Chapter 97: The Spiritual Treasury Pavilion is on Fire

In legend, there exists a colossal divine tree that roots itself in the void and grows inverted: the Cangqiong Tree.

The rules of Tian Dao serve as its soil for drawing nutrients, while the essence of all things acts as the fertilizer for bearing its fruits.

The Cangqiong Tree blooms once every 90,000 years and bears fruit once every 90,000 years.

When the fruits crack open, the seeds fall out and can transform into blazing suns.

When Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast, crimson world of molten lava, boundless and intensely hot.

Beneath him, rivers of lava flowed, evoking sheer terror.

In the sky, an ancient tree twisted its roots, hanging upside down as it grew.

“Cangqiong Tree?”

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned; this thing that existed only in legends had actually appeared before him.

Time flew by like a white steed passing a crack, and the divine tree bloomed, then bore fruit, with the fruits withering and seeds emerging.

Amid a series of rustling sounds, a white blazing sun suddenly appeared, then turned transparent and plummeted downward, merging into Xu Xiaoshou’s body.

“Ah—”

The scorching energy gathered into his dantian, drying up even his blood; Xu Xiaoshou let out a painful roar.

Why?

Even in an illusion, could there be such agony?

This shouldn’t be right; it wasn’t like this last time!

Before he could think more, endless insights flooded in. Xu Xiaoshou closed and opened his eyes, and when he looked at the world again, he saw countless red light points floating in the void.

“Huo elements?”

He clenched his fist. Had he...?

Had his dream come true?

Flame mastery?

Suddenly, a faint and solemn chant arose, like whispers from immortals, sounding like thunder yet enlightening like divine nectar.

Xu Xiaoshou tilted his ear to listen, but his mind went blank. He persisted for a while before giving up the struggle.

Yet, as his thoughts emptied, the sounds became clear.

“...And so, heaven and earth are the furnace, creation is the craftsman; yin and yang are the fuel, and all things are the copper...”

Boom!

Hearing just that one line, Xu Xiaoshou was struck like by lightning, unable to hear anything else.

The intent of this immortal language actually treated the world as a cauldron, refining all things?

How terrifying!

In an instant, a burst of precious light shot up from the lava, signaling the emergence of a divine herb.

Xu Xiaoshou had never seen this before, yet he instantly understood all its information:

“Jiu Huan Shen Jie, an ancient divine herb, can revive the dead and heal bones, extremely spicy, removes fishy odors, and serves as a seasoning for meat.”

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

What the heck?

From the horizon, a massive black bird swooped in, blocking out the sky. Xu Xiaoshou had never seen it, but he instantly knew everything about it:

“Hei Shen Fu, an ancient ferocious beast, full of divinity, with tender and delicious meat, extremely elastic.”

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

What the f—

How come the introductions for these two started off fine, but the latter parts feel totally off track?

The previous illusion was so grand and majestic, so why did the style change completely when you two showed up?

Just then, the Hei Shen Fu dove straight toward the Jiu Huan Shen Jie, and Xu Xiaoshou inexplicably reached out his hand...

He didn’t know why he was reaching out, but he felt that he should at that moment...

Boom!

As the Hei Shen Fu bit into the Jiu Huan Shen Jie, an invisible blaze called Jin Zhao Tian Yan fell from the sky, shattering the divine light. A strange aroma of meat wafted out, but before he could see clearly, the illusion collapsed.

“What exactly happened?” Xu Xiaoshou was baffled.

The last time he entered an illusion, the endless sword dao insights had allowed him to grasp it somewhat, knowing it was related to a passive skill for sword techniques. But this time...

Xu Xiaoshou had initially guessed it was related to flames, but now he wasn’t sure.

Those phrases in his mind—“extremely spicy,” “tender and delicious”—lingered like a nightmare, impossible to shake off.

Without a word, he looked at his status panel:

“Acquired mastery passive skill: Culinary Mastery!”

???

Xu Xiaoshou’s forehead clearly showed several question marks.

Culi... culinary?

He widened his eyes in disbelief, his jaw nearly dropping.

You set up such a grand, epic lava world, even bringing out the Cangqiong Tree and blazing suns—I thought this time Lady Luck had really smiled on me with “Flame Mastery”...

But instead... culinary?

Are you kidding me?!

With a thud, Xu Xiaoshou dropped to his knees, his gaze vacant as he slumped onto the floor.

He’d finally gotten a lucky break, only for it to turn out to be a dud?

“Culinary Mastery, heh...”

Hmm?

Wait, something’s off?

The floor feels a bit hot.

Xu Xiaoshou snapped back to his senses and jumped up, only to see that the large bathtub had somehow been flipped over.

Looking around, the room was a total mess, and even the two windows looked as if they’d been ravaged by a storm, already shattered.

What’s going on?

Xu Xiaoshou’s pupils shrank as he suddenly recalled raising his hand to summon the blazing sun in the illusion...

Surely I didn’t do the same thing in reality?

“Rustle!”

The familiar sound rang out, and with his senses heightened, Xu Xiaoshou faintly saw invisible flames clinging to everything around him.

Damn it?

Did I set the Ling Zang Ge on fire?

Xu Xiaoshou quickly used the “Breathing Method” to suck up all the surrounding flames, then patted his chest and sighed in relief.

“Good, no big problem...”

“Rustle!”

The faint sound came again, making Xu Xiaoshou’s scalp tingle and feel like sitting on pins and needles.

He stood up abruptly and looked down at the floor.

Surely the floors below aren’t on fire too?

“Oh crap!”

Without thinking, Xu Xiaoshou rushed downstairs.

This can’t burn!

It’s full of spiritual techniques in here!

I don’t want to die!

Help!

...

Outside the Ling Zang Ge.

A figure in black crouched in the grass.

He was the secret sentry left by Zhao Xi Dong, with the sole task of watching this place and immediately alerting everyone if kidnappers appeared.

“Ah~”

The enforcer yawned; he didn’t really believe kidnappers could break into the Ling Zang Ge, but better safe than sorry.

Though the mission seemed unreliable, he stayed vigilant.

Suddenly, he felt the surrounding temperature rising.

“What’s going on?”

He glanced up at the colorful clouds on the horizon; the sun had set, so the temperature should be dropping, but instead...

Before he could think more, the Ling Zang Ge in the distance shook violently, and its protective barrier instantly appeared, then started fluctuating rapidly.

“Boom!”

A deafening explosion louder than before made the enforcer’s face turn green.

He saw the windows on the third floor of the Ling Zang Ge destroyed in an instant, with wood shards flying everywhere and terrifying scorched energy spreading.

The enforcer froze. Were there really kidnappers?

Blowing up the Ling Zang Ge?

Destroying the foundation of Tian Sang Ling Gong?

“Rustle!”

Sounds echoed around him as the grass ignited and vanished in a flash. He felt a pain in his body and, covering himself with spiritual energy, discovered invisible flames wrapping around him.

“Enemy attack!”

His piercing shout echoed through the area.

At that moment, he realized why Zhao Xi Dong had become a leader right after graduating from the inner court, while he, after years in the Ling Fa Ge, was still just a sentry.

It was all about vision!

Look!

Zhao Xi Dong had deduced everything from just a few words earlier, while he had to wait until the Ling Zang Ge was blown up to believe it.

Thankfully, Zhao Xi Dong had already gone to call for help.

Just then, he horror-struck saw the protective barrier of the Ling Zang Ge also erupt in invisible flames, leaving him utterly shocked.

Another ear-splitting roar:

“The Ling Zang Ge is on fire!”

“Put out the fire!”