At the end of the gloomy cave appeared a faint glimmer of fire. The closer they got, the higher the temperature rose, accompanied by a continuous sizzling sound.
Could there be a living creature deep inside this cave?
All four of them summoned their magical treasures: Liangchen wielded the Flowing Light Sword, Luoyu held a jade flute, Fan Ni brandished a bone fan, and Fu Yuanbo held a pair of revolving curved blades.
The cave entrance grew increasingly wider. Once the four of them landed completely, every single one of them gasped in admiration at the breathtaking scenery sculpted by nature's own hands.
At the very center of the cave was a nearly transparent, Glazed Pure Fire, quietly suspended in mid-air. Its scorching brilliance carved out its own domain within the pitch-black darkness. Beneath the flames surged a sea of crimson magma, while Demonic Qi condensed into a pool of ink-black water, confronting the fiery magma. The two forces eroded each other, and the sizzling sound was incessant.
"Could this be the Glazed Pure Fire?" Fan Ni murmured in disbelief.
The quality of medicinal pills was inextricably linked to the flames used by alchemists, and flames were generally divided into three types: beast fires, earth fires, and Heavenly Fire.
Beast fires were refined from the inner cores of fire-attribute monster beasts. The one Luoyu currently used was the inner core of a blazing griffin that her parents had obtained for her when she was young, which ranked quite high among beast fires. Earth fires were flames formed over tens of thousands of years under specific environments, such as the Blazing Sun Heart Flame born from the Sunlit Land used by Fan Guangchuan, and the Snow Soul Cold Fire born in the extreme northern lands currently used by Fan Ni. As for Heavenly Fire, there were only five kinds. Legend had it that they were born in chaos at the creation of heaven and earth, indestructible and immortal. Yet these five types of Heavenly Fire had never appeared in the contemporary cultivation world; those circulating legends came entirely from ancient scrolls and could not be verified, with quite a few people even believing them to be mere rumors.
And now, the Glazed Pure Fire had appeared right before the four of them so abruptly and palpably.
"I am definitely having this Glazed Pure Fire!" Fan Ni finished speaking and looked at Luoyu. There were only two alchemists here, and she would never let Luoyu have it!
Fu Yuanbo was just about to say, "Let the capable win it," when Luoyu pulled him behind her.
"I certainly won't contend with Senior Sister."
Fan Ni curled her lips in a disdainful sneer. In her view, Luoyu ought to have backed down in the first place, so there was no room for gratitude.
Liangchen said, "I'll break the surrounding Demonic Qi first. Ni'er, be careful in everything. After all, this is a Heavenly Fire; if it proves too much to handle, retreat immediately. Do you understand?"
"Understood."
Fan Ni gave a voice of assent, still staring intently at the Glazed Pure Fire, her eyes filled with greed. This was a Heavenly Fire! A Heavenly Fire that even her father had never laid eyes on! If she possessed it, she would surely become the foremost alchemist in the cultivation world in the future. By then, let alone Nangong Mu, she would even be a match for the number one person in the cultivation world—Immortal Lord Qingchen!
"Ni'er, remember what I said. If it's too much, retreat immediately. Junior Brother Fu, protect Luoyu well. Once the balance is broken in a moment, no one knows what will happen. If there is danger, just take her and run, and pay no heed to me!"
"Understood!"
Fu Yuanbo tightly grasped Luoyu's hand, pulling her close to his side, while more than a dozen defensive magic treasures in front of him were fully activated.
Liangchen and Fan Ni did the same, with pieces of rare magic treasures hovering beside them. Only Luoyu held the seventh-grade talisman Liangchen had given her in her palm, possessing nothing else besides that.
"Break!"
The Flowing Light Sword burst forth with a dazzling radiance. Following Liangchen's loud shout, the sword Qi pierced through the air like a thunderbolt, tearing apart layers of heavy Demonic Qi and slashing straight at the Glazed Pure Fire.
The suddenly torn gap shattered the balance maintained for hundreds of thousands of years. The Demonic Qi and the besieged flames rushed out toward the opening like a flood or ferocious beast finding an outlet.
The defensive treasures in front of Liangchen shattered one after another, finally managing to block the Demonic Qi that arrived first.
"Ni'er, right now! Go and try!"
Without needing him to speak, Fan Ni had already lunged forward, attempting to approach that blossom of Glazed Pure Fire.
Unexpectedly, disaster struck! Freed from the suppression of the Demonic Qi, the Glazed Pure Fire suddenly blazed with brilliant light. Monstrous flames surged along the torn gap, engulfing the entire cave, and the ink-black pool formed by Demonic Qi was instantly evaporated into nothingness.
The defensive magic treasures around Fan Ni shattered simultaneously, and her body was sent flying backward. The cave was filled with the pungent smell of burnt hair; her magical robes were completely incinerated, leaving only a soft armor glowing with blue light to protect her body.
Liangchen had been knocked to the side by the earlier Demonic Qi. The flames did not burn him, but the vaporized Demonic Qi grew even denser. He swallowed a whole bottle of Exorcism Pills in one breath, yet it was useless. Struggling incessantly within the thick Demonic Qi, he looked at the injured Fan Ni, his eyes scarlet.
"Go!"
Striving to control the bloodthirsty urge within his body, Liangchen lashed out with a distant palm strike, sending Fan Ni flying to Fu Yuanbo's side.
"Hurry and leave! Don't worry about me!"
Fu Yuanbo pulled Luoyu and Fan Ni to fly toward the cave exit. Luoyu could use her own spiritual power, so pulling her took no great effort. Fan Ni, however, was severely injured; at this moment, she tightly embraced Fu Yuanbo's waist, pressing her entire body against him for fear of being left behind. Consequently, Fu Yuanbo's Chasing Wind Art could not be driven to its absolute limit, and in an instant, the dense Demonic Qi engulfed all three of them.
"Let go of me!"
In his anxiety, Fu Yuanbo prepared to knock Fan Ni unconscious first so she wouldn't be a hindrance; otherwise, all three of them would die here!
Seeing Fu Yuanbo's incoming chopping hand, Fan Ni thought he was going to abandon her. The hatred in the depths of her heart could no longer be contained, and she kicked out viciously at Luoyu.
"No!"
Luoyu stared blankly at Fan Ni.
For all these years, no matter how many grievances she suffered, she always felt they were at least fellow apprentice sisters. Fan Ni was merely prone to jealousy; as long as she endured and yielded a little, Fan Ni's basic nature couldn't be that bad. Yet now, Fan Ni had so ruthlessly cast her down into the abyss.
The chilly, gloomy Demonic Qi soaked through her body, yet it fell far short of the ice-cold chill within her heart.
Fu Yuanbo watched with splitting eyes as Luoyu fell. In the blink of an eye, that crimson figure was swallowed by the Demonic Qi, leaving behind empty space.
"Fan Ni!"
Fu Yuanbo grabbed Fan Ni by the throat, having never hated a person so much in his entire life!
"She, she, she is already dead! Take me out! You prom, promised Liangchen!"
Choked to the point where she couldn't breathe, Fan Ni gripped Fu Yuanbo's hand around her neck with all her might, squeezing out a few words.
Blazing firelight spread up the narrow passageway, and Luoyu's figure completely vanished beneath his feet. Following the burst of rage came an endless desolation.
He hadn't yet told Luoyu that he was fond of her.
He had already made up his mind that once they left this Secret Realm, he would go to her family to propose marriage, and from then on love and protect her until death do them part.
Yet all of this had turned to smoke and dust. She was dead! Dead within this Secret Realm that could only be entered once a century, dead beneath the gloomy, icy-cold cave.
Fu Yuanbo looked at the knocked-out Fan Ni and ultimately chose to take her out. Not because of Liangchen, but simply because she ought not to die here. A person as vicious-hearted as she would, if turned into a ghost, disturb Luoyu's peaceful sleep.
Fu Yuanbo retrieved a rope, bound it around Fan Ni's ankle, and executed the Chasing Wind Art, speeding toward the cave entrance.
Dragged behind, Fan Ni was jolted awake by the pain, frantically cursing and begging for mercy. Fu Yuanbo turned a deaf ear; not killing her with his own hands was already his utmost mercy. As for whether she could return alive to the sect's encampment, that depended entirely on heaven's will.
Two days later, Fu Yuanbo appeared before the assembled disciples. The once cultured and gentle man now had bloodshot eyes, appearing as though he had lost his soul entirely.
The Fan Ni he dragged behind him had not a single patch of unblemished skin on her body. Her face bore dozens of deep, bone-visible lacerations; some wounds had dried blood, while others remained swollen and red with flesh rolled outward, and dirt and grass clippings adhered to the raw meat.
Her protective soft armor had long since been worn away, her back was a bloody mess, and the flesh over her shoulder blades had been entirely worn down, leaving stark white bone dragging a deep trail of blood across the ground.
"Senior Brother Fu! What happened here? Where is Senior Brother Liangchen?"
"Dead."
"Where is Fairy Luoyu?"
"Dead."
"Her? Is she dead too?"
"Unknown."
Everyone assumed Fu Yuanbo had risked his life to bring back Fan Ni's corpse, when suddenly someone discovered that Fan Ni still had a breath left in her.
A disciple of the Alchemy Sect demanded:
"What does Daoist Fu mean by this? Senior Sister Fan is clearly still alive! Why treat her like this?"
"She deserves to die."
Disciples of the two sects began to quarrel. With a look of disgust, Fu Yuanbo tossed away the rope in his hand and silently sat down at the very edge of the crowd, gently stroking the medicinal pill bottle Luoyu had given him during her lifetime.
So this was what it felt like to stand in the distance and watch others.