Chapter 1207: Another Phoenix Divine Spirit
Yan Shen Realm, Burial God Fire Prison.
Flames rolled and surged, blazing light scorched the sky, and before one's eyes lay what seemed like a real, endless purgatory.
This was a dangerous place, a forbidden ground that ordinary people were not allowed to approach. At that moment, with a flash of profound light, two figures appeared simultaneously at the edge of this fire prison.
"Thank you, Sect Master Huo."
Yun Che sincerely thanked Huo Rulie, his gaze fixed on the vast fire prison ahead. Within this fire prison, perhaps he could find a way to defeat Jun Xilei... This was also the only possibility he could think of.
Yun Che walked to the edge of the fire prison and was about to leap down when Huo Rulie's voice suddenly came from behind: "Wait!"
Yun Che turned around: "Does Sect Master Huo have further instructions?"
"Kid Yun," Huo Rulie took a deep breath, his expression unable to calm down. "Back then, you said that you discovered the existence of two Ancient Flood Dragons because you reached the bottom of the fire prison. Is that... true?"
"Yes." Yun Che nodded. "I ask Sect Master Huo to keep this secret for this junior."
Huo Rulie looked at him, his face changing, but for a long time, he could not speak.
"Although I don't know if this trip will yield anything, I will definitely return before fighting Jun Xilei. I trouble Sect Master Huo to wait."
Having said that, Yun Che leaped forward, and his figure was quickly swallowed by the vast sea of fire, even his aura disappearing without a trace.
Huo Rulie did not leave. He stood in a daze at the edge of the fire prison for a long time, muttering to himself in a trance: "This kid... just who is he..."
Yun Che fell straight down through the sea of fire. The surrounding fire elements grew increasingly violent and terrifying, but they could not harm Yun Che in the slightest. He furrowed his brows tightly, recalling that strange soul resonance.
Back then, when Mu Xuanyin was fiercely battling the Ancient Flood Dragons, he first infiltrated the Burial God Fire Prison. At the bottom of the Burial God Fire Prison, he had sensed a distant soul resonance. As he drew closer to the Flame Vein, that soul resonance became clearer and clearer, as if it were summoning and guiding him.
But during his approach, he discovered the truth that two Ancient Flood Dragons existed within the Burial God Fire Prison. In his terror, he rushed out of the Burial God Fire Prison in a panic, and then fled far away to the Heiya Realm. Naturally, he had no way to heed that soul reaction.
But when he was at a loss against Jun Xilei in battle, he suddenly remembered it.
Existing beneath the Burial God Fire Prison, and an extremely distant soul resonance... what could that be? Yun Che had already had a vague guess back then, and upon recalling it now, that guess became clearer and clearer.
A divine spirit that had survived until now by relying on the Burial God Fire Prison!
And the most likely divine spirits to exist and depend on such an environment were Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, or Golden Crow. The Golden Crow divine spirit had already vanished. Could it be a remnant divine spirit of Phoenix or Vermilion Bird?
Although, in the understanding of the Yan Shen Realm, no divine spirits had existed for a long time, that was because no one had ever been able to reach the bottom of the Burial God Fire Prison. At the bottom of the Minghan Heavenly Lake in the Yin Xue Realm, a remnant Ice Phoenix True God could barely exist by relying on the Cold Vein. The Flame Vein of the Yan Shen Realm was undoubtedly far stronger than the Cold Vein of Minghan Heavenly Lake. It was perfectly normal for a remnant divine spirit to survive until now by clinging to it.
Descending straight down five thousand zhang, Yun Che reached the bottom of the fire prison at maximum speed. This place was already a purgatory that ordinary people could not even imagine. The violence and level of the fire elements far exceeded the understanding of even the highest Divine Lords. A single flame was enough to dry up an ordinary world's ocean.
Fire spirit energy surged into his body like a storm, transforming into his profound energy. When he first came to the Burial God Fire Prison, his cultivation was only at the Divine Origin Realm. Now, with his cultivation at the Divine Tribulation Realm, the speed at which fire spirit energy surged in had increased several times over. In this extremely pure and extremely high-level flame world, even if he did nothing, it was far better than others' arduous training, but it was absolutely impossible for him to reach Jun Xilei's level in a short time.
Yun Che locked his gaze on that extremely distant yet extremely clear red light arc.
That was the location of the Ancient Flame Vein.
Heading towards the direction of the Ancient Flame Vein, Yun Che sped through. His cultivation was different from before, and his speed was much faster than when he first came. The red light arc approached in his field of vision at an extremely slow pace. Just then, Yun Che's heart suddenly leaped violently, and his body came to a halt.
This is...
Yun Che's hand instinctively pressed against his chest. It felt like a soul being gently brushed by something invisible, mysterious and hazy.
It was exactly the same as last time!
This feeling... is indeed summoning me!
The soul resonance was still there. Yun Che's spirits lifted, and his speed increased again. He passed through layers of flame gods, heading straight for the Flame Vein, and his heartbeat gradually became intense... What could it be? Would it be a Phoenix divine spirit, or a Vermilion Bird divine spirit, or...
The Burial God Fire Prison stretched for millions of li. Without the guidance of the red light arc, it would have been extremely difficult to discern direction. As Yun Che advanced, the soul resonance became clearer and clearer.
He traveled a full hundred thousand li without any pause, gradually... close at hand.
Yun Che finally stopped. Before his eyes, a red light arc coiled like a dragon in the flame world, winding all the way to the limits of his sight, as if endless. Staring at this red light arc, Yun Che's eyes went blank for a moment, and his spiritual sense experienced a strange emptiness... At this moment, he suddenly could no longer feel the presence of any fire elements. His perception seemed to be devoured by an invisible void. This peculiar and terrifying feeling lasted a long time, only slowly disappearing when he moved his gaze away from the red light arc.
That was undoubtedly the Ancient Flame Vein, an existence of the same level as the Ancient Cold Vein of Minghan Heavenly Lake, both being power remnants left over from the ancient age of gods.
But the Cold Vein of Minghan Heavenly Lake was only a short stretch. The Flame Vein before him, however, seemed endless. Perhaps the power contained within was so terrifying that it had reached a level beyond Yun Che's ability to even perceive.
"It's very likely that no one in the Yan Shen Realm—or probably anyone at all—would imagine that such a terrifying power lies hidden within a mid-level star realm." Yun Che couldn't help but marvel. "If this power were to be unleashed, it should be enough to easily destroy an upper-level star realm, or even a King Realm, right?"
Yun Che slowly lifted his foot and was about to continue forward when two crimson flames suddenly flickered in the world ahead.
"Yun Che, you have finally come. I have been waiting for you for a long time."
A faint and clear voice sounded in his heart and soul. Yun Che looked up sharply, and high above, a pair of long, narrow golden eyes slowly opened... Instantly, all the flame light in the entire world dimmed. Amidst the vast fire prison, those golden eyes seemed to become the only existence.
"Are you... the Phoenix Divine Spirit?"
Golden divine eyes, but much longer and narrower than the Golden Crow Divine Spirit's golden eyes. And in Yun Che's memory, the moment he saw these eyes, it brought him back more than ten years ago, to the moment he first came into contact with a divine existence.
The Phoenix Eye in the Phoenix Remnant Tribe's trial ground in the Cang Feng Kingdom's Myriad Beast Mountain Range!
With the appearance of these golden eyes, a divine aura belonging to Phoenix Flame also descended.
"I am not a divine spirit. I am one of the soul fragments left behind by the Phoenix in the world. I sensed your arrival three years ago, but you turned away midway. However, as expected, you have finally come. It seems this is also the guidance of fate."
Sure enough, it was the Phoenix Divine Spirit!
After the first Phoenix Divine Spirit he encountered back then with the Phoenix Remnant Tribe, this was the second Phoenix Divine Spirit he had met! And this one was the Phoenix Divine Spirit of the God Realm.
"You were summoning me? Why did you summon me back then? And how did you know my name?" As soon as Yun Che asked, he thought of something: "Was it informed by another Phoenix Divine Spirit?"
"That's correct." The Phoenix divine voice replied calmly. "Although they exist in different planes, since we are all soul fragments left by the Phoenix, we can communicate soul voices and memories with each other. I not only know of you, but also know that the continent where you were born once had two soul fragments. One was tainted by the mortal world and betrayed the Phoenix's will, but eventually repented and, upon sensing the arrival of the 'Great Calamity,' bestowed everything upon a human. The other still exists in the world, but is also on the verge of dissipating."
"Besides them, I am the last remaining Phoenix remnant soul in the world, but I can only barely survive by relying on the Burial God Fire Prison. Once I leave, I will rapidly fade away."
"Great... Calamity?" Yun Che murmured softly. "What you speak of... could it be that 'Crimson Rift'?"
In the past few days, he had heard some things about the "Crimson Rift" from Mu Bingyun. Although Mu Bingyun did not go into great detail, Yun Che at least got a rough idea. At the same time, the words "Crimson Rift" slowly began to align in his heart and soul with some of the things said by the Golden Crow Soul Spirit and the Ice Phoenix Maiden.
"That's correct." Just those two words, but the Phoenix's soul voice carried a sigh as if from ancient times.
"That... what exactly is it? Could it really be, as they guess, some great calamity?" Yun Che quickly asked.
"No one knows what it truly is," the Phoenix soul voice replied. "Even though we are soul fragments left by a True God, possessing perception at the level of a True God, we still cannot discern what lies behind that 'Crimson Rift' or why it appeared."
"But there is one thing I am absolutely certain of: behind that 'Crimson Rift' is not a 'possible calamity,' but an 'inevitable catastrophe.' And once that 'catastrophe' truly erupts, it will be far, far more terrifying than you can imagine... Perhaps, not just the Eastern Divine Region, but even if the entire God Realm pooled its strength, it would be difficult to withstand."
"What?" Yun Che's pupils sharply contracted. "Not even the entire God Realm can stop it? How could there be such a disaster? Why do you think so?"
"Because each time my perception touches upon the aura of that Crimson Rift, it gives rise to boundless fear."
Yun Che: "..."
Although it was only a soul fragment, it was ultimately a soul at the level of a True God.
A soul at the True God level, merely sensing it from afar, would give rise to "boundless fear"... Just what kind of catastrophe would that be?
No! There was someone who might know the answer... the Ice Phoenix Maiden under Minghan Heavenly Lake! She was the first to tell him about the future "catastrophe," and she seemed to clearly understand the reason behind it. She was also the only existence in the Chaos that truly knew the reason and the truth.
But she also said she couldn't tell him now.
What was it... What was going on with that Crimson Rift?
"Although I am only a soul fragment, I still possess a high degree of divine dignity. I would never willingly erase my existence to complete a human. However, in the world you came from, a Phoenix fragment bestowed its everything upon a human girl. And here in the Yan Shen Realm, the last Golden Crow remnant soul also bestowed its entire existence upon a human youth named Huo Poyun."
"The only reason is that future 'inevitable catastrophe.'"
"My summoning of you here is also for this purpose!"