Chapter 1481: The Soul Altar Departs
“Chief, miss.”
When Tong Ying and Tong Zhenzhen got near the mouth of the volcano, three Vermillion Birds had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The three Vermillion Birds flapped their way over to Tong Ying and Tong Zhenzhen and saluted them. Then, they took on human form.
The three Vermillion Birds transformed into two men and one woman. They all looked like old people, and they were all at rank nine bloodline.
They were the elders who were responsible for watching over the Vermillion Bird Race’s ancestral shrine.
Qin Lie, Crimson Blood Ape King, and Tong Yan showed up as well.
“Tong Yan!” the trio exclaimed.
“From here on, Tong Yan is the matriarch of our race,” Tong Ying said seriously.
Surprisingly, a hint of joy actually flashed across the old Vermillion Birds’ eyes.
They all knew that Tong Yan, the Vermillion Bird who was exiled from the Vermillion Bird Realm, was actually the one with the highest chance of ascending to rank ten.
In fact, they knew that the Vermillion Bird Race branch Tong Yan was currently leading at Boluo Realm was extremely powerful!
It was because they had witnessed Tong Yan’s strength when she led her own army and aided them in their battle against Blue Flame Manor.
And now that they’ve seen her again, they realized Tong Yan’s aura was even stronger than before.
Although they had no idea what Tong Yan had experienced for the past couple of years, her harsh aura was all they needed to feel to know that she had gotten much stronger than before!
For the past few years, Tong Yan had been battling the Abyss Devils non-stop at the Frost Desolation Abyss. There were even a couple of times where she was almost torn apart by another Lord of the Abyss.
Thanks to near death experiences and many inspirations, her individual combat strength far exceeded another Vermillion Bird of the same rank!
That was why the three Vermillion Bird elders were shocked and overjoyed when they sensed her murderous aura. It was something that could only be cultivated through many dangerous battles.
“This here is Crimson Blood Ape King,” Tong Ying introduced.
The transformed Crimson Blood Ape King let out a snort as he stared at the three Vermillion Bird elders coldly.
The three Vermillion Bird Race elders had spent most of their time guarding this place, and they were stunned to discover that the brawny human standing before them was actually the Ancient Beast Race’s Crimson Blood Ape King.
“Don’t ask.” Tong Ying frowned once before sending them away. “Leave us for the moment.”
All three elders had played a disgraceful role in the meetings that had led to the distasteful rejections.
Neither Tong Yan nor Crimson Blood Ape King had any affection for them.
The three elders knew very well why Tong Ying had sent them away. They flew away from the mouth of the volcano without another word.
However, they had shot Qin Lie curious glances before they left. They seemed to be wondering about his ident.i.ty.
“If you don’t mind, may I take a look at the mouth of the volcano?” Qin Lie asked.
Tong Ying smiled at him before giving him a surprising reply. “From here on, Tong Yan is the decision maker in the Vermillion Bird Realm.”
Qin Lie wasn’t expecting her to relinquish her power so publicly. Then, he smiled at Tong Yan and asked again, “Can I get up there and take a look, please?”
In Tong Yan’s heart, Qin Lie was more important than even the entire Vermillion Bird Realm. It was because she knew of his abilities better than anyone in this fiery world. Naturally, she agreed without hesitation. “Of course you can.”
And so Qin Lie flew up to the mouth of the volcano.
Tong Yan, Crimson Blood Ape King, and everyone else also followed suit.
Just beneath the mouth of the active volcano, a small house made of red crystals could be seen right next to a stone wall.
It was the Vermillion Bird Race’s ancestral shrine.
The entire ancestral shrine was made up of crimson crystals. Many remains were placed inside it.
A Vermillion Bird wouldn’t undergo a drastic physical transformation even after they had reached rank ten.
Therefore, they were only one or two meters long at most.
Moreover, after their flesh and blood had shedded away with time, the remaining skeleton was even smaller than normal.
Inside the ancestral shrine, the Vermillion Birds’ remains sparkled brightly like red crystals.
Since the volcano was actively spewing lava and fire, the Vermillion Birds’ remains were occasionally caught in them. However, it actually made them look brighter and redder than before.
Unfortunately, these rank nine and ten Vermillion Birds had pa.s.sed away a long time ago. Not even a bit of their soul was left in their remains.
No matter how many times their remains were bathed in fire and lava, all they did was keeping the fiery energy inside the remains from fading away.
Qin Lie shot a glance at the Vermillion Bird Race’s ancestral shrine. He relaxed after seeing that the fire spirit wasn’t among them.
At first, he was worried that a particular rank nine or rank ten Vermillion Bird remain had caught the fire spirit’s fancy.
He would’ve been put in quite the difficult spot if that turned out to be the case.
“But if it wasn’t the rank ten Vermillion Bird, then what exactly has attracted the fire spirit’s attention?” Surprised to find that his prediction was inaccurate, Qin Lie narrowed his eyes and contacted the fire spirit from the mouth of the volcano.
He immediately noticed that the fire spirit was probably at the deepest part down the volcano.
His expression had changed because of it.
According to Tong Ying, this volcano was the strangest place in the entire Vermillion Bird Realm. Since the day the Vermillion Birds had discovered this world and named it “Vermillion Bird Realm”, the volcano had never stopped pouring out lava and fire.
Sometimes, the lava and fire it spewed were a little weaker than normal, but they had never stopped.
Some rank ten Vermillion Birds tried to explore the heart of the volcano to discover its secrets.
However, not a single one of them ventured deep enough to find anything before they were forced to retreat by the heat.
Out of all the races that lived in Spirit Realm, Vermillion Birds were probably among the ones with the highest resistance to heat.
If even a rank ten Vermillion Bird couldn’t handle its temperature, then just how scary was the object burning under the volcano?
According to his senses, the fire spirit was currently submerged inside the lava under the volcano right now!
When he felt around with his consciousness, he noticed that the fire spirit had switched to its incorporeal form.
The fire spirit was almost like a soul in this form. It was probably more resistant to high temperatures that way.
While Qin Lie was trying to sense the fire spirit’s movements, the latter kept calling for him to come down and have a look.
A moment of hesitation later, Qin Lie asked Tong Yan, “Can I head down there and have a look?”
This time, it was Tong Ying who answered before Tong Yan, “Don’t force yourself, young man. It’s… not a playground down there, you know.”
Tong Yan also agreed with her sentiment, “Qin Lie, this volcano is quite different from the others. Not even I would dare venture down the way I am right now, not to mention that the rank ten Vermillion Birds of the past were unable to go all the way to the bottom as well. I don’t think I’ll be able to reach it even when I’m rank ten myself.”
“I know, I’m just giving it a try,” Qin Lie replied.
“In that case, be careful,” Tong Yan said concernedly.
“Mn.”
Qin Lie inhaled and activated his G.o.d Race bloodline. His hair and pupils instantly turned scarlet.
Fire started pouring out of his pores like smoke. Even his eyes looked like flames were residing in them.
“The G.o.d Race! The Blaze Family! I guess they are capable of withstanding high temperature,” Tong Ying thought to herself. She was slightly surprised by Qin Lie’s transformation.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
After Qin Lie had transformed into a G.o.d Race clansman, he dropped down the volcano, a blast of volcanic lava hitting him dead on.
But not only did Qin Lie not feel particularly uncomfortable, the shockingly high temperature actually made his Blaze Family bloodline grow more active than before.
He started moving straight towards the source of the heat where the lava was the hottest.
“Ssst!”
His body sizzled as if it was being burned alive by flames.
He continued to drop down towards the source like a literal fireman.
A moment later, he sensed that the volcano’s temperature had reached a shockingly high level.
Despite urging his Blaze Family bloodline to the max, his flesh and blood felt like they could melt under the terrific heat any second.
He tried to employ the rest of his powers as well, but he ultimately discovered that his body was still made of flesh and blood.
There was simply no way he would be able withstand the increasingly unbearable heat for as long as he was a being of flesh.
“Flesh and blood. This is my limit, the limit of a being of flesh and blood…”
He thought to himself silently.
“Swoos.h.!.+”
Suddenly, he flew upward while a translucent Soul Altar flew out of the corner of his eyes.
The Soul Altar that was made out of an Origin Crystal was instantly dyed red the moment it was flooded by the lava.
His body continued to fly back to the mouth of the volcano, but his one-level Soul Altar ventured deeper and deeper towards the source.
His Soul Altar was a product of countless refinements, and at its core it was an Origin Crystal.
It was definitely more heat resistant than his flesh and blood!
The True Soul residing inside his own Soul Altar took control as it sank deeper and deeper into the volcano.
It took only the blink of an eye for his Soul Altar to start burning like crazy.
However, Qin Lie didn’t sense any signs of melting from his Soul Altar in the slightest. His suspicion that his Soul Altar was more heat resistant than his own body was confirmed.
“Whoosh whoos.h.!.+ Whoosh whoos.h.!.+”
Suddenly, the unknown fire characters residing inside his burning Soul Altar seemed to be flushed out of their home by the volcano’s lava and fire.
Among them, two giant ancient characters shone brightly like a pair of burning eyes.
It was the two divine characters that had taken form in his Soul Altar after he had become an Abyss Creator and gave Flaming Sun Abyss its formal name—Flaming Sun!
It was the runes that were unique only to him, the Abyss Creator!
In that moment, the characters “Flaming Sun” shone brightly like two blazing suns!
Suddenly, the speed at which his Soul Altar was submerging into the volcano had slipped out of his control. Even the refined soul inside the Soul Altar was shaking from the activity.
“Boom!”
A long time later, the one-level Soul Altar suddenly crashed against something hard.
It had finally come to a full stop.