Inside the grand hall of Flame Phoenix Mountain, King Flame Phoenix regarded Han Jue with obvious interest, his predatory eyes gleaming with curiosity and concern.
"Boy, you dare choose this as your first training mission?" The massive Immortal King leaned forward slightly, his fiery wings rustling with barely contained energy. "The mortality rate here is extremely high. Many promising geniuses have perished within the Seven Flames Palace's depths."
"Greetings, King Flame Phoenix," Han Jue replied with calm composure, bowing respectfully but meeting the Immortal King's gaze without flinching. "I believe this mission suits my cultivation path, which is why I've come."
King Flame Phoenix chuckled, the sound carrying both amusement and resignation as he shook his head. His expression shifted, becoming more serious.
"I have a connection with Silver Moon King," he said, his tone lowering with genuine concern. "If you died here, I wouldn't be able to face him. Your death would reflect poorly on both our lineages."
"You needn't worry, my lord," Han Jue said confidently, his voice carrying quiet certainty. "I won't die that easily. I've come prepared."
King Flame Phoenix studied him for a long moment, his sharp eyes seeming to pierce through Han Jue's confident exterior to gauge the truth of his capabilities. Finally, he nodded with apparent satisfaction.
"Very well. In that case, I'll give you some advice." The Flame Phoenix King's demeanor shifted from casual to intensely focused. "When you enter the Seven Flames Palace, approach from the northeastern quadrant. Do you understand the significance of this guidance?"
Han Jue's eyes brightened with comprehension. The direction wasn't arbitrary, it would position him closer to whichever sacred flame King Flame Phoenix believed would benefit his particular cultivation path. For an Immortal King who specialized in the fundamental Law of Fire to offer such specific direction represented invaluable assistance.
"Thank you, King Flame Phoenix!" Han Jue bowed deeply, genuine gratitude coloring his voice. "Your guidance is appreciated."
"Go then," King Flame Phoenix waved his hand dismissively, though his expression carried approval. "Survive, and perhaps you'll become another legend spoken of in these halls."
The Seven Flames Palace housed seven legendary sacred flames, each one representing a different aspect of fire's fundamental nature. However, only one of them, the one accessible from the northeastern approach, would truly benefit someone of Han Jue's particular cultivation focus.
The guidance from King Flame Phoenix had been far more valuable than simple directions. It represented insider knowledge that could mean the difference between wasting months searching blindly and proceeding directly toward opportunity.
Han Jue departed from Flame Phoenix Mountain with renewed purpose, his Ice Wasteland spacecraft carrying him swiftly toward the massive structure dominating the void ahead.
As he approached the Seven Flames Palace, its true scale became increasingly apparent. The structure's diameter spanned roughly one-tenth of a light-year, a space vast enough to contain billions of inhabitants across countless ecosystems. Seven towering rainbow-hued barriers surrounded it like translucent shells, each one radiating different wavelengths of cosmic energy.
The seven layers of rainbow light protected the palace's surface, also known as the Land of Chaos. Within this radiant barrier lay a world of savage violence and primal conflict, a proving ground where only the strong survived.
Han Jue's spacecraft halted just outside the outermost rainbow barrier. He stored the vessel in his world ring and prepared to pass through the protective layers using only his physical body, bringing technological items deeper into the Seven Flames Palace would mark him as an obvious outsider and invite unnecessary hostility.
The moment he entered the first layer of rainbow light, Han Jue felt intense cosmic radiation pressing against his body from all directions. The pressure increased exponentially with each subsequent layer he passed through, testing the limits of his physical cultivation.
Even his innate secret technique [No Limit] couldn't completely negate the rainbow light's oppressive force. The spatial barriers he could normally construct seemed to slide ineffectively against this particular form of energy, forcing him to rely more heavily on his raw physical strength and Ice Derivative Body cultivation.
This cosmic radiation is specifically designed to test physical endurance, Han Jue realized, gritting his teeth as he pushed through the seventh and final layer. No wonder the Virtual Universe Company forbids bringing advanced technology here. The barriers themselves would damage most equipment.
The ground rushed up to meet him as gravity reasserted its pull.
"SKREEEE!"
A terrifying beast suddenly appeared in his descent path, its wingspan stretching nearly three thousand meters. The creature's body was covered in vicious spikes that gleamed like metallic blades, and its eyes burned with mindless hunger. Despite its duck-like cry, absurdly comical given its size, the monster radiated genuine danger as it opened its massive maw and accelerated toward him through the air.
Domain Lord level, Han Jue assessed instantly, his Six Eyes perceiving the creature's energy signature. But something's wrong with its consciousness. The movements are purely instinctual.
"Swoosh!"
In the span between heartbeats, Han Jue activated his movement technique. His figure blurred as he appeared directly above the massive creature's skull, moving faster than its primitive reflexes could track.
The Cloud Sea Hunting Dragon materialized in his hand, and with a single backhanded strike infused with spatial law comprehension, he crushed the beast's brain. The creature's massive body went instantly limp, beginning its plummet toward the surface far below.
Han Jue rode the falling corpse down, using it as an impromptu platform. As he descended, a strange sensation washed over him, a searing heat that seemed to penetrate past his physical defenses to touch something deeper. The moment he consciously tried to analyze it, the sensation vanished like morning mist.
His feet touched the surface of the Seven Flames Palace, and Han Jue finally had a moment to properly assess his surroundings.
"Flame Beast," he murmured, studying the massive corpse beneath his feet with analytical interest. "Its mind couldn't withstand the illumination of the Seven Sacred Flames, so it lost all sanity, leaving only base instincts driving it forward."
The realization brought both concern and relief. That brief sensation he'd felt during his descent, that had been the sacred flames' influence attempting to affect his consciousness. Fortunately, his recent breakthrough to the "Absolute Original Mind" mental state had occurred just in time, providing exactly the kind of mental fortitude required to resist such spiritual pressure.
Without that breakthrough, I might have ended up like this creature, Han Jue thought soberly, regarding the dead beast with newfound respect. A powerful body rendered useless by a shattered mind.
Flame Beasts represented the Seven Flames Palace's greatest threat to visitors. These were creatures, sometimes humanoid, sometimes bestial, whose minds had been broken by prolonged exposure to the sacred flames' spiritual radiation. They ranged in power from Planetary level all the way up to Domain Lord, but regardless of their cultivation tier, they shared one common trait: complete loss of higher reasoning.
The giant bird beneath Han Jue's feet had been a Domain Lord-level Flame Beast. Under normal circumstances, such a creature would have posed a significant challenge even to him. However, deprived of sanity and the ability to properly utilize its domain, it could only rely on instinct, making it vulnerable to anyone with superior technique and law comprehension.
Even the Apocalypse Secret Realm's core geniuses could probably defeat such a creature after thirty years training in Primal Chaos City, Han Jue estimated, mentally comparing his own abilities against his peers. The real danger here isn't individual Flame Beasts, it's their overwhelming numbers and the constant spiritual pressure wearing down intruders' mental defenses.
"It truly is the Land of Chaos," Han Jue said aloud, his eyes scanning the hostile landscape stretching in every direction.
The Land of Chaos, the designation given to the Seven Flames Palace's surface layer, represented everything the name implied. This was a realm of constant violence and primal survival, where mindless Flame Beasts hunted anything that moved and where tribal human settlements fought desperate battles just to maintain their territories.
In stark contrast existed the Land of Order, the palace's innermost layer where civilization still thrived. More than ninety-five percent of the Seven Flames Palace's intelligent inhabitants lived there, protected from the spiritual radiation by the palace's deepest structures.
The two regions were connected by countless tunnels, millions of passages large and small that pierced through the palace's intermediate layers like a vast network of arteries. These tunnels, disguised as massive sinkholes and caverns, represented the only safe passage between chaos and order.
According to the mission briefing Han Jue had studied extensively, his training objectives required accessing the Land of Order. The first objective, obtaining one million Spark Coins, could only be accomplished there, where actual civilization and commerce existed. The second objective, acquiring any sacred flame, would require penetrating even deeper, but the Land of Order represented the necessary first step.
Finding a tunnel wouldn't be difficult given their abundance. The challenge lay in gaining entry.
As an outsider, Han Jue naturally lacked Fire Coins, the currency native humans used to pay tunnel toll keepers. However, an alternative payment method existed: Flame Beast Blood.
By killing Flame Beasts and extracting their vital essence, visitors could use this blood as currency to purchase tunnel access. The exchange rate varied based on the Flame Beast's cultivation level, with Domain Lord blood being far more valuable than Planetary or Stellar blood.
The Cloud Sea Hunting Dragon flashed through the air as Han Jue methodically dismembered the giant bird's corpse. He'd prepared extensively for this mission, including purchasing several specialized jade bottles specifically designed for collecting and preserving vital essences.
With practiced efficiency, Han Jue positioned a translucent jade bottle beneath the creature's severed arteries and began draining its blood. The crimson liquid flowed steadily into the container, filling it with Domain Lord-level essence.
I don't know the specific technique for extracting pure Flame Beast Blood, Han Jue acknowledged privately, but simply collecting the raw blood should suffice. The tunnel guardians can surely separate the essence from ordinary blood themselves.
"Kill!" A distant shout echoed across the barren plains, the word spoken in one of the Seven Flames Palace's native languages.
Han Jue's enhanced hearing caught the battle cry clearly despite the considerable distance. His Six Eyes ability shifted focus, perceiving a conflict occurring roughly a hundred kilometers away where two groups of humanoid figures engaged in brutal combat.
Tribal humans, Han Jue realized with interest.
Tribal humans represented one of the strangest phenomena within the Land of Chaos. These were intelligent beings, sometimes descended from Land of Order citizens who'd been exiled, sometimes born in the chaos itself, who maintained primitive civilizations despite the constant danger surrounding them.
They lived much like early tribal humans from Earth's prehistoric era, traveling in nomadic groups to hunt Flame Beasts for food and resources, or engaging in territorial disputes with rival tribes over contested hunting grounds.
Each tribe possessed its own language, cultural traditions, and social hierarchies. Some harbored dreams of one day returning to the Land of Order, while others had accepted their harsh existence and focused solely on survival.
The most significant factor about tribal humans, from Han Jue's perspective, was their settlement patterns. Tribes typically established territories near tunnel entrances, maintaining proximity to the only known route back to civilization. Some tribes controlled tunnel access, extracting tolls from anyone seeking passage. Others simply lived nearby, hoping opportunity might eventually present itself.
If there's a tribal conflict occurring nearby, that means a tunnel must be close, Han Jue reasoned, his analytical mind immediately recognizing the strategic implications.
The strongest members of the two warring tribes registered as merely Universe-level to his enhanced perception, powerful by normal standards, but no threat whatsoever to someone of his capabilities.
With a single focused thought, Han Jue activated his illusion technique.
A vast pink ocean of ethereal light suddenly manifested across the plains where the tribes fought, engulfing both groups in its iridescent depths. The combatants froze mid-strike, their eyes glazing over as the Mirage Sea technique trapped their consciousness in customized phantasms.
Mirage Sea, Fifth Level!
The technique had advanced considerably since Han Jue's time in Primal Chaos City. Now capable of trapping even some Domain Lords, it made short work of these Universe-level tribal warriors. Within moments, he'd completely pacified the conflict without needing to kill anyone.
Han Jue gestured casually, his telekinesis lifting the two tribal chieftains and bringing them before him. Both men, one covered in intricate blue tattoos, the other wearing a crown of metallic thorns, stood with vacant expressions, their minds completely submerged in the illusion.
"Who are you?" Han Jue asked, his voice carrying the hypnotic undertone that enhanced the Mirage Sea's control.
"Chief of the Cuilang Tribe," the tattooed man replied mechanically, his consciousness unable to resist answering.
"Chief of the Jinbang Tribe," the crowned man stated with equal compliance.
"Good. Where is the nearest tunnel? What are the requirements for entering?" Han Jue continued his interrogation methodically.
Though he lacked formal training in soul enslavement techniques or soul searching methods, specialized skills that required different cultivation approaches, he could still extract information through carefully maintained illusions. The Mirage Sea technique might not allow him to forcibly rip memories from unwilling minds, but it could certainly compel truthful answers to direct questions.
"The nearest tunnel is the Wanqing Tunnel," both chieftains answered simultaneously, their responses overlapping. "Located three thousand kilometers east of here. It connects to Wanqing Prefecture City in the Land of Order. Entry requires payment of either ten units of Domain Lord-level blood, or one unit of Flame Beast Blood."
Han Jue frowned slightly, parsing the currency terminology. "Define one unit. What quantity does that represent?"
"One unit of Domain Lord-level Flame Beast blood equals approximately the entire blood volume of a first-level Domain Lord Flame Beast," the Cuilang chieftain explained. "Ten thousand units of Universe-level blood can be exchanged for one unit of Domain Lord-level blood. One hundred thousand units of Stellar-level blood equals one unit of Domain Lord-level blood."
The Jinbang chieftain nodded mechanically, confirming the same exchange rates.
Han Jue calculated quickly, his analytical mind processing the information. The giant bird-like Flame Beast he'd killed had been several levels above a first-level Domain Lord, judging by its size and energy signature. Conservatively, it should have contained at least two or three units of blood.
Killing nine more Domain Lord-level Flame Beasts at most should provide sufficient currency, he concluded. Less if I target higher-level specimens.
The strategy was straightforward: hunt powerful Flame Beasts, extract their blood, use that blood to purchase tunnel access, then proceed to the Land of Order where his real training mission would begin.
Simple in theory. The execution, however, would require considerably more effort.
Han Jue released the two chieftains from the Mirage Sea technique, allowing them to return to their tribes with no memory of their interrogation. The conflict between the groups had been disrupted, but they would likely resume hostilities soon enough. Such was the nature of life in the Land of Chaos.
His eyes turned eastward, toward where the Wanqing Tunnel supposedly waited three thousand kilometers distant. Between here and there lay a hunting ground filled with Flame Beasts of all varieties, exactly the kind of environment he needed to accumulate blood currency.
"Time to hunt," Han Jue murmured, the Cloud Sea Hunting Dragon gleaming in his hand as he prepared for the systematic slaughter that lay ahead.
The real challenge of the Seven Flames Palace was only just beginning.
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