Seeing her slender figure standing before the heavy stone door, Zhou Yang could not help but say, “Xiao Yu, based on what Miss Wen said, this earth fire is fierce and difficult to tame. It might harm you, so it’s best to be careful.”
“Brother Zhou, rest assured.” Shi Yu glanced at the group and said, “All of you, take a few steps back.”
The group complied and stepped back.
Shi Yu extended her fair hand and pushed open the stone door.
The moment the stone door opened, a burst of intense fire rushed toward her face. The flames billowed like a violent beast, brandishing its claws and fangs. The fire was so fierce that it seemed capable of reducing everything around it to ash.
Red light blazed across the entrance in an instant, and a surge of heat rolled out from thin air. The others standing outside found it difficult to breathe, fine beads of sweat trickling down their foreheads.
In her shock, Zhou Yue could not help but cry out. She instinctively raised a spiritual Qi barrier in front of Shi Yu, but under the licking flames of the fierce earth fire, the barrier shattered instantly.
Overcome with anxiety, she stood frozen on the spot as she watched Shi Yu become swallowed by the flames.
However, when the group looked closer, they saw Shi Yu’s face remained calm. Surrounded by flames, her expression did not change in the slightest.
“X-Xiao Yu!”
Compared to her baptism in the volcano’s magma back in the Fulong Mountain Range, this fire was child's play.
With a flick of her finger, Shi Yu released a tiny strand of Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, sparks of radiant gold dancing within its red blaze.
She looked back at the earth fire and let out a cold snort.
Wen Wen, Zhou Yang, and the others watched as the earth fire—which had been fiercely overbearing just a moment ago—instantly shrank back into the vent like a frightened little beast. It curled into a tiny, fist-sized ball and trembled violently, doing everything it could to suppress its presence.
The group stared blankly at the scene before them, feeling as though their perception of reality was crumbling.
This earth fire clearly possessed a degree of sentience, as it was now plainly conveying an emotion akin to terror.
She could actually... make an earth fire cower in fear? What kind of method was this? It was truly mind-boggling.
With a slight twitch of her finger, Shi Yu retrieved the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame under the cover of her sleeve.
Although the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame was retracted, its residual aura remained, leaving the earth fire not daring to move even an inch.
A Heavenly Fire was the undisputed overlord among flames. While earth fire possessed its own share of miraculous traits, it was ultimately just a mundane flame. Facing a Heavenly Fire like the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, its imposing aura naturally evaporated completely.
“This...” Wen Wen stared dumbfounded at the earth fire, which lacked any of its usual ferocity, completely at a loss for words.
Zhou Yue sensed the atmosphere and said in pleasant surprise, “The fire poison in the spiritual Qi has dissipated!”
Shi Yu looked at the pill furnace in the center of the alchemy room, stared at the earth fire, and commanded, “Get into the furnace.”
The moment her words fell, the earth fire zipped into the furnace with a whoosh. Without even needing spiritual sense to control it, it automatically maintained the appropriate temperature to warm the furnace on its own.
“...” Seeing the earth fire act like a brown-nosing sycophant, the members of the Zhou family all turned to look at Wen Wen, who had previously spoken of it with such deep apprehension.
Is this the violent and dangerous earth fire you were talking about?
Shi Yu raised her eyes and said to Wen Wen, “Sister Wen, see? It’s quite well-behaved.”
Wen Wen: “...”
After a long moment, she finally pulled herself together, forced out a strained smile, and said with difficulty, “It... truly is quite well-behaved.”
Although she could not fathom how Shi Yu had tamed the earth fire, as long as it behaved, it was a wonderful outcome. She no longer had to worry about whether Shi Yu's cultivation or alchemy would be disrupted by it, and she could report back to Master Ji with peace of mind.
Having toured the entire cave dwelling and resolved the matter of the earth fire, Wen Wen bade them farewell, “Then I shall disturb you no longer. Miss Shi, if you need anything, feel free to come directly to the Alchemist Association to find me.”
Shi Yu agreed, “Thank you for your trouble, Sister Wen.”
The group offered to see her out, walking together toward the entrance.
“Please, stay inside,” Wen Wen said with a chuckle, turning to leave.
Shi Yu watched her leave. Once Wen Wen’s figure vanished past the cave dwelling’s entrance, Shi Yu focused her mind and used the token to close the heavy stone door.
Everything was finally resolved and they had secured a residence. All that remained was to wait peacefully for the Xie Clan’s auction to begin.
Shi Yu turned to the three Zhou siblings and said, “Brother Zhou, Sister Zhou, you must be exhausted from the journey. Now that we’ve settled in, each of you choose a guest room and get some proper rest.”
None of them objected, voicing their gratitude and accepting her suggestion.
After speaking, Shi Yu looked at Zhou Shuo and added, “If you want to practice alchemy, feel free to use the alchemy room as you please.”
Saying that, she instructed the earth fire, “No picking on anyone, hear me?”
The earth fire flickered twice in apparent acquiescence.
“Th-Thank you, Xiao Yu...” Moved beyond words, Zhou Shuo nodded frantically, unable to say anything more.
He rarely had the opportunity to refine pills using earth fire, so how could he not be grateful that Shi Yu had even taken this into account?
By now, the gloom from failing his alchemist certification exam had largely dissipated. Zhou Shuo inwardly resolved that once he returned home, he would never be lazy or slack off again.
If he allowed himself to become complacent merely because his talent was considered good within his family, his horizons and future in this life would surely end right here. Shi Yu had shown him that there was always someone better, and he had no right to be arrogant at all.
...
After everyone went to rest, Shi Yu returned to her own main chamber.
The main chamber was precisely where the spirit node was located. Stepping inside, Shi Yu sensed it carefully. “The spiritual Qi is roughly thirty percent higher than outside.”
It was comparable to the boost provided by her crafted Spirit-Gathering Array.
This way, by setting up a Spirit-Gathering Array over the spirit node, the spiritual Qi density would be sixty percent higher than the outside world, greatly enhancing her cultivation efficiency.
Pleased with this, she retrieved her array plate and array flags from the Fate-Tapping Bell. Setting up the Spirit-Gathering Array centered on the spirit node, she watched as white vapor curled up like lingering smoke and mist.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Yu felt her throat open up and relax, filling her with a refreshing sense of clarity.
Sitting cross-legged to cultivate the 《Fate-Tapping Record》, the surrounding spiritual Qi gathered toward her, turning into gentle wisps of breeze that swirled around her and circulated continuously with her breath.
Immersed in the rich spiritual Qi that was a full sixty percent higher than outside, she couldn't help but lose herself in it, feeling a drowsy, intoxicated sensation akin to oxygen drunkenness.
Her body seemed to receive thorough rest and repair as every inch of flesh and blood surged with vitality, feeling as if countless tiny fish were swimming across her skin, gently teasing each of her meridians.
As the 《Fate-Tapping Record》 was continuously driven, absorbing and refining the circulating spiritual Qi around her like a surging torrent, her cultivation was thoroughly stabilized and connected.
...
Ending her cultivation, Shi Yu stared at the newly formed Qi cyclone in her dantian surrounding her yellow sprout Dao Foundation, muttering to herself, “Cultivating here at this pace, I can reach the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm in two months at most.”
This speed was by no means slow. The fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm was something many rogue cultivators might take ten or twenty years to reach. Even noble family children in Lingtai Prefecture's main city who had been showered with resources since childhood would find it difficult to reach the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm at her age.
Checking the Dragon Bamboo Grass inside the Fate-Tapping Bell, tiny flowers were gradually blooming from the tips of the bamboo nodes. It would still take some time before these flowers fell and fruit was produced.
Shi Yu sighed softly, knowing she was being a bit impatient.
She always harbored a sense of urgency, wanting only to push herself to become stronger as quickly as possible—to catch up to those brilliant and dazzling individuals she had once seen, who could truly be called geniuses.
“I must not rush. Step by step. Otherwise, an overbearing obsession might spawn an inner demon,” she warned herself in a low voice.
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