Chapter 1214: Sealing the Demonic Fire

Pfft

Crack!

Ah

As the slow runners up front were struck by the heat wave and slammed into others like cannonballs, the air above the magma filled with the sounds of vomiting blood, breaking bones, and anguished screams, leaving everyone agitated.

And the main reason for this is that those who had run out of the heat wave's range never expected such a flesh-and-blood attack from behind, making no preparations at all.

Otherwise, so many people wouldn't have been hit by those launched bodies, ultimately causing them to fall into the lower magma or suffer severe injuries.

"Damn it, this Pure Lotus Demonic Fire is really willing—it actually self-detonated a Battle Saint Fire Slave!"

Seeing the people hurtling toward him, Xiao Yan's face darkened instantly, and left with no choice, he dodged left and right under his powerful soul perception.

As for Gu Xun'er, lacking the opponent's strong soul perception, she simply stayed in place, using her Qi to construct several barriers ahead.

"Bang! Bang!"

Scarcely had she finished her defenses when several heavy impacts struck her Qi shield.

Immediately, those several shields of Gu Xun'er burst apart in the successive impacts.

The self-detonation of that fire slave up front left almost everyone outside the battle circle completely unprepared.

However, this wasn't over; after the first fire slave self-detonated, three more fire slaves, just like the first, burst with intense light pillars in their eyes, their bodies swelled, and with blank faces they chased after the fleeing Gu Xun'er, Xiao Yan, and the others.

As for Lin Feng, who had already fled far away, he watched the scene with a satisfied smile.

After all, those fire slaves couldn't reach him now, so he just focused on watching the show.

However, in between watching, he quickly estimated, based on the earlier fleeing speeds of those people and the fire slaves' speed, roughly where and how far those fire slaves would explode.

Immediately, the three fire slaves he had just controlled—a mid-stage three-star Battle Saint, two early-stage three-star Battle Saints, and one late-stage two-star Battle Saint—shot out silently.

At the same time, Xiao Yan, the six other ancient clans, and the surviving non-bloodline Battle Saints saw these fire slaves recklessly charging in; even a three-star Battle Saint–level powerhouse like the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall turned pale and hastily retreated.

After all, facing the self-detonation of fire slaves whose strength could reach late-stage two-star Battle Saint level, even someone as strong as him could only temporarily avoid the sharp edge.

As for the somewhat weaker Huo Xuan, the Yaotian siblings, and the young Stone Clan member who had only initial Half Saint strength, seeing this they could only take a deep breath of hot air and then shout loudly, "Elder!"

After all, they also understood that their speed could not match that of Battle Saint experts, and having just survived the previous crisis with no preparation whatsoever, no matter how they ran they could not outrun fire slaves whose strength could reach late-stage two-star Battle Saint level.

So, without hesitation, they immediately started calling for their parents.

"You damned thing, Pure Lotus Demonic Fire, you dare harm them—I will surely beat you until your consciousness is annihilated!"

Hearing the voices of those few up front, from the distant battlefield came several successive harsh shouts.

After all, they had brought only the top talents of their clans; if anything happened to them, on this Battle Qi Continent where the situation was growing ever more dire.

Even as powerful as their ancient clans are, they would feel extremely suffocated.

Because they had invested far too many resources into these young people.

If something were to happen to them, there would be no one later capable of turning the tide and taking over the responsibility of these youngsters.

Then their entire clan could very well be wiped out because the older generation fell, and the younger generation lacked the power to deter the strongmen of the other major clans.

If before they might still have been able to bear these losses, but after the Spirit Clan incident they have truly become afraid.

They value each Battle Saint's strength and every young talent greatly, especially the latter, which they now prize beyond measure.

After all, that is the hope of their clan's future!

"Hmph, you all want to come and scatter my consciousness, absorb my true form—now you come telling me this? I think you little things have had your brains burned out by me."

Hearing the elders' angry rebukes, the handsome face of the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire gradually revealed a cold smile.

These guys are after his 'little life,' and now they're even using that to threaten him.

Moreover, he isn't even afraid of these four-star Battle Saints.

Had it not been for his wariness of the few people hiding in the dark, he would have already killed them.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Not long after those elders scolded the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire, the distant sky suddenly transmitted several waves of earth-shaking roars, many times stronger than before.

Immediately, terrifying energy ripples capable of killing three-star Battle Saints raged wildly across the sky, sweeping over a magma sea spanning tens of thousands of zhang in radius.

Everything that stood in the path of these energy ripples was instantly reduced to powder under their terrifying might!

Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er reacted quickly and were fast; seeing the late-stage two-star Battle Saint fire slave charging at them, they immediately turned and fled without a hint of reluctance.

However, their ability to escape was still fortunate, because elsewhere some strong individuals hadn't run very far, and the distance to other fire slaves was actually much closer than to other people.

Thus, a fire slave managed to rush up to those few strong individuals before self-detonating, and in their horrified, despairing gazes, its body burst apart violently!

In an instant, destructive energy almost immediately tore those unfortunate fellows into nothingness.

As for those fellows, they didn't even have time to react, let alone defend.

However, on the other side, although Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er were fast, they still couldn't outrun the incoming energy ripples.

When they had fled a distance of ten thousand zhang, the sense of danger behind them that made their hairs stand on end surged up in waves into their hearts.

Seeing this, the two quickly turned their heads to look behind; the next moment, they saw milky-white flame ripples sweeping toward them at a speed nearly twice their own.

"Damn it, Xun'er, we probably can't dodge this—we can only block these damned things."

Seeing the energy ripple rapidly approaching, now less than a thousand zhang away from the two of them, Xiao Yan immediately gave up on fleeing, turned around, and used a battle technique to block the leading ripple.

And Gu Xun'er, upon sensing the danger behind her, did the same.

Only saw her body's violent, extremely high-temperature golden flames surge out from behind her, covering the sky and earth, then gathering around her as if alive.

"Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Formation!"

Afterward, Gu Xun'er's body retreated at extreme speed while her jade hand simultaneously shifted into a series of strange seals; as her clear, cold shout faded, the golden flames coiling around her began to writhe rapidly.

The next moment, over a dozen golden fire pillars shot down violently from the horizon, while the surrounding fire curtains extended outward and linked together, forming a cylindrical flame array that pierced heaven and earth, protecting both her and Xiao Yan not far away.

"Bang!"

Just as the former's formation had finished shaping, the pursuing energy ripples behind slammed hard into the golden fire curtain, emitting a muffled thunder that made Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er inside the formation furrow their brows.

What made them frown even more was that these energy ripples seemed endless, one after another slamming hard into the golden fire curtain, causing Gu Xun'er's internal Qi to drain at an extreme rate.

In less than ten seconds, Gu Xun'er's originally at least ninety percent of battle qi instantly dropped to less than twenty percent.

And Xiao Yan, whose soul power was strong, sensed the consumption of the former's battle qi, and without the slightest hesitation, quickly took out a pile of eighth-rank peak pills from his storage ring, using battle qi to control them as they were sent one by one to Gu Xun'er's lips.

Seeing this, Gu Xun'er quickly opened her pink lips and swallowed the dozen or so eighth-rank peak pills.

Although these pills were only eighth-rank, their sheer quantity allowed Gu Xun'er to recover some battle qi.

At least, the situation was no longer as urgent as before.

Crack!

However, the fire curtain and those energy ripples did not stalemate for long; a sound of something breaking soon entered Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er's ears.

Hearing this slightly crisp breaking sound, Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er's faces suddenly changed dramatically.

Before they could react, the appearance of the crack seemed to affect the entire fire formation, and the next moment it exploded with a bang, the fire formation completely shattering in the gloomy gaze of Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er.

Pfft!

Immediately after, Gu Xun'er, who controlled the formation, spat out a mouthful of blood, and her aura instantly weakened considerably.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan also dared not be careless; he quickly grabbed Gu Xun'er and retreated at high speed for dozens of li.

At the same time, he looked at the lingering heat wave still approaching and exclaimed in shock, "This Pure Lotus Demonic Fire is truly ruthless; a Dou Saint-level Fire Slave says self-destruct and self-destructs. Such methods, I doubt even the Soul Clan and the Ancient Clan could pull off."

While muttering to himself, Xiao Yan was not idle; he waved his hand, and his inner heavenly fire transformed into several grey fire dragons that shot forth, using their massive bodies to block in front of him and Gu Xun'er.

Fortunately, although Gu Xun'er's Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Formation was breached by the energy ripples from the self-detonation of the Dou Saint Fire Slaves, the blast's power gradually weakened.

Thus, those remaining heat waves were successfully blocked by Xiao Yan, causing no further harm to the two of them.

However, although the two of them successfully avoided the energy ripples from the explosion of the three Fire Slaves, the others were not so lucky.

Especially the Dou Saints of relatively weaker non-ancient forces; those who stayed together were fine, able to rely on their numbers, each blocking a wave, intercepting or dodging those energy ripples one by one.

But those scattered Dou Saints were instantly wiped out by the energy ripples from the Fire Slaves' self-detonation, with over ninety percent eliminated.

Only a single Dou Saint of non-ancient tribe with decent strength, a late two-star Dou Saint, managed to survive from the rampaging energy ripples.

However, that person merely managed to save his life.

After the energy shockwave from the three Fire Slaves' self-detonation passed, when he reappeared before everyone, one arm was missing, and his entire body was covered in burns and various external injuries.

Seeing his extremely weakened aura, even a cultivator who had just entered the Dou Saint realm could easily take his life.

As for Yao Tian and his sister, Huo Xuan, and the two half-saints of the Lei and Stone clans, knowing they could not escape the energy ripple range, they had no hesitation; at the critical moment of life and death, they gathered together without prior agreement, then each unleashed their trump cards, desperately resisting those energy ripples.

At the same time, the clan markings on everyone's foreheads had already appeared at this moment, flickering with a faint light.

Of course, under the effect of their bloodline power, the strength of those few instantly increased significantly.

Even the strongest Yao Tian had now approached the late two-star Dou Saint realm, and with his pure Yao clan inheritance, he was not to be underestimated.

Although time was urgent, Yao Tian and his companions made an orderly arrangement.

Yao Tian, who possessed the thirteenth-ranked Gui Ling Earth Fire on the heavenly fire list and was the strongest among them, having reached the mid-stage one-star Dou Saint realm, was responsible for the first line of defense.

Using the Gui Ling Earth Fire to counteract the demonic fire contained in those energy ripples, while also wildly consuming battle qi to dissipate the ripples.

Of course, relying solely on Yao Tian could not naturally block those energy ripples, but after his consumption, their power would sharply decrease.

Next, following closely behind, Huo Xuan would use his eighth-ranked heavenly fire, the Eight Wastes Destruction Flame, to resist the weakened energy ripples, trying to extinguish them at this level; if that still failed, only the two half-saints of the Stone and Lei clans at the rear could hard-block them.

As for Yao Ling, she stood beside the Stone clan half-saint as a reserve; if he could not hold, she would lend a hand with her soul power.

Most of the time, she was quickly feeding pills to the three in front.

After all, resisting the energy ripples from a Dou Saint's self-detonation truly consumes a tremendous amount of battle qi.

"Hehe, this Pure Lotus Demonic Fire move is not bad; it successfully injured Gu Xun'er and her companions. Moving forward, it will also be more advantageous for us."

Meanwhile, while those people desperately resisted the energy ripples from the Fire Slaves' self-detonation, Hun Feng and the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall on the other side appeared much more relaxed.

After all, although the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall could not participate in that battlefield, facing the self-detonation of the highest late two-star Dou Saint Fire Slave, after joining forces with Hun Feng, he was still able to relatively easily block it.

"Young clan chief, I observe that Gu Xun'er also suffered a backlash from her combat technique, sustaining considerable injury. Why don't we wait a moment and then seize the opportunity to kill Xiao Yan?"

Upon seeing Gu Xun'er spit blood and her aura weaken, the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall immediately gave a sinister laugh and made a throat-slitting gesture.

Upon hearing that, Hun Feng pondered briefly, then nodded lightly and said, "No problem; when the time comes, I will hold back Gu Xun'er, and you will swiftly strike down Xiao Yan with full force. This time, you must not be careless—you must kill him in one blow to avoid any mishaps."

"Rest assured, young clan chief; this time I guarantee Xiao Yan cannot leave this demonic fire space."

Hearing the former agree to his plan, the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall hurriedly clasped his hands in salute and assured him.

Previously, he had carelessly let Xiao Yan escape, causing those folks in the clan to mock him thoroughly.

This time, no matter what, he could not let Xiao Yan get away!

Meanwhile, Lin Feng, who was preparing to act from a distance, upon hearing the faint sound transmitted from the Fire Slave, immediately halted his plan.

Immediately after, with a thought, he had moved to the three-star mid-stage Dou Saint Fire Slave submerged in the magma beneath Hun Feng and the other; he stopped moving, stood blankly in the milky-white magma, awaiting Lin Feng's command.

Furthermore, because of the demonic fire on the Fire Slave's body, this magma would not harm the Fire Slave's body; instead, it could help the Fire Slave restore the demonic fire on its surface.

And these demonic fires are likewise the Fire Slave's source of energy.

Hah!

While Lin Feng was pondering his plan, Yao Wan'gui and Huo Yao in the distant battlefield saw that their juniors were safe from mortal danger, and they breathed a great sigh of relief.

However, although the former felt relieved, Yao Tian and the others were far from feeling well.

Although they had survived this crisis thanks to their numbers and a large supply of pills, whether it was the strongest Yao Tian or the later half-saints of the Lei and Stone clans, all were seriously injured.

The only one relatively better off was Yao Ling.

Although she had not suffered any injury, because she occasionally used her soul power to help block the energy ripples midway, she was greatly drained, her delicate, icy face turning deathly pale.

Of course, although they felt terrible, at least they had managed to survive, not to perish here.

As for the Ancient Clan and Soul Clan's Gu Nanhai and the Hall Master of the Soul Hall, they were not overly worried due to confidence in their juniors' strength, merely fixing their gaze on the white-robed man who, under the six-person encirclement, kept drawing in ragged breaths.

"Everyone, we can't delay any longer; please lend me your strength to seal this Pure Lotus Demonic Fire!"

And just as Yao Wan'gui and company breathed a sigh of relief after their juniors escaped disaster, a tremendous, earth-shaking shout suddenly rang out from another direction in the distance.

When everyone turned their heads, they saw the Hall Master of the Soul Hall, his hairpin knocked off, suddenly letting his hair loose and charging toward the high altitude where the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire was located.

Afterwards, he slapped his palm into the void, and in an instant, a massive black formation tens of thousands of zhang in size rapidly spread out, appearing in the sky.

And the center of the formation was exactly aimed at the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire below, which was panting heavily.

However, this black formation also seemed to consume a great deal of Qi, and at the moment the formation was formed, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Even his face suddenly turned a few shades paler.

"This is the Soul Clan's Heavenly Net Demon-Sealing Formation!"

Seeing the black formation rapidly appear in the sky, Gu Nanhai, Yao Wangui, Huo Yao, and the five Elders all showed expressions of shock.

And looking at their reactions, it was obvious that this formation's reputation was quite great!

"Alright."

Seeing the Heavenly Net Demon-Sealing Formation take shape, Gu Nanhai and the others were clearly still clear-headed; at this critical juncture, they didn't have time for past grudges, and after thinking quickly, they roared their agreement.

At the same moment they spoke, six mighty torrents of energy pillars that made one's heart and spirit tremble surged up from all directions beneath the white-robed man at the formation's center, and finally shot straight into that black formation in the sky.

"Whoosh!"

Having received the Qi infusion from the five four-star Dou Saints, the somewhat pallid Hall Master of the Soul Hall no longer delayed, and immediately changed his hand seals.

Immediately afterward, the formation beneath him shuddered violently, and a beam of energy, its entire body pitch black like ink and covered with mysterious ancient runes, shot out violently from the formation's center and then slammed into the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire below like lightning.

And at the instant that energy beam was fired, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's hands trembled slightly as he changed them, and a flash of fervor crossed his eyes.

"Heavenly Net Refining Fire, return to the source!"

As soon as his words fell, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall fiercely slapped his palm onto the center of the formation below.

"Whoosh!"

And with that slap, the speed of the energy beam shot from the Heavenly Net Demon-Sealing Formation suddenly increased severalfold, charging straight at the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire.

The beam's speed was astonishing; in just a flash, it pierced through the formation and down to this realm below.

Even the lava sea below was forcibly torn open by this energy beam into a huge pit hundreds of zhang wide, through which the lava at the bottom could be seen.

"Ah!"

The Pure Lotus Demonic Fire's body was struck by the black beam, and instantly, with a horrified expression, it sensed that within this beam erupted an extremely strange disintegrating force; under this force, the flames on its surface quickly dimmed, and at the same time it involuntarily let out a furious scream.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Faced with the strange disintegrating force within the black beam, the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire's body suddenly expanded, transforming directly into a flame mass thousands of zhang in size, continually striking the energy beam that trapped it.

At the same time, as the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire transformed into its true form, the temperature of this realm instantly rose dozens of times.

Even the lava below boiled violently under this intense heat.

In the next moment, terrifying magma columns continuously erupted from the milky-white lava below, their deafening roars making this space seem as if the apocalypse had arrived.

Under the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire's frenzied assault, the black beam emitted by the Hall Master of the Soul Hall rippled with wave after wave, and even faintly showed signs of breaking.

"Everyone, quickly pour massive energy into the formation, or else if it breaks the seal and backlashes, our fate will only be death!"

Seeing this, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's face drastically changed, and he shouted loudly without regard for decorum.

As his shout rang out, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall was the first to change his hand seals, then mobilized all the Qi in his body, continuously pouring it frenziedly into the formation beneath his feet.

Gu Nanhai and his five companions, after a brief hesitation, also gritted their teeth, greatly increasing the speed at which they mobilized their Qi, pouring it into the formation as if money were no object.

Upon receiving such a vast influx of Qi, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's Heavenly Net Demon-Sealing Formation instantly expanded considerably, and at the same time, the black beam below began to become ever purer.

That strange disintegrating force within it was also decomposing the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire ever more swiftly.

"You think you can seal me with trash like you?!"

Feeling the ever-increasing terrifying disintegrating force around it and its own dimming milky-white flame, the huge flame suddenly let out an angry roar.

Before his words even finished, the flames within the beam suddenly exploded without warning, turning into shockwaves carrying an astonishing destructive aura that violently struck the inner walls of the black beam.

"Pfft."

The Pure Lotus Demonic Fire's sudden frenzied counterattack instantly turned the faces of the Hall Master of the Soul Hall, Gu Nanhai, and his five companions deathly pale, and then they opened their mouths, spitting out bright red blood.

At the same time, the aura of those six also weakened somewhat.

It seems they suffered some backlash from the formation being struck.

"Everyone, stop holding back—let's finish this quickly!"

After calming the surging blood and Qi in his body, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall immediately wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a look of madness appeared on his face.

As soon as his words fell, he took the lead by biting his tongue tip, then spat out a mouthful of essence blood that shot straight into the black beam beneath him.

"Pfft"

Seeing the Hall Master of the Soul Hall, that old fox, now willing to lead by sacrificing his own essence blood, the others' faces flickered slightly, then they likewise gritted their teeth and each spat out a mouthful of essence blood containing tremendous energy, shooting it into the beam before them.

"Boom!"

As the six spared no expense of their own selves, the black beam fused with their six essence bloods blazed even brighter.

"Ah!"

Immediately afterward, everyone saw the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire let out a miserable cry, and at the same time its huge body rapidly shrank under the suddenly multiplied disintegrating force.

Although that milky-white flame continually issued angry roars and frantically struck the beam, it could not halt the trend of its size diminishing.

In the blink of an eye, the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire shrank from several hundred zhang to just one-tenth of its original size.

"Heavenly Net Demon-Sealing Formation, seal it for this hall master!"

Seeing this, the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's face instantly showed a look of wild joy, then he rapidly changed his hand seals and let out a stern shout.

"Boom!"

As the Hall Master of the Soul Hall's shout faded, the black beam that pierced heaven and earth began to rapidly retract, and in a short moment it became a black cylinder only about a zhang in size.

Within that cylinder, a ball of milky-white flame the size of a head slowly rose.

Although its volume was small, waves of extreme terrifying heat continuously seeped out, so that none of those present dared to underestimate this flame.

"Haha, we succeeded!"

Seeing this, everyone's hearts leapt with great joy.

Through the efforts of six four‑star Dou Saints who even damaged their own vital blood, they finally sealed the unruly Pure Lotus Demonic Fire.

And as the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire was sealed, Xiao Yan, Gu Xun'er, Hun Feng and the other young juniors all fixed their blazing gazes on that black pillar of light, not noticing that, in the distance, Lin Feng suddenly made a gesture toward Yun Yun and then quietly hurried backward.

"Looks like this ad‑hoc squad should pretty much disperse now."

At this moment, Xiao Yan's gaze was also fervently fixed on that black pillar of light for a brief while; after a moment, he snapped back to his senses, his eyes then silently swept over the Hall Master of the Soul Hall. (End of chapter)