Chapter 728 – The First Concept – Sea of Burning Fire

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“I see… so that’s how it is. Then it seems this Nuyan Ming can also be considered an outer member of my Ancient Phoenix Clan.”

The red dressed woman’s shadowy voice resonated through the void. The Realm of the Gods Ancient Phoenix Clan was an incomparably massive sect. Within the three thousand boundless worlds, there were also countless branches and sub-branches.

A sect like Divine Phoenix Island, which took the phoenix and its closely related Saint Beasts as its totem, could just barely be counted as one of the followers and believers of the Ancient Phoenix Clan.

Some of these countless sects in the lower realms were fifth-grade sects or Holy Lands. Occasionally, there were top talents among these sects that had the qualifications to be chosen by the true Ancient Phoenix Clan, transplanting a part of their bloodline and becoming an outer member of the Ancient Phoenix Clan.

Up until this point, the Ancient Phoenix Clan had developed to the point where there were millions of small and large sects that comprised it. With the three great family clans within the Realm of the Gods added on, it was hard to estimate just how many members the Ancient Phoenix Clan had. The clan included humans, Giant Demons, Ferals, Fey, and many other races.

In this era, familial bloodlines no longer mattered. There was only a single requirement for being a member of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, and that was whether or not they had the Ancient Phoenix bloodline within their bodies.

Thus, Lin Ming’s origins had no effect on whether he was considered part of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. Of course, as a martial artist from the lower realms, if Lin Ming entered the Realm of the Gods in the future, then against those at the same level of strength, he would have fewer resources than those from the three great family clans.

……….

After entering the God Transforming Mirror, Lin Ming felt as if he had fallen through a layer of water. There was a brief scalding hot feeling, and in the next moment, he had entered into a vast red space.

This was a world of burning flames, nothing but endless infernos in a sea of fire. Scarlet plumes rose thousands of feet high, impacting the heavens. The entire sky was filled with red clouds. It was as if the once blue sky had been roasted red by the flames.

Hot!

It was too hot!

This was Lin Ming’s first and foremost reaction. Every breath he took felt as if he was sucking flames into his lungs. If a common mortal were to appear here, he would have been charred to death long ago.

At this time, red clouds roiled in the skies. These strange movements reflected in Lin Ming’s pupils, just like the traces of fire energy from the Ancient Phoenix Testament. This scene caused Lin Ming’s eyes to shine brightly. So this was the God Transforming Mirror!

The God Transforming Mirror, the Ancient Phoenix Totem Stones, and the Ancient Phoenix Testament were similar in essence. The Ancient Phoenix Testament and the Burning Heaven Totem Stone were both objects that recorded the operating rules of Flame Laws and the energy within them, allowing a martial artist to enlighten themselves through meditation. But, the God Transforming Mirror expanded on these energy operating rules through the use of an illusory magic array. A martial artist could place themselves within and directly experiences the changes within the fire energy himself.

If the three days before were Lin Ming meditating on the Burning Heaven Stone, then this could be considered as having entered the Burning Heaven Totem Stone. He was now directly withstanding a baptism within a violent storm of energy.

If he could withstand it, live through it, then that proved that his perception was good, enough to pass.

Ho -!

A wave of heat passed through him. Lin Ming’s clothes, which were supposed to be nearly invulnerable to water and fire, actually started to burn a little. This proved that the temperature was extremely high.

The Ancient Phoenix Clan had a total nine Fire Concepts. Correspondingly, the God Transforming Mirror also had nine realms. And, the first shifting Concept was… Burning Heat!

Burning heat was the very fundamental foundation. If one could withstand this Concept, then they could finally be considered as truly have stepped through the door of the true Concept of Fire.

The temperature rose higher and higher. Lin Ming had no choice but to revolve his bodily true essence protection to the limit as well as simultaneously activating the Asura force field to surround his entire body. The Asura force field was a force field domain that could suppress all types of energy. Naturally, it was also able to suppress these burning hot flames. However, as Lin Ming suppressed this heat, he only felt the surrounding burning heat around him suddenly soar by a massive degree!

Hu hu hu!

Lin Ming’s true essence was rapidly consumed and even then the surrounding temperatures continued to shoot up. If this continued for much longer then he wouldn’t be able to hold on.

“I’m stupid. The as a test of my understandings towards the Concept of Fire, not whether or not I have the power to withstand it. Ignoring the fire and just resisting against it is obviously not an option. I must act according to my understanding of the Burning Heaven Totem Stone and adapt to this sea of fire.”

As Lin Ming thought this, he took a deep breath and resolutely withdrew the protection of his bodily true essence and the Asura force field. For a time, the oppressive waves of heat pushed up against Lin Ming like a waterfall!

Ho!

Lin Ming’s fire resistant clothes melting away! He could even hear the sound of his own skin baking to a tender crisp.

Soon after, Lin Ming was left completely naked. With a cracking sound, his spatial ring was also charred black by the purging fires.

Of course, this was only a world of illusion. Lin Ming’s true body was standing perfectly still and unharmed outside of the God Transforming Mirror.

The vast and endless power of fire poured through Lin Ming’s acupoints, crazily raging through his meridians and flushing towards his bones, organs, and limbs. If his comprehension of the Concept of Fire was too poor, then this fire would have charred all his organs to ashes already.

In such a terrifying rush of heat, Lin Ming’s mind was as still as ice. His mind touched upon the Heretical God Seed and the tiny flame totem on it suddenly began to shine with a dazzling light. With a clear sound, the massive power of fire within Lin Ming’s body began to be sucked into the Heretical God Seed, causing the lines of energy on the Heretical God Seen to start spinning around.

These lines of energy only had a total surface area the size of a grain of rice. But, the structures were extremely complex and exquisite. It was like a bottomless pit was born within it, constantly and wantonly devouring the power of fire, ensuring that none of Lin Ming’s organs would be injured.

In this state, Lin Ming felt the energy within his body blow up like a balloon!

……….

Outside of the God Transforming Mirror, half an hour had quietly passed.

All of the martial artists outside were focused on Lin Ming and Huo Wenlong. Half an hour was already an ‘outstanding’ grade result. Nobody thought that Lin Ming and Huo Wenlong would have failed at this point. With their strength, lasting less than half an hour would have been strange instead.

The truly difficult part lay ahead. In the first Concept world, the temperature would continue to rise. But, a martial artists ability to absorb and control fire energy was limited. Once they couldn’t last any further, they would be incinerated by the sea of flames.

Before, Huo Yu had only managed to last forty minutes. As for someone that could last three quarter hours, that was something that rarely happened even in 50 years.

50 years seemed like a long time, but Timeworn Phoenix City had over a million worlds to choose from, and that wasn’t even including the Realm of the Gods. The pure volume of talents that passed through here in 50 years of time was horrifying.

“I wonder if Lin Ming will last until the end, or if it will be Huo Wenlong.” The surrounding martial artists began murmuring.

“Of course it will be Huo Wenlong. Lin Ming has a high compatibility with fire, but this test looks at one’s comprehension of Laws.” A Realm of the Gods martial artist said.

“That’s not necessarily true. The higher your fire compatibility is, the great temperatures your body can withstand, and the more power of fire you can withstand too. The one to last until the end might be Lin Ming!” A lower realms martial artist retorted. As a fellow martial artist from the lower realms, he naturally sided with Lin Ming.

This was Huo Wenlong and Lin Ming’s first battle; it would relate to their future achievements!

In the void, the red dressed woman and the old man had anticipated this sort of competition. When a martial artist stepped foot on the road of martial arts and walked towards the peak, they would inevitably have to march over the bodies of all the losers that fell beneath them.

At this time, within the world of the God Transforming Mirror, Huo Wenlong was fluttering like a wisp of silk in a blazing red storm. The power of Burning Heat rushed towards him. Half of this energy was rerouted by an invisible power while the other half entered him.

Using this method of diverting the energy, it meant that Huo Wenlong would only need to withstand half of the fire energy.

Huu… huu… hu…

As heat wave after heat wave got partial deflected by Huo Wenlong, he continued to remain calm throughout without the slightest sense of strain.

He was confident he would win this battle. This was because when he was in the Realm of the Gods, he had already experienced the God Transforming Mirror. This method of diverting the power of fire was also a very high level legacy of his clan; it wasn’t something the average person could learn. Not even Huo Yu could do it, much less someone like Lin Ming

Although this method of extending the time he stayed in here might seem a bit suspicious, the world only cared about heroes that won; results were far more important than the means. Then again, this method of diverting, from another viewpoint, only proved how thoroughly Huo Wenlong understood the Laws of Fire.

“Lin Ming, I’ve already won. I will establish my superiority to you here and now. As long as you don’t catch up to me too much, I will take first place in this smelting trial!”

Meanwhile, on another side of the God Transforming Mirror, the fire energy within Lin Ming’s body had risen to a terrifying degree. Because the power of fire was gathering towards Lin Ming and the Heretical God Seed was accumulating all of it within itself, the temperature within Lin Ming’s body was even higher than the temperature outside.

Lin Ming kept his eyes closed this entire time. His perception was always focused on the red clouds that surged above him, as he constantly attempted to understand the Laws that governed the revolution of energy in this world.

This world took the most basic revolution of fire as its fundamental Law. As Lin Ming was withstanding the baptism of fire, he was beginning to understand just how to break through the Concept of the God Transforming Mirror’s first level!

As long as he could gather enough energy within his body, he could use his own bloodline as a guide and fuse the Laws and Concepts of Fire and then detonate all of that energy within himself. This energy would scatter away, in turn burning down the sea of fire instead. This would allow him to break through the first Concept, passing the first trial of the God Transforming Mirror.

But to a normal martial artist, they weren’t able to gather enough of the fire energy within this burning heat world before their body could no longer withstand it. Even if their Ancient Phoenix bloodline was much purer and denser than Lin Ming, or their understanding of Concepts and Laws were greater than Lin Ming’s, they still wouldn’t be able to burn away this world.

But to Lin Ming, this was not a problem, because he had the Heretical God Seed within him. The power of fire that he could withstand far outstripped the average martial artist.

Lin Ming’s body was completely filled with the power of fire. The Heretical God Seed was just like a miniature sun as it emitted blinding rays of golden light. On the surface of the Heretical God Seed, the engravings of flame became even brighter!

The energy had already reached 95% capacity!

Then, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, climbing without end!

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Lin Ming gritted his teeth. The Heretical God Seed was like a storm within him; it could blow apart at any time!

Outside of the God Transforming Mirror, Lin Ming’s body began trembling. Blue veins stuck out from his body like wriggling worms and great beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

“Lin Ming, it seems he… might not be able to last much longer?” Some martial artists noticed the changes in Lin Ming’s appearance. Compared to Lin Ming, Huo Wenlong seemed much more at ease. His breath was even and there wasn’t the slightest bit of sweat on his forehead.

Looking at the hourglass, there was still some sand left until three quarters.

“It’s only been around two and a half quarters of time yet Lin Ming seems as if he had reached his limit. If this continues he won’t be able to last for three quarters of time.” Some martial artists began talking amongst themselves. But, in the great hall, the red-robed Elder’s eyes actually shrank. He looked at Lin Ming, a curious light in his eyes….