"Damn it! Stop! Stop right now!"
Lin Xia charged forward recklessly once more, trying to extinguish the destructive flames.
But the ring-shaped force field naturally formed by the divine fire's energy was like an invisible wall of a blazing furnace, carrying the will to incinerate all things, and violently flung him back.
His newly reborn, powerful body slammed against the scorching rock wall with a dull thud. A patch of his skin was instantly burned, yet it was less than one ten-thousandth of the agony in his heart.
Larvitar also stopped devouring the ore, staring warily and anxiously at Lou Gao, who was wrapped in flames, an uneasy growl rumbling in its throat.
"Larvi… Larvitar…"
What could he do?
What was there left to do?
Lin Xia's mind raced frantically, almost to the point of exploding.
He stared at the dazzling Phoenix imprint on Lou Gao's arm, that was the source of the divine trial, and also the root of this suffering!
The only hope!
"Communicate with the imprint! Just like Teacher did! Since the Phoenix God can grant me the imprint, let me see It, even give me ore, perhaps It can hear me!"
A nearly desperate thought rose within Lin Xia's heart.
He had to try!
Even if the chance was only a sliver!
Without hesitation, Lin Xia abruptly sat down cross-legged, forcing himself into an extreme state of focus.
He took a deep breath; the scorching air stabbed at his lungs.
He mobilized the Soul Power within his body—Level 20. Before divine might, it seemed so insignificant, yet he had no other choice.
Lin Xia gathered all his Soul Power, all his spiritual strength, all his consciousness—along with that heart-rending worry and plea like a bursting torrent, and frantically poured it into the lifelike crimson-gold Phoenix imprint on the inner side of his left forearm!
"Answer me, Phoenix God! Please! Stop! Or tell me what to do! Save my teacher!"
Lin Xia roared in the depths of his soul, his will like the sharpest chisel, recklessly striking against the mysterious divine mark.
Buzz as if responding to his all-or-nothing cry, the Phoenix imprint on his arm suddenly erupted with an unprecedented brilliance!
The light was no longer the gentle crimson-gold of before; it instantly transformed into an utterly pure, soul-piercing blazing white!
Excruciating pain!
The moment the light ignited, an unimaginable searing agony, far beyond the limits of what flesh could endure, burst forth from the imprint like billions of red-hot steel needles. It raced through his meridians, blood vessels, and nerves at the speed of light, spreading throughout his entire body!
This pain did not act upon flesh, it burned directly at his soul!
It was as if his consciousness, his spiritual force, the very core of his existence, had been forcibly thrust into the heart of an erupting sun!
"Ah—!"
Lin Xia let out a scream that barely sounded human. His body convulsed violently as though struck by lightning, his consciousness instantly torn to pieces by the soul-level torment!
He felt as if he were about to be completely incinerated and evaporated by the domineering will of flame emanating from the imprint!
Yet at that very critical moment, the berserk, soul-annihilating white flame abruptly halted, as though possessed of awareness!
A vast, ancient will, carrying a trace of indescribable helplessness and surprise—like a torrent of cold molten lava, slammed directly into Lin Xia's collapsing consciousness.
"Impudence!"
"A non-inheritor meddling with divine markings, drawing fire to burn the soul, seeking your own destruction!"
"For the sake of your sincere heart in protecting your teacher, mindful of the trust placed upon you…"
"Very well…"
"You want to see? Then, see clearly!"
"—Stay put!"
The will was immense, majestic, unquestionable, bearing the detached indifference of one who gazed down upon all living beings yet at the end, there was the faintest trace of helpless exasperation, as if toward a reckless child.
It did not destroy Lin Xia. Instead, like an invisible hand, it seized his soul-consciousness, which was on the verge of dispersing from the agony!
The next instant, heaven and earth spun wildly!
Lin Xia felt himself forcibly ripped away from the real world by an irresistible force.
The scorching heat of the mine, Larvitar's low growls, Lou Gao's painful groans all sounds and sensations instantly faded, blurred, and vanished.
Lin Xia sank into absolute, suffocating darkness and deathly silence.
He did not know how much time passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps eternity. A faint glimmer of light appeared ahead, rapidly expanding.
His consciousness felt like that of a drowning man breaking through the surface of water, suddenly "opening his eyes."
What he saw made him instantly forget the lingering pain in his soul, leaving only boundless shock and a bone-deep chill.
He saw fire.
Endless. Boundless. Flames burning to the edge of the universe!
This was no longer a physical mine, but a bizarre consciousness realm formed entirely of pure flame.
There was no up or down, no left or right, no concept of time passing.
Beneath his feet surged and roared a golden sea of fire, like the molten surface of a star, waves of flame rising tens of thousands of meters high.
Above him stretched a deep, dark crimson firmament. Countless stars burned with crimson-gold, ghostly blue, pale white, even pitch-black flames silently exploding, collapsing, and being reborn. Each cycle of stellar destruction released terrifying shockwaves of energy capable of annihilating an entire continent, only to be swallowed by the even more violent sea of fire below.
Twisted tornadoes of flame connected heaven and earth like pillars supporting the world. Within them flowed liquid runes and shattered fragments of laws.
What filled the air was not air, but viscous, tangible currents of flame. Every "breath" felt like swallowing boiling magma, scorching consciousness itself.
This was the core of purgatory, the source of destruction, and the crucible of nirvana, the manifested soul-consciousness space corresponding to the first stage of the Phoenix God Trial, "Bathe in Fire"!
And at the very center of this infernal domain—so terrifying that even a Titled Douluo's soul would be vaporized instantly, Lin Xia saw a sight that made his heart split with terror.
A faint, fragile, pale-golden humanoid silhouette, so delicate it seemed it could be blown away at any moment floated above the most violent vortex of flames.
That was Lou Gao's soul origin!
At this moment, where was the solidity and dignity of a Soul Sage?
It was like a dying candle in a raging storm, its light dim to the extreme, trembling, twisting, and warping under the scorching divine flames of billions of degrees.
The "substance" forming his soul origin—those points of light representing memory, emotion, willpower, and the foundation of his soul power, were like snowflakes thrown into a furnace, being stripped away, decomposed, and incinerated at a visible speed!
Golden flames coiled around Lou Gao's soul like greedy serpents, devouring every inch of it.
With each lick of fire, the pale-golden silhouette shrank and dimmed further, releasing silent yet soul-piercing ripples of ultimate agony.
Lin Xia could clearly "sense" the information transmitted from his teacher's soul.
It was the endless torment of flesh and bone being burned away inch by inch!
It was the emptiness and despair of the very foundation of his soul power being completely dismantled!
It was the helplessness of decades of forging experience, memories, techniques, understanding of flame, collapsing like a sandcastle within the inferno!
It was the most shrill wail of life's origin when faced with absolute destructive power!
"No—!"
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