Chapter 540: Chapter 538: Blazing a New Trail
"Separate the Minghuo, draw in the energy of Heaven and Earth, refine it into a pill, then seal it within using the intent of Heaven-Locking."
"Transforming the tripod into ten thousand forms is not too difficult, and weaving Spirit Fire into the grand array of Heaven and Earth isn’t much of a problem, either."
"It’s just the might..."
Xu Yang sighed inwardly; the more he thought about it, the more it felt like a tasteless chicken rib.
However, thinking of the uniqueness of his Minghuo and Divine Tripod, he decided to give it a try anyway.
As for the harm caused by splitting the Minghuo, so long as he didn’t separate too much, the impact wouldn’t be significant.
With those thoughts flashing by, Xu Yang’s visage turned solemn, and the Minghuo within his Divine Palace suddenly surged violently.
Pu!
With a searing agony in his soul, a wisp of Minghuo was severed and burst out through his body.
At the same moment, the shadow of the Divine Tripod emerged at his side.
The Minghuo swayed, swiftly drawing in the energies of Heaven and Earth.
In an instant, wind and clouds gathered above the wild mountains, a display not at all ordinary.
"His Minghuo seems anything but simple—with just a feeble wisp, he can stir up such a commotion."
"It appears the Spirit Fire in his tripod and his own fire share a common source."
The few spectators muttered quietly amongst themselves.
Under Xu Yang’s control, the Minghuo hovered above the tripod’s shadow, wantonly absorbing the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.
At a certain moment—
The vast energy condensed tangibly, wrapping around the Minghuo and gradually drawing in.
At this point, the process closely resembled alchemy.
As the form of a pill slowly took shape, Xu Yang’s expression grew focused, and he struck out with the Six Heavenly Skills in a flash.
The pill trembled, and suddenly solidified.
Because of the Minghuo, a streak of jet-black flame appeared as a lifelike brand upon its surface.
Xu Yang willed it; countless ethereal Heaven-Locking Divine Chains surged forth, twining around the pill and sinking within it.
Moments later,
It truly seemed, from the outside, like a genuine pill.
The Heaven-Locking Divine Chains firmly locked the power within, holding it back from releasing.
The first pill was successfully condensed, followed by the second, third, fourth, and fifth!
Xu Yang only condensed five pills, splitting off five threads of Minghuo.
To go further would make it much harder to recover.
Five shadowy Divine Tripods hung suspended, and above them hovered five black pills—a scene at once deeply bizarre.
The five from Gu Jun’s group glanced at one another uneasily.
"There’s nothing particularly difficult about this step. Though this boy’s Minghuo and Divine Tripod are unusual, it doesn’t seem impressive in terms of might." an elder said with a frown.
"Which is why, as we concluded before, if this method is to display astonishing power, it will require long-term accumulation; but that would defeat the original purpose."
Another elder gave a wry smile.
The elder in purple robes remained silent, expression stern.
At that moment, Xu Yang’s expression turned even more grave.
The critical step would now begin.
Weave the fire into Heaven and Earth.
The grand formation arises.
Boom!
With a thought, Xu Yang sent a ripple through the Divine Tripod. The Heaven-Burning Divine Fire erupted from him, surging forth as a tide of black flames, enveloping the five enormous tripod shadows and shooting toward the sky.
In just a few blinks, the Spirit Fire engulfed a region of several hundred zhang, blanketing the sky and earth—truly astounding.
The terrifying aura of incineration that emanated made the wild mountains shudder around them.
Xu Yang suddenly closed his eyes.
The mysteries of Heaven and Earth surfaced in his mind.
The actions of the plant spirits also revealed themselves at that very instant.
Under his silent control, Spirit Fire, pills, and tripod-shadows interlaced and connected like a personal domain.
The flames roiled violently, surging without cease.
The Minghuo atop the five pills suddenly rekindled.
If one looked closely, one could vaguely make out a miniature figure of Xu Yang within.
With his mind split five ways, he formed seals together simultaneously.
The several-hundred-zhang area twisted intensely, as if sealed off, severed from the outer world—clearly distinct.
At a certain instant, faint sigils appeared among the Spirit Fires, lurking between flickers, revealing the wonders of Heaven and Earth.
One layer, two layers, three layers...
By the fifth layer, Xu Yang already felt it was taxing.
With only five pills, he sensed that attempting a sixth would shatter the balance and cause collapse!
"If it’s just like this, then it’s truly not worth the effort."
Xu Yang slowly opened his eyes, brows knotted tight.
If he unleashed this, it would have some power.
But only due to his own Minghuo and Divine Tripod.
Even so, it hadn’t reached an extraordinary level.
This was different from what he had envisioned.
The five from Gu Jun’s group watched in silence.
With their strength, they could easily discern the measure of power contained within.
Very weak!
To expend so much effort for this result was simply not worth it at all!
"But what about this?"
A thought flashed through Xu Yang’s mind, and he summoned the true Celestial Refining Divine Tripod, placing it at the center of the five great tripod-shadows.
Boom!
Shockwaves burst forth, twisting the fivefold Heaven and Earth formation—nearly causing it to collapse.
Xu Yang’s face changed; he hurriedly detonated the five pills, forcibly holding things together.
After several breaths,
He finally managed to halt the signs of collapse, and gradually stabilized the formation.
"By placing the tripod’s true body within, these five layers of Heaven and Earth are clearly enhanced; the Spirit Fire..."
An idea struck Xu Yang; he gritted his teeth and drove the Divine Tripod on.
Boom!
The Divine Tripod exploded with immense suction, swallowing all fivefold Heaven and Earth formations in an instant.
A moment later, the five pills were also sucked into it directly.
"What’s he trying to do?"
The others looked on, baffled, unable to grasp his purpose.
But Xu Yang paid them no heed. According to his plan, he manipulated the Divine Tripod to multiply countless shadowy forms; in the blink of an eye, thousands upon thousands appeared, filling all directions.
Then—
Each shadowy tripod gave rise to overwhelming Spirit Fire, like masses of inky clouds, soaring skyward.
A terrifying spectacle unfolded.
Tens of thousands of Spirit Fire pillars rapidly swelled, then joined together, converging into a veritable tide.
At the fringes, innumerable chains floated, binding the flames within as though sealing them.
Simultaneously, the five pills emerged from within the true Celestial Refining Divine Tripod, suspending themselves above.
Xu Yang’s expression turned resolute, his voice booming: "Heaven and Earth—manifests!"
Boom!
The five pills shot out, settling in five directions, emanating mighty, mystical ripples that linked everything together, creating tenfold, hundredfold, several hundredfold Heaven and Earth formations.
Upon reaching several hundred layers, the pills trembled violently, and the Minghuo atop them flickered on the verge of extinguishing.
He had reached the limit of what could be sustained.
"The more pills there are, the more layers I can maintain!"
"With this, the power rises tenfold!"
Xu Yang gazed at the scene, deep in thought.
"The power has increased several times over."
"But this seems awfully troublesome; no enemy would just stand by dumbly and let you do all this!"
"Moreover, being able to reach this level is unique to this boy—others won’t be able to copy it!"
At first, faces brightened, but very soon all fell silent again.
Impossible to reproduce!
Even with practice, if he could deploy it in an instant, it would never shake off the ’tasteless’ nature of such a method.
Xu Yang, unaware of their thoughts, was instead quite exhilarated.
To him, this was an inconceivable technique.
If he prepared sufficiently, he could leave others in awe.
Useless for anyone else, for him, it had its uses.
"At my current limit, I can only manifest about ten thousand tripod-shadows; any more, and I couldn’t bear the strain."
Xu Yang’s eyes flickered as he looked off into the distance—no one else was around. He thought to himself, I should discuss with the seniors, perhaps I can learn more.
Besides, he hadn’t yet employed the Heaven-Devouring Spirit-Eating Skill.
If used, its power would soar even higher.
As this thought surfaced, he abruptly withdrew the technique.
Whoosh!
Pills and Spirit Fires became a flood, surging into the Divine Tripod.
Rumble!
An explosive roar erupted within the tripod, detonating beside Xu Yang’s ears—as if this act had shattered a region within the tripod itself.
Swish!
The Divine Tripod, trailing a length of inky flames, flashed back into his body like lightning.
Xu Yang felt an overwhelming force drag his consciousness down, drowning him.
"Not good..."
He instinctively sensed danger, struggled to resist, but it was utterly futile.
Boom!
In an instant, Xu Yang’s consciousness sank into endless darkness.
