Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

214: Chapter 214: The Fiery Banyan Forest and Star Core SaturationThe episode with the Blood Wolf Gang didn’t take much time; instead, it yielded nearly a hundred fire smelting stones, which was an unexpected surprise. Nangong Xuan fed most of them directly to the chaos star core. The star Core accepted everything, devouring them like a bottomless pit. The energy it fed back became increasingly pure and majestic, steadily pushing Nangong Xuan’s cultivation toward the Late Golden Core Stage, while the scorching devouring trait within his Nirvana Sword Intent became more pronounced.

However, after continuously devouring so many fire smelting stones, although the hunger transmitted by the star Core still existed, it was no longer as urgent or intense as it had been at the beginning, as if the threshold had been greatly increased. Nangong Xuan could feel that a deep level of accumulation and transformation was taking place within the star Core. Its demand for ordinary fire smelting stones seemed to be approaching saturation, and it began to crave... something of higher quality and purer energy.

This further strengthened their determination to head to the Fire Banyan Forest.

The trio continued deeper toward the southwest. The terrain began to undulate, and more massive, fossil-like ancient tree remains appeared. They were covered in scorching volcanic ash and lava, solidified into various hideous and twisted shapes, telling of a time long ago when this place was not so deathly still.

The Fire Baleful Qi in the air became more active, even beginning to condense into faint red mists that not only scorched the Physical Body but also eroded the Divine Sense, compressing the detection range to less than a hundred zhang. A low-pitched noise, sounding like countless tiny voices whispering, began to ring in their ears, disturbing their minds.

“Be careful, the Fire Fiend Qi here can already affect the Divine Soul,” Su Muxue reminded them. The moon wheel floated above her head, shedding a more solid Lunar Radiance that enveloped the three of them, isolating them from the pervasive whispers of the Evil Qi.

Zi Linger’s expression was solemn; as a Wood Spirit, she felt the most pain here. What came from deep within the earth was no longer a weak Life Force, but endless scorching, pain, and a twisted madness. She could even vaguely “hear” the silent wails of those ancient roots under the torture of the Fire Fiend Qi.

After traveling another dozens of miles, the scene ahead suddenly changed.

A massive, dead forest appeared before their eyes. All the trees displayed a color intertwined with charred black and dark red, their branches twisted and knotted like countless desperate arms reaching toward the sky. These trees were not completely carbonized; instead, their texture had become as hard as cooled lava, with surfaces covered in a layer of crystalline, glass-like substance.

This was the Fire Banyan Forest. Although the ancient trees had died, their remains had undergone forging by ground fire, forming a unique special landscape imbued with massive Fire Fiend energy.

Between the forest lands, dark rifts of various sizes were scattered everywhere, with wisps of dark red Fire Fiend Qi breathing in and out of them. At the edges of some rifts, many dark red fire smelting stones could indeed be seen, and occasionally, a few amber-colored “fire banyan stones,” with what looked like flowing flames inside, were embedded within!

However, this seemingly “rich mine” area was permeated with a hair-raising deathly silence and unease.

“Is that a fire banyan stone?” Su Muxue’s gaze locked onto an amber-colored Ore embedded under a charred tree root; the energy fluctuations it contained far exceeded those of ordinary fire smelting stones.

“Indeed,” Nangong Xuan nodded, but his Divine Sense warily scanned the surroundings. “But it’s too quiet here.”

According to the intelligence, a large number of Fire Fiends should be entrenched here.

When things are abnormal, there must be something wrong.

Nangong Xuan pointed his fingers like a sword, and an extremely condensed Nirvana Sword Gang shot out, precisely striking the charred tree root around that fire banyan stone, attempting to pry it loose.

Just as the Sword Gang was about to touch the root—

A sudden change occurred!

From the shadow of a hollow in a nearby giant charred tree, a claw covered in crimson scales with nails as sharp as knives lunged out without warning, swatting at the Sword Gang with lightning speed!

Screech!

The Sword Gang collided with the sharp claw, producing a piercing grinding sound, and both were actually annihilated!

“Screech—!”

A sharp, ear-piercing hiss filled with violent emotion erupted from the tree hollow! Immediately following, crimson figures lunged out like ghosts from the shadows of the charred wood, tree hollows, and ground rifts!

They were about half the height of a person, with hunched bodies covered in hard crimson scales. Their heads were thin and pointed, their eyes were two balls of burning flame, and their fangs protruded, dripping with scorching saliva. Both their hands and feet had sharp claws, and their tails were long and thin like fire whips.

They were precisely Fire Fiends! And their numbers were far beyond imagination! In the blink of an eye, over a hundred Fire Fiends emerged from all directions, surrounding the trio. They emitted dense, irritating hisses, their burning eyes filled with hatred and greed for living beings.

Even more startling was that behind these ordinary Fire Fiends, three Fire Fiend Leaders—significantly larger, with dark gold scales and auras comparable to Late Golden Core Stage Cultivators—slowly stepped out from behind the three largest charred trees, their cold flaming pupils locking onto Nangong Xuan.

They clearly possessed significant intelligence; they had been lurking until Nangong Xuan made his move before launching the attack.

“We’ve been ambushed!” Zi Linger cried out. Emerald light bloomed as countless tough Red Vines burst from the ground, forming a circular defense around the three of them.

Su Muxue’s moon wheel hung high, and Lunar Ice Spikes were poised to strike like a rainstorm.

Nangong Xuan’s expression was cold as he quietly opened his Nirvana Sword Domain, enveloping the few Fire Fiends that had lunged closest. The flames on those Fire Fiends were instantly extinguished, their scales became dull, and their movements suddenly became stiff and sluggish, as if they had been stripped of their life.

But more Fire Fiends lunged forward, fearless of death! Their claws swung, bringing streaks of scorching astral wind, and they could even spit out high-temperature crimson fireballs from their mouths!

For a moment, countless fireballs and claws smashed toward the trio like a violent storm!

Boom! Lunar Ice Spikes collided with fireballs, erupting in a large amount of steam. Red Vines were constantly torn by claws and then regrown by Zi Linger. Nangong Xuan’s sword fingers tapped repeatedly, and streaks of gray Nirvana Sword Gang precisely killed the approaching Fire Fiends, each strike turning one Fire Fiend into fly ash.

The individual strength of these ordinary Fire Fiends was roughly between the Late Foundation Establishment Stage and Early Golden Core, but there were simply too many of them, and they were extremely frenzied, not fearing death at all. More importantly, they seemed to be able to use the dense Fire Fiend Qi here to recover quickly; even after being killed, their dissipated energy was soon absorbed by other Fire Fiends, making them even more violent.

The three Dark Gold Fire Fiend leaders did not immediately join the fray but stood on the periphery, emitting a strange, rhythmic hiss. With their hissing, the ground of the entire Fire Banyan Forest vibrated slightly, and the Fire Fiend Qi erupting from the scattered rifts became even denser, even intertwining in the air to faintly form a massive, oppressive Domain, constantly weakening Su Muxue’s Lunar Radiance and Zi Linger’s Life Force while strengthening the power of the Fire Fiends.

“They are controlling the ground fire Evil Qi! We must deal with those three leaders first!” Su Muxue shouted, her Lunar Radiance shield fluctuating violently under the countless attacks.

Nangong Xuan also spotted the key. A sharp look flashed in his eyes, and his ancient sword finally unsheathed!

“Mu Xue, Linger, hold them off for me for three breaths!”

Before his voice finished, he merged with his sword, pushing his Nirvana Sword Intent to the limit. He transformed into a gray Nirvana rainbow that tore through everything, ignoring the lunging ordinary Fire Fiends and crashing directly toward one of the Dark Gold Fire Fiend leaders!

That Dark Gold Fire Fiend leader shrieked, its dark gold scales erupting with blinding light. Its claws ignited with nearly white flames as it boldly struck at the sword rainbow! The Fire Fiend Qi behind it gathered frantically, forming a heavy shield of fire!

“Break!”

Nangong Xuan shouted coldly, and the speck of Chaos crimson light at the sword’s tip suddenly brightened!

Rip!

The fire shield was torn like paper. The moment the Dark Gold Fire Fiend’s incredibly hard claws touched the ancient sword, they began to shatter and annihilate inch by inch starting from the fingertips! The sword light didn’t stop, passing right through its chest!

The Dark Gold Fire Fiend leader’s movements instantly froze, the light in its burning eyes dimmed, and then its entire body, like weathered rock, shattered with a crash into countless charred pieces, completely annihilated!

An instant kill!

The other two Dark Gold Fire Fiend leaders let out roars of shock and anger, immediately urging more Fire Fiend Qi to transform into two hideous Fire Baleful Pythonss, lunging at Nangong Xuan from both sides!

At the same time, a large number of ordinary Fire Fiends frantically swarmed Su Muxue and Zi Linger, attempting to prevent them from providing support.

“Don’t even think about it!” Su Muxue gave a dainty shout, her moon wheel suddenly enlarging. Cold Lunar Radiance spread like a tide, instantly freezing dozens of Fire Fiends into ice sculptures! Zi Linger also bit the tip of her tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood. Emerald light surged, the ground cracked open, and countless Red Thorns covered in sharp spikes grew frantically, entangling and strangling the lunging Fire Fiends.

Facing the two lunging Fire Baleful Pythonss, Nangong Xuan did not dodge. He turned his ancient sword, gray Nirvana and crimson light intertwining on the blade.

“Nirvana · Flame Swallowing Swirl!”

With a flick of his wrist, the ancient sword traced a perfect circle, and a miniature Chaos vortex instantly appeared in front of the sword tip!

The two incredibly powerful Fire Baleful Pythonss crashed into the vortex like clay oxen entering the sea, failing to even stir up many waves before being instantly devoured and decomposed! The vortex even generated a reverse suction force, frantically pulling in the dense Fire Fiend Qi from the surroundings!

Nangong Xuan took this opportunity to move again, appearing like a teleportation in front of the second Dark Gold Fire Fiend leader. Under its terrified gaze, he slashed down with his sword!

Another dark gold head flew up, and its body was annihilated!

In an instant, two out of three were gone!

The last Dark Gold Fire Fiend leader was finally scared. It shrieked and turned to flee into the massive rift behind it.

“Stay!”

Nangong Xuan would not allow it to escape. He thrust his sword from a distance, and the gray Nirvana Sword Gang reached it first, instantly catching up behind it.

Just as the Sword Gang was about to hit the target, the Fire Fiend Leader violently threw an object backward. It was a fist-sized, completely translucent, Top-grade Fire Banyan Stone that seemed to have a jumping flame sealed inside!

The moment the Sword Gang collided with the fire banyan stone, Nangong Xuan’s heart stirred. His Sword Intent shifted slightly, changing from a slash to a wrap, gently reeling the Top-grade Fire Banyan Stone back. Meanwhile, the Fire Fiend Leader took the opportunity to shriek and vanish into the rift.

With the leaders either dead or fled, the remaining Fire Fiends were left without a head and immediately fell into Chaos. Su Muxue and Zi Linger took the opportunity to kill a large number of them, while the rest shrieked in terror, ducking into various cracks and caves and vanishing without a trace.

The battle finally ended.

Nangong Xuan landed back on the ground and reached out to catch the returning Top-grade Fire Banyan Stone.Just got it，The chaotic star core in his arms suddenly trembled violently and emanated an unprecedented longing.！More than ten times stronger than ordinary fire-calcined stone.！

He could even feel the star Core transmitting a nearly “impatient” emotion.

Without hesitation, he immediately grasped the Top-grade Fire Banyan Stone in his palm.

Hum—!

The star Core’s suction erupted autonomously, even more domineering than when it devoured those twenty-plus ordinary fire smelting stones!

The translucent fire banyan stone dimmed at a visible speed. The jumping flame inside struggled frantically but could not resist the Chaos devouring power. In just two or three breaths, it completely turned into a grayish-white color and then crumbled into powder.

A massive, pure, and extremely scorching torrent of energy surged into the star Core like a river bursting its banks!

The Dark Gold Crimson Patterns on the star Core’s surface circulated frantically at an unprecedented speed, even emitting a faint hum like a Great Dao Resonance! Within it, the Chaos energy ocean seemed to boil to the extreme, beginning a violent compression and qualitative change!

The energy fed back to Nangong Xuan also became exceptionally violent, nearly bursting his Meridians! He had to circulate his Cultivation Technique with all his might, and his four keys spun to their limit before he could barely withstand the impact. His cultivation instantly broke through the Bottleneck, officially stepping into the Late Golden Core Stage, and was still steadily rising!

After a long time, the star Core’s vibration slowly subsided, returning to silence.

But this time, the silence was completely different from before.

It no longer transmitted a sense of hunger; instead, it conveyed a sense of “satisfaction” and “saturation.” The Dark Gold Crimson Patterns on its surface became more complex and profound, and the wisp of Black Lightning also solidified quite a bit. The entire star Core seemed to have completed an important accumulation, falling into a deep sleep, waiting for transformation.

Nangong Xuan could clearly feel that the power contained within the star Core had reached a critical point, needing only an opportunity to achieve a qualitative leap. And that opportunity might be related to the Primordial Fire Eye in the deepest part.

He opened his eyes, a sharp light contained within them, and his aura was deeper and more terrifying than before.

“The star Core... is saturated?” Su Muxue asked in surprise, sensing the change in his aura.

Nangong Xuan nodded, his gaze sweeping across the messy Fire Banyan Forest. “Yes, ordinary fire smelting stones have a negligible effect on it now. We need higher-level energy sources, or... go to that Core area.”

His gaze turned toward the deeper parts of the Forging Fire Path, to the area where the Fire Fiend Qi was as dense as a physical substance and the sky seemed to be burning.

There lay the Heart of Molten Fire, and the location of the Primordial Fire Eye.