#711 - Death of Ember

Within the Heavenly Tomb space, Xiao Yan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. Enduring Gu Yuan's attack head-on was a formidable challenge for him in his current state. That single blow had left him significantly injured.

"Cousin Xiao Yan!" A cheerful voice echoed from afar.

"Xiao Qing?" Xiao Yan's expression tightened. "What are you doing here?"

He had granted some members of the clan the right to enter the Heavenly Tomb, but only to provide them with a means of escape in critical moments. Apart from himself, no one else could remain within the Heavenly Tomb for too long, or the tomb's rejection would intensify.

Xiao Qing's appearance here led him to suspect that something had happened to the clan.

However, upon seeing her lighthearted demeanor, he realized that wasn't the case, and he said with slight annoyance:

"Little girl, don't mess around. Your time in the Heavenly Tomb is limited; it's not for playing games."

Although Xiao Qing had blossomed from the mud-playing child of the past into a graceful beauty, in Xiao Yan's eyes, she was still that little girl.

"Cousin, I'm not here to play. I have serious news. The clan has launched attacks against the Lei and Yan clans and needs your help," Xiao Qing said crisply, dodging Xiao Yan's outstretched hand that was reaching to ruffle her hair.

"So suddenly?" Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised.

Xiao Qing giggled. "It's all thanks to you, Cousin. You drew Gu Yuan away, allowing us to confidently strike the alliance.

"The Great Elder, Second Elder, and Third Elder have already led a portion of the forces to the Lei clan, while Sister Xiao Yu is leading us to deal with the Yan clan. But we lack sufficient combat power here and need your assistance!

"Oh, right, the Yan clan possesses five types of异火 (Yi Huo, strange fire), namely the Eight Desolate Destruction Flame, Nine Nether Golden Ancestral Fire, Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, Fire Cloud Water Flame, and Volcanic Rock Flame. If you refine these five flames, you might even advance to the Nine-Star Dou Sheng."

Xiao Yan's eyes flickered, revealing a hint of temptation. Although advancing from the late stage of the Eight-Star Dou Sheng to the Nine-Star Dou Sheng was extremely difficult, refining so many strange fires in one go seemed like a possibility!

Moreover, this included the sixth, seventh, and eighth ranked flames on the Strange Fire Chart. Besides slightly improving his cultivation, it would also allow the "Angry Buddha Lotus Flame" to unleash even greater power.

His current Angry Buddha Lotus Flame already possessed power comparable to a high-level Heaven-class Dou Technique. If he added five more strange fires, who knew how much the destructive force would increase—perhaps it could even surpass Heaven-class Dou Techniques!

"Cousin Xiao Yan, say something! This is urgent. The Great Elder and the others can't hold out for long. After wiping out the Yan clan, we still have to attack the Lei clan!" Xiao Qing urged.

"Alright! Lead the way!" Xiao Yan decided decisively.

When he and Xiao Qing arrived at the battlefield, they found that the Xiao clan's situation was far from optimistic.

Although Xiao Yu had also reached the Eight-Star Dou Sheng realm, and had the late Seven-Star Dou Sheng Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei assisting her, she was still being beaten back by Yan Jin.

Xiao Yan nodded slightly. "Leave it to me."

He looked at Yan Jin, his gaze meeting the other's in the air, and said:

"Long time no see, Clan Leader Yan Jin. You seemed to be the one who attacked me the most in the Demon Flame Space back then."

Yan Jin looked at Xiao Yan, a trace of apprehension flashing in his eyes. This was a formidable enemy who required his full attention.

"I never expected that your Xiao clan would side with the Hun clan. I wonder if your ancestors would crawl out of their graves in anger if they saw this," Yan Jin said coldly.

Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened. "This is our ancestors' decision. How we act is not for you to judge."

Yan Jin didn't waste any more words. The current situation was unfavorable to his side. Although the Xiao clan didn't bring many people, each one was a master, and there were also several high-star Dou Shengs.

The three elders, Huo Yun, Huo Yao, and Huo Yao, might be able to hold back that Eight-Star Dou Sheng woman together, but there were also four late Seven-Star Dou Shengs who, if allowed to act freely, would bring about a massacre for the Yan clan.

Therefore, he had to do his best to defeat Xiao Yan as quickly as possible!

Yan Jin was also extremely puzzled… The Xiao clan, which had disappeared for so long, had not only not been destroyed but had also accumulated such a vast combat force. How did they develop?

He took a deep breath and launched a fierce attack on Xiao Yan.

"Blazing Flames Incinerate the Heavens!"

Xiao Yan refused to be outdone, meeting the attack with a palm strike of his own: "Fire Calamity Palm!"

Upon impact, Yan Jin's expression changed. He felt an unstoppable force surge through his arm, accompanied by an unbearable heat.

He stumbled back several steps, looking solemnly at the silver flame in Xiao Yan's hand.

"So, this is your fused strange fire? It's actually this powerful…"

Xiao Yan didn't speak, his figure rapidly traversing the space, arriving before Yan Jin in the blink of an eye.

The latter's pupils shrank. Xiao Yan's spatial movement speed was abnormally fast!

He hastily raised his hand to respond, momentarily falling into a disadvantageous position.

"The characteristics of that silver flame?"

Yan Jin was also an expert in manipulating fire and quickly discovered the clues, but he didn't recognize what kind of flame it was. It didn't seem to be recorded on the Strange Fire Chart.

Xiao Yan hadn't yet used his soul power. His cultivation level had been increasing too quickly recently, and his Dou Qi was slightly unstable, so he was using this evenly matched opponent to hone his control.

Yan Jin found that as time passed, he was fighting with increasing difficulty. Realizing Xiao Yan's purpose, a look of annoyance appeared on his face:

"Damn it, you're too arrogant."

"Arrogant? Perhaps not?" Xiao Yan said without looking away. Although he verbally belittled Yan Jin, he was actually maintaining a high level of vigilance.

After all, this was the Yan clan's leader, an old monster who had lived for who knew how many years. Who knew if he had any trump cards up his sleeve that could turn the tables.

The two continued to exchange blows, but neither could gain the upper hand. Xiao Yan had a slight advantage, but it wasn't significant.

Xiao Yan finally felt a hint of impatience. After a collision, he withdrew and formed a hand seal before quickly moving forward again.

As he approached, he suddenly shouted, "Heavenly Demon Howl!"

Although it hadn't reached the high level of the Heaven class, with the boost from his Di-stage soul, this soul attack still unleashed an extremely terrifying power.

Yan Jin's expression changed drastically. The Qi and blood in his body surged, and the Dou Technique he had prepared couldn't be used, so he had to instinctively retreat.

Xiao Yan pressed his advantage, closing in step by step.

At this moment, a halo suddenly lit up on Yan Jin's forehead. All of his flames were drawn into his body, and his aura suddenly soared.

Xiao Yan could sense that the other party wasn't giving up on using the strange fire but had completely fused it with himself, integrating it into his flesh and Dou Qi.

At this moment, Yan Jin's face was flushed red, and the air he exhaled carried a scorching aura, as if he were a burning man.

"Completely combining the strange fire with oneself… As expected of the Yan clan leader, manipulating the strange fire with such proficiency."

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, and the flames on his body also retracted, forming a fiery garment only on the surface of his body.

After roughly understanding the principle behind the other party's move, Xiao Yan relied on Qing Meng's perfect control over strange fires to directly copy Yan Jin's move, but he innovated and displayed an even more perfect form.

Yan Jin's face became extremely ugly.

"If you only have this much, then today, the Yan clan may be removed from the list," Xiao Yan said.

Having figured out Yan Jin's methods and using his battle with him to hone his control over his own Dou Qi, Xiao Yan began to go all out.

An exquisite fire lotus slowly formed in his hand.

Feeling the terrifying energy contained in the fire lotus, an extreme sense of crisis surged into Yan Jin's heart. He glanced at the Yan clan members who were constantly being injured or killed under the attacks of Xiao Yu and the others, and he shouted with red eyes, gritting his teeth:

"All members, break out freely! Save as many as you can!"

After shouting, he charged towards Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan had heard from Xiao Zhan about the crazy behavior that people from these ancient races would exhibit in the final moments, so he didn't dare to be careless and once again let out a sharp howl.

The soul attack impacted Yan Jin's brain, making him dizzy, and the trend of his body swelling slowed down.

Xiao Yan sent the fire lotus forward. As Yan Jin regained consciousness, extreme light and heat erupted before his eyes.

Indescribable heat swept everything away. The space shattered, the earth trembled, the clouds churned, and the entire Yan Realm was almost torn in two.

When the light and heat dissipated, the broken space slowly recovered, and the tremors gradually subsided, revealing Yan Jin standing in mid-air, charred all over and with a weak aura.

His skin was like crumpled and burned paper, with the charred and scarlet colors intertwined into hideous patterns. The exposed muscle fibers were like dried bacon, trembling slightly with each breath, oozing pale yellow tissue fluid.

His face was difficult to recognize, and his left eyelid had melted and stuck to his lower eyelid, revealing a cloudy eyeball. His slightly more intact right eye looked at Xiao Yan, and a hideous smile appeared on his face:

"I never thought that I, as the Yan clan leader, would eventually die by fire."

Yan Jin's pupils contained undisguised resentment. Xiao Yan's gaze was stern, and without hesitation, he pointed out a finger again.

The finger beam pierced through Yan Jin's head, ending the life of this giant who had dominated the Dou Qi Continent for thousands of years.

After Xiao Yan collected the Volcanic Rock Flame and Nine Nether Golden Ancestral Fire from Yan Jin's body, he stopped taking action and simply watched the battle below.

After Yan Jin ordered all members of the clan to break out on their own to preserve their bloodline, Xiao Yu also ordered to intercept the few people who possessed strange fires.

Xiao Qing stopped Huo Xuan, Xiao Ning stopped Huo Yao, and Xiao Mei stopped Huo Zhi.

Under the interception of such powerful enemies, despair couldn't help but appear in the eyes of Huo Yao, Huo Xuan, and Huo Zhi.