Chapter 1863: Karmic Fire

Before them lay an endless desert; under the scorching sun, the entire world was like a furnace.

This was the scene upon entering the Vermilion Bird Gate.

“This damned place stretches endlessly—where are we supposed to find the Vermilion Bird True Blood?”

“Probably deep in the desert. Don’t dawdle, or someone else will get there first!”

Hearing this, the crowd surged like a tide toward the depths of the desert.

“Ye Yuan, let’s set out too,” Leng Qiuling said.

Ye Yuan, however, smiled. “Haste makes waste. If it’s this dangerous outside, how could the desert be completely safe?”

Leng Qiuling’s expression changed. In this boundless desert, she sensed no danger at all.

Apart from the heat, there seemed to be nothing unusual.

“Then… what should we do?”

Ye Yuan said, “You cultivate an ice-attribute technique. Activate it, and you’ll be fine.”

Leng Qiuling was somewhat puzzled, but she followed Ye Yuan’s instructions.

A chill gradually emanated from Leng Qiuling, and she seemed to become much colder.

After doing this, the two of them leisurely walked toward the depths of the desert.

“Hey, those two are really gilding the lily. There’s no danger here at all, yet they start circulating their divine energy. When real danger comes, let’s see what they use to fight.”

Seeing Leng Qiuling’s divine energy, jeers immediately arose.

In everyone’s eyes, this behavior was undoubtedly foolish.

Continuously circulating a technique would steadily consume divine energy, leaving them unable to fight at full strength if battle broke out.

“Ah!”

Just then, a scream suddenly came from the crowd ahead, and then the person burst into flames.

Everyone’s expression changed, and they immediately retreated, distancing themselves from that person.

Soon, the burning person was reduced to nothingness, as if evaporated from the world.

All were alarmed, not understanding what had happened.

How could this person suddenly catch fire for no reason?

“What… what happened?” someone asked in terror.

While the crowd was still in shock, several more people at the front suddenly caught fire and burned to nothing.

At this point, everyone realized this was no accident.

The desert harbored dangers they did not know.

“E-everyone be careful, this fire is too fierce!”

“How did this fire even start?”

“I… I’m out! I want to leave this place!”

…

A few flames made everyone instantly alert.

Some even clamored to leave.

But before they could take two steps, a tongue of fire shot out and burned them to nothing.

The assembled experts were dumbfounded, completely at a loss.

Leng Qiuling looked at Ye Yuan in surprise, feeling that his instruction to activate her technique was likely to ward off this flame.

But what exactly was this?

Those experts dared not venture deeper.

Yet it was useless; many still were burned to ashes by the flames.

Thus, Ye Yuan and Leng Qiuling, who had been moving slowly, ended up at the front of the crowd.

Their unusual state immediately drew attention.

“How come they’re fine?”

“Strange—they’ve been circulating their techniques since entering this space! We were mocking them earlier—could there be something to it?”

“I understand! This… this is karmic fire!”

The speaker was a true god expert.

At the mention of karmic fire, even that true god expert’s face changed drastically, filled with shock and uncertainty.

Not just him, but everyone else’s expression also shifted dramatically.

“Karmic fire arises from the mind without any warning and is extremely powerful! Legend says it can burn everything into nothingness.”

Hearing the crowd’s alarmed murmurs, a faint smile curled at the corners of Ye Yuan’s mouth.

These people had finally caught on.

The Vermilion Bird was the fire divine beast, with profound mastery of the law of flames.

This vast desert sea was actually a sea of karmic fire.

Walking through this desert required maintaining a calm mind, as still as an ancient well.

Otherwise, once karmic fire was provoked, one would be burned to death.

Of course, Ye Yuan was not omniscient, but with Wuchen around, such traps could not affect him.

In fact, ever since entering the Tianyang Mountain Range, Ye Yuan had felt as if he were coming home.

Places extremely dangerous for others were like walking on flat ground for Ye Yuan.

These people, eager for quick success, wanted to find the Vermilion Bird True Blood as soon as possible, so naturally they could not maintain a peaceful mind, making it normal for karmic fire to be triggered.

Having discovered the trick, these martial artists tried hard to keep their minds calm, and indeed the incidents of being burned by karmic fire decreased sharply.

However, things were not as simple as they imagined.

As they went deeper, the temperature in the desert rose higher, their minds grew more restless, and people began to die from karmic fire again.

Among the crowd, two pairs of eyes were fixed on Ye Yuan.

“Hey, this kid really has some skill, able to foresee karmic fire. If not for him, we two masters might have fallen here too,” the older one said in a low voice.

“Master, I always feel something’s off about this Ye Yuan,” the younger one said.

These two were Ji Xun and Zhuo Han, master and disciple.

They had followed Ye Yuan into the Vermilion Bird Gate right after him.

The last incident had left Ji Xun very frustrated.

Ever since entering the Tianyang Mountain Range, he had been looking for a chance to catch Ye Yuan alone and kill him.

Seeing Gu Tianque enter the Black Tortoise Gate, Ji Xun realized the opportunity had come, so he followed Ye Yuan and the others into the Vermilion Bird Gate.

Originally they planned to strike directly, but seeing Ye Yuan tell Leng Qiuling to activate her technique, Ji Xun sensed something odd and held back.

They lagged far behind the crowd, and when they saw those ahead burned to death by karmic fire, Ji Xun immediately understood.

Hearing Zhuo Han’s words, Ji Xun smiled and said, “You’re right, this kid is indeed different. Let’s not act yet; I feel that following him might bring us unexpected gains.”

Seeing Zhuo Han’s reluctant expression, Ji Xun added, “Han’er, rest assured, your master will avenge you! When we find the Vermilion Bird True Blood, that will be the moment Ye Yuan dies!”

Time passed bit by bit. The crowd searched the desert for half a month but found nothing.

Many grew increasingly irritable, and more and more died from karmic fire.

“This damned place—is there really Vermilion Bird True Blood here? Ouch, no, I can’t get angry, can’t be restless. Keep calm! Keep calm!”

This person’s antics immediately drew laughter.

But soon, the laughter died down.

Laughing was also not allowed.

“Look, what’s that!” Suddenly, someone in the crowd pointed ahead and shouted.