At the terrestrial fire furnace on Penglai Immortal Island, waves of heat billowed and spiritual runes danced. Tang Xiaoqi stared at the Crimson Flame Sword fragments and the cracked wok hovering in mid-air, his brow furrowed deeply. Beside him, Ouyezi, the foremost alchemical master of Penglai, stroked his beard and sighed: "Though the materials are gathered, we are still missing the two most crucial items—the True Dragon Reverse Scale and Phoenix Divine Gold. These two objects are heavenly spiritual materials, not obtainable through external force. They must be willingly given by their respective races, so that they can perfectly fuse with the spirit of the artifact during the reforging process."
Before Xiaoqi could speak, Ao Qin, the Crown Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace who had traveled with them, laughed heartily: "What difficulty is that? The Dragon Clan fought shoulder to shoulder with Brother Tang, and our bond runs deep. What's one reverse scale among friends?" He immediately took out a communicating dragon scale and activated it with his essence blood. Shortly after, clouds churned, and an elder of the Dragon Clan arrived riding the clouds. In his hands, he held a jade box. When the box opened, dragon might swept across the area, and a silver scale the size of a palm, its edges flowing with multicolored radiance, lay quietly inside. This was the Dragon Clan's treasure—the True Dragon Reverse Scale. The elder solemnly said: "By order of the Crown Prince, the Dragon Clan is grateful to Tang True Lord for his meritorious service in protecting the Four Seas. We specially offer this reverse scale to assist your divine weapon in regaining its brilliance!"
The matter with the Dragon Clan went unexpectedly smoothly, but the Phoenix Divine Gold left everyone perplexed. The Phoenix Clan had long resided in the Southern Void Fire Mountain Range, secluded from the world, with minimal contact with outsiders. Though Ao Qin had some connections with the Phoenix Clan, he still showed difficulty: "The Phoenix Clan is proud, especially valuing bloodline and karma. Their Divine Gold is a companion substance born during Nirvana, containing imperishable divinity. They never easily part with it."
Just as everyone was discussing how to approach the Phoenix Clan, a clear phoenix cry rang out across the sky. A streak of crimson-gold light pierced through the air, transforming into a woman dressed in feathered robes with an absolutely beautiful face. She was Feng Qingyin, the Phoenix Clan emissary. Her gaze swept across the crowd before finally landing on Xiaoqi. Her cool voice spoke: "The Phoenix Clan is already aware of what Tang True Lord seeks. The Divine Gold may be given, but the True Lord must pass our 'Nirvana Fire Sea' trial, proving that your heart holds the intention to protect rather than to plunder, before you qualify to bear Phoenix power."
The trial was set for three days later, at a naturally formed Nirvana Fire Sea deep within the Penglai Secret Realm. This place was not ordinary fire, but a trace of the source essence of Southern Void True Fire, capable of burning everything and tempering the soul. As Xiaoqi stepped to the edge of the Fire Sea, the scorching heat struck him face to face, and the air was filled with the contradictory Dao rhyme of destruction and rebirth.
Within the Fire Sea, it was not merely about the burning of flames. With every step he took, illusions sprouted in abundance. He saw Qingxu Temple collapse amid demonic flames, his fellow disciples crying out in agony; he saw Mu Xue's soul being completely destroyed while protecting him; he saw himself holding demonic weapons, slaughtering all living beings... All kinds of inner demons were amplified by the Nirvana flames, testing his Dao heart. Xiaoqi's sweat poured like rain, his soul trembled in excruciating pain, yet he always kept a single point of clarity in his spiritual platform. His protecting sword heart not only did not scatter in the flames, it became increasingly solid. He did not resist with force, but released his body and mind, guiding strands of Departing Fire power to flow through his entire being. He used the Green Lotus source to embrace its violence, and the Chaos Dao rhyme to understand its true meaning of birth and destruction.
Three days of torment felt like a thousand years. When Xiaoqi finally staggered out of the core of the Fire Sea, his body was covered with scorched marks and his breath was weak, yet his eyes were startlingly bright, and his control and understanding of flames had reached an entirely new realm. In his hands, he held a crimson-gold lotus flower condensed from Nirvana fire, containing the Phoenix Clan's ultimate comprehension of "Destruction and Rebirth."
Feng Qingyin witnessed the entire process, and her icy gaze finally showed emotion. With a wave of her hand, a divine gold the size of a pigeon's egg, entirely crimson-gold with what appeared to be liquid fire flowing within, materialized from the void and slowly floated to Xiaoqi. "Your heart is pure, your Dao conviction firm, worthy of this object." Feng Qingyin slightly nodded. "Phoenix Divine Gold, it is yours."
The two most critical materials were finally gathered. The True Dragon Reverse Scale contained the vast power of the Dragon Clan to control clouds and water, to govern the water elements, along with their unyielding pride; the Phoenix Divine Gold condensed the Phoenix Clan's imperishable divinity and supreme fire laws of Nirvana rebirth and burning away all evil. Master Ouyezi, trembling with excitement, threw both divine objects along with other supplementary materials into the terrestrial fire furnace, shouting: "The time is right, I ask True Lord to assist me with your source fire!"
Xiaoqi sat cross-legged before the furnace, urging the trace of Southern Void True Fire source he had obtained from the Vermilion Bird Soul Crystal and Nirvana Fire Sea from his dantian, mixing it with the Green Lotus purification power and Chaos Dao rhyme, transforming it into a multicolored flowing flame and injecting it into the furnace. Within the furnace, the Crimson Flame Sword fragments and wok fragments slowly melted in the divine fire, beginning to blend with the True Dragon Reverse Scale, Phoenix Divine Gold, and the essences of dozens of other heavenly treasures. Dragon roars and phoenix cries rang out faintly from within the furnace, and the vast spiritual fluctuation caused the entire Penglai Immortal Island to tremble.
Forty-nine days later, the terrestrial fire furnace suddenly erupted with radiant light stretching ten thousand feet high. A crimson dragon phantom and a golden phoenix phantom intertwined and shot into the sky, circling nine times in the clouds before finally transforming into flowing light and plunging into the furnace. When the light scattered, Master Ouyezi, exhausted yet excited, lifted the furnace lid. A longsword with dragon patterns and phoenix shadows on its blade, crimson-gold brilliance flowing endlessly, and a simple yet substantial wok with a yin-yang taiji pattern faintly visible at its bottom, hovered quietly inside. They emanated a vast aura and spiritual intelligence far surpassing anything before.
The Crimson Flame Sword was reborn, gaining True Dragon might and Phoenix spirit, advancing to become a quasi-immortal artifact—the Nirvana Crimson Flame Sword. The wok also completed its transformation, merging with the creation of heaven and earth, absorbing yin-yang and the five elements, becoming the quasi-immortal artifact—the Creation Universe Wok. Xiaoqi reached out his hand, and the two divine artifacts connected to his heart and blood let out pleased humming sounds, automatically flying into his grasp. Feeling the vast power like a sea within them and the even closer soul connection, he knew that he now held greater confidence in facing all the challenges ahead. And overseas, due to these two quasi-immortal artifacts' birth, winds and waves were about to rise again.