Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 374: Gathering Fire

Chapter 374: Chapter 374: Gathering Fire

Shi Hao also didn’t bother with Gui Zhitian and the others, seeing this only as minor teasing that he wouldn’t take to heart.

He sent the Dark Patterned Leopard to take a stroll outside the valley while he walked to the side, gazing at the flames in front of him.

This was his main purpose for coming here, to harvest Spiritual Fire!

He moved closer and then extended his Soul Tentacles.

How fierce!

He immediately felt threatened as the flames posed a great danger to his soul. If he rashly approached, his soul would be scorched and even sustain irreversible damage.

But should he just give up?

Of course not.

Shi Hao extended his Soul Tentacles protected by Elemental Power, and then he operated the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture.

Hum, a stream of energy was extracted, incredibly pure.

No!

Shi Hao immediately shook his head. The Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture was extremely defiant of the heavens. It didn’t matter what kind of energy it faced; it could extract the purest essence of it. But by doing so, there was a problem: it wouldn’t matter whether the energy was composed of fire, frost, or thunder; it was all just pure energy.

Fire Scorches the Heavens required the rules that made up the flame, yet the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture grinded the rules to absorb directly. How could that work?

Start over.

Shi Hao once again extended his Soul Tentacles, likewise protected by Elemental Power, to harvest and return with the fire.

A ball of flame drifted over, as if manipulated by an invisible hand.

Shi Hao pointed with his finger, and the technique for Fire Scorches the Heavens rippled through his mind. He began unraveling it, layer by layer, allowing the essence of the Spiritual Fire to manifest itself before him.

This was extremely difficult because the power of fire was too formidable. He had to be extremely careful, and the progress was painfully slow.

After three full days, Shi Hao finally shed the "outer shell" of this ball of Spiritual Fire, revealing its essence.

It was a broken Rune, and also quite formidable. Yet even so, it was hundreds of times more intricate than the first Flame Rune that Shi Hao mastered.

Mundane Fire is just Mundane Fire. Compared to Spiritual Fire, it’s nothing but dregs.

However, Shi Hao obviously wouldn’t settle for merging with an incomplete rune. Moreover, even if an incomplete rune was merged in, it couldn’t exert much power and might even adversely affect the operation of Fire Scorches the Heavens.

Try again.

Shi Hao collected another ball of Spiritual Fire and continued to extract its essence.

This time, he was much more adept.

Soon, another incomplete rune was peeled away.

Hey, why is it almost the same as the one before?

Shi Hao kept extracting Spiritual Fire, but after more than a dozen attempts, he realized that these runes were all similar.

"It is not that I am careless in the extraction process, damaging the runes. It is that the Spiritual Fires here are just a part that has spilled out from the true Spiritual Fire," Shi Hao murmured. "If that’s the case, then deep in this valley, the real Spiritual Fire is hidden."

But if the spillover flames are so domineering, then how terrifying must the main flame be?

Shi Hao couldn’t help but miss Su Manman at this moment. If he could eat an Imperial Fire Pill now, he could walk in without any reservations to find the main body of the Spiritual Fire.

For now, he could only rely on himself.

Shi Hao thought for a moment and strode towards the depths of the valley.

In the distance, Gui Zhitian and the other six had not left yet, and they saw Shi Hao walking into the midst of the flames with both bewilderment and excitement.

"Is this guy seeking death on his own?"

"Entering such terrible flames, he’s sure to be burned alive."

"Haha, serves him right!"

They were all taking pleasure in Shi Hao’s misfortune. If Shi Hao were to die here, their grudge would naturally be settled. Otherwise, as an exceptionally talented Pill Master, he was someone they could only ever look up to in their lifetimes, never having a chance to seek revenge.

Gui Zhitian’s brows were tightly furrowed. He simply couldn’t believe that Shi Hao was the type to seek death. Yet, he had seen with his own eyes how Shi Hao walked into the depths of the flames. With his understanding of this Spiritual Fire, entering was surely a death sentence.

This contradiction filled him with both eagerness and uncertainty, making his demeanor extremely peculiar.

"Have any of you seen a man named Shi Hao?" After a while, an aged voice suddenly rang out.

Gui Zhitian and the seven others were startled. Who was this, appearing so abruptly?

They hastily turned around and saw that an old man had appeared beside them at some unknown time. His face was covered in wrinkles, and it was unclear how many years he had lived. He emanated a distinct odor of decay characteristic of old age.

"Can’t you understand what this old man is saying?" The old man showed a displeased expression.

The man in Qing Yi immediately stepped forward and said, "We are from the order of Pill Masters. Old man, who are you?"

Bang!

The elder swept his palm across, and the man in Qing Yi let out a wail, as the flesh on his body began to rot and fall off in chunks.

In just an instant, large areas of his bones were exposed.

"Ah—" The man in Qing Yi saw this as well and his face contorted with sheer horror.

Watching chunks of his own flesh falling off, wouldn’t that scare anyone out of their wits?

But he soon fell silent because all the flesh on his body had rotted away, leaving only a skeleton that emitted a faint wisp of smoke.

This sent a shock of terror through Gui Zhitian and the six others. What kind of technique had the old man used to make someone’s flesh rot off with a single slap, dying in such painful and tragic circumstances?

Moreover, this old man was incredibly bold. Did he not fear retribution for laying hands on those from the order of Pill Masters?

"The old man is speaking to you!" The elder’s gaze shifted back to them, filled with murderous intent.

Gui Zhitian and the six were petrified and quickly answered, "He went inside."

"Are you lying to this old man?" the elder asked.

"No, no!" the six of them hastily shook their heads.

"Good. You may also go to your deaths," the elder nodded slightly.

"No—"

Gui Zhitian and the six cried out abruptly, but before they could even beg for mercy, they were overwhelmed by excruciating pain, as chunks of flesh began to fall from their bodies.

"Hmph. The old man’s grandson is dead. Since you are acquainted with that scourge Shi Hao, do you still expect to live?" a somber voice from the elder echoed as if it was the voice of a demon.

This caused Gui Zhitian and the six to feel as if they wanted to vomit blood. They knew Shi Hao, but he was not a friend, rather an enemy.

How could you just kill us like this, unafraid of hurting the innocent and pleasing the enemy?

However, they soon no longer harbored such thoughts, as death was quickly upon them.

"Shi Hao, your turn is next!" the elder said grimly, waving his sleeves and speeding toward the depths of the valley as if he were flying.

...

Shi Hao activated his Elemental Shield and walked as if on flat ground.

Indeed, the flames’ might blazed fiercely, but they weren’t much of a threat to someone from the Other Shore Realm; he could hold his ground.

However, as he moved deeper into the valley, the flames grew more intense, soon putting pressure on him.

He didn’t slow down but instead increased the strength of his Elemental Shield.

This caused the consumption of his Soul Force to surge, but his Sea of Suffering was much larger than that of a typical Other Shore Realm practitioner, and his Soul Force far surpassed that of an ordinary Five Islands practitioner. To exhaust his Soul Power would still take some time.

He didn’t need to know where the main body of the Spiritual Fire was because as long as he headed towards the higher temperatures, he would be on the right path.

Before long, he found a cluster of pulsating flames, which were strangely purple-red in color.

He had found the main flame!