Chapter Eighty-Six: The Earth Treasury Demon and the Fire Fox

Thinking of the art of controlling fire, Qiu Han could not help recalling what he had encountered in the Ant Sand Wastes. It was there that he had first been drawn by the Celestial Pole Compass into that inner space, and there too that he had first caused it to absorb fire-attributed source power, discovering the immense difference in the flow of time between the compass’s space and the world outside.

Afterward, within that space, Qiu Han had spent a full year contemplating fire-attributed source power. As a result, the might of his fire techniques had increased dramatically, and by linking his divine sense to that source power, he could expend more than half his spiritual energy to unleash a devastating attack of white flame.

“Windflame Art. Furious Blaze Strike.”

Qiu Han took out another white jade slip from his storage pouch and sent his divine sense into it, examining its contents.

“These two fire techniques my master taught me are clearly high-level spells, and their power should be terrifying beyond measure. Master once said that only after my cultivation advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment should I attempt to practice them. Windflame Art inflicts a massive blaze over a wide area, while Furious Blaze Strike condenses the fire essence of heaven and earth into a great fireball to attack a single enemy directly.”

“Though these two spells are fearsome in power, the spiritual energy they consume is equally immense. The total spiritual energy of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is only enough to cast one of them a single time, and even then its full might cannot be brought out. At the very least, one would need Core Formation cultivation to wield them perfectly.”

Qiu Han put down the jade slip, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. After a short while, he opened them again, sat cross-legged on the ground, and silently recited the mnemonic formulas for practicing the two spells. It took him a full half day before he gained some grasp of them.

After that, only the last few spells remained unpracticed. Qiu Han took up his cultivation manual once more and browsed through it with his divine sense. Some time later, he began training in the final techniques.

Possession Art, Soul Search Art, Ice Shield Art, Fire Shield Art, and Spiritual Power Barrier.

Of these, Possession Art and Soul Search Art required only a single review of their incantations, along with a brief look at the matters needing attention when casting them, for Qiu Han to grasp their essentials. As for the remaining three, they were defensive spells that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could practice.

The Ice Shield Art and Fire Shield Art were just as their names suggested: using ice or fire to form a protective shield around oneself. They were magical defenses, different from defenses provided by spirit artifacts. Their effectiveness was also closely tied to one’s cultivation level—the higher the cultivation, the stronger the defense. As for the Spiritual Power Barrier, it relied on the spiritual energy contained within the spiritual power sphere inside a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s body to open an aura barrier centered on oneself and extending several dozen zhang in all directions. Its defensive effect far surpassed that of a spiritual power shield, and its range was broader as well.

By the end of a full day, Qiu Han had finished practicing every spell he needed. After resting for a night and restoring himself to peak condition, he rose the next day and walked out of the cave.

Not far ahead, the narrow path opened into a much wider stretch. The trees were no longer so densely packed, but the wildflowers and weeds on the ground had grown taller than half a man, leaving only winding patches of open ground passable on foot. Earthen mounds rose here and there as well. Qiu Han slowly walked forward, releasing his divine sense to sweep the surroundings.

Before long, he drew it back, a cold smile curling at his lips. His figure flashed, and he leapt lightly onto the trunk of a towering ancient tree at his side, then watched the movement below.

From the grass there suddenly burrowed out one Earthburrow Imp after another. In only a moment, there were already several hundred. Once they appeared, they spread out across the area. Soon after, a few Earthburrow Demons emerged whose bodies were larger than the rest of their kind and whose fur was a deeper shade.

As these few appeared, a pressure belonging to second-rank demon beasts spread from them. But to the present Qiu Han, it had no effect whatsoever. After advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, the pressure of his own presence far surpassed that of ordinary second-rank demon beasts.

“Only this many? Not enough. I’ll wait a little longer. Once more Earthburrow Demons appear, I’ll slaughter them all in one stroke. Perhaps I can finish collecting the Earthburrow Pearls for the mission in a single go.”

As he pondered this, he activated his Fire Control Art. Then he sprang downward, descending from the sky wrapped in roaring flames. The Earthburrow Demons on the ground were instantly thrown into panic and scattered in all directions, but Qiu Han was too fast. Pushing the Fire Control Art to its utmost, he spent only the time it took to drink a cup of tea to wipe out well over half of the several hundred Earthburrow Demons in the area.

A short while later, only the last few second-rank Earthburrow Demons remained. Yet with a sudden turn, they fled swiftly toward the depths of the forest.

“You want to run?”

Qiu Han let out a cold laugh, a glint of frost flashing in his eyes. He raised his right hand, and several wind blades appeared in midair. Locked on under the guidance of his divine sense, they shot after the fleeing demons with lightning speed. A few miserable cries rang out from within the forest.

Qiu Han lowered his hand and turned back. On the ground around him, in several places, there had appeared green pearls the size of fists. With a sweep of his right hand through the air, the beads flew toward him. He caught them and put them into his storage pouch.

“Fifteen of them. More than the mission requires. Mm, those second-rank demon beast corpses shouldn’t go to waste.”

He stepped slowly into the forest. As he collected into his storage pouch the corpses of the few second-rank Earthburrow Demons slain by his Wind Blade Art, he discovered that each of them contained several Earthburrow Pearls, and that they even held a trace of demonic aura. Qiu Han did not think much of it. He placed them all into a storage pouch reserved specifically for demon beast corpses, then returned to where he had been standing and lifted his head toward several large trees not far ahead.

“Get out here!”

With a sharp shout, Qiu Han raised his right hand, and several wind blades flew at those great trees. The trunks crashed down, exposing several demon beasts shaped like foxes. Each radiated a pressure no weaker than that of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. They were unmistakably second-rank demon beasts.

“Fire Fox Demons, is it? Another batch come to throw away their lives!”

After these second-rank fox demons revealed themselves, Qiu Han neither retreated nor drew any spirit artifact. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the fox demons, a faint sneer on his lips.

“I’ve only just gathered all the Earthburrow Pearls I needed for the mission. What now? You’ve come to deliver Fire Spirit Pearls as well?”

Arrogant.

The present Qiu Han, facing several second-rank demon beasts, could remain so utterly calm and bear himself with such extreme arrogance.

But that was because he now possessed the capital for such arrogance. With strength comparable to that of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, and with spells and spirit artifacts superior to those of most others, he believed that even against a peak second-rank demon beast he now had the power to fight—and very likely to kill it. At the very least, he could withdraw with his life intact.

The Fire Fox Demons charged at him at once. Each opened its long jaws and spat out a mass of fire from its mouth, hurling it toward Qiu Han.

“So this is how you use fire?”