Chapter 857 Opening the Cauldron (2/2)

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.