Chapter 529: Fire Cleansing Pool
Sixty years later, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue left the ancient palace.
Although their cultivation was still at the peak of the ninth level of the reincarnation realm, their strength had improved a lot.
Their state of mind was also better and their dao hearts were clearer.
"Which direction should we choose?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"North West."
"North West? Why?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yue shrugged with a smile on his face.
"I don’t know why but I am always partial to North or West. Since we have to choose, let’s choose North West." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen chuckled in amusement.
"You prefer warmer than colder weather and you like sunrise better than sunset. Doesn’t it make more sense to prefer the South or East?"
"The heart knows no logic." Jiang Yue shrugged again and the two headed towards the North West.
"We have no map of the Burial Province so our destination is up to luck."
"We have always been lucky." Yu Nianzhen said and the two smiled.
As the swordsman said, they were indeed lucky.
Only two weeks after coming out of seclusion, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue came across a spiritual pool.
The spiritual pool was hidden within an illusion formation and the two accidentally stepped into the formation while avoiding a group of cultivators.
"It has a lot of energy but..." Jiang Yue frowned and looked at his lover.
"It feels a little strange." Yu Nianzhen said and looked at the pool thoughtfully.
A moment later, he shook his head to clear his mind.
"Let’s check for danger. After we make sure it’s safe, we will investigate the pool before we go in."
"Good." Jiang Yue agreed.
After that, the two spent an hour checking the surroundings.
Fortunately, there was nothing dangerous around the pool so the two focused their attention on the pool itself.
The pool was circular with a diameter of about five metres.
It had red water and little green plants grew around its circumference.
"Azhen, do you know those plants?" Jiang Yue asked but Yu Nianzhen shook his head.
"I don’t know them." The swordsman said with a frown on his face.
"I also don’t know them."
Although their cultivation was not trivial, the two were not reckless.
They didn’t believe they were invincible and invulnerable to unknown dangers.
At this point, they didn’t dare to recklessly enter the spiritual pool.
After all, the water was red and there were strange plants in the pool.
If the water was poisonous, it would be too late for them to regret after falling into danger.
"You can ask your flame spirit." Yu Nianzhen reminded and Jiang Yue immediately peppered up.
"You are right." He said and quickly continued.
"The flame spirit has been alive since the beginning of time and it knows many things. Wait a moment, I will ask him."
With that, Jiang Yue fell silent and used his contract to contact the spirit of the primordial yin-yang flame.
Soon after, he received an answer and looked at Yu Nianzhen with unconcealed excitement.
"What did it say?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"It’s a fire-cleansing pool." Jiang Yue answered.
"Fire cleansing pool?"
"According to the flame spirit, the fire cleansing pool was a common spiritual pool in ancient times. The green plants are fire bead saltbushes."
"Fire bead saltbushes? I have never heard of them." Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue nodded before he explained.
"Fire bead saltbushes are mostly extinct. Most importantly, the methodology of arranging fire cleansing pools has long been lost."
"What exactly is a fire cleansing pool?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yue looked even more excited.
"We can’t see them but there are fire bead insects at the bottom of this pool." He said and without waiting for his lover’s reaction, he continued.
"The roots of the fire bead saltbushes produce red beads. These beads are full of the fire element and are the favourite food of fire bead insects. When the fire bead insects eat these beads, they emit extremely hot fire."
"Basically, that fire reacts with herbal water to create a fire-cleansing pool capable of cleansing a cultivator’s body and qi."
"This..." Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but be excited.
However, although the two were excited, they didn’t immediately jump into the pool.
After all, ancient cultivators often used guardians to guard important resources.
"Also..." Jiang Yue started but stopped midway.
"What’s wrong?"
"According to the flame spirit, the fire cleansing pool isn’t supposed to be red."
Hearing this, Yu Nianzhen looked at his lover.
"From what the flame spirit can feel, the pool still retains its original function. However, it doesn’t know why the water has turned from green to red." Jiang Yue explained and helplessly shrugged.
"Azhen, I don’t want to give up this pool."
"I know, me too." Yu Nianzhen said with a solemn look in his eyes.
"Let’s investigate. If there is nothing wrong, we will enter the pool regardless of the colour."
"Okay." Jiang Yue agreed and removed a rabbit from the backyard of the ancient palace.
A moment later, he threw the rabbit into the pool and the two eagerly waited for a reaction.
However, nothing happened.
At first, the rabbit was surprised and panicked after being randomly thrown into the water.
However, soon after, it began to happily swim in the water.
"Nothing happened." Jiang Yue said and looked at his lover with an incredulous look in his eyes.
"Mmmm." Yu Nianzhen nodded and then continued.
"Nothing dangerous has happened to the rabbit but nothing good has happened either."
After that, the two conducted several tests but found nothing wrong with the pool.
In the end, Jiang Yue took back the rabbit and looked at his lover.
"Azhen, it’s been a long time since the ancient days. Maybe the guardian has died or moved to another place."
"You are right. Let’s get ready to enter the pool." Yu Nianzhen said and rubbed his husband’s hair.
"I want to arrange several formations around the pool." Jiang Yue said.
"How can I help?"
For the next two hours, the two arranged an isolation formation, a defence formation, and a killing formation.
Only after the formations were in place did they feel ready to enter the pool.
"It’s time." Jiang Yue said with an apprehensive smile on his face.
"I will dip my left hand first." Yu Nianzhen said but Jiang Yue didn’t wait for the person.
Instead, he dipped his left leg into the pool.
"XiaoYue..." Yu Nianzhen shouted with an urgent look on his face.
At the same time, he pulled the person and removed Jiang Yue’s leg from the pool.
"How are you feeling?" Yu Nianzhen asked and hurriedly examined Jiang Yue’s leg.
"I feel okay. Don’t worry." Jiang Yue smiled.
Hearing that, Yu Nianzhen heaved a sigh of relief.
"Azhen, you and I have always been lucky. The guardian has likely died." Jiang Yue said and quickly continued.
"Okay, let’s get into the pool."
After saying that, he didn’t wait for Yu Nianzhen and directly jumped into the pool.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen immediately followed.
"The water is so comfortable." Jiang Yue said and sighed in relaxation.
The water was comfortable, the weather was warm, and he was with his beloved Yu Nianzhen.
At that moment, Jiang Yue felt that everything was perfect.
However, this feeling didn’t last long.
As the two were happily swimming in the pool, the red water began to boil.
Most importantly, tongues of fire appeared on the surface of the pool and the surrounding temperature shot up in a straight line.
"Not comfortable." Jiang Yue complained.
At the same time, Yu Nianzhen frowned.
When the water began to boil, his skin began to feel prickly.
The feeling reminded him of the first time he refined stone milk when he and Jiang Yue were thirteen years old.
"It’s time to focus." Yu Nianzhen said and smiled at his lover.
"I know. This kind of opportunity is not easy to find and we shouldn’t waste it." Jiang Yue nodded in agreement.
With such thoughts in mind, the two smiled at each other and moved one metre apart.
A moment later, Yu Nianzhen sat cross-legged and exhaled a long breath before closing his eyes.
Soon after, countless streams of fire entered his body through his pores.
The fire was extremely hot and the pain was excruciating.
However, Yu Nianzhen did not scream or change his expression.
Instead, he endured the pain and guided the small streams to gather into a single large river.
’The body and qi form a cycle. When the qi circulates, it penetrates the muscles and tendons, strengthening them with each cycle.’ Yu Nianzhen thought.
’Considering that, I should use my cultivation technique to refine the cleansing fire.’
After deciding, Yu Nianzhen began to circulate and refine the cleansing fire.
Simultaneously, barely discernible popping sounds began emanating from his body.
’The cleansing fire is literally burning the impurities in my body and qi.’ Yu Nianzhen observed.
’However, if I am not careful, it will also burn my internal organs and meridians.’
