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Shen Wen's figure was as light as a fallen leaf, landing silently at the bottommost level of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower.

The air here was no longer ordinary scorching heat; it carried a certain viscosity, a high temperature that seemed capable of roasting the Soul into green smoke.

As far as the eye could see, everything was distorted and deformed by the heat waves, and even the light emitted by the ancient runes on the walls appeared blurred and unstable.

Six Elders sat cross-legged at six positions around the edge of the deep pit, each with a majestic pillar of Dou Qi surging around them, continuously pouring into the massive energy shield covering the pit's entrance.

Their faces were flushed red, veins bulged on their foreheads and necks, and sweat was instantly evaporated as soon as it seeped from their skin, leaving only a layer of white salt residue. Maintaining the Formation had clearly reached an extremely difficult stage.

Su Qian stood at the core of the Formation, his hands forming Seals. Streaks of silver-white spatial power flowed from his fingertips like the finest threads in a repairman's hand, carefully wrapping around the most violently flickering cracks in the energy shield, trying to mend them. He frowned deeply, fully concentrated, and did not even notice Shen Wen's arrival at first.

From beneath the deep pit, what came was no longer low roars, but a sharp, nearly frantic screeching.

Accompanying the screeching, waves of massive impact struck the energy shield one after another, producing muffled "thud-thud" sounds like a giant hammer beating a drum.

Occasionally, incandescent, nearly transparent flames splashed from the edge of the pit, landing on the distant ground and instantly burning deep holes into the hard rock, leaving behind a glass-like luster.

Shen Wen's arrival finally drew attention. An Elder near him managed to steal a glance, a flash of complexity in his eyes.

There was both the expectation of seeing a strong reinforcement and the unavoidable shock and suspicion that such a young face could step into this place.

Su Qian also snapped his head around at this moment. Seeing Shen Wen, his tense face relaxed slightly, and he said urgently, "Young Friend Shen! You've come at the right time! This thing... is even more violent than expected!"

Shen Wen nodded slightly without saying much, his gaze casting directly toward the deep pit.

Through the violently fluctuating energy shield, he clearly saw the massive creature churning in the sea of lava below.

It was a Fire Python of staggering size.

Its body was not the crimson or golden-yellow of ordinary flames, but a nearly colorless, semi-transparent texture. Only when it swam did the interior reflect heart-palpitating, variegated flowing light.

It had no eyes, but as its head twisted, a cold, violent intent filled with a desire for destruction stabbed like a physical needle toward any living being that dared to look at it.

At this moment, this colorless Fire Python was frantically twisting its body, repeatedly carrying overwhelming magma to slam violently against the Seal above its head.

Each impact made the entire bottom space tremble and caused the faces of the six Elders and Su Qian above to turn a shade whiter.

"I'm going in to take a look," Shen Wen's voice was calm, as if he weren't talking about entering a death trap capable of incinerating a Dou Zong, but rather going to the next room to fetch something.

"What?" Su Qian was shocked. "Young Friend Shen, you mustn't! Inside the Formation, the power of the Fallen Heart Flame's true body is by no means comparable to the heart-fire ripples outside!"

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Because Shen Wen had already moved.

Shen Wen took a step forward, his figure seemingly merging into the surrounding distorted light.

That energy shield, which was incredibly solid to Su Qian and the Elders and required their full effort to maintain...

The space rippled slightly, and Shen Wen's figure passed through it, entering the interior of the Formation. He stood directly at the edge of the deep pit, with only a thin layer of energy separating him from the churning lava and the colorless Fire Python below.

The pupils of Su Qian and the six Elders constricted sharply, their hearts filled with an unspeakable shock.

The Seal they had to exert their full strength to maintain was seemingly non-existent to Shen Wen? What kind of method was this!

Inside the Formation, the temperature rose by more than tenfold! The violent heart-fire energy was pervasive, as if it wanted to drill into every pore, ignite the blood, and burn the bone marrow to ash.

Shen Wen's black robe fluttered despite the lack of wind, and a faint halo of Chaos rose around him, isolating the vast majority of the invasion.

He looked down, his gaze meeting that of the colorless Fire Python below, which happened to lift its "head" at that moment.

There was no sound, no warning.

Shen Wen only felt his heart thump violently. Immediately after, a clump of invisible, intangible, yet extremely scorching flame actually ignited out of thin air from the depths of his heart!

This flame did not burn the flesh; it specifically scorched the Soul and will. In an instant, it sought to sweep through his consciousness and ignite all his emotions, turning them into frantically burning firewood!

heart-fire tempering the Soul—it was impossible to guard against!

Shen Wen's eyes turned sharp, yet he showed no panic. In the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, the golden scriptures of the Past Amitabha Sutra flowed silently, every word precious, radiating an eternal sense of tranquility and solidity.

That bizarre heart-fire that seemed capable of incinerating everything struck this layer of golden tranquility like snow meeting a blazing sun. With a sizzling sound, it rapidly dimmed and subsided.

Ultimately, it was completely extinguished, leaving only a faint trace of irritation, which was crushed and dissipated by a thought from Shen Wen.

From the moment the heart-fire ignited to its extinction, it was but the blink of an eye.

Shen Wen's expression remained as usual, as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust.

The colorless Fire Python below seemed to sense that its trick had failed and let out an even sharper, angrier screech.

Its massive body suddenly swung, the sea of lava exploded, and a concentrated torrent of flame that had almost turned pure white shot toward Shen Wen like a Dragon's breath! Wherever it passed, even space was scorched with tiny black cracks.

Shen Wen gave a cold snort and stopped testing.

He raised his right hand, and above his palm, Chaos-colored Dou Qi flames rose as the power of the Flame Ancestral Symbol was fully activated.

An ancient majesty that stood above all flames, as if the Origin of flames had descended, boomed outward with Shen Wen as the center!

The pure white torrent of flame that had been attacking aggressively seemed to hit an invisible boundary wall when it was still several yards from Shen Wen. It collapsed with a bang, turning into a sky full of flowing fire before unwillingly falling back into the sea of lava, splashing up huge waves.

Under the shroud of this supreme pressure, the massive colorless Fire Python below suddenly stiffened its frantically twisting body. The flames surging all over its body dimmed significantly, and for the first time, a clear trace of... fear and submission appeared in that violent, destructive intent. Its massive body slowly coiled up, its head lowered. Although it still radiated high temperatures and a dangerous Aura, its actions of ramming the Seal stopped.

The vibrations of the entire bottom space and those heart-tightening impact sounds also ceased along with it.

The pressure on Su Qian and the six Elders plummeted. They looked with shock and uncertainty at the tall back inside the Formation and at the Fallen Heart Flame below, which had clearly become much more "behaved."

Shen Wen, however, frowned slightly. While completely suppressing this mature Fallen Heart Flame with the Flame Ancestral Symbol...

His perception followed the connection between the flames and spread deeper. In the depths of the violent sea of lava below, he actually captured another... similar, yet weak and much more immature fluctuation.

That fluctuation also carried the unique "heart-fire" characteristic of the Fallen Heart Flame, but it lacked the violence and resentment of the one above. Instead, it had a kind of newborn ignorance and purity.

A detail that had been almost forgotten suddenly flashed through Shen Wen's mind.

"How could I forget..." A flash of realization crossed Shen Wen's eyes as he murmured to himself, "Underneath this... there is another newly born Fallen Heart Flame."