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Qing Xuanling bit her lip. The situation was far more dangerous than they'd anticipated. Not only was the number of Dawn Wild Monkeys much larger than they'd thought, but the golden flame hanging from the cave ceiling sent chills down her spine.
That was clearly a Sacred Flame—a rare and unique fire nearly extinct in the world. It was so legendary that she'd only learned of it by reading ancient texts in the clan's library.
Unlike earthly fire used by alchemists, Sacred Flames embodied life itself. According to legends, even ordinary mortals would emerge unharmed if they leapt into a Sacred Flame—and might even gain great benefits, such as improved health and physical condition.
For a cultivator, the advantages of a Sacred Flame were clearly hundreds of times greater. As mentioned before, Sacred Flames embodied life—specifically, the evolution of life through destruction and rebirth.
Thus, a cultivator who bathed in the flames of a Sacred Flame would undergo a complete rebirth, improving their talent by an entire grade!
The mystery behind the Dawn Wild Monkeys' sudden mastery of fire was now revealed. They had clearly evolved their bloodlines by bathing in the Sacred Flame.
'In fact, Sacred Flames have even better effects on beasts. They don't just refine their bloodlines—they can cause mutations. That must be what happened to these Dawn Wild Monkeys.'
Qing Xuanling's eyes filled with greed. According to legends, some Sacred Flames could even improve the purity of fire spiritual roots. At most, it might only increase purity by five to ten percent—but even a small improvement would be immensely significant for her.
After all, her fire root was only eight percent pure! Even a five percent increase would give her her first spiritual root with over ten percent purity!
It was worth noting that the difference between a single-digit purity spiritual root and a double-digit one was like heaven and earth. Up until now, Qing Xuanling's capacity for understanding of the fire element felt like having her body submerged in a muddy puddle.
Her comprehension and use of fire-attribute techniques were naturally hindered. Her vision, movements—even breathing—felt difficult.
But if she could raise her spiritual root to double-digit purity, it would be like lifting her head out of the mud! Of course, the rest of her body would still be stuck, unable to move freely—but at least she could breathe and see easily!
Qing Xuanling's breath quickened. This was far too important to her. She couldn't help reaching toward Memory's hilt.
However, a hand grabbed her wrist.
Qing Xuanling looked up, surprised to see Qing Hanlin.
He gazed at her with clear eyes and simply shook his head. Something in his calm demeanor brought Qing Xuanling's rationality back to the surface.
She took a deep breath and nodded. Though this was a celestial treasure, it wasn't something she could claim right now. Trying to approach the Sacred Flame would simply be courting death.
'For now, at least.'
Qing Xuanling had no intention of missing such an important opportunity for herself. While others might afford to ignore the Sacred Flame, she couldn't.
She would come to claim the opportunity in the future.
Still, despite knowing the three of them understood the treasures in the cave were currently unattainable, they didn't leave immediately—not out of greed, but because they needed to assess, or at least get a sense of, the Dawn Wild Monkeys' strength.
The three waited several minutes without any monkeys appearing in sight. Confused, and after hesitating briefly, Qing Xuanling looked at Qing Huayan and pointed to the tamed monkey, mouthing: "Send it."
Qing Huayan nodded and sent a mental message to the monkey, which immediately ran toward one of the holes in the walls—the caves the monkeys used as homes. She frowned as the distance between her and the monkey grew, expending more divine sense to maintain their connection.
Qing Xuanling watched everything closely, ready to flee instantly if anything went wrong. Qing Huayan had already warned them: taming the monkey required considerable effort and wasn't entirely reliable, as the little beast constantly harbored rebellious thoughts.
They didn't know if the monkey might alert the enemy—although she doubted that there was a monkey intelligent enough to understand what an infiltrator was...
'Wait—actually, these monkeys are indeed far smarter than normal. Not only do they consciously maintain the paths they use, but they even have a rudimentary language! Although all this could be attributed to the Sacred Flame enhancing the entire pack's intelligence, it could also be because—!'
Qing Huayan's face suddenly paled, and she whispered in shock, "I lost my connection with the monkey!"
"GARRRRRRH!"
A terrifying roar shook Qing Xuanling's and the other two's souls as a powerful divine sense swept through the entire cave—including them!
Qing Xuanling's expression turned pale. Her worst fear had come true. Indeed, under the influence of the Sacred Flame, a demonic beast in the Foundation Establishment realm had been born—a second-tier Dawn Wild Monkey!
"Run!"
Qing Xuanling no longer cared about maintaining the concealment talisman's effect. She shouted loudly as she immediately began fleeing. Qing Hanlin and Qing Huayan wasted no time either, turning around to run as fast as she did.
They quickly retraced their steps, climbing the slope as fast as they could. Qing Xuanling didn't forget to grab some luminous flowers and stored them in her storage ring. As she did so, she turned around, taking the chance to observe the situation behind her.
Her expression worsened several notches.
Behind them, in the cave where the Sacred Flame hung, hundreds of monkeys emerged from the holes in the walls, their bodies covered in fire. In the center, though not standing out much, was a three-eyed monkey whose eyebrows were made of fire.
The monkey held a staff and coldly watched the three flee. It narrowed its eyes and, without warning, pulled back the arm holding the staff—and hurled it!
Bang!
The sound barrier shattered as an incredibly fast, fire-wreathed projectile flew through the air like a comet!
"Duck!" Qing Xuanling roared as she threw herself to the ground, pulling Qing Huayan down with her. Qing Hanlin had already thrown himself to the ground just as quickly.
A powerful gust of wind whipped the hair of the three people lying on the ground, freezing their blood. Their bodies would have been pulverized if they'd taken that attack!
The shockwaves from the explosion reached dozens of meters ahead, causing stone debris to fall and dust to fill the cave. Qing Xuanling raised her hand to shield her eyes as she stood up.
She sighed in relief for dodging the blow and turned her head to look back at the dangerous three-eyed monkey, which was only slightly tall than its companions. But her pupils instantly contracted to the size of needles.
The three-eyed monkey had vanished at some point, while the other Dawn Wild Monkeys had begun charging toward them!
Qing Xuanling narrowed her eyes in terror and noticed with alarm a blurry spot approaching them at an alarming speed. The three-eyed monkey had decided to kill them with its own hands!
At that speed, it wouldn't take more than ten seconds to reach them!
Alarm filled Qing Xuanling's face, and her eyes darted frantically, trying to find a way out of this almost certain death. Her eyes lit up when she felt rubble falling above her head.
"Bingo!"
A dangerous idea flashed in her mind. She didn't waste time and turned to her two companions. "Attack the ceiling, quick!"
Qing Huayan looked at her, stunned. Her hands were still trembling from the brush with death. But Qing Hanlin was different. His lazy expression had long since vanished, replaced by surprising seriousness and courage.
His eyes shone as he immediately understood Qing Xuanling's plan. He drew his rapier at once and stared fixedly at the ceiling. His eyes gleamed briefly as he quickly discerned the structural weaknesses of the rock above.
"Ninth Sister, strike these three spots with all your strength!" Qing Hanlin gave a small leap and stabbed the ceiling three times, leaving three marks.
Qing Xuanling's eyes flickered with uncertainty for a moment, but she decided to trust her comrade and drew Memory. Her deep black eyes shone intensely as Sword Qi surged from her body.
Memory trembled with excitement and glowed intensely with five colors, illuminating the entire cave. Qing Xuanling took a deep breath, feeling the aura of the three-eyed monkey approaching at an alarming speed, and thrust upward three times.
Her meridians and energy channels suddenly expanded, forcibly enduring the sudden surge of Sword Qi flooding through her body.
The three strikes, powered by the maximum amount of Sword Qi Qing Xuanling could generate at once, seemed to create mini-explosions. Three clouds of dust appeared where Qing Xuanling had struck.
Qing Hanlin's face froze, and he shouted in alarm, "Damn it, girl, why are you so strong?! Run, damn it—this place is going to collapse immediately!"
Without waiting for anything, he turned around and ran, pulling Qing Huayan along, who was still somewhat dazed. Qing Xuanling looked up at the ceiling and indeed, behind the dust cloud, large and deep cracks spread across the entire wall.
"Ah!"
She let out a cry of surprise as a large rock fell from the ceiling right above her!
Qing Xuanling quickly ran forward, using her movement technique to dodge the rock. But she didn't stop and kept running, gradually catching up to Qing Hanlin and Qing Huayan as loud collapse sounds echoed behind them.
However, Qing Xuanling's face suddenly froze. A divine sense message abruptly entered her mind:
[Damn... Hairless beings! I swear... I will flay you alive!]
Qing Xuanling's face paled, and she looked back—but all she saw was a thick cloud of dust and large rocks blocking the path. She sighed in relief, calming her racing heart, and continued fleeing.
They sped up and, to their surprise, encountered familiar faces even before exiting the cave.
"Guys, are you alright?!" Qing Ziyi asked anxiously as she descended with the rest of the squad. "I heard loud noises, so we killed the monkeys up there. Did something serious happen down below?!"
Qing Xuanling didn't waste time explaining and shouted, "We'll tell you topside, but for now—run!"
Qing Ziyi was momentarily stunned, but sensing the fear in Qing Xuanling's tone, she nodded. Soon, the entire squad was back on the surface.
The trio who had gone down—Qing Xuanling, Qing Hanlin, and Qing Huayan—had their robes soaked in cold sweat. Qing Ziyi looked at their state and asked worriedly,
"Now you really have to talk—what the hell happened down there?!"