Han Li flicked his sleeve, and the other blue tripod shot forth as well. After a hum, it expanded in size, then, under a subtle mental command, drifted upward steadily, reaching a height of over twenty paces. A flash of silver revealed a humanoid automaton standing motionless on one corner of the tripod, as steady as a mountain. Han Li nodded slightly, then suddenly struck his waist pouch with a firm palm, and a surge of white, cold wind erupted from within. Twelve four-winged centipedes, each several feet long, emerged instantly. These were precisely the twelve six-winged frost centipedes. As soon as they appeared, they shook their heads and swayed their tails, spewing out streams of cold wind. White mist spread upward, enveloping the centipedes and concealing their forms. After a moment of rotation, the mist settled and dispersed, distributing evenly throughout every corner of the luminous enclosure. Only then did Han Li relax his expression. Yet he could not afford to be careless now. He carefully inspected the spell array once more, confirming that everything was sound, before standing at a specific point within it. With both hands pressing a series of gestures, a layer of violet flame suddenly rose from his body, and his figure seemed to fade into the air, slowly sinking into the ground until he vanished completely. This wasn't because Han Li didn't want to transform into the earlier fire dragon pillar shield. It was simply that circumstances had changed. While the fire-based shield could easily blend with the surrounding molten rock, maintaining its internal temperature in such an intensely hot environment required a far greater expenditure of spiritual energy than the cold-light shield. Until he had seen the Sun's refined fire, Han Li naturally wouldn't have made such a choice. However, while immersed in the molten rock, even with his divine awareness fully extended, the range he could perceive was significantly reduced—only about a hundred and twenty zhang, far less than when he was on the ground. Upon realizing this, Han Li sighed. It was no wonder that Han Li the Cold, who knew the Sun's refined fire was right here, had failed to capture it time and again over the years, eventually giving up entirely on the endeavor. Under these circumstances, even a late Yuan Ying stage cultivator would find it rather unrealistic to capture a particularly spirited Solar True Fire. Only a Hua Shen cultivator might have a genuine chance. Despite having made so many preparations, he still harbored no certainty about whether he would actually succeed. Han Li suddenly tapped the Taiyin Fire Bird that had remained steadfastly perched on his shoulder. As the bird spread its wings, it flew out of the purple protective aura and plunged directly into the molten rock, vanishing without a trace. The entire process was silent and seamless, as though completely indifferent to the intense heat of the lava and encountering no resistance at all. Han Li first found himself speechless, then quietly delighted. After all, the Taiyin True Fire, being the most yin essence of the Human Realm, should have encountered little difficulty in the molten rock. It seems this fire, hailed as one of the Three True Spiritual Flames, must conceal some profound secret beyond what he currently knows—something worth investigating further at a later time. To recall, the Taiyin True Flame and the Taiyang Pure Flame were originally born of extreme heat and inherent extreme cold, respectively. Under the mutual attraction of yin and yang, as long as the Taiyang Pure Flame remained in proximity, it would inevitably be drawn toward the Taiyin True Flame. Now, he simply needed to see if he could guide it to the ground. Meanwhile, Han Li, mentally connected to the fire bird, followed it closely, beginning to wander throughout the surrounding area centered on this volcanic crater. Over one, two, and then several days, Han Li had nearly explored every inch of the underground terrain within a range of ten thousand li—especially the several locations where the former Han Li Master had previously detected traces of the pure flame—yet still found not a single trace of the Taiyang Pure Flame. Han Li felt a headache and, with no choice, had to broaden his search scope. Yet the Sun Spirit Fire seemed as though it had never existed at all—completely vanished. One month later, on a day when Han Li was searching from a location several hundred thousand miles away from the volcano's mouth, his face remained expressionless, though his mind was genuinely anxious. Who could endure day after day of constantly moving through molten rock, with everything within sight glowing a deep red, and their spiritual awareness constantly scanning the surroundings with full effort? Under such continuous strain, even the most resilient would surely find it hard to bear. As Han Li pondered whether he should return to the surface to restore his spiritual energy, his face suddenly changed, his eyes flashing with sudden brilliance, revealing a look of delight. Without hesitation, he stamped his foot on his storage pouch, launching forth a small black bottle containing the Five-Synergistic Magic Beings. The bottle rolled slightly in the molten rock and released the five magical entities. The five demons clearly felt somewhat uncomfortable in the molten rock, yet their pale, grayish qi wrapped around them allowed them to endure the intense heat without true fear. Han Li murmured incantations continuously. One by one, the demons rolled over, transforming into ghostly heads, then turned and shot out in all directions, vanishing into the depths of the molten rock. Han Li then shook her sleeve, releasing several fire dragon pillars that formed a bright red glow shielding her body. Yet as her form flickered slightly, she gradually blurred, eventually merging completely with the surrounding molten rock and disappearing entirely. As a result, the area became utterly silent, save for the occasional sound of molten rock flowing. After a cup of tea's worth of time, a flash of crimson light appeared, and the Taiyin Fire Bird burst forth from the molten rock, only to vanish again into the molten rock on the opposite side. Almost simultaneously, the nearby molten rock surged violently, its temperature rising more than double. A silver flash passed swiftly through the area, as if something had darted past, swiftly pursuing the Taiyin Fire Bird. As the silvery glow faded, the nearby lava once again returned to its original state, though the high temperature remained stubbornly elevated. At that moment, the red glow flickered, and Han Li broke through the protective shield, emerging from the vicinity with a look of satisfaction toward the direction where the silver glow had vanished. Without a word, he transformed into a streak of red light and pursued it immediately. Although Han Li was hesitant to accept it outright, fearing he might scare away the silver glow, he finally managed to clearly perceive its true form through the divine consciousness linked to the Jade Moon Fire Bird. To his astonishment, it was a small, winged horse, only a few inches in size, with a body as pure and white as jade, and its wings shimmering with a brilliant silver light. As soon as it approached the Jade Moon Fire Bird, the horse flapped its wings, causing countless silver sparks to burst forth and surge forward, pressing directly upon the Fire Bird with great force. This horse was indeed the genuine spiritual flame formed from the essence of the Sun's fire. When the Jade Moon Fire Bird was first born, it had been extremely weak, which was why Han Li had easily captured and subdued it. However, after it had consumed countless millennia-old, cold jade energies within the Xuanyu Cave of Xiao Ji Palace, its power had significantly strengthened. Thus, in terms of strength, the Jade Moon Fire Bird now stood no less than the current Sun's essence. Yet, at present, due to being situated in the molten rock terrain, its power was further amplified by the endless molten rock fire, gaining an additional third of its strength Under this mutual pressure, the Yin Fire Bird had to expend part of its spiritual energy to counteract the molten rock's intense heat. Though it fiercely blew out streams of crimson, cold flames to resist, it soon found itself at a severe disadvantage after just a few exchanges. Upon sensing this through his divine awareness, Han Li furrowed his brows. Neither he nor the five demons' ghost-headed forms trailing behind were in a position to intervene and disturb the refined solar flame at this moment. Indeed, from the memories of Han Li's mentor, Han Li knew that this cluster of solar essence flame had matured into spiritual form long ago and was extremely sensitive—any slight disturbance would cause it to flee immediately. The solar flame's fire spirit, however, possessed an extraordinary mastery of its fire techniques, moving seamlessly through the molten rock, often vanishing without a trace. Under normal circumstances, once it retreated, it would never be recoverable. If disturbed once, even if the Yin Fire Bird came to lure it again, Han Li would have no confidence that the fire spirit would fall for the ruse the second time. Thus, though he clearly saw the phoenix being pressed, he dared not easily intervene or summon the Five Demons for aid, merely allowing his expression to grow increasingly gloomy as his thoughts raced. Suddenly, an idea struck him. At once, he pressed his palms together in a series of gestures, then exhaled a round, milky orb—precisely the snow crystal pearl that had been continuously refined by Zi Ziluo's extreme fire. Han Lisheng decisively channeled several powerful strikes into the orb, which then spun swiftly before suddenly transforming into a beam of white light and rushing forward toward the front. A moment later, the snow crystal pearl appeared right at the spot where the young horse and the lunar phoenix were engaged in combat. It merely swayed once before settling gently between them. The young horse instantly reacted, flapping its wings in surprise, and a cascade of silver flames burst forth, vanishing into the molten rock. In the next instant, it reappeared twenty or more zhang away, its eyes fixed on the orb, filled with astonishment. Yet the Yin-Fire Phoenix showed no intention of retreating, instead seizing the opportunity to surge upward, opening its mouth and swallowing the orb whole, its entire body blazing with intense crimson light. Without hesitation, it turned around and sped off toward the distant horizon. The silver-winged pony stood stunned, her eyes darting around in search of any sign of change. After confirming that nothing seemed amiss, she finally spread her wings once more and resumed the pursuit. However, this time, the Yin-Fire Phoenix, drawing upon the hidden power of the purple-royal flame within the crystal orb, gained a remarkable increase in speed, leaving the silver-winged pony momentarily unable to catch up. In a short while, the two reached the base of a massive volcanic crater. The Phoenix then altered its course, shooting upward with great vigor. (First chapter!