Chapter 143: The Crimson Flame Slash

“Oh!” Du Long responded weakly to the enraged roar of the Spirit Guardian beauty, then hastily began the blood oath ritual to claim mastery.

The blade lightly sliced his index finger. Indeed, this battle knife was exceptionally sharp. A few drops of fresh blood fell onto the fiery red blade, quickly vanishing as if absorbed by a sponge.

Grasping the blade with both hands, a strange sensation surged through Du Long’s heart. Following this feeling, he closed his eyes and immersed his spirit within. Amid a dazzling transformation of light, his consciousness arrived in a space spanning several hundred miles in all directions.

Within this vast space, there was only a continuously burning, boiling lake of molten lava. Suddenly finding himself in such a strange realm, Du Long let out an exclamation from the depths of his heart: “Wow! What kind of place is this?!”

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than three fiery red characters appeared in his mind—“Scarlet Flame Slash!”

“Scarlet Flame Slash?!” Du Long murmured in puzzlement.

“Exactly! This is the Scarlet Flame Slash. Although it’s just an ordinary divine weapon, it suits your current strength perfectly!” The Spirit Guardian beauty’s voice rang out abruptly once more. By this point, Du Long held almost no secrets from her.

“How do I use this Scarlet Flame Slash?!” Du Long asked, confused. Before the Spirit Guardian beauty could answer, another wave of information flooded his mind—an introduction to the weapon’s usage. Astonishingly, a simulation of the Scarlet Flame Slash launching an attack hovered above the molten lava lake.

The Scarlet Flame Slash consisted of six techniques. The first was relatively simple: a single strike that could form a terrifying blade of fire. The size of this fiery blade varied with the wielder’s strength.

“I see!” Du Long murmured excitedly. “This Scarlet Flame Slash is really impressive! It even has an internal space like the Fire Cloud Cauldron!”

“Pfft! How can you compare it to the Fire Cloud Cauldron?! You should know the cauldron’s internal space is boundless, but here it’s only about a hundred miles. How can you compare the two?!” The Spirit Guardian beauty scoffed disdainfully.

Though Du Long knew her words were reasonable, he had no desire to argue. Instead, he carefully examined this hundred-mile space.

Within a hundred miles lay the molten lava lake; beyond that was a hazy, gray void. It seemed this lava lake was the entirety of the space.

“Huh! What’s that?!” Du Long suddenly noticed several flaming red fire lotuses swaying in the center of the lake. He quickly directed his consciousness closer to these fiery creatures growing amidst the molten lava.

“Whoa! Du Long, your luck is as incredible as ever!” Before Du Long could fully discern the nature of those fire lotuses, the Spirit Guardian beauty’s voice rang out again.

“What’s going on?!” Du Long asked, confused.

“Those are fire lotuses! They bear the coveted Purple Flame Pearls!” the Spirit Guardian beauty said excitedly.

“Oh!” Du Long replied absentmindedly but quickly realized the significance, his excitement mounting as he asked, “What?! These things bear Purple Flame Pearls?!”

“Obviously! Do you think Purple Flame Pearls just randomly sprout in a molten lava lake for no reason?!” the Spirit Guardian beauty retorted sharply.

Du Long wasted no time, swiftly shifting his consciousness above the fire lotuses. There were seven or eight in total, including five blossoms and three seed pods.

On those three seed pods glistened clusters of Purple Flame Pearls—nine pearls per pod, twenty-seven pearls in total. So, these so-called Purple Flame Pearls were actually fire lotus seeds!

Moreover, the energy within each of these Purple Flame Pearls was fully saturated. Seeing this, Du Long felt as if he were dreaming—he could hardly believe his eyes!

‘Each fully charged Purple Flame Pearl is worth a million gold coins. Twenty-seven pearls amount to twenty-seven million gold coins. Just taking one pearl would cover the cost of this Scarlet Flame Slash!’

“Oh my god! I’m truly going to get rich this time!” Du Long thought, his heart racing with excitement.

“Hehe! Now you know just how formidable I am, don’t you?! I insisted you had to buy this Scarlet Flame Slash no matter what!” the Spirit Guardian beauty said proudly.

“Hmm! All thanks to Ling’er! Ling’er is truly amazing!” Du Long was not stingy with praise at this moment.

His consciousness continued to roam the Scarlet Flame Slash’s inner space for a while longer. Besides those fire lotuses in the center, there was nothing else. Only then did he return his spirit to reality.

“Ling’er! How exactly do these fire lotuses bearing Purple Flame Pearls come about?!” Back in reality, Du Long was curious rather than rushing to refine the pearls.

“Hehe! Fire lotuses are the most common flame creatures that bear Purple Flame Pearls in every world. I suppose the previous owner of this Scarlet Flame Slash transplanted some fire lotuses from molten lava lakes into its internal lava lake. That’s quite a boon for you!” the Spirit Guardian beauty explained patiently.

“I see! If there’s nothing else, I’ll start absorbing and refining the Purple Flame Pearls!” Du Long responded promptly.

“Remember, only take as many Purple Flame Pearls as you need. Don’t harvest too many at once. They will lose energy if left exposed in the outside world!” the Spirit Guardian beauty warned.

“Understood!” Du Long replied hastily, then plunged his spirit back into the Scarlet Flame Slash’s space. With a thought, he extracted a single Purple Flame Pearl from one of the seed pods, and it instantly appeared in the palm of his right hand.

With another thought, the pearl traveled to the Fire Cloud Cauldron space centered in his dantian. Du Long immediately activated his internal fierce flame, channeling it into the cauldron space and began refining and absorbing the energy contained within the Purple Flame Pearl, following the flame refining technique taught by the Spirit Guardian beauty.

Hours passed. After several hours, the entire energy of the Purple Flame Pearl was completely refined and absorbed. Seeing that dawn had not yet broken, Du Long immediately began refining the next pearl.

Each pearl refined meant he could consume another dose of second-grade spiritual liquid, further boosting his internal fierce flame energy. This process of cultivating fierce flame energy and improving the quality of his dantian space brought him immense satisfaction.

As daylight brightened, when Xia Qinglian arrived early to find Du Long, he had just completed the absorption of the second Purple Flame Pearl. Refreshed, he washed up under her care, then the two hurried toward the east wing dining hall to prepare breakfast.

“Well-behaved grandson! Looking energetic! Haha, come, sit beside grandpa! I’ve already served your rice!” As soon as they entered the dining hall, Old Master Du warmly greeted him. Such enthusiasm sent an inexplicable chill through Du Long’s heart.

“Hehe! Grandpa, how could I trouble you to serve me food yourself?!” Feeling uneasy inside, Du Long reluctantly sat where his grandfather had assigned and buried himself in the meal, eager to finish quickly and leave. While eating, he urged, “Qinglian, hurry up and eat! We still have to return to the Royal Academy afterward!”

Xia Qinglian obediently sat beside him and hastened her eating.

“No need to rush! What’s the hurry? You’re known as the biggest truant at the Royal Academy. When have you ever been so diligent?!” Old Master Du said leisurely. Then, feigning sorrow, he added, “Dear grandson! I heard last night you gifted your parents two million gold coins! Alas, this old bone of mine seems unloved and uncared for!”

“Pfft!” With his mouth full, Du Long couldn’t help but spit out his food. So that was the issue! He cast a resentful glance at his parents, Du Zhentian and his wife, who stifled their laughter and pretended to be engrossed in serious conversation.

Nearby, Xia Qinglian couldn’t hold back either and quietly chuckled. Du Zhentian and his wife, who had been feigning indifference, eventually burst out laughing as well.

“Ha ha ha…”

“Laugh all you want! Keep laughing at this old man!” The grandfather, who had just appeared sad, suddenly put on a stern face. “Hmph! You ungrateful lot! Remember when my health was failing? I spared no effort traveling far and wide to find renowned physicians. And now that I’m in pain, you forget that your grandpa nearly went bankrupt for you?!”

Quickly swallowing the food still in his mouth, Du Long flipped out a stack of gold notes and handed them over. “Grandpa! How could I ever forget my share?! You went to bed early last night, so I didn’t get a chance to give you this. Here are two million, just like what I gave mom and dad! I’m being generous, right?!”

“Hehe! That’s more like it! Two million! With what you’ve spent over the years, you’ve finally broken even!” Old Master Du snatched the gold notes like lightning, as if fearing Du Long would change his mind. This made Xia Qinglian giggle quietly once again.

“Qinglian! Hurry up and finish eating. We have to return to the academy, then head back to the territory with Xiaofeng!” Even after handing over the money, Du Long didn’t forget to urge her to eat faster.

For some reason, a gnawing unease lingered in his heart today. Even after giving away two million, the feeling didn’t subside. It seemed having a lot of money could make one feel insecure!

“You’re such a child, why the rush during a meal?!” Zhou Ruoxue affectionately chided him.

Du Long ignored her and continued to eat heartily. Xia Qinglian, not daring to slack, also quickened her pace.

As the saying goes, the more one fears an impending event, the more likely things will go awry. Just as Du Long was about to finish breakfast, a crisp voice struck him like a blow to the depths of hell.

“Du Long! What’s the matter? Did you make over ten million at yesterday’s auction that you can’t sleep from excitement? Hurry up or we’ll be late!” Before Du Caini even arrived, her voice already carried far through the main gate.

“Here she comes! Qinglian, let’s go! We’re going to be late!” Du Long sprang from his chair like a spring and dashed toward the main entrance.

Xia Qinglian seemed to sense trouble and hurriedly followed. In her haste, she unleashed her swift movement technique to full power, transforming into a white streak that sped past Du Long, reaching the door first.

At the dining table, only three people stood dumbfounded, watching the two figures bolt out like fleeing shadows. The first to react was Du’s mother, Zhou Ruoxue.

“You little brat! Come back here and explain yourself right now!”

“Mother! I’m busy today. We can talk later! No need to see me off!” The voices carried back into the dining hall, trailing off in a long tail. Clearly, Du Long, Xia Qinglian, and Du Caini had already mounted their great lion, Xiao Lie, and vanished into the distance.