Three streams of light cut across the sky of the Southern Region. Below, amid the crimson mountain ranges, innate fire-element spiritual energy steamed like mist. Under the scorching midday sun, faint golden sparks seeping from rock crevices landed on withered wood, igniting clusters of red spiritual fire.
This fire did not burn spiritual herbs; instead, it made the dew on the leaves glow with warm light. It was the "Warm Spirit Fire," unique to the Southern Region—a sign of the abundant spiritual veins here.
Ao Xuan walked in the middle, carrying the large red gourd on his back. The faint golden soul aura occasionally leaking from the gourd's mouth trembled slightly as it touched the fire-element spiritual energy in the air.
His dragon pupils pierced through the rock layers, clearly seeing a thick fire vein extending southeast underground. At its end, clear spring spiritual energy intertwined with fire-element energy—obviously an innate spiritual spring.
"There's an innate spiritual spring ahead, wrapped in fire-element spiritual energy. It's perfect for nurturing Fellow Daoist Hongyun's remaining soul." Ao Xuan stopped, pointing his fingertip toward the fire vein, where water fortune spiritual light flickered.
"But there must be guardians around the spring. Just now, I sensed a flock of fire crows flying over from the southeast—no fewer than a hundred of them. We need to proceed with caution."
Yuan Hao slung his innate stone staff over his shoulder and leaned over, his monkey eyes sparkling as he stared downward. "I've long heard that the fire spirit beasts of the Southern Region are powerful. Today, I'll finally get to see them!"
Cang Lie transformed into a human form—a burly man with white hair, and a beast pattern on his forehead glowing with silver light. He scanned his surroundings vigilantly. "Fire crows are fierce by nature and skilled at controlling fire. If a conflict arises, we must first avoid their sharpness."
The three landed at the foot of the mountain, following the sound of the spring and circling around a crimson flame bamboo forest. Suddenly, the view opened up before them.
In the center of the valley, the innate Fire Spirit Spring shimmered with pale golden ripples. Several crimson flame spiritual herbs by the pool condensed crystal-clear fire spirit pearls, and more than a dozen fire crows with wingspans of over a zhang hovered around the spring.
Their feathers were a mix of red and black, their beaks and claws glowing with lava-red light. From time to time, they spat out sparks. When they saw Ao Xuan and the others approaching, the leading fire crow let out a sharp cry. As it flapped its wings, countless sparks shot toward them like arrows.
Ao Xuan was about to summon the Water Spirit Pearl for defense when the fire crow flock suddenly changed formation.
The leading fire crow spread its wings, and the fire-element spiritual energy around it surged. It actually channeled the Warm Spirit Fire by the spring, transforming it into a crimson fire wall blocking the three. When the sparks hit the fire wall, they turned into fine spiritual light, making the fire wall even more blazing.
"Yuan Hao, wait!" Ao Xuan quickly raised his hand to stop Yuan Hao, who had already lifted his staff and was about to charge forward. "They mean no harm—they're just guarding the spiritual spring."
He took a step forward, condensing a wisp of gentle wood-element spiritual energy in his palm and slowly floating it toward the leading fire crow. "We are the innate Azure Dragon Ao Xuan, innate White Ape Yuan Hao, and innate White Tiger Cang Lie. We've come to borrow the spiritual spring to nourish a friend's remaining soul. In return, we're willing to offer spiritual fruits to help you enhance your cultivation."
The leading fire crow tilted its head, touching the wood-element spiritual energy with its beak. Sensing no malice in the energy, it let out a deep cry.
Immediately, the fire crow flock retracted their attack stance, landing on the rocks by the spring. They still stared at the three vigilantly, though.
Ao Xuan let out a sigh of relief, placing the large red gourd by the spring. Just as he was about to cast a spell to draw out Hongyun's remaining soul, a shrill screech suddenly came from the distance—a dark cloud of demonized Vermilion Flame Birds was flying toward the valley.
Their feathers were crimson gold, wrapped in black demonic energy, and their wingspans were several times larger than the fire crows. Their beaks and claws glowed with a corrosive luster—they were clearly coming for the spiritual spring.
"It's the demonized Vermilion Flame Birds!" Cang Lie's face changed drastically. "Corrupted by Luo Hu's demonic flames, they feed on innate spiritual veins. If the spiritual spring is seized, the fire spirits of the Southern Region will be in great danger!"
Yuan Hao clenched his stone staff and was about to rush forward when the leading fire crow suddenly let out a high-pitched cry.
In an instant, more than a dozen fire crows took flight simultaneously. As they flapped their wings, pale golden sparks converged into crimson fire arrows, shooting toward the Vermilion Flame Bird flock.
As soon as the fire arrows touched the demonic energy around the Vermilion Flame Birds, they sizzled. The black demonic energy was actually burned by the fire arrows, emitting white smoke—this was no ordinary innate fire, but the "Nanming Li Fire," which contained purification power!
Ao Xuan's pupils narrowed. He had read about it in ancient texts: Nanming Li Fire was an innate supreme yang fire, specializing in countering yin evil demonic energy. Ordinary fire spirits could not control it at all. He never expected that the fire crows of the Southern Region could channel such fire!
Enraged by the fire arrows, the leading Vermilion Flame Bird spat out a thick pillar of fire, mixed with black demonic energy, directly targeting the fire crow flock.
But the fire crow flock remained calm. The leading fire crow spun its wings, and in an instant, more than a dozen fire crows formed the "Sky-Burning Formation"—they connected head to tail, and the fire-element spiritual energy around them intertwined into a huge crimson fire net. Countless sparks danced in the fire net, actually blocking the Vermilion Flame Bird's fire pillar completely.
What was even more astonishing was that every time the fire net trembled, countless tiny fire blades flew out, accurately slashing at the Vermilion Flame Birds' wings. Several Vermilion Flame Birds couldn't dodge in time, their wings scratched by the fire blades. Black demonic energy oozed from the wounds, but as soon as it touched the air, it was purified by the high temperature of the fire net.
"Wow! These fire crows are too powerful!" Yuan Hao stared in stunned admiration, forgetting to wave his stone staff. "I thought they were just ordinary guardian spirit birds—never expected them to be so fierce in battle!"
Cang Lie also retracted his golden metal spiritual energy, his tiger eyes filled with solemnity. "Their formation coordination is seamless, and their flames contain supreme yang power—purer than the fire-element divine arts of ordinary cultivators. The fire spirits of the Southern Region actually have such profound foundations; I underestimated them."
Ao Xuan observed intently. Seeing several fire crows stained by the Vermilion Flame Birds' demonic energy, their feathers turning black, he immediately summoned the Water Spirit Pearl. "Yuan Hao, use your spiritual energy to help the fire crows recover. Cang Lie, reinforce the fire net with golden metal spiritual energy—don't let any demonic energy leak in!"
Yuan Hao reacted quickly, and the spiritual energy around him surged, transforming into countless light vines that gently wrapped around the injured fire crows. The spiritual dew on the vines dripped down, instantly healing the fire crows' feathers burned by demonic energy.
Cang Lie also condensed golden metal spiritual energy at his fingertips, transforming it into thin golden patterns that merged into the fire crows' fire net. The fire net instantly glowed with a layer of pale golden light. When demonic energy touched the fire net again, it was doubly purified by the golden patterns and flames, leaving no trace behind.
With the three's assistance, the fire crow flock's offensive became even more intense! The leading fire crow dived down sharply, spitting out a fist-sized ball of Nanming Li Fire from its mouth. The flame transformed into a fire crow afterimage in the air, directly targeting the leading Vermilion Flame Bird's head.
The Vermilion Flame Bird hastily spat out demonic energy to block it, but the Li Fire afterimage burst apart instantly. The golden flame completely devoured the demonic energy and even ignited the Vermilion Flame Bird's feathers.
"Screech—!"
The leading Vermilion Flame Bird let out a shrill cry, turning around to flee, but was firmly trapped by the fire crows' fire net. The other fire crows all spat out fire arrows, which rained down on the Vermilion Flame Bird flock like a storm. Every Vermilion Flame Bird hit by a fire arrow had its surrounding demonic energy burned away completely. Its huge body slowly fell, crashing to the ground and turning into a pile of black ash.
In less than half an hour, dozens of demonized Vermilion Flame Birds were all killed by the fire crow flock. The leading fire crow landed by the spring, its wings trembling slightly as the fire-element spiritual energy around it gradually subsided. However, there was an added hint of approval in its gaze toward the three.
Ao Xuan stepped forward, expressing sincere admiration. "Fellow Daoist Fire Crows, your fire-element divine arts and formation truly opened my eyes. That Nanming Li Fire just now can directly purify demonic flames—you must be the elites among the innate fire spirits of the Southern Region, right?"
The leading fire crow nodded humanely, letting out a deep cry as if in response.
Cang Lie fell into thought. "The fire spirits of the Southern Region have been repeatedly harassed by demonic flames. Yet you've managed to cultivate Nanming Li Fire and set up such an exquisite formation in this environment. Your strength is probably no less than that of the famous innate gods in the Primordial World."
Yuan Hao leaned closer to the fire crow flock, curiously poking one fire crow's wing. It felt warm to the touch, not burning at all. "I really misjudged you! I thought we'd have to fight, but you're so powerful—those scruffy birds are like chicks in front of you!"
The fire crow flock seemed to understand Yuan Hao's praise, letting out clear cries and circling around the three.
Seeing this, Ao Xuan took several vermilion fruits from his storage bag and handed them to the leading fire crow. "Please accept these spiritual fruits as we promised earlier. Additionally, we're looking for traces of the innate Vermilion Bird. Would you happen to know anything about her?"
The leading fire crow took the vermilion fruits, and after swallowing them, its eyes sparkled even more brightly. It cried out several times toward the direction of the volcanic group in the south, then pointed its beak toward the depths of the spring—where a dense concentration of fire-element spiritual energy glowed, with the vague outline of a crimson lotus seed.
"It's an innate fire lotus seed!" Ao Xuan's eyes lit up. "It seems Fellow Daoist Vermilion Bird is indeed in the southern volcanic group. This fire lotus seed must be related to her." He looked at the fire crow flock. "If demonized creatures come to harass again in the future, we're willing to join forces with you to defend against them. What do you think?"
The leading fire crow nodded immediately, letting out another cry. Several fire crows took the initiative to fly to the spring, surrounding it with flames—clearly agreeing to the alliance.
Ao Xuan let out a sigh of relief. With the help of this powerful fire crow flock, not only could Hongyun's remaining soul rest safely here, but they also had an extra ally in their search for the Vermilion Bird.
He gently placed the large red gourd by the spring, pulling out the stopper. The faint golden soul aura automatically drifted toward the spiritual spring.
Seeing this, the fire crow flock all spat out gentle fire-element spiritual energy, which intertwined with the fire spirit power of the spring, forming a golden light cocoon wrapping the soul aura. Hongyun's remaining soul in the gourd trembled slightly, as if expressing gratitude to the fire crow flock.
"With the nourishment of the fire crows' fire-element spiritual energy, Fellow Daoist Hongyun's remaining soul will surely stabilize soon." Ao Xuan looked at Yuan Hao and Cang Lie. "We'll rest here for a day, then head to the southern volcanic group tomorrow to find Fellow Daoist Vermilion Bird."
Yuan Hao and Cang Lie agreed in unison. The three sat by the spring, watching the fire crow flock patrolling around them. They still marveled at the battle just now—who would have thought that the guardians of an ordinary spiritual spring in the Southern Region would be such a powerful fire crow flock? The strength of the Southern Region was far greater than that of the Northern Wasteland where the White Tiger resided.
Early the next morning, Ao Xuan left the large red gourd behind. The leader of the fire crow flock personally escorted the three to the valley entrance, crying out three times toward the southern volcanic group as if guiding them.
The three transformed into three streams of light, continuing to rush southward.