54: Let's gather the spark!

Chapter Fifty-Four: Condensing the Fire Seed!

Time flowed silently, like deep water in a still stream.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Qiu had been in secluded cultivation for a month within the Quiet Room on Xuan Kun Mountain, protected by layers of Formations.

On this day, the Spiritual Qi in the Quiet Room suddenly fluctuated violently, like a lake surface into which a giant boulder had been thrown, ripples spreading out layer by layer.

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the Lesser Four Symbols Guardian Array, Lu Qiu's aura was undergoing earth-shaking changes.

Before him, the third jade bottle containing foundation establishment pills was already empty.

Within his body, the majestic medicinal power from the third foundation establishment pill acted like a final heavy hammer blow, smashing fiercely against the already crumbling Bottleneck barrier.

Crack—

In the unseen realm, it felt as if something had completely shattered.

Within the Dantian Qi Sea, the thick true essence that was originally gaseous and slowly rotating finally underwent a qualitative transformation after a month of relentless scouring and condensation by the medicinal power of three foundation establishment pills.

The gaseous true essence began to compress and solidify rapidly, and its color gradually shifted from its original thin fiery red to a deep scarlet gold.

One drop.

Two drops.

Three drops... liquid true essence as thick as mercury paste and shining with a scarlet gold luster emerged slowly in the center of the Qi Sea like the birth of stars, then grew in number, gathering into a stream and flowing steadily.

Finally, all the gaseous true essence was completely converted. A shimmering sea of scarlet gold liquid true essence, emitting staggering Spiritual Pressure and a scorching aura, took firm shape in Lu Qiu's Dantian. It slowly circulated on its own, each revolution bringing a continuous stream of powerful mana far exceeding what he had before.

Foundation Establishment Stage, achieved!

Lu Qiu's tightly closed eyes snapped open. In the depths of his pupils, two beams of scarlet gold light, as solid as substance, flashed and vanished. They were as sharp as swords, causing the air in front of him to distort slightly.

He exhaled a long breath of turbid Qi. This breath condensed without dissipating, carrying a scorching heat as it shot out several feet before slowly fading away.

"Finally... Foundation Establishment."

A low murmur echoed in the Quiet Room, carrying a hint of irrepressible excitement and a sense of relief.

At this moment, his sensory world was already different.

His Divine Sense spread out like a tide, easily penetrating the walls of the Quiet Room. Every blade of grass and tree, every insect chirp and movement of the wind within a range of several hundred feet inside and outside the Xuan Kun Mountain courtyard was clearly reflected in the lake of his heart, visible down to the smallest detail.

Compared to when he was at Qi Refining Perfection, he was more than several times stronger!

More importantly was the Lifespan.

An unseen intuition told him that his body was full of vitality, his blood and Qi as vigorous as a furnace. The shackles belonging to the mortal realm had been broken, and his Lifespan had greatly increased, giving him a full two hundred years of long life!

Two hundred years of time was enough to leisurely plan his Great Dao and climb the immortal path step by step.

After a long while, Lu Qiu finally calmed his turbulent emotions.

Foundation Establishment was only the starting point; the true path of the Dao was only just beginning now.

The first thing he thought of was a Cultivation Technique.

With a thought, the pale green Jade Slip he had received from his Revered Master Li Huayuan appeared in his hand.

His Divine Sense entered it, and the contents of the Prairie Fire Art flowed through his mind.

This technique was indeed an authentic fire-attribute cultivation technique, upright and balanced. It could allow one to steadily Cultivate to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage and was considered average within Yellow Maple Valley.

However, Lu Qiu only glanced over it briefly before shaking his head slightly and putting it away again.

Having seen the supreme path of the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique, which could burn the heavens and boil the seas and lead directly to Soul Transformation, such a step-by-step technique with a visible limit could no longer catch his eye.

What he truly wanted to Cultivate was the world-shaking Legacy recorded in that fiery red Jade Slip, obtained from the underground ancient palace!

Taking out that fiery red Jade Slip, which still retained some warmth, Lu Qiu's expression became incredibly solemn.

His Divine Sense sank in, and he repeatedly studied the cultivation essentials of the first layer of the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique for the Foundation Establishment Stage several times until he knew them by heart.

This art had boundless power and infinite potential, but at the start of its cultivation, there was an extremely difficult chasm to cross—condensing a natal fire seed!

One needed to use their own Foundation Establishment true fire as a guide to absorb and refine an "anomaly flame," causing it to completely fuse with the true fire and undergo a transformation and sublimation into one's own unique "natal fire seed."

This fire seed was the Foundation and Soul of the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique, concerning all future Divine Ability power and the upper limit of one's path.

However, absorbing an anomaly flame was extremely dangerous.

anomaly flames all possessed spirituality and were violent and difficult to tame. A slight lapse could lead to the fire consuming oneself, resulting in destroyed Meridians and lost cultivation at best, or being turned to ashes on the spot, with both body and Soul annihilated at worst.

"anomaly flame..."

The first thing Lu Qiu thought of was the mysterious scarlet gold flame contained within that ancient Pill Furnace.

That flame was gentle and spiritual, and its level was extremely high. If he could use it as his natal fire seed, his starting point would be unimaginable.

But when his Divine Sense cautiously reached out toward that flame through the spatial bead, even if it was just an indirect sensation, a wave of fear and trembling originating from life's instincts swept through his whole body!

That flame burned quietly, yet it seemed to contain the terrifying power to incinerate stars. It was definitely not something he, a mere Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, could touch, let alone refine.

If he tried to force it, he would probably be burned to nothing in an instant.

Lu Qiu decisively abandoned this tempting but lethal thought.

His gaze turned to his Storage Pouch, finally settling on that crimson orb—the magic treasure fragment, the yang pearl.

The "Profound Yang True Fire" contained within it was far inferior to the golden flame of the Pill Furnace, but it was still an extremely domineering anomaly flame. It could even burn through the protective spiritual light of a Core Formation Cultivator, and its power could not be underestimated.

More importantly, he had used this fire many times and was relatively familiar with it, and the yang pearl itself had the ability to control and guide this fire, making the risk relatively manageable.

"It shall be you." Lu Qiu made up his mind.

He checked the Lesser Four Symbols Guardian Array once more, confirming it was operating without issue.

He then placed several bottles of auxiliary Medicinal Pills in the most convenient spots, especially that bottle of Heart-Clearing Pills.

Then, sitting cross-legged with his five centers facing the sky, he followed the methods recorded in the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique to slowly circulate the scarlet gold Foundation Establishment mana he had just recently converted.

The mana flowed through specific Meridians, gradually gathering above the Dantian, near the tanzhong acupoint on his chest.

Slowly, a speck of true fire purely condensed from his own mana, about the size of a bean and bright yellow in color, rose curlingly from the tanzhong acupoint. The flame was weak but solid, emitting an aura identical to Lu Qiu's own.

This was his Foundation Establishment true fire, and also the Foundation for refining an anomaly flame.

Lu Qiu held his breath and focused his mind, holding the yang pearl in his left hand and pointing his right fingers, cautiously injecting mana into it.

Buzz... Crimson light flowed over the surface of the yang pearl, and its temperature slowly rose.

He controlled the output, not daring to draw out too much at once.

Above the yang pearl, a wisp of flame as thin as a hair but incredibly condensed and scarlet gold in color was slowly drawn out.

It was indeed the Profound Yang True Fire!

Although it was only a single wisp, the moment it appeared, the temperature in the Quiet Room suddenly soared, and the air distorted. Had it not been for the isolation of the Lesser Four Symbols Array, the entire room would likely have already burst into flames.

Lu Qiu's forehead instantly broke out in sweat, not from the heat, but from nervousness.

He circulated his Cultivation Technique with all his might, using his Divine Thought to cautiously guide that wisp of Profound Yang True Fire, slowly bringing it closer to the bright yellow true fire rising from his tanzhong acupoint.

The moment the two came into contact—

"Boom!"

It was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil!

The bright yellow true fire flickered violently, while that wisp of Profound Yang True Fire erupted with terrifying ferocity. Its scarlet gold flames surged, taking over as the Revered Master and actually attempting to strike back along the connection between the true fire and Lu Qiu's Divine Sense, seeking to burn his Divine Soul and Meridians!

Intense pain!

Indescribable pain instantly erupted from the tanzhong acupoint, sweeping through his entire body!

It felt as if countless red-hot steel needles were being thrust into his Meridians and blood vessels, and as if lava was flowing through his internal organs.

Lu Qiu let out a muffled groan, his face instantly turning deathly pale. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, and cold sweat poured out like rain, only to be immediately evaporated into white steam by the high temperature around him.

He gritted his teeth, blood seeping from his gums, desperately guarding the last trace of clarity in his mind as he fully operated the refining method recorded in the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique.

His Divine Sense, like threads and wisps, painstakingly wrapped around that rampaging wisp of Profound Yang True Fire. His own bright yellow true fire clung to it like a maggot on a bone, attempting to slowly penetrate, fuse, and devour it.

This was a slow and extremely painful process.

The Profound Yang True Fire resisted violently, its scarlet gold flames constantly burning Lu Qiu's Divine Sense and true fire, each burn bringing a stinging pain to his Divine Soul.

His bright yellow true fire grew dim at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a candle in the wind, threatening to go out at any moment.

If the true fire were to be extinguished, not only would the refining fail, but he would also suffer a severe backlash.

Time passed bit by bit.

Lu Qiu's consciousness began to blur, and the intense pain almost drowned out his reason.

The skin around his tanzhong acupoint had already turned charred black, and the terrible smell of burning flesh wafted out.

"No... like this... I can't hold on..."

He felt as if he were holding a furnace that could explode at any moment, about to be burned to ashes from the inside out.

Just at the desperate moment when his consciousness was about to sink and his true fire was about to dissipate—

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind!

The thousand-year ice heart lotus!

That thousand-year spirit herb with extreme cold attributes obtained from the cold pond!

Cold and heat counter each other, perhaps... His survival instinct overcame the pain. Lu Qiu used his last ounce of strength to sink his Divine Sense into the gray spatial bead and painstakingly tore off a thumb-sized petal from that complete thousand-year ice heart lotus.

The moment the petal appeared, an incredibly pure icy cold Qi spread out, slightly suppressing the surrounding scorching heat.

Without hesitation, Lu Qiu stuffed this piece of ice heart lotus petal into his mouth.

The petal dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth, turning not into ordinary water, but a stream of bone-chilling yet vibrant nectar that flowed down his throat!

Boom!

Diametrically opposite to the scorching violence of the Profound Yang True Fire, an extremely cool current of cold, seemingly capable of freezing the Soul, suddenly exploded within his body!

Wherever the cold current passed, his boiling blood instantly calmed, his burned Meridians were nourished, and that bone-deep pain was actually temporarily suppressed.

What was even better was that this pure extreme cold spiritual power did not conflict with his fire-attribute mana. Instead, under the guidance of the mysterious methods of the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique, it transformed into a layer of incredibly tough "ice sheath," gently enveloping that rampaging wisp of Profound Yang True Fire while also protecting his own bright yellow true fire which was on the verge of dissipating.

The pressure suddenly lessened!

Lu Qiu's spirits were greatly lifted. He seized this once-in-a-lifetime breathing space and fully activated his Cultivation Technique.

Bolstered by the cold Qi of the ice heart lotus, the bright yellow true fire stabilized its position and began to penetrate and fuse more effectively.

Meanwhile, the wisp of Profound Yang True Fire, enveloped and suppressed by the icy cold Qi, lost much of its ferocity, and its resistance gradually weakened.

As one side waxed and the other waned, the refining process finally got on the right track.

The scarlet gold and bright yellow flames began to slowly blend, their colors gradually changing, transforming into a deeper, more condensed dark gold hue that seemed to contain molten lava... Who knew how much more time passed.

The suffocating heat in the Quiet Room slowly receded.

Lu Qiu, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, his face was still pale, carrying a deep exhaustion, but his eyes were startlingly bright. In the depths of his pupils, it seemed as if two clusters of dark gold flames were burning quietly.

He looked down at the position of his tanzhong acupoint.

There, the charred blackness on the skin had already faded, replaced by a grain-sized, solid-looking dark gold flame mark, deeply branded beneath the skin, faintly pulsing with an understated yet terrifying scorching aura.

natal fire seed—Success!

Feeling that dark gold fire seed, which was connected to his own Bloodline and as easy to control as his own arm, along with the pure and domineering power it contained—far exceeding ordinary Foundation Establishment true fire—a relieved smile finally spread slowly across Lu Qiu's pale face.

Although the process was extremely perilous, with one foot almost in the grave, he had succeeded in the end!

He had used the Profound Yang True Fire as a base and successfully condensed a natal fire seed unique to himself!

Without stopping, he immediately followed the Cultivation Technique to start circulating this newborn Crimson Heaven Mana.

In the Dantian Qi Sea, that sea of scarlet gold liquid mana gradually took on a faint dark gold luster as the new technique was activated. With each circulation, it became increasingly condensed and heavy, and the Spiritual Pressure it emitted also grew slightly stronger.

He pulled out a Spirit Pill and began to focus on cultivating the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique, gradually converting his mana step by step.