The great array shattered with a deafening roar, and the eight dragon pillars collapsed in a cloud of dust. The giant bronze cauldron standing on the ground also cracked, splitting into an eight-shape from the middle.
The eight golden dragons were no longer moving, all lying motionless on the dragon pillars. The arrogant demeanor from before had vanished, now they were like dead loaches.
Tiger Kui Dou lay on the ground, its face scorched black by the heavenly fire. The whiskers on its chin were completely burned away, and the 'king' character on its forehead was charred into a 'soil' character. Looking at it, one could no longer see any of the tiger's former majesty.
And the mountain-splitting axe in its hand now only had the handle remaining. The sharp axe blade had long since melted into molten iron, forming an irregular lump.
"My axe!" Tiger wanted to cry but no tears came. "These two axes have been with me for many years, but I never thought they would be destroyed here today. My heart truly aches."
Listening to Tiger's words, Jiang Wen looked up at the jewel still flashing blue light high above. He reached out and caught the jewel, examining it carefully in his hand. This True Water Pearl, after such a collision, still shimmered with a faint blue luster. There was no sign of breakage, not even a scratch.
Truly a good treasure, Jiang Wen nodded to himself, putting away the True Water Pearl. Then he looked at the eight dragon pillars, quite interested in the eight golden dragons.
These things were neither gold, nor iron, nor wood. Although they could be melted, they could also be restored. As long as the power within them did not run out, they could recover even from great blows. Truly wondrous treasures. Although he also coveted the eight dragon pillars, these things were connected to the giant elephant beneath his feet, and it was difficult for Jiang Wen to pull them out and store them. He could only give up on the idea of the dragon pillars and first take the eight golden dragons into his possession.
Reaching out to the golden dragons, a burst of attraction came. The eight golden dragons flew towards Jiang Wen, their bodies gradually shrinking, and finally falling into his sleeve universe.
Such massive objects could not be stored in storage bags; only the sleeve universe could accommodate them.
After collecting his spoils, Jiang Wen looked again at the cracked bronze cauldron. A red orb was faintly hidden within the cauldron, seemingly radiating a scorching temperature.
He walked to the cauldron and reached into it to retrieve the object. A jewel with a red surface, like a great sun, appeared. He examined it in his hand, discovering that the jewel contained a firelight, like a sun that would never go out.
"Jewel! So hot! Yin Yin doesn't like it," the ginseng sprite cried.
Tiger, who had been sighing and groaning, also walked over, looking at the jewel with a puzzled tiger face: "What is this?"
"You don't recognize it?"
"Should I recognize it?"
"I took this out of the cauldron; perhaps it's a treasure left behind by Pure Yang Zhenren. I didn't expect that you followed Pure Yang Zhenren for so long, but you've never seen this thing," Jiang Wen said with a smile.
"I don't know everything, besides, I really haven't seen this thing," Tiger stretched out a finger and gently touched the fire pearl. The fire pearl shot out a ball of flame, burning Tiger's paw black.
Tiger quickly retracted its paw, looking at the jewel with a dark face: "Why does it burn me? Immortal, you're holding the magic pearl and you're fine!"
"Perhaps it disdains you," Jiang Wen said with a smile, finding the fire pearl truly interesting. The fire pearl also seemed to have gained spirituality, and after hearing Jiang Wen's words, it spat out a small flame. This amused Jiang Wen and the ginseng sprite, who laughed heartily, only Tiger nursing its paw in distress.
"This is unfair! I also contributed, okay!" Tiger shouted.
Jiang Wen put away the jewel and then examined the remnants of the bronze cauldron.
"Really?" Tiger asked in surprise.
"I always keep my word," Jiang Wen said with a serious expression.
"Good! Then I'll follow you for now. If you don't help me re-forge a treasure, I won't let it go," Tiger said confidently.
The ginseng sprite also joined the conversation, arguing with the tiger.
Jiang Wen looked at this situation and ignored Tiger. Instead, he put the bronze cauldron into his sleeve universe. Then he looked at the magnificent palace not far away.
"The great array has been broken, we should go in and take a look," Jiang Wen said, taking the lead and walking towards the palace in front of him.
Tiger followed behind him, with a tiger back and bear waist, walking swiftly.
The two came to the palace, and when they looked up, they saw a plaque hanging on the main hall. It read "Heavenly Fire Palace" in three characters, the door was open, as towering as a valley.
This palace was truly magnificent, a palace standing in front of them, a thousand feet long.
Jiang Wen reached a stone tablet, which contained information about the palace.
The full name of this palace is Heavenly Fire Supreme Yang Palace, it is eight thousand eight hundred feet long and one thousand two hundred feet high.
It is refined from mountain stones and cast with great magic power.
This palace is the Fire Storage Palace, a palace for storing Pure Yang Supreme Fire.
There is a warning above, saying that this place is transformed from the five elements of fire and is extremely dangerous. If you want to enter the palace, you must walk quietly. Otherwise, disturbing the true fire spirits within will lead to death.
After reading the stone tablet, Jiang Wen understood what the Heavenly Fire Palace was used for. He memorized the rules and climbed the steps towards the palace.
If one has seen the Five Mountains that reach the sky, one will understand how big a palace similar to a high mountain is.
The steps were densely layered, with a total of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps. Each layer was engraved with golden crow auspicious beasts, and their shapes were also different.
Upon ascending one level, one felt the surrounding temperature rising. The color of the steps gradually changed, and as Jiang Wen climbed higher, the color became closer to crimson.
He and Tiger walked on this wide staircase, like ants climbing a mountain. Their insignificance was like ants, making people feel awe.
By the time they reached the central five thousand five hundred and fifty-fifth step, Tiger could no longer bear the scorching temperature.
It stuck out its tongue to dissipate the heat.
"So hot! It's killing me!" Tiger shouted. "Brother Jiang, do you have a way? If it gets any hotter, I'll be cooked."
"Heh! Then we'll eat tiger meat!" the ginseng sprite cried.
"You! You little mountain spirit, don't you remember my good deeds!" Tiger said angrily.
Jiang Wen also felt that the temperature was very high. If they continued to walk like this, the temperature at the top would probably be thousands of degrees Celsius. He could resist it by running his magic power, but it was not a good idea to keep consuming it.
So he thought for a while and took out the True Water Pearl from the storage bag.
"You use this pearl to protect yourself first," he threw the True Water Pearl to Tiger.
