At the end of the square stood that majestic and mysterious chaotic crystal tower, enveloped in dense chaotic source fire.
Beneath the tower’s base, the chaotic source fire was most concentrated, almost flowing in liquid form.
Yet the chaotic fire origin spiritual light around Chen Ping also burned at its peak. The chaotic fire lotus in his dantian trembled slightly with excitement.
He reached out, his palm covered in condensed chaotic spiritual light, and gently pressed it against the immensely heavy chaotic crystal stone gate of the tower, etched with profound flame patterns.
“Buzz!”
The chaotic source fire on the gate seemed to come alive, emitting a joyful hum. Like flowing water, it parted to both sides, revealing a complex, lotus-shaped three-dimensional groove in the centre of the gate.
Every detail of the groove perfectly matched the form of the chaotic fire lotus in his dantian.
Without any prompt, Chen Ping sank his mind into his dantian. The chaotic fire lotus, now with clear outlines, trembled slightly and separated a strand of the purest origin aura.
It was a small cluster of faint yet dazzling chaotic-coloured flame. It flowed along his meridians into his palm, then slowly infused into the lotus groove.
“Click… click click click…”
A series of crisp, pleasant sounds, like the harmonious tones of the great dao, rang out as mechanisms turned.
The chaotic crystal stone gate, heavy as a mountain and sealing away eternal time, slowly and solemnly opened inward before Chen Ping.
From the crack of the door came no piercing light but a warm, inclusive chaotic glow, as if returning to the womb, along with an indescribable, intimate yet vast ancient aura.
Without hesitation, Chen Ping stepped forward. His figure submerged into the chaotic glow and vanished inside the crystal tower.
In the distance, Ling Yan’s divine sense watched the slowly opening gate of the crystal tower, a place even Li Fire Demon Lord had solemnly warned him never to enter rashly, and Chen Ping stepping in unhindered. He stood frozen like a statue, unable to recover for a long time.
Finally, facing the direction of the crystal tower, he restrained all his aura, straightened his robes, and with the most solemn posture, bowed deeply, prostrating to the ground.
He knew that the secret and duty he had guarded for thousands of years had perhaps, on this day, truly welcomed its fated master.
And he had witnessed a legend capable of shaking the heavens and myriad realms officially set sail here.
When Chen Ping’s figure fully entered the warm glow flowing from the chaotic crystal tower gate, he seemed to cross some boundary of time and space, stepping into a wondrous realm constructed entirely of “fire” and “dao”.
Inside the tower was not the expected halls or chambers but a boundless yet seemingly encompassable chaotic void.
The void had no up, down, left, or right. Only countless flickering flame runes and law threads of varied colours slowly rotated, flowed, and intertwined like starry rivers.
These runes and threads formed myriad flame forms: tiny as candle flames, vast as constant stars;
gentle as warm currents, violent as thunder tribulations;
birthing like tender sprouts blooming, extinguishing like drifting embers… as if a living universal encyclopaedia of “fire”.
At the void’s centre floated the most condensed and brilliant chaotic-coloured light source.
It appeared still yet underwent billions of births and extinctions every moment, emitting an indescribable aura of ancient vastness, intimacy, and majesty.
It was the core of this Li Fire Secret Realm, the true core imprint of the chaotic source fire fragment, and something Li Fire Demon Lord had desired yet could not obtain.
The instant Chen Ping entered, the nascent chaotic fire lotus in his dantian resonated most intensely with that chaotic light source.
Without guidance, the fire lotus autonomously flew from his dantian, hovering above his head, slowly rotating and sprinkling chaotic radiance.
The chaotic light source at the void’s centre, as if finding its home, separated a gentle yet incomparably pure chaotic light stream. Like a bridge, it connected to the fire lotus above Chen Ping’s head.
“Buzz!”
A vast, boundless torrent of information, mixed with unimaginably majestic chaotic fire essence, surged wildly into Chen Ping’s body along this bridge of light.
This was no longer the relatively crude energy from the peripheral chaotic fire sea requiring refinement, but the most primordial and pure essence of “chaotic dao fire”.
Every strand contained complete profound mysteries of fire laws.
Chen Ping’s sea of consciousness instantly filled with golden flame runes and floods of mysterious dao charm.
At the same time, massive amounts of chaotic dao fire essence merged unhindered into the chaotic fire lotus.
The fire lotus grew, condensed, and bloomed at a visible speed. Its petals turned from illusory to real, from vague to clear. Complex and profound chaotic patterns naturally emerged on each petal, as if recording the epic history of flames since heaven and earth opened.
At the fire lotus’s centre, the phantom of a brilliantly extreme chaotic-coloured lotus seed slowly gestated.
Under the infusion of this origin inheritance and baptism of supreme dao charm, Chen Ping’s cultivation began a second, even swifter leap.
The barrier at the peak of eighth-grade Human Immortal melted silently like remnant snow in spring wind.
Ninth-grade Human Immortal.
Breakthrough.
And the momentum did not slow but intensified. The chaotic dao fire essence seemed endless, the chaotic fire lotus’s growth appearing boundless.
Early ninth-grade… mid ninth-grade… late ninth-grade…
Finally, the surging advance calmed and stabilised only upon touching a vast, gloomy heavenly chasm between Human Immortal and Heavenly Immortal.
Peak ninth-grade Human Immortal.
Merely one step from Heavenly Immortal realm, marking true entry into high-tier cultivators with the first qualitative change in life level.
