On the way down the ladder, Yi Yun could still sense the persistence of the watching eye, but he simply ignored it. As he looked at the mountain rock that lined both sides of ladder, he noticed that the rock was dark red in color, as though it had been baked red by flames over eons. The texture felt like glass, and it was warm to the touch.

Furthermore, there were several ancient arcane symbols engraved on the mountain rock. These symbols, like the mountain rock, seemed to have existed from its initial birth. Just touching it allowed one to sense a primitive aura from eons ago.

If there was sufficient time, just cogitating these symbols would result in many benefits.

“These are array formations,” said Yun Qiao’er, who had slowed down her speed to wait for them. She had noticed Yi Yun stroking the runic symbols along the way.

“Are these used to suppress the Spirit of the Earth Fire? Or are these energy-gathering arrays?” When Yi Yun heard that they were array formations, he only thought of two possibilities. Array formations engraved in the Fire Spirit Palace were possibly either used to gather Heaven Earth Yuan Qi or used to confine the fire-elemental energy to prevent the energy from dissipating.

Yun Qiao’er shook her head and said, “No, it’s neither.”

“Then what is it used for?” Yi Yun was somewhat intrigued.

“We don’t know either. Too much time has passed, so maybe it is sealing something,” Yun Qiao’er said.

Yi Yun looked down into the darkness. What was sealed beneath the deep depths at the bottom?

It was unimaginable what could have been sealed since time immemorial or the person who had sealed it…

For ordinary warriors, just descending this ladder was extremely difficult. However, for Yuan Opening realm warriors and those above, this ladder was nothing.

When they reached the end of the ladder, their surroundings were suddenly revealed to their eyes. It was a vast hall, and the roof was a few hundred feet away from the bottom. And in the hall, there was a magma pond.

The magma pond was extremely wide. Red-hot magma was bubbling on the surface and occasionally leaping high into the air. Even at a distance from the magma pond, a rolling heat wave surged at them. Warriors, who lacked the requisite cultivation levels, would be burnt to a crisp just by standing here.

It was even likely for Yuan Opening realm warriors to get poisoned by the toxic flames if they spent too much time here.

Yun Qiao’er and Man Dao had just begun mining the sacred fire to temper their bodies and gain insights into fire-elemental laws, so their tolerance towards the toxic fire was not considered strong. Just standing there for a moment caused Yun Qiao’er’s face to glow red. As for Man Dao, his forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat.

“Junior Brother Yi Yun, in order to resist the toxic fire here, you need to constantly circulate your Yuan Qi, so it is extremely draining. Typically, people can’t last for long so they will have to leave. This is your first time here, so you might not be accustomed to it. Let’s hurry up and… ” As Yun Qiao’er spoke, she heard Yi Yun take a deep breath.

She turned her head, only to be astonished to find that not only was Yi Yun withstanding the toxic fire, there was not even a single droplet of sweat on his face as well.

Yi Yun had a pure Yang body to begin with. Pure Yang could be said to be the flames that resided in the stars, it was a level higher than fire-elemental laws.

Just a pure Yang body was nothing much in the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven, but Yi Yun had the Purple Crystal. With the Purple Crystal naturally absorbing the toxic fire, it would convert the toxic fumes into pure energy that flowed through Yi Yun’s body. And in certain ways, by standing here, instead of feeling discomfort, Yi Yun actually felt mentally and physically refreshed.

“I cultivate in pure Yang laws.” Yi Yun rubbed his chin and explained when he saw Yun Qiao’er and Man Dao look at him.

When Yun Qiao’er and Man Dao heard this, they were even more baffled. If pure Yang laws could easily resolve toxic fire, then what sort of pure Yang laws were they? Wasn’t Yi Yun from a savage-like lower realm?

Despite being puzzled, they did not ask Yi Yun the mysteries of what he cultivated. After all, it involved his secrets.

“Junior Brother Yi Yun, that in front is the Spirit of the Earth Fire and it can only be described as extraordinary. The toxic fire produced by the magma here can’t even compare to 10–20% of the Spirit of the Earth Fire.”

Tracing Man Dao’s gaze, Yi Yun looked at the white flower in the middle of the magma pond. Of course, it was not a flower, it was a dancing flame.

There was a white flame that burned in the magma, and it was none other than the Spirit of the Earth Fire!

The Spirit of the Earth Fire was purer than the pure Yang spirit that Yi Yun had absorbed in the lower realm by more than a thousand times or even ten thousand times!

Although it was just a plume of fire, the energy contained within was enough to raze the Tian Yuan world to the ground.

“The Spirit of the Earth Fire has existed since the birth of this land. Unless the land is destroyed, it will never extinguish.” Man Dao followed up.

The Spirit of the Earth Fire was a manifestation of the Heaven and Earth fire-elemental laws and the fusion of fire-elemental laws. The Spirit of the Earth Fire’s existence was extremely special, so it was no wonder Man Dao and Yun Qiao’er were surprised by Yi Yun’s lack of fear towards the toxic fire.

Yang Zishan and company, who had arrived before them, had already occupied a corner to mine the fire.

Yang Zishan used both his hands to form a seal. Then, using his Yuan Qi, he split off a bean-sized fire spark from the Spirit of the Earth Fire, before bringing it in front of him.

It could be seen that just this tiny fire spark was producing heat waves in front of him. If not for using Yuan Qi to isolate the heat wave, his fur cloak would definitely have been burnt to a crisp.

Yang Zishan looked at the fire spark with a serious expression. He used Yuan Qi to carefully envelop the fire spark before opening his mouth.

Sou! The fire spark that was enveloped by Yuan Qi immediately flew into his mouth. Following that, Yang Zishan immediately sat down to meditate. Large amounts of hot vapor emitted from the top of his head. As he tightly closed his eyes, Yang Zishan’s body produced intense Yuan Qi fluctuations. Clearly, he was in the midst of absorbing the fire spark and gaining insight from it.

Yang Zishan was powerful, but he was also dedicated in his cultivation. Although he had noticed Yi Yun and company arrive, he did not distract himself by looking them in the eye.

Seeing Yang Zishan successfully mine the fire, Man Dao grunted unpleasantly before saying, “Let us begin as well. Junior Brother Yi, look at how it is done by us. Do not attempt it too easily. The Spirit of the Earth Fire is extremely dangerous.”

Yi Yun and the duo each took a spot. There were dozens of Earth Fire Hall disciples standing around the magma pond mining the fire. As Yi Yun observed them, he realized that the fire sparks they mined were even smaller. After they absorbed it, they would usually grimace in pain. In comparison, Yang Zishan was much more at ease.

Although Man Dao was displeased with Yang Zishan, the fire spark he mined from the Spirit of the Earth Fire was just the size of a sesame seed. And just accomplishing this covered his forehead with sweat. Slowly, he pulled the fire spark in front of him.

The burning heat wave was something that he could barely withstand.

Yun Qiao’er also sat on the ground as she began to concentrate on the fire mining.

After looking around him, Yi Yun realized through his observations that mining fire was indeed very difficult.

One needed to use Yuan Qi to separate a portion from the Spirit of the Earth Fire. If too much was isolated, the warrior might not be able to control it, causing the fire spark to explode. The toxic fire might end up causing a backlash, resulting in outcomes that ranged from feeling discomfort to being severely injured.

Hence, all the warriors were extremely careful when they mined the fire. Even Yang Zishan did not dare to mine much fire. As for Yun Qiao’er and Man Dao, the amount they mined was even less.