Inside the spiritual realm, Ling Tian's attire was peculiar. He wore a red vest and red shorts, his feet bare, and a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist, resembling a primitive tribal skirt.
Ling Tian's outfit was no ordinary wear; everything he had on was obtained from the spiritual realm.
These garments were called Firefloss Cloth, a fabric made from a natural mineral found near volcanoes.
While even the most advanced asbestos cloth produced by modern industry could withstand temperatures of 1500°C, this Firefloss Cloth could endure over 4000°C.
To capture more Fire Spirit Essences, Ling Tian ventured closer to the volcano's crater, where the temperature steadily increased.
Even with his miraculous cultivation techniques protecting his clothes, there was a limit. His garments could no longer withstand the heat and were eventually burned away.
Fortunately, Ling Tian promptly discovered such a valuable item in the spiritual realm and donned it.
His only regret was not finding fire-resistant shoes, forcing him to walk barefoot on the ground.
However, Ling Tian had become largely immune to flames. The ground's high temperature, as long as he didn't stand in one spot for too long, wouldn't scorch his soles.
In the past few days, Ling Tian had been busy, constantly patrolling the vicinity of the volcano. Using his Divine Sky Cauldron, he had captured a large number of Fire Spirit Essences, accumulating about two hundred Fire Wheel Essences within the cauldron.
Ling Tian had also captured almost all the Fire Spirit Essences surrounding the volcano.
These essences were not readily available; they required a vast amount of spiritual energy to collide under specific geological conditions and over a long period to form.
Furthermore, Ling Tian did not neglect his cultivation. As soon as his body absorbed sufficient fire-elemental spiritual energy, he would return to the spiritual realm to refine it before venturing out again.
During these few days, Ling Tian's cultivation progress could be described as rapid.
Finally, Ling Tian felt his internal energy and overall strength reach a new level, enabling him to unlock many new techniques and skills.
In a clearing beside the volcano, formed from solidified molten rock, the ground was nearly a thousand degrees Celsius.
Ling Tian stood on it barefoot, practicing a series of martial arts forms.
With every move, a layer of red light enveloped his fists and feet.
This red light appeared ordinary, but anyone who truly sparred with Ling Tian would realize its terrifying power.
Upon contact with Ling Tian's fists or feet, the red light would stick to the opponent's body, causing burns or even igniting the affected area.
Ling Tian's original cultivation technique, the Blazing Sun Art, could only burn opponents with fire-elemental internal energy.
Now, however, Ling Tian could directly ignite opponents with his fire-elemental true essence. This elevated his combat prowess by several notches, opening up countless possibilities in his fighting style.
As he practiced, Ling Tian's mind suddenly shifted. He formed his hand into a blade and unleashed two consecutive palm strikes forward.
Immediately, two blade-like red lights shot out five meters ahead before dissipating into the air!
This was a new skill Ling Tian had learned: Flame Blade!
If struck by this red blade light, besides suffering a blade-like injury, the affected area would also be severely burned and ignited.
This meant that if Ling Tian encountered an opponent like Tate again, he could defeat them with a single strike.
This was a martial art technique, also considered a form of sorcery.
What made Ling Tian even happier was that despite the immense power of the Flame Blade, its energy consumption was remarkably low. With his current true essence reserves, he could use the Flame Blade more than twenty times before depleting his internal energy.
After familiarizing himself with these techniques, Ling Tian began practicing even more potent ones, which were derived from the Fire Spirit Essences!
Over the years, Ling Tian had encountered numerous unorthodox opponents, and among them, he had frequently dealt with vengeful spirits.
Those who practiced dark arts combined Yin energy with human souls to forge vengeful spirits.
These insidious methods were incredibly powerful, and on several occasions, they had nearly cost Ling Tian his life.
Now, the techniques Ling Tian intended to practice were similar to forging vengeful spirits, except that Ling Tian aimed to cultivate Fire Spirits, and the material required for this was Fire Spirit Essences!
However, refining Fire Spirits was an extremely dangerous undertaking. Ling Tian needed to allow the Fire Spirit Essences to enter his body, merging his own true essence with the Fire Spirit completely.
Subsequently, Ling Tian would circulate his cultivation technique, causing the flames of the Fire Spirit Essence to merge with his own. During this process, Ling Tian would use his mental power to imbue the Fire Spirit Essence with a degree of sentience and leave his soul imprint upon it.
Once this imprint was successfully established, the Fire Spirit would be considered cultivated. Ling Tian could then directly issue attack commands to these Fire Spirits through his mental power.
Of course, Ling Tian also had another option: to split a portion of his soul and implant soul fragments into the Fire Spirits.
Fire Spirits refined through this method would possess greater sentience and could execute more complex commands.
However, doing so had its drawbacks. Ling Tian's soul was not yet powerful enough, and splitting off a portion would damage his foundation.
Furthermore, in Ling Tian's current assessment, the Fire Spirits were not yet sufficiently powerful. If a Fire Spirit were killed or severely injured, the corresponding soul fragment of Ling Tian would also be erased, causing him harm.
Ling Tian felt that even if he were to refine more powerful Fire Spirits, he would have to wait until his strength reached a higher level, especially when his soul became stronger, before considering it.
Moreover, these basic Fire Spirits were already quite lethal. As long as they could attack opponents on command, it would suffice. The thousands of degrees Celsius emanating from the Fire Spirits were enough to inflict fatal damage on any living being!
Of course, even this most basic refinement method was fraught with peril. During the process, the Fire Spirit Essences would struggle fiercely, and Ling Tian could easily be burned to death by the intense flames.
Ling Tian had to concentrate all his energy and channel his true essence to contend with the Fire Spirit Essences drawn into the flames. This process was akin to taming a hawk; it was a battle of attrition to see who would succumb first.
Three days later, a figure appeared within a lava cave in the mountainside near the volcano!