Chapter 1163: Guardian Spirit

Bai Yunfei noted with some surprise that the elemental fire that filled this space seemed to be quite different somehow. Aside from how it flowed, there was some kind of strange energy mixed in with it that Bai Yunfei couldn’t seem to put his finger on.

The interior of this room looked substantially different than what he remembered, actually… 

It wasn’t a very large room, standing at around fifteen meters in circumference. Red light filled the entirety of the room in large amounts except for the walls of the cave, for some reason.

At a glance this cave seemed to be nothing but a cave filled with condensed elemental fire… 

Just as Bai Yunfei was about to question his master about the environment, he noticed a bright burst of red light in the center of the room. Something was beginning to take form…. 

The red light was beginning to form the shape of a ‘person’!

The person looked ‘holographic’ almost, but some features could definitely be defined such as their long hair and billowing robes. Bai Yunfei could also see that the facial features of this figure seemed to be that of a handsome middle-aged man!

“An avatar?!”

Was Bai Yunfei’s first guess, but that wasn’t it. Narrowing his eyes, he took a moment to look again. “No…it’s a spirit!!”

“Why have you awakened me, Zi Jin?” The male figure spoke to Zi Jin. “Who is he?” He asked upon seeing Bai Yunfei.

It was with trepidation that Bai Yunfei watched as his master bowed to this ‘person’. 

“Heavenfire, this is my student, Bai Yunfei. He is an outstanding student in our school. I brought him here today in hopes of borrowing your assistance…”

“Yunfei,” He glanced over to Bai Yunfei, “This is the guardian spirit of our school, Heavenfire!”

“Guardian spirit?! Heavenfire?”

Bai Yunfei repeated the words to himself. Those were heavy words to say.

“He is the spirit of a lifebound armament belonging to a predecessor of our school. That predecessor took the fire of the heavens to form this soul armament and give life to it before he assimilated it into the northern peak. This guardian spirit has watched over our school for five thousand years already.”

“Five thousand years!! The spirit of a soul armament!!” Bai Yunfei gasped in shock, what a story! But…

“Master, what do you mean by ‘assimilated into the northern peak’?”

“Our records say that the soul armament that housed Heavenfire was on the verge of destruction. There isn’t much time a spirit can linger after its host soul armament is destroyed. Our predecessor managed to assimilate Heavenfire into the northern peak through an ancient technique, allowing Heavenfire to ‘live’ in the mountain itself.

“That being said, the soul armament that used to house Heavenfire is no more. All that’s left is the spirit. But that soul armament was a special one—it was a crafting cauldron! A special crafting cauldron that surpassed the heaven tier! It could even be considered to be a divine item! Because of that, Heavenfire has a very special ‘ability’. Being able to sense one’s aptitude for crafting is merely one of his abilities. Advancing the soul compatibility between a crafter and a soul armament when they breakthrough is another example. But that ability takes away a bit of Heavenfire’s energy, so only the brightest of our students are allowed this privilege.”

Bai Yunfei was stunned listening in to all of this. He never imagined the examination caves to have such a secret behind it! A spirit that lived for over five thousand years! And to think it had such an amazing power like that… 

“His current appearance then…” Bai Yunfei glanced over to the bright-red figure. His question wasn’t explicitly said, but his master knew what he meant.

“Is the appearance of our predecessor.” He answered.

Bai Yunfei grew silent. All of this was just far too hard to take in at once.

“Have you finished, Zi Jin? Hurry and say what you have to say.”

Heavenfire spoke up. He had been patient waiting for Zi Jin to explain his background, but not anymore, apparently.

“Wow! Another spirit!! And you’re even stronger than me! I never heard of another Regalia with a spirit outside of us nine!”

Someone other than Zi Jin spoke up then. A white light exploded out from Bai Yunfei’s chest before forming the shape of a white tiger—the spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate had decided to make his entrance… 

“Obviously, didn’t you hear Yunfei’s master? A five-thousand-year-old spirit would definitely be stronger than even us…”

Another voice answered the Soul Sealer. This time, the yellow figure of a stone appeared beside the tiger, it was Xiao Fang.

“Spirits!!”

Heavenfire cried out loud the moment the two appeared. “I felt your presences earlier, but to think you were both spirits! Your student had two Regalias, Zi Jin? No…not two, but three! But what’s this? How curious…”

The spirit caught onto the third Regalia Bai Yunfei had at once. Glancing at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head, Heavenfire spoke, “It’s faint…is it damaged? Is this what you wanted, Zi Jin? You wished for my assistance to heal this spirit?”

Not surprised at having his goal mentioned, Zi Jin nodded. “Indeed, that was my hope.”

“What?! Healing Sentinel?!”

Bai Yunfei cried out loud, “Master…you’re saying he can heal the Soul Sentinel Scarf’s spirit?!”

“What? Do you doubt my abilities, youngling?” Heavenfire spoke, “The heaven-tier soul armaments I have crafted are numerous beyond belief. Not even Regalias are beyond my ability to make. You may think that only Regalia are capable of having a spirit, but every soul armament has a ‘spirit’ to them. Only Regalias are capable of showing that ‘spirit’. My host, the Heavenfire Cauldron, once possessed the ability to strengthen the ‘spirit’ of a soul armament. The bestowal of sentience was a feat I could do. Healing the spirit is well within my powers. Long ago, the spirit of the Regalia, the Heaven Asunderer, was something I healed. Your low-divine Regalia will be a simple matter. Awakening it will be equally simple.”

Bai Yunfei felt his heart pound rapidly and his head spin with each word Heavenfire spoke. The ramifications of the spirit were astounding! As a crafting cauldron, Heavenfire was once capable of crafting Regalias! And the ability to bestow ‘sentience’! And a Regalia known as the Heaven Asunderer…what a fearsome name! If Heavenfire could truly awaken the Soul Sentinel Scarf’s sentience…then he would be very excited to see it happen.

“Senior…Heavenfire,” Bai Yunfei hesitated, it seemed slightly strange to be calling a spirit senior, but that was the only way he could think of to address it. “This student would be eternally grateful if senior Heavenfire heals Sentinel!”

Heavenfire gave Bai Yunfei an appraising stare. “Awakening it will be a simple matter, but it will require a large amount of my energy. I’ve only just awakened after several years of recuperation, to go back into hibernation will be quite…”

“I…” Bai Yunfei was speechless, did Heavenfire have some kind of ‘condition’? Since this was a spirit they were talking about, Bai Yunfei could perhaps offer to upgrade it, but didn’t his master say that the Heavenfire Cauldron was destroyed? Heavenfire was now living inside the entire northern peak, how could he possibly upgrade an entire mountain?!

Zi Jin couldn’t take seeing his student like this any longer. “Must you make things difficult for Yunfei, Heavenfire?”

“Haha!! It has been a while since I’ve seen a student this amusing. Are you hurt seeing me jest with your precious disciple, Zi Jin?” Heavenfire barked with laughter, “Fear not, youngling. I won’t have you do anything in return. A promising crafter like you should have no problems. A few years of sleeping means little to me, hahaha!!”

Bai Yunfei had to force himself to suppress the groan from escaping his lips—who knew a five-thousand-year-old spirit knew how to joke…