Chapter 27 - 27: Mount Inferno

Chapter 27 - 27: Mount Inferno

Flying away from the Scarlet Solaris Mountain was one man and one beast, soaring at maximum speed through the skies unobstructed.Fôll0w current novÊls o/n n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(c/o/m)

Wei Wuyin’s expression was the picture of solemness. He was currently examining his right arm and the karmic luck value imprinted in it. The moment he decided to travel to the Mystic Elven Forest in search of Mei Mei, his arm stung with pain. His karmic luck value decreased by 8.7, to 162.4 from 171.1.

He harnessed his powerful spiritual sense and swept it around himself. Now that his Hearts of Qi contained world force, yin-yang energy, he had a greater perception of the world itself. His spiritual sense’s range increased by nearly ten-fold, while its clarity was greater than ever before. He could even sense moisture levels, the degree of temperature in his surroundings, and the minute dust particulates in the air.

This was one of the benefits of absorbing and refining the pure yin and yang energy within the Yin-Yang God Sphere. The elf man was correct in saying the pure yin and yang energies would benefit one throughout their cultivation.

Wei Wuyin already knew his qi’s basic strength had skyrocketed nearly twenty-fold from the Yang Growth Phase. According to records, the increase in strength was typically three-fold while one’s spiritual sense doubled in range.

This was the average rate of increase.

That being said, despite the sweeping of his spiritual sense, he discovered nothing. This left him confused as to why his karmic luck value would drop so suddenly. When it dropped before, the world underwent an immediate change, or the opportunity revealed itself quickly.

He hadn’t understood much about how the timing or mechanics of karmic value worked even with the scripture, but he did know that he’ll be given an opportunity soon.

"I hope it doesn’t delay me," Wei Wuyin muttered before he started to cultivate atop the crane. With two Hearts of Qi, his absorption and refining speed was four times as great as before. With his cultivation base rising, the refinement speed also increased.

He decided to use this time to refine his Hearts of Qi. He withdrew the black bag given to him by Su Lanyi, and pulled out a greyish-white oval stone. It was the size of a baby’s fist and as smooth as its skin. He clutched it within his hand and drained the essence within.

When it was absorbed through his meridians, as it was already refined and pure, it was easily refined to make it suitable for him in minutes. The stream of refined essence made its way through his various Qi Pathways and into his dantian. The two Hearts of Qi, which like cyclones, rapidly rotated and drew the essence towards them. The strand of essence split off into two paths and entered the core of the Hearts of Qi.

Slowly, the multi-colored spherical core started to expand ever so slightly. The core contained various colors and was about the size of a fingernail. Its colors embodied the various types of energies within. These were elemental, yin, yang, and yin-yang energies.

"So it can grow!" Wei Wuyin was caught in a wondrous feeling. Before, whenever he had sent essence into his core, it would merge it with the various forms of energies and send out strands of refined qi like a fleshy heart pumping out oxygenated blood. There would be no growth.

However, now, he felt a secondary option made available due to the yin-yang energy within. The yin-yang energy kept together by the world force refined a unique form of force that could expand the core. As the core expanded, so did its ability to refine, the amount of energy contained within, and its durability.

The Sublime Qi Phase, also known as the Seventh Stage of Qi Condensation, was reaching the peak size of this Qi Core. It’ll grow from a fingernail in terms of size to an actual walnut-sized existence.

With each increase in the quantity of energy, the quality of qi would also increase in turn. It was a fabulous balance that left him in awe.

"I wonder!" Wei Wuyin suddenly had an idea. Since he had two Heart of Qi, could he independently refine them both? Normally, it would be impossible as the Heart of Qi had to focus on an object to absorb it, this would take all his mental power. Now, he could be considered to have two-times the mental power.

He had to at least try.

Pulling out another essence stone, he clutched one in both hands and focused. He had both Hearts of Qi hone onto just one essence stone each. Suddenly, he felt a miraculous feeling as his mind seemed to be joined by another.

This was his cloned mind. In his mind’s eye, an arming sword stood tall. It suddenly split perfectly in two from a clearly divided point. When they split, Wei Wuyin felt like he had two sources of thought.

He tested it out.

Several minutes later, he saw Mount Inferno and the city, Ash Dragon City. It had obsidian walls that towered twenty feet, had towers positioned in eight locations, and it created an octagonal city. The towers radiated a powerful qi fluctuation, indicating the inherent formations built within.

According to the legends, despite being mere fourteen miles away from the base of the volcanic mountain, and suffering three separate eruptions, the city still stands due to its unique formation that can withstand the flowing lava.

"Magma originates from beneath the earth, lava is the excess that rises above. Theoretically, with magma qi, one can withstand great pressure and the liquid heat of lava. Is that how the formation works?" Wei Wuyin speculated as he observed the walls.

"Let’s land," Wei Wuyin rubbed the crane as he sent his instructions. The crane shot down and arrived at the city gate. This gate also stood twenty feet and was created from a silver metal. Wei Wuyin realized it was froststeel. He had come across it when he met the crazed prisoner.

When he landed, he had the crane take steps towards the gate.

At the city gate, two guardians radiating auras at the First Stage of Qi Condensation stood guard. This elevated his understanding of the city. To have gate guards at the Qi Condensation Realm meant the city held strength. In his clan, those who guarded the gate were measly Meridian Awakening Phase cultivators, those at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He saw their weapons and realized they were qi weapons which contained faint traces of fire qi. It was similar to Yan Zhu’s scarlet qi spear. This was quite valuable. As for their armor, they emitted an aura of earth qi.

His own silver saber contained metal qi. However, it’s quality was only on par as he’d obtained it before reaching the Elemental Birth Phase. He knew the strength of weapons imbued with qi were far stronger than those without.

After all, weapons of that level required refined qi stones or those at the Elemental Birth Phase to set up a formation and spend months to years of infusion.

"Halt!" One of the guards ordered with his palm out. His voice was powerful and his aura was already circulating in intimidation. Wei Wuyun laughed inwardly at this. Did they want to intimidate him?

Regardless, he halted with a smile.

"Entry is currently restricted. You can return after the entry ban has been lifted." The guard stated coldly.

Wei Wuyin was shocked. He thought this was an extortion tactic, but instead, it was a direct order of denial. He grew curious as he saw that the gate had indeed been closed. Also, everyone who was at the gate was lingering around with idle expressions.

He had thought it was the issue with the fee, but now he knew it was something greater.

His curiosity grew. He wanted to see inside.

Wait.

He frowned. The strong feeling to stick his nose in other’s business, while not unlikely, wasn’t natural.

Then, he smiled as realization dawned on him.

"Fine. You want me to look inside, then so be it." As if speaking directly to the heavenly daos, his eyes grew bright. He fully intended to wreak havoc and forcefully enter.

Boom!!!

His eyes widened as the closed gate dented and then straight blew off its hinges. One of the doors that rocketed outwards like a bullet crashed into one of the guards. He didn’t even get a chance to yelp before his entirety was crushed in meat paste. His bones made a crushingly eerie sound as a splatter of his organs painted the ground.

The other guard was swatted away like a fly, blood creating a crimson line following the trajectory of his body. He even saw an arm twisted oddly, nearly ripped off at its joint.

Wei Wuyin hastily conjured a strand of silver qi, creating a square wall to defend. One of the doors that flew towards him were directly halted like a flying marshmallow meeting a stone. It deformed, but couldn’t even cause a ripple in the wall of qi.

A swift figure shot out from the entrance, and directly passed him.