Chapter 690 The Strange Fire Self-Destructs
Within this strange space, the scorching heat waves seemed to solidify in the air, and every inch of airflow carried the oppressive force to incinerate everything.
But the moment the icy blue rune on Xiao Ling's forehead lit up, an extreme chill suddenly spread out like a tide, colliding violently with the surrounding blazing flames.
The final square has now become a standoff between ice and fire.
In the eastern sky, a hundred-foot-tall giant lotus of flames surged wildly, its crimson waves crashing against the spatial barrier like a raging sea. As the lotus petals unfurled, they spewed out tongues of fire over ten feet long, with the ancient aura of karmic fire flowing within them. Each flame seemed to carry a strange power that could scorch the soul, making the air crackle and pop.
On the west side, the hundred-foot-tall ice lotus that Xiao Ling stood on was as white as jade, with fine ice crystals condensed on the edges of its petals. Cold air emanated continuously from the lotus's heart, freezing even the leaping flames into translucent fire crystals, which made a crisp sound as they fell.
The chilling air currents surrounding the ice lotus actually tore a cool space in the scorching heat, confronting the giant fiery lotus opposite it from afar.
The raging flames and the biting cold collided fiercely at this moment, and invisible energy ripples spread outwards from the two giant lotuses as the center, and the space itself seemed to tremble slightly in this extreme temperature difference.
The interplay of crimson and shimmering white light made Xiao Ling's figure and the outline of the giant flaming lotus even clearer, and a battle was about to begin.
As the Crimson Lotus Flame made a move, the crimson flames suddenly surged! The hundred-foot-tall giant lotus of flames was clearly enraged by Xiao Ling's posture, and a pillar of flame tens of feet thick suddenly spewed out from the lotus's heart, rushing straight towards it with the power to burn mountains and boil seas.
Immediately afterwards, countless burning crimson streaks shot out from between the lotus petals, weaving together like a dense rain to form a raging sea of fire. The surging flames even distorted the air, and the spatial barrier was scorched and rippled. Each wisp of flame carried the corrosive power unique to the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, determined to completely devour the ice lotus and humans in front of it.
"You're courting death!" A furious shout rang out from the flames, unleashing the full power of the karmic fire. The rocks on the plaza floor cracked one after another under the intense heat, and scalding magma gushed out from the cracks, only to be frozen into black rocks by the cold air the instant it approached the ice lotus.
Faced with this overwhelming onslaught of fiery waves, Xiao Ling remained unmoved atop the ice lotus.
He lightly raised his fingertips, and the natal talisman floating on his forehead suddenly lit up, its icy blue light scattering around him like starlight.
With a thought, the Law of Ice was instantly activated to its limit. The hundred-foot-long ice lotus began to spin violently, its translucent white petals unfolding layer by layer. Countless ice shards condensed from the edges of the lotus petals, whistling towards the wave of fire like sharp ice blades.
Even more astonishingly, the cold air surrounding the ice lotus suddenly became viscous and tangible, forming a semi-transparent ice wall.
The pillar of flames crashed against the ice wall with a hissing sound. The scorching flames burned the ice layer, but new ice crystals kept condensing and replenishing the surface, effectively blocking the attack of the pillar of flames from ten feet away.
The crimson flames, like a dense rain, collided with the ice blades and were instantly frozen by the cold air, turning into burning ice crystal fragments that fell in a flurry.
Xiao Ling manipulated the illusory image of the Heavenly Talisman to float above his head. The law of ice flowed freely in his palm, and every wisp of cold air precisely landed on the most violent point of the flames, dissolving the corrosive power of the karmic fire layer by layer.
The ice lotus beneath his feet moved at his will, and he dodged and weaved through the sea of fire without the slightest sign of distress. His defense concealed a hidden counterattack, clearly demonstrating that he was more than capable of handling such a fiery offensive.
"How is this possible..." came an incredulous whisper from within the giant lotus of flames. The Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire had raged for millennia, yet it had never seen such icy power so easily resist its attacks.
The crimson flames paused slightly, clearly disrupted by the unexpected defense.
The Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire was originally a unique fire born in the Dou Qi Continent. Since its birth, it has carried the law of heaven and earth that "nothing is immune to its burning." Over the millennia, countless things have been reduced to ashes in its blazing flames.
Moreover, having cultivated to such an extent that its intelligence has greatly increased, it has already refined the burning power of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire to its extreme. Ordinary ice melts upon contact with it, and even those spiritual creatures that are known as the most yin and coldest would find it extremely difficult to withstand even three breaths in front of it.
But the chill emanating from the ice lotus before them was completely different. It was not ordinary ice, but contained the power of some kind of pure law. Each wisp of chill was like a fine net, peeling away the burning power of the karmic fire layer by layer.
Especially as the Ice Blue Sky Talisman above Xiao Ling's head swirled, the laws of ice surged like a tide, making it feel that the restlessness of the flames was being forcibly suppressed.
"Impossible..." A roar of shock and anger came from the giant lotus of flames, "Heaven and earth flames are born from the extreme yang, and ice is their natural enemy. How can your ice have such power? Even the coldest things I have ever seen have never had such suppressive power!"
The Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire had traveled the continent with Venerable Crimson Lotus for a thousand years, and was already thoroughly familiar with the characteristics of strange fires and spiritual ice recorded in the classics. However, it had never seen anything that could so easily resist the icy power of the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire. This scene that overturned its understanding caused a trace of panic to rise in its heart for the first time.
Hearing the barely concealed panic in the Red Lotus Karmic Fire's tone, Xiao Ling's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile. Standing atop the ice lotus, his voice, carrying a chilling aura, echoed through the space: "In this Dou Qi Continent, you strange fires may consider yourselves special, but outside this world, that's not necessarily true. Today, I'll broaden your horizons."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Ling suddenly clenched his fist!
In an instant, his body shone with an intense blue light, and countless streams of cold air shot into the sky like phoenixes breaking free from their restraints, emitting clear and melodious cries.
The plaza floor beneath our feet froze at a visible speed, the scalding magma instantly solidifying in the cold air, turning into blackish-red ice rock.
The previously cracked cracks in the stone were filled with ice crystals, and even the remaining sparks in the air were frozen into tiny specks of light.
In just a few breaths, the entire plaza was covered with a thick layer of ice, the white ice reflecting the crimson firelight, creating an eerie and beautiful scene.
At the same time, an extremely cold wind suddenly swept up from behind Xiao Ling!
This icy wind was no ordinary airflow; rather, it was imbued with the sharp edge of the laws of ice. As it howled, it carried a sharp sound that tore through the air, like a storm composed of thousands of ice blades, violently exploding towards the hundred-foot-tall giant lotus of flames.
Wherever it passed, even space seemed to freeze, rippling with layers of ice patterns.
Even more astonishingly, the countless icy snow lotuses surrounding Xiao Ling suddenly changed direction, their white petals unfurling in the cold wind, crashing down on the giant fiery lotus with overwhelming force, like meteors falling from the sky!
Each ice lotus exploded in mid-air as it fell, turning into countless ice shards that intertwined with the biting wind to form a vast, frozen net, completely sealing off the escape route of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.
The clash between ice and fire grew increasingly violent, with the frigid air and raging flames clashing fiercely in mid-air, producing a deafening roar. The crimson flames contracted violently under the suppression of the ice, while Xiao Ling's attacks continued relentlessly like a tidal wave, clearly indicating that he had truly unleashed his thunderous power.
A biting wind, carrying a storm of ice blades, slammed into the giant lotus of flames. Countless fragments of the ice lotus fell like meteorites, and the burst of cold air instantly condensed into a thick layer of ice on the surface of the lotus petals.
With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the Red Lotus Karmic Fire's proud flame defense was torn apart layer by layer. The crimson flames surged wildly under the suppression of the ice, but could not break through the shackles of the ice.
"Damn it! This is impossible—!" A furious roar came from the giant lotus of flames, its voice filled with embarrassment and panic.
The lotus petals, which had been stretched out, were now slightly curled up by the cold ice, and even the edges were covered with charred ice crystals. Even the karmic fire that burned everything was dimmed a bit, clearly indicating that it had been seriously damaged by the attack.
It frantically urged its flames to try and melt the ice, but Xiao Ling's ice laws were inexhaustible. As soon as one layer melted, a new layer of ice would quickly condense, trapping it firmly in place.
However, this cannot be blamed on the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. Xiao Ling's strength at this moment is simply too formidable. He uses the spiritual power of his Great Talisman Sect and the power of his natal Heavenly Talisman to complement each other, and he can even fight against a four- or five-star Dou Sheng.
Although the Red Lotus Karmic Flame is listed on the Strange Flame Ranking and possesses great intelligence, it is limited by the constraints of the sealed land and the erosion of time, and its strength is at most at the peak of the Dou Zun level.
With such a huge disparity in power, Xiao Ling only needed to use a few techniques to easily suppress this arrogant strange fire.
Seeing that the Red Lotus Karmic Fire was already at its last gasp, Xiao Ling did not want to waste any more time, so he clenched his fist tightly!
As he focused his mind, the icy blue light around him intensified, and the frost power surrounding the giant lotus of flames suddenly became violent, rapidly eroding the body of the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire like a malignant tumor.
The crimson flames struggled wildly in the cold air, but quickly dimmed like the receding tide. The originally surging flames were frozen layer by layer, and the size of the hundred-foot giant lotus also shrank at a visible speed.
Realizing that its own essence was being suppressed and eroded by the power of ice, the Red Lotus Karmic Fire completely panicked.
It desperately channeled the remaining power of its flames, its lotus petals opening and closing wildly as it spewed out its last pillars of fire, trying to break free from the shackles of the frost. But each struggle only allowed more cold air to penetrate, accelerating the flames' extinguishing.
No matter how much it roared and resisted, it was like a moth trapped in ice, unable to shake the prison-like power of ice.
In just a few breaths, the once sky-covering, hundred-foot-tall giant lotus of flames had shrunk dramatically to only twenty or thirty feet in size. The crimson flames had dimmed considerably, while the ice layer condensing on the edges of the lotus petals grew thicker and thicker, and even the roars emanating from within had become somewhat weaker.
Seeing the power of frost enveloping his entire body like a spider web, and the source of his flames being continuously compressed, the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire finally realized that no matter how much he struggled, he could not escape the fate of being suppressed.
The crimson lotus heart flickered violently a few times, as if making a final decision. The originally raging flames strangely subsided at this moment, leaving only the sound of ice cracking echoing clearly in the space.
After a brief period of preparation, just as Xiao Linggang noticed something amiss, a destructive energy suddenly condensed within the giant flame lotus!
It actually hardened its heart and detonated all the fire energy except for its own original source—
"Boom——!"
A deafening explosion instantly reverberated through the space. The body of the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire exploded like the blazing sun, and violent waves of flame, carrying shattered ice crystals, surged wildly in all directions. The scorching heat and the biting cold collided violently at the center of the explosion, stirring up thousands of energy ripples.
The entire space shook violently under the impact, with fragments of rock walls flying everywhere, mixed with flames and ice shards, and even the solid spatial barrier was torn open with hideous cracks.
The space, already unstable due to the battle between ice and fire, was now even more precarious under the impact of the self-destruction. Cracks spread at a visible speed, as if it would collapse completely at any moment, swallowing up the plaza and everything within it.
A surging wave of air swept outwards like a tsunami, carrying a mixture of scorching flames and sharp ice shards. Even Xiao Ling couldn't help but raise his hand to shield his face and turn his head to avoid the blinding light. His long hair was whipped back by the air currents, his robes fluttered wildly, and the ice laws around him automatically condensed into a thin layer of ice to barely block the flying fragments.
Sensing the violent aura of mutual destruction, Xiao Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. The Red Lotus Karmic Fire had chosen to self-destruct at the last moment, trying to drag him into the crisis together.
However, he wasn't surprised at all.
Given the proud nature of the strange fire, it would be common for it to prefer to shatter like jade rather than remain intact like a tile; however, this self-destruction clearly had a backup plan.
Xiao Ling could clearly sense that although the exploding flames contained extremely strong destructive power, they did not contain the core fluctuations of the strange fire's origin.
This Red Lotus Karmic Fire merely detonates all the outer flame energy accumulated over thousands of years; the true primordial fire has long since contracted and hidden itself. After all, self-destructing one's primordial essence is tantamount to self-annihilation, and with its intelligence, it would never do such an unwise thing.
As the shockwave subsided, Xiao Ling lowered his hand from in front of him, his gaze turning cold as he stared at the faint, crimson light that flickered in the distance at the epicenter of the explosion. This desperate struggle was futile and would have no bearing on the final outcome.
Taking advantage of the momentary turmoil caused by the self-destruction, the source of the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire hidden in the embers of the flames suddenly transformed into a thin stream of crimson light, shooting towards a newly torn spatial rift like an arrow!
It clearly intended to use the spatial disturbances as cover to escape through this unstable gap and completely break free from its fate of being captured by Xiao Ling.
Perhaps it was a stroke of luck in a desperate situation, but its choice actually worked. Although the spatial rift that had been temporarily opened by the violent explosion was constantly twisting and contracting, it still allowed this primordial stream of light to slip out before the rift closed.
The next instant, the crimson light had already broken free from the space where ice and fire intertwined, and plunged into the boundless underground magma outside.
The surrounding molten lava surged endlessly, and abundant fire energy rushed in like a tide, constantly permeating along the source of the light.
The red light, which had been dimmed by the self-destruction, began to glow slightly again, and the extremely weak aura actually eased a little, showing a faint sign of recovery. (End of Chapter)
