Chapter 65: Crimson Fire

In the Black Desolation Exchange Hall, Gu Yuan met the same shop attendant he had encountered when he bought the materials to build his forge.

Seeing her familiar professional smile, he thought for a moment before deciding to leave everything to her.

"I’m going to cultivate an ice-related technique, and I want some pills and treasures that could help with that. What do you advise I buy?"

Naturally, Gu Yuan had no intention of telling her the real reason.

The woman glanced at him for a moment. She couldn’t sense any obvious ice-related aura from him, and his cultivation also didn’t seem particularly suited to an ice technique. However, she didn’t question him.

A good shop attendant knew when not to ask questions.

"Then I would recommend the Frost Dantian Pill. It can temporarily fill your Dantian with cold energy, making it easier to cultivate an ice technique."

She then took out a small jade box.

"For longer periods of cultivation, you could also consider an Cold Jade Platform. It isn’t really a bed, but you can sit on it while cultivating. It continuously gathers cold energy and releases it around the cultivator. If you intend to cultivate for long periods, it would be much more convenient than relying solely on pills."

Gu Yuan nodded. That sounded quite useful.

"What else?"

The woman smiled.

"A Frostbite Herb. Eating it raw can maintain a layer of cold energy around your body and reduce the influence of external heat."

The woman continued introducing one item after another, and after considering them for a moment, Gu Yuan made his decision.

"I’ll take all of them."

The woman was slightly surprised by his words, but her eyes still lit up as she began preparing the items and calculating their total price.

"It will be 100 High-Grade Spirit Stones, but for an esteemed customer like you, 90 High-Grade Spirit Stones will be enough."

It was a considerable sum, but thinking about the Crimson Fire, Gu Yuan knew that spending the spirit stones was worth it. If these things could make refining the treasure even a little safer, then the cost was more than acceptable.

Back in his cave abode, Gu Yuan immediately began working on the Array Formation.

Luckily, the place was already empty, so he could begin without needing to make any preparations. Using formation ink and a carving tool, he began inscribing one formation pattern after another onto the ground.

Each line had to connect precisely to the next.

A slight mistake in the placement of a formation node could disrupt the flow of Spirit Qi and cause the entire formation to fail. Since this formation would help him withstand the power of the Crimson Fire while refining it, Gu Yuan was even more careful than usual.

He repeatedly checked each formation pattern after completing it, comparing it with the formation diagram he had already worked out in his mind before moving on to the next one.

As the days passed, the empty floor of his cave abode gradually became covered in complicated patterns.

Some gathered Spirit Qi.

Some redirected the surrounding energy.

Others were responsible for gathering and circulating cold energy around the area where he would refine the Crimson Fire.

Gu Yuan also left several formation nodes specifically for the Iceheart Jade Platform and the other ice treasures he had purchased.

The entire formation was connected together, forming a complete cycle. Spirit Qi would be gathered, redirected through the formation, and combined with the cold energy provided by the treasures. The resulting energy would then circulate around the area where he would refine the Crimson Fire, giving him an additional layer of protection.

Even so, Gu Yuan knew the formation itself was only part of the preparation. The Crimson Fire was far too powerful for him to rely on a single array to guarantee his safety.

He checked every formation node one final time before finally stopping.

It had taken him an entire month to complete the formation.

"Now, I can begin."

He placed the ice-related treasures at their designated positions around the formation, then placed the Cold Jade Platform at the center and sat cross-legged upon it.

After that, Gu Yuan took out the jade box containing the Crimson Fire, along with the many bottles of pills and the raw herbs he had prepared.

The Frost Dantian Pill, the Frostbite Herb, and the other pills he had purchased were consumed one after another. Some were meant to fill his Dantian with cold energy, some were meant to resist heat, and others were there simply to help him recover if his condition deteriorated during the refinement.

The moment their effects spread through his body, Gu Yuan felt as though his Dantian was about to burst from the sheer amount of energy gathered inside it. At the same time, his body became stiff with cold, his lips turned purple, and frost rapidly spread across his skin. ℯℯ𝑙.

The sensation was extremely uncomfortable.

Gu Yuan endured it without changing his expression and continued consuming the prepared pills until the cold energy within his body had reached its limit.

Only then did he turn his attention toward the jade box.

He slowly reached out.

Crack!

The movement of his hand produced faint cracking sounds from the frost coating his joints, but he paid it no mind.

His fingers touched the jade box, and he carefully opened it.

Inside, the Crimson Fire burned with a deep, liquid-like intensity. Its core a vivid scarlet that bordered on pure blood-red. Even contained within the jade box, an intense heat radiated from it.

The last time Gu Yuan had opened this jade box, he had only been at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Back then, the moment the box was opened, the pressure and heat of the Crimson Fire had nearly overwhelmed him.

Now, however, he was already in the Golden Core Realm.

That unbearable pressure was nowhere to be found.

It was clearly much more favorable this time.

Even so, the heat radiating from the Crimson Fire was still terrifying. Gu Yuan could already feel the cold energy he had painstakingly accumulated being rapidly neutralized.

Unwilling to waste the effects of the pills he had just consumed, Gu Yuan immediately began the refinement.

His spiritual power slowly reached toward the Crimson Fire, carefully wrapping around it before he began pulling it toward himself.

The moment the flame entered his body, the cold energy he had accumulated seemed to evaporate in an instant, and an overwhelming heat erupted within him.

Gu Yuan’s expression changed slightly as the Crimson Fire surged through his meridians like molten metal. His body felt as though it were being burned from the inside out, and even his Golden Core trembled under the heat.

But he didn’t retreat.

The formation beneath him activated at the same time.

Spirit Qi began flowing through the intricate patterns covering the ground, gathering the cold energy from the surrounding treasures and directing it toward Gu Yuan. The Cold Jade Platform released another wave of frigid energy, helping suppress the heat that was spreading through his body.

Gu Yuan simultaneously circulated his spiritual power, forcing it deeper into the Crimson Fire and slowly wrapping the flame in layer after layer of his own power.

He wasn’t trying to suppress it completely.

That would be impossible.

Instead, he was gradually imprinting his spiritual power onto the flame, using it to establish a connection with the Crimson Fire and make it recognize him as its owner.

The process was far more difficult than he had imagined.

Every time his spiritual power entered the flame, it was burned away by the terrifying heat. Gu Yuan had to replenish it and try again, slowly wearing away at the Crimson Fire’s resistance.

This was only the beginning.