After the sunrise, the morning light flooded in like a tide, and between the layers of mountains, mist rose, resembling a fairyland.
Xie Xuanyi used the paper umbrella as a walking stick, stepping deep and shallow into the mud.
The tallest mountain in the northern part of Yuzhu Town was called "Jinli." It was an ancient volcano. Being in the far north, it was covered with snow all year round, and this was the place the heavy fog hermit had gazed upon before his death.
"Soul Summoning Banner, Soul-locking Banner..."
Along the way, Xie Xuanyi found numerous artifact refining objects from Yin Mountain, low in quality and looking dull, evidently the work of the heavy fog hermit.
The Spirit Control Technique sounded very domineering, but in fact, it required quite stringent conditions—
To control a living spirit and make it one's own, one needed to sign a soul contract within both parties' Purple Mansion Divine Souls!
In most cases, it was about the strong controlling the weak, so the several transformed spirit demons under the heavy fog hermit's command were not as strong as he was.
To control the strong as a weaker entity required the right timing and the right place, the aid of precious treasures, along with a vast fortune by one's side, to have even the slightest possibility.
All these objects were meant to assist with the Spirit Control Technique.
However, by the time Xie Xuanyi discovered them, they were already broken and scattered.
Xie Xuanyi crouched down and pulled a broken small banner from the snow, squinting and carefully examining it. The small banner had been burned with more than a dozen holes... Holding it for just a few breaths, he could feel a scorching, intense heat that burned to the core!
"This Jinli Mountain... really harbors demonic creatures?"
Xie Xuanyi threw away the small banner, frowning as he looked toward the mountaintop.
He took a light breath.
A strange feeling arose from the bottom of his heart.
Having slept for ten years, his life seemed frozen, while the world outside changed seasons, his world was encased in ice. Now finally seeing the daylight again and welcoming the light, but in his mind... everything suddenly went blank, as many things from the past surged over like a tide and then retreated as quickly.
He always felt, the scorching energy emanating from the tattered small banner was very familiar.
Was it an old acquaintance?
Moments later, Xie Xuanyi reached the mountaintop. The snow had melted, and this ancient volcano, silent for a millennium, seemed to show signs of revival. Plumes of steam spouted from its peak, and looking down, one could vaguely see splashes of crimson amidst the boiling white vapors.
"Demon! A Great Demon!"
Xie Xuanyi stared at the base of the volcano for a long time, eventually expressing these words with a grave expression.
The one at the bottom of the mountain was certainly a peerless Great Demon!
The halo of light streaming out was mixed with each strand of demon energy!
The density of this essence of demonic energy was truly unusual—
Xie Xuanyi stood at the mountaintop, and within a few breaths, he felt his breath burning hot, as if his lungs were on fire!
If it had been an ordinary person who climbed this mountain, they would probably have been ignited in an instant!
However, judging from the demonic energy currently emanating from Jinli Mountain, the Great Demon residing at the base must be in an extremely weakened state...
This was the reason why the heavy fog hermit had lingered in Yuzhu Town, unwilling to leave.
He had really stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Xie Xuanyi looked around. Everywhere there were traces of shattered formations and scorched bloodstains of deep red—clearly, the heavy fog hermit had been attempting to use the Spirit Control Technique to subjugate the peerless Great Demon at the base of the volcano all this time!
But all these attempts had ended in failure!
"Boom!"
The muted sound of an umbrella opening echoed atop Jinli Mountain.
Xie Xuanyi silently took two steps forward and then simply leapt down.
Xie Xuanyi knew that this was actually a very foolish act.
His strength was now only a fraction of what it once was, and even defeating the heavy fog hermit had taken a good deal of effort. Since it was confirmed that there was a formidable Great Demon at the base of Jinli Volcano, the urgent priority should be to keep away.
But...
For no apparent reason, Xie Xuanyi had a thought.
["Go down and take a look."]
The true cultivation of a Sword Cultivator is not actually a sword.
It's precisely such a thought.
Xie Xuanyi believed in his "intuition", that it would not deceive him... From the moment he set foot on Jinli Mountain, he felt a familiar presence, and now he wanted to see if there was a "former acquaintance" he knew living at the base of the volcano.
Boom!
A tide of air rushed toward him, and with a hiss, the oil-paper umbrella ignited midair, by the time Xie Xuanyi landed, only a lonely skeleton of the umbrella remained.
At the base of Jinli Mountain, ash fluttered through the sky, demonic energy soared, and flames darted about.
Thousands, nearly tens of thousands of red flame strands flew about in the air, like horsetail whisks, scattering thousands and millions of streaks of light.
Xie Xuanyi stretched out his palm, touching the gorgeous, crimson light from afar...
These ashes.
They seemed to breathe.
The demonic aura emanating from this place was hundreds, thousands of times stronger than at the mountain peak, but Xie Xuanyi felt no sense of danger...
A Great Demon who has truly attained the Dao usually conceals its aura, appearing before others in human form.
Only when they lose consciousness and cannot control themselves do they emit a vast amount of demonic energy.
"Could it really be... a former acquaintance?"
Xie Xuanyi casually plucked a strand of the scorching scarlet light that grazed his cheek. Nourished by the dense demonic energy, this strand of light didn't dissipate, but rather solidified gradually into a feather.
Xie Xuanyi moved forward.
He clearly saw the "dharma" made up of countless streaks of light.
This myriad threads of demonic aura coiled at the base of Jinli Mountain, swirling, lingering for a long time.
If someone entered the base of the mountain and observed closely, they would discover that these tens of thousands of rays of light were actually forming an immensely huge "Phoenix" dharma!
"Is this… a Phoenix?"
Xie Xuanyi was stunned for a moment.
His first response upon seeing this dharma was, why did he feel a sense of "former acquaintance" with the Phoenix?
Humans and demons were never at peace.
He was the Sword Dao genius of Da Sui Sword Palace once in a hundred years, killing demons when encountering them, exterminating devils when meeting them, how could he be related to the Phoenix?
The next moment, it was as if his sea of consciousness was tearing apart.
"Ugh…"
Xie Xuanyi let out a pained moan from his throat.
He instinctively reached up to hold his forehead, staggering toward the center of the enormous dharma.
The sky full of luminous light, as vivid as blood, swirled around his white clothes.
Surprisingly unobstructed, Xie Xuanyi easily made his way to the "center of heaven and earth" under the cover of the dharma. It turned out that the dazzling and majestic Phoenix Dharma above was nothing but an illusion; the sky full of light had long lost its lethality and was merely imposing in appearance… This was why the Distracting Fog Daoist, despite his low realm, dared to stay here—the owner of this dharma had fallen into a deep slumber.
Hundreds of flames had built a tall throne at the base of Jinli Mountain, each strand of fire emanating a dark black color.
This Phoenix Fire throne was even more majestic than the dharma above.
It's just a pity.
Fast asleep on the throne was a red-haired little girl who looked to be about eight or nine years old.
The little girl was draped in a tattered garment made of an unknown material, bathing in Phoenix Fire without burning. Because she was so small, the tall and magnificent throne seemed more like a cradle, and the little one curled up and slept on it, using fire as her blanket, appearing to be sleeping very soundly.