owlsbooks Chapter 51 Guardian Generals
Chapter 51 Guardian Generals
The moment the fire phoenix tree branch touched the spiritual soil, a beam of crimson-gold fire shot straight into the sky.
This firelight was not as violent and hot as ordinary fire; instead, it exuded a rich and pure innate fire element vitality.
The firelight fell, echoing the watery energy of the cold pool. In the interplay of life and death, a perfect balance of water and fire was achieved within the Green-Black Mountain.
Before long, the earth's energy in the entire temple rose again.
The already pristine and misty immortal mountain was now shrouded in auspicious energy, with vegetation growing rapidly. Even the birds and beasts in the mountain, which had not yet developed any intelligence, received this blessing of creation and prostrated themselves in reverence.
Only now did Qingheishan truly possess the grand and magnificent atmosphere of a top-tier blessed land.
Once the vitality of the temple had completely stabilized, Xuan Yao sat cross-legged under the fire sycamore tree and began his secluded cultivation.
He knew perfectly well what was going on. Although he had received a great fortune in the Undying Volcano, using the Southern Bright Fire Intent to condense a fire seed, and Yuan Huang had personally taken action to shape this fire seed into the Southern Bright Fire Seal.
But this is ultimately the natal fire of the Phoenix Clan, while I am a black tiger born later in life, so in terms of bloodline, we are completely unrelated.
To truly tame and master this pure and fierce Southern Bright Fire is no less dangerous than reliving a great eon.
It should be known that the Southern Ming Fire is specifically designed to burn away filth and evil. If it were not nurtured by the Fire Wutong branch of the same origin to suppress its violent nature, the fire mark hidden deep within the body might one day evolve from a heavenly opportunity into a fatal hidden danger that would destroy one's own true spirit.
"Do not be impatient, and do not be greedy for quick results."
Xuan Yao took a deep breath and suppressed the various distracting thoughts that arose in his mind.
He held his breath and focused his mind, sinking his consciousness into his dantian. He first mobilized the gentle and inclusive pure energy of virtue, transforming it into layers of invisible jade membranes that heavily enveloped the exquisite Nanming Fire Seal, which resembled a red-gold lotus seed.
Then, he carefully drew out a wisp of his natal Xuan Sha, wrapping it around the fire seal like a strand of hair, attempting to slowly temper the domineering fire intent with the coldness and resilience of Xuan Sha.
At the beginning of his seclusion, Xuan Yao was extremely restrained and did not rush to deduce any earth-shattering killing techniques.
He knew very well that the most important thing was to truly integrate the Southern Bright Fire Seal into his own Great Dao cycle.
However, when Xuan Yao actually put it into practice, he realized how difficult it was.
The Southern Bright Fire is the essence of the Phoenix Clan, extremely pure and intense, naturally repelling all filth and evil influences.
Although Xuan Yao's innate Xuan Sha has been refined to the point of being as responsive as his own body by using the pure Qi of virtue and fortune, it is still an innate power of the Black Tiger lineage.
At its core, it still retains a violence and ferocity that is difficult to completely erase.
On this day, Xuan Yao felt that his Fude Qingqi was circulating smoothly, so he boldly separated a wisp of Nanming Fire Intent and tried to let it flow through his meridians to truly merge with his natal Xuan Sha for the first time.
The moment the crimson-gold fire touched the black-gold Xuan Sha, a sudden change occurred!
There was absolutely no room for maneuver; the two collided violently within the meridians, like water and fire in a furnace.
Nanming Li Huo sensed the malevolent aura within Xuan Sha, and like an enraged peerless divine weapon, it instantly burst forth with dazzling crimson light, frantically lunging forward, intent on burning it to nothingness.
Stimulated by this, the hidden ferocity of the Black Tiger was fully unleashed, transforming into tangible black energy that fiercely resisted the backlash of the fire.
This kind of brutal collision originating from the source, with Xuan Yao's meridians as the battlefield, brings unparalleled pain.
In an instant, Xuan Yao felt as if thousands of scorching hot blades had been stuffed into his body, frantically scraping away at his bones and flesh.
He shuddered, and blood seeped from his Golden Immortal body. His originally perfect and stable Golden Immortal Dao Fruit was shaken violently by the backlash from within!
At the critical moment, the low-grade innate spiritual treasure Ruyi, which sat atop the Qi Sea, sensed something.
Without needing to be activated, this treasure spontaneously emitted a clear and auspicious light. This light, like a clear spring, instantly rushed straight to the spiritual platform, protecting Xuan Yao's primordial spirit, which was almost lost due to intense pain.
Taking advantage of this opening, Xuan Yao bit the tip of his tongue, using the intense pain to forcibly restrain his magical power.
He severed the connection between the two with his pure and virtuous energy, forcibly forcing the rampaging Southern Ming fire intent back into the fire seal.
"call--"
Xuan Yao opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of turbid air mixed with fire poison, his forehead already covered with cold sweat.
Despite this ordeal, Xuan Yao was not discouraged at all; on the contrary, his mind became even clearer.
"I am not a member of the Phoenix Clan, and I must never learn to control fire with fire like they do."
The Southern Bright Fire is too arrogant and too fierce. To try to use it solely as a flame for attack and force it to merge with the Mysterious Evil is nothing short of wishful thinking.
Xuan Yao gazed at the vibrant fire sycamore tree before him, pondering to himself:
"Fortune and virtue represent Yang, while mysteries represent Yin; this is the foundation of my Great Dao. If the Southern Bright Fire wishes to find its place in this world, it must never usurp the throne!"
After understanding this principle, Xuan Yao completely changed his cultivation method.
He no longer forced the fire intent and the dark energy to merge, but instead used the pure energy of virtue to separate the two, only drawing a very faint wisp of firelight to illuminate the side when the dark energy circulated throughout the body.
In the years that followed, the weather in Qinghei Mountain remained unchanged, and Xuanyao sat in meditation under the Fire Phoenix Tree for a full eight thousand years.
Cultivation knows no time; eight thousand years of painstaking effort have finally brought about a qualitative transformation.
With the patient harmonization of the pure Qi of the blessings year after year, and the soothing effect of the life-giving fire sycamore tree, the Southern Ming Fire Seal gradually let go of its natural repulsion.
It no longer regards the natal Xuan Sha as a mortal enemy that must be burned away, but instead begins to exert its wondrous function of utmost purity.
Xuan Yao was pleasantly surprised to discover that whenever the black gold Xuan Sha flowed past the fire seal, the red gold fire intent emitted by the fire seal was like a furnace of heaven and earth, silently burning away the dust impurities and violent residues in the Xuan Sha that were difficult for ordinary people to detect.
This is equivalent to constantly refining Xuan Yao's magical power!
Countless years have passed.
One day, Xuan Yao was immersed in the mysteries of the flow of magical power when the fire sycamore tree in front of him suddenly hummed without wind.
The tree's crimson-gold branches rustled, and then a rain of light, purely formed from the innate fire element, poured down from the treetop and disappeared into the Xuan Yao Heavenly Spirit.
Nourished by this source, Xuan Yao felt a boom deep within his mind, and instantly entered a state of sudden enlightenment.
At this moment, instead of releasing the strengthened Southern Ming Fire Seal to deduce the devastating technique that could burn the heavens and boil the seas, he made an extremely bold decision.
He directed the Nanming Fire Seal, which was hovering in the sea of qi, directly towards the most vital place for cultivators: the sea of consciousness.
Xuan Yao knew all too well that since he had taken human form, he had been scheming and killing all the way.
From slaying evil cultivators and seizing treasures in the North, to eliminating the Red-Eyed Demon King and taking the mountain, to destroying rogue cultivators in Wuyi Mountain and killing Huang Feng Daoist outside Qinghei Mountain.
Although he believed he acted in accordance with righteousness and the law of cause and effect, and thought he had a clear conscience, how strict was the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World?
Once one is tainted by killing, extremely subtle traces of killing and karmic dust will inevitably remain deep within one's Dao heart.
Now that he is in the Golden Immortal Realm, these specks of dust are not worth worrying about.
But if one day he were to knock on the immortal gate of the Great Luo Golden Immortal, all these accumulated murderous intents and dust would transform into the most terrifying formless inner demon.
Countless extraordinary beings of the primordial era perished at this hurdle, their paths fading and their demonic influence growing stronger.
"External enemies are easy to defend against, but internal demons are difficult to eradicate. Since the Southern Bright Fire can burn away all the filth of heaven and earth, then let it be used to cleanse this deep-seated ailment in my sea of consciousness!"
With his mind settled, the Southern Ming Fire Seal, radiating a dazzling crimson-gold light, hovered steadily in the center of the boundless sea of consciousness.
Without hesitation, Xuan Yao immediately mobilized his vast divine sense power, combined with a continuous stream of pure and virtuous energy, and his natal Xuan Sha that had been purified to the extreme, and frantically rushed towards the fire seal.
"Gather!"
Xuan Yao shouted in his heart.
Amidst a violent upheaval within his sea of consciousness, a wondrous scene unfolded.
The crimson-gold Southern Brightness Fire and the black-gold Innate Mysterious Evil, under the harmonization of the Pure Qi of Fortune and Virtue, intertwined and swirled like yin and yang fish.
Gradually, these three forces merged into one, slowly condensing into an extremely tall and majestic Dharma image in the void of the sea of consciousness.
This Dharma General was clad in heavy armor of black and gold, and although his face was indistinct, it faintly revealed some of Xuan Yao's own divine charm.
His eyes were like torches, spitting out three-inch-long flames of Nanming fire, and he held upside down a long halberd formed from pure Li fire.
As soon as the divine general took shape, he did not make any outward offensive moves, but simply slammed the fire-patterned halberd in his hand heavily in the void of his sea of consciousness.
"Zheng—"
A clear, resonant gong sound echoed throughout the sea of consciousness.
In an instant, a pure and intense crimson-gold flame, centered on the divine general, spread out like waves across the entire sea of consciousness.
Those hidden, murderous thoughts and inner demons, which were usually difficult for even Xuan Yao to detect in the deepest part of his consciousness, were completely burned into nothingness under the illumination of this firelight, without even having a chance to struggle.
In just a few breaths, Xuan Yao's sea of consciousness was completely cleared, leaving only his clear and lucid self.
After completing all this, the deity withdrew its aura and stood quietly in the center of the sea of consciousness, guarding this Purple Mansion Spirit Platform.
Xuan Yao slowly opened his eyes, a dazzling crimson-gold light flashing in his deep pupils before returning to calm.
He felt an unprecedented lightness and clarity within his body, and a satisfied smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.
"This supernatural power, though not for external warfare, can cure my chronic illness and calm my restless mind. From now on, I will no longer need to fear any intrusion from heretical demons."
Xuan Yao looked at his palm and murmured to himself, "Since you protect the foundation of my Great Dao, I shall call you the Guardian General of the Southern Ming."