This place, the inheritance site of the Fire God, is actually more like a secluded paradise.
In this small world, Ma Hongjun's heart calmed down considerably.
A mountain, a river, a pavilion.
A man, a woman, and a phoenix.
If he didn't know this was truly the inheritance site of the Fire God, Ma Hongjun would have thought he had arrived at the secluded abode of immortal couples.
All matters concerning the Fire God's inheritance were overseen by Xiao Chi.
She was the Fire God's envoy on the Douluo Continent.
When Huo Wu awoke from her coma, all her injuries had healed.
The gunshot wound on her buttocks had healed.
"I broke through!"
Huo Wu exclaimed excitedly.
It seemed like a blessing in disguise; although she had been stabbed and cried out "Daddy," she hadn't expected that this single shot would directly push her to the level 60 mark.
"Huo Wu, you're awake!"
Seeing Ma Hongjun coming downstairs, Huo Wu immediately stopped smiling and gave him a cold look.
A gust of wind summoned the two of them outside.
"Your current strength is insufficient; you cannot undergo the Fire God's Trial for the time being."
Ma Hongjun had assumed that arriving at the Fire God's inheritance ground would allow him to undergo the Nine Trials of the Fire God.
"When will that be?"
"At least a Soul Saint!"
"Furthermore, as a successor of the Martial God Spear, you cannot use the Martial God Spear during the Fire God's Trial.
Moreover, to obtain the Martial God's inheritance, you must first pass the Fire God's inheritance trial before you are qualified to undergo the Martial God's trial."
"Why?"
"Don't ask such a foolish question. These are the Fire God's rules; you have no room for negotiation."
"Damn it..."
Ma Hongjun muttered to himself.
The Martial God Spear Martial Soul was the most important part of his strength.
Without the Martial God Spear, passing the trial would be difficult.
However, it made sense; if it were too easy, the God's trial would be meaningless.
"Your current task is to improve your strength. In the coming days, you two will train in the Fire Domain, helping each other to strive to reach the Soul Saint level as soon as possible.
There is no competition between you two. The Fire God's divine successor is only Huo Wu; Ma Hongjun is merely an accompaniment.
…
After you both reach Soul Saint, you can begin the Fire God's assessment."
The Blazing Phoenix finished speaking, conveying two simple meanings:
The true successor to the Fire God is Huo Wu.
Ma Hongjun is merely Huo Wu's companion, needing to help and accompany her in completing the Fire God's divine inheritance, and upon success, qualifying for the Martial God assessment.
The Martial God Spear cannot be used in the assessment, so Ma Hongjun urgently needs to upgrade his second martial soul, the Fire Phoenix.
The Fire Domain is not in this small world;
it requires teleportation.
The teleportation gate is in the lake.
"Summon your fire-attribute martial souls!"
Little Blazing Phoenix spewed a crimson flame in the air, instantly stirring the calm lake surface, and soon a vortex gate formed.
Huo Wu had already summoned the Fire Shadow. She looked curiously at Ma Hongjun, knowing from Xiao Chi's earlier reminder that Ma Hongjun possessed a hidden martial soul.
A crimson light erupted from Ma Hongjun's body, so bright that Huo Wu quickly closed her eyes; the light was too intense and radiant.
A pair of seven-colored wings materialized behind Ma Hongjun.
Connecting these illusory wings was a phoenix-shaped phantom of soul power.
On Ma Hongjun's body, there were also streaks of fiery red feathers.
At the same time, he summoned the Wind Dragon Wing Bone, and the phantom of the fire phoenix's seven-colored wings perfectly overlapped with the wing bone.
The wind and fire attributes didn't clash; on the contrary, they mutually enhanced each other.
Truly, a whirlwind of power!
"Twin martial souls, and a fire phoenix at that!"
Huo Wu's eyes widened, her chest heaving.
Ma Hongjun had hidden it far too well!
It turned out she hadn't known enough before.
Ma Hongjun's extraordinary abilities were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
"Let's go!"
Xiao Chi called out crisply, taking the lead and flying into the vortex.
Huo Wu was clearly not a first-timer in traversing the spatial portal, and she followed Xiao Chi into it at lightning speed.
Ma Hongjun flapped his wings, the wind wings fueling the flames, and he too quickly entered.
After a period of dark spinning,
when they opened their eyes again, they had arrived in a new place.
Teleportation is truly wondrous.
Ma Hongjun glanced back at the black vortex in the sky, savoring the memory.
A divine technique.
A scorching aura rushed towards him, the intensely hot air, thick with the scent of fire, instantly alerting Ma Hongjun to his surroundings.
They were now soaring through the air, and on the ground lay a molten lava lake, its
crimson magma bubbling and churning.
The lava lake wasn't very large, surrounded by diverse environments—hills, forests, and various terrains.
It was vast, its entirety impossible to grasp at a glance.
"Is this the Fire Domain?"
It was indeed somewhat similar to what he had imagined.
The Fire Domain's characteristics were also very obvious: it was filled with the aura of flames.
Take the area ahead, for example; it wasn't a lush green forest.
Instead, it was filled with fire-attribute plants, mostly fire firs, giving it a reddish hue.
This place wasn't actually much different from the outside world, except that the dominant color had changed to crimson!
"You will train within the Fire Domain. When you reach a certain level, you can request a rest. Just call me here."
"Xiao Chi, is this still Douluo Continent?"
Ma Hongjun asked doubtfully. This place didn't seem like a place ordinary humans could reach.
"Of course it is, but this is the deepest part of the desert, the edge of the continent.
This area has been hidden by the God of Fire through an array, so it's difficult for outsiders to find.
However, some humans might accidentally wander in, though the probability is very small."
After answering some questions, Xiao Chi flew away, heading somewhere within the Fire Domain.
The Fire Domain is an independent world created by the God of Fire. Although connected to Douluo Continent, it's no different from another world.
This is the God of Fire's divine domain in Douluo Continent, generally used to cultivate and test successors.
Such divine domains exist in many worlds, but the God of Fire is unsure which world he will choose his successor from.
Huo Wu had already spent three months here, so she had some understanding of this place.
"This place is perfect for fire-type soul masters to cultivate. Compared to simulated cultivation environments, this is the truly ideal environment for fire-type soul masters.
My rapid advancement is also due to cultivating here. I've increased my level by eight in just three months.
However, it's also very dangerous. If you just want to cultivate peacefully, it's best not to leave the lava lake area.
Just meditate here, absorb fire-type energy, and cultivate. Generally, no soul beasts will come here."
The Fire Domain, like the Star Dou Great Forest, is a gathering place for soul beasts, but here they are all fire-type soul beasts.
For many years, its development has been undisturbed by human soul masters from the outside world, so the soul beasts here are exceptionally powerful.
Just like the Sea God's inheritance ground, the sea soul beasts are generally much stronger because there has been no human invasion.
The Fire Domain has quite a few 100,000-year-old soul beasts!
For the Fire God, the soul beasts of the Fire Domain are a resource.
Soul beasts have grown and thrived in the Fire Domain, and after tens of thousands of years of reproduction, a group of high-level soul beasts has gathered.
At this time, the God of Fire would be able to arrive in Douluo Continent and use the resources accumulated in the Fire Domain over tens of thousands of years to cultivate successors, much like harvesting leeks.
Huo Wu hadn't hunted any soul beasts in the Fire Domain yet; she had previously cultivated around the lava lake.
Now that she had broken through to level sixty, she needed a soul ring to advance.
Ma Hongjun was currently level sixty-four, his second martial soul, the Fire Phoenix, could be equipped with six soul rings.
Xiao Chi hadn't told them about the map of the Fire Domain; they would have to explore it themselves.
This growth and training process was fraught with danger; Xiao Chi wouldn't provide assistance during the training. If they died in the Fire Domain, it meant elimination.
Therefore, the God's test was not simple.
However, the location of this lava lake was their safe zone.
It was their last guarantee; even if they encountered powerful soul beasts they couldn't defeat, they could escape here, get Xiao Chi's help, and be teleported away.
But the problem was whether they could reach this place while being chased by powerful soul beasts.
After temporarily understanding the rules, Ma Hongjun and Huo Wu decided to explore step by step.
They spread out, using the lava lake as the center.
The two divided themselves into four directions, starting with the east.
To the east lay a forest.
Upon entering, the two proceeded cautiously. The initial stretch was relatively peaceful, with no other creatures besides the firewood trees.
However, as they ventured deeper, the firewood trees grew increasingly tall, and
other species appeared.
"Is that a phoenix tree?"
Ma Hongjun exclaimed in surprise, staring at the enormous phoenix tree in the forest. He wasn't sure if it was indeed a phoenix tree; the shape looked similar, but it was engulfed in flames.
If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you'd hardly imagine a tree could spew flames.
"What kind of fruit is that?"
Ma Hongjun pointed to a fiery red fruit on the Fire Phoenix Tree.
"Fire Spirit Fruit!"
Huo Wu exclaimed in surprise.
Then she took out a book from her spatial soul tool:
*The Fire Domain Guide*.
This was given to her by Xiao Chi; it contained information about the Fire Domain.
Most of the creatures in the Fire Domain had never appeared in the outside world, so it was unfamiliar to newly arrived inheritors.
A *Fire Domain Guide* allowed them to look up anything they didn't understand.
Huo Wu hadn't finished reading it carefully yet, only skimming through some of the content.
Soon, she turned to the information on the Fire Spirit Fruit.
Fire Spirit Fruit: The fruit that grows on the Fire Phoenix Tree. It is edible and can enhance physical constitution and increase soul power, with even greater effects on fire-attribute soul masters and soul beasts.
It can increase the purity of the fire attribute!
This purity is a broad concept, meaning approaching the extreme.
"How's your purity?"
Ma Hongjun asked curiously; this was the first time he had encountered this concept.
"My fire attribute has reached 70% purity. When it reaches 100%, it will be the ultimate fire, and at that time, my martial soul will undergo a qualitative change!"
Huo Wu said with slight joy.
Before accepting the God of Fire's test, besides the strength of a Soul Saint, there was another hidden condition: the fire attribute must reach the ultimate fire.
"How do you know this purity?"
Huo Wu touched the ruby ring on her left hand and took out a red bead.
"It's this bead, just like testing soul power."
Huo Wu said as she poured orange-red fire-type soul power into the red bead.
The red bead immediately lit up with an orange-red light, and the orange-red light filled about 70% of the red bead.
Huo Wu handed the red bead to Ma Hongjun, waiting expectantly to see Ma Hongjun's result.
"You test it!"
Her fire attribute purity had reached 70%, which Xiao Chi said was already a very high talent.
Ma Hongjun had twin martial souls, and she didn't believe that the second martial soul could be that powerful.
The proud and domineering Huo Wu always wanted to have a competition.
Always wanting to surpass the man before her in some way,
Ma Hongjun, curious, casually took it.
A purplish-red flame flowed into the red bead.
The purplish-red light slowly brightened, soon reaching the spot where Huo Wu had just been.
Then, it went slightly beyond that spot and stopped.
"Hehe, right above you!"
Ma Hongjun laughed excitedly.
After all, he wasn't the successor personally chosen by the Fire God, and Ma Hongjun had thought his fire element purity was inferior to Huo Wu's, but unexpectedly, it was slightly higher.
"You, hmph!"
Huo Wu retorted angrily, her breasts heaving again.
A strong sense of defeat welled up in her heart. She had thought that since the Fire God had chosen her, her fire element talent should be unmatched, but she still couldn't compare to Ma Hongjun.
Was she destined to be inferior to Ma Hongjun for the rest of her life ?
Ma Hongjun was also somewhat taken aback. The Fire Phoenix Martial Soul was a mutation, and the initial mutation hadn't gone smoothly, so the fire element purity at that time shouldn't have been very high.
The Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower!
It was this immortal plant that had increased the fire element purity.
In the original story, Ma Hongjun's martial soul was enhanced by the inner cores of the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent, eventually leading to his becoming the Fire Phoenix, the King of Fire.
However, he ultimately failed to obtain the Fire God's inheritance.
Therefore, Ma Hongjun's mutated Fire Phoenix martial soul, without these altering circumstances, would indeed be inferior to Huo Wu's.
Ma Hongjun counted; on the enormous Wutong Fire Spirit Tree, there were only five fist-sized Fire Spirit Fruits.
"How do we divide them?" Huo Wu asked.
"Let's pick them first!"
Ma Hongjun said calmly. Their interests were aligned, so there was no competition. Moreover, all the resources of the Fire Domain belonged to them, so there was no need to fight over them.
Ma Hongjun flapped his wings, flew up, and reached out to pick the first Fire Spirit Fruit.
The fruit resembled a tomato, but was more translucent.
With a gentle touch, he plucked the fruit. Initially, it felt only slightly warm, but upon holding it, it became scalding hot.
Ma Hongjun quickly enveloped it with his soul power to insulate himself from the heat.
Fire Dance also flew up into the tree and began picking fruit.
Suddenly, a crow's cry rang out.
"Ah!"
Huo Wu cried out in alarm as a beam of fire struck her.
Ma Hongjun immediately became alert, looking up to see a gigantic, crimson-golden raven flying towards them.
Strangely, this raven had three legs.
Its entire body was engulfed in crimson-gold flames, and
it was currently spewing out streams of crimson-gold fire from its mouth.
Ma Hongjun quickly summoned his Martial God Spear, activating the Earth Spear for defense.
Huo Wu, already injured in the arm, swiftly circled around trees to evade the attack.
A burning light appeared in Ma Hongjun's eyes;
this suddenly appearing soul beast seemed to be...
a three-legged golden crow!
(End of Chapter)