The First Venerable of All Paths

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

An omnipresent, scorching power surged forth from the depths of the pit like a raging storm.

Fang Xuan let his body fall, and the Chaos Saint Body operated on its own, frantically absorbing and refining the scorching aura into pure energy.

Possessing the Chaos Saint Body, he is able to refine all things.

It can also withstand the high temperatures in this area.

As he continued to fall, Fang Xuan noticed that the temperature below was getting higher and higher, forcing him to activate his Chaos Saint Body to its limit.

"We're not even close to the Earth's core fire vein yet."

Fang Xuan frowned: "I wonder how terrifying real subterranean fire is."

Suddenly, a subtle call came from the depths of Fang Xuan's heart.

At the same time, a technique passed down in his consciousness began to operate on its own.

"The Spirit Empress's cultivation technique, the Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique!"

Fang Xuan closed his eyes, his hands moving in accordance with the technique, his body like a bottomless container, frantically absorbing the scorching energy from the surroundings.

The Spirit Empress is said to be able to forge all weapons in the world.

She even personally crafted several imperial weapons, which made her famous throughout the myriad realms.

The Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique is a cultivation method created by the spirit empress herself.

It has a natural restraining effect on all fire-attribute energies in the world.

The abundant fire element in this place allowed the Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique to quickly reach the threshold of cultivation.

"The inheritances of the nine empresses are all hidden in my soul and consciousness, and I need the right time to start cultivating them."

Both the Nine Revolutions Divine Elixir Record and the Myriad Swords Return to the Void Technique are activated under special circumstances.

"Moreover, this technique, like the Nine Revolutions Divine Elixir Record, can help me subdue all flames in the world."

Fang Xuan opened his eyes, a confident smile appearing on his lips.

"In that case, subduing the subterranean fire here will be as easy as taking candy from a baby."

Fang Xuan used his sword energy to cut his palm and injected his blood essence into the sword box, nourishing the sword with his blood every day.

After consuming a large amount of essence blood, the blood-red sword embryo flew out of the sword box at Fang Xuan's thought and gently hovered at Fang Xuan's feet.

Fang Xuan placed his feet on the sword embryo to stabilize his body.

"Unfortunately, this sword is not yet fully forged and cannot unleash much of its power."

Feeling the power in the sword embryo rapidly weakening, as if it wouldn't last much longer, Fang Xuan shook his head with some regret.

Fortunately, this sword embryo was enough for Fang Xuan to safely reach the location of the Earth Fire.

Before long, Fang Xuan's vision suddenly cleared.

A world of crimson lava appeared before my eyes.

Even more violent fire elementals permeated the entire underground world.

In such high temperatures, even a Divine Intent Realm expert wouldn't dare linger for too long, let alone a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist.

Fortunately, Fang Xuan possessed the Chaos Saint Body and had activated the Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique. The fire element here not only had no effect on him, but also made his cultivation faster.

Just then, Fang Xuan felt that the power in the sword embryo had reached its limit.

He hurriedly manipulated the sword embryo, landing it on a reef not far away.

The burning, stinging sensation came from the soles of my feet.

The shoes emitted a plume of black smoke and completely melted along with the clothes.

Fang Xuan, completely naked, stood on the reef carrying a sword box on his back.

Fang Xuan put the sword blank into the sword box to continue nurturing it, and looked around.

As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but lava.

There wasn't a single living creature in it.

After searching around, Fang Xuan suddenly looked into the depths of the magma.

He vaguely sensed that something deep within was calling to him.

Perhaps because of the distance, the summoning was intermittent.

"Could it be subterranean fire?"

Fang Xuan raised an eyebrow, enveloped his palm with the Chaos Origin, and probed into the magma.

Fortunately, the lava did not melt Fang Xuan's palm.

This molten lava, capable of melting even a Qi Condensation Realm expert, seemed to Fang Xuan like ordinary warm water.

"thump!"

Fang Xuan took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the lava.

The Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique was activated, and the Chaos Origin protected the body.

Fang Xuan swam quickly toward the place where the summons came from.

After swimming forward for a full two hours, Fang Xuan sensed the summons again.

"It's in this direction!"

Fang Xuan's eyes lit up, and he quickly swam forward, paddling his arms with all his might.

After a short while, Fang Xuan finally saw a large rock in the center of the lava.

A skeleton lies on the reef.

A layer of black flames burned on the skeleton.

It was clearly a flame, yet it exuded a chilling aura that made people extremely uncomfortable.

At this moment.

A boy was sitting cross-legged beside the skeleton, absorbing the black flames.

As the flames continued to penetrate the boy's body, a bird that resembled neither a sparrow nor an eagle gradually appeared behind him.

"Mysterious Feather Netherflame?"

Fang Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly, looking somewhat surprised.

Xuanling Youyan, though called earth fire, is not actually earth fire.

To be precise, it is a powerful flame that falls between earth fire and beast fire.

It is a special kind of firebird, the Xuanling Sparrow, which is born with flames and has absorbed a large amount of the earth's core fire vein power to form a new type of flame.

If this fire is nurtured properly, it can be upgraded to earth fire.

Moreover, it will be more powerful than ordinary ground fire.

"Um?"

Seemingly sensing Fang Xuan's presence, the boy suddenly opened his eyes.

"I never expected you to make it this far."

The young man smiled at Fang Xuan and said, "It's a pity you're too late. This Xuanling Youyan is mine now."

"That's not necessarily true."

As soon as Fang Xuan finished speaking, he formed hand seals and activated the Hundred Refinements Burning Heaven Technique, beginning his struggle with the youth for the Mysterious Feather Nether Flame.

Perhaps because this technique was too powerful, as soon as Fang Xuan activated it, a large amount of dark flames roared towards him.

"Boy, you dare to compete with me for the flame? You're asking for death!"

Upon seeing this, a fierce glint flashed in the young man's eyes, and a fist-sized wooden carving flew out from the storage ring on his finger.

The statue, resembling a giant python coiled up, was entirely black and exuded a terrifying aura.

"Subdue the beast as a seal, seal the soul to become a spirit!"

The young man gave a cold shout and poured his Yuan energy into the wooden carving.

"Awooo!"

In an instant, the serpentine wooden carving transformed into a living, breathing giant python, coiled above the boy's head.

The giant python's aura had clearly reached the level of a third-tier commander.

Equivalent to a martial artist at the Qi Gathering Realm.

"A method to seal beasts?"

Seeing this, Fang Xuan asked, "Are you from the Beast Taming Hall?"

He had heard Lan Meier say that the people of the Beast Taming Hall were skilled in the art of sealing beasts.

It involves sealing the souls of recently deceased demonic beasts within wooden carvings, creating a unique magical artifact.

These kinds of magical artifacts are different from weapons.

As long as spiritual power is infused into it, it can unleash extremely powerful force.

"Good eye."

The boy gave a chilling smile and said, "Go, kill him!"

He had no intention of letting Fang Xuan off the hook.

"Awooo!"

The giant python roared and charged straight at Fang Xuan.

Fang Xuan, disregarding the need to absorb the Xuanling Nether Flame, dodged the giant python's attack with a swift movement.

"call!"

A strong gust of wind came, but it was the giant python's tail, which lashed out at Fang Xuan like an iron whip.

In the rush, Fang Xuan only had time to raise his arms to shield himself.

"Bang!"

The giant python was incredibly powerful; Fang Xuan was directly drawn into the magma.

But the giant python did not stop there. Instead, it swayed and appeared above Fang Xuan's head, opening its mouth to spew out a dense cloud of demonic energy.

"Knock knock knock!"

Left with no other choice, Fang Xuan had to dodge in a disheveled manner.

Taking this opportunity, the boy quickly absorbed the Mysterious Feather Nether Flame.

The firebird behind him became clearer and clearer.

It gradually took on the shape of a fire eagle.

Meanwhile, the flames on the skeleton in front of them were rapidly diminishing.

"Soon!"

Upon seeing this, a burning desire immediately appeared in the boy's eyes.

Once he has absorbed all these flames, he will have successfully subdued the Mysterious Feather Nether Flame.

"roar!"

Just then, a piercing scream rang out.

The boy subconsciously turned his head to look, his eyes flashing slightly.

Because the giant python broke into several pieces, turned into wooden carvings, fell into the lava, and was burned into nothingness.

"How did this guy do that?"

The boy looked surprised.

Although this snake-shaped wooden carving only possesses the strength of the Qi Gathering Realm, Fang Xuan is merely at the Body Refinement Realm.

In just a short while, the snake-shaped wood carving was solved.

"We need to speed things up!"

Seeing Fang Xuan swimming towards them, the boy became noticeably anxious, frantically circulating his cultivation technique to absorb the Xuanling Nether Flame.

"Give it to me!"

At this moment, Fang Xuan leaped out of the lava and grabbed at the skeleton.

How could he not see that this skeleton was the true owner of the Xuanling Youyan?

However, this person perished here, causing Xuanling Youyan to absorb a large amount of fire element.

"You dare!"

Just as Fang Xuan was about to grab the skeleton, the boy shouted.

He didn't bother absorbing the flames; instead, he threw a punch at Fang Xuan.

"Bang!"

Fang Xuan countered with a single, powerful strike, the King's Fist, which shook the world.

The two fists collided, Fang Xuan's body tumbled in the air, and finally landed steadily, looking at his opponent in surprise.

The boy also took three steps back, looking at Fang Xuan with even greater shock.

"You actually withstood one of my punches, kid. You're pretty strong."

Fang Xuan grinned: "Likewise."

"I am Fu Tian of the Beast-Taming Hall."

The young man said, "If you give up this Mysterious Feather Nether Flame, I can let you leave; otherwise..."

As he spoke, a fierce glint flashed in the boy's eyes, and a powerful aura of malevolence emanated from his body.

It's like a ferocious beast that will devour anyone it chooses at any moment.

"You might as well leave your life behind!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan shook his head.

"Actually, if you speak properly, I wouldn't mind giving you the Xuanling Youyan."

Fang Xuan said, "Unfortunately, I don't like your tone at all!"

Having said that, Fang Xuan chose to make the first move.

"court death!"

Fu Tian's face revealed murderous intent, and his cultivation power erupted completely.

"Whoosh!"

The two collided like afterimages, exchanging three punches in a flash.

"snort!"

Immediately, the two separated, looking at each other with serious expressions, a thought arising in their minds at the same time.

This person is incredibly strong!

Although Fang Xuan did not use the Chaos Sacred Body, he was still at the pinnacle of martial arts.

However, his opponent was able to easily deflect his attack.

Fu Tian was even more shocked.

He was at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm, only one step away from the Qi Gathering Realm.

He trained his physique from a young age, tempering his body to the point of being like a demon beast, and he cultivated the top techniques and martial arts of the Beast Taming Hall.

Even so, this kid at the eighth level of Body Refinement was able to fight him to a standstill, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

"Who exactly are you?"

Fu Tian said in a deep voice, "It seems that none of the three major sects have someone like you."

"What's the point of asking these questions now?"

Fang Xuan's eyes blazed with fighting spirit: "Continue!"

Although the Xuanling Youyan was somewhat different from his expectations, it was better than nothing, and he couldn't let the other party take it away.

"You want to die? Then I'll grant your wish!"

After Fu Tian finished speaking, he took out another wooden carving.

This wooden carving is in the shape of an elephant, with its trunk pointing to the sky, and the aura it exudes is several times greater than that of the previous snake-shaped wooden carving.

"Subdue the beast as a seal, seal the soul to become a spirit!"

Fu Tian let out a cold shout, and then, with extreme heartache, threw the figurative wooden carving at Fang Xuan.

"hold head high!"

The pictographic wooden carving shone brightly, transforming into a giant elephant tens of feet in size, which stomped down hard on Fang Xuan with its four hooves.

"Holy shit!"

Upon seeing this, Fang Xuan immediately turned and ran.

Because the aura of this giant elephant has reached the peak of the fourth rank.