Chapter 8: The Golden Fiend Pillar and the Fire Fiend Pillar (Part 1)

If all the符 fire in this land were collected, even if the Ancient Flame Bird could survive, it would not be able to endure it. This符 fire allowed it to grow stronger and larger, so it had no choice but to fight desperately.

The handsome old man laughed, “It dares to come out? Hehe, so obedient! Kill it!”
Hearing this, Guo Shier’s forehead broke out in sweat—the old man was far too powerful. He said, “I’ll do it!” and rushed forward, riding on the altar.

For this hunt of the Ancient Flame Bird, Guo Shier had a new idea. He unleashed the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, which instantly expanded to cover an area of a thousand square meters. A giant cauldron appeared in the air, and a stream of colored light rolled out from its mouth, stretching across the sky like an aurora. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped the Ancient Flame Bird.

Countless tiny runes suddenly appeared. Only then did Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan realize that those colored lights were actually made up of countless runes. Each rune was as small as dust, but once activated, their power was unimaginable. They instantly trapped the Ancient Flame Bird, preventing it from moving, despite its shrill cries.

Palm-sized runes flashed rapidly and flooded into the body of the Ancient Flame Bird. It struggled as if trapped in a mud swamp. Though it fought desperately, its body gradually shrank under the colored light.

The handsome old man was surprised, “Huh? You actually want to capture it alive?”
Guo Shier smiled, “Is that bad?”
The old man replied, “It’s good to put it in the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, but it will be attacked by the spirit beasts… Poor Ancient Flame Bird.”

The colored light gradually retracted, dragging the Ancient Flame Bird toward the mouth of the cauldron. Moments later, the light sped up, and in an instant, it pulled the Ancient Flame Bird inside. Guo Shier tapped the Soul Suppressing Cauldron happily and said, “It worked! It really can be used like this. Haha.”

A violent tremor shook the Soul Suppressing Cauldron. Guo Shier clearly felt countless spirit beasts pouncing on the Ancient Flame Bird. Before he could separate them, all that remained was a pile of bones—so fast that it was terrifying. After all, this was a level-14 fire-type Ancient Flame Bird.

The handsome old man could also see inside the Soul Suppressing Cauldron. He said, “With hundreds of thousands of spirit beasts attacking at once, even an abnormally evolved rune beast at level 15 or 16 wouldn’t stand a chance. It’s too powerful.”

Guo Shier grimaced and said, “Damn it! I made a mistake. All that’s left is some feathers and bones—nothing else. Everything was devoured by the spirit beasts.”

The handsome old man said, “There’s nothing to regret about. The Soul Beast has consumed it, allowing its strength to increase rapidly. Besides… you’ve already gathered countless advanced mutated talisman beasts, so you shouldn’t care about this one.”
Guo Shier had a collecting obsession. He said, “Forget it. Let’s give these Soul Beasts something to eat. We should collect Talisman Flames as soon as possible.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan agreed and flew off to speed up the collection. Guo Shier, along with the handsome old man, searched for the needed Talisman Flames. Their top priority was purple Talisman Flames, followed by mutated and special ones.
This area of Talisman Flames covered several hundred kilometers in radius, with some places sparse and others dense. Soon, the three of them separated to search for what they needed.
Guo Shier found an area of purple Talisman Flames about a hundred meters in diameter. The density there surprised him greatly. He and the handsome old man simultaneously conjured virtual talismans to start collecting the purple flames. In just a moment, they gathered hundreds of flame beads, sealed the purple flames, and stored them in the altar.
The handsome old man was even faster than Guo Shier. With a mere gesture of his hand, he could condense a purple Talisman Flame. The two of them circled in the air, continuously tossing the condensed flame beads into the altar. Soon, all the purple Talisman Flames in that area were collected, along with a few mutated ones.
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were a bit slower in collecting, but their harvest was still substantial. Talisman Flames were extremely precious in this world and not easy to obtain. They were essential for professionals, especially those at the altar level, who relied heavily on them for refining treasures or altars.
This hidden secret realm was indeed small. The three of them wandered around the Talisman Flame area for seven or eight days, gathering a large amount of them before returning to the Magma Sea. Guo Shier said with a grim face, “We still haven’t found the Golden Flame Well. Damn it, where is it?”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also looked frustrated. Although they were happy to have gathered so many Talisman Flames, they were annoyed at not being able to find the Golden Flame Well. Eagle Demon sighed and said, “We’re not only a lost team but also a team of directionally challenged idiots. We know there’s a Golden Flame Well here, but we just can’t find it… Damn!”
The handsome old man also sighed and said, “You kids… I really don’t know what to do anymore. Hey, Shier, fly forward. I guess if it’s not ahead, it must be behind. We’ve already explored both sides.”

Guo Shier looked around; he could no longer tell east from west, south from north. There were no landmarks here—just churning magma on the ground and a blood-red sky, all reflecting the color of the magma. It was impossible to see the sky or discern any direction in the surrounding red glow.

Flying forward for three days, they reached the edge, only to find another stone wall in their way. The old man said, “Alright, let’s follow the stone wall forward. I refuse to believe we can’t find the Golden Flame Spring Well!”

Everyone was stunned—so this guy wasn’t reliable either. But they had no other choice but to use this clumsy method and fly along the stone wall.

Along the way, they encountered some fire-type sigil worms. Not wanting to waste time, Guo Shier summoned the Soul Suppressing Cauldron. With a swirl of colorful light, he sucked them all into the cauldron in an instant. With this powerful weapon, he hardly had to worry about anything blocking his path.

Another ten days passed. Guo Shier was dizzy from flying nonstop. Even as a master of the seventh-tier altar, he found it hard to endure, let alone in such a harsh environment with temperatures as high as those of a giant furnace. One day, they flew to a protrusion on a cliff face, and the three of them stopped to rest.

There was a large protrusion on the cliff, with a small flat area on it, but no one could sit there because the rocks were entirely made of metal, dark red in color—essentially, they were red-hot irons. Anyone without protection who touched them would turn to ashes. So Guo Shier and the other two sat on their altars, hovering above the protrusion, at least to avoid the heat waves from the magma sea below.

Guo Shier said disheartenedly, “We still can’t find it… Damn it, could this not be the entrance to the Golden Flame Spring Well?”

The old man also lost his patience. After searching for so long, he was tired too. He said, “Maybe the Golden Flame Spring Well is right ahead. We’ll see it after flying a little further.”

Guo Shier stared blankly at the churning magma before suddenly saying, “The entrance… could it be in the air?”

Eagle Demon slapped his altar and said, “That’s right! Maybe it’s not below, but above. We’ve ignored the sky. Let’s fly toward the center!”

The old man said, “No, we came down from the center. If there’s a passage, it must be near the cave wall…”

Guo Shier said, “Never mind. Let’s fly upward.” The three immediately activated their altars and flew up.

A day later, they saw a light screen. The three of them, along with the old man, stared at it for a long time. Finally, the old man cursed, “Damn it! We’re a bunch of idiots!”

Guo Shier hit his forehead. They had wandered around in the magma sea below for so long, never expecting that the entrance to the Golden Flame Well would be right above them, in a very prominent spot—easily findable even by a fool. Yet they had struggled for so many days. He couldn’t help but say, “Uh, yes, we are three fools… no, four fools!”
The handsome old man snapped angrily, “I’m not a fool!”
Eagle Demon whispered, “That’s what you said just now…”
The handsome old man choked and fell silent for a moment before saying, “Let’s go in. After all this effort, we’ve finally found the entrance…” He had to change the subject; otherwise, he would truly be considered a fool.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Actually, it’s not bad. We’ve gained a lot down there.”
The handsome old man also became happy and said, “Yes, yes. At least we’ve collected countless talisman flames. Those things are consumables—each use reduces their quantity. Although we’ve plundered a lot before, it still wasn’t enough. Now we can use them freely.”
Eagle Demon said, “Hmm, getting lost has its advantages. Hehe, let’s go in and see what’s inside the Golden Flame Well…” The three of them rode the altar toward the light screen. They were familiar with this kind of light screen—whether going to the mainland or secret realms, they usually had to pass through passages formed by such screens.
Of course, each light screen passage was different, but no one cared about that—it wasn’t scientific research anyway. The three of them quickly passed through the light screen and entered the Golden Flame Well.
As soon as Guo Shier entered, the dazzling golden light blinded him. He raised his hand and cast an eye-clearing spell before he could see the surroundings clearly.
The Golden Flame Well was quite unique. There was a layer of a mixture of fire evil energy and gold evil energy floating on the ground, swaying like flames. The light it emitted was extremely bright, mainly golden with a hint of red—no wonder it was so glaring. Guo Shier couldn’t help but wonder, “There’s so much gold evil energy and fire evil energy. No wonder lower-level professionals can’t enter. With just this much evil energy, even a third-tier altar user might not be able to withstand it.”