Ascension Day

Yuan Weiyang offered her thanks and carefully stepped forward to collect the Celestial Fire. "Lord Zhong," she said, "you mentioned just now that this is Celestial Fire left behind by a Celestial Tribulation. In that case, who was it that was Crossing the Tribulation?"

Seeing that Xu Ying called Da Zhong "Lord Zhong," she did the same.

Da Zhong said, "Who else could it be? This Big Locust Tree, of course. Zhou Qiyun said this tree was a natural-born Immortal, but to achieve Ascension to Immortality, one must cross a tribulation. There are no exceptions. This Big Locust Tree either committed countless evils or is an Immortal-like existence. It was struck by Celestial Thunder and is being burned by Celestial Fire. It's a goner, sooner or later."

It paused, then added, "Another eight thousand years or so of this, and it'll be burned to death."

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi came forward, carrying the large Copper Pillar. Yuan Qi yelled, "Lord Zhong, you have to hang in there!"

With that, the man and the snake stuffed the large Copper Pillar inside the Bell.

Xu Ying dusted off his hands and grinned. "Lord Zhong, you're not going to be melted by this Celestial Fire, are you?"

Da Zhong let out a series of CLANGS as it laughed, boasting smugly, "Do you have any idea how much trouble my master went through to forge me? He snuck into the Heavenly Dao World to steal Immortal Fire, and used that to refine me! I can withstand Immortal Fire, so what's a little Celestial Fire?"

As it spoke, the base of the Bell began to glow red-hot. Its voice started to tremble. "Ying, something's not right. I just remembered my injuries haven't healed yet. The heat... it's starting to hurt. Lend me a bit of your Qi Blood..."

Xu Ying pretended not to hear and walked off toward a thick tree branch.

Da Zhong quickly called out, "Yuan Qi! Lord Qi! Don't you go! Lend me a little Qi Blood!"

Yuan Qi hastily followed Xu Ying, scurrying away in a flash.

Yuan Weiyang asked curiously, "Where are they going?"

The Celestial Fire was making Da Zhong antsy. It snapped irritably, "To pick locust flowers! Those two animals! For the past few days, they've been knocking down the flowers to roast and eat. Such a wanton waste of a natural treasure!"

It remembered Yuan Weiyang was still beside it. An idea struck. It let out a resonant laugh. "Ahem, Younger Brother Yuan, was it? Could I perhaps borrow a little Qi Blood? As a reward, I can teach you how to refine this Celestial Fire!"

Yuan Weiyang agreed at once.

Da Zhong finally breathed a sigh of relief. It borrowed Qi Blood from her to resist the Celestial Fire and, in turn, passed on the Technique for refining it.

Yuan Weiyang gave it a try and found that, sure enough, it was now quite easy to refine and collect the Celestial Fire.

She stored the Celestial Fire away, but feeling that collecting any more would endanger her Mysterious Domain, she quickly stopped. Just then, she saw Xu Ying and Yuan Qi returning with locust flowers.

The flowers on this Big Locust Tree were each about a foot long. A single branch held hundreds of them, forming magnificent, dense clusters. Xu Ying and Yuan Qi carried over one such branch, its fragrance filling the air.

The scent of locust flowers wasn't overpowering. It was a light, elegant fragrance mixed with a hint of fresh grass.

Xu Ying and the Big Snake each plucked off a dozen or so flowers and placed them on the Celestial Fire to roast. They quickly turned golden brown, crispy on the outside but fragrant and soft on the inside, with a sweet, honey-like aroma.

Yuan Weiyang hadn't eaten yet, and when she smelled the aroma, her stomach began to rumble.

Hearing the sound, Xu Ying tossed a roasted flower to her. Yuan Weiyang hastily sat up straight, her gaze fixed forward. She took small, delicate bites, the very picture of refinement.

Xu Ying, on the other hand, rolled the foot-long flower into a ball, stuffed the entire thing into his mouth, and immediately reached for another.

The more Yuan Weiyang ate, the hungrier she felt. Casting etiquette aside, she copied him, rolling a flower into a ball and stuffing it into her mouth. She chewed vigorously, but her mouth was small, and sweet nectar trickled down from the corners of her lips.

She quickly slurped it back up, savoring the sweet fragrance as it went down her throat. It was a delicacy unlike any she had ever tasted.

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Thank you, everyone! Yesterday brought three Golden Alliances, four Silver Alliances, and thirty-nine new Alliance Leaders, pushing us past the Hundred Alliances milestone! This broke my (Zhai Zhu's) personal single-day sales record, put us at number one on the daily sales chart, and we even briefly hit number one on the monthly ticket rankings. Thank you all for your love and support! There are too many fans who donated to thank individually here, so I will be writing a separate chapter just to thank you all!!