Chapter Thirty-Six: All troubles come from waking up too early

  Huoyun Hall Preaching Hall

  A robust and majestic figure, the Elder Qingfan stood beneath the wall opposite the entrance of the hall, clad in a fiery red armor. On the wall above him, an ancient character for 'Dao' radiated a crimson glow that pulsed with a soft, breathing rhythm.

  The red light grew stronger and weaker, casting a fiery glow on Qing Fan's crimson armor, making him appear as if he was standing amidst raging flames, extremely majestic.

  When Kong Fang's gaze fell on the word "Dao", his consciousness suddenly dazed, and when he recovered, Kong Fang was shocked to find that he had unknowingly been surrounded by endless flames. The raging flames rolled over, and then transformed into giant fire snakes that chose their prey, with their mouths wide open, ferociously pouncing over. Before the giant fire snakes arrived, the scorching breath had already pressed down on Kong Fang, making it impossible for him to breathe.

  "How did a flame giant snake suddenly appear beside me? No, no, that's not right." Kong Fang suddenly came to his senses with a start.

  The great hall was still the same as before, and there wasn't even a single flame, let alone a giant serpent of flames.

  Kong Fang looked around somewhat dazedly, then gazed at the front's Qing Fan elder with a puzzled expression, "I just..."

  Elder Qingfan's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but he waved his hand to signal Kong Fang not to speak. Afterwards, Elder Qingfan's gaze moved away from Kong Fang's body, but the people standing on either side of him, including Sun Hao, were all staring at Kong Fang in shock.

  "It's actually so fast to leave the 'True Fire Realm'." Yin Wanshui swallowed his saliva, looking at Kong Fang with eyes as if he was looking at a monster.

  Standing beside Yin Wan's water, Sun Hao's mouth was slightly open and he forgot to close it.

  Li Sen looked at Kong Fang, who had just left the True Fire Realm and was still a bit dazed, with a hint of cold light flashing in his eyes. However, his slightly trembling hands revealed the shock and fear in his heart.

  After a few breaths, Kong Fang returned to normal, and his eyes were no longer dazed. Kong Fang had already guessed in his heart that he must have fallen into some kind of illusion just now. However, experiencing such a realistic illusion for the first time made Kong Fang extremely uneasy.

  Suddenly, Kong Fang turned his head to look at a position on his right side.

  To Kung's right was Ch'ien Shih, the new inner disciple of Huo Yun Hall who had entered with him.

  Ge Sheng was short and stout, wearing a large grey linen garment. His eyes, which were fond of darting back and forth, had stopped moving and appeared somewhat dull and lifeless.

  Ge Sheng's face was somewhat pale, and his forehead was covered with large beads of sweat. Obviously, he had seen something extremely frightening in his trance-like state. Moreover, as time passed, the muscles on Ge Sheng's face were even twitching slightly. The hemp garment that was originally loose on him was now completely soaked with sweat and stuck to his body.

  "If I hadn't woken up from that illusion, it would probably be like this now too." Kong Fang's heart was secretly chilled.

  "Alright, wake up." Qing Fan's elder suddenly spoke out after about three minutes.

  Qing Fan's elder voice pierced into his heart, directly awakening Ge Sheng who was trapped in an illusion. Ge Sheng, who suddenly broke free from the illusion, looked around blankly with his eyes, and when he saw Qing Fan and Kong Fang, his body went limp, and he sat down on the ground with a thud, panting heavily.

  After Ge Sheng rested for a while and got up from the ground, Qing Fan Zhen Lao finally opened his mouth to explain: "Just now you fell into the 'True Fire Realm', each of our sects has a place with an illusion similar to the 'True Fire Realm'."

  "It's indeed an illusion." Kong Fang's heart stirred.

  "All disciples who enter the inner hall of our sect must go through this illusion. The 'True Fire Realm' can test a disciple's temperament, and it also has great benefits for your divine soul. You will understand when you obtain the Soul Refining Method to condense your divine soul." As he said this, Qing Fan suddenly glanced at Kong Fang.

  Kong Fang was startled in his heart, "Could it be that Qing Fan elder discovered something?"

  Thinking of how quickly he had woken up from the 'True Fire Realm' earlier, Kong Fang suddenly felt a pang of unease. Although the rapid transition between the illusion and reality at that time left him somewhat dazed, he remembered the expressions of the people around him extremely clearly. At that time, Sun Hao and others looked at him with eyes as if they were looking at a monster, even Qingfeng's gaze had some surprise in it.

  In order not to arouse suspicion from Qingfan, Kongfang had no choice but to pretend to be puzzled and ask, "Qingfan, why did we both fall into the 'True Fire Realm' at the same time, yet wake up at such different times?"

  Qing Fan's elder was taken aback, as if he hadn't expected Kong Fang to ask him this question.

  "Because your divine soul is much stronger than Ge Sheng's." After a few breaths, Qing Fan's face suddenly showed a faint smile, and he answered Kong Fang's question.

  Seeing the smile on Qingfan's face, Kong Fang couldn't help but feel even more ashamed in his heart, and secretly scolded himself for asking such a low-level question, this was simply rushing into the muzzle!

  Ge Sheng beside him looked curious: "Didn't we wake up at the same time?"

  Kong Fang was speechless for a moment.

  "Kong Fang entered the 'True Fire Realm' and woke up in less than three breaths, as for you, I deliberately awakened you, otherwise, I wouldn't know when you would wake up." Qing Fan elder said with a bad tone.

  When he heard the words of Qing Fan, Ge Sheng smiled awkwardly, but his gaze towards Kong Fang was full of surprise. "I almost didn't wake up after falling into the 'True Fire Realm', while Kong Fang almost immediately woke up as soon as he entered, how much stronger is his spirit than mine?"

  "Afterwards, Ge Sheng came to the Transmission Hall every day, trying his best to wake up from the True Fire Realm and successfully condense his divine soul." Elder Qing Fan only mentioned Ge Sheng, but didn't mention Kong Fang.

  However, it was clear to the few people present that Kong Fang's powerful divine soul 'True Fire Realm' had almost no effect on him, so there was no need to come here again.

  Just thinking that Kong Fang's divine soul was so strong that it could quickly leave the 'True Fire Realm', Sun Hao and others suddenly became curious, wanting to know why an ordinary entry disciple's divine soul would be so powerful.

  To know that they had already refined their spirits at that time, isn't it also said that Confucius had refined his spirit?

  Just as Sun Hao and others were wildly guessing in their hearts, Qing Fan Zhen suddenly spoke up: "Since you two have chosen Huo Yun Tang, I will follow the sect's rules and grant you the Two-Star Soul Refining Method and the Five-Star Cultivation Technique."

  Ge Sheng's breathing, which had just calmed down, became heavy again, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and his chubby face twisted in a distorted manner.

  Kong Fang may not think much of the two-star True Shadow Soul Refining Method now, but he understands Ge Sheng's feelings. A few days ago, when he learned that he possessed a very high-level Soul Refining Method, he wasn't in a good mood either. At that time, he walked from the foot of the mountain to the halfway point of Tianchudang with a silly smile on his face.

  Ge Sheng was too excited, Kong Fang carefully savored the feeling at that time so as not to appear too abnormal, and then his 'excited' expression also twisted.