Chapter 7: Discovering the Ancient FlameSparrow (Part 2)

Such a rapid hunting speed surprised both Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan. Eagle Demon flew over and asked, “Why so fast?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Good luck—just happened to have the Soul Suppressing Cauldron to help.” He had seen Li Ran and other ninth-tier and above altar professionals easily hunt high-level Aberrant Symbol Beasts, but only when it was his turn to act did he realize that even a fourteen-tier Aberrant Ancient FlameSparrow was extremely difficult for him to deal with.
In fact, if Guo Shier had been patient enough, the Ancient FlameSparrow still wouldn’t have been able to escape, but with the Soul Suppressing Cauldron and the Altar, killing it became much easier.
Elder Shuai said, “Listen… that Ancient FlameSparrow seems to be trying to escape. Chase after it quickly!”
Indeed, the Ancient FlameSparrow’s cries were extremely shrill, and it was getting farther away. Guo Shier shouted, “Let’s chase!” He took off first, with Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan following closely behind. The two exchanged a few words before covering Guo Shier’s position behind the altar.
The three of them dashed through the scorching heat currents and vanished from that spot in an instant.
Soon, they spotted the desperately fleeing Ancient FlameSparrow. Elder Shuai stuck out half of his body, resting his chin in his hands with his elbows on the altar, and said, “Hmm, a clever bird… knows to run away, but in this sealed place, where can it go? Hehe, two Ancient Flamequins? No one would believe that.”
Guo Shier said, “I’ve already obtained one Ancient Flamequin’s soul, but it was damaged by a Soul Devouring Beast. To restore its strength, it needs to devour dozens of Soul Beasts. Hehe, I’ll look for an opportunity to refine it to create another Soul Devouring Beast. The soul of an Ancient Flamequin naturally complements Fire Evil. If successful, a Soul Devouring Beast will be far stronger than a Soul Beast.”
After two days of relentless pursuit, Guo Shier had to admit that Ancient Flamequins were incredibly fast. Even though the three of them used teleportation from time to time, they could only slightly narrow the gap and never catch up with that lightning-fast bird. Guo Shier grumbled, “This bird… it’s too fast. Ugh, isn’t it tired?”
Elder Shuai tapped the altar with his fingers and said smilingly, “It’s about to run out of strength. Hehe, compared to high-level professionals, it’s still far behind… Kid, keep going! Exhaust it!”
Guo Shier complained, “Elder Shuai, I’m almost exhausted too!”

The handsome old man clapped and said, “He can’t die, keep going! Hehe!” He seemed very happy. Of course, he also understood that with such pursuit, Guo Shier was completely unharmed; he was just talking nonsense. Others might not realize it, but the handsome old man knew very well how much potential Guo Shier had.

Although Guo Shier wasn’t tired, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were struggling more, gradually falling behind. Guo Shier ignored them and continued to chase frantically. The handsome old man said, “Haha, I get it! Look ahead… that’s the entrance to the Golden Flame Well!”

They saw the Ancient FlameSparrow dive into a light screen. Guo Shier was familiar with such light screens—they marked the entrances to secret realms. But this entrance was different; it was crimson in color, with magma flowing in, so half of the screen was submerged in the magma stream, forming a small vortex.

In just a few seconds, Guo Shier reached the light screen. Without time to observe carefully, he shouted, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, come in with me…” and rushed into the screen. A dozen seconds later, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan rushed over as well, following without hesitation.

As soon as Guo Shier entered the light screen, he felt a sense of coolness. In the Magma Sea, the scorching environment exerted immense pressure at all times. After entering the screen and arriving in another place, it was still hot, but there was no such extreme pressure anymore.

The handsome old man exclaimed, “Damn! That’s the Land of Symbolic Fire!”

Guo Shier’s eyes shifted as he asked, “Where’s the Ancient FlameSparrow?” Looking around, the Ancient FlameSparrow was nowhere to be seen—unknown where it had flown off to.

The handsome old man said, “Ignore the Ancient FlameSparrow. That’s the Land of Symbolic Fire… such a rare find! Hurry over!” In just a few words, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan had reached behind Guo Shier.

Eagle Demon asked, “Where’s the Ancient FlameSparrow?”

Guo Shier replied, “It escaped. That guy is clever, hehe. But… over there is the Land of Symbolic Fire!”

Luo Zhan asked, “Is this the Golden Flame Well?”

The handsome old man said, “It shouldn’t be the Golden Flame Well, hehe. You see, only advanced professionals can enter the Golden Flame Well. If they had come here, they wouldn’t have left this Land of Symbolic Fire intact—its Symbolic Fire would have been taken away long ago. Hmm, this must be a secret realm hidden in the Magma Sea. Without the Ancient FlameSparrow leading the way, we wouldn’t have been able to find it.”

Guo Shier thought for a moment and nodded, “That’s right. The Magma Sea is filled with hot steam, and everything is fiery red. If you weren’t close by, you’d never be able to spot that light screen, hehe.”

The handsome old man said, “This secret realm isn’t very large…”

Guo Shier asked, “How do you know?”
The handsome old man rolled his eyes and said, “Idiot, haven’t you used your own soul to sense it? You’re no longer a low-level professional. Professionals at the seventh-tier altar are the top professionals in this world. Can’t you even master such a basic skill?”
Actually, it wasn’t Guo Shier’s fault. His progression had been too fast; he hadn’t had time to process or practice many things. He would only look up ancestral memories when he needed something and then learn how to use it—most of which were basic skills for altar-level professionals. He smiled bitterly, realizing the old man was right.
After feeling around a bit, Guo Shier found that this secret realm was indeed small, with only one entrance and exit. The environment here was also peculiar. The entrance was on the rock wall of a canyon, where magma flowing from the sea of magma entered through the light-screen entrance and then flowed down the canyon. From here, one could see a slightly lower plain on the other side—free of magma, covered entirely in black rocks from which countless sigil flames erupted.
Sigil flames were a very special kind of fire that burst up from the ground, forming columns of flames of various colors that swayed unpredictably, like light beams of different thicknesses. There were countless holes in the black ground. At first glance, Guo Shier saw patches of purple flames—those were the highest-quality purple sigil flames. He said, “I didn’t expect there to be sigil flames here. I remember there was also a patch of them in my hometown…”
Eagle Demon laughed and said, “Yes, the Yanhu Secret Realm. Hehe, I remember we got a lot of sigil flames there.”
Guo Shier’s mind wandered. He sighed and said, “So many years have passed. The Northern Sigil Sect… no longer exists.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also showed a hint of sadness. This world was cruel. Although they had avenged themselves, what they had lost could never be regained. Guo Shier shook his head, as if trying to shake off those memories. He said, “Alright, let’s collect the sigil flames.”
The handsome old man said, “Don’t rush. Let me first refine the Jiebaina Pearl to replenish some sigil flames.”
The Jiebaina Pearl was composed of countless flames, with sigil flames being the most important component. Guo Shier said, “Okay, let the old man go first. How long will it take?”
The handsome old man laughed and said, “It won’t take long. Just a moment. I’ll have the Jiebaina Pearl absorb some sigil flames to strengthen itself.”
The Jiebaina Pearl flew out. It was a sphere that zipped up above the land of sigil flames, dropping countless thin strands of flame that instantly pierced into the purple sigil flames.

The handsome old man continuously summoned virtual talismans, with Guo Shier coordinating with him as the two began the ritual in perfect sync. Jie Bainazhu quickly drew in the talisman flames spewing from the ground. Strangely enough, Jie Bainazhu didn’t focus solely on the purple talisman flames—it also drew in the red and yellow ones, as well as various other types of flames. There were many strange kinds of flames here, such as black or multicolored ones. After a while, the handsome old man shouted, “Alright, it’s time to retrieve it!” Jie Bainazhu flew back and landed between the two of them. Neither Guo Shier nor the handsome old man stopped; they continued to summon countless virtual talismans for the ritual. Then, Guo Shier took out hundreds of Soul Bead and inserted them one by one into Jie Bainazhu. The handsome old man also kept working, taking out a pile of Soul Beads and crushing them before inserting them as well. Inside Jie Bainazhu, several hundred flame threads appeared—each requiring a Soul Bead to infuse it with spirituality, making it more effective. The handsome old man couldn’t help but exclaim, “Someone who could come up with such a ritual is truly a genius—incredibly amazing. It wasn’t until recently that I understood how Jie Bainazhu was formed. To be able to control thousands of different flames into thread-like forms and then condense them into a sphere—this person is truly remarkable.” Guo Shier obtained Jie Bainazhu by chance, after receiving the inheritance from the ancient Miluo family. At that time, he didn’t yet have the ability to use it. As the two cast their final spells, Jie Bainazhu fell between them and was immediately grasped by the handsome old man. The handsome old man said with a smile, “Not bad, not bad—its quality has improved by at least 10%, hehe.” A 10% increase in power was quite remarkable. Guo Shier knew well that once a ritual was completed, it was difficult to improve upon it unless the owner advanced and performed the ritual again. He said with a smile, “If we encounter any strange flames in the future, we can use Jie Bainazhu to refine them.” The handsome old man shook his head and said, “That would be difficult. There are hundreds of types of flames inside Jie Bainazhu. I’ve only heard of them; I’ve never seen them in the wild. I don’t even know how they were collected—truly amazing.” Guo Shier said, “Let’s try to collect as many talisman flames as possible. Hehe, what we’ve gathered this time is enough for us to use.” The handsome old man replied, “There’s absolutely no way we’ll run out.”

The three of them began collecting frantically. By this time, their strength was vastly different from that in the Yanhu Secret Realm; they collected at an incredible speed. Moreover, they had sharp eyesight, and no pure talisman fire could escape their notice. In just a moment, a large portion of the talisman fire surging on the ground was gone.
A shrill cry suddenly rang out.
The Ancient Flame Finch could no longer bear it—this talisman fire was the foundation of its existence.