Chen Mobai, though only at the ninth level of Qi Refining according to the Pure Yang Scripture, possessed the realm of Foundation Establishment thanks to the Dual Aspect Power. This allowed him to refine the third-tier Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror.
Under the rotation of the Dual Aspects, the vibrant Longevity spiritual energy, like timber, was devoured by the initially tiny spark of Pure Yang spiritual energy. Chen Mobai, sparing no expense of his essence, quickly saw his gaseous Pure Yang spiritual energy begin to liquefy.
After infusing the droplet of liquid Pure Yang spiritual energy into the Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror, the once restless ancient bronze mirror, sensing the power akin to its former master, began to settle down.
Chen Mobai's consciousness, which felt as though it was amidst a sea of flames, now experienced a refreshing sensation, as if soaking in a warm spring, light and buoyant, as if the flames were warm water.
In a vague trance, Chen Mobai's entire being seemed to lose itself in the boundless expanse of flames, transforming into a spirit of fire, soaring freely within…
***
When he awoke from this state, five days had passed.
Chen Mobai opened his eyes, snapped his fingers, and a spark appeared at his fingertips. This was a benefit gained during his cultivation breakthrough, a powerful constitution known as the "Fire Spirit Body."
For some reason, Chen Mobai instinctively knew this name, as if it had naturally emerged in his consciousness.
Knowing the name made things easier. He took out his smartphone, searched online, and sure enough, found relevant information.
The Fire Spirit Body was an extremely rare constitution that could emerge alongside a Heavenly Fire spiritual root, endowing the possessor with various innate talents like affinity with fire, mastery over flames, and fire resistance, greatly enhancing the cultivation of fire-based spells and techniques.
Typically, a cultivator with a fire-type Heavenly Spirit Root might develop a Fire Spirit Body, but the probability was only one percent.
However, conversely, a cultivator with a Fire Spirit Body definitely possessed a Heavenly Fire spiritual root. This was a pattern established by the Immortal Gates.
After reading this, Chen Mobai was baffled.
He took out his spiritual root tester and checked his own spiritual root again. During his Foundation Establishment, his fire spiritual root had increased by 10 points to "Fire 63," stepping into the ranks of geniuses.
But it was still not a Heavenly Fire spiritual root.
After much thought and no clear answer, Chen Mobai could only attribute the Fire Spirit Body to a gift from the great Dao of heaven and earth, allowing him, who did not possess a Heavenly Fire spiritual root, to have it directly.
Pushing aside the jumble of thoughts in his mind, Chen Mobai took out his Qingyang fire seed. With his Fire Spirit Body, he operated the Sun-Raising Technique, and in an instant, the fire seed, originally purple with a hint of green, transformed, becoming mostly green with a bit of purple.
Just a little more, and the fire seed would fully transform into Qingyang fire.
Chen Mobai was invigorated. A complete Qingyang fire was a second-tier pinnacle spiritual fire with some third-tier characteristics. With it as a foundation to cultivate the Qingyan Sword Art, even a Taoist master at the Golden Elixir stage could be challenged.
After his breakthrough, Chen Mobai first visited the Divine Tree Secret Realm.
Unfortunately, the Treasure Tree had already been infused with Pure Yang spiritual energy, and even though he had now succeeded in Foundation Establishment, he could no longer obtain a fruit exclusive to him.
Chen Mobai then visited the Talent Tree.
This tree was more sensitive; after his fire spiritual root had been enhanced during Foundation Establishment, it granted him the "Treasure Fire Body Refining Technique."
Initially, Chen Mobai didn't pay much attention, but after reading it, his eyes widened in astonishment.
The "Treasure Fire Body Refining Technique" required Qingyang fire and Longevity Tree sap, using the former's wood-in-fire property to completely refine and evaporate the latter's powerful vitality, infusing it throughout the body, greatly accelerating the cultivation of the Longevity Dao body.
The Talent Tree was incredibly intelligent.
Chen Mobai looked at the towering divine tree in front of him in disbelief. The ancient Longevity Sect, with such a foundation, had still vanished into the annals of history, which showed how terrifying the hidden powers within the Tianhe Realm were.
Inside the Divine Tree Secret Realm, Chen Mobai practiced the spells from the Pure Yang Scripture with his newly acquired Fire Spirit Body, and without exception, all were amplified and enhanced.
He combined the Lamp Lighting Technique with the Treasure Fire Body Refining Technique, and in a short time, he completely integrated the Longevity Tree sap that had not yet been fully refined into his skull.
The Bright Mirror Law Eyes improved slightly, but without testing, he didn't know how much they had improved compared to before.
After the Longevity Tree sap fully merged with his skull, Chen Mobai felt his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness expand slightly, and the speed of his consciousness circulation increased.
He wondered if the Divine Command Slash had also become more powerful.
With this thought, Chen Mobai couldn't help himself.
***
He returned to the Immortal Gate and logged into the Minor Red Heaven.
Soon, the Foundation Establishment cultivators, who were always watching him, sent match requests one after another.
His first opponent didn't even have time to speak before Chen Mobai's eyes flashed with a sharp edge, turning into an invisible heavenly blade that blew his head off.
A simple move to defeat the enemy.
"Only at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment? Not much of a challenge," Chen Mobai muttered to himself, then clicked the match button again.
Three seconds later, a handsome male dressed in the Pure Yang Academy uniform appeared before him.
His unhidden aura made Chen Mobai reveal a pleased expression.
"Foundation Establishment fifth level, not bad."
After discerning his opponent's cultivation level with the Bright Mirror Law Eyes, Chen Mobai, for once, did not immediately defeat his opponent with the Purple Fire Sword Light, but instead used the fire-based spells he had practiced for a long time.
His opponent, clearly aware of Chen Mobai's formidable combat prowess, did not dare to be careless.
A sword qi burst forth, splitting Chen Mobai's fireball technique, and he was about to charge forward when he realized that the opponent's right fist had ignited the split fireball.
"Flame Burst Technique!? He also has the foundation of the Pure Yang Scripture."
Seeing this, the Pure Yang Academy's Foundation Establishment cultivator was taken aback, but his movements were unhesitating. His ten fingers drew out ten sword lights forming a net, and at the same time, he spun on his toes like a top, deflecting the explosion from the Flame Burst Technique.
However, this made him an easy target.
Chen Mobai naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. He slashed with his sword, and the brilliant deep purple sword light struck down, colliding with the opponent's spinning sword qi, silently dissipating.
With a "pfft," although Chen Mobai's Purple Fire Sword Light was blocked, the opponent spat out blood and was sent flying backward, spinning in the air before half-kneeling on the ground.
"Interesting."
Chen Mobai had encountered various opponents in the Minor Red Heaven, naturally including those who couldn't be defeated with a single sword strike.
But none had caught his eye like this one.
"Now that you've taken one of my swords, I should be able to leave my name, right?"
The handsome male from Pure Yang Academy stood up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and looked somewhat proud despite his defeat.
"Pure Yang Academy, ninth grade, Chang Zhengyang."
"You're good. I've just had a breakthrough, so let's spend some more time together."
As Chen Mobai spoke, a red lightning flashed in his right palm, lashing towards the opponent like a whip. Chang Zhengyang was caught off guard and was immediately taken down.
"Not enough combat experience."
Seeing Chang Zhengyang turned to ashes by the Bing Fire Divine Thunder Technique, Chen Mobai shook his head. In the Tianhe Realm, even when facing dead opponents, one could not let down their guard.
Although the Minor Red Heaven could improve combat skills and hone their techniques, it was not a life-and-death struggle, so naturally, their mindset was lacking.
Chen Mobai clicked the match button again.
His third battle of the day brought him a very strong opponent, the first seat of the Spirit Treasure Academy at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, named Dai Shiqing.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Chen from the upper court."
However, upon entering, Dai Shiqing first respectfully performed an ancient greeting, following the etiquette of the Refining Department.
The top ten academies were essentially branches of the four major departments, and the Spirit Treasure Academy was a branch of the Refining Department.
They specialized in the "Union of Man and Artifact Technique" and "Spiritual Weapon Co-cultivation Technique" evolved from the Union of Man and Heaven.
Chen Mobai was also practicing the latter, while the former was a treasure-controlling technique that allowed for the quickest integration of the artifact with the body and mind to unleash its maximum power.
The headmaster of the Spirit Treasure Academy was also the only fifth-tier treasure appraiser in the Immortal Gate.
"Too bad we can't use artifacts here."
After returning Dai Shiqing's greeting, Chen Mobai looked at him with the Bright Mirror Law Eyes and shook his head regretfully.
His cultivation was good, and if he had a life-bound artifact, he might have been able to challenge Chen Mobai.
After all, as the first seat of the Spirit Treasure Academy, Dai Shiqing was very likely to have refined a third-tier artifact and practiced the "Spiritual Weapon Co-cultivation Technique."
"It's already an honor to spar with the first seat of the upper court, how could I dare to complain about anything?"
Dai Shiqing was quite carefree. After the greeting, he displayed a movement technique, splitting into two, then four, and attacked Chen Mobai from all directions.
But with the Bright Mirror Law Eyes, Chen Mobai quickly identified his real body.
Divine Command Slash flew out, and the Dai Shiqing on the right suddenly stiffened for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Chen Mobai slashed with his sword.
"Treasure Light Technique!"
But as the first seat of the Spirit Treasure Academy, Dai Shiqing was not to be underestimated. Although his consciousness was disrupted, his body sensed danger, and a powerful defensive spell from his dantian emerged in an emergency, forming a protective bell around him.
The brilliant sword light fell, and the Treasure Light Technique erupted in a deafening roar.
Dai Shiqing woke up to the commotion, his face filled with fear.
But Chen Mobai's sword was blocked, and he immediately struck again with another sword. After two consecutive strikes, the bell formed by the Treasure Light Technique began to wobble and crack.
"Treasure Disintegration Technique!"
Those who reached the level of first seat in the top ten academies were naturally not just simple sixth-level Foundation Establishment cultivators. Although Dai Shiqing had no artifacts with him, he still had a desperate spell in reserve.
Seeing the Treasure Light Technique about to break, he took advantage of the Minor Red Heaven's rule of not fearing death, abandoned his defense, destroyed the Treasure Light Technique himself, and released all the spiritual energy in his dantian, turning it into a vast white surge of spiritual energy, like a towering wave, rushing towards Chen Mobai.
At the same time, due to the disappearance of the Treasure Light Technique, Dai Shiqing was struck in the chest by the Purple Fire Sword Light, left with only a breath.
And with that breath, he saw Chen Mobai deploy a defensive technique for the first time since entering the Minor Red Heaven.
A spiritual leaf had just bloomed when Dai Shiqing could no longer hold on and turned to dust.
Chen Mobai felt the towering white wave hit him, vanishing in an instant, his expression slightly melancholic.
Since mastering the "Sword Rainbow Splitting Light," whether it was Meng Hong, Che Yucheng, or even Taoist Master Zuo Gong, they all said that with such power, he would have no opponents unless he encountered someone beyond the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
But he should also be wary of certain prodigies in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, as their strength had already surpassed their own realm and could contend with those in the later stages.
In the terms of the Tianhe Realm, these were all exceptional talents.
Chen Mobai had not yet met one until today.
Since entering the Minor Red Heaven, Dai Shiqing was the only opponent who had posed a threat to him.
Although he had taken advantage of the Minor Red Heaven's rule of not fearing death and used a desperate spell regardless of his own safety, it was clear that due to his exaggerated 100% win rate and the fact that he was about to break the record of Ancestor Yuan Yang's consecutive victories, he would likely encounter first seats at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment like Dai Shiqing next.
However, it was precisely because of this that Chen Mobai felt an unconscious excitement welling up from deep within.
Instant kills, though cool, were simply too boring.
He hoped to fail in a peak duel against a strong opponent, rather than always wading in the mire and being lazy.
Swallowing
He clicked match again.
Soon, his third opponent of the day entered.
Chen Mobai was slightly surprised to see her.
"Long time no see."
Qing Nv greeted Chen Mobai.
"You didn't even tell me first when you succeeded in Foundation Establishment?"
The last time Chen Mobai contacted Qing Nv, she said she was about to establish her foundation, which was why he had entrusted the task of refining the Qingmu Bamboo Spirit Dew to Wang Xingyu.
"It's just a very ordinary matter, not worth mentioning."
Qing Nv shook her head, her expression calm.
"Alright then."
Chen Mobai didn't know how to continue the conversation. Since Kong Feichen left with Yang Jing, she had been somewhat closed off. He was not good at giving advice, and it wasn't appropriate in this situation.
"Please enlighten me."
Rather than dwell on it, Chen Mobai saluted and directly raised his right index finger towards Qing Nv.
With a slash of his sword, Qing Nv had already vanished from his sight.
Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan