Chapter 4: The Earthfire Continent (Part 1)

“A roll of Yin Cocoon Silk weighs seven taels and three qian. The trade price is five Anluo Stones, with a minimum weight requirement of two jin and five taels.” Guo Shier didn’t help but laugh. A refined Anluo Stone weighed about seven or eight taels. He sorted through them slightly, picked out a larger one that met the weight requirement, and immediately began the transaction.
First, they traded the Yin Cocoon Silk, followed by a Field Spell House, along with nine Formation Spell Tiles. He didn’t miss any other items either—anything he liked, he agreed to trade for, as he had plenty of Anluo Stones on hand. Yet he didn’t dare be too reckless. After obtaining a batch of ancient spells and items, he left quickly, not wanting to stay too long.
Guo Shier left the trading hall, took Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan with him, and left the floating building. After saying goodbye to Xuan Ai on the platform, he immediately activated a cross-boundary spell. Fortunately, the spell formation here didn’t seal off the entrance—it only allowed exit, not entry. If Guo Shier wanted to return, he couldn’t come directly here; he had to enter from outside Haicheng.
After Xuan Ai left, experts from the Sea Gate began searching for Guo Shier. Many people wanted Anluo Stones, but Guo Shier left too quickly, leaving them without a chance to track him.
…
Guo Shier, along with Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, appeared in a secret realm—the same one where they had first discovered the Ancient Soul Altar. However, that altar had already been taken away by the Chenxiao Sect.
Eagle Demon looked around and asked, “Is this the secret realm in the great grassland?”
Guo Shier nodded. “We’ll stay here for a few days. There aren’t many mutated spell beasts here, but there are quite a few mutated spell insects. Their numbers aren’t large, so it’s a relatively safe secret realm.”
Luo Zhan smiled and said, “I’ll go set up a tent.”
Guo Shier said proudly, “No need. I have something great that’s perfect for testing.” The Field Spell House he had just obtained was ideal for trying it out. Spell Houses were difficult to craft, requiring many precious materials. Moreover, they were luxuries rather than necessities for exploration. With nine Formation Spell Tiles added to it, its practicality greatly increased.
This was the first time Guo Shier had examined the Spell House closely. When he first got it, he even thought it was ridiculous, unable to believe that a Spell House could be something like this—it looked like a toy house, only the size of a palm, covered densely with spells. It was a small, snow-white house with two floors: one upstairs and one downstairs, and a flat roof.
The Spell House wasn’t very elaborate, but it was delicate and quite amusing.

Placing it on a flat surface, Guo Shieru cast a series of spells. Silently, a small two-story white building appeared before them. He scattered the nine array talismans in his hand and then cast nine more spells. A cloud of smoke rose, and a few seconds later, everything around returned to its original state. Guo Shieru wondered, “Huh, no changes?”
Eagle Demon said, “I’ll go check outside.” He flew away and returned after a while, saying, “From the outside, it just looks like an ordinary forest—no signs of anything unusual.”
Guo Shieru also flew out to observe and returned after a moment, smiling, “The effect is quite good. It’s a pity it can’t prevent people from entering; another array needs to be set up. Well, let’s go inside and take a look.”
Before even entering the cottage, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were amazed, and Guo Shieru was equally impressed. The seemingly simple two-story building, square and unremarkable on the surface, had actually transformed from a palm-sized toy-like cottage, which was truly astonishing.
The cottage had basic doors and windows. Inside, the room wasn’t large—only about twenty square meters—with a simple staircase leading upstairs. Remarkably, the floor was covered with thick animal skins, clearly from low-level mutated magical beasts. They were soft and thick; stepping on them would sink down to the ankles, offering great comfort.
The room upstairs was the same size, also covered with thick animal skins, along with a small low table. Guo Shieru said with a smile, “A pretty nice place to rest. Hehe, we won’t need to set up tents anymore.”
Eagle Demon said, “I took a look at the runes on the walls. These runes not only reinforce the structure but also protect against insects… Quite interesting. Professionals from high-level continent sects really know how to enjoy life.”
“A magical house—what an amazing invention!”
Guo Shieru collapsed onto the thick fur, stretching comfortably, then sat up and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, sit down. Let’s rest for a while. Hehe, I got quite a few good things this time—some coordinates to secret realms, along with detailed maps of the Star Continent and the Earthfire Continent.”
The Star Continent was a hurdle Guo Shieru couldn’t bypass. To find Master Luo Jie, he had to go to the Star Continent again. As for the Earthfire Continent, which Master Kuumu had mentioned, it was uncertain whether Master Luo Jie had ever been there, so he needed to check it out. As for the Star Continent, he planned to visit it later.
Eagle Demon asked, “Earthfire Continent?”

When Guo Shieru was talking to withered wood, Eagle Demon wasn’t around, so he didn’t know anything about the Earthfire Continent. Guo Shieru said, “Yes, it’s the Earthfire Continent. I heard that Black Symbol People were discovered there. I don’t know if it’s the old man. I plan to go and take a look. If it has nothing to do with the old man, I’ll head to the Star Continent again.”

Eagle Demon showed a wry smile. He knew how dangerous it was to go to the Star Continent again. If discovered, who knew if he could escape. He was well aware that the people of the Star Sect must be going crazy.

Luo Zhan stood up and said, “I’ll go outside for a patrol.”

Guo Shieru nodded and said, “Uncle Luo, come back for dinner in a while.”

Luo Zhan went downstairs straight to the edge of the symbol array and found a relatively hidden place to hide.

Eagle Demon said, “I’ll go out and check too. Shieru, you rest.”

Guo Shieru didn’t need to rest, but he had a lot to do. He needed to organize the items he got from the floating building, as well as some symbol diagrams and coordinates of secret realms.

First, he put several Ancient True Symbols into his life symbol sphere, then took out the materials he obtained, identified them, and stored them in the spirit-hiding compartment of his life symbol sphere. These were all rare and valuable items. Although he didn’t need them for now, he could use them once he reached the rank of Great Sage. He thought far ahead. He had liked hoarding things in his past life, and unbeknownst to him, he continued some of those habits in this life.

He picked up a symbol diagram, fiddled with it for a while, then pressed it against his forehead. Countless pieces of information about the Star Continent, along with its map, gradually appeared in his soul—much clearer than seeing with his eyes. The Star Continent was unexpectedly large, with many dangerous areas that even the Star Sect couldn’t control.

Next, he took out the symbol diagram of the Earthfire Continent and studied it for a long time. Guo Shieru couldn’t help but sigh. This place seemed rather sinister, even more dangerous than the Star Continent. The entire Earthfire Continent consisted of unstable volcanoes, with magma and fire everywhere—no wonder it was called the Earthfire Continent. Strangely enough, there were quite a few sects here, and they were all very powerful.

Guo Shieru was very interested in the Earthfire Continent because the Ancient Flame Bird could showcase its strength there. Moreover, the Earthfire Continent was rich in fire-type mutated symbol beasts, which were food for the Ancient Flame Bird.

There were many coordinates of secret realms. After organizing them briefly, Guo Shieru couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. He realized then that the coordinates he got were quite ordinary; only a tiny fraction were special secret realms. He hadn’t had time to carefully consider them during the transaction and had rushed through the exchange, ending up at a disadvantage.

Finally, Guo Shieru took out the Giant Axe Talisman. This true ancient talisman was an offensive one. He now understood how rare high-level offensive talismans were. Since he began learning talismans, he had only obtained one damaged sword talisman. After years of repair and cultivation within his soul, its offensive power still fell short of expectations, making this Giant Axe Talisman extremely precious. After playing with it for a while, Guo Shieru solemnly released his life talisman sphere. With a slight movement, he drew the Giant Axe Talisman into it. A segment of inherited knowledge surged in instantly. This was the inheritance inherent in the Giant Axe Talisman—whomever obtained it could gain this knowledge. The Giant Axe Talisman was a top-tier offensive physical talisman; if it could be integrated with one’s soul, there was a chance to transform it into an ethereal talisman. Its creator was an Ancient Talisman Master, and without inheriting their knowledge, its full power could not be unleashed. Guo Shieru was overjoyed—he had received the inheritance from the Ancient Soul Altar. The Ancient Soul Altar was the legacy left behind by the supreme masters of ancient talismans, so the Giant Axe Talisman was perfectly suited to him. Moments later, another memory entered his soul: the incantations for using the Giant Axe Talisman. There were seven simple and straightforward incantations, each representing a different attack method. When the Giant Axe Talisman was fully connected to his life talisman sphere, the final segment of inherited knowledge appeared—methods for further cultivating it. Only then did Guo Shieru realize just how complex a true high-level talisman really was, far beyond what he had imagined. Transforming a physical talisman into an ethereal one was only possible for talismans of the True Spirit Talisman level or higher. Such ethereal talismans derived from physical ones were completely different from those created using incantations. Incantations could also produce ethereal talismans, but those were formed through the spiritual power of saints, and their offensive power paled in comparison to that of ethereal talismans created from physical ones. This was one of the reasons why true high-level talismans were so hard to find, especially those left by ancient talisman masters. Even with Anluo Stone, one could only obtain a valuable true ancient talisman, which made Guo Shieru marvel at their rarity.

With the Giant Axe Talisman, once fully mastered, Guo Shier’s strength could at least double. He would no longer need to use his Life Sword Talisman; instead, it could be stored in his Life Talisman Sphere as a treasure to suppress his soul. The Life Sword Talisman was irreplaceable—no matter how powerful the Giant Axe Talisman became, it could never replace it. It was formed through a transformation of the soul when ascending to Saint level. If he had time in the future, he could refine the Life Sword Talisman again.

After resting for two days, Guo Shier packed up his field talisman house and, along with Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, headed to the Earthfire Continent.

As they stepped out of the interdimensional talisman gate, scorching air hit them, and the intense heat was hard to endure at first. However, the Ancient Flame Sparrow on Guo Shier’s shoulder became excited. It chirped once, flew joyfully in a circle in the air, before landing back on Guo Shier’s shoulder.