Chapter 220: The Master of This Place

As he absorbed the heavenly fire, Su Che was occasionally struck by giant rocks falling from above. Fortunately, with his advanced cultivation level, he was not afraid of such impacts.

The entire volcano was collapsing—it was no longer just a simple eruption.

Su Che couldn’t predict what would happen next, but the fierce heavenly fire before him already indicated an unexpected great reward.

“Back then, Patriarch Guangwu, thinking of future generations, didn’t take the seeds of the heavenly fire. He must not have anticipated such a situation,” Su Che guessed inwardly.

Boom… Boom…

In less than fifteen minutes, the entire Jinwu Mountain collapsed. What was once a thousand-zhang-high mountain turned into a pile of rocks over a hundred zhang high. Most of the mountain sank deep underground, burying the underground fire vein as well.

However, in the area where Su Che was, the rocks that fell due to the eruption of the heavenly fire remained suspended in midair before being reduced to nothingness by the fire, creating a huge cavity hundreds of zhang in diameter deep underground.

Inside the cavity, Su Che continued to frantically absorb the heavenly fire, as if he could never run out of it.

After absorbing it for so long, the fire world inside the precious gourd was filled with the heavenly fire, greatly enhancing the attack power of the bronze gourd. From then on, just the heavenly fire within the gourd was enough to intimidate enemies.

Protected by the bronze gourd, Su Che, despite being in terrifying high temperatures, remained unharmed. His joy was indescribable—this reward was enormous. He hoped he could keep absorbing it, ideally for a whole day and night.

But wishes are nice, while reality is harsh. Suddenly, the eruption of the heavenly fire stopped abruptly. The swirling flames seemed to be frozen in place…

Then, with a whoosh, the raging heavenly fire in the cave retreated deep underground.

Su Che focused intently, guessing that something special was about to happen.

A few breaths later…

Boom!

With an explosive sound and splashing magma, the fire eye exploded, and a giant firebird flew out.

“The Three-Legged Golden Crow!” Su Che was shocked. His first thought was, “If a divine bird revives and attacks casually, an ordinary cultivator like me will turn to ashes…”

“No! It’s not the real Three-Legged Golden Crow!”

Lao He’s detection abilities detected something and he immediately shouted, “Master, catch it quickly! It’s just a golden crow form created by a magic artifact—fake!”

Su Che hesitated not at all. He turned the bronze treasure gourd, and a suppressive force was instantly generated…
Buzz…
The three-legged golden crow, which had been soaring high, suddenly slowed down but still rushed toward the layer of rocks above its head.
Holding the treasure gourd, Su Che was pulled upward by a powerful force.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…
The layer of rocks hundreds of feet thick posed no obstacle to the three-legged golden crow; anything would instantly be reduced to nothingness.
Soaring higher.
Su Che followed closely behind, as if an invisible rope was tied to one of the crow’s claws.
Boom!
A brilliant light flashed before their eyes as they broke through the rock layer and soared into the sky.
“What is that?”
The many cultivators gathered there were also dazzled, as if a second sun had emerged from the ground and risen suddenly.
“A three-legged golden crow?”
Countless exclamations arose instantly.
Prison the Demon!
Su Che felt that the three-legged golden crow’s momentum increased, trying to break free from the suppression of the bronze treasure gourd. In a moment of urgency, he instinctively used the divine skill of Prison the Demon.
Normally, this skill could only trap various living beings in the world, having little to no effect on magical artifacts. Yet unexpectedly, the appearance of a large character for “prison” suddenly stopped the crow’s movement.
“Trapped?”
Su Che himself was extremely surprised.
He didn’t have time to investigate why this happened. Instead, he poured more vital energy into the bronze treasure gourd, intensifying the suppressive force.
Trapped within the prison-like character, the three-legged golden crow, as if its spiritual energy was sealed, immediately reverted to its true form.
It was actually a golden three-legged medicinal cauldron. No! Perhaps it should be called a pill furnace!
“A pill furnace!”
The onlookers exclaimed in shock. Only then did they realize that the cultivator wasn’t recklessly trying to capture a divine bird but had already recognized it as a magical pill furnace.
“A treasure has appeared!”
In an instant, almost everyone with the ability to fly gathered around, all with the same goal: to snatch the treasure from Su Che’s hands!
Before they could arrive, attacks were launched simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, dozens of offensive magical artifacts rushed at Su Che.
Stealing the treasure!
There was nothing to say.
Su Che cursed inwardly but dared not relax his suppression of the three-legged pill furnace. In a flash, he released all the members of the Immortal Prison Team.
He wasn’t afraid even in terms of numbers!
The Snake Woman, the Little Dragon, and the Asura Demon Body flew toward the three-legged pill furnace, ready to defend it and prevent others from approaching to steal it.

Ten ghost servants surrounded Su Che. Together, they conjured a giant ghost claw that reached out to grab the magical artifacts approaching them.
Puff! Puff! Puff…
Many of these attack artifacts were merely low-grade magic tools used by cultivators in the later stages of the Qi Cultivation phase, with limited power. With just a slight touch from the ghost claw formed by the ten ghost servants in the later stages of the Foundation Establishment phase, they would either be reduced to dust or contaminated by ghost energy, losing all their spiritual essence and falling apart with a crackling sound.
Soul Capture! Soul Capture! Soul Capture…
While infusing true energy into the Spirit Treasure Gourd, Su Che did not neglect using his Soul Capture ability, as it only consumed mental energy and was one of the least resource-intensive techniques.
To deal with these low-level cultivators, the blue light of Soul Capture could be emitted in a spread pattern, slightly reducing its power, but it was still sufficient against them.
Crackling…
After several instances of Soul Capture, dozens of low-level cultivators lost their minds and fell like dumplings. From a height of nearly 200 zhang, if their defenses were insufficient, they would inevitably suffer brain explosions and be shattered to pieces.
Only over twenty people remained capable of flying, with the weakest among them still at the Foundation Establishment stage. Su Che observed carefully and even spotted three cultivators at the Golden Core stage. Judging by their attire, they seemed to be independent cultivators with no sect affiliation.
Realizing Su Che’s techniques were extremely strange, these twenty-odd people did not charge at him but hovered at a distance of 100 zhang, pausing for now.
Swish!
Another person flew up, reaching a distance of 30 zhang. Su Che still did not attack her.
It was the veiled woman.
“As expected, there’s a treasure here. That fellow cultivator deceived me badly,” the veiled woman said with resentment.
“I didn’t know either beforehand. Do you believe me now?” Su Che shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe you or not,” the veiled woman said in a low voice. “I’m not good at alchemy, and this pill furnace isn’t absolutely essential for me. But I can help you in return—afterward, you’ll need to compensate me.”
“No problem,” Su Che smiled. “What kind of compensation do you want?”
The veiled woman glanced at the three-legged pill furnace and said, “100,000 spirit stones, or other materials of equal value. Anything I can use will do.”
“Agreed!”
Su Che agreed without hesitation. At this moment, he needed to exert all his efforts to suppress that pill furnace and truly lacked the means to spare help. Having such an assistant on hand was not bad.
Of course, Su Che wouldn’t trust her completely and would remain cautious, as it was hard to say whether she might launch a sudden attack.
With treasures around, human hearts are treacherous.

Hearing the conversation between the veiled woman and Su Che, a bearded middle-aged cultivator a hundred zhang away shouted, “Water Moon Cave Heaven, are you clearly trying to oppose us?”
This bearded man possessed the cultivation level of mid-Jin Dan stage and was undoubtedly a prominent Jin Dan-level cultivator within the Tian Xuan Sect.
The title “Water Moon Cave Heaven” he mentioned reminded Su Che of the thirty-six Jin Dan-level cultivators under the jurisdiction of the Tian Xuan Sect, known as the Thirty-Six Caves Heavens.
They were so called because the places they cultivated in were considered blessed lands with abundant spiritual energy in the world of cultivators, accessible only to those with the greatest strength.
Of course, the Tian Xuan Sect didn’t regard those so-called blessed lands as anything special. Moreover, even as a super sect, it had to leave a path for the large number of ordinary cultivators. In these aspects, the Tian Xuan Sect wasn’t overly domineering.
And this veiled woman must be one of those Water Moon Cave Heavens.
The veiled woman replied calmly, “When a treasure appears, anyone can compete for it. I have the right to do so too. Or, I can choose to help whoever I want—it’s my freedom. There’s no need to speak of opposing anyone.”
The bearded cultivator sneered, “Though you say that, logically, you should distinguish between insiders and outsiders. We’re all part of the Thirty-Six Caves Heavens. If you don’t help me but instead help an outsider, isn’t that a bit excessive?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have deep ties with anyone,” the veiled woman replied coldly.
Su Che, however, smiled silently: An outsider? On this land, am I an outsider?
“Where are the disciples of the Tian Xuan Sect?”
Su Che suddenly roared.
“Here!”
With a loud noise, more than a hundred disciples of the Tian Xuan Sect from nearby, both in the sky and on the ground, shouted in unison, “Salute Senior Brother Tian Yu!”
“He’s from the Tian Xuan Sect?” Many cultivators changed their expressions, wondering, “And he’s even a senior brother?”
The veiled woman was also full of shock, but it wasn’t because Su Che was a disciple of the Tian Xuan Sect—it was the title “senior brother” that surprised her.
Since when had the Tian Xuan Sect produced such a “senior brother”?
Originally, there were only a dozen mid-Qi training outer disciples of the Tian Xuan Sect here. Later, that massive celestial phenomenon attracted all the flying disciples of the Tian Xuan Sect within a thousand miles.
Jin Wu Mountain was already within the territory of the Tian Xuan Sect. To be precise, the disciples of the Tian Xuan Sect were the true masters of this land, not any outsiders.

Just now, through Su Che’s display of the two powerful abilities of soul capture and demon imprisonment, as well as spirit pets like the snake woman, dragon, and ghost servant, these disciples of Tianxuan Sect are not fools. How could they not realize that the man was actually Master Tianyu, disguised? However, since the disciples of a top-tier sect are generally highly disciplined, none of them would rashly step forward and cause trouble before Su Che revealed his identity. It was only when Master Tianyu needed everyone to step up that they could…