Chapter 400 - Chapter 400: Chapter 369: Earth Fire Stone_1

Chapter 400: Chapter 369: Earth Fire Stone_1

The outer part of the Earthfire Vein, with lava rivers capable of melting gold and iron, was as harmless to Xu Mu as a hot bath is to an ordinary person. It couldn’t inflict any harm.

Since it couldn’t cause any harm, it also couldn’t stimulate the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body.

Taking a moment to adapt to the environment, Xu Mu continued to dive deeper into the Earthfire Vein.

Earthfire Veins and Spirit Stone veins are both types of Spirit Veins. However, compared to the Spirit Stone veins which can be directly absorbed and utilized, the application of Earthfire Veins is considerably limited. They are only useful to cultivators of fire spiritual power or Artifact Refiners.

However, as the Earthfire Vein carries fire toxicity and is usually hidden deep underground, it is challenging to use. Hence, even fewer people use it.

For someone like Xu Mu, plunging directly into the depths of the earth where the Earthfire Vein occurs isn’t an action an ordinary cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage could undertake.

“I wonder how large this Earthfire Vein is, and whether it could meet my needs!”

Like the Spirit Veins, Earthfire Veins are also divided into large, medium, and small types. If this were a small Spirit Vein, even at its deepest, it probably wouldn’t cause much damage.

The deeper Xu Mu went, the higher the temperature inside the Earthfire Vein became. Gradually, one could only see flowing red flames, with no signs of molten rock left.

At this point, the Earthfire Vein had a temperature high enough to easily dissolve spirit-mining stones. Even cultivators at the early stages of Golden Core Stage couldn’t resist it for long using their Lifebound Treasures.

Reaching this stage, Xu Mu finally began to feel some pressure; his skin felt a bit hot.

Of course, his quick reaction was not due to his Body Refinement Realm being ineffective. Rather, it was because he hadn’t activated his spiritual power to resist it.

There is an enormous difference between dealing with an attack with and without the use of spiritual power – it could be ten times more significant.

After moving several thousand meters further down, the Earthfire Vein’s temperature had reached a point capable of melting ten-thousand-year-old mysterious iron. Even cultivators at the late stages of the Golden Core Stage wouldn’t be able to withstand it here.

At this point, Xu Mu was sure that this was a medium-sized Earthfire Vein.

He was slightly disappointed, but it was within expectations.

There is a vast difference between a large and medium-sized vein. If there were a large Earthfire Vein nearby, Suzhen Island wouldn’t be so peaceful.

However, a medium-sized Earthfire Vein would still be enough for the current Xu Mu. He first needed to master the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body and would find a more potent Earthfire Vein later.

Once he reached this stage, Xu Mu found it harder to stay as relaxed as before. At this point, he was like an ordinary person submerged in 70-to-80-degree hot water – his skin was flushed as if he was being parboiled, and his vulnerable areas, such as the eyes, were taking even more damage.

If he didn’t resist and treat it promptly, it could cause significant harm to his body.

Xu Mu repressed the instinctive impulse to defend with his spiritual power and started to activate the methodology of the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body.

In his scorching hot body, a stream of coolness appeared immediately. Wherever the skin was burnt, it would appear there.

Wherever it appeared, facing the high heat of the Earthfire again, that area would become stronger.

This cooling sensation multiplied and eventually formed streams flowing throughout his body. The higher the external temperature and the stronger its destructive power, the more cooling sensation that part of the body would feel.

And the more of it there was, the faster the body’s strength would increase.

He didn’t know how this mysterious cooling sensation came to be. According to Xu Mu’s sense, they surged out from the deepest part of his flesh and blood.

It seemed as if there was an unknown spatial channel inside him, ceaselessly discharging energy. The more severe the external destruction, the more this internal mysterious energy overflowed, until, eventually, the two reached equilibrium.

This is why his flesh and blood strengthened faster when the external destruction was stronger.

“Is this what they call the No-appearance Realm in the Martial Method? It genuinely is quite mystical!” Xu Mu marveled inside.

According to the Martial Method’s introduction, the space connected by the Martial Method is the No-appearance Realm, one of the Thirty-Six Realms of Heaven in the God-Spirit System.

Each of these worlds has various mystical functions and has extremely massive differences from the Cultivation System.

Xu Mu did not stop; he had to go deeper.

Because his Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body hadn’t reached its limit yet.

He didn’t stop until he nearly reached the core, a place where even those at the initial stage of the Nascent Soul would desperately resist. At this point, the external and internal had just reached equilibrium. If he went any deeper, the energy of the No-appearance Realm wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“It seems that the realm of the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body represents the size of the crack in the No-appearance Realm. The higher the realm, the bigger the crack, and the faster the recovery, and vice versa.”

Xu Mu hesitated for a moment before expending one million Luck Value points to raise the level of his Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body.

Buzz!

As expected, the mysterious energy that was almost at the brink increased substantially.

“This kind of cultivation really is quite easy. I don’t need to do anything; just lying here will do.”

Xu Mu couldn’t help but marvel at the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body’s cultivation method.

For the rest of the time, he did nothing. Whenever his body strengthened, he moved forward a step to maintain the peak inflow of the mysterious energy.

…

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

In the core region of the Earthfire Vein, Xu Mu sat cross-legged with his eyes half-closed, as if he were meditating.

The surrounding temperature, high enough to melt Starcore Fine Iron, seemed non-existent.

In front of him, an orange-yellow stone that emitted a faint light was suspended peacefully. It continuously emitted surges of intense heat, stirring unending vibrations in the Earthfire Vein.

This stone was the core of the Earthfire Vein. If Xu Mu were to remove it, the entire Earthfire Vein would quickly fade out, turning into ordinary underground rocks.

Naturally, Xu Mu wouldn’t do such a short-sighted thing. While the Earthfire Stone was precious, it was dispensable to him.

After three years of cultivation, Xu Mu’s physical strength had reached the middle stage of Nascent Soul. Ordinary tier ten or eleven treasures couldn’t even break his skin.

The only downside was that the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body didn’t include any Divine Skills. If he were to fight, he would have to rely on pure strength and speed, which is quite a disadvantage.

That means, relying solely on his physical body and without his combat methods, he could, at most, compete with those at the initial stages of Nascent Soul.

The good part is, while he might not be able to vanquish his opponents, his tremendous defense provided by the Ten Thousand Tribulations True Body meant that even those at the middle stages of Nascent Soul couldn’t kill him.

If the opponent launches an attack unknowingly, it would only make him stronger.

“Time is almost up; I should go early to avoid missing it!”

Xu Mu opened his eyes and muttered.

What he was referring to was the time to enter the Xuan Yang Secret Realm.

Mo Wuxin had long learned about the approximate opening time of the Xuan Yang Secret Realm from inside the Four Seas Immortal Palace. As the timing was not fixed, and preparations needed to be made in advance to avoid missing it, Xu Mu decided to set off early.

He transformed into an Escape Light, left the Earthfire Vein, went to the Palace of Pure Heart, collected Ming Lingchun, informed Mo Wuxin, and headed towards the spatial rift.

Because he hadn’t come into contact with Xuan Yang Holy Water before and wanted to avoid any mishaps during collection, he brought along Ming Lingchun and Xu Tianpu, who had been hiding in the God Refining Tripod.