“Chaos Origin Flame… Fire Nascence…” Jared repeatedly murmured the two terms to himself. Deep within his eyes, a trace of brilliance flashed by, so fleeting it was almost imperceptible. The long-silent nascence space within his body actually trembled on its own, ever so slightly.
A faint yet incomparably pure sensation of heat—one that seemed to originate from the very dawn of creation—quietly spread through him. It formed a mysterious, ineffable resonance with the fire spirit energy of the secret realm that seeped into his body through every pore.
The feeling was both familiar and alien, as though a dormant bloodline were being awakened. Outwardly, Jared remained calm and composed as he gave Reiner a slight nod. “Thank you, Sword Venerable, for your frank disclosure. I will remember your kindness and assistance.”
Over the following days, everyone enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and recovery within the safe oasis Jared had delineated with his celestial power.
The secret realm’s pure and gentle fire spirit energy, combined with the nourishment of the spirit spring, along with the pills Jared provided, and his occasional use of refined celestial energy to guide and clear the meridians of the severely injured, produced healing effects nothing short of miraculous.
The gnarly wound on Paxton’s chest—still bearing traces of demonic corrosion—was healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. Flesh knitted together, scabbed over, and then fell away, revealing newly regenerated skin beneath.
The pallor on his face gradually gave way to a healthy flush, and his listless aura strengthened with each passing day. The damaged meridians within his body were slowly yet steadily repairing themselves under the dual nourishment of fire spirit and life force energies.
He could even sense that, after enduring the arduous trial and being tempered by the environment of the secret realm, the cultivation bottleneck that had restrained him for many years was beginning to loosen.
Meanwhile, Clara’s recovery was even more astonishing.
Since she cultivated a top-tier fire technique, she was exceptionally compatible with the surroundings. After sitting in meditation by the spirit spring for three days, not only were her internal injuries completely healed, but her sword heart, which had previously dimmed due to forcibly activating her sword technique, also began to recover.
In addition, under the cleansing of pure fire spirit energy and the nourishment of Jared’s subtle yet mysterious ultimate energy, her sword heart grew even clearer and more condensed, showing faint signs of further advancement in cultivation.
Her feelings toward Jared had also quietly changed—from initial disdain, to shock, to reverence, now tinged with a complex, inexpressible curiosity and attention that even she herself did not fully understand.
***
Gavin and Yvette, whose injuries had never been the most severe, recovered the fastest. They were already moving about freely, becoming capable assistants to Paxton in managing the group.
As for the other disciples of the Myriad Beast Sect, most had also stabilized their injuries. Some of those with lower cultivation levels even turned misfortune into fortune because cultivating in such a blessed land meant that their progress was several times faster than it would have been in the outside world.
During these days, Jared appeared to wander casually through the secret realm.
However, he did not rush toward the core region that Reiner had warned about. Instead, he explored gradually along the edge of the safe zone, carefully sensing every subtle rhythm and pulse of the incredible realm that housed the primordial source of fire.
He stepped across a slow-flowing stream of true fire, its waters shimmering with golden radiance. The current was searingly hot, yet the instant his toes touched the surface, the fiery water parted of its own accord, splitting into two gentle streams that flowed around him, as though welcoming a sovereign.
Then, he climbed a low hill formed entirely of Heart-Flame Jade.
At its summit, a cluster of eternally dancing flames shaped like a vermilion bird suddenly separated a slender wisp of fire. The tiny flame drifted down into his palm, affectionately brushing against his fingers before transforming into pure fire spirit energy and slipping into his body, nourishing his chaotic celestial energy.
Later, he approached a group of fire sprites playing among a forest of flaming mushrooms.
These small beings, whose intelligence had only just begun to awaken, not only failed to flee but instead gathered around him in curiosity, emitting soft, melodious chimes like tinkling wind bells, as if trying to communicate with him.
From afar, he even observed a Flaming Golem over 110 feet tall, slumbering in the distance.
At the position of its heart, a fire core of ever-shifting colors pulsed rhythmically, the waves it emitted faintly aligning with a deeper, underlying cadence of the entire secret realm.
Every action and interaction was witnessed by Reiner, who had always kept a strand of his attention on Jared. Needless to say, the shock and confusion in his heart grew wildly, like weeds overtaking a field.
He became increasingly certain that Jared was by no means an ordinary Human Immortal Realm cultivator.
Jared’s affinity with fire, his ability to harmonize with it and command it, had already surpassed the realm of mere exceptional talent or possession of powerful treasures. It was more akin to a resonance at the level of life’s very origin, a suppression born of higher existential rank.
“Could there truly be a seed of fire nascence within his body? Otherwise, why would all the flames draw near to him?” Reiner uttered to himself, his mind in turmoil.
Just then, a bold yet terrifying notion surfaced in his mind. “What if it’s because he has some sort of connection to my senior, or even to Master himself?”
On this day, Jared wandered without a map or timetable until his boots carried him to the final frontier of the Blazefire Secret Realm, the rim of an area Reiner had once forbidden with a voice sharp enough to slice stone.
The panorama before him forced even Jared, veteran of countless wonders, to draw a slow, reverent breath. It felt as though he had stepped straight into the fiery world’s pulsing heart, or perhaps its unhealed wound.
Orderly ridges and rivers of fire vanished. In their place stretched a limitless Chaos Sea of Flame, forged from the raw, berserk essence of every legendary flame ever whispered about in ancient scrolls.
The horizon broke beneath roiling scarlet Heaven-Burning Blaze that roared like dragons and branded black gashes across the ether.
Golden Solar Essence Fire blazed brighter than noon, its purity so absolute it threatened to wash all matter from existence. Violet Firmament Thunderfire writhed in long serpentine coils, crackling with judgment, while ghost-pale Bone-Spirit Coldflame burned noiselessly, so cold it stabbed straight at the soul.
Worse still, pitch-black Void-Devouring Flames spun here and there, each a hungry vortex that drank light, heat, and hope alike.
Countless mythic blazes, some recorded only as theory, clashed, braided, and perished in cycles that felt chaotic yet whispered of a deeper, hidden order.
Explosions, wails, hisses, and splintering pops interwove until the air itself became a symphony of ruin.
