Chapter 878: The Mist Lotus Heart Fire
Ye Mo’s level 6 Foundation Establishment cultivation was insufficient to withstand the Li Zhe Fire; his hair and clothes were incinerated, and his skin began to burn. Shocked, he realized that continued exposure would reduce him to ashes. He immediately invoked Winter’s Arrival.
The stone room instantly froze as Winter’s Arrival spread, a chilling frost enveloping Ye Mo for the first time. The contrast of searing heat and bone-deep cold was excruciating, yet Winter’s Arrival, being his own cultivation, did not harm his foundation. A layer of ice formed on his body, temporarily halting the Li Zhe Fire's advance.
Relief was short-lived. The ice melted quickly, and the flames surged again. Repeatedly summoning Winter’s Arrival proved futile; the ice melted instantly each time. Ye Mo recognized the desperate situation: Winter’s Arrival weakened, while the Li Zhe Fire intensified. Extinction of Winter's Arrival meant certain death.
He consumed a Burst Essence Pill, boosting his power to Foundation Establishment level 8 tertiary stage, and focused his spirit sense on controlling the flame. Even at its weakened state, controlling it was a monumental task; in its prime, even a Golden Core cultivator might fail.
With his heightened power, the flame seemed to sense danger and ceased its assault on Winter’s Arrival, instead attempting to break free from Ye Mo's spirit sense. This realization sparked a thought: had the flame developed its own will?
This realization gave Ye Mo an advantage. While the flame struggled against his control, Winter’s Arrival found a reprieve. Thanks to his increased power, he gradually subdued the increasingly weaker flame.
After an hour, he had achieved rudimentary control. Winter’s Arrival, however, was severely diminished, leaving him without its immediate protection for a considerable time. Putting it away, Ye Mo focused entirely on controlling the Li Zhe Fire.
The more he concentrated, the more astonished he became. This was no Li Zhe Fire, but a Mist Lotus Heart Fire—a heaven fire, unlike the earth fire, Li Zhe Fire. This ranked among the top three of the 36 flames in the cultivation realms, a legendary discovery.
Ten of the 36 flames were heaven fires; the Mist Lotus Heart Fire's ranking was astonishing. Ye Mo recalled the story of a Luo Yue Continent cultivator who obtained the fourth-ranked Extreme Geng Fire, achieving invincibility at his level before mysteriously disappearing. Many speculated this disappearance was due to either the cultivator’s actions or the immense value of the fire itself.
Heaven fires far surpassed earth fires in power. Possessing the Mist Lotus Heart Fire demanded absolute secrecy; its revelation would be a death sentence. The Li Zhe Fire, while dangerous, was useful in pill concoction, offering a degree of protection to pill masters. Even the Abyssal Earth Fire, ranked eleventh, posed less risk to a skilled pill king.
The Mist Lotus Heart Fire's similarity to the Li Zhe Fire explained Li Yuqian’s misidentification. Both possessed internal mist, but the Li Zhe Fire’s mist was external, fading as the flame turned orange. The Mist Lotus Heart Fire, conversely, developed its mist only after turning orange, becoming increasingly dense at higher levels.
Ye Mo intensified his efforts, his Burst Essence Pill’s effect waning. Just as he neared control, he detected movement in his surveillance formation. Without looking, he spat essence blood, forcefully controlling the Mist Lotus Heart Fire, then fled the room and retreated into the Golden Page World. Immediately, he took a Stalagmite Benefit Pill to mitigate the aftereffects, finding Song Yangzhu absent.