Chapter 45: Seeking the Strange Fire

Outside the treasure pavilion, Zhang Xiao strode forward and pushed his palm against the gate, but no restrictions appeared as they had the previous time. It turned out that only after cultivating the Seven Transformations Mysterious Heavenly Art to the first layer could one enter the first floor of the treasure pavilion.

He gazed at the gate before him, and inwardly Zhang Xiao felt a surge of excitement. What treasures had Xuan Cang Zhenren left for him? After stepping inside the pavilion, what met his eyes was a vast room spanning one hundred meters.

Rows upon rows of magical treasures hung from the walls—swords, spears, halberds, and all manner of enchanted weapons—yet none possessed high grades. Zhang Xiao paid them no mind. A sweep of his divine sense revealed a ninth-grade treasure resting on the jade platform behind them.

He approached and lifted it: a slender long sword etched with intricate runes. Heavenly Yang Sword: ninth-grade magical treasure, capable of upgrading. Usage requirement: pure yang spiritual energy. It could transform pure yang qi into a flood dragon for combat, and every sword strike carried heavenly yang sword qi. After a century of refinement by the user, it would elevate from ninth grade to a supreme treasure.

This blade was perfectly suited to his own cultivation method. Most crucially, it could still be upgraded. Such a treasure was new to Zhang Xiao. Having one on the first floor raised anticipation for whatever awaited on the second. The thought stirred fresh excitement in him. Zhang Xiao exhaled a sphere of pure yang pill fire and invoked the Refining Treasure Art to draw the sword into his body for nurturing.

With time, the pill fire would naturally refine it. Scanning the surrounding weapons, he lost all interest. They were not inferior, but his standards were too high; even eighth-grade items held no appeal. Moreover, his current abilities required few treasures. With the Heavenly Yang Sword in hand, the rest held no further allure. Noticing the staircase leading upward, Zhang Xiao’s heart stirred. He ascended.

At the top, another tightly sealed gate awaited. Zhang Xiao pushed it lightly, and layers of restrictions materialized. Prepared this time, he withdrew his hand before they could blast him away as before. It seemed the second floor truly demanded the second layer of the Seven Transformations Mysterious Heavenly Art. With no choice, he turned and left the pavilion.

Unlike the treasure pavilion, the scripture pavilion offered only one floor. Cultivating the Seven Transformations Mysterious Heavenly Art to the first layer would grant free access to its collection. To Zhang Xiao, the scripture pavilion was simply… abundant!

Twenty-eight rows of bookcases stood before him. According to Purple Orchid, these were the scriptures from sects Xuan Cang Zhenren had eradicated during his revenge. While they might not hold the rarest treasures from those lineages, they contained many supreme secret techniques. Seeing so many volumes filled him with joy. The sooner he resolved his clone’s hidden danger, the better. These texts surely held the answer.

He casually selected a jade slip, unfolded it, and discovered it detailed the principles of mutual production and restraint among the five elements. Zhang Xiao read with ten lines of vision, swiftly absorbing the content. As a late-stage Gold Core expert aided by his clone’s strength in elevating the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra to the sixth layer, his power now rivaled that of an ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivator. His divine sense was vast beyond measure.

A single text could be devoured in a few breaths and retained forever. Two months passed in the blink of an eye. In the endless sea of books, Zhang Xiao finally located the solution to his clone’s restrained strength.

Exiting the pavilion, he sat cross-legged, brows knitting tightly. The root of the problem lay in his own strength. He required the Refining God stage to begin with. Moreover, he needed a Clone Spirit Fruit to help separate his clone from the supreme treasure, after which secret arts could refine it into a second avatar to seal the threat forever.

Though distant, Zhang Xiao believed he would one day reach that realm. The Clone Spirit Fruit, however, remained elusive—a heaven-defying item always sought but never found, its discovery hinging on luck.

“Junior, since resolving the clone issue demands Nascent Soul-stage power, there is no need to hurry. What truly matters is when Junior ascends to the Nascent Soul stage,” Purple Orchid gracefully stepped behind him, her jade hands gently kneading his shoulders. Though merely a spirit artifact, Zhang Xiao felt the warmth of her touch. He smiled and said softly, “Enough, Yun’er. I understand.”

Purple Orchid’s body trembled at the words. Her face flushed crimson as a ripe apple, though he could not see it. While she pondered, Zhang Xiao continued, “I have already examined the Starlight Extermination Array’s diagram. I will break through to the Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible.”

Indeed, using the Earth Core Pearl as the array eye, the minimum requirement to command the Starlight Extermination Array after drawing upon heaven and earth was early Nascent Soul. Once his main body reached that stage, his power would sweep aside any same-rank cultivator. Even late Nascent Soul opponents lacking a supreme treasure would fall in a single exchange. With the array added, hmph! From the nine great sects, Zhang Xiao would slaughter one after another. Those ancient monsters might strike, but he would hide behind the array and see who dared to confront him. The thought brought a smug smile to his face. Battling heaven is endlessly thrilling, battling the earth is endlessly thrilling, and battling the nine great sects is even more so.

While Zhang Xiao reveled in this, he remained unaware that behind him Purple Orchid’s eyes blazed with fury, her small face puffed in anger. Before he could speak further, she transformed into a streak of azure light and vanished into the Xuan Tian Ling Talisman, leaving him puzzled.

Though his words sounded simple, the path ahead was far from easy. His meridians were three times broader than ordinary mortals’, and his dantian held far greater capacity. This greatly complicated his ascent to the Nascent Soul stage. Compounding the difficulty, the Seven Transformations Mysterious Heavenly Art advanced with agonizing slowness. A breakthrough could not be forced by mere words.

Besides relentless cultivation, he had considered pills, but the art remained immune to any that enhanced cultivation. The realization troubled him deeply. Otherwise, with his resources, genius herbs and treasures were abundant; refining potent elixirs would pose no challenge.

Spring faded into winter. Zhang Xiao had toiled in the Xuan Tian Cave Mansion for a full year, yet the Seven Transformations Mysterious Heavenly Art remained frozen at the seventh layer. The final step always hovered just beyond reach.

Continuing thus was futile. He must venture out, seek wanderings, and hunt for a heaven-earth alien fire. Using such a flame to shatter the bottleneck seemed the optimal path available to him. Otherwise, prolonged cultivation would stretch his breakthrough into an eternity. No wonder: the divide between Nascent Soul and Gold Core was like a chasm. Cross it and one walks the immortal path; fail to cross and one becomes mere dust.

Rokadola was the largest main city in the seventh region of the Americas. Bustling streets thronged with people in varied attire and battle armor, though weapons were rarely carried openly. Main cities were no ordinary towns; brandishing arms carelessly invited trouble. Bernik Bar stood as the city’s grandest tavern, a gathering place for every sort of soul.

Especially welcoming to those fresh from mission assignments, it offered the perfect haven for relaxation—and the finest hub for news. “Have you heard? The Mage Guild seems to be fracturing internally lately.”

A plate-armored warrior sipped his strong liquor and addressed his companions. Drunk, his voice carried, drawing curious glances. Beside him, a female thief pinched his waist and hissed, “Shut your trap. We don’t discuss such matters. This already implicates the Holy Inquisition.”

The warrior’s face paled. He lowered his head obediently and drank on. The bar descended into chaos. At that moment, a youth in a black robe entered from outside, the fabric cloaking him in impenetrable mist that hid his features.

Yet the staff in his grasp proclaimed his status as a noble magician. The sight sparked murmurs. Magicians rarely frequented such raucous venues, and never lingered among melee fighters over strong drinks. What stunned everyone most was the staff itself. Thick spatial ripples emanated from it, marking it as a high-grade treasure. Such items symbolized both power and prestige. All eyes turned toward the newcomer, gradually silencing the tavern’s clamor.

Zhang Xiao forced a wry smile. Despite his concealment, attention had found him. Correct—the magician before him was precisely his disguise. The gear he wore had been culled from Caros’s hoard. Though the lowest of the bunch, Caros as head of the Mage Guild possessed nothing worthless. In others’ eyes, these were priceless relics. The once-bustling tavern had fallen silent the instant he appeared, forcing Zhang Xiao to furrow his brow and turn away. But then he reconsidered: leaving would only fuel suspicion. The bar attendant hurried forward at once.

“May I ask what the magician requires?”

Though the major guilds treated all professions equally, magicians’ overwhelming strength and destructive capacity granted them superior status. Aside from the Holy Inquisition, the Mage Guild reigned unchallenged. Unfortunately, magic was not granted to all; at most three in a hundred could cultivate it. That thirty-percent odds had kept many from the guild’s doors, rendering every magician highly sought after. Even low-level ones received lavish respect.