Word Count: 3,121 Words
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In that split second, Xiao Yan swept his hand out, and a single word roared through his heart.
'Seal!'
A deafening boom split the air. All twelve Heavenly Flames erupted with radiance and transformed into Fire Spirits in the same instant. With his current strength, coupled with the Emperor Soul Technique he had cultivated, granting form and rudimentary intelligence to Heavenly Flames was no longer difficult.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Under his control, the twelve Heavenly Flames turned into streaks of flowing light and shot straight toward the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. They descended from above, and by the time they touched down, they had woven themselves into an incomparably massive Heavenly Flame pyramid that sealed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame completely inside its towering prison.
Although the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame was not one of Xiao Yan's own, he and Xun Er had long since become connected in heart and soul. Their Spiritual Strengths intertwined. Through that bond, he could likewise direct the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame.
This was not a Heavenly Flame Dou Technique. It was not a Dou Technique at all. Xiao Yan was relying on the Flame Mantra, now evolved to High Tian Class. Drawing on some of its circulation routes and treating the surrounding world as his meridians, he applied the same pathways he had once used when refining Heavenly Flames onto the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame itself, binding it in place.
Put simply, he was using the instincts of Heavenly Flames to suppress another Heavenly Flame, throwing them into a brutal contest to see which was more savage!
Twelve kinds of Heavenly Flames flew out together and sealed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame within. A strange fluctuation seemed to ripple faintly across the entire Dou Qi Continent in that instant.
Since that 'incident' thousands of years ago, there had never again been a moment when so many Heavenly Flames appeared in one place at the same time.
For the first time, a flicker of true gravity and panic surfaced in the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's expression. Within the circulation of these Heavenly Flames, he sensed an inexplicable thread of fear.
It was not simple wariness, nor was it mere surprise. For no clear reason, his instincts recoiled. It felt as though something unimaginably terrifying had once happened. Blurred images flashed through his mind, impossible to grasp yet deeply carved into the core of his Essence Flame.
"Get lost!"
The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's face twisted in a ferocious snarl. The savagery on his features could not quite hide the faint timbre of fear beneath.
His body was wrapped in milky-white flame. A fire lotus threaded with faint pink veins unfurled around him, cocooning his figure as it spun at high speed. Then, with a thunderous boom, he swept his arm outward. Demonic flame poured out like a vast ocean, surging forth to annihilate everything.
When that rolling tide of Purifying Lotus Demon Flame came crashing down, even Elder Huo Yao of the Yan Clan visibly flinched. The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame unleashed at full force was simply too horrifying. As for the other Half-Saints, they were driven into blind panic, faces drained of blood as they scrambled back in terror.
"Heavens above—!"
Half-Saint experts from across the Dou Qi Continent screamed and tried to flee the Demon Flame Space altogether. Under a strike of such terrifying intensity, even a Dou Saint below the 3-star level would likely be burned to drifting ash.
Xiao Yan's perfected Heavenly State Spiritual Strength erupted to its absolute limit. With Xun Er and Little Fairy Doctor assisting him, the twelve Heavenly Flames linked together and sealed off every direction. Amid a barrage of deafening booms, that barrier of Heavenly Flames forcibly blocked the deluge of demonic flame.
Even so, a single impact was all it took to drain the color from all three of their faces. Blood seeped from the corners of Xun Er's and Little Fairy Doctor's lips as they braced themselves against the backlash, barely holding on. They weren't blocking it so much as enduring it by sheer will. The difference in cultivation between the two sides simply wasn't on the same level.
With Xun Er's Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame added into the mix, the Flame Mantra should now be capable of evolving to Quasi-God Class. Twelve Heavenly Flames combined should, in theory, be stronger than the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame alone. Yet the gap in cultivation was still too vast. If Xiao Yan had already reached the 6-star Dou Saint stage, he alone would have been enough to suppress the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.
Cai Lin's eyes narrowed. A Nine-Colored Lightning Sword appeared in her hand, and without the slightest hesitation, she charged directly into the seething flames to engage the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame at close range. A heartbeat later, Ancestor Xiao Chen followed close behind, gripping his massive axe.
Two experts whose combat strength had both reached the 5-star Dou Saint stage charged in together. With their support, and with the Heavenly Flame pyramid suppressing the demon flame's purification power, victory was no longer out of reach.
Hun Mo and Hun Mie Sheng exchanged a glance. Both gave a subtle nod, then turned into twin streaks of black light and shot into the blazing maelstrom.
Hun Mie Sheng's strength was already infinitely close to 5-star Dou Saint, while Hun Mo was a true late 5-star Dou Saint, a full step stronger than Xiao Chen. With these two joining the fray, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame finally found himself hard-pressed. He had forcibly elevated his own strength, and the consumption was immense.
"All of you, die! World Purifying Fire Palm!"
The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame bellowed, then a cold smile tugged at his lips as he thrust out a palm. A fire palm as vast as a mountain peak materialized out of thin air and crashed down toward Cai Lin, Xiao Chen, Hun Mo, and Hun Mie Sheng. The instant that palm strike launched, the surface of the magma sea far below split open, and a vortex tens of thousands of feet across spun madly, howling as it devoured everything nearby.
Gu Nanhai and the others paled at the sight of that enormous fire palm saturated with pure destructive might. The power of this single strike was already comparable to a High Tian Class Dou Technique. No matter who among them tried to take it head-on alone, they would be reduced to ash in an instant!
After all, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame had obtained the inheritance of the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint, who was reputedly the person who had come closest to the Dou God realm. It would have been impossible for such a figure not to possess High Tian Class Dou Techniques. He was likely covered in them from head to toe.
"Join forces to block it, or none of us will make it out!"
Even Hun Mo, the highest in cultivation among them, blanched at the sight of that descending fire palm. If he took it alone, he'd be half-crippled even if he somehow survived.
Xiao Chen's expression darkened. The last thing he wanted was to cooperate with people from the Hun Clan, but refusing to join forces now would be tantamount to letting the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame escape. If that happened, capturing him again would become countless times more difficult.
"Three Sky Breaking Axe!"
"Swallowing Heaven Soul Mirror!"
"Nine Soul Nether Palm!"
The three attacks met the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's fire palm head-on. The collision unleashed a wave of terrifying power that greatly weakened the giant palm of flame.
Nine-colored radiance burst from Cai Lin's body. The sizzling crackle of thunder rang out as countless bolts of lightning erupted around her. In that instant, the Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline within her fully awakened. A colossal snake-pupil phantom drilled out of the void. That single pupil alone was larger than Cai Lin's entire true form.
"Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing!"
Hiss!!
That incomparably gigantic snake pupil released a beam of nine-colored divine light that shot straight toward the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. Everything along its path looked as if it had been painted over and then wiped clean. The light pierced through the shattered remnants of the great fire palm, as though everything in its way had been swallowed whole.
The nine-colored divine light washed forward in a torrent. Faced with Cai Lin's all-out strike fueled by the full awakening of her bloodline, even the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's expression shifted. Before he could dodge or defend, however, a streak of green light flared behind him.
Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!
Even though Qing Lin could not truly harm the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, in a battle at this level, the briefest lapse in concentration was still a fatal opening.
"Yellow Spring Divine Anger!"
The instant the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils caused the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's mind to waver, Zi Yan stepped out from the void. Her eyes went slightly cold as she stamped a foot forward. Purple-gold light erupted from her body, condensing into a dazzling, winged golden dragon that roared at the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame from behind.
The first sonic Dou Technique Xiao Yan had ever learned had been modeled on the roars of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. Among all magical beast tribes, in terms of sonic Dou Techniques, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe stood at the absolute peak.
Otherwise, there was no way Zi Yan could have mastered Yellow Spring Divine Anger so quickly.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!!!
The nine-colored divine light fused with Zi Yan's Yellow Spring Divine Anger into a devastating pincer strike. Her Spiritual Strength might not be particularly strong, but her roar shook the surrounding air!
Zi Yan's Yellow Spring Divine Anger resembled the most traditional kind of sonic Dou Technique. It did not attack the soul directly. Instead, it shattered everything in the vicinity through raw sound and vibration.
"Argh!!!!"
Under this double onslaught, even the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame could no longer endure, demonic flame protection or not.
"Xiao Yan!"
"Xiao Yan ge-ge, now's the time!"
Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened, and at a single thought, the twelve Heavenly Flame Spirits surrounding the battlefield erupted in unison. Terrifying flames surged forth together and utterly suppressed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. Even the third-ranked Purifying Lotus Demon Flame could not withstand twelve Heavenly Flames at once, especially when the fourth-ranked Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame was among them!
The twelve Heavenly Flames simultaneously loosed threads of fire in twelve different colors. Those threads shot forward at speeds rivaling light itself, and in the blink of an eye they pierced into the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's body.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Invaded by twelve Heavenly Flames, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame could no longer even hold his humanoid form. His figure grew translucent, then illusory, until at last the Essence Flame within was laid bare!
"It's the Essence Flame!!"
The Essence Flame of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame was, as expected, a milky-white lotus. Yet along the veins of its petals ran strands of blood-red lines. Those veins pulsed with a demonic crimson, flowing eerily like fresh blood, entirely at odds with the pure white of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's outer form. It was as though something foul had polluted the lotus from within.
This was precisely why the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint had chosen to seal him. The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame carried not only the word 'Purifying' but also the word 'Demon'. It straddled both righteousness and evil, an extraordinarily peculiar Heavenly Flame whose nature was inseparable from the circumstances of its birth.
There was only one Purifying Lotus Demon Flame and one Nihility Devouring Flame in the whole of the Dou Qi Continent, precisely because their births represented both destruction and rebirth.
"Seal!" Xiao Yan barked the command. The twelve threads of Heavenly Flame whipped forward and wound around the Essence Flame like the silken strands of a cocoon, intent on sealing it away completely.
However… Xiao Yan claiming the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame did not serve many people's interests.
"Huo Yao, if this continues, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame will be caught. Whether it ends up with the Hun Clan, the Gu Clan, or Xiao Yan, none of it does us any good." An Elder of the Shi Clan sent the voice transmission, his tone heavy.
The Shi Clan's position was extremely awkward. If Xiao Yan's Xiao Clan truly rose again, the weakest among the Dou God Clans would naturally bear the brunt. The secret realms carved up from the Xiao Clan a thousand years ago would undoubtedly have to be returned. They might even be forced to disgorge every resource they had consumed.
As for the Hun and Gu Clans, if either of them obtained the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, the other four clans would all be teetering on the edge of a knife. Otherwise, were these ancient clans truly planning to rely on mere 4-star Dou Saints to subdue the Demon Flame?
A fierce light flared in Huo Yao's eyes. This had nothing to do with personal grudges. The Yan Clan's policy had long been straightforward. If they could not take the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, then no one else was allowed to take it either. The existing balance had to be preserved.
He glanced at Huo Xuan and Huo Zhi, his eyes narrowing, and gave the two of them a small, decisive nod.
Heavenly Flames possessed a unique trait. The moment two Essence Flames touched, a heaven-shaking explosion would follow. Whether the first-ranked Heavenly Flame met the last-ranked, or anything in between, the result was always catastrophic. This was the very principle behind the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame.
In all this world, only Heavenly Flames behaved so.
Take the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning of the Void Lightning Pool, for example. Black Demon Lightning and ordinary Heavenly Lightning swirled around it, yet no such catastrophic reaction ever occurred. That was why, on the Dou Qi Continent, only fire was singular in this respect. There was no 'Heavenly Water' or 'Heavenly Lightning' counterpart to Heavenly Flames.
To stop Xiao Yan, the only method was to force the Heavenly Flames into collision. The ensuing eruption would trigger a chain reaction and detonate the entire Demon Flame Space, scattering all who stood within it in mutual failure.
Huo Xuan glanced at Xiao Yan across the battlefield and sighed softly. He genuinely admired this young man. For the Little Clan Leader of a fallen clan to climb step by step to this point was nothing short of a legend.
But their paths diverged here.
Huo Zhi, for her part, said nothing. She certainly harbored no personal feelings for Xiao Yan.
The two of them formed hand seals and summoned forth the Essence Flames of the Eight Wasteland Destruction Flame and the Red Lotus Karmic Flame. A moment later, Huo Yao called out his own Fire Cloud Water Flame Essence. The three Essence Flames took up their positions in the air, forming a perfect triangle.
"Three Phase Fire Formation!"
Huo Yao's shout rang out. This was the Yan Clan's hidden trump card. The three Heavenly Flame Essences bound together in mutual array, and once set loose against the fabric of the Demon Flame Space itself, they would detonate the entire realm.
"Damn it, the Yan Clan's going to blow the place. Run!"
Experts from the other ancient clans cried out in shock and retreated in panic.
Yet the instant those three Essence Flames appeared, one man smiled.
'So many Heavenly Flames gathered in one place, this opportunity must not be lost. Mao Wu!' The corners of Xiao Yan's lips lifted. He had deliberately kept Mao Wu in reserve, and not because he feared exposing that he possessed the Nihility Devouring Flame's Heaven Seed Flame. The Hun Clan had concealed the Nihility Devouring Flame so thoroughly that those in this world who knew of its true location could likely be counted on one hand.
And half of that tiny handful only knew because Xiao Yan had leaked the information himself.
The moment the Three Phase Fire Formation took shape, the space in front of Huo Yao twisted without warning. Wisps of black flame coiled into a vortex, and from within padded out a black cat wearing a distinctly human, sly smile.
It happened in a flash. Who could have imagined that even in a moment like this, Xiao Yan still had another trump card in hand, prepared specifically to keep the Yan Clan from wrecking everything!
Meow!
A sharp cat's cry rang out. Under everyone's stunned gazes, that eerie black cat suddenly drew in a great breath. It cared nothing for whether the flames before it were Heavenly Flames, nor whether they might explode. It simply wanted them all in its belly.
Collisions between Heavenly Flame Essences would, of course, normally trigger enormous explosions. But Mao Wu was the Nihility Devouring Flame's Heaven Seed Flame, linked directly to Xiao Yan's Acceptance Soul. So long as the Essences were drawn straight into the Acceptance Soul and then crushed by Dou Qi through the Flame Mantra, they would be rendered utterly harmless.
A terrifying suction force erupted. Huo Yao and the other two were far from weak, and they frantically fought to hold on to their Heavenly Flames, refusing to let the bizarre black cat swallow them whole.
"What in the world is this thing?!"
"That suction… emerging from the void, its body pitch-black like nihility itself. Could it really be the Nihility Devouring Flame?!"
Mao Wu had already evolved into a Heaven Seed Flame, the Seed Flame closest in nature to the true Nihility Devouring Flame. For those who had never laid eyes on the genuine article, mistaking one for the other was only natural. In all the Dou Qi Continent, aside from Xiao Yan, Hun Tiandi, and a handful of the Hun Clan's highest-ranking members, there was almost no one who had ever glimpsed the real Nihility Devouring Flame.
Huo Yao, with the deepest cultivation of the three, could barely brace himself against the pull. Huo Xuan and Huo Zhi were another matter entirely. They were only Half-Saints. Even though they possessed such powerful Heavenly Flames as the Eight Wasteland Destruction Flame and the Red Lotus Karmic Flame, they might not be able to withstand the power of the Nihility Devouring Flame's Heaven Seed Flame.
A smug gleam flickered in Mao Wu's eyes. With a low hum, a wave of Spiritual Strength surged from its small body, and two soul imprints drifted out into the open. They were, of course, the imprints Xiao Xuan had left behind all those years ago.