Chapter Thirty-Two: Aurora, Leaving Fire

The principle behind the Divine Power of the Eye of the Candle Dragon was, in truth, not so complicated. The ancestral dragon’s single eye, the Candle Dragon’s Eye, resembled a reservoir of energy: it absorbed all kinds of power, refined and purified them, and ultimately gestated a beam of destructive light, much like a laser focused to its utmost limit, with a naturally terrifying might.

It could be said that the Candle Dragon’s Eye once enabled the ancestral dragon to dominate the primordial world, yet it was also what led to his destruction.

All things have their limits; excess is as bad as deficiency, and so it is with the use of energy. The Candle Dragon’s Eye could refine and store power, but in his relentless pursuit of strength, the ancestral dragon never ceased absorbing energy—even the baleful and violent forces of heaven and earth, for these powers could further augment the eye’s might.

Yet, in equal measure, the accumulation of such baleful energy greatly affected the ancestral dragon, driving him slowly into madness and ferocity, until at last he perished in his own frenzied slaughter. In his obsession with power, he neglected the cultivation of his mind and the progression of his Dao, straying far from the true path of cultivation.

Ancestor Qiankun, naturally, had no wish to repeat the mistakes of the ancestral dragon, and thus he soon settled on his own method for refining and cultivating the Eye of the Candle Dragon.

With the ancestral dragon long dead, and the baleful karma upon the eye already dispelled, Ancestor Qiankun had gained the recognition of the Candle Dragon’s Eye, so refining it was no great challenge. With a simple ritual, he transformed the eye into a special magical treasure, which he could store in his mind’s palace, to use as a divine eye.

However, to truly cultivate the Eye of the Candle Dragon, one still needed to absorb and refine enough energy. Ancestor Qiankun already had some thoughts on this.

Roughly half a month later, at the farthest edge of the Southern Sea, where radiant light blazed for thousands of miles and endless auroras converged, Ancestor Qiankun alighted gracefully upon an island fashioned from countless jades and crystals, resembling a colossal pearl or gemstone in the midst of the ocean.

Sparse vegetation covered the island; the dazzling light made it seem as though one stood at the threshold of pure radiance, rendering it difficult to even open one’s eyes.

The plants growing here all possessed the attributes of light, shimmering with white luminescence, emanating warmth at the slightest touch.

This was the southernmost extremity of the primordial world, the very source of light. Correspondingly, the northernmost extremity, deep within the Northern Sea, was a realm of endless darkness. Light and darkness—two extremes—mirrored each other, a wonder of creation in this primordial land.

Special places naturally give birth to unique treasures. Upon this immortal isle, where endless auroras gathered, Ancestor Qiankun soon discovered some white jades exuding a gentle, luminous aura, semi-translucent, with marrow veined within. This jade marrow, containing a strand of the pure essence of light, was the crystallization of auroral energy, possessing wondrous and mysterious properties.

Casually gathering a few pieces of jade, Ancestor Qiankun settled cross-legged atop a massive, arc-shaped boulder of spotless jade, gazing skyward. At a thought, the black, orb-like Candle Dragon’s Eye emerged at his brow, and an invisible force swiftly drew vast streams of auroral energy from the void, which poured ceaselessly into the eye, so that soon the endless, dazzling radiance seemed to engulf Ancestor Qiankun entirely.

No one knew how much time passed. Only when the light across the island had slightly dimmed, and the dense auroral glow at the heart of the isle finally dissipated, was Ancestor Qiankun revealed, his whole form shrouded in a hazy white light.

At the same time, the black orb at his brow dimmed as well, yet a faintly sharp and fierce aura lingered upon him, causing the space before him to ripple.

“Ah…” With a soft exhale, Ancestor Qiankun drew in the hazy white light, a strange smile playing across his face. “Who would have thought that by gathering and absorbing a portion of auroral energy, I could so clearly sense the profundity of the Dao of Light, even gaining some insight into its mysteries.”

Rising lightly and drifting to one side, Ancestor Qiankun’s gaze fell, as if sensing something, upon the massive white jade stone where he had sat in meditation for so long. He raised a brow in surprise. “Oh? Has this stone developed a spirit? How interesting! Perhaps, one day, it may take on a human form. Since fate has brought us together, let me offer you a little aid.”

As he spoke, Ancestor Qiankun reached out and tapped the stone lightly, sending a spark of spiritual light from his fingertip into the jade.

Watching the stone’s uncertain, flickering radiance, as if it were responding, Ancestor Qiankun smiled faintly, then turned and vanished in a stream of light, employing a spatial evasion technique.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Ancestor Qiankun had returned from the southernmost sea to the southernmost reaches of the primordial continent, arriving at the Nanming Volcanoes.

The Nanming Volcanoes were not a single peak, but a vast volcanic range, seething with wild, scorching fire energy. Eruptions were frequent, creating many lakes of molten lava—like a furnace forged by heaven and earth.

Sensing the spot where the fire energy was most concentrated, Ancestor Qiankun arrived above an enormous lava lake, as vast as the ocean.

“Deep within this lava lake, there should be the Nanming Truefire, shouldn’t there?” he murmured, and with a thought, plunged into the molten depths, parting the lava before him as he went.

Descending deeper, Ancestor Qiankun could feel the temperature rising ever higher. Finally, there was no lava left—only endless, crimson flames of dreadful power: the Nanming Truefire, one of the most formidable divine fires of the primordial world.

These volcanoes existed only because of the abundant Nanming Truefire, and indeed, they took their name from it.

“Let me absorb it!” Ancestor Qiankun inhaled the scorching air and, with a single thought, summoned the Candle Dragon’s Eye at his brow. An invisible force of absorption drew the boundless Nanming Truefire toward him, where it was ceaselessly devoured and refined by the eye.

While absorbing the Nanming Truefire, Ancestor Qiankun deliberately calmed his mind, striving to comprehend the mysteries of fire in this place where its nature was most manifest.

Yet he had absorbed but a fraction of the Nanming Truefire when a sudden, unseen fluctuation swept toward him like a tide, sending the surrounding flames into wild, chaotic turmoil.

“Hmm?” Ancestor Qiankun frowned, opened his eyes, and slowed the absorption, a hint of irritation rising in his heart as he looked ahead. There, the endless flames parted, revealing a noble and beautiful woman clad in a red gown, her bearing regal. Her eyes were like twin miniature suns, dazzling in their brilliance, radiating a surging, scorching aura.

Recognizing her, Ancestor Qiankun’s expression shifted as realization dawned: “Chief Phoenix, matriarch of the Phoenix Clan?”

“Ancestor Qiankun? You’re not dead?” The Phoenix matriarch, equally surprised, arched an elegant brow as her gaze fixed on the Candle Dragon’s Eye at his brow. “To think that you are the one who acquired the ancestral dragon’s Candle Dragon’s Eye!”

Ancestor Qiankun touched his nose and coughed awkwardly, feeling somewhat disgruntled. “Not dead yet? Is that any way to greet me? As if I’m supposed to be dead?”

“You’ve come to the Nanming Volcanoes to absorb the Nanming Truefire for the sake of cultivating the Candle Dragon’s Eye?” Phoenix guessed his purpose at once.

Ancestor Qiankun simply nodded. “That’s right! Lady Phoenix, would you be so kind as to allow me this convenience?”

“It’s only the Nanming Truefire—if you wish to absorb it, take your time. If you manage to refine and absorb all the Nanming Truefire in this volcanic range, I’ll be the one to thank you,” Phoenix replied.

Hearing this, Ancestor Qiankun nearly wiped the sweat from his brow. Good grief, the reserves of Nanming Truefire in these volcanoes are like a powder keg in the primordial world. Even if I risked my life, I could never absorb it all! If the Nanming Volcanoes were so easily managed, Phoenix wouldn’t need to constantly remain here to suppress them.