Chapter 2152 Raw 2257 : Ice Fire Flame Vein

Did I see wrong?

Xiao Chen looked carefully and found that the ground indeed was not moving. He could not help feeling it was strange. What’s going on?

Master, what is that? the Demon Blood Vulture asked Xiao Chen. When the wind blew away the ashes of the painting, it revealed a spot of scarlet light.

The ashes scattered, leaving a drop of fresh blood.

To think that there was a strange drop of blood hidden in the painting that Fiendish Saber Xi Mu gave him.

Did Senior Xi Mu know about this?

Blood represented hate, anger, and pain. It was typically associated with negative emotions. However, while this drop of blood gave him a strange feeling, it did not feel evil.

On the contrary, it even felt warm, not repulsive at all.

“Whoosh!”

Just as Xiao Chen felt confused, the blood entered his palm. His palm immediately shone with a red light, and the scene of mountains, rivers, white clouds, and wild cranes flashed in his mind.

“This is… This is the blood of the spirits of the mountains and rivers in the painting.”

Xiao Chen suddenly startled awake. All things had spirits. The mountains and rivers in the painting that Xi Mu gave him had already become Fiends.

As for why the painting burned up, it was because the mountains and rivers had advanced rapidly as Xiao Chen comprehended the painting.

However, the painting could not contain these lifeforms. So, it burned up and left behind this drop of Fiend blood.

When the blood merged with Xiao Chen’s palm, the scene in his mind disappeared, replaced by a Saber Technique, All Things Rejoicing Together.

Xiao Chen had obtained a move of the Fiendish Saber inheritance.

Furthermore, this inheritance was even stronger than Lu Benwei’s, as Xiao Chen had received a drop of Fiend blood. Xiao Chen perfectly obtained an inheritance unique to him.

Xiao Chen carefully comprehended this Fiendish Saber inheritance. After he collected his thoughts, his gaze fell on his left hand.

That drop of blood merged with his left palm. Then, the Heavenly Alliance emblem made up of seven golden fragments on the back of his Alloy Battle Armor’s glove started flowing like fresh blood.

“Click!”

Xiao Chen continued watching. When the emblem stopped moving, another of the nine stars surrounding the divine character lit up.

Xiao Chen was startled. His Alloy Battle Armor reached two stars. Where did the blood, left behind after the painting burned, come from?

To think that the Alloy Battle Armor reached two stars. Naturally, everyone would want to raise the ranking of their Alloy Battle Armor. However, that was a massive undertaking and required a lot of divine materials. Then, they needed to hand the gloves to the Heavenly Alliance for reforging.

However, just one drop of Fiend Blood allowed the Alloy Battle Armor to improve by one star.

“Senior Xi Mu lives up to his reputation.”

Xiao Chen had heard of Xi Mu’s reputation in the Holy Domain’s Divine Capital. He now knew that this senior was an extremely powerful Faux God. His saber skills had reached perfection, and he could be considered the best among the top Faux God bladesmen.

Xi Mu was the one who gave Xiao Chen the painting. Since the Fiend blood had such a wondrous effect, it clearly was a blessing left by him.

A bright light flashed in Xiao Chen’s eyes. After some thought, he said, “My cultivation has reached Peak Sovereign Personage. Now that I have comprehended this move of the Fiendish Saber, All Things Rejoicing Together, heaven-defying Sovereign Personages are no longer a match for me. Currently, there is not much of a gap in cultivation between half-step Sovereign Emperors and me. It is just that I have not merged my Dao Domain and Soul Energy to form a Divine Seal.

“However, I grasp Martial and Soul as One, merging my will of soul with my Martial Dao. I can easily bring out my full combat prowess and, with a little effort, bring out one hundred twenty percent—or even one hundred fifty percent—of my strength.”

Ordinary cultivators were already remarkable if they could bring out eighty percent of their strength. Those that could bring out one hundred percent of their strength were very rare.

Those that could exert over one hundred percent of their strength could do so only under some special states or after consuming a Medicinal Pill. Some side effects were inevitable.

However, Xiao Chen grasped Martial and Soul as One. He could bring out more than one hundred percent of his strength without any concerns.

Just this point alone allowed him to surpass many half-step Sovereign Emperors.

“With Martial and Soul as One and my other trump cards, my current strength should lie somewhere between half-step Martial Emperor and false Emperor. However, since I have not seen a true false Emperor, I cannot test my true strength.”

As Xiao Chen pondered, he raised his eyebrows and gasped lightly. The ground undulated again to his eyes.

Strange?

The same scene appeared twice. Even if it was an illusion, it was certainly strange.

After comprehending All Things Rejoicing Together, Xiao Chen felt like he had gained an extra ability, the ability to perceive the true nature of all things.

Frowning slightly, he bent down and touched the ground with one hand.

Clearly, the wasteland had not actually surged like waves; the ground was still flat. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to the ground.

Suddenly, the divine character on the back of his left glove, which had gotten stained scarlet by the drop of blood, gave off a red light that penetrated the ground.

“Whoosh!”

In that next moment, Xiao Chen instantly “saw through” the entire Ice Fire Wasteland. The ground seemed to turn transparent to his eyes.

There were eighteen streams of flame, looking like blood vessels, in the underground of the icy wasteland. These eighteen streams formed a complicated network.

The undulations that Xiao Chen saw earlier were actually the fiery energy pulsing underground. That energy was extremely horrifying, looking like it could destroy the entire Ice Fire Wasteland at any time.

The instant Xiao Chen raised his hand, the various mysterious sights vanished. The Ice Fire Wasteland returned to normal before his eyes.

What a mysterious feeling, Xiao Chen marveled in his heart. He never had such an experience before. It looks like I have to meet Senior Xi Mu after I return, no matter what.

I have to clarify what exactly is going on with this drop of Fiend blood.

For now, Xiao Chen revealed a joyous expression. It turned out that there were eighteen intersecting flame veins under the Ice Fire Wasteland.

Earlier, based on what Xiao Chen sensed, these eighteen flame veins were split into Yin and Yang. Nine flame veins represented the extreme cold, and the other nine flame veins represented extreme heat, the opposite.

“No wonder this place is called the Ice Fire Wasteland. Perhaps the true core of this continent is the eighteen intersecting flame veins. After accumulating for thousands of years, it formed the Ice Fire Wasteland. The ground is made up of ice, and the sky has fire snowflakes drifting down.”

After some thought, Xiao Chen concluded that he could take this opportunity to absorb these flame veins to nourish his Heavenly Snow Divine Flame and Universe Origin True Flame.

Primal Chaos Grade flames had a total of nine ranks. Both Xiao Chen’s Heavenly Snow Divine Flame and Universe Origin True Flame were at Rank 5 already.

If one wanted to improve the rank of one’s flames, one needed to spend large amounts of Faux God Coins on various flames.

The only problem now was how to enter the underground of the Ice Fire Wasteland.

The further down one went, the harder the ice. When one reached a depth of ten kilometers, the underground ice would be harder than some divine materials. Even a Sovereign Emperor would find it difficult to break.

However, when Xiao Chen used the divine character stained by the Fiend blood, he saw the entire Ice Fire Wasteland. To him, breaking the ice would not be too difficult.

The vast underground ice had weak spots. As long as he targeted the weak spots and connected them, he could enter deep underground.

Xiao Chen placed his right hand on the ground again. When he activated the scarlet divine character, the wondrous scene appeared once more.

The underground seemed nearly completely transparent, allowing him to see everything. Aside from the flame veins, he even saw hidden ores and divine materials.

This Ice Fire Wasteland had existed for several epochs. Naturally, it could produce true divine materials.

However, Xiao Chen paid no attention to that for now. He only focused on searching for the weak spots of the underground.

After a while, he withdrew his hand, having mentally mapped the underground.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Xiao Chen’s figure flashed after he withdrew his hand. Then, he arrived at a seemingly ordinary section of ground.

“This is the place!”

After verifying his surroundings, he landed a palm strike on the ground.

“Crack! Crack!”

Several strata of the ground immediately broke. He shook the vast wasteland with a simple palm strike, making it feel like an earthquake.

This place was a weak spot of the complicated underground. Xiao Chen used his full strength, and a crevasse appeared in the ground. Without hesitation, he leaped into it.

When he landed, cold air surged over from all directions. A layer of frost appeared on the Alloy Battle Armor. With every step he took, the frost gathered into ice, slowing his movements.

“This is really cold. Had I not worn the Alloy Battle Armor for protection, coming down would have been a big mistake.”

Xiao Chen’s Veritable Essence Energy surged and shattered the ice. He felt somewhat fearful; he was just at a depth of ten kilometers and had more to go. Even so, he already ran into difficulties here.

However, since he was here already, he would not turn back.