunnel next to it!"
Shan Heyuan grabbed Shen Duheng and immediately started to chase after them.
His cultivation level was relatively low, so he couldn't fly fast in the narrow mine tunnels.
Shen Duheng took the initiative, immediately putting his arm around his waist and chasing after him on his sword.
With his arm around her, Shan Heyuan didn't need to expend any effort, and his mind involuntarily began to wander with all sorts of thoughts.
In fact, Shen Duheng had taken him flying quite a few times, and their physical contact was quite common.
But at that time, he was completely open and honest, and never thought of going anywhere else.
Things are different now.
Shen Duheng's arm around his waist felt really substantial.
Shan Heyuan pondered this, her ears suddenly turned red.
He shifted uncomfortably, drawing a questioning look from Shen Duheng.
Shan Heyuan coughed lightly and shook his head to indicate that he was fine.
Shen Duheng was highly Movement Method and extremely fast; before long, they actually caught up with the spiritual flame.
That spiritual flame must be the Pu Core Fire.
It was bright white overall, but the tip of the flame was tinged with orange-red.
The flame was plump and looked quite cute.
Sensing their presence, Pu Core Fire chirped and quickly dodged to the side.
Shan Heyuan hadn't expected that this spiritual flame already possessed consciousness, and it seemed to have a fairly high level of consciousness.
Such enlightened spiritual beings are extremely rare, and their potential far surpasses that of ordinary spiritual beings.
Pu Core Fire moved quickly, but Shen Duheng was even faster, unleashing his Sword Intent the instant Pu Danhuo began to dodge to the side.
The moment the sixteen Sword Intent were unleashed, they materialized into sixteen Little Sword, forming a sword array that trapped the Pu Core Fire within.
The Pu Core Fire Huo, darted about in all directions, unable to escape the ever-shrinking sword formation, chirping anxiously within it.
It tentatively bumped into the sword, yet feared its sharp edge.
From this angle, Shan Heyuan felt that it didn't seem like a magical creature, but rather a small animal.
Because he was so close, he could fully feel the scorching heat of the spiritual fire.
If he hadn't already Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, he would probably have been burned by the spiritual fire standing here.
This ball of Pu Core Fire was of a higher grade than they had guessed.
Shen Duheng frowned slightly. "Core Formation level Pu Core Fire."
Shan Heyuan stared at Pu Core Fire: "Middle Core Formation Stage. The Gang Heaven Monkey outside are also at the Core Formation stage. It seems that all the creatures that have survived in this mine are at the Core Formation stage."
Shen Duheng: "It's too dangerous for you."
Shan Heyuan stared at the spirit fire and nodded in regret.
He's only at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. If he were at the Early Core Formation Stage and his spiritual fire lacked self-awareness, he could still risk trying.
This won't work in this situation; forcing it would likely cost you your life.
The two stood in front of the Pu Core Fire.
At first Pu Core Fire was so frightened that it chirped and trembled on the side, but after a while, it realized there was no danger and quickly calmed down.
After a while, it seemed to sense the aura of the Breathing Earth within Shan Heyuan's Spiritual Power. Not only was it not afraid, it even seemed to want to come over and rub against him.
Shan Heyuan dared not let it rub against him, so for safety, he wrapped his body in a thick layer of Spiritual Power.
After a brief standoff, Shen Duheng looked at Shan Heyuan and asked, "Shall we go?"
Shan Heyuan said helplessly, "Let's go."
Knowing when to give up is also a required course for cultivators.
Greed can easily cost you your life.
Shen Duheng withdrew the sword formation and pulled Shan Heyuan away.
Shan Heyuan looked back at the spirit fire with reluctance.
This Pu Core Fire is of excellent quality—robust, vibrant, and of high grade. He sensed the aura of the world's origin within it.
This indicates that the spirit fire is probably of the level of the Black Gold Fire, a flame that existed since the beginning of the world.
If they were even a little greedier, they would have found a way to capture it even if they didn't need it.
What a pity.
Shan Heyuan kept turning back, his heart filled with regret.
As they turned to leave, Pu Core Fire, who had been hiding from them, suddenly emerged from the mine tunnel and floated behind them.
Shan Heyuan cautiously increased the Spiritual Power surrounding his body.
Pu Core Fire leaped up behind, following even closer.
Shen Duheng thought Pu Core Fire wanted to attack them, so he put on a defensive posture. Unexpectedly, Pu Core Fire just followed behind them. When they stopped, it stopped too, neither too close nor too far, like a curious and wary little dog.
They walked a considerable distance through the mine tunnels, with Pu Core Fire still following behind.
Shan Heyuan glanced at the Pu Core Fire behind them, then at the long, dark mine tunnel ahead, and pulled Shen Duheng to a stop. "Do you think this Pu Core Fire wants to come back with us?"
Shen Duheng: "They might just be curious; they'll follow for a while and then stop."
Shan Heyuan: "Does that mean it likes us? Should we stop for a moment and see if we can communicate with it?"
Seeing his insistence, Shen Duheng stopped. "Be careful."
Shan Heyuan nodded solemnly.
They stopped, and the Pu Core Fire behind them also stopped, its pointed flame falling backward.
It was clear that it was very vigilant; if anything seemed amiss, it would immediately flee.
Shan Heyuan wanted to communicate with it, but he wasn't sure if it could understand the language of cultivators. After thinking for a moment, Shan Heyuan carefully released his Spiritual Power and let it drift towards the Pu Core Fire.
Shan Heyuan's Spiritual Power carries the aura of the Breathing Earth. Because he has been at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection for a long time, this Spiritual Power has been compressed and purified day and night, making it much purer than the Spiritual Power of ordinary cultivators.
His Spiritual Power is somewhat like Spiritual Power of a top-tier Spirit Vein; it can be directly dissipated for other cultivators to use in their practice.
In this desolate mine, Pu Core Fire may not have received the nourishment of pure Spiritual Power for a long time.
It probed Shan Heyuan's Spiritual Power for a while, and after confirming that there was no problem, it happily "whooshed" and directly ignited his Spiritual Power.
In an instant, the flames shot up and grew to half a person's height.
It was only the size of a chick!
Shan Heyuan was taken aback by the unexpected effectiveness of his Spiritual Power.
Seeing that the Pu Core Fire was about to burn him along with his Spiritual Power, he cut off his Spiritual Power in time and dodged back.
This prevented the tragedy of flames licking his body.
The Pu Core Fire burned away all the Spiritual Power he had released earlier, making the flame plump and much more lively.
However, it seemed unsatisfied, circling around and drifting, eager to pounce on Shan Heyuan.
Shen Duheng shook the spirit sword, and the Pu Core Fire immediately wilted.
In that short while, without the support of Spiritual Power, the Pu Core Fire quickly returned to its original state.
It seems that even naturally born spiritual beings need to "feed" and require the support of Spiritual Power, otherwise they will eventually perish.
Looking at the flames, Shan Heyuan tentatively asked, "Do you want to come with me?"
The Pu Core Fire jumped twice in place, chirping.
What does this mean? Shan Heyuan didn't understand.
He and Shen Duheng locked eyes.
Shen Duheng clearly didn't understand either.
Shan Heyuan didn't know whether this was a matter of willingness or unwillingness, so he released some more Spiritual Power over there.
Pu Core Fire unceremoniously "devoured" his Spiritual Power, and the flame became plump and more solid again. "Chirp chirp."
This time, Shan Heyuan understood; Pu Core Fire was urging him to have some more.
Shan Heyuan turned to Shen Duheng: "I think we can give it a try. At least Pu Core Fire doesn't dislike me and won't be too resistant, so the risk isn't that high."