Chapter 123 — Fire Core Flower

Looks like the Azure Profound Sect has already found out.

Hearing that the Clear Thought Sect’s chief team was eliminated, Lian Mu more or less guessed where the Azure Profound Sect was.

In the oasis, six people sat around the only pool of water. Outside, it was already the fourth illusion: four suns hung at the four edges of the sky, and from afar one could see only surging waves of heat.

Xu Xianxing was still wrapped in his fox fur. This environment made him feel quite comfortable—not too cold or too hot, just right. He was repairing his silver kite. It had gotten damaged when they were searching for the oasis earlier and wouldn’t fly for a while.

Lian Mu looked at his limping figure and said, “How’s your leg? Don’t tell me it’s really crippled? If the Azure Profound Sect catches up, you won’t even be able to run.”

“Isn’t that what you’re here for? To protect me?” Xu Xianxing grinned. “It won’t heal anytime soon. The injury’s bad—might take half a month to recover.”

Lian Mu said, “That long? Last time, when Elder Murong gave me a beating, I was worse off than you. Took some low-grade pills and was fine in three days.”

Ji Mingyue mocked, “He’s the young master—far too delicate. Can’t handle the slightest pain. He can’t even swallow pills.”

Xu Xianxing sneered, “Ha… only because you spiked my medicine with weird stuff. I couldn’t even smell it without gagging.”

“What weird stuff? Just a few bugs.” Ji Mingyue said. “Bai Li Que swallowed it just fine.”

At that, Bai Li Que’s face twisted slightly. “…Why didn’t you say so earlier.”

Wen Yun patted him. “You’ll get used to it. Honestly, any pill made by Ji Mingyue—sweet or bitter—eight times out of ten, it’s got bugs.”

Hearing that, Xu Xianxing’s face stiffened too. His hands paused on the silver kite.

Lian Mu said, “Forget it. You’re useless anyway—crippled or not, you always need protecting.”

Xu Xianxing sighed, “…Lian Mu, I thought you’d comfort me.”

Wen Yun laughed. “You expect her to comfort you? Dream on. Sword cultivators have mouths sharper than their swords—they can’t sweet-talk anyone.”

Bai Li Que added, “You body cultivators are exactly as rumored too.”

Wen Yun accepted cheerfully, “Thanks.”

Xu Xianxing muttered, “…Don’t underestimate artifact refiners. Just because the first few rounds didn’t need me doesn’t mean the next ones won’t. Cross me now, and you’ll be begging later.”

Bai Li Que and Wen Yun didn’t react much. Ji Mingyue was expressionless too. Lian Mu thought for a moment—she did have ties to artifact refiners—so she said, “Alright, stop teasing him. There’s still a month left after this illusion ends—plenty of time for him to heal.”

“I knew you were my best friend.” Xu Xianxing said, pulling a small object from his sleeve. “Here, take a look.”

Everyone leaned in. In his palm lay a palm-sized spirit compass.

Lian Mu asked, “What’s this?”

Xu Xianxing explained, “Aren’t you looking for the Fire Core Flower? Once we’re out of this barrier, if we kill a demonic beast carrying traces of Fire Core Flower spiritual energy, we can store the residue in this. Then it’ll guide us straight to the flower.”

Wen Yun asked, “Where’d you get such a powerful spiritual tool?”

“Made it on the spot.” Xu Xianxing said. “Yuan Huai’s spatial pouch had a lot of fine materials—I couldn’t resist testing my hand. When you’re desperate, you get creative. Somehow I pulled it off in one go.”

Lian Mu turned the small spoon on the spirit compass and said, “…So when you were always running to the main hall in the Azure Profound Sect, you were secretly learning this?”

The function was practically a bootleg version of the Pearl-Seeking Device.

Xu Xianxing nodded, “Learned it on the sly. The Azure Profound Sect watched me like a hawk—I only picked up the basics. I’m nowhere near making a real Pearl-Seeking Device, but this will do for now.”

“Before this round, I didn’t tell anyone I could make this. Now that it’s out, the elders might ban this kind of tool—so it’s probably a one-time deal. Better make the most of it.”

Ji Mingyue said, “Nothing in the rules this round forbids it. You’re actually pretty clever in this.”

Xu Xianxing frowned. “So I usually look dumb to you?”

Bai Li Que stayed silent—truth was, he kind of did. He pursed his lips but couldn’t bear to hit him with the truth and kept quiet.

Lian Mu, seeing a fine tool, couldn’t resist poking and prodding it, exploring its inner workings.

“So the Pearl-Seeking Device is made from this kind of demonic beast material… No wonder it can detect the birth of high-grade spiritual roots.”

Xu Xianxing said, “This is just a crude imitation. The real thing is far more complex. With my current level, I can’t replicate it exactly.”

“Interesting,” Lian Mu remarked.

Xu Xianxing knew she’d want to learn it too, so he secretly gave her a look—he’d share the method once they got back.

Lian Mu nodded, then glanced at the sky and said, “It’s time. Let’s go.”

The blazing sun turned crimson—it was now the hottest moment inside the illusion, and the Fire Core Flower would soon begin to grow.

Stepping out of the barrier, they could hear the painful roars of demonic beasts under the scorching sun.

Except for the flame beasts cloaked in fiery red fluid, other demonic beasts couldn’t stand the heat and tried to storm the oasis for shelter.

Outside the oasis barrier, a large pack of demonic beasts gathered, eyeing the inner land covetously. Some had already begun ramming the barrier, attempting to break through.

“They all seem pretty high-ranked?” Lian Mu glanced around. “Then I’ll leave them to you. My sword breaks too easily.”

She also didn’t have enough spiritual energy left for a prolonged fight. A damaged dantian was troublesome—she had to control her strength every time she fought, or risk depleting her energy.

The blood near her eyes hadn’t been wiped clean. If it bled again, she might not make it.

Bai Li Que didn’t waste a word and charged out. Wen Yun followed close behind.

The two fought demonic beasts outside while Guan Shize, unable to handle such high-level creatures, obediently stayed within the barrier.

Lian Mu seized the chance to contact Guan Huailin. The moment the communication talisman ignited, Guan Huailin responded almost immediately.

“Junior Sister, are you in trouble?”

Wind roared on his end—he must still be in the desert.

Lian Mu said, “The Azure Profound Sect hasn’t found us yet. We’re hiding in the oasis from the fourth illusion’s sun. Senior Brother, do you want to come over?”

“No need,” Guan Huailin replied. “I just heard that the Clear Thought Sect’s chiefs are all out. The Azure Profound Sect has dealt with them—next they’ll come for us. You’d better split up—if you run into them, at least some of you will make it out alive.”

Lian Mu said, “Senior Brother, splitting up is just a precaution. If we meet, we won’t necessarily lose. Besides, now is the best time to gather traces of the Fire Core Flower’s energy. The Azure Profound Sect won’t sacrifice their ranking just to chase us.”

Guan Huailin chuckled softly. “I know. With your skills—if you could slay the guardian beast alone—you can definitely take on their Heavenly Spiritual Root chief too. But I don’t want to see you all get hurt. The Azure Profound Sect may look courteous, but their methods are the harshest…”

“In the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, injuries are inevitable,” Lian Mu said. “Instead of worrying about that, trust us to handle things here.”

“Since you put it that way, I’ll trust you. I’ll leave the desert to you—I’m going back to the second realm,” Guan Huailin said. “Our sect mates there found signs of the Fire Core Flower’s energy. It may not bloom, but we still have to check it out.”

Lian Mu said, “Perfect. We’re searching for the Fire Core Flower on the desert side too. Xu Xianxing has a new trick up his sleeve. We should find it soon.”

The connection cut off. Guan Huailin was probably already preparing to head back to the second realm.

A quarter of an hour later, the howls of the demonic beasts outside finally ceased. Beyond the barrier, chaos reigned. The sand surrounding the oasis was stained a dark purplish-red with demonic beast blood, exuding a nauseating stench of iron and rot.

Bai Li Que used a cleansing talisman to rid his robes of bloodstains, then carried a severed demonic beast claw back into the barrier.

Wen Yun came in as well, washing his hands by the pool.

“The demonic beasts near the oasis really are connected to the Fire Core Flower.”

Bai Li Que set the beast’s claw on the ground. Ji Mingyue reached out to examine it; on the spirit armor part of the claw, there was a charred mark left by scorching flame.

The Fire Core Flower’s sap also contains flaming red fluid which erupts in pillars of fire once exposed. This beast must have dug up a Fire Core Flower and gotten wounded by it.

Ji Mingyue sliced off the part bearing spiritual traces and handed it to Xu Xianxing to fuse into the spirit compass. The compass began to spin, and after a moment, pointed clearly in a new direction.

“That way.”

With a definite lead, the group set off at once, swallowing the prepared frost pills to withstand the heat as they hunted for the Fire Core Flower.

After nearly half an hour of trekking, they finally spotted a living plant atop a dune… though it barely looked like a plant. Its leaves were yellowish-brown, just a sparse few, half-dead in appearance—yet the crimson veins running through the leaves proved its identity.

“So this is the Fire Core Flower… growing in such a barren spot?” Bai Li Que frowned in puzzlement.

Wen Yun said, “One of this round’s flowers was sown by the Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master himself. He never bothers with anything that doesn’t concern him. He probably scattered this seed at random.”

And in this vast desert, ironically, it was this tiny, half-dead thing that was hardest to find.

“It’s clearly not mature yet,” Ji Mingyue said after checking it. “We can’t possibly stay here and wait forever.”

All eyes turned to Lian Mu, who had been the first to insist on finding the Fire Core Flower.

She calmly pulled out another communication talisman and reached Guan Huailin again.

“Junior Sister?”

“Senior Brother,” Lian Mu said, “I forgot to ask just now—which Fire Core Flower do you want to bloom?”

There was a lot of noise on Guan Huailin’s end, with rocks clashing and tumbling—he must have already entered the second realm.

Hearing her, Guan Huailin paused in surprise. “We… can choose?”

“The one in the second realm? The one in the desert grows too slowly—better not to rely on it,” he decided.

“Alright.”

Everyone stared at her. Even Guan Huailin fell silent, waiting to see what she would do next.

Without another word, Lian Mu lifted her foot and stomped directly on the desert Fire Core Flower seedling, grinding it forcefully into the sand until it was thoroughly crushed.

Ji Mingyue: “???”

Wen Yun: “!”

Bai Li Que: “?”

Xu Xianxing: “Ah?”

Lian Mu withdrew her foot, confirmed the seedling was completely destroyed, then said, “Since only one out of the two can bloom, killing one guarantees other one will bloom for sure.”

Everyone: “…”

For a moment, no one could argue with that logic.

“Sect Master Shen wants us to gamble? Then let’s just flip the whole board,” Lian Mu said. “Senior Brother Guan, you can go pick the flower now.”