True Martial World - Chapter 1113: The Tragic Master Tianxiao

Yi Yun found a scroll that held the details of the massive array, and began reading it while sitting beside the lake.

The scroll was extremely complex. The content was so abstruse that, even as a Desolate Heaven Master, Yi Yun needed to ponder over each word and line before he could figure out the meaning within.

Ling Xie'er just sat on the disk array and quietly watched Yi Yun study. Although she was innocent, she was still a spiritual being of the world, and thus was able to distinguish whether a person was good or bad. She could sense that Yi Yun had no ill intentions toward her.

"If only he were just a little stronger." Ling Xie'er sighed as she held her tiny face.

Suddenly, Ling Xie'er sensed something. She raised her head and looked towards the roaring pure Yang waterfall above her.

After staring at the waterfall for a moment, she lowered her head to look at Yi Yun.

Seeing that Yi Yun was completely immersed in reading the scroll, she quietly stood up and, with a flash, disappeared into a beam of light. And at the moment Ling Xie'er vanished, the gray flame in her was blocked by an invisible barrier. It could not break the obstruction, and was forced to stay in the array…

Ling Xie'er may have been the Heretical God Fire Seed, but the gray flame was her essence. If the flame could not leave the array, then Ling Xie'er would never be able to leave the land of cremation.

…

"Ah!"

In the darkness, there was a sudden tragic cry as a few figures appeared by the side of a mountain cliff.

"Stop shouting. If you attract more of those humanoid monsters, you’ll lose more than your legs," said Liu Ruyi coldly.

The person she spoke to was none other than the Heaven Secrets Chapter's Master Tianxiao.

By that point, Master Tianxiao was in a wretched state. His legs had been cleaved off from the thighs. He was covered in blood, for he had also lost an arm. If he lost the other arm, he would be no different from a punished consort.

As Master Tianxiao had lost all ability to fight, the twin childlike deputy palatial lords of the Seven Star Dao Palace had tied his body to a machine-operated puppet. The state he was in was as tragic as could be.

The moment Liu Ruyi mentioned the humanoid monsters, Master Tianxiao immediately shuddered and did not dare whimper another word.

"Lead the way properly. You only lost your legs and an arm. My Seven Star Dao Palace has already promised to reattach them for you, so what's there to be afraid of?" said one of the two children in a hoarse voice.

There were only three people left from the entire Seven Star Dao Palace expedition team. Even one of the deputy palatial lords had perished.

As for the Heaven Secrets Chapter group, only Master Tianxiao alone had managed to barely survive. And that was only because Liu Ruyi believed him to be of some use, and deliberately protected him.

Along the way, they had not only encountered terrifying humanoid monsters, they had also met ancient creatures that nearly wiped them all out.

Yi Yun's gloating words had truly come to pass.

"With three deputy palatial lords, I'm naturally unafraid." Master Tianxiao said bitterly with a despondent expression.

Unafraid? He was already terribly regretting this excursion!

He originally believed that he would garner certain boons from coming on the expedition, but now, aside from not getting a thing, he had lost two legs and an arm.

Having come this far, the three deputy palatial lords refused to retreat. They had already paid a tragic price so they were bent on obtaining the Yang spirit.

Master Tianxiao knew that if he could not lead the way, then he was a cripple of no value.

"The environment here is quite different from the places we previously passed…" Master Tianxiao used his remaining hand to hold on to a compass and attempted to divine a path. "This place is probably not far from the Yang spirit."

"You’ve already said this twice…" Liu Ruyi gave Master Tianxiao a displeased look before saying coldly, "I'll believe you another time."

"I'm out of options, too, for the Heaven Secrets Compass is not in my hand." Master Tianxiao said weakly.

One of the childlike deputy palatial lords used a rope to lift Master Tianxiao up as the quartet continued proceeding forward.

After a while, they heard rumbling sounds ahead.

"That is…" They had arrived in front of the molten waterfall.

The waterfall looked magnificent and the bottom appeared unfathomable. The pure Yang gases stirred and anyone of weaker strength, like Master Tianxiao, immediately felt like they were being tortured in flames.

He was already extremely frail after losing two legs and an arm, yet he now had to endure the excruciating burning from the pure Yang laws. His beard was even beginning to twirl from the heat.

"The pure Yang aura below is extremely pure. The Yang spirit is likely beneath the waterfall," said one of the childlike deputy palatial lords as his eyes lit up.

Even if the Yang spirit’s presence could not be confirmed, there was definitely a mystic treasure beneath the waterfall.

"I wonder where that little bastard, Yi Yun, is. If he is here, I'll definitely rip out his skin and bones and use his soul for herbal refinement!"

The way Yi Yun mocked them was still fresh on their minds.

They had not encountered Yi Yun along the way, so it was possible that Yi Yun was in the vicinity.

"He probably thinks he can get the treasure but he’ll only get this far. He won't be able to escape with the treasure. Everything in here will belong to the Seven Star Dao Palace. It will be refined into a supreme treasure." Liu Ruyi pricked up her slender brows and said with a sneer. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

What they did not know was that Ling Xie'er secretly watched them from inside the waterfall.

She could tell that one of the four was already on his last breath. The remaining three had powerful auras.

However, the trio had also been injured along the way. They had powerful auras but they were unstable.

"They have such a huge vendetta with the person called Yi Yun?" Ling Xie'er mused over it when she suddenly blinked her eyes." Could…Yi Yun be him?"

Ling Xie'er was a part of the worldly array. She could sense anyone who came into the underground world.

She knew that the group of people that had come were large in numbers, previously. This was the same group of people, so their enemy had to be Yi Yun that had come alone.

Upon hearing the quartet discuss how they would treat Yi Yun after capturing him, Ling Xie'er held her chin and pondered. She was the one that led Yi Yun down here. If these people were to descend the waterfall and find Yi Yun, it would be as if she hurt him herself.

In the past, many people died attempting to crack the array. As a result, Ling Xie'er felt somewhat ridden with guilt. Now, with her leading Yi Yun to the side of the massive array, it was even more unlikely she would watch these people kill Yi Yun.

"If he discovers that he can't crack the array, it would be fine if he leaves on his own. Since these people are here to find me, I can lead them away first," thought Ling Xie'er.

But in fact, Ling Xie'er did not have a method to take care of the trio with powerful auras. Being trapped for hundreds of millions of years made her very weak. Furthermore, her source—the gray flame—was locked in the core of the array. She had no way to deal with the trio.

Seeing the quartet about to leap down the waterfall, Ling Xie'er flew out of hiding without a second thought.

"Who is it!?"

Liu Ruyi bellowed angrily and was instantly left dumbfounded.

How could there be a young girl in such a place?

True Martial World - Chapter 1112: Ling Xie'er

The girl's straightforward question pretty much confirmed Yi Yun's suspicions.

"You are the Heretical God Fire Seed?" Yi Yun decided to ask directly.

The girl blinked and nodded.

In the divine alchemist's scrolls, there was no mention of the Heretical God Fire Seed having the ability to take form. Therefore, it was likely that it only succeeded in taking the girl’s form after his death.

The Heretical God Fire Seed had turned sentient over a long period of time before taking the form of Ling Xiaoxiao.

Ling Xiaoxiao was the only human form it had seen in this underground world. However, there was presently no trace of Ling Xiaoxiao. Her body had likely been reduced to nothing after hundreds of millions of years.

Only when the array began losing its powers, producing the phenomenon, could the girl and this underground stone temple see the light of day again.

But why did the Heretical God Fire Seed lead him here?

"You have been a lone soul in this underground world for hundreds of millions of years. If you could leave this place, you would have done so a long time ago. However, you have stayed here all this time and even led me here. Why is that so?" asked Yi Yun.

"I want to leave this place but I can't…" the girl said.

She sat down on the disk array, swaying her legs that were as slender as lotus rhizome. "Years ago, Master used the formations of the world to establish an array. He was sure it would succeed, but even until his death, Miss Xiaoxiao never managed to be resurrected. The array continued to run and, over an immense period of time, I gradually took form. I, too, wanted to save Miss Xiaoxiao but…even after exhausting all of my strength, all I can see is the gradual weakening of the array."

"Because of the complete enervation of my strength, I fell into a deep slumber. I have no idea how long I slept, but when I woke up, hundreds of millions of years had passed without me knowing. The formation here had become a natural worldly array, merging with the array left behind by Master."

"I was a part of Master’s array. So with it now merged to the worldly array, I found that I can no longer leave."

The girl hung her head down when she came to that. "Several times in the past, people have come and tried to take me away. But whenever they attempt to crack the array, they only end up being killed by it."

People had previously been killed here?

Yi Yun hesitated for a moment. Before the birth of the Sun Burial Sandsea phenomenon, the number of people who could enter this land was exceedingly small. On top of that, the terrifying monsters and deadly array within would probably lay waste to any mighty figures that might come.

As for the people from the Divine Secrets Trading Company, they needed to use the Heaven Secrets Compass to locate the area, and trickery with the jade burial suits to be able to even get this far. They were even more powerless in the current environment.

Too many warriors had died or were seriously injured while seeking opportunities. As Yi Yun thought about it, he sighed.

Upon seeing Yi Yun's expression, the girl seemed to feel guilt-ridden.

She only wanted to leave this place. She had been alone for too long and had been trapped for hundreds of millions of years.

"There's no need to reproach yourself. The people who come here seek treasures. Since there's a treasure, there is naturally danger." Yi Yun read the girl's thoughts, never expecting that she would seem rather kind.

Wasn't her name the Heretical God Fire Seed?

Yi Yun's impression of a Heretical God Fire Seed was something that stood aloof above all, even if it were not completely evil, and was unreservedly forthright.

However, this young lady did not seem to match that image.

"Why are you called the Heretical God Fire Seed?" Yi Yun could not help but ask.

The girl shook her head and said, "I do not know either. I was born with some fragmented memories. However, after an unknown period of time, these fragmented memories seem to have been sealed. Later, I left the Sinkhole and followed Master, slowly maturing and becoming stronger. After Master's death, I took probably tens of millions of years to slowly take form…"

Although it was said that top-grade natural and spiritual treasures could take human form, it was also harder for truly extraordinary treasures to take form.

The Heretical God Fire Seed had absorbed pure Yang energy in the array for an extraordinarily long period of time before it succeeded.

Yi Yun was unsure if the girl could be considered as having a spiritual form. He sensed within her a lifeblood no different from that of ordinary people. He could even sense the soul in her body.

It was because of these things that Yi Yun's first impression of the girl was that she was Ling Xiaoxiao. She was a living human so he had never imagined that she would be the Heretical God Fire Seed.

"Do you have a name?" asked Yi Yun.

The girl shook her head.

"Then I'll give you a name…You are in this massive array to save Ling Xiaoxiao. Although you have yet to succeed, you have taken this form because of that. Your birth is also because of Ling Xiaoxiao so why don't you go by Ling Xie'er in the future?"

Ling Xie'er?

The girl faltered for a moment before quickly nodding. She cocked her head as she pondered, as though she liked the name a lot.

"Yea!"

Ling Xie'er smiled. Immediately, the cold atmosphere in the array alleviated, gaining an additional sense of warmth.

Yi Yun found it fascinating. As the Heretical God's fire, she had experienced hundreds of millions of years and gave birth to a life no different from humans, yet she remained as untainted as a blank sheet of paper.

She said she had fragmented memories at her birth. What were those memories? Could they be from her previous life?

Yi Yun felt that perhaps Ling Xie'er wasn't so simple.

Shaking his head, Yi Yun looked at the array that had developed naturally from the worldly formation. Ling Xie'er had said that she was part of the array, and had already fused with it. Then, the lake and the array were likely bound to one another.

At the moment, it was calm, but once he attempted to break the balance of the array, extreme danger would likely befall him.

Ling Xie'er looked up and said, "Are you going to crack the worldly formation?"

"Yes, there's no harm trying," said Yi Yun.

Ling Xie'er shook her head. "But…you are too weak. The people from before were much stronger than you but they still failed."

Upon saying that, she came to a slight pause before continuing, "I brought you here into the divine alchemist's cauldron because I have been alone for too long and wanted to chat with someone. I actually have no hopes of you bringing me out."

To have a young girl suddenly say how weak he was, Yi Yun rubbed his nose in embarrassment. Actually, Ling Xie'er was right. He was quite weak.

However, he had his advantages. Although his cultivation level was low, he had four nine-leaf Dao fruits condensed in his body. When it came to the worldly formation and insights into pure Yang laws, Yi Yun could be said to be at the crest of perfection.

Cracking the worldly formation was not a question of cultivation level, but one of nomological insight.

Upon thinking of this, Yi Yun flew out of the divine alchemist's cauldron and went to the black scrolls left behind by the alchemist. These black scrolls held the final records of the array.

Yi Yun was, after all, a Desolate Heaven Master. He had a great deal of understanding in the art of alchemical refinement. Another one of his advantages.

"Wait and see. Perhaps I am able to accomplish what others before me have failed…"

True Martial World - Chapter 1111: Heretical God Fire Seed

"I am deeply aware that my end is near. I shall seclude myself from this day forth in search of the peak of alchemy. If I succeed, I might perhaps save Xiaoxiao. I do not know how long my seclusion will last and I might never come out. But it is also a wish of mine to be cremated in a land of alchemical refinement."

When Yi Yun read the last line in the black scroll, he finally understood that the senior had set up a massive array at Sun Burial Sandsea as a way to isolate himself in death.

His seclusion had spanned hundreds of million of years. Everything left in the stone temple was likely abandoned for hundreds of millions of years. After all that time, there was probably nothing left of the senior.

"This senior went into reclusion to save his daughter, Ling Xiaoxiao. Is she the girl I met?"

Yi Yun lowered the black scroll and looked up. He saw the adorable girl sitting on the cauldron, cupping her chin and looking at him.

This baffled Yi Yun. Was it possible that Ling Xiaoxiao had been living alone in here for hundreds of millions of years, or even longer, after she was revived?

Why didn't she die of old age after such a long period of time? For that matter, she didn’t even grow up. Could it be that the divine alchemist eventually managed to refine both the Elixir of Resurrection and the Elixir of Immortality?

Upon thinking of this, Yi Yun shook his head. Legend said that immortality was only attainable at the peak of martial arts. It wasn't as simple as drinking an elixir or using a relic. Furthermore, the divine alchemist had abandoned his search for the Elixir of Immortality, and instead dedicated himself to refining the Elixir of Resurrection. Even just the Elixir of Resurrection had expended his last bit of strength. He has also pinned all of his hopes on the massive array.

Recalling the tens of millions of years along the river of time, and reviving a person who had died in a particular segment of that river was as good as an act of god!

Did the divine alchemist truly succeed? Could it be that the array he set up only just recently succeeded after hundreds of millions of years? In that case, had Ling Xiaoxiao just been revived and not been given the chance to grow up?

This thought flashed across Yi Yun's mind. He noticed that the girl was constantly looking at him above the cauldron. Her eyes sparkled like beautiful stars. They looked like luminescent gems in the dark night.

Perhaps, Ling Xiaoxiao was the only person who knew where the God Fire was in this stone temple.

However, since the God Fire was left behind by the divine alchemist, it was technically left for Ling Xiaoxiao. Yi Yun believed that if he were to snatch it from her, it would be quite an unreasonable act.

Yi Yun had a line he wouldn’t cross. Ling Xiaoxiao had a pitiful story. Were he to snatch away the God Fire left to her by her father, could he call himself a gentleman?

Just as Yi Yun was pondering the matter, he suddenly saw the girl's figure flash. She had been sucked into the massive cauldron.

"So this cauldron is also a spatial enchanted item. It's similar to the God Advent Tower."

The girl seemed to be inviting Yi Yun to enter the cauldron with her. After a moment of hesitation, Yi Yun went in front of the cauldron and placed his palm on it. He injected a wisp of Yuan Qi and felt an immediate suction.

He did not resist, allowing the suction to pull him in. The scene in front of him changed and, before he knew it, he was standing in front of a gigantic lake.

The lake was similar to the deep waterfall basin that Yi Yun had seen previously. There was red molten metal boiling in the lake. However, what came gushing at him was not hot air but ice-cold air.

Yi Yun knew that this was due to the theory of how solitary Yang could not exist, and therefore extreme Yang gives birth to Yin. Only through the fusion of Yin and Yang could the pure Yang laws here have reached such an extreme.

In the middle of the lake, Yi Yun saw an array disk. Looking from afar, he could see that none other than Ling Xiaoxiao was standing on it.

Beneath her feet was a slowly burning flame wisp. It was blackish-gray in color and it looked extremely calm and quiet.

An indescribable aura emanated from the flame, instilling a sense of reverence in Yi Yun. It was as though he was facing the twelve Fey Gods of the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven.

Could it be…that it was the Heretical God Fire Seed!?

Yi Yun held his breath. Although reason told him that the flame belonged to Ling Xiaoxiao, Yi Yun could not help but feel tempted at the sight of such a treasure.

If he could fuse this God Fire into him, its power would enter into his body, tremendously increasing his cultivation level. The World Tree in his body would also grow at an insane pace!

Then, his strength would increase to an unimaginable level!

He truly wanted it…

Yi Yun was struggling internally. Although the God Fire should not be snatched from Ling Xiaoxiao, he did not want to just leave her there. It was too lonely for a young girl like her to be left in an abandoned array. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Also, the Heretical God Fire Seed would follow Ling Xiaoxiao. Even if he did not take it, he could still absorb a portion of its divine power and benefit greatly.

Thinking how he was scheming against a nine or ten-year-old girl, Yi Yun felt a bit embarrassed. However… was the girl really only nine or ten?

Why did she appear unharmed while standing above the flame? Furthermore, she had previously leaped into the pure Yang waterfall. Her insights into pure Yang laws seemed to exceed even his.

How could a ten-year-old girl have such nomological insight? Could it be that she had obtained the recognition of pure Yang power because she had been revived here?

Just as Yi Yun was ruminating over this, he saw the gray Heretical God Fire Seed suddenly transform into a blazing wisp before merging into Ling Xiaoxiao's body and disappearing.

As for Ling Xiaoxiao, her expression did not change. She was still using her gemlike eyes to look at him.

Yi Yun was suddenly somewhat stunned. Ling Xiaoxiao had merged with the Heretical God Fire Seed!?

Jumping into the pure Yang waterfall was already inconceivable, but to merge with the Heretical God Fire Seed directly? This was…

Thinking carefully, although the cauldron was filled with pure Yang gases, it was still burning after hundreds of millions of years.

However, there were no herbs left in it. If the Elixir of Resurrection had been refined in the recent one or two years, there should be some herbal dregs left even if there were no herbal ingredients.

For a cauldron to refine an elixir for hundreds of millions of years was already an amazing feat. Whatever impressive treasure would probably have been reduced to dust over the immense period of time.

Under such circumstances, would the array set up by the divine alchemist still be able to revive his daughter?

The array could only succeed after hundreds of millions of years. How likely was it?

Yi Yun's first impression of the girl…was that she was Ling Xiaoxiao. However…was she really Ling Xiaoxiao!?

Upon coming to this point, Yi Yun took a few steps back. He observed the array beneath the girl's feet. It was clearly the core of the cauldron's array. The cauldron had been burning for hundreds of millions of years in this land of pure Yang. It was already an extremely valuable treasure among treasures. And this array was constantly in motion, gathering the pure Yang powers in the Sun Burial Sandsea. The intensity of the pure Yang energy was so high that even Yi Yun did not dare touch.

However, the girl was prancing around the array's core like she was in a garden. As he watched the pure Yang forces that were like a massive ocean inundating her body, a thought suddenly flashed across Yi Yun's mind—

"You are the Heretical God Fire Seed!?"

Yi Yun suddenly understood that the gray flame he saw on the disk array was not the Heretical God Fire Seed's form.

Although the flame exuded a powerful aura like it was the Chaos gases at the birth of the Universe, it seemed too weak. It didn’t match Yi Yun's imagination of the Heretical God Fire Seed.

Also, this gray fire seed eventually infused itself into Ling Xiaoxiao's body and did not seem to face any obstacle in fusing with her. It made Yi Yun unable to sense the aura of the gray flame again.

Therefore, a bold thought arose in Yi Yun's mind. Could it be possible that the young girl was the Fire of the Heretical God's true body!?

It was the only explanation for why she still looked like a young girl after hundreds of millions of years in the massive array. She did not age or die. It also explained why she appeared to be having fun as if she were playing in a tiny water stream when she first entered the molten waterfall.

Yi Yun knew that top-grade divine fire and treasures had the ability to take form. After absorbing the essence of the Heaven and Earth, they were able to take form as human or Fey after hundreds of millions of years. It was nothing surprising.

The girl only looked at Yi Yun and after a prolonged silence, she said crisply, "Are you here looking for me? Do you want me?"

True Martial World - Chapter 1110: Elixir of Resurrection

The inner sanctums of the temple were dark and chilly despite the blazing heat in the underground world. It was extremely strange.

Yi Yun followed the girl to an elixir room.

A massive alchemical cauldron was set up in the vast stone temple. It was ice-cold and the lid was covered in a layer of dust. Beside the cauldron were several black scrolls.

These black scrolls were remarkably old. They were under thick layers of dust which Yi Yun swept away with his Yuan Qi. When he cast his perception into the scrolls, he immediately felt it being sucked into them.

These were…enchanted treasures specially made to keep detailed records?

In a warrior's world, jade slips were typically used to record information. The amount of storage space in a jade slip was quite large, and usually sufficient. However, these black scrolls were specifically refined in order to store data, and allowed for much greater capacity.

Yi Yun walked to the black scrolls and unfurled them. Most of them were notes of alchemical procedures and various recipes.

A large number of these recipes were extremely complicated. According to the records in the black scrolls, some of the elixirs refined from these recipes were even heaven-defying. There were ones so powerful that it left Yi Yun in disbelief.

A portion of these elixirs and relics were used by the Divine Lords to make breakthroughs. What’s more, Yi Yun found a few recipes that filled an entire black scroll. A black scroll had a capacity of more than a hundred times that of a jade slip, yet some were used only to record a single recipe.

And the resulting elixir made from one of the recipes were prepared for a realm above Divine Lords…

Above Divine Lords?

Yi Yun drew in a cold gasp. Up to that point, Yi Yun had a very vague understanding of the realms above a Divine Lord. However, he was certain that the realm of Divine Lords was not the end of the path of martial arts. The black-dressed woman that created the Azure Wood Great World was at a level that far exceeded a Divine Lord.

Also, there was the bronze giant. Its immense strength also far exceeded a Divine Lord's.

Upon seeing these things, Yi Yun understood that the owner of the black scrolls was an alchemist. Or rather, a divine alchemist.

Alchemists and Desolate Heaven Masters were of a lineal descent. However, Desolate Heaven Masters used Fey bones to refine relics. As for alchemists, they used all sorts of spiritual vegetation. As the two areas of expertise did not overlap, there was a huge conflict in the energy extraction of Fey bones and spiritual vegetation. Therefore, very few alchemists would dabble in both fields. They either mastered the Desolate Heaven technique or alchemy.

In the Yang God Empyrean Heaven, most practitioners were trained in alchemy due to the scarcity of Fey bones as compared to spiritual vegetation. Very few people trained in the Desolate Heaven technique.

However, the practitioner that worked in this stone temple trained in both the Desolate Heaven technique and alchemy. Furthermore, his attainments in both fields could be described as being at the crest of perfection.

Yi Yun was also proficient in the Desolate Heaven technique but, when compared to the person who had left the black scrolls behind, the difference was like night and day.

Yi Yun continued reading, finding that most of the black scrolls were used to record recipes, with more than half of them being for relics and elixirs. The refinement techniques were extremely complicated and Yi Yun did not have the time to peruse them carefully. He could only search for things that were useful for him.

Until…he saw a black scroll that was nearly empty. The black scroll that had a capacity of more than hundred times a jade slip’s only contained a mere paragraph. But this paragraph left Yi Yun shaken.

The paragraph of a few hundred words took Yi Yun about a minute to finish reading. After that, he looked around in astonishment. He finally understood the origins of the Sun Burial Sandsea.

According to the legends, the Sun Burial Sandsea was formed due to the crashing of a sun. According to Ji Shuiyan's grandfather's divination, the land of extreme Yang had given birth to a Yang spirit after hundreds of millions of years.

But Yi Yun learned from this scroll that the desert of extreme Yang was actually created when the divine alchemist cremated himself.

The fire for the cremation was a divine fire that came from within his body!

The great worlds were filled with endless wonders. Many mysterious lands would condense mutated fire seeds as a result of any one of a few fortuitous coincidences. A tiny wisp of fire could burn the heavens asunder.

These fire spirits or fire seeds were of different grades depending on their strength. Top Desolate Heaven Masters and alchemists would seek all the fire spirits and seeds in the world, and refine them into their body as a form of supplementation for themselves. They could then use them to refine more elixirs.

This divine alchemist was such a person.

Furthermore, he had taken the concept to its limits. Before he became a divine alchemist, he had obtained a mysterious flame of unknown grade, beyond the scope of canon in the Sinkhole outside the 12 Empyrean Heavens—Heretical God Fire Seed.

Using the flame and his outstanding talent, he became a divine alchemist.

And after he became a divine alchemist, he obtained a flame ranked third in the 12 Empyrean Heavens—Empyrean Cleansing Flame.

When the two flames met each other, they merged into something that shocked even the divine alchemist himself.

The combined flame continued taking the form of the Heretical God Fire Seed. It could even be said that the black Heretical God Fire Seed that came from the Sinkhole was slowly consuming the Empyrean Cleansing Flame.

From then on, the divine alchemist began using his perception to nurture the Heretical God Fire Seed. Gradually, his alchemical skills attained heights previously thought unimaginable.

The divine alchemist was born in the Yang God Empyrean Heaven, but his most impressive days were spent in the Sinkhole.

Only when he was nearing death did he return to the Yang God Empyrean Heaven. He buried the Heretical God Fire Seed in the Sun Burial Sandsea.

As it was a cremation, the inferno scorched an area tens of thousands of kilometers across. The flames were filled with extreme Yang power, resulting in forests withering and lakes evaporating. The very mountains were weathered away, eventually forming a massive desert.

From then on, the origin of the Sun Burial Sandsea became a legend that depicted the plummeting of a radiant sun into the mortal world.

No one other than the divine alchemist knew that he had chosen to cremate himself there. The cremation spot was concealed by the divine alchemist through use of a formation array. No one could find it until hundreds of millions of years later. As the array's energy drained, the cremation spot slowly exposed itself.

It resulted in the phenomenon of a few months ago. The astounding phenomenon that had covered an area that extended over a million kilometers attracted famous figures from every corner.

However, no one knew that the tiny Sun Burial Sandsea actually hid such an astonishing secret!

If they did, every peerless expert in the entire Yang God Empyrean Heaven, or even other Empyrean Heavens, would have come in search of the divine fire.

The only reason it remained so well hidden was that…too much time had passed.

Several hundreds of millions of years, in addition to the divine alchemist's massive array formation and desire to conceal his work, prevented anyone from making any connection between the Sun Burial Sandsea and the divine alchemist of hundreds of millions of years ago.

As for why the divine alchemist had set up the array to conceal everything in the Sun Burial Sandsea, it was not to select a successor to inherit his heritage but because of his daughter—Ling Xiaoxiao!

In the divine alchemist's last years, that spanned tens of millions of years, he had constantly pursued two results from the peak of alchemy.

One of them was the—Elixir of Immortality!

The other one was—Elixir of Resurrection!

The former allowed one to attain immortality!

The latter allowed one to be resurrected from the dead!

Each one defied the very heavens by changing destiny. It was against the will of heaven.

The divine alchemist set up that specific cremation spot in order to refine an Elixir of Resurrection, meant for resurrecting his only daughter, Ling Xiaoxiao, who had already been dead for tens of millions of years!

True Martial World - Chapter 1109: Ling Xiaoxiao

"The people from the Seven Star Dao Palace do not know the correct path, and they lack jade burial suits. It will probably take them a while to catch up to me, so for now at least, I can pay them no mind." Yi Yun thought to himself as he walked.

After traveling a distance in the underground world, Yi Yun felt the surrounding air become increasingly heated. The rocks at his feet had been baked to a crystalline state from the high temperatures. A red liquid seemed to flow within them.

He matched his remembrance of the elder’s map with his surroundings, and discovered that he had entered the core region of the underground.

Once he entered the core region, the map would be useless. Yi Yun began to move in an increasingly careful manner.

He proceeded forward slowly in search of the Yang spirit.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from up ahead. Yi Yun initially believed that a terrifying entity would appear, but when he covertly approached he found something that stunned him.

In front of him was a majestic-looking molten waterfall. The boiling molten liquid splashed with countless sparks and flames. It flowed from top to bottom, with the bottom streaming into deeper depths.

Yi Yun stood at the boundary of the waterfall and looked down. Flames flickered beneath him in what he estimated was a thousand foot drop. A terrifying pure Yang aura constantly swelled from the bottom.

"What is this place…" Yi Yun was fascinated by what he saw. He never expected to find such a marvelous sight in the underground world.

At that moment, Yi Yun was suddenly startled.

He noticed a young girl standing on the other side of the waterfall. She looked down the waterfall, just like him.

The girl looked like she was about nine or ten and she had two pigtails. Her face was round and chubby like a carved piece of pink jade, and was the epitome of what a young beauty was.

He was somewhat astounded to encounter such an extremely cute girl in this horrifying underground world.

When Yi Yun looked at her, the young girl seemed to sense his gaze. She looked back at him with a large pair of eyes. She cocked her head and appeared rather astonished.

For some unknown reason, Yi Yun seemed to hear her voice despite her not opening her mouth.

"After the previous batch of people came, so many more have arrived. However, who knew that you would be the first of this new group to arrive? Shouldn't the rest of them have the advantage in numbers?”

The girl's voice was slick and sweet. It was extremely endearing.

Yi Yun thought to himself. The previous batch?

Could the girl be referring to the Divine Secrets Trading Company led by Ji Shuiyan's grandfather? As for the new group which had the advantage in numbers, it likely referred to the Seven Star Dao Palace.

The girl was extremely mysterious. Her appearance here definitely had something to do with the area he was in.

"Little girl, who are you? The people you mentioned are…"

Before Yi Yun could finish his words, the girl suddenly let out a pearly laugh. Amid the laughter she leaped forward, and her petite and adorable figure plummeted down the waterfall.

"What…"

Yi Yun quickly took two steps forward and stretched his neck out to look down.

Billowing hot gases blasted up, ruffling Yi Yun's hair. If a warrior with insufficient strength were to do what Yi Yun did, the outcome would range from having their eyes burned to being completely disintegrated.

Despite the hot gaseous waves, the girl's figure was as light as a swallow. In a blink of an eye, she had landed at the bottom.

"This girl appears very familiar with the area." Yi Yun contemplated for a moment. If he were to continue searching like a headless fly, he might very well encounter unknown dangers.

The people from the Seven Star Dao Palace could very likely escape the humanoid creatures and catch up to him, so he needed to take advantage of every moment he had.

The girl was extremely odd, and the pure Yang gases beneath the waterfall were much more pure and refined than anywhere else…

"I'll go down." Yi Yun did not hesitate any further and similarly threw his body down.

Upon entering the waterfall's vicinity, Yi Yun immediately felt like his body was located in the core of a burning cauldron. He hurriedly augmented his Yuan Qi protection and powered his pure Yang body completely while he rapidly descended.

Boom!

Yi Yun landed on a red boulder.

At the bottom of the waterfall was a deep basin. In it was bubbling red molten metal. Any living creature who dropped into it would not even have bones left behind.

At that moment, Yi Yun saw a large pair of eyes emerge from the deep basin.

The eyes were the size of bronze bells and were extremely cold. The sight of them made Yi Yun break out into a cold sweat.

Thankfully, he was wearing the jade burial suit. The pair of eyes ignored him and silently sank back into the basin.

Yi Yun surveyed his surroundings warily and hurriedly searched for the girl.

His vision swept across the deep basin and he saw a petite figure moving towards a gigantic cave.

Yi Yun immediately chased after the figure.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Yi Yun was stunned once again.

The cave had two gigantic metal doors with numerous swords embedded in them.

At a glance, Yi Yun could tell that the quality of the swords was not bad. However, a large number of them were broken, so they were not very unusable.

"Why are there so many broken swords here…?"

The swords were from different ancient eras. The oldest had decayed to a mound of metallic dust. The newest was also covered in rust. The age gap between the two different eras was probably hundreds of millions apart. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

The Sun Burial Sandsea's legend said that this was a land that a sun crashed into. But now, Yi Yun had seen traces of humanity in its deep depths.

"What place is this?" Yi Yun stood by the door and after hesitating for a moment, he strode into the cave.

Upon entering the cave, he immediately felt his vision blur. The space around him instantly changed, which put him on high alert. His hand was already placed on his interspatial ring.

In the blink of an eye, Yi Yun's feet came into contact with an ice-cold long slab of rock. He glanced at it and realized that he had arrived in a temple carved out of a boulder.

The temple, which had been buried in dust for an unknown period of time, was located at the bottom of a deep cave. As Yi Yun stood there, he felt a desolate aura that seemed to linger around the slab of long rocks at his feet.

There was a statue erected in the middle of the temple. When Yi Yun approached it, he realized that the statue was of the little girl. There were words carved at the bottom.

"My beloved daughter, Ling Xiaoxiao."

The words were written forcefully and with flair. They seemed to exude a melancholic feeling that could not be extinguished from the vestiges of time.

"This place was indeed inhabited. That girl's name is Ling Xiaoxiao and is the beloved daughter of a senior. Then, how old is that girl." Yi Yun looked at the statue and found it fascinating. Could it be that he had encountered a ghost?

Suddenly, Yi Yun looked up.

A pair of white feet swayed on a crossbeam.

"Are you Ling Xiaoxiao?" asked Yi Yun.

The girl had been running around alone in this stone temple that had been abandoned for an extremely long period of time. The people that had erected her statue were probably no longer around.

The girl smiled slightly and did a gentle leap. Turning around, she ran into the inner sanctums of the temple.

Yi Yun was stunned. He realized that the girl was intent on leading him here and guiding him further.

After some hesitation, he followed after her.

True Martial World - Chapter 1108: Watching Trouble from a Comfortable Distance

"Since he has the Heaven Secrets Compass, I wonder if that Yi Yun will have hopeful thoughts of coming here. Then again, with his cultivation level, he would not be able to proceed even if he were to come here. What a waste." When the topics of Yi Yun and the Heaven Secrets Compass were raised, Master Tianxiao felt annoyed. He knew that he had no hopes of obtaining the final treasure on his expedition to Sun Burial Sandsea. All he would get were some rewards from the Seven Star Dao Palace. However, if he were to retrieve the Heaven Secrets Compass, it would be quite a handsome reward for him.

"Hmph, if he were to enter this place, wouldn't it be for the best? I'd be able to capture him to refine into elixirs," said one of the children. His voice was identical to the other child's, making it sound extremely strange.

"Continue leading the way. Let's find the Yang spirit as fast as possible," said Liu Ruyi coldly. Her goal of destroying the Clarity Pool Sword Sect had been hindered, so there was killing intent hidden within her words when Yi Yun was mentioned.

Master Tianxiao held the compass and was about to begin divining a path, but a sudden cursory glance left him dumbstruck.

He saw what appeared to be an itinerant warrior standing not too far from him. He was holding two metallic discs, which were none other than the Heaven Secrets Compass! Furthermore, it was the mother-child pair!

"H…Heaven Secrets Compass!?"

Master Tianxiao never expected to bump into someone where they were. Furthermore, this someone held in his hands both parts to the Heaven Secrets Compass.

Without divination techniques, it was nearly impossible to reach the underground area. How did he get there? Could Yi Yun have lost the Heaven Secrets Compass, or could this person be Yi Yun?

Master Tianxiao knew that many disguise techniques were extremely abstruse and nearly impossible to see through.

"Regardless if he is Yi Yun or not, capture him first! Snatch the Heaven Secrets Compass from him!" Master Tianxiao shouted excitedly.

He did not know why the man was just standing there foolishly. He was only bringing about his own destruction!

"Really? That sure is a coincidence." The two children immediately flew forward. Liu Ruyi and company also began to rush over.

However, they also has a strange feeling that baffled them. Why did the person's aura appear so distant, despite the close proximity? Could it be related to why they had not immediately detected him?

Furthermore, the man looked completely calm and composed.

"This man must be Yi Yun. He sure has some guts. However, I wonder if he’ll keep those guts when I refine him into an elixir." One of the children said with a smile.

With that said, the two children pounced at Yi Yun simultaneously.

However, they came to realize that, although their leap had carried them a great distance, Yi Yun was still standing by a rock. The distance between them seemed to be maintained at a constant.

"Oh?" One of the children pricked up his eyebrows and gestured a conjuration. Immediately, his expression sunk. "Spatial chaos? Punk, no wonder you remain so unafraid. But don't you plan on walking out of this underworld alive."

"That's right. Before, you had those people from the Clarity Pool Sword Sect protecting you. But now, you are all alone. You are only courting death by being here!" Liu Ruyi's slender eyes narrowed and her voice was filled with cold and sinister killing intent.

At that moment, Yi Yun opened his mouth and smiled. Due to the spatial barrier, his voice could not be heard. He only mouthed his words to express his thoughts: "Worry about yourselves first. I wish all of you the best of luck."

After Yi Yun said that, a Seven Star Dao Palace disciple in the back let out a tragic scream.

Liu Ruyi and company hurriedly turned back and were appalled to see a faceless humanoid creature. It had already torn the disciple apart and now faced them.

"What is that?"

A three-meters tall terrifying creature whose facial features seemed to be completely charred stood before them, emitting a terrifying aura.

Behind the humanoid creature, large heads began to appear out of the surrounding shadows. There were a total of twelve heads, all belonging to the humanoid monsters.

Splash!

They leaped out of the molten liquid. In the middle was a four-meter-tall humanoid creature with clear facial features. Its more horrifying aura made their scalps tingle.

"Roar!"

The humanoid monsters gave a deep bellow before pouncing.

"Darn it!" The two children exchanged looks and flew over. Soon, the rest of the Seven Star Dao Palace members also clashed with the humanoid creatures.

But soon, they discovered that although the humanoid creatures were not proficient in laws, they had immense strength and ridiculous speed.

"Ah!"

Tragic cries constantly rang out from the Seven Star Dao Palace members as the deaths and injuries piled up.

Master Tianxiao felt a cold chill from the situation in front of him. He was no match against the humanoid creatures at his cultivation level.

"Roar!"

The Seven Star Dao Palace had lost quite a number of disciples in a short span of time.

The remaining few were barely resisting. Their attacks failed to cause any damage against the seemingly impervious monsters.

Even the four deputy palatial lords of the Seven Star Dao Palace had a hard time dealing with the onslaught!

"Darn it!" The two children had ashen expressions. They saw Yi Yun standing there, casually amused by the show they were putting on for him!

Despite him being just in front of them, they were unable to reach him. They could only look on helplessly as the trivial punk watched their pathetic struggle with an amused and sarcastic expression.

This was extremely humiliating to them as deputy palatial lords of the Seven Star Dao Palace!

"Take your time fighting them. I'll be leaving first," said Yi Yun with a smile.

"Blast him! That man must be Yi Yun! Our Seven Star Dao Palace will definitely find that Yi fellow and shred him to pieces!" Liu Ruyi said as she gnashed her teeth viciously.

She yearned to catch Yi Yun but the Seven Star Dao Palace was in a state where it could not fend for itself. They had already lost nearly half of their thirty odd people in the a blink of an eye!

They had no idea how Yi Yun managed to survive in this treacherous environment!

"Deputy Palatial Lord, Yi Yun has the Heaven Secrets Compass in hand. He also has the mother part of it, so he has probably found the Heaven Secrets Chapter's traitor. Furthermore, he is wearing a jade burial suit! It can conceal one's aura. If he continues to go ahead of us, he might find the treasure before we do!" Master Tianxiao said hurriedly.

The two children glanced at Master Tianxiao with a cold glare. Master Tianxiao had hit a soft spot. How could they not have thought of that?

"He will need to be alive to do so!" The middle-aged man with the black saber, who was usually silent, suddenly said with a husky voice.

At that moment, Yi Yun glanced at Master Tianxiao and company with a sneering look. "In this underground world, there are other things besides these humanoid monsters. They must have been starving for millions of years. I wish all of you the best of luck."

When Master Tianxiao read Yi Yun's lips, he felt a cold sweat run down his back. There were even more dangerous creatures? Then, he was truly in danger. If the members of the Seven Star Dao Palace were barely fending for themselves, how could they care for him?

And with that, Yi Yun slowly turned around under the watchful eyes of the Seven Star Dao Palace members before heading into the depths of the underground world.

His relaxed figure infuriated the Seven Star Dao Palace members, who were struggling in a life-and-death battle, to the point of vomiting blood.

True Martial World - Chapter 1107: Encountering the Seven Star Dao Palace again

At that moment, the elder looked at Yi Yun and asked, "You are probably here for the Yang spirit, right? Sigh, you are Yan'er's benefactor so if you seek it, I will not stop you."

"It's extremely dangerous here,” he continued. "You can avoid the humanoid creatures outside by wearing the jade burial suit but when you reach the core depths, other dangers await you. I have been trapped here for a great deal of time but have failed to obtain the Yang spirit, nor have I been able to leave this place. I was acutely aware that the Divine Secrets Trading Company would be in extreme danger without me, but I was helpless to do anything about it. I can't provide much help other than to point out the path for you."

Yi Yun hurriedly said, "Senior, just this jade burial suit alone has helped me greatly."

If not for the jade burial suit, Yi Yun would probably not be able to take a single step further. Those humanoid creatures were too terrifying.

The elder used a dagger to carve a map on the ground.

The underground world had a complicated layout. Without a map, one would probably take get sidetracked during a simple random walk.

"This is the core region. Once you enter it, even I will not be able to help you." The elder tapped a particular spot with his dagger.

Yi Yun memorized the map and, perplexed, asked, "Senior, could it be that you have not entered the core region as well?"

The elder waved his hand, wiping away the map on the ground. He looked up and a deeply repressed pain seemed to flash in his recessed eyes.

"Young Master Yi, I still have something I would like to ask of you." The elder suddenly bowed.

"Senior, there's no need for that. Just speak your mind." Yi Yun hurriedly stopped him. Despite being close to death, the elder still insisted on bowing. It meant that the matter was extremely important to him.

The elder had saved Yi Yun's life so, if the request was possible, Yi Yun would fulfill it.

"If Young Master Yi were to encounter Shuiyan's father there, please check to see if he's alive or dead," said the elder.

In fact, the elder had been waiting outside for a very long period of time. He knew that the odds were greatly against Shuiyan's father.

"About that… Senior, you can enter the tower along with Xin'er and Yue Xiao," suggested Yi Yun.

The elder was wearing a jade burial suit so he faced no threat from the humanoid creatures. However, various factions, including the Seven Star Dao Palace, would be entering the Sun Burial Sandsea at any time.

"If that's the case, I'll be pinning my hopes on Young Master Yi. This mother part of the Heaven Secrets Compass will be able to confirm your position regardless of the environment. Young Master Yi, please take it." The elder hesitated for a moment and did not give any excuses. He too wanted to find Shuiyan's father, dead or alive.

After Xin'er and Yue Xiao carefully helped the elder up and into tower, Yi Yun withdrew the God Advent Tower. Holding the mother-child pair of the Heaven Secrets Compass, he walked out of the cave.

Following the map, Yi Yun once again returned to the side of the molten metal river.

The nine heads were bobbing on the surface of the lake. Their empty eyes scanned their surroundings and looked horrifying. However, it was as though they could not even see a living human like Yi Yun, who stood right in front of them.

Yi Yun glanced at them before walking upstream beside the river. There were powerful pure Yang laws contained within the molten river, and its source was located precisely in the core region of the underground world.

As Yi Yun ventured deeper, he saw other ancient creatures. They were different than the humanoid monsters, but still terrifying. Although they were very few in numbers, one or two of those existences were enough to result in certain death.

This treacherous land did not permit the existence of ordinary people. Furthermore, the river split into many distributaries. They bored through countless tunnels and forks in the underground world, so one could easily get lost before they even knew it.

When he came to a fork, Yi Yun saw a dark red lake that had pooled a large amount of molten liquid. It was the lake that he had encountered when he first entered the underground world.

Why am I back at the entrance?

Yi Yun faltered for a moment before quickly realizing that he had not truly returned to his original spot but that the spatial laws in the underground world were extremely chaotic. Although he could see the path that he had previously trodden, he was in fact separated by multiple layers of space. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

If he were to truly approach it, he would realize that the distance did not change. However, returning to that path would be an exacting task without a map, even with his comprehension of spatial laws.

Yi Yun proceeded forward and, according to the elder's map and the Heaven Secrets Compass's guidance, constantly tweaked his direction, gradually approaching the core of the underground world…

Suddenly, Yi Yun heard a loud rumble as several figures subsequently descended.

Upon seeing these figures, Yi Yun's pupils constricted.

They were people from the Seven Star Dao Palace!

Yi Yun wanted to retreat immediately, but he realized that the surrounding spatial laws were so chaotic that the Seven Star Dao Palace group that appeared to be in front of him was actually located a great distance away.

Upon realizing this, Yi Yun immediately calmed. He stroked his chin and pricked his eyebrows up. He came to a halt unhurriedly.

"Haha, we have finally found the entrance." A young looking man from the Heaven Secrets Chapter said with a hearty laugh, as though he was trying to gain credit.

They had been wandering aimlessly in the Sun Burial Sandsea for a while and had finally entered the underground world. Upon entering, they could immediately sense the searing hot gases which indicated that they had found the correct location.

"Thankfully, my geomancy techniques were of some use." A middle-aged scholar looked rather smug as he held a compass.

Yi Yun recognized the middle-aged scholar immediately. He was Master Tianxiao of the Heaven Secrets Chapter. Back at the trade session, he was the one that revealed the Divine Secrets Trading Company's possession of the Heaven Secrets Compass.

And among the crowd, Yi Yun also noticed a woman dressed in a palatial gown, Liu Ruyi. Standing beside her were three people with tremendously powerful auras. Yi Yun took note of them.

A black-dressed middle-aged man slung a large saber behind his back. On the other side of Liu Ruyi were two identical-looking children dressed in red bodices.

Although they looked like children, their eyes were extremely cold and mature. Their gazes were extremely icy and looked like human paper cutouts that mortals burned to honor their ancestors.

The Seven Star Dao Palace had placed a great deal of importance on the Sun Burial Sandsea's phenomenon. While the Palatial Lord held down the fort in the Seven Star Dao Palace, he sent the four deputy palatial lords, including Liu Ruyi, to Sun Burial Sandsea.

"Unfortunately, the precise location of the Yang spirit is difficult to divine. In this underground world, geomancy techniques are greatly affected. With the Heaven Secrets Compass, it would be possible to find the proper direction. It's a pity that the Heaven Secrets Compass is in Yi Yun's hands." Master Tianxiao said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"Yi Yun? Is he the punk that's hiding in the Clarity Pool Sword Sect?" One of the twin children suddenly asked. His voice sounded old but it was sharp and shrill. It gave anyone who heard it the feeling that their eardrums were being scratched ruthlessly.

"Hehe, it doesn't matter. For the all the trouble he’s given us, we will wipe out the Clarity Pool Sword Sect in the future. As for the punk, since he possesses good talent, I will eviscerate him and use him to refine elixirs," said the child sinisterly.

"Yes, yes." Master Tianxiao shuddered as well when he looked at the child.