Chapter 1: Thousand Layers of Harmonic Flame (Part 1)

Guo Shier didn’t know why Qi Wu Zhen had called him, but he didn’t dare delay. He said, “You stay here. I’ll go to Sister Zhen—she asked me to come.” With that, he took off and flew toward the mountain peak.

He soon reached the summit. Looking at Qi Wu Zhen’s altar now was truly spectacular. From a distance, it didn’t seem much, but up close, it was terrifying. It was a huge tower-shaped altar, a hundred meters tall, with each layer ten meters high. It was heptagonal and covered in countless runes. Guo Shier managed to recognize them as all related to fire.

Flames burned fiercely on each layer of the altar. Surprisingly, the flames were layered, each with a different color, and shadows of various spirit beasts could be seen flickering within them. Guo Shier quickly realized that most of these spirit beasts were Soul Fiends, with Fire Souls being the most numerous, followed by a small number of Golden Soul Fiends. There were so many that it was impossible to see clearly.

Guo Shier didn’t feel the heat from the altar’s flames. The blazing flames seemed like mere illusions, without any heat at all. He was shocked, realizing that Qi Wu Zhen had mastered control over flames to a very high level, able to perfectly regulate them. Truly, she was worthy of the title “Fire Devourer of Heaven.”

Guo Shier flashed up to the top of the altar. About a meter in front of Qi Wu Zhen, a ball of flame hovered in the air, emitting blinding white light that made it impossible to see what was being refined within it. He asked, “Sister Zhen, why did you call me?”

Qi Wu Zhen stared at the flame intently and said, “Sit next to me.” She slowly sat down, and the flame moved downward slightly, coming to her eye level.

Guo Shier sat beside her and asked, “Do you need my soul fluctuations?” He already guessed what Qi Wu Zhen wanted.

Qi Wu Zhen replied, “Yes. Just help me regulate them for two hours a day.”

Guo Shier nodded. “No problem. Shall we start now?”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Not yet. But stay with me. It won’t take long… You can watch me refine the artifact. Ask me anything if you have questions.”

Guo Shier secretly reduced the altar to the size of a sesame seed and hid it in his hair. Qi Wu Zhen asked, “Why did you reduce the altar?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Nothing special. Just in case something unexpected happens, I can protect myself quickly.” He made up an excuse to allow the old man to observe more easily. Since he rarely refined artifacts and the real expert was the old man, he needed to ensure the old man could see it so he could ask questions.

Qi Wu Zhen curled her lips. She knew the little guy was talking nonsense, but she didn’t bother to expose it.
The handsome old man was extremely excited. Guo Shier didn’t understand anything—the gap in skill levels was too vast, like asking a primary school student to watch a graduate student do homework; basically, nothing could be learned. But the handsome old man was different. If Guo Shier was a primary school student, then he was a university student. Allowing a university student to look at a graduate student’s textbooks meant he already knew a lot, and they could communicate. Of course, the handsome old man didn’t dare to ask directly; he had to rely on Guo Shier to ask on his behalf.
No one else could detect the communication between Guo Shier and the handsome old man. Even someone as skilled as Qi Wu Zhen couldn’t notice it. The spirit altar master and the sacrificed spirit communicated through souls. Unless the handsome old man intensified his soul vibrations and deliberately tried to communicate with others through his soul, no matter how skilled someone was, they couldn’t know of his existence.
The handsome old man said, “Kid, may I ask what kind of sacrificial treasure she’s refining?”
Guo Shier asked, “Sister Zhen, what kind of sacrificial treasure are you refining?”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled slightly and said, “Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame.”
Guo Shier was confused. “What does that mean?”
The handsome old man was shocked. He said, “Damn… Someone actually managed to refine such a sacrificial treasure.”
Qi Wu Zhen wasn’t impatient at all. She explained, “The Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame is a state of flame. Once refined successfully, it can be turned into my sacrificial treasure. This kind of sacrificial treasure is intangible, but it can also take a tangible form.”
The handsome old man said, “This is a top-tier method for refining sacrificial treasures—turning the intangible into the tangible and vice versa. It can serve as both a protective and an offensive sacrificial treasure. I heard someone succeeded in refining Ten-Layer Harmonious Flame, and its power is said to be astonishing. This is Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame… Incredible! This woman is amazing.”
Guo Shier’s mind stirred. Ten-Layer Harmonious Flame? Then there must be Hundred-Layer Harmonious Flame as well? He couldn’t help asking, “Is there also Ten-Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame?”
Qi Wu Zhen laughed faintly. “Ten-Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame… indeed exists, but I guess no one can refine it.”
Guo Shier asked, “Why?”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “It’s simple—there aren’t enough materials. If there were sufficient materials, I could refine it too, but it wouldn’t be very meaningful, because the difference in power between Thousand-Layer and Ten-Thousand-Layer Harmonious Flame is minimal. There’s no need to go to such lengths; enough is good.” As she spoke, she waved her hand in front of the flame, and a row of translucent boxes appeared, each about the size of a matchbox, with a different kind of flame flickering inside them.

She pointed at one of the boxes, and a crisp explosion was heard as the box shattered. A burst of flames erupted and was absorbed into the flames of the ritual treasure being crafted. One explosion after another followed, and soon, the flames from a hundred or so boxes were all incorporated into it. Guo Shier tried to identify them carefully, but he didn’t recognize a single type of flame, forcing him to smile wryly to himself.

The handsome old man remained silent, observing closely the techniques Qi Wuzhen used to craft the ritual treasure. Qi Wuzhen constantly cast spells. Her spells were unique—each spell could generate tens of millions of virtual symbols, leaving Guo Shier in awe. He couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Zhen, what technique is this? How can you generate so many virtual symbols at once?” He had learned from the handsome old man how to quickly generate virtual symbols, but compared to her method, it was nothing.

Qi Wuzhen replied, “This technique is quite ordinary. It’s what’s called ‘ten thousand spells with one hand.’ Don’t you know it?”

Not only Guo Shier didn’t know it, but even the handsome old man didn’t. He urged eagerly, “Kid, Shier, quickly ask her to teach you… This is a lost technique. Damn it, what era does this woman come from…?”

Guo Shier said, “I don’t know it. I’ve never even heard of it. Sister Zhen, hehe, please pass it on to me.”

Amidst her busy schedule, Qi Wuzhen pointed at Guo Shier’s forehead briefly before pulling her hand back. Guo Shier immediately received a portion of the knowledge passed down. Though the touch lasted only two seconds, the amount of knowledge transferred was substantial. Guo Shier closed his eyes in contemplation, his face showing delight. Then, he passed this knowledge on to the handsome old man.

“Ten thousand spells with one hand” meant that a single spell could generate tens of thousands of virtual symbols, but this required certain combinations first. It was similar to typing on a computer in his past life—each character or phrase originally had to be typed one by one, but if an entire article was written in advance and copied and pasted, the whole article would appear. “Ten thousand spells with one hand” worked in a similar way.

If prepared thoroughly, this technique was extremely useful, whether for crafting ritual treasures or for attack and defense, yielding remarkable results.

Along with this technique came numerous ready-made combinations of virtual symbols. The handsome old man was overjoyed; this method would save him a great deal of time. At his current speed of casting spells, using “ten thousand spells with one hand,” he could generate over a million virtual symbols in one second. Once accustomed to this technique, he could generate tens of millions in a second.

Guo Shier thanked her repeatedly, knowing how hard it was to acquire such a skill.

Qi Wu Zhen smiled gently and said, “No need to thank me. You can ask any questions you have. As long as I know the answer, I’ll tell you… as a reward for your soul fluctuations.”

There was a question that had been bothering Guo Shier for a long time. He said, “I do have a question. Sigh, I’ve been lost for a long time. I have a bunch of coordinates, but I can’t use them. The interdimensional talismans… only allow me to reach nearby continents and secret realms.”

This problem had tormented him for a long time. When his strength was low, having interdimensional talismans was sufficient. But ever since he was captured by the Gu Xi Long family, he became completely lost. He kept rushing around, but ended up going further and further away. Now, he didn’t even know where the territories of the four ancient families were. Although he had collected countless coordinates of continents and secret realms, he was still trapped here.

Qi Wu Zhen laughed mockingly. She said, “Lost? You’re really interesting. Just go back the way you came, right? It may take a while, but you can definitely get back.”

Guo Shier sighed deeply. If he could return the same way, he wouldn’t be so troubled. The problem now was that he couldn’t return at all—the paths were all in chaos, and Qi Wu Zhen was partly to blame for this.

He said, “I can’t find the way back. Everything’s in disarray. We’ve just been running around randomly, wherever we go.”

Qi Wu Zhen couldn’t help but laugh heartily. Guo Shier secretly admired her—even while talking to him, she didn’t delay in refining the sacrificial treasure. She laughed joyfully and said, “Lost little guy, haha. So what are you going to do?”

Guo Shier said with a wry smile, “Is there any talisman more powerful than the interdimensional talisman?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and asked, “There are many types of interdimensional talismans. Which one do you have?”

Guo Shier replied, “I don’t know. I only have one interdimensional talisman. I also have some other talismans, but they’re too weak.”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Show it to me.”

Guo Shier took out the interdimensional talisman. Qi Wu Zhen glanced at it and said, “It’s a very ordinary interdimensional talisman. Strange. Why don’t you refine your own interdimensional talisman? It’s not that difficult.” Everything seemed simple in her words.

Guo Shier said, “Sister Zhen, I can’t even refine such an interdimensional talisman.” A glimmer of hope flashed in his heart because Qi Wu Zhen was extremely powerful—she must know much more than he did.

Qi Wu Zhen shook her head slightly and said, “I no longer need interdimensional talismans. Well, though, you can give me a few coordinates. I’ll see if I can go straight there. If it’s too far, even I can’t do it. This world is too big.”

Guo Shier was overjoyed. He took out a jade talisman, thought for a moment, and left behind several coordinates—those of the continent where the Gu Xi Long family lived, the Star Continent, and the continent where the Fire Sect was located. As for the coordinates of his hometown, the Bei Fu Gate, he didn’t dare to leave them.

Qi Wu Zhen put away the jade talisman and said, “There’s no need to rush. We’ll talk about it after I finish refining it.” She simply couldn’t be distracted at the moment.

Guo Shier nodded. “Okay.” His heart was filled with hope—perhaps with Qi Wu Zhen’s help, he could really return home quickly.

It was unclear how much material Qi Wu Zhen had used, but the flame grew larger and larger. Gradually, even Guo Shier could sense that Qi Wu Zhen’s soul was unstable, with flashes of flame appearing in her eyes from time to time. Without Qi Wu Zhen’s reminder, Guo Shier began reciting scriptures silently. As soon as those waves of soul energy were emitted, Qi Wu Zhen’s expression softened.

Qi Wu Zhen temporarily stopped refining but kept the flame alive, gradually moving closer—this had become her habit. Since she needed to stabilize the flame, she couldn’t dive into Guo Shier’s arms as she usually did.

Two hours later, Qi Wu Zhen felt her soul refreshed, as if reborn. She smiled and said, “Very good. Do you want to keep watching from here or go down the mountain?”

Guo Shier replied, “I’ll watch a bit longer. If I have any questions, I’ll ask.” He actually wanted to go down the mountain, but the handsome old man wouldn’t allow it. It would be a shame to miss such an opportunity—having a top expert refine a sacrificial treasure openly and still be willing to answer questions.

Qian Chong Xie Yan was gradually taking shape. It looked familiar to Guo Shier. He said to the handsome old man, “Hey, handsome old man, this resembles the Jie Bai Na Zhu a bit…”

The handsome old man replied, “They’re completely different. What you see is just the appearance. The Jie Bai Na Zhu is a simple flame-based sacrificial treasure, unlike Qian Chong Xie Yan, which is a sacrificial treasure that combines attack and defense. The Jie Bai Na Zhu doesn’t have the ability to transform between virtual and real forms. Well, its shape does seem a bit similar though.”

Countless flames intertwined to form thin strands of fire. At first glance, they resembled those of the Jie Bai Na Zhu, but Qian Chong Xie Yan’s flames contained many golden strands, each covered in runes, with a few golden dots drifting within them.

Guo Shier asked, “Sister Zhen, is it almost finished?”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “Not yet. This is just a preliminary framework. It will take many more days to complete it successfully.”

Guo Shier also knew that refining a sacrificial treasure required a lot of time and materials. He asked, “Didn’t Qian Chong Xie Yan just start being refined now?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “The most difficult step has already been completed. Now, with enough materials, it can be finished quickly. It took me several years back then, and I kept it nurtured in my soul. Only after gathering enough materials this time did I start refining it again. The hardest part of Qianzhong Xieyan is the initial stage.”
Guo Shier asked a few more questions on behalf of the old master before flying down the mountain and returning to the talisman house by the lake.