Chapter 414: Chapter 406: Nirvana as the Phoenix_1

It never occurred to Qin Niu that the advancement of mythical beasts could be fraught with so many difficulties until it came up in conversation.

“Then why don’t you guys seek refuge with us humans? Look at you, now you’re my pet, and I’ll definitely protect you, making sure you’re undisturbed during your promotion.”

Yet, he didn’t consider that it was precisely during the critical moment of the Fire Bird’s cultivation that he had stolen the Fire Lotus and had schemed against it quite ruthlessly.

That wasn’t all; he also took advantage of its struggle to break through its realm, attacking it multiple times with his pet, which ultimately resulted in the proud Demon Bird being subdued by him, a cultivator of the Innate Realm.

This incident was an absolute disgrace to the Demon Realm.

The Fire Bird did not respond.

Probably angered by his words, it couldn’t be bothered to engage any further.

It was desperately trying to break into a new realm within the magma; its body was burned beyond recognition, and the flames continued to devour it mercilessly.

The agony of being burned by intense flames in order to be reborn through fire, to achieve nirvana, was unimaginable.

Qin Niu watched quietly as it underwent cultivation, struggling within the flames.

He was also protecting it.

Guarding against other demon beasts and Demon Birds that might attack it.

No wonder none of the more than ten Demon Birds that lived in the highest peak came to aid the Fire Bird in its protection.

If it had really gathered over ten Demon Birds to protect it, Qin Niu wouldn’t have stood a chance.

The Fire Bird had evolved from an ordinary wild bird into a Demon Bird, step by step, and was filled with distrust for other Demon Birds.

This wariness had long become a habit of its and a survival skill necessary in the natural world.

As time went by, the flames in the cavern became even more ferocious.

Great gushes of scorching magma spewed from within the cave, and a large area at the base of the mountain transformed into a magma lake and sea of fire.

Many plants caught fire directly and began to burn.

Luckily, vegetation was sparse on this mountain, which prevented a larger wildfire from forming.

If a wildfire were to occur, the entire Qifeng Mountain Range could be burned to a bald state.

The Fire Bird was consuming fewer and fewer fire essences from the Fire Lotus.

Looking at the situation, the fire essence inside seemed to have been completely devoured by it.

But it was still far from reaching the state needed for promotion.

“Fire Bird, bring that Fire Lotus over here. I may be able to help you advance,” Qin Niu called out to it.

The Fire Bird’s body was now concealed within a gigantic fireball.

It seemed to have heard Qin Niu’s call.

Finally, under the weight of the Fire Lotus, it drew closer to where Qin Niu was.

Moving slowly, it appeared to be in great difficulty.

Unable to enter the magma himself, Qin Niu could only stand there and watch.

Eventually, the Fire Bird successfully brought the Fire Lotus before him.

Qin Niu channeled the power of the Everlasting Spring Technique into the Fire Lotus to help it grow rapidly.

Whether he could help it quickly condense fire essence, he had no idea.

The Fire Bird, meanwhile, was struggling bitterly, enduring the torment of being burnt by raging flames.

Gleaning fire essence from the Fire Lotus should accelerate its nirvana, enabling it to withstand the threat of death from being consumed by flames.

With the nourishment of the Everlasting Spring Technique, the roots of the Fire Lotus grew swiftly, penetrating deeper into the magma and rapidly absorbing the fiery energy within.

The heart of the Fire Lotus emitted a blazing white flame.

The outer petals of the Fire Lotus expanded even further.

Then, the Fire Lotus began to spin slowly on its own within the magma.

Upon closer inspection, one could notice that a large amount of subterranean fire energy was gathering at its roots. They formed a vortex, which was the reason for the rotation of the Fire Lotus.

Qin Niu was overjoyed and channeled the power of the Everlasting Spring Technique into the Fire Lotus again.

It must be said, the power of the Everlasting Spring Technique was incredibly beneficial to plants.

The speed at which the Fire Lotus absorbed the fiery energy increased, and its rotation grew faster as well.

“This is fantastic… The fire essence inside the Fire Lotus is increasing rapidly.”

The Fire Bird could feel the change in the fire essence inside the Fire Lotus, and its voice was also filled with joy.

Now that Qin Niu’s Medicine King Sutra had reached the Innate Realm, he naturally could sense some subtle changes in the Fire Lotus. The fiery energy within was rapidly increasing, and he could clearly feel it.

He could even faintly sense the process by which the Fire Lotus absorbed the fiery energy and slowly transformed it into fire essence after purification.

That Essence of Fire must be something good.

He just didn’t know how to absorb it.

When the time comes, perhaps he could humbly ask the Firebird for advice.

He also wondered if, just as the Fire Lotus could automatically transform into Essence of Fire, the Ice Lotus might also contain the essence of water within.

He immediately took out the Ice Lotus and examined its core.

He could sense that the core of the Ice Lotus contained an extremely pure and cold energy.

He didn’t dare to touch it because it was too cold.

Just touching it would instantly cause frostbite.

As the Fire Lotus rapidly condensed a large amount of Essence of Fire with the help of his Everlasting Spring Technique, the Firebird on the brink of death finally found a new source of energy.

It pecked at the Essence of Fire inside the Fire Lotus again.

With sufficient Essence of Fire, the Firebird’s rebirth could continue.

Qin Niu watched its cultivation from the side, and he made quite significant gains himself.

The magma eruption within the cavern continued unabated.

An entire night quickly passed.

The sky gradually brightened, but the magma continued to erupt ceaselessly, already filling a large portion of the low-lying area below.

Qin Niu’s power of the Everlasting Spring Technique was almost depleted.

He continuously channeled the power of the Everlasting Spring Technique into the Fire Lotus, helping it rapidly absorb the power of flames and transform it into Essence of Fire.

At the same time, in order to protect himself from the flames, he also had to channel part of his Everlasting Spring Technique power into the Ice Lotus, helping it maintain its vitality, continuously releasing cold air to assist him in resisting the searing magma and flames.

…

Gradually, the sun climbed high into the sky, shining brightly.

The Firebird’s cultivation had finally reached a critical point.

“Caw!”

It let out a clear cry.

Then, it fluttered its wings and revealed its true form from within the blazing flames.

Qin Niu was amazed to see that it had regrown its crimson feathers.

The new feathers were still short and had not spread out.

With each forceful flap of its wings, the feathers on its body grew faster.

The feathers on its wings and tail had begun to unfold.

All of this was truly magical.

“It seems it has successfully undergone its rebirth.”

Qin Niu felt genuinely happy for it.

Luckily, there were no other powerful demon beasts in this mountain range. Otherwise, taking advantage of the Firebird’s critical moment of reaching a new realm, an ambush would have been difficult for Qin Niu to fend off.

Time flew by quickly.

Before they knew it, it was noon.

The Firebird had completely transformed.

Its body was now covered in dense crimson feathers, some even shimmering with colorful glows.

From its body emanated a royal aura, domineering and majestic over all creation.

Even as its master, Qin Niu still felt a thrill of fear.

“Caw!”

The Firebird spread its wings and flew out from the magma, soaring high into the sky, heading straight for the sun.

There were blazing white flames on its body.

Almost no crimson flames were visible anymore.

This indicated that after its advancement, it could manipulate even more powerful flames.

“It’s getting above itself! It actually wants to contend with the sun.”

As Qin Niu watched the Firebird soar into the sky, he felt as if he had been in a dream since yesterday.

It was too unbelievable.

He now somewhat couldn’t believe that such a powerful Demon Bird had been subdued by him.

Seeing the Firebird’s brash demeanor, it seemed it would fly in the sky for a good while, flaunting itself. It wanted to let the other demon birds in the region know that it had successfully advanced.

Qin Niu dragged the Fire Lotus out from the magma, ready to take it back and care for it properly.