Chapter 857 Opening the Cauldron

“Open the cauldron!”

When Chi Jing’s clear voice rang out across the area, countless gazes converged over the Great Flame Mountain. Lava rivers boiled as something enormous slowly emerged.

It was a humongous cauldron.

The cauldron looked as if it were made from colored glass. Its interior was extremely vast and mountains seemed to rise within it.

It was the Heaven Flame Cauldron!

When it appeared, sect master Xuan Kun nodded with a nonchalant face.

Swish!

Ninety-nine figures flew into the air and appeared below the cauldron where ninety-nine magma stone platforms sat. The ninety-nine figures quickly seated themselves.

These figures gave off powerful Genesis Qi undulations, and faint burning suns seemed to rise behind them.

These were ninety-nine Heavenly Sun stage experts.

Zhou Yuan could not help but sigh inside as he watched from afar. The Tianyuan Region’s foundations were indeed strong. A Heavenly Sun stage expert would probably be able to take on the position of an elder in the Cangxuan Sect. What was more, even all the Heavenly Sun stage experts in the entire Cangxuan Sect could not possibly add up to ninety-nine.

In contrast, a single Heavenly Spirit Sect in the Tianyuan Region was more than capable of gathering such a number of Heavenly Sun stage experts. From this, one could easily see how terrifying the entire Tianyuan Region was. The power of a single region could easily match the entirety of Cangxuan Heaven.

All of this was because Hunyuan Heaven was a very blessed and lucky land.

While Zhou Yuan was sighing, the ninety-nine Heavenly Sun stage experts shouted in unison. Their shouts boomed across the area like thunder, and the Genesis Qi suns behind them grew increasingly dazzling. When the brightness reached its peak, golden flames began to burn.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes burned with desire. This was the Heavenly Sun Fire unique to Heavenly Sun stage experts!

If the Divine Dwelling halos were the mark of the Divine Dwelling stage, Heavenly Sun Fire was the symbol of the Heavenly Sun stage.

Once Heavenly Sun Fire was born, it would tirelessly refine one’s Genesis Qi and body. In other words, once one stepped into the Heavenly Sun stage, even someone with a weak body would slowly grow stronger under the tempering of the Heavenly Sun Fire.

Although Zhou Yuan’s body was quite strong due to the Mythic Saint Body, he might not be able to stand up to ordinary Heavenly Sun stage experts in terms of physical prowess.

Of course, when Zhou Yuan reached the Heavenly Sun stage, his physical body’s starting point would naturally be much higher than a normal Heavenly Sun stage expert’s.

The Heavenly Sun Fire on the ninety-nine Genesis Qi suns grew increasingly intense. In the end, the suns began to revolve as ninety-nine pillars of fire shot out, pouncing towards the enormous Heaven Flame Cauldron.

Ancient runes squirmed on the Heaven Flame Cauldron and ultimately merged into a giant vortex that swallowed the fire and sent it into the cauldron.

As the cauldron devoured the Heavenly Sun Fire, the interior of the cauldron turned golden. Countless wisps of golden fire rained down within, the golden light growing purer and purer due to the purifying effect of the Heaven Flame Cauldron.

Golden fire drifted inside like golden fire lotuses floating in the air.

Desire emerged in the eyes of the numerous Divine Dwelling stage experts present as they gazed at the golden fire lotuses.

Chi Jing gave a faint nod as she watched atop her magma lotus seat. The appearance of the golden fire lotuses represented the beginning of the Heaven Flame Ritual.

“Four pavilions, prepare to send your Spirits into the Heaven Flame Cauldron,” her clear and commanding voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

The members of the four pavilions respectfully acknowledged her before quickly seating themselves.

Bzzbzz!

Spirit light flickered between their brows. In the next instant, tens of thousands of Spirits soared into the sky, creating an extremely spectacular sight.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit stood amongst the few thousand Wind Pavilion Spirits. His Spirit appeared exceptionally corporeal compared to the surrounding Spirits, and the Spirit undulations that pulsed from him were far more powerful than the others.

These Spirits immediately moved towards the Heaven Flame Cauldron. The cauldron lid cracked open slightly as a suction force emerged, swallowing the several tens of thousands of Spirits nearby.

Countless gazes were cast towards the interior of the Heaven Flame Cauldron as looks of curiosity and anticipation emerged on everyone’s faces. They knew that the entertainment was finally about to begin.

Atop the magma lotus at the highest point of the mountain, Chi Jing’s bright eyes flickered slightly as she watched attentively.

By the side, only indifference was visible on sect master Xuan Kun’s aged face as he asked, “Grand elder Chi Jing, who do you think will be the biggest winner this time?”

Chi Jing was seated in a cross-legged posture, her body long and slender and her face as fair as jade. “The Fire Pavilion should be the strongest, but that does not mean anything. The appearance of a dark horse, on the other hand, will be a pleasant surprise.”

Sect master Xuan Kun smiled faintly. “The dark horse’s weakness is too obvious. I’m afraid that it still lacks experience.”

Chi Jing did not comment on his remark and instead cast her gaze towards the interior of the Heaven Flame Cauldron.

“Talk is useless, let reality speak for itself.”

When Zhou Yuan’s Spirit was sucked into the Heaven Flame Cauldron, the scenery before his eyes dazzled for an instant before a wave of heat surged towards him. He hurriedly concentrated and found himself in a different world.

Majestic peaks towered across the land. The trees on the mountains were not green but red like copper.

A golden fire lotus drifted past before his eyes.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit power whizzed out and caught the lotus, bringing it towards him. The golden lotus slowly revolved in the air as strange undulations pulsed from the golden flame within. The flame was tiny but capable of swiftly burning Genesis Qi like fire burning oil.

“Is this Heavenly Sun Fire?”

Zhou Yuan felt the wisp of extremely pure fire within the golden fire lotus, amazement flitting across his eyes. Although he was not a Heavenly Sun stage expert, he had encountered quite a number of them before and could naturally sense that the Heavenly Sun Fire within this golden fire lotus was far purer than the Heavenly Sun Fire produced by them. Most importantly, the golden fire lotus did not contain any thoughts or will, making it absorbable by anyone.

Even though Zhou Yuan’s Spirit was currently separated from his body, he could still feel a surge of desire coming from his body.

It felt as if an extremely thirsty and starving person had seen a delicious feast.

“This Heaven Flame Cauldron is a great treasure.” Zhou Yuan could not help but sigh.

While Zhou Yuan was sighing, several thousand Spirits hurriedly approached him from all directions, led by Ye Bingling, Yi Qiushui and the rest.

The Wind Pavilion members’ Spirits were gathering together.

Zhou Yuan peered into the distance. The other three pavilions had also begun to gather.

The Heaven Flame Ritual battle had formally begun.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, feeling the heat of the Heaven Flame Cauldron. His gaze swept across the area as he solemnly said, “We’ll first occupy one of the mountains and begin cutting down the scarlet copper trees to craft scarlet copper umbrellas and the fire-gathering stage!”

Zhou Yuan had crammed a lot of information into his head over the past few months and was now extremely familiar with the Heaven Flame Ritual. He knew that the temperature would rise as more and more Heavenly Sun Fire entered the cauldron until it eventually became harmful to the Spirit.

To avoid being burned, the participants needed to craft scarlet copper umbrellas from the scarlet copper trees in the Heaven Flame Cauldron.

Only with a scarlet copper umbrella would one’s Spirit be able to freely move about within the cauldron to collect Heavenly Sun Fire.

The scarlet copper umbrella also had the function of absorbing and storing Heavenly Sun Fire, making collection much easier.

The fire-gathering stage was even more important. Since they had entered the cauldron in Spirit form, they did not have any container to store Heavenly Sun Fire and could not possibly keep trying to herd the fire together with their Spirits. Without discussing how many fire lotuses each Spirit could manage, trying to keep ahold of the Heavenly Sun Fire would handicap them and become a burden when they wanted to fight.

Hence, instead of fighting, the priority was to first craft scarlet copper umbrellas and the fire-gathering stage in the Heaven Flame Ritual.

Under Zhou Yuan’s lead, several thousand Spirits flew towards a large mountain covered in numerous scarlet copper trees.

When they landed, Zhou Yuan waved his hand, and Ye Bingling and Yi Qiushui swiftly assigned roles to everyone. One group was in charge of standing guard, another started to collect the drifting golden fire lotuses, and the remainder began to chop down the scarlet copper trees.

Several thousand Spirits hurried about on the scarlet-red mountain, making it strangely lively.

Zhou Yuan stood on the peak of the mountain, an icy light flickering in his eyes as he gazed towards the far away Fire Pavilion. Let’s see what Lu Xiao’s next move is.