227: Chapter 227 Monster Uprising

"What happened? Long Aotian and the others are five Body Integration Stage experts; how could something have happened to them? Could it be that the other Three Major Sects have made a move?" Xiao Yuchen wondered to himself.

"It's not that. Three days ago, the Yao Beasts inside the Monster Forest suddenly went into a turmoil, unexpectedly attacking humans on their own initiative. There were even instances of Yao Beasts slaughtering each other.

Originally, this wouldn't have mattered. Long Aotian and the four of them are Body Integration Stage experts; even if they encountered a Tier 7 Yao Beast, they could handle it. So, although the Yao Beasts were acting abnormally, they didn't worry much and continued to head deep into the Monster Forest to search for the heavenly spirit fruit.

However, deep in the Monster Forest, there was actually a Tier 8 Yao Beast, the Golden-Winged Heavenly Tiger, whose strength was equivalent to a Human Race Dongxu Stage expert. This creature seemed to have gone mad, launching an attack the moment it saw Long Aotian and the five of them.

Knowing they were no match, Long Aotian and the others didn't dare to linger and immediately fled. The Golden-Winged Heavenly Tiger seemed to be guarding something and did not pursue them, so they escaped a disaster."

Hearing Sect Master Hua Yuxi say this, Xiao Yuchen frowned slightly. When he broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage, the System had rewarded him with the top-tier Beast Taming Technique, so he understood Yao Beasts very well. A Yao Beast turmoil was definitely not normal; something must have happened.

"Since they have already escaped, why don't they come back? Why do I need to go save them?" Xiao Yuchen asked, confused.

"They did indeed escape at the time, but that Golden-Winged Heavenly Tiger made all the Yao Beasts in the entire Monster Forest pursue the five of them, including six Tier 7 Yao Beasts, which is equivalent to six Body Integration Stage experts.

The five of them didn't dare to move recklessly, so they hid their presence and stayed within the Monster Forest. Naturally, they didn't find the heavenly spirit fruit, and they were somewhat unwilling to give up, so they didn't come back.

However, after observing for a few days, they discovered a problem: the eyes of those Yao Beasts were all blood-red, as if they had completely lost their sanity, just as if they were being controlled by something.

Not only that, besides Long Aotian and the five of them, over a dozen groups of people have entered the Monster Forest, mostly Loose Cultivators and people from small Sects in Xiyue Prefecture. It is said that people from Fire Cloud Valley have also gone."

"Is this information reliable? Could it be that some Spirit Treasure has appeared in the Monster Forest? Otherwise, why would those people enter it?"

"Of course it's reliable. Because I was worried about their safety, I gave Long Aotian a sound transmission jade talisman when he left. All this information was sent back by Long Aotian.

Those people don't know where they got the news, but they say a wisp of sacred fire has appeared inside the Monster Forest, so the people from Fire Cloud Valley have also rushed over."

Hearing the news about the sacred fire, Xiao Yuchen was extremely excited. The sacred fire held even greater appeal for him. His Purple Heart Sacred Fire and golden crow underworld fire were both gifts from the System, and he hadn't encountered a sacred fire in reality yet.

If the news was true and he could subdue the sacred fire, his fire source could reach level four, and the power of his Fire Control Technique would increase even further.

"Alright, leave this matter to me. I will prepare and go find them."

With news of the sacred fire, how could Xiao Yuchen not be tempted? No matter what, he had to go take a look.

"Take this sound transmission jade talisman. You can use it to contact Long Aotian and the others and confirm their location." Sect Master Hua Yuxi handed her sound transmission jade talisman to Xiao Yuchen.

Xiao Yuchen did not refuse. He took the jade talisman and toyed with it for a while. There were no mobile phones in this plane, so finding people was indeed inconvenient at times.

"Alright, don't worry. I will definitely bring them back safely," Xiao Yuchen promised.

"I naturally trust you. There are still many matters in the Sect that require my handling, and it is inconvenient for me to leave, so I will leave it to you."

After giving Xiao Yuchen a few more instructions, Sect Master Hua Yuxi left. Wen Ruyu and Dongfang Qingcheng then came out of the room; clearly, they had also heard what Sect Master Hua Yuxi said.

"Brother Yuchen, are you really going to the Monster Forest? With the Yao Beast riot, won't it be dangerous?" Wen Ruyu asked with some concern.

"Don't worry, I can handle it myself. However, you should stay in the Sect. The Monster Forest is too dangerous, and I'm afraid I won't be able to look after you."

Hearing this, both women nodded simultaneously. They still had self-awareness and didn't want to become a burden to Xiao Yuchen.

After comforting the two women, Xiao Yuchen left the Sect alone. However, he did not head directly to the Monster Forest; instead, he came to a remote island. He wanted to raise his cultivation to the Body Integration Stage first, as that would give him a better chance of success.

Arriving at the island, Xiao Yuchen immediately took out a top-grade liuhe pill, consumed it, and entered a meditative state.

Not long after, the sky darkened, and thunderclouds gathered once again, giving people a chilling feeling.

"This Body Integration Stage Lightning Tribulation is truly extraordinary."

Xiao Yuchen sighed to himself, but he didn't feel much panic. His current defense could withstand the attacks of a Dongxu Stage expert, so there was no major problem even if he withstood the Lightning Tribulation head-on.

Xiao Yuchen indeed did just that, withstanding the first five levels of the Lightning Tribulation head-on. Although he could still endure it, he simply didn't have time to absorb it. To Xiao Yuchen, the Lightning Tribulation was a treasure and absolutely could not be wasted.

Seeing the sixth level of the Lightning Tribulation descending, Xiao Yuchen once again summoned the lightning locking tower to absorb all the remaining four levels of the lightning.

After the Lightning Tribulation passed, the sky cleared up again, and colorful auspicious clouds shone upon Xiao Yuchen, who had successfully broken through from the Void Refinement Stage Great Perfection to the Body Integration Stage Early Stage.

"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully breaking through to the Body Integration Stage Early Stage. Reward: Soul-Devouring Holy Fire, one Earth Spirit Stone, and three top-grade void spirit pill. They have been placed in the System Inventory. Please check."

Just after the Breakthrough, the System's voice sounded again. The elemental Spirit Stone and void spirit pill were expected rewards, as there were always some for every cross-stage Breakthrough.

But what surprised Xiao Yuchen was that the System had actually rewarded him with another kind of sacred fire. Xiao Yuchen quickly opened the System Inventory and checked the introduction for the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire.

Soul-Devouring Holy Fire, ranked ninth on the sacred fire ranking, is blood-red in color, and the flame is overbearing. It can devour Spiritual Qi and convert it into its own energy, known as the Undying Flame.

There wasn't much information about the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire, but being able to rank in the top ten of the sacred fire ranking meant it was definitely extraordinary.

Xiao Yuchen's Purple Heart Sacred Fire was ranked fifteenth on the sacred fire ranking, and the golden crow underworld fire was ranked twelfth. Xiao Yuchen felt that even if both sacred fires were fused, their power would not compare to the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yuchen couldn't wait to take the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire out of the System Inventory and began to devour it using the devouring method of the third form of the Fire Control Technique.

Although this Soul-Devouring Holy Fire was relatively strong, having the experience of devouring sacred fires twice before, Xiao Yuchen successfully devoured the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire.

The three sacred fires fused together, and the final fire source turned blood-red, but it became even deeper than before. This proved his previous hypothesis was correct; the Soul-Devouring Holy Fire was indeed more overbearing than the Fusion of the two other fires.

The sacred fire was successfully devoured, and Xiao Yuchen's fire source upgraded once again, reaching level four, just like the Arc Seed.

At the same time, Xiao Yuchen's Aura climbed once again, but it only reached the Peak state of the Body Integration Stage Early Stage; it never broke through to the Body Integration Stage Middle Stage.

"After reaching the Body Integration Stage, it is indeed more difficult to level up."

Xiao Yuchen sighed, then took out the Earth Spirit Stone again. After absorbing the Earth Spirit Stone, he would be able to awaken the Earth Spiritual Root, which was his sixth type of elemental power.