Chapter 8: The Golden Fiend Pillar and the Fire Fiend Pillar (Part 2)

The Golden Fiend took shape!
Just a few hundred meters away, Guo Shier saw a remarkable sight and couldn’t help but exclaim, “The Golden Fiend has formed! Damn… it really has!”
It was a ten-meter-tall Golden Fiend Pillar standing on the ground, its surface shimmering with golden light—neither purely gold nor jade. Within the golden glow, threads of Fire Fiend energy flowed within it, creating a magnificent sight that seemed beyond anything in the human world.
Elder Shuai poked his head out and said, “Great stuff, really great stuff… What a pity!”
Guo Shier asked in confusion, “What’s a pity about?”
Elder Shuai smiled bitterly, “We can’t capture it. How unfortunate… When the Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend combine, along with the blood of advanced mutated beast symbols, it gains spirituality. We lack the power to capture it…”
Guo Shier immediately brought out the Soul Calming Cauldron and chuckled, “It wasn’t possible before, but maybe now…”
Elder Shuai’s eyes lit up. He slapped the top of the altar and shouted, “That’s right! The Soul Calming Cauldron can absorb anything with its colorful light. Haha, exactly! And you’ve already collected so much Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend energy—surely you can capture it.”
A beam of colored light emerged from the Cauldron and instantly absorbed the formed Golden Fiend. Elder Shuai rejoiced, “There should be more Golden Fiend Pillars. If we’re lucky, we might even find a Fire Fiend Pillar—that would be amazing!”
Guo Shier knew that the Golden Fiend Pillar was primarily composed of Golden Fiend energy with Fire Fiend energy as a supplement, formed by the essence of fire-type mutated beast symbols. The Fire Fiend Pillar, on the other hand, was dominated by Fire Fiend energy with Golden Fiend energy as a supplement. Each had its own unique properties and uses, with the Fire Fiend Pillar being even harder to capture. There was a layer of mixed Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend energy on the ground, over a hundred meters thick—without sufficient protection, it was impossible to descend.
Eagle Demon asked, “Shier, how far can you see?”
Guo Shier replied, “Not very far… only about a kilometer. The light is too dazzling.” He narrowed his eyes; even with the vision-enhancing spell, he still felt uncomfortable.
Elder Shuai pondered, “This place… um, it can’t be entirely filled with Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend energy. If we keep moving forward, maybe only this area is saturated with them—other places might not have any.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Let’s look around for more Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend Pillars. Hehe, we can also collect some more and add them to the Soul Calming Cauldron. It can gradually strengthen the Cauldron.”
Elder Shuai agreed, “Yes. In the future, we can store all offensive sacrificial treasures inside it, boosting its power by at least a significant amount. It would be a shame not to use it.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan didn’t have the ability to collect Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend energy, but if Elder Shuai purified it, they could still use it.

Guo Shieru slapped the Soul-Calming Cauldron, and immediately colorful lights swirled as a large amount of Fire Fiends and Gold Fiends were drawn into it. He had grown accustomed to using the Soul-Calming Cauldron to collect things, especially Fire Fiends and Gold Fiends, and he did it with great ease. As the Cauldron absorbed more and more Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends, the sea-like masses of them gradually diminished, revealing the gold and fire pillar formations beneath. The old man was overjoyed and said, “Haha, as I thought… they were all down there. Hurry up and collect them!” Guo Shieru directed the colorful lights to collect them one by one. The gold and fire pillars that appeared on the ground were all giant columns less than a hundred meters tall. Although not as massive as the first one, they were still enormous, with diameters of at least six or seven meters, mostly seven or eight meters. After collecting them all, Guo Shieru said, “It’s not working. I need to organize the Soul-Calming Cauldron; it’s too chaotic inside. There are too many Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends, as well as so many gold and fire pillars. It’s about to get out of control. Old Man Shuai, help me.” He hovered in the air and added, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, keep watch.” The two agreed and became vigilant. Guo Shieru retracted the Soul-Calming Cauldron and sent a trace of his soul into it, while Old Man Shuai entered directly. Guo Shieru said, “Old Man Shuai, I plan to refine 108 Gold Fiend pillars and 108 Fire Fiend pillars to create a giant talisman array. What do you think?” Old Man Shuai was a bit puzzled and asked, “Why 108?” Guo Shieru smiled and replied, “I don’t know either. It’s just that… 108 seems appropriate. As for what kind of talisman array, we can discuss it.” Old Man Shuai had no objections and quickly proposed a plan for a talisman array. It was an extremely complex ancient talisman array with illusory effects. Its greatest advantage was its vast size, and it could also nurture Spirit Beasts, turning some of them into Fiend Spirits. After discussing it for a while, Guo Shieru agreed to the plan, and the two began refining the Gold Fiend pillars. Old Man Shuai laughed and said, “Thankfully, we have the Solution Pearl. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have the ability to break down the Gold and Fire Fiend pillars, let alone refine them. Let’s get started.” This stay lasted over ten days. The Soul-Calming Cauldron now contained 108 giant Gold Fiend pillars and 108 Fire Fiend pillars, and the ancient talisman array was also completed. Guo Shieru drove the Spirit Beasts into the talisman array and said, “Old Man Shuai, we need to find another chance to test it. I wonder how much the power of the Soul-Calming Cauldron will increase after being enhanced by this ancient talisman array.”

The handsome old man said, “It’s not just a matter of increasing it by a few percent; it’s about doubling the power… or even multiplying it several times. That can only be determined after testing. By the way, this ancient talisman array has another very practical feature—it creates several huge spaces inside, and some items from the altar can be moved there.”

Guo Shieru nodded and said, “Let’s collect more Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends. We can also gather some Gold Fiend Pillars and Fire Fiend Pillars. If we can incorporate some of these into the Moon Blade, hehe, I think the effect will be great.”

The handsome old man replied, “Hmm, indeed possible. But… let’s talk about it later. This place really isn’t suitable for refining.” There was no choice but to refine the Soul Calming Cauldron here. If they didn’t refine it, it would be difficult to continue collecting Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends, so they had to stay and refine the Soul Calming Cauldron again.

The Soul Calming Cauldron was brought out once more. This time, a burst of colorful light emerged, and the Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends seemed to be drawn into a massive vortex, rushing into the Cauldron. In an instant, Guo Shieru trembled slightly. He exclaimed in delight, “Wow… the speed is amazing! Haha, one collection equals the amount I used to gather in a whole day!”

In less than an hour, the entire ground was exposed. It was unclear how much Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends the Soul Calming Cauldron had absorbed, but the exposed ground was covered with substances similar to Gold Fiend Pillars and Fire Fiend Pillars. Guo Shieru collected them without hesitation, gathering countless of them along the way.

These Gold Fiends and Fire Fiends were consumables, and collecting more meant they could be used gradually in the future, so Guo Shieru wasn’t afraid of having too many.

Eagle Demon returned from scouting ahead. He said, “Shieru, there’s a cliff soaring into the clouds ahead. I didn’t get a chance to look closely, but it seems we can exit through it.”

Guo Shieru and the others flew over and soon saw a steep cliff. The cliff was also made of metal, shining brightly, with no plants on it. Anything other than metal couldn’t survive under the attack of Fire Fiends and Gold Fiends.

The handsome old man tilted his head upward and after a while said, “It’s really damn high… Let’s fly up and take a look!”

Guo Shieru made the altar fly upward. He laughed and said, “I hope it’s not scorching hot up there. I’ve been almost melted by the heat these past days.”

After flying for half an hour at high speed, the three of them couldn’t even tell how high the cliff was. When they reached the top, they looked down at the darkness below—there was no way to see the bottom. Guo Shieru sighed and said, “The terrain of this world… sigh, it’s truly incredible.”

When he looked back, he was stunned.

It was a primeval forest, a forest of green. Having spent so long in the sea of magma underground, surrounded by red light with not a trace of green in sight, the green forest before him and the white clouds floating in the sky made him feel like crying, as if he had crawled back from hell to the world of humans.

After a while, Guo Shier said, “I never knew… that this sky, this land, this forest could be so moving…”

The handsome old man narrowed his eyes and said, “How could I not be moved…?”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan stared in awe at the scenery before them; they too were somewhat moved. After a while, Eagle Demon said, “It’s better to avoid the sea of magma… staying there for too long will make one extremely irritable.”

Guo Shier said, “It seems we’ve come to the Golden Flame Plain Well. The two obstacles ahead make it difficult for most professionals to enter. Hehe, let’s fly inside to see if there are any professionals around.”

It was a world of green mountains and lush vegetation, with no trace of the sea of magma at all. Taking a breath of the fresh air, Guo Shier felt much better. He put away the altar, descended to the ground, stretched, and said with a smile, “Sitting on the altar the whole time made me feel uncomfortable. Now I’m much more comfortable. Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, come down too. Hehe, we should find a place to wash up first.”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan laughed as they put away the altar. Eagle Demon said, “There’s a river over there. I’ll scout ahead; follow me.”

A moment later, the three of them arrived by a small river. Although there was no shortage of water in the sea of magma, and the altar had a dedicated water storage area, plus Guo Shier had the Soul Spring on the altar, they still hadn’t had time to wash since flying there. Without even taking off their clothes, Guo Shier dived into the water. He put his clothes away in the water and said with a smile, “It’s so comfortable. Everyone, come down too.”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan followed suit and dived into the river. They also took off their clothes and bathed naked in the water.

The three of them didn’t know how long it had been since they last took a bath. The water in this place was extremely clean, allowing them to see the bottom at a glance. As Guo Shier soaked in the water, he noticed a layer of black substance floating away with the current. He said with a wry smile, “How could I have endured not bathing for so long…”

Eagle Demon also exclaimed in dismay, “Ugh, it’s so dirty! There’s at least eight pounds of old mud on me… maybe ten.”

Luo Zhan laughed, “It’s scary, haha.”

The three of them bathed for almost half an hour. Guo Shier said, “It’s a shame there’s no soap…”

Eagle Demon asked in surprise, “Soap? What is that?”

Guo Shier said, “Things for bathing—too bad there aren’t any here.”
Luo Zhan replied, “Haven’t heard of it… Soap? Sounds like some kind of material.”
Guo Shier was instantly speechless. He flew onto the shore and hovered in the air, feeling comfortable as the cool wind blew on him. He sighed and said, “The wind… it’s so cool…” He glanced down and couldn’t help but smile—this was still a joke from his past life.
He shook his body lightly, sending droplets flying, and changed into new clothes in midair. The Eagle Demon also flew up and quickly changed, saying with a laugh, “Feels great. We should bathe more often. Haha, Old Luo, you’d better come up soon—we’re leaving.”
After washing himself clean in the water, Luo Zhan lay there, almost falling asleep. Hearing this, he said, “Wait a bit. It’s so rare to have water—let me stay a little longer.”
Guo Shier laughed and said, “Uncle Luo, someone’s coming, hehe.”
With his eyes closed, floating with the current, Luo Zhan said, “If someone’s coming, let them come. Who cares who it is… They can’t stop me from bathing…”
Guo Shier said cheerfully, “Hmm, it seems to be a woman…”
Hearing this, Luo Zhan startled and quickly raised his head, asking, “Who?”