Chapter 71

Flame Valley is not a deep valley; its terrain is not low, and its entrance is not as narrow as those of true valleys, which have only a few entrances.

Hu Gao, taking the less-traveled Dragon Saliva Path, had to chase after beasts in the forest for a while before encountering Zhou Longqi. Therefore, when they entered Flame Valley, they did not encounter anyone.

"It seems my luck has finally turned. There's a treasure five miles ahead, possibly a Black Fire Lotus," Hu Gao suddenly received a message from Xiao Wu and stopped to tell Zhou Longqi.

Hu Gao was not worried that Zhou Longqi would try to take the Black Fire Lotus from him. Although he had only just met this disillusioned rich kid, he could tell from some details that this guy had seen the world and would not be interested in trivial things. Even his visit to Flame Valley was merely to satisfy his curiosity after being cooped up for a long time.

"Really? Where? Where? Why can't I sense it?" Zhou Longqi immediately perked up, shouting loudly as he took two steps to catch up with Hu Gao and craned his neck to look ahead.

"I really can't sense it, Brother Hu Gao, how do you do it?"

"My totem is a bit special, with a strong sensing ability," Hu Gao replied with a reason. "Shall we go?"

"Go! Of course, we should go! I, Zhou Longqi, will finally get the Black Fire Lotus. I knew my luck wasn't bad!"

Hearing that Hu Gao's totem was special, Zhou Longqi immediately understood. His own totem was in the awakening stage, with the most significant change being a strong aura. It was not hard to understand that Hu Gao's totem had awakened with a strong sensing ability. So, Zhou Longqi did not ask further and urged Hu Gao to hurry up.

This was a cave with a three-meter-wide entrance, slanted inward in a way that sparked imagination. Strangely, the fire inside was less intense than outside.

Before Hu Gao could think it through, Zhou Longqi was already shouting, "Black Fire Lotus, I'm coming!" and walked directly into the cave.

Hu Gao, helpless, followed him inside. Xiao Wu had already sensed that there was only one late-stage first-rank beast inside, which they could handle with their combined strength.

The cave was not deep and was relatively spacious. Zhou Longqi, walking in front, quickly saw the situation inside.

"Wow! What a big tiger!"

A gray tiger, nearly four meters long, lay inside the cave. Zhou Longqi immediately shouted upon seeing it.

Damn! Hu Gao cursed inwardly, drawing his Shadowless Sword and feeling an impulse to strike Zhou Longqi down. The two gray-robed elders also prepared to attack, their faces dark.

This was a Smoke Gray Tiger. Ordinary Smoke Gray Tigers can spew choking smoke, and depending on their living environment, the smoke can have different effects. This Smoke Gray Tiger, living in Flame Valley, might even be able to spew fire!

Seeing the Smoke Gray Tiger jump up in fright, Zhou Longqi showed no fear. Instead, he stared at a green chrysanthemum in front of the tiger and shouted, "Wow, be careful, don't step on my chrysanthemum!"

This was a Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum, which has the ability to calm the soul and suppress totems. It is a poison, and if a martial artist consumes it during the awakening of their soul or the formation of their totem, the awakened soul will become dormant again, and the totem will dissipate. Some martial artists use this to gamble on their totems. The first awakening can be used for gambling, and the second totem formation in the Swallowing Heaven Realm can also be gambled.

The Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum was also useful to Zhou Longqi, as it could stabilize his awakened totem to some extent. Whether he could awaken again was uncertain, but it depended on whether he was willing to take the risk.

Because it could solve his predicament, Zhou Longqi was so excited.

Equally excited was the Smoke Gray Tiger. As the old pipe-smoking man had told Hu Gao, the beasts in Flame Valley are influenced by the fire toxicity here. Some seek potent medicines like Red Tassel Fruit to release it, while others, like the Smoke Gray Tiger, seek the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum to calm their agitated souls.

However, this Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum had not yet fully bloomed, so the Smoke Gray Tiger was guarding it.

Zhou Longqi's loud shouting clearly marked him as an enemy.

With a roar, the Smoke Gray Tiger pounced at Zhou Longqi, its mouth spewing yellow smoke.

Damn! Hu Gao deflected his sword, bypassing Zhou Longqi in front of him, preparing to intercept the Smoke Gray Tiger.

However, Zhou Longqi shouted, "Wait, let me handle it!"

As he spoke, green yuan energy surged from his body, and a powerful aura erupted, making him seem like the king of the beasts, while the Smoke Gray Tiger appeared to be just a gray kitten.

The Smoke Gray Tiger growled, its forward momentum slowing, clearly intimidated by the sudden burst of powerful aura, unsure of what to do.

"Scram!" Zhou Longqi took a step forward, his voice commanding, and a green light flashed around him, ready for a life-or-death battle. If Hu Gao did not know his strength, he might have thought he was facing a Body Realm expert.

The Smoke Gray Tiger whimpered, crouching down. When Zhou Longqi took another step forward, the terrified Smoke Gray Tiger fled, dashing out of the cave, far from the terrifying aura.

"Amazing!"

Hu Gao put away his Shadowless Sword, admiring the scene. He was both amazed and curious. Hu Gao could sense the aura of a superior being emanating from Zhou Longqi, mixed with a strong sense of dominance. Ordinary people could not feel it, but their minds would be severely impacted.

This Zhou Longqi is definitely not simple! This must be the aura of his totem! What is his fourth-rank totem, to scare away a late-stage first-rank Smoke Gray Tiger with just its aura?

Could it be a divine beast? Hu Gao wondered. His own divine beast contract totem, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Xiao Wu, did not have such an aura.

Thinking about it, Hu Gao considered another way to use aura, different from the method he learned from Qi Hong, which involved using his own aura. Instead, he could use the aura of his totem.

Xiao Wu was still a hatchling, far from fully grown, but Hu Gao also had the mutated Bloodlight Snake totem. Once he entered the Body Realm and could condense the Bloodlight Snake, what kind of aura would this ninth-ranked mutated totem have?

"Of course, I'm amazing! Who am I?" Zhou Longqi said arrogantly, running over to dig up the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum.

"Brother Hu Gao, do you need this Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum?"

"What would I do with it? Sell it for money? If you need it, take it." Hu Gao replied. He knew the effects of the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum, and it had no use for him other than selling it for money. Zhou Longqi's active digging and question clearly indicated that he needed it.

"I'll take it!" Zhou Longqi put the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum into his spatial ring, recalling his impressive display.

The feeling of scaring away a late-stage first-rank beast at the Eighth Rank Condensation Shadow Realm was exhilarating! Zhou Longqi felt his future was limitless, at least if he followed Hu Gao's path.

The awakening of his totem prevented Zhou Longqi from using yuan energy to perform yuan techniques, but his cultivation speed was still fast, even faster than that of ordinary martial artists. Therefore, his physical training had not lagged behind. Moreover, scaring away the Smoke Gray Tiger made him think of a possibility.

"Brother Hu Gao, what do you think about combining physical cultivation with the aura of the totem? I mean, what if I cultivate as a physical cultivator?"

"Do you want to integrate the totem's aura into physical cultivation?" Hu Gao came to his senses. "I've studied this. It's like this..."

As he spoke, Hu Gao drew his Shadowless Sword, and his aura erupted. In a swift, lightning-fast strike, he stabbed the stone wall next to Zhou Longqi's head. Before the two gray-robed elders could react, Hu Gao had already sheathed his sword.

"You..." The two gray-robed elders finally reacted. They had only felt millions of swords suddenly burst from Hu Gao, making it hard for them to breathe, and then they watched helplessly as Hu Gao stabbed toward Zhou Longqi's head. After understanding Hu Gao's intention, the two elders were drenched in cold sweat.

That one strike had completely stunned them!

"This is the sword momentum I cultivate. See? At the Ninth Rank Condensation Shadow Realm, they had no reaction." Hu Gao was not stingy about teaching Zhou Longqi these things.

He felt that Zhou Longqi was a very talented martial artist but might be unable to apply his strength in combat due to certain reasons. Since Zhou Longqi had asked, it was clear he wanted to follow the path of physical cultivation, a path that could solve his predicament. Hu Gao did not mind being a pioneer and showing him some favor.

"Amazing!" Zhou Longqi could only mutter, his eyes shining brighter.

So, Hu Gao's path of physical cultivation was indeed suitable for him. A physical cultivator with a powerful aura could be so formidable!

At that moment, Zhou Longqi made a decision about his future.

Now, with the rapid growth of yuan energy due to the totem's awakening and the physical training, the path of physical cultivation would be very helpful.

In a year or two, he would see the state of his totem. If the awakening was successful, he would rise to the top; if it failed, he would still have the foundation of physical cultivation; if the awakening was not complete, he would consume the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum!

No matter what, he would not be like his father.

Hu Gao searched the cave and found nothing of value other than the Soul-Stabilizing Chrysanthemum.

"Let's leave. There's nothing else here."

Saying this, Hu Gao led the way out of the cave. He had already noticed that Zhou Longqi was grateful to him, but the two gray-robed elders were very stingy and clearly did not want to give him any treasure in return. Otherwise, with Zhou Longqi's personality, he would have already taken out the contents of his spatial ring for Hu Gao to choose from.

Actually, Hu Gao had misunderstood. Zhou Longqi's spatial ring was truly empty.

"Boss, it's best for you to act alone. The deeper you go into Flame Valley, the more intense the fire energy becomes. If I come out to absorb it, it will greatly benefit my cultivation..."

As Hu Gao walked out, Xiao Wu finally could not hold back and transmitted a message to him.

"Fire energy?" Hu Gao raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this the energy contained in the Black Fire Lotus? Could it also be in the air?

Xiao Wu replied, "Yes, boss. Although you can't directly absorb the fire energy from the air into your body, I can. If I weren't afraid of being noticed by others, I could absorb it right now."

"I understand. I'll tell them to split up now."

Hu Gao immediately made a decision. Zhou Longqi was a good person to be friends with, and traveling with him was not lonely, but for cultivation, Zhou Longqi's constant chatter was really too much. Hu Gao needed to often think and create yuan techniques, and now that Xiao Wu had said