The flame spirit emperor was one of the strongest flame spirits in the Flame Mountains zone. It was as strong as a peak Emperor, or perhaps even as strong as an ordinary Sovereign. It had terrifying combat prowess.

Furthermore, its flame manipulation had reached perfection, unlike the regular flame spirits who only know to attack violently without controlled techniques. The strength of the flame spirit emperor signified that it also had a purer origin crystal containing much more powerful energy.

Xiang Shaoyun wanted to charge forward, but when he heard the reminder, he stopped. It was not that he was afraid of the flame spirit emperor, but he was not at peak condition. He might not be able to defeat the flame spirit.

Hence, he decided to first retreat and absorb the origin crystals he had harvested so far. Once again, he returned to halfway down the mountain with the Overlord Legion members. There, they started recuperating.

Xiang Shaoyun refined several origin crystals rapidly. Strands of flame energy entered his flame star, strengthening the star and Yun Flame. The flame star coexisted with Yun Flame, and their growth was equivalent to Xiang Shaoyun's growth. The strands of flame origin energy he absorbed this time weren't entirely pure, but they still contained incredible power.

After refining the flame origin energy, Xiang Shaoyun not only felt the growth of his flame cultivation, he also felt his comprehension of the profundity of flame increasing. He would be able to fully comprehend it any day now. He refined all the origin crystals he had, converging the powerful energy into his flame star.

Like a sponge, Yun Flame tirelessly absorbed the origin energy. It was as if no amount of energy could fully satisfy it. Fortunately, the flame origin energy Xiang Shaoyun had gotten this time was abundant enough, and it would take Yun Flame some time to fully digest them all.

Three days passed, and Xiang Shaoyun finally fully refined all the origin crystals. His flame star was almost completely full, and he grew excited at that realization.

"Looks like I only need to charge up the mountain one more time to complete my flame star. Monopolizing an entire mountain is indeed profitable," Xiang Shaoyun muttered in a pleased manner.

He only had a single flame star, with all his other stars focusing on other elements. That was why he could quickly fill his flame star. If he had nine flame stars instead, it would take him much longer to fill up all the stars.

He spread his senses to the others and found that they were all busy refining origin crystals. However, their speed was much slower than his. After all, unlike him, they did not possess a flame like Yun Flame. Even those who possessed unique flames did not have flames as high tier as Yun Flame.

Xiang Shaoyun did not charge up the mountain to face the flame spirit emperor immediately. Rather, he stayed and stood guard for them. As the Overlord Legion's overlord, he had to take good care of his subordinates. While standing guard for them, he did not forget to continue absorbing the flame energy in his surroundings. He also constantly studied the profundity of flame.

A few more days passed, and the others ended their cultivation sessions one after another. Their strength had grown considerably, and joyful smiles were plastered all over their faces. When they found that Xiang Shaoyun was standing guard for them, they were moved.

After all of them were done, Xiang Shaoyun said, "The flame spirits are actually not scary. Their origin crystals are all in their chests. You only need to manage and time your attack well to rapidly pluck the origin crystal from them, and the flame spirit will no longer be a threat. Of course, if you're afraid of their self-explosion, you can work together. Some will defend, some will attack, and some will be harvesting the origin crystals. That way, you will be able to harvest more. If you continue fighting as you did previously, with everyone scattered and no teamwork whatsoever, you might as well give up before you kill yourself."

His words put them to shame. They had been too focused on plundering origin crystals for themselves, prioritizing their own benefits. None of them had thought of working together to get more. If they had done so, they would have still gathered more even after sharing among themselves.

"The overlord is right. We need to unite. That way, we will be able to attack more effectively," said someone.

The others also voiced their agreement.

Xiang Shaoyun said, "Good. I'll go with you this time, and we'll seize even more origin crystals."

Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to take the lead and charge up the mountain, Deng Lingtian called out, "Overlord, the flame spirit emperor has shown itself. We should take our time."

"Hehe, I am just itching to meet the flame spirit emperor," said Xiang Shaoyun as his lips curled into a confident smile.

"The flame spirit emperor might not be just a peak Emperor. Its flame attacks hold traces of the profundity of flame. Even regular Sovereigns would not dare to challenge it. Overlord, it's better to be careful," someone else persuaded.

"Um. Don't worry. I have my way to stay alive. But you guys, remember to run far away if you see it. Just ignore me," said Xiang Shaoyun.

He then charged toward the peak of the mountain. The others hesitated for a bit before following along. Thick black smoke billowed above the volcanic crater, the air filled with dense flame energy. Evidently, the effects of the volcanic eruption a few days prior still lingered.

Standing at the edge of the volcanic crater, one would be able to see violent red lava, as if another eruption was going to happen at any time. The flame spirits resided amid the lava, absorbing its energy as they pleased.

Xiang Shaoyun could sense Yun Flame's joy, as if it was impatient to leave and dive into the lava as well. Furthermore, Yun Flame's original living environment was within a volcanic crater. Thus, it greatly longed for the energy of extreme yang here.

Using the flame taming technique, Xiang Shaoyun placated Yun Flame. He then used his will to suppress it, calming it down.

"How should I lure these flame spirits out?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.

"Easy. So long as we start absorbing flame energy here, the flame spirits will sense our intrusion and charge out," Deng Lingtian said.

"Good. Prepare yourselves. I'll lure them out," Xiang Shaoyun said as he unleashed Yun Flame and started absorbing the flame energy in the volcanic crater.

A massive amount of flame energy surged out of the crater. Xiang Shaoyun quickly sent the flame energy into his flame star, taking what he needed and provoking the flame spirits at the same time. Sure enough, the flame spirits sensed him and started charging out. Just as the others were about to start killing the flame spirits, they noticed the flame spirit emperor coming out as well.