#695 - The Devil's Fire
In the endless void, lightning raged, and thousands of silver-white lightning bolts danced like coiling dragons and snakes, illuminating the boundless darkness.
The black lightning in the center of the Thunder Pool had disappeared, and the many Black Demon Lightning bolts had been absorbed by the dark-skinned, iron-tower-like man sitting deep within the Thunder Pool.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and a terrifying aura that made the space tremble spread out. Under this power, for a moment, the dragons and snakes stopped dancing, and the various energies in the void flowed backward.
“Hahaha…” Lei Ying let out a hearty laugh, his laughter like thunder, even louder than the constant roar of lightning.
Nine-Star Dou Sheng… After thousands of years, he finally took this step!
The cultivation technique used by the Lei clan has a special property: it can absorb lightning to improve the quality of one's Dou Qi. The stronger the lightning, the greater the improvement it brings.
Nine Profound Golden Lightning is the strongest known lightning, but even Lei Ying had never had the chance to see it, until he discovered this secret realm in the void.
After refining the Nine Profound Golden Lightning, the quality of his Dou Qi improved, and the energy it contained allowed him to go even further.
“Unfortunately, it's still too late… Even with the strength of an early Nine-Star Dou Sheng, the current situation is still not enough.”
There was a hint of worry between his brows.
The Soul clan is certainly dangerous, but aren't the Gu clan also dangerous?
If the Allied Forces defeat the Soul clan, will Gu Yuan, without any restraint, become the next Soul Heaven Emperor?
He cast his gaze into the depths of the void, and murmured softly:
“Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame… If that fellow Yan Jin obtains the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, he should also have a chance to break through to Nine-Star Dou Sheng, right? When the two of us join forces, we can fight against Gu Yuan.”
…
In the Heavenly Tomb, after consuming the Grade 9 Mysterious Pill he refined, Xiao Yan broke through to Five-Star Dou Sheng.
He vaguely felt that his current strength should have surpassed Soul Void Zi from the Pill Tower, but it was hard to say for sure… After all, it was just a vague feeling, and he hadn't actually fought him.
Having reached this point, it was extremely difficult to improve further. Without some kind of opportunity, relying solely on normal cultivation, it would probably take decades or even centuries to improve by even one star.
Xiao Yan looked at the index finger of his left hand. On his finger was a dark, ancient ring. This was Xiao Xuan's last legacy. He finally chose to die himself, sealing his own energy core in this ring.
It was the one he had bid for at the auction, at Little Fairy Doctor's instruction, and ultimately did not hand over to the Soul Hall's Venerable, leaving it for him.
“Little Fairy Doctor…” Xiao Yan's heart twitched slightly, though he felt grief, it wasn't the kind of heart-wrenching feeling he used to have.
The experiences in the hundred lifetimes had diluted his feelings for other women, but his feelings for Xiao Meng became even stronger.
Xiao Yan felt that this might be related to Amon. Perhaps he used some means to interfere with the Bodhi Enlightenment, or perhaps it was just because this Bodhi Enlightenment carried his aura, and Xiao Meng was of the same race as him, so she appeared frequently in the illusion…
Of course, it was also possible that it had nothing to do with Amon, simply because Xiao Meng was the one who haunted his dreams the most… Not only did they have a relationship cultivated since childhood, but also a man's responsibility and a sense of guilt.
He composed himself and placed the four ancient maps together. At the connecting edges of the ancient maps, a hazy glow bloomed, and the maps merged into one, becoming a complete map.
It floated in front of him, and the mark representing the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame on the map bloomed with a pink light.
“This is where the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame is located… But this doesn't seem to be a secret among the major forces. Teacher already knew the news that the Demonic Flame was about to descend… This map, shouldn't it just be a map, right?” Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.
He scanned it with his soul power and discovered a clue.
Just then, the map suddenly shrank, turning into a beam of light and shooting towards Xiao Yan's forehead.
Naturally, Xiao Yan wouldn't let something with unknown effects enter his head. In the original story, he had no way to stop it and could only let it happen, but now it was different.
Vast soul power surged out, forming an indestructible soul barrier in front of him, blocking the beam of light, preventing it from advancing.
After a moment of stalemate, the beam of light seemed to give up, and turned back into an unfolded map.
Just as Xiao Yan was about to reach out to put it away, the map suddenly shone brightly, and a figure wearing a white robe, with a lotus mark on his forehead and a handsome face, slowly emerged.
“Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint?” Xiao Yan immediately guessed the identity of this figure.
The Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint's phantom sized Xiao Yan up for a moment, and said in surprise:
“Di Realm soul? Truly, the younger generation is to be feared… Originally, this map was my contingency plan to deal with the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, to prevent it from harming the Central Plains, but since you yourself have the strength to subdue it, it seems that I'm being superfluous.”
Xiao Yan performed a junior's salute and said:
“Senior may not know, but ten thousand years have passed since your era. In so much time, no one can say what stage the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame has reached now.
“I have seen the second-ranked Void Swallowing Flame, and it already possesses the strength of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng, with terrifying power, invincible…
“If Senior has any methods to deal with the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, please enlighten me.”
“Void Swallowing Flame? You've actually seen the Void Swallowing Flame?” The Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint's eyes showed surprise.
After a moment of pause, he continued: “The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame was sealed by me in the Demonic Flame Space, limiting its growth in strength, so it shouldn't have reached that point…
“Just take this map with you, as for whether it will be useful at that time, it's up to fate.”
Xiao Yan nodded and said respectfully: “Thank you, Senior.”
The map turned into a beam of light and entered Xiao Yan's Na Ring.
Glancing at the Na Ring on the index finger of his right hand, Xiao Yan's eyes showed a hint of vigilance.
With a thought, he cut through space and returned to the back mountain of the Falling Star Pavilion.
What came into view was a huge dragon head.
Xiao Yan couldn't recognize which one this was. Except for Xiao Xiao's aura being obviously stronger than the other three, there was almost no difference between Xiao Huo, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yi.
“Daddy!” The giant dragon opened its mouth wide, as if waiting to be fed.
Xiao Yan: “…”
Looking at the wide mouth, which was dozens of feet wide, Xiao Yan was silent for a moment, then took out a Grade 7 pill from the Na Ring and threw it in.
Xiao Huo closed her mouth, revealing an expression of enjoyment.
“Is there any news about Xiao Xiao?” Xiao Yan asked.
“No, Big Sister doesn't know where she went.” Xiao Huo's tone was slightly low. This was the first time they had been separated since birth.
After a long silence, she couldn't help but ask: “Daddy, will Mommy really never come back?”
“She will come back, I promise, even if I search the entire Great Thousand World, I will find a way to bring her back.” Xiao Yan said solemnly.
This was a guarantee, and even more so, an oath.
“Mmm…” Xiao Huo's low mood came and went quickly. She said cheerfully:
“Grandpa is looking for you… saying that there's something, um, some lotus is about to come out.”
A smile appeared on Xiao Yan's face: “Is it the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame?”
“Yes, yes, yes, it's the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame!”
Xiao Yan arrived in front of the Falling Star Pavilion's mountain range. Yao Chen stood in the square, with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
“Teacher.”
Yao Chen stroked his beard, his expression indescribably satisfied… Xiao Yan had just broken through not long ago, and his Dou Qi had not been perfectly restrained, so Yao Chen could also feel his strength.
“You have far surpassed your teacher, the student is better than the master, this is my pride.”
Xiao Yan did not dare to be negligent, and immediately said: “Every achievement I have contains a share of Teacher's hard work. Xiao Yan can be where he is today, all thanks to Teacher's cultivation.”
The smile on Yao Chen's face grew even wider. He knew that this was also inseparable from Xiao Yan's own aptitude, hard work, and luck. His teaching was just one of the many factors that contributed to Xiao Yan's success…
What satisfied him the most was Xiao Yan's heart of gratitude, which was many times stronger than that animal Han Feng.
He smiled and handed Xiao Yan a jade bottle exuding a cold aura:
“This is the 'Nine Yin Yellow Spring Pill' that I refined for you, which should be able to provide some help for you to subdue the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame… There's not much I can do for you, the next path, you have to walk it yourself.”
Xiao Yan took the pill and said in a deep voice: “I will definitely live up to Teacher's expectations.”
“By the way, do you know the location where the Demonic Flame will descend?” Yao Chen changed the subject and asked.
Xiao Yan replied: “I have collected the ancient maps, which show information about the Demonic Flame's descent.”
Yao Chen shook his head: “This time is different, perhaps due to the influence of the power of heaven and earth, the entire Demonic Flame Space is constantly moving north, it will probably descend in the Northern Continent.”
“Is that so…” Xiao Yan didn't care too much. For Dou Sheng, it wouldn't take much time to go from Central Plains to the Northern Continent.
…
Northern Continent, the original grassland temperature continued to rise, and some places had already caught fire.
The White Serpent Tribe was in a panic, they didn't know what was happening. Looking at the withered and dehydrated grass and trees due to the high temperature, and the heat coming from the air, everyone's hearts were shrouded in dark clouds.
“We can't go on like this.” Bai Lin stood on the city wall, which was taller than in the past, with a solemn expression.
“Bai Qing, go organize the tribe to migrate. Although I don't know what happened, this place is no longer suitable for us to live in.”
“Sister Bai Lin, where are we going?” Bai Qing, slightly behind and to her left, was a little uneasy.
She had been the leader of the White Serpent Tribe and in charge of the White Serpent Tribe for quite some time, but this was the first time she had encountered such a disaster.
Bai Lin said in a slightly hurried tone: “You can go anywhere, but you can't stay in the same place and wait to die!”
However, just then, the sky suddenly cracked open, and milky white flames fell from the sky.
Bai Lin's pupils contracted violently. Looking at the approaching fire, an extreme sense of crisis surged into her heart.
The intense light enveloped everything, and the terrifying high temperature vaporized everything. The vast grassland turned into a desert.
Layers of starlight lit up. In the starlight, Bai Lin and Bai Qing put on a monocle on their right eyes, and their figures disappeared from the spot, avoiding the terrifying high temperature brought by the Demonic Flame's descent.
Not far from where the Demonic Flame Space collided with the earth, Amon appeared in mid-air, stroked his monocle, and a smile curled up on the corner of his mouth:
“Bringing Cai Lin here back then, ultimately left some traces, now, the traces are gone too…”
