Chapter Eighty-six: Fallen into Despair

  "'Essence of Flame'?" Lei Hao sneered, pausing for a moment before saying with disdain: "Even if it's the best, it's just an external object. What use is it to me?"

  Actually, just a moment ago, Lei Hao was also quite tempted, but his goal for this trip was not that, and besides, his cultivation speed had already been fast enough to make him feel somewhat uneasy. So, after thinking about it secretly in his heart, Lei Hao resolutely refused.

  The old Taoist's face turned gloomy upon hearing this, and he was also extremely annoyed in his heart. He wasn't afraid of Lei Hao, as although Lei Hao's reputation was loud, their cultivation levels were about the same, and it would take a fight to determine who was stronger or weaker. However, he was extremely wary of the Eight Great Saints, those eight Golden Immortal-level great demons joining forces.

  He left the Fire Palace, which was the end of the shocking and earth-shaking battle to seal the gods. The Tianyi Sect, the Jianjiao Sect, and the Rentian Sect gradually disappeared, and the Dijie Sect rose up. Its accumulation is still shallow, and there is only one great power at the Jinxian level, which is him. If the eight great saints join forces, they can destroy the Fire Palace in an instant.

  So he would have known that Lei Hao was one of the Eight Great Sages, Wan Jun Da Sheng, and immediately wanted to offer a treasure to seek peace, but unexpectedly Lei Hao flatly refused what he thought was the ultimate price, his anger can be imagined.

  Half a moment later, the old Taoist of the Scarlet Clouds collected his somber expression and restored his previous smile. "Since the Great Sage doesn't think much of the Fire Essence," he said with a full face, "then I have an ancient South Ming Fire Essence that has been left here in the Departed Fire Palace since the Primordial Times. How about I give it to the Great Sage as a gift for our meeting?"

  This time, Lei Hao was truly moved and couldn't refuse. The Nanming Li Huo Jing is the essence left behind by the Zhu Que clan when they died in the Dragon and Phoenix Great Tribulation during the Hong Huang era. It's a top-grade material for refining acquired treasures after cultivation. If a cultivator can refine the Nanming Li Huo Jing into their innate divine fire, then whether it's against enemies or refining equipment, they will be invincible.

  Lei Hao had seen the description of Nan Ming's Li Huo Jing in "Six Products Departing from Fire Golden Immortal Secret" before, so at this time he couldn't make a decision to refuse no matter what. Now what he needs to do is to choose between the known Nan Ming Li Huo Jing and the unknown technique. Of course, there is also an option to have both, but as the saying goes, "don't hit a smiling face", Master Chi Yan has already shown such a low posture, Lei Hao can't do something so shameless like "after getting Li he wants Chu".

  "Looking at the Fire Palace, perhaps the Six-Petal Fire Gold Immortal Technique is indeed the ultimate technique. For now, it's still more important to obtain this South Ming Fire Essence first." Lei Hao thought to himself, feeling that obtaining the South Ming Fire Essence was the priority, and as for the technique, he decided to put it on hold for the time being and search for it later.

  Having made up his mind, Lei Hao immediately said: "Thanks to the elder's kindness, I will decline it with gratitude."

  The old Taoist's face immediately showed a hint of pain, but when Lei Hao lowered his head to put away the dragon-slaying sword, his eyes flashed with a dark and sinister plot.

  "Great Sage, please rest for a while at the Fire Palace first." The old Daoist, Chi Yan, stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture to Lei Hao.

  Lei Hao strode forward with large steps and flew towards the palace entirely built of red crystal together with Chi Yan, the old Taoist.

  Just a few steps into flight, eleven old Taoist priests wearing crimson Taoist robes made of thousand-year-old silkworm silk flew out from all directions. Lei Hao glanced at them casually and knew that these eleven old Taoist priests were the same eleven heavenly immortals who had just attacked him.

  Lei Hao didn't mind either, treating it as if he hadn't seen the gloomy expressions on the faces of those eleven old Daoists, and followed Huo Yan Lao Daoshi forward in his own world.

  "In my palace, this Southern Ming Li Huo Jing was discovered by the founder of our sect at the foot of Mount Tai. For thousands of years, countless powerful beings in our palace have tried to refine it, but due to its extremely high temperature, no one has been able to succeed. Therefore, this Southern Ming Fire Essence is still stored in the treasure vault of our palace, and you will need to ask the Great Sage himself to retrieve it."

  Lei Hao listened, and the last bit of doubt in his heart was gone. He had been puzzled just now, as most of the immortals in Huo Gong were fire-attribute cultivators, why would they leave a South Ming Huo fire essence unrefined and even give it to him? It turned out that they simply couldn't refine it.

  Nothing, nothing! Today is an unexpected visit, and I forgot to ask for your forgiveness, elder. Said Lei Hao magnanimously.

  The old Taoist priest repeatedly said he didn't dare, but the ominous intent in his eyes was almost bursting out, only that Lei Hao, who was somewhat excited, didn't notice.

  Very soon, the old Taoist led Lei Hao into the Palace of Departed Fire. Lei Hao looked around and found that the entire palace was made of a large amount of compressed blue glaze, with a hardness far surpassing ordinary steel! The fire-red color appeared because the glaze contained countless Daoist forbidden spells. Lei Hao secretly calculated that if these forbidden spells were to explode, they could instantly turn the palaces within hundreds of miles into nothingness, and of course, no one inside would survive.

  After sizing them up for a while, Lei Hao had some doubts in his heart, but then he thought to himself: "I don't have any deep grudges with these Taoist priests, they won't risk their thousands of years of foundation to fight me to the death." As long as he didn't trigger the explosion of the entire Li Huo Palace, even if all the Taoist priests inside joined forces, Lei Hao was confident that he could retreat unscathed.

  Lei Hao took a big step forward into the Fire Palace with determination in his heart.

  After entering the Fire Palace, what caught Lei Hao's eye was the ground covered with fallen Flame Flowers and the fire spirits wandering back and forth. The Taoist priests coming and going all had a calm and composed demeanor, exuding an air of high moral character, truly a sight to behold.

  Lei Hao slightly extended his divine sense, and then felt that after leaving the Fire Palace, his divine sense was subjected to tremendous suppression. His divine sense, which could originally cover a distance of over 1,000 miles, could now only cover a distance of two or three meters around him.

  Chi Yan old Taoist led Lei Hao in the palace, constantly shuttling back and forth, and after unknown number of palaces, Chi Yan old Taoist pointed to a small hall about the size of a basketball court and said to Lei Hao: "The South Ming Li Huo Zhen is in this small hall, please enter and take it."

  Lei Hao glanced at Chi Yan's old Taoist with his eyes and suddenly asked: "Isn't the elder going in?"

  The old Taoist's face remained unchanged as he said, "The temperature of the Southern Ming Li Huo's essence is too high, and my cultivation is not enough, so I won't go in." After finishing speaking, he waved his large sleeve, and the door to the side hall burst open with a loud bang.

  Lei Hao cautiously extended his divine sense, scanning back and forth. In his divine sense, the pavilion in front of him was like a blazing sun, constantly emitting fiery red light and overbearing heat, while Lei Hao's divine sense would instantly evaporate as soon as it approached the center of this pavilion due to the high temperature.

  Lei Hao's heart was filled with joy, the temperature was high enough to evaporate his divine consciousness, it must be the essence of Nanming's fire. After a closer look, Lei Hao did not find any traces of array methods in this side hall, there were some forbidden methods, but Lei Hao's divine consciousness felt that these forbidden methods were all isolating temperature and avoiding fire methods, his tense body slowly relaxed.

  Turning around to face the old Daoist, Lei Hao cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, elder, for bestowing fire upon me. I, the king, will definitely provide great support to the Departing Fire Palace in the future."

  The old Taoist laughed and said, "Great Sage, you're too polite. This Southern Ming's Departing Fire Essence is something that none of my disciples in the palace can refine, but giving it to Great Sage is like a precious sword meeting its hero. Please hurry up and take this Southern Ming's Departing Fire Essence, I'll arrange for a banquet to await your return."

  Lei Hao nodded and slowly walked into the side hall.

  Lei Hao had just turned around, and the old Taoist priest's face, which was still full of smiles, immediately darkened. He stared fixedly at Lei Hao as he stepped into the side hall, a hint of joy appearing in his eyes.

  Lei Hao stepped closer and closer to the Nanming Lihuo's essence, which was like a scorching sun. The temperature around him rose sharply, and the intense heat incinerated all the hair on his body, evaporating it instantly. Sweat burst out of his pores only to be vaporized in an instant.

  But Lei Hao's footsteps remained steady, as if he hadn't felt the high temperature at all. When he was only one or two meters away from Nan Ming's Flame Essence, the temperature around Lei Hao had already exceeded tens of thousands of degrees, and it was still rising with his advance.

  "No wonder that old man said his cultivation wasn't enough and didn't dare to come in, even I'm feeling a bit unbearable now, how could he withstand it?" Feeling the stinging pain on his skin like needles, Lei Hao thought with some pride.

  Lei Hao gritted his teeth, ignoring the intense burning pain that spread through his body. He suddenly flashed forward, placing his hand on Nan Ming's Li Huo Zhen Jing.

  At this moment, the old Taoist priest outside the temple suddenly shouted: "Deploy the formation." He and those eleven heavenly immortals appeared on top of the temple in an instant, and at the same time, they took out a small flag over a foot long, with bright red color, and used all their might to infuse it with magical power. The twelve red lights merged together, and a giant figure of fiery red color appeared above the temple. Seeing the giant raise his hand and cast several spells, the temple was enveloped by a surge of fiery red energy in an earthquake-like commotion, and sank into the ground.

  But Lei Hao, who was inside the side hall, knew he had been deceived as soon as he heard the loud shout of Chi Yan's old Taoist priest. He immediately wanted to rush out of the side hall, but his hands seemed to be stuck on Nan Ming's Li Huo Zhen Jing and couldn't move at all. His magical powers were also suppressed, making it impossible for him to use them.

  In the briefest of moments, Lei Hao felt a slight dizziness and began to sink, and in his extreme anger, he shouted: "You miscellaneous Taoist priests, remember that if you let me out, I will definitely kill all of you, including the entire Fire Palace!"

  Then, Lei Hao felt that the Southern Ming Li Huo's essence suddenly rushed into his body from his arm, and then he didn't know anything.

  Wishing you a happy new year (second watch of the night)

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