Vermilion Bird Ridge!
It perfectly illustrates the saying, "
The higher you climb, the colder it gets!" In the forest, you could encounter one or two kinds of soul beasts every short distance, and even ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts could be seen several in a single day.
However, Vermilion Bird Ridge was different.
Vast and sparsely populated.
A man and a Vermilion Bird flew low in the sky.
Ma Hongjun had been away from the little Vermilion Bird's home for three days, and hadn't encountered a single soul beast along the way.
This was extremely unusual.
The Vermilion Bird was the overlord of the sky; it shouldn't be so rare, and its shadow should be visible in the air.
According to the Fire Domain Guide, the number of Vermilion Birds was considerable.
The Vermilion Fruit that the little Vermilion Bird carried had already been consumed by the man and the bird.
In return, Ma Hongjun shared his dried meat and fruits he had picked in the forest with the little Vermilion Bird.
These were new to the little Vermilion Bird; it seemed to have only ever eaten Vermilion Fruit before.
Vermilion Fruit was a treasure with very strong energy; even just smelling it and absorbing its aura wouldn't make it hungry, let alone eating it.
Moreover, for a powerful race like the Vermilion Bird, they are naturally able to absorb the energy of heaven and earth to replenish their cultivation.
In a place like Vermilion Bird Ridge with abundant energy, they only need to cultivate and don't have to worry about trivial matters like eating, drinking, and relieving themselves like humans. For
three consecutive days, they hadn't encountered any other Vermilion Birds, nor even any powerful spirit beasts.
Ma Hongjun felt this was abnormal, especially considering that the little Vermilion Bird's parents weren't with it.
The little Vermilion Bird also seemed to have been lonely for a long time.
Therefore, Ma Hongjun felt that something big must have happened in Vermilion Bird Ridge.
Generally speaking, the center of a region is the real stage; if something happened in Vermilion Bird Ridge, then these powerful spirit beasts would likely be gathered in the center.
"Little Vermilion Bird, speed up, let's go to the central area."
Ma Hongjun, filled with curiosity, increased their flying speed.
The little Vermilion Bird seemed to be only at the hundred-year level.
However, its strength was already higher than most thousand-year level spirit beasts.
Its flying speed wasn't slow, especially in the Fire Domain.
However, it was still much slower than Ma Hongjun.
Taking care of the little Vermilion Bird's speed, the two flew towards the center.
Ten days later.
A towering mountain peak appeared before Ma Hongjun!
Truly, this mountain was incredibly tall!
Ma Hongjun's current low-altitude flight was only below the mountainside.
For a moment, the summit was obscured by clouds.
The little Vermilion Bird, seeing the peak, chirped excitedly,
flapping its small wings, afraid of hitting Ma Hongjun, its eyes filled with longing.
"This must be... Mount Vulcan!"
Ma Hongjun gazed at the mountain before him with anticipation.
The Fire Domain Guide specifically describes Mount Vulcan as the highest mountain in the Fire Domain.
However, this is only the description in the guide.
The soul beasts of the Fire Domain are unaware of the true purpose of this place.
In their minds, it is a sacred mountain, a holy place.
Only soul beasts of the 100,000-year level are qualified to set foot here.
This is because Mount Vulcan has a Heavenly Fire Pool where soul beasts can be reborn!
Furthermore, the Fire Domain Guide states that Mount Vulcan has another important function: selecting the inheritors and envoys of the Fire God.
Like Huo Wu, the inheritor of the God of Fire, there isn't just one inheritor.
A god has more than one inheritor; being an inheritor is merely a qualification. One still needs to pass the god's trials to inherit the divine position.
Just like the Asura God's Slaughter City, everyone who can break through the Slaughter City and obtain the Slaughter Domain is an inheritor of the Asura God. However, these people have only obtained the qualification; they still need to compete, and who will ultimately prevail is unknown.
The God of Fire is the same; Huo Wu is one of the inheritors he chose from the human world.
Mount Vulcan is a path to advancement for the soul beasts of the Fire Domain.
Every 100,000 years, the God of Fire will establish a throne atop the mountain. The soul beast that ascends the throne will gain the qualification to inherit the God of Fire's power.
When a soul beast inheriting the God of Fire appears, a companion throne will also appear.
This companion throne is the position of the God of Fire's messenger, and willing soul beasts must fight for it based on their strength.
When Huo Wu was chosen as the inheritor of the God of Fire, the companion throne appeared once.
It was Xiao Chi who ultimately sat in that position.
However, this doesn't mean that Xiao Chi is the strongest soul beast in the Fire Domain.
Many powerful soul beasts are unwilling to be messengers of the Fire God; what they desire is the Fire God's inheritance.
Once one becomes a Fire God's Messenger, they lose the qualification to compete for the Fire God's inheritance.
Of course, being a Fire God's Messenger also has its advantages, namely, immortality.
However, there are also limitations: they must obey the Fire God's commands and cannot leave the Fire Domain. But this is acceptable to most soul beasts, as the Fire Domain is the most suitable world for their survival.
Currently, the outer perimeter of Vermilion Bird Ridge is empty.
It's very likely that the throne of inheritance has reappeared,
gathering all the powerful soul beasts.
Following the mountain's contours, the man and the
little Vermilion Bird flew upwards. There was a tremendous pressure in the sky surrounding Fire God Mountain, making it difficult for Ma Hongjun and the little Vermilion Bird to fly.
Left with no other choice, they had to land in the mountain and climb with great difficulty.
As they climbed higher, the pressure increased.
"This feeling... even a 100,000-year-old soul beast wouldn't feel this way!"
They had already passed the mountainside, and the pressure from Fire God Mountain was immense, comparable to facing a 100,000-year-old soul beast.
Ma Hongjun was already panting heavily and summoned his Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.
"Huh!"
Ma Hongjun looked at the little Vermilion Bird on his shoulder in surprise.
The little Vermilion Bird had folded its wings, its slender body perched on Ma Hongjun's shoulder. Orange flames swirled around it, its inner light flickering, and its eyes blazing with fire, yet it seemed to feel no pressure.
This struck Ma Hongjun as astonishing.
Continuing their ascent, the pressure increased again.
"Even facing a 150,000-year-old fire dragon is nothing special." They
were now nearing the summit, the peak visible ahead.
Ma Hongjun had summoned his Martial God Spear to help resist the pressure.
He carefully sensed the pressure; it seemed to be fire-based, a barrier imposed by fire-based rules.
It was specifically designed for fire-type spirit beasts.
Powerful flames surged from within the mountain, forcing fire-type spirit beasts to rely solely on their own fire-based abilities to resist.
This was where fire affinity came in; spirit beasts with high fire affinity could channel this fire pressure without confronting it directly.
Ma Hongjun discovered that he could only channel a small portion of the fire pressure; most required resistance.
It was safe to say that spirit beasts under 100,000 years old couldn't withstand this pressure.
Ma Hongjun had already summoned his Martial God Spear spirit, and
the combined power of two spirits and ten spirit rings was enough to withstand the pressure.
The Martial God Spear possessed five-element attribute skills, and the five elements interacted in a mutually reinforcing and restraining manner, allowing it to resist and channel the flames.
Ma Hongjun's pressure immediately lessened considerably.
The little Vermilion Bird remained unharmed, but the orange flames on its body were even more intense. To Ma Hongjun's surprise, the little Vermilion Bird was actually able to channel this pressure.
The flames gushing from the mountain flowed within the little Vermilion Bird's orange flames and then dissolved, without entering its body or consuming much of its orange flames.
This was incredible. It
could only mean one thing: the little Vermilion Bird had a very high affinity for fire.
This was extraordinary; fire affinity represented affinity with the fire god.
The little Vermilion Bird was so young, yet it could achieve such a high affinity.
Ma Hongjun's current fire affinity was estimated to be only two or three percent.
Because the ultimate fire is achieved when the purity of a flame reaches 100%, Ma Hongjun only reached this level after absorbing the second spirit ring of the Fire Phoenix and the 100,000-year-old Fire Dragon spirit ring, using Huo Wu's fire purity testing stone.
Ultimate fire represents a fire affinity of 1%.
Adding the Vermilion Fruit he ate earlier, his fire affinity was estimated to be at most 3%.
However, based on the little Vermilion Bird's current performance, Ma Hongjun felt its fire affinity was at least 50%.
What an monstrous talent!
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Ma Hongjun wouldn't have believed that a hundred-year-old spirit beast would have such a high fire affinity.
This level of affinity is equivalent to completing more than half of the Fire God's assessment.
If spirit beasts like the Vermilion Bird all had such a high fire affinity, Ma Hongjun didn't believe it either; if that were the case, the Fire God wouldn't need to select a successor from the human world.
Filled with deep doubt, Ma Hongjun looked intently at the little Vermilion Bird on his shoulder.
After all, this was the first Vermilion Bird he had ever seen, and he dared not draw any conclusions.
Regardless, this little sparrow was definitely not simple.
He continued climbing.
The pressure increased, and Ma Hongjun estimated it to be at the level of a 200,000-year-old soul beast, forcing him to summon his soul bone to help resist the pressure.
Finally,
he reached the summit!
The pressure instantly dissipated.
However, seeing the situation before reaching the summit, Ma Hongjun felt the pressure increase even more.
Despite having mentally prepared himself beforehand, seeing the spirit beasts atop the mountain and the powerful aura emanating from them still made Ma Hongjun's mouth go dry.
Golden Crows, Vermilion Birds, Fire Phoenixes, Fire Dragons, Flame Phoenixes, Refined Flood Dragons…
all were powerful spirit beast races.
However, the mountaintop was quite spacious, and the spirit beasts weren't crowded.
Ma Hongjun roughly estimated there were at least twenty.
These were all spirit beasts with a lifespan of over 100,000 years.
However, the Vermilion Birds were the most numerous, making up almost half of the total.
No wonder this was a spirit beast world raised by the gods; there were so many 100,000-year-old spirit beasts.
Ma Hongjun couldn't help but marvel. Even the largest spirit ring forest outside, the Star Dou Great Forest, was no match for this, especially considering the group of ferocious beasts under the Emperor's sway.
The far north was even less impressive; although the Snow Emperor was there, the number of 100,000-year-old
spirit beasts was far fewer than here. Only the Sea God's divine inheritance ground could rival this place.
The sea region was similar in nature to the Fire Region; the number of 100,000-year-old sea spirit beasts there should be no less than here.
Moreover, their top-tier combat power is immense, approaching a million years.
Ma Hongjun doesn't yet know the true strength of the twenty-odd soul beasts here,
but they are definitely no weaker than the average strength of sea soul beasts.
Take the four 100,000-year soul beasts of the Fire Domain Forest, for example.
The strongest fire dragon should be around 150,000 years old, but even that fire dragon couldn't reach Mount Huoshen.
It can be inferred that the soul beasts here are all over 150,000 years old.
"Eeya eeya!"
the little Vermilion Bird cried excitedly, as if it had seen a familiar bird.
At this moment, all the soul beasts on the mountaintop looked over.
The Vermilion Birds showed surprise upon seeing the little bird.
Two of them transformed into fire shadows and flashed over.
The little Vermilion Bird flapped its wings and flew into their arms.
At this moment, the fire dragon closest to Ma Hongjun looked at him with a strange gaze.
Ma Hongjun had summoned both of his martial souls, with ten soul rings surrounding him.
Two of these were fire dragon soul rings.
The fire dragon sensed the aura of a fire dragon emanating from Ma Hongjun, its gaze fixed on the seventh spirit ring of Ma Hongjun's Martial God Spear.
It was the spirit ring of a 150,000-year-old fire dragon.
"Roar!"
The fire dragon let out a tearing roar, flames erupting from its eyes. Its
two enormous dragon eyes stared at Ma Hongjun, almost bulging out of their sockets.
The enraged fire dragon sensed the presence of a kin.
The murderer was right before its eyes.
It opened its mouth, and a fireball, not too large but almost solid, shot out,
hurtling towards Ma Hongjun!
(End of Chapter)