That meteorite shimmered with brilliance, its entire body a vivid crimson, emanating an astonishing solar flame, the intense sunlight effectively blinding anyone who dared to look directly.

The meteorite was the size of a small mountain, the vast majority of it buried deep within the dunes, only about one-third exposed to the air.

Blinding crimson light poured forth from the meteorite, an overwhelming wave of scorching thermal energy that rapidly wicked the moisture from a person's body.

An ordinary person in such proximity would, within the span of a short incense stick burning, be reduced to a stiff, desiccated corpse.

Even Stone Rock, whose body had been repeatedly tempered by the Earth Core Fire, felt an almost suffocating pressure when facing this astonishingly fierce flaming meteorite.

Strange psychic fluctuations emanated from within the meteorite. As Stone Rock watched it from a distance, he felt his Sea of Consciousness churning violently, influenced by the peculiar spiritual power within the rock, almost losing control and throwing himself onto the object.

Even from a hundred meters away, he was dizzy and disoriented by the flame radiating from the meteorite. Stone Rock was certain that if he drew closer and his body so much as brushed against the flames surrounding the meteorite, his physical form would instantly turn to ash and scatter.

Never mind a martial artist at the Status Realm; even a powerhouse at the Divine Realm might not possess the physical durability to remain intact under the meteorite's intense fire.

Stone Rock dared not risk it, merely observing from afar, quietly studying the enormous meteorite.

The Myriad-Year Earth Core Fire had already flown away. While he was stunned, the Earth Core Fire dove directly into the meteorite and vanished completely inside.

Stone Rock was taken aback. He attempted to connect with the Earth Core Fire but discovered that the moment he released his spiritual sense, a startling mental assault erupted from the fiery red meteorite, shaking his Sea of Consciousness so severely that he had to immediately pull back.

"What is going on?"

The mental message from the Profound Ice Cold Flame suddenly came through the Blood-Patterned Ring. The Profound Ice Cold Flame, which had been silent for a long time, immediately released tendrils of icy power upon making its presence known.

That icy power swiftly surged through Stone Rock’s body, permeating every single area. Under the influence of the cold energy, Stone Rock’s agitated mood and physical state quickly stabilized.

"Oh? You can release power now?"

"Mmm, this cursed ring might know you're in trouble, so it loosened some of the restrictions on me," the Profound Ice Cold Flame replied, then fell silent again, seemingly focusing its spiritual perception to survey the surroundings.

Before long, the Profound Ice Cold Flame transmitted a surprised mental fluctuation: "Essence of the Sun!"

"What?" Stone Rock blinked. "What did you say?"

"That crimson meteorite is the Essence of the Sun from the Heart of the Sun—a supreme Yin and extreme heat treasure in this world!" the Profound Ice Cold Flame transmitted immediately. "The Essence of the Sun only exists within the Heart of the Sun; it is the very concentration of solar flame energy. Those who practice certain specialized, fiery cultivation methods would achieve terrifying advancements if they could obtain the Essence of the Sun!"

"Is it useful for the Myriad-Year Earth Core Fire?"

"More than useful! This single piece of the Essence of the Sun is enough to allow it to rapidly break through to the complete Soul stage and possess a flame power no weaker than mine! The solar fire within this Essence of the Sun, once absorbed and fused with its inherent Earth Core Fire, will fundamentally alter its life form!" Stone Rock was horrified.

"Mmm? Is there anything else?" The Profound Ice Cold Flame hesitated, then transmitted again: "Wait, something is wrong. Inside that Essence of the Sun, there seems to be an object! That object emits an extremely powerful mental fluctuation. The intensity of this fluctuation is comparable to the soul attack of a Divine Realm expert!"

"An object?" Stone Rock was speechless. "This Essence of the Sun clearly originated from the Sun outside the heavens. How could there be an object inside an Essence of the Sun that fell from the outer sky? Could it be that the object itself originated from the Sun?"

"Not necessarily from above the Sun," the Profound Ice Cold Flame mused. "Legend says that martial artists who reach the True God Realm are comparable to deities, possessing divine abilities that pierce the heavens. They can physically break free from the world's shackles and fly directly beyond the heavens. In other words, only True God Realm martial artists could reach the Sun..."

"Reach above the Sun?" Stone Rock’s eyes suddenly lit up. "If you put it that way, then the item inside this Essence of the Sun, even if not from above the Sun, must have belonged to a True God Realm martial artist?"

"That is precisely the reasoning."

Stone Rock suddenly fell silent.

From a distance of a hundred meters, he quietly watched the Essence of the Sun radiating its fierce solar light, feeling the burning pain in his eyes. He slowly closed his eyes and murmured, "Cannot get closer..." Although his physical body had been tempered by the Earth Core Fire, and his body was filled with some of the Earth Core Fire's inherent flame power, the scorching solar fire surrounding the Essence of the Sun was still something he could not withstand.

From a hundred meters away, he already felt his body scorching. If he truly approached the Essence of the Sun, he might indeed be incinerated into ashes.

"Want to go over?" The Profound Ice Cold Flame seemed to sense his intentions and suddenly transmitted: "With your own strength alone, you definitely cannot approach. However, with my help, it might be possible..."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Stone Rock commanded sharply. In the next moment, he felt an intensely bone-chilling cold power emanating from the Blood-Patterned Ring. Under the influence of that cold energy, his body instantly froze over.

A shell of solid ice covered his entire body, the ice looking like armor that encased him completely.

Protected by the chilling power of the ice armor, Stone Rock immediately noticed that much of the scorching energy from the surrounding solar fire was neutralized; he no longer had the illusion that his body was about to combust.

"Stomp, stomp, stomp!" Protected by the ice armor, Stone Rock’s courage naturally increased significantly, and he began to walk step by step toward the Essence of the Sun, though he dared not quicken his pace.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

Ten meters—Stone Rock suddenly stopped.

Ten meters away, clusters of scorching solar fire swirled incessantly near the Essence of the Sun.

Those flames were now within arm's reach. If he moved forward just a little more, his body would formally come into contact with those solar flames, and he had no idea what would happen then.

"Don't go closer, that's about enough," the Profound Ice Cold Flame warned. "Also, close your eyes. Staring at it for too long will make you blind." Stone Rock was startled and hurriedly shut his eyes. From ten meters away, he prepared to release his spiritual sense to communicate with the Earth Core Fire again.

"If you don't want to be hit by the mental attack from the Essence of the Sun, you had better not release your spiritual sense. The moment your spiritual sense emerges, whatever is inside will immediately seek you out. I found that the mental power it releases is even more damaging than what I can inflict upon you; in other words, you probably can't withstand it..." The words from the Profound Ice Cold Flame immediately made Stone Rock, who was about to act, settle down. "Then what should I do?"

"There's no way. Wait for the Earth Core Fire. It can sense your approach. Here, it is the only one unaffected by the Essence of the Sun; its life form is quite unique, and it probably isn't afraid of that item inside even if it draws near. Mmm, wait for the Earth Core Fire to emerge, or for it to contact you actively. Other than that, there are no other methods."

Stone Rock had no choice but to stand there with his eyes closed, ten meters from the Essence of the Sun, still not daring to release his spiritual sense to probe, choosing only to experience the scorching solar power with his body.

"Oh?" Thin wisps of scorching solar energy permeated from the Essence of the Sun. As if attracted by something, they stealthily drilled toward Stone Rock's chest and injected themselves into his heart.

After the injection of solar power, the heart suddenly shone with brilliant, colorful light. The mottled star-like spots on the heart instantly brightened, seeming to begin moving slowly above the heart, like some mysterious, unfathomable stellar formation, completely beyond Stone Rock's expectation.

"This, this is?"

The Profound Ice Cold Flame appeared utterly astonished, and the cold energy it held within the Blood-Patterned Ring began to gradually weaken.

Vast amounts of solar power seeped in, rapidly surging into Stone Rock's chest, injecting into his heart, causing his heart to undergo some kind of transformation—it became intensely fiery, capable of enduring further infiltration of fiery energy, becoming incomparably radiant!

Blinding sunlight suddenly shot out from Stone Rock’s heart. In an instant, Stone Rock seemed to transform into a light source, his entire body emitting fierce flames.

"What's happening?" The Profound Ice Cold Flame was perplexed and urgently transmitted to Stone Rock: "Why, why can your heart absorb the sunlight? The Star Martial Soul, I understand! The Sun is also one of the stars, and solar power is a form of stellar power—it must be like this!"

As the scorching solar power poured into his heart, at this moment, Stone Rock felt as though he had been thrown into a wok of boiling oil to be fried; the pain was indescribable to outsiders.

Because of this, he even lacked the ability to communicate with the Profound Ice Cold Flame, passively enduring the injection of solar power.

Simultaneously, strange vortices formed on his chest. The Profound Yin Art, that peculiar technique originating from the Three God Sect, actually began to actively mobilize itself at this moment.

The existence of those three vortices attracted even more solar power, and the speed at which it poured into his heart accelerated!

"Poof!" His body suddenly caught fire; the intensely hot solar flames had begun to burn inside his body.

The Profound Ice Cold Flame found it difficult to communicate with Stone Rock, but it knew that if it allowed the solar fire to burn Stone Rock to ashes, Stone Rock’s soul would not escape either and would certainly end up completely annihilated.

If Stone Rock died, this Blood-Patterned Ring would lose its master and would forever imprison it!

This was absolutely not what the Profound Ice Cold Flame wished to see!

Intense, chilling Heaven Fire power suddenly overflowed from the Blood-Patterned Ring!

The Profound Ice Cold Flame suddenly exerted its strength, sparing no expense of the extremely cold energy it had accumulated over hundreds of millions of years of arduous cultivation, to help Stone Rock counter the solar fire within his body. Under the infiltration of massive amounts of cold energy, the solar fire within Stone Rock’s flesh was immediately neutralized by the cold power.

One of Stone Rock's pupils emitted rising flames, while the other was chillingly cold and sharp; his entire being took on an extremely bizarre appearance.