Chapter 254: Fire Spirit Root 53

Chen Mobai stood at the entrance of the Myriad Treasures Grotto, taking a deep breath.

The wisp of smoky mist in his palm dissipated, resembling countless shards of jade stone shattering and coalescing into a pale red cloud that floated half a meter above the ground.

Chen Mobai lightly jumped, landing on this "Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil."

The sensation underfoot was like stepping onto a soft blanket, extremely comfortable.

“It’s just like the Nimbus Cloud I saw in TV shows when I was a child,” he thought.

Receiving his own exclusive mount for the first time, Chen Mobai felt a slight thrill.

As he channeled spiritual energy into his feet, the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil instantly glowed with a pale red cloud light, then carried him soaring upwards.

The ease and comfort, so different from the flying spell, made Chen Mobai immerse himself in the experience.

Yesterday, he had asked Ming Yihua how to consecrate the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil. Ming Yihua promptly sent him a book detailing everything from raw material extraction to mist refining and the final consecration.

Chen Mobai selectively flipped to the very end.

After reading the consecration method, he spent an entire evening practicing, and by today, he could finally control this iconic cloud-shaped artifact of the Artifact Dance Academy.

If using the flying spell before felt like pedaling a bicycle, requiring full-body effort, then controlling the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil now felt like steering a car.

He only needed to inject spiritual energy and control the direction with his divine sense.

Chen Mobai, riding the pale red cloud-mist, drew arcs of rainbow light across the sky. Gradually, his movements became more elaborate, soaring straight up and down, tumbling, and carving curves.

After a long while, he finally had his fill of play.

The Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil carried him, like a red cloud, drifting into the Myriad Treasures Grotto.

Chen Mobai spotted the tunnel entrances on the grotto walls. He put on his gold-rimmed glasses, which only had one lens left, and began measuring the spiritual energy values at each entrance.

Many were open, but some were protected by restrictions, indicating they were occupied. Following the unspoken rules, he naturally wouldn't trespass.

He first tested his limits. The Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil continued to descend, quickly dropping a thousand meters. At this point, his physical body could no longer withstand the surrounding high temperatures, so he had to use the smoky mist to envelop his entire body.

Relying on the artifact's excellent resistance to fire spiritual energy, Chen Mobai descended another twelve hundred meters. Here, he felt his internal spiritual energy was being consumed too quickly.

Although he felt he could descend another hundred meters or so, Chen Mobai decided it wasn't necessary. With a gentle tap of his foot, the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil changed direction, carrying him upwards.

Since he had already checked the spiritual energy concentrations of most tunnel entrances with his gold-rimmed glasses on the way down, after ascending eight hundred meters, he drifted into a pre-marked tunnel entrance.

Once he landed, Chen Mobai put away the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil. The artifact transformed into a red jade bracelet and rested on his left wrist, looking beautiful against his fair, glowing skin.

The tunnel was still a very primitive environment, dim and narrow. After walking twenty meters forward, there was no longer any light.

Chen Mobai, who had come prepared, pulled out a handful of illuminating pearls from his bag. These low-grade first-tier artifacts only required a small injection of spiritual energy to provide light for over seven days. It was said that the highest-grade illuminating pearls could shine for a thousand years without dimming.

However, Chen Mobai's were just the most common type. He used object manipulation techniques to guide two illuminating pearls to float ten meters ahead, two behind him, and two beside him. After illuminating a fifty-meter radius brightly, he began to move deeper into the tunnel.

He noted every step he took and measured the distance he advanced. At the three hundred and sixty-seventh meter, Chen Mobai suddenly stopped. He looked up. An artifact-nurturing orb was embedded there.

Its white jade-like shell shimmered with a crystal-clear jade color under the light of the illuminating pearls. Against the surrounding reddish ore, it glowed with a faint rosy hue, as captivating as a beauty's skin.

Chen Mobai floated up, closely observing the artifact-nurturing orb. His gold-rimmed glasses could only perceive large-scale spiritual energy flows and were useless at this moment. Chen Mobai took off his glasses, and his originally dark pupils began to emit a faint, clear light.

Instantly, his vision began to change. The surface of the head-sized artifact-nurturing orb slowly became transparent, revealing the spiritual liquid filling it and a long, strip-shaped artifact at its very center.

It seemed to be a flying sword? Chen Mobai mused to himself, as divine sense and spiritual energy once again surged into his eyes in a specific ratio, pushing the power of his Spirit-Piercing Vision to the limit his eyeballs could withstand.

His vision deepened further, and he vaguely understood why each artifact-nurturing orb was placed in a different location. Within the reddish iron ore surrounding the white jade orb, wisps of refined iron essence were slowly but steadily passing through the orb's outer shell. After being filtered by the spiritual liquid, they were absorbed by the artifact at the center.

Chen Mobai gazed at the rosy hue emanating from within the artifact-nurturing orb's shell, a look of realization dawning on his face. This was the impurity from the refined iron essence, filtered out by the spiritual liquid.

After years of accumulation, once the spiritual liquid's efficacy completely vanished, the artifact would no longer grow. It might even begin to decay or drop in grade due to the impure environment inside the orb.

No wonder when an artifact shard was used to open it, both the orb and the spiritual liquid had to be incinerated by divine fire. These would then be useless.

When he chatted with Ming Yihua yesterday, the latter mentioned that the nourishing spiritual liquid typically remained effective for a hundred to a thousand years. The Profound Fire Spiritual Liquid, a Foundation Establishment spiritual item of the Artifact Dance Academy, was an accidental byproduct from refining this nourishing spiritual liquid.

It was no wonder the academy allowed students who had reached Foundation Establishment to come here to select artifacts, and even permitted them to exchange academic credits for "artifact shards." This was because many artifacts within these nurturing orbs would gradually become useless if no new cultivator consecrated them for over a hundred years.

However, artifact-nurturing orbs had two modes: one was like the one before him, placed in an area suitable for artifact growth, openly absorbing external spiritual energy. It was precisely for this reason that Chen Mobai's newly acquired Spirit-Piercing Vision could easily see through it.

The other mode was completely sealed. In this way, the spiritual liquid inside the orb would not be consumed, and without interacting with external spiritual energy, the artifact could remain as pristine after a thousand years as if it had just been sealed.

The choice of mode depended on the mindset of the artifact's previous owner before their demise, or whether they had found an environment within the Myriad Treasures Grotto suitable for the artifact to continue growing.

Chen Mobai already possessed the Flying Sparrow Hairpin and the Divine Wood Sword, so he had no strong desire for flying swords or similar artifacts. Therefore, he chose to abandon this artifact-nurturing orb, not taking it, and allowing it to continue absorbing refined iron essence and growing here.

Before leaving, however, he still made a mark. Putting on his glasses again and following the traces of spiritual energy flow, Chen Mobai walked another three hundred meters through this tunnel, finally reaching its end.

There was no path further. He used his Spirit-Piercing Vision to scan the surroundings, and after confirming there were no sealed passages, he returned the way he came.

By the time he exited the tunnel, the sun was high in the sky. Half a day had already passed.

Feeling that his spiritual energy and divine sense were still plentiful, Chen Mobai once again rode the Crimson Cloud-Mist Veil, ascending to another tunnel entrance with a higher spiritual energy concentration.

However, his luck was worse this time. He spent most of the day searching, exploring all three branching paths within the tunnel, but found no artifact-nurturing orbs.

After emerging empty-handed, the sky had completely darkened. Thus, his first day in the Myriad Treasures Grotto passed.

He didn't return to the wooden cabin he rented outside. Instead, he directly set up a restriction at the entrance of this empty tunnel to indicate it was occupied, then took out a meditation cushion from his storage bag, grasped two spirit stones, and began to cultivate.

Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, Chen Mobai had been in the Myriad Treasures Grotto for half a year.

Since he had found an artifact-nurturing orb on his very first day, Chen Mobai spent the initial half-month enthusiastically exploring caves and searching for treasures every day. However, it seemed all his good luck had been used up that day, as all his subsequent expeditions ended in disappointment.

For the remainder of the time, he focused on cultivation. Hard work paid off, and coupled with the abundant fire spiritual energy here, his Pure Yang Dharma Body finally broke through again, achieving the Four-Yang Physique.

Spiritual Roots: Metal 23, Wood 28, Water 19, Fire 53, Earth 10.

Seeing his spiritual roots finally resemble those of a genius, Chen Mobai felt greatly relieved. Although his water and wood spiritual roots had each decreased by 3 points again, seeing his fire spiritual root grow to 53 points, Chen Mobai decided to selectively ignore these minor losses.

At least, by the Immortal Sect's standards, he now possessed genuine high-grade true spiritual roots! In the Heavenly River Realm, that would make him a super genius, second only to Heavenly Spiritual Roots and Variant Spiritual Roots.

With his spiritual roots improved, he could try his luck in the Divine Wood Realm when he had time. Actually, his water spiritual root should have originally dropped to 18 points. However, eating the second-tier Azureblood Carp King gifted by his eldest disciple, which he had developed resistance to, surprisingly increased his water spiritual root by 1 point again.

After discovering this, Chen Mobai specifically emerged from seclusion to inquire about Liu Wenbai's cultivation progress and casually ask about his family's main industry. Only after asking did he learn that even though their family was renowned for cultivating Azureblood Carps, they actually only raised twenty-six second-tier Azureblood Carp Kings.

These second-tier fish fry could only be purchased from the Water Vein of the Five Elements Sect. Liu Wenbai's family only mastered the cultivation method for first-tier Azureblood Carps, which could be hatched from the eggs laid by second-tier female Azureblood Carp Kings.

For this reason, the two egg-laying female Azureblood Carp Kings were the lifelines of their family, having cost tens of thousands of spirit stones when the fry were initially purchased. Gifting Chen Mobai a male Azureblood Carp King was already an immense gesture of respect.

After clarifying the situation, Chen Mobai understood that if he wanted to freely consume Azureblood Carp Kings, he could only go to the Wind and Rain Dock of the Water Vein of the Five Elements Sect. The Wind and Rain Dock was located near the center of the Cloud Dream Marsh. That place was considered one of the most dangerous areas in the Eastern Wilderness.

After some thought, Chen Mobai decided to put this matter aside for now. Anyway, his remaining 19 points of water spiritual root were sufficient for him to cultivate to the Nine-Yang Physique.

After his fire spiritual root increased to 53 points, Chen Mobai finally felt the cultivation speed a genius should possess. In the uniquely advantageous environment of the Myriad Treasures Grotto, since his Pure Yang spiritual energy had already reached perfection and his cultivation realm could not advance further, he dedicated his free time after daily meditation to cultivating fire-attribute spells.

All the spells recorded in the Pure Yang Qi Cultivation Chapter, such as "Ignition Art," "Flame Manipulation Art," and "Fireball Art," as well as the Foundation Establishment Chapter's "Lamp Ignition Art," "Blaze Explosion Art," "Flame Stabilization Art," and "Sun Ascension Art," were all mastered by him within these six months.

The Pure Yang Scroll was a great Divine Transformation method, and the Artifact Dance Academy's inheritance was the most fundamental cultivation method. If one wanted to cultivate the powerful Primordial Yang Sword Art, which complemented the Pure Yang Scroll, it would be best to borrow it from the Pure Yang Academy. Of course, if one had enough points, they could also spend hundreds of millions to download and exchange it from the Immortal Sect's National Library.

Another major benefit within the academy and schools was that the books and knowledge in the university library were provided free of charge to students once they reached the required cultivation realm. Although the Artifact Dance Academy did not possess the Primordial Yang Sword Art, it did have the Profound Yang Needle Art, the Blazing Fire Sword Song, and the Heaven-Burning Great Art, all derived from the Pure Yang Scroll, which were supreme profound techniques capable of cultivation up to the Nascent Soul realm.

However, even the spells from the Pure Yang Scroll itself were already extremely useful for Chen Mobai. The three spells in the Qi Cultivation Chapter were self-explanatory, literally cultivating a cultivator's affinity for flames. They involved igniting sparks from emptiness, controlling flames, and shaping fire.

But the four spells in the Foundation Establishment Chapter were different. They already fully demonstrated the profoundness of a Divine Transformation Great Method.

Among these, the "Lamp Ignition Art" could be used to purify oneself and refine away impurities. For example, if Chen Mobai took a pill from the Heavenly River Realm and his Pure Yang spiritual energy contained pill toxins, he could use the Lamp Ignition Art to swiftly dissolve the toxins.

Yet, this was not its most miraculous aspect. The "Lamp Ignition Art" could not only act upon spiritual energy but also on the physical body's vital essence and even temper divine sense. Long-term practice of this spell could ultimately make a cultivator's body as sturdy as steel, their spiritual energy as clear as glass, and their mind as radiant as a gem.

Moreover, this spell had no rank limit; after Patriarch Yuanyang cultivated the Lamp Ignition Art to the fifth tier, he discovered even higher realms.

The "Blaze Explosion Art," following the Lamp Ignition Art, could enhance the power of a fire explosion, with its might depending on the spiritual fire ignited. If Chen Mobai were to detonate the Azure Yang Fire Seed in his hand, its power could increase threefold. Furthermore, this spell could be combined with any form of flame, making it arguably the strongest amplification spell for fire-attribute cultivators.

However, its sole drawback was that the spiritual fire would extinguish and vanish after detonation. While it might be acceptable for ordinary flames, Chen Mobai was absolutely unwilling to detonate his precious Azure Yang Fire Seed unless it was a matter of life or death.

The "Flame Stabilization Art," on the other hand, was precisely the opposite of the Blaze Explosion Art. This spell could be used to stabilize burning flames, making it the Immortal Sect's top-tier fire-warding art.

As for the "Sun Ascension Art," it was a profound spell that Chen Mobai considered second only to the Lamp Ignition Art. This spell could only be cast by cultivators who had not lost their primordial yang. By activating the innate primordial yang within their bodies and combining it with any flame, it could elevate the flame to a higher level.

Not only could it enhance power, but during the process, one could also comprehend the innate profoundness of flames returning to their origin. In his prime, Patriarch Yuanyang could use the Sun Ascension Art to directly elevate an ordinary flame to the innate true fire realm of Solar Golden Flames, burning mountains, boiling seas, and reducing meteorites to dust, truly terrifying.

Chen Mobai had tested it with his Azure Yang Fire Seed. After being augmented by the Sun Ascension Art, what was originally just a small flame surprisingly transformed into a fist-sized purple-green flame.

Once the purple within the flame disappeared, turning pure green, it would signify that the "Azure Yang Fire" had been completely cultivated. This also meant the "Pure Azure Art," the method for purifying Azure Yang Fire, had reached perfection.

In that case, Chen Mobai could use this spiritual fire to condense the "Azure Flame Sword Fiend."