Chapter 255: Fire Fiend

Outside Blazing Flame Valley.

Shi Lie leaned on the Splitting Flame Blade, barely managing to stand steady.

Though his sternum injury had been tended to under Liu Qing's all-out treatment, his inner organs still faintly ached.

Under the dual oppression of extreme heat and raging fire spirit qi at this moment, his protective spirit light flickered unstably, on the verge of collapsing. The ferocious scar on his face also twitched slightly from the pain.

Man Shan's situation was somewhat better; his strong physique as a body cultivator gave him greater resistance to the heat, but his bronzed skin had turned entirely crimson, like a heated branding iron, and any sweat that seeped out was instantly vaporized.

He gripped the door‑board‑sized giant sword tightly, his knuckles whitening from the effort, silently withstanding the pervasive scorching erosion.

Hou San was in the worst state; his cultivation was never known for depth, and the ancient, simple compass in his hand had its needle spinning wildly, emitting an overwhelmed hum, clearly showing that the chaotic, raging earth‑fire spirit mechanism here had exceeded its detection range.

His face was deathly pale, his lips cracked and bleeding, his breathing ragged like a broken bellows.

Liu Qing was a wood‑system cultivator, and in this extreme fire environment she suffered the strongest natural suppression.

The pale green spirit light around her had dimmed to near invisibility; her formerly moist face now lacked any color, her slender body trembled slightly, like a willow in a gale, sustained only by willpower.

The weakest among them, Xiao Wu, was already at the end of his strength. He knelt on one knee, hands braced hard against the ground, the rock between his fingers scorching hot.

His protective spirit light had long since shattered; the edges of his coarse cloth Daoist robe were scorched and curled, large areas of exposed skin were burned, forming horrifying blisters.

He coughed violently, each time spitting out specks of dark‑red blood tainted by fire poison; his young face twisted in pain, his gaze beginning to scatter.

"Captain… captain… I can't go on…" Xiao Wu's voice was hoarse and feeble, like a mosquito.

Shi Lie glanced at the team members' miserable state, a flicker of unwillingness crossed his eyes before turning into resolute bitterness. He painfully turned his body to face Wang Ping, who had stood motionless ahead, enveloped in a faint red halo as if merged with this scorching environment, drew a deep breath of painful air, and hoarsely said:

"Wang Dao‑friend… the road ahead is beyond our reach. The Fire Crow Squad… can go no further."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping slowly turned. His calm gaze swept over the utterly exhausted team, finally resting on the nearly unconscious Xiao Wu, and he nodded: "Retreating when one knows the difficulty is wisdom."

Wang Ping's acknowledgment did not ease Shi Lie in the slightest. Shi Lie struggled, took out a bulging storage bag from his bosom, his hands slightly trembling, and solemnly presented it to Wang Ping.

The bag's mouth was not tied; inside could be vaguely seen the gold‑patterned Earth Flame Mushrooms and other shimmering spirit materials—this was almost all of their gains from the trip, also including the spoils taken from the Heavenly Dove Squad.

"Wang Dao‑friend, this great lifesaving kindness cannot be repaid. These… are our modest token of gratitude; please… you must accept them!"

Shi Lie's tone carried an almost pleading insistence, his eyes blazing; it seemed that if Wang Ping refused, it would be the greatest denial of him and the entire Fire Crow Squad.

Wang Ping looked at the storage bag, his brow barely twitching. He lacked nothing in these resources, and his rescue was not for repayment. He spoke, his voice still flat: "I don't need these, you…"

"Wang Dao‑friend!" Shi Lie suddenly raised his voice, cutting him off; the agitation aggravated his injury, and he coughed up a mouthful of clotted blood, yet he still clutched the storage bag tightly, his gaze unyielding:

"You may refuse! But we cannot not give! Otherwise, our dao hearts would find no peace! Please… fulfill us!"

Behind him, Man Shan, Hou San, and even the frail Liu Qing all steadied themselves, gazing at Wang Ping with the same determined, hopeful look.

Wang Ping fell silent; after a moment, he said no more, reached out and took the heavy storage bag, slipping it into his sleeve without even looking at it.

Immediately, he turned his hand, took out several jade bottles, and handed them to the nearest Liu Qing; the bottles were warm and moist, faintly exuding a cool medicinal aroma, utterly out of place amid the surrounding scorching heat.

This pill can clear fire poison and consolidate the foundation while nurturing vitality. Leave quickly and recuperate properly.

Liu Qing weakly accepted the jade bottle; its touch was cool all over, lifting her spirits slightly, and she thanked: "Many thanks, Wang Dao‑friend."

Wang Ping gave a slight nod, said no more. His gaze swept over everyone, then his form flickered like a wisp of green smoke merging into the heat wave; in an instant he darted past several lava pools, vanishing into the ahead‑lying dread‑inducing dark‑red forbidden zone, his speed surpassing imagination.

Watching his disappearing direction, Xiao Wu, aided by Liu Qing, barely rose to his feet, coughing, his pale face full of bewilderment: "Captain… Senior Wang… he clearly said not to… why… do we still…"

Shi Lie withdrew his gaze, the heaviness on his face gradually easing; he patted Xiao Wu's unburned shoulder, his voice hoarse yet carrying a weathered steadiness:

"Xiao Wu, remember. In this cultivation world, the strong can bestow kindness without seeking return—that is their magnanimity and breadth. But we, the recipients, cannot take it for granted."

"If today we truly kept all of this for ourselves, that would mean we had overstepped, taken advantage. Our affinity with Wang Dao‑friend would then truly end here, with no further continuation."

He paused, gazing toward the direction Wang Ping had gone, a faint hope flickering in his eyes, and silently added in his heart:

"Now, we have done our part, he has accepted the gift—on the surface it seems settled, but in truth this bond of incense and affection remains. If we are fortunate enough to meet again someday, perhaps… there will still be room to ask for help."

He suddenly turned, his tone decisive and unquestionable: "Go! Return immediately the way we came! This harvest has far exceeded our expectations; we must not be greedy and linger, lest we throw away our lives."

……

Having shed the burden of the Fire Crow Squad, Wang Ping was like having removed a heavy shackle; inside him, the Five Elements Divine Light technique operated at full power without restraint. The thin red halo around his body suddenly solidified, as if a burning divine robe enveloped him.

The surrounding terrifying heat and raging fire spirit, capable of instantly vaporizing refined gold and incinerating early Golden Core cultivators, were no longer a threat but instead became the finest nourishment.

The crimson divine light was like a bottomless pit, emitting a powerful suction that wildly devoured and refined the surrounding near‑liquefied pure fire spirit power, transforming it into pure fire‑attribute divine power to nourish himself.

He not only felt no trace of scorching agony, but his whole body felt relaxed and at ease; his mana subtly advanced—truly like a fish in water.

His speed surged by more than several folds; his form became a red streak too swift for the naked eye to catch, moving freely through the perilous terrain riddled with lava lakes, earth‑fire fissures, and scorching gales.

His powerful divine sense spread like mercury poured outward, rapidly extending from himself in all directions, meticulously scanning and distinguishing every energy fluctuation, seeking the crystal that contained immense pure fire power—the Blazing Flame Stone.

After penetrating nearly a thousand li deeper, the environment could no longer be described as merely 'harsh'.

The sky was an eternal blood‑red, as if endless flames had burned through the vault of heaven.

The earth was completely replaced by a churning, bubbling sea of magma, with only occasional huge, jet‑black stones, like demon fangs, protruding above the magma as temporary footholds.

In the air, besides the scorching heat, a chilling, resentful aura began to permeate.

Upon reaching this place, Wang Ping's speed finally slowed.

At this moment, some erratic, semi‑transparent crimson shadows began to appear.

They had no fixed shape, sometimes like twisted phantoms, sometimes coalescing into anguished wailing human faces or ferocious beast forms, emitting a feeling that pierced straight to the depths of the soul—an icy‑hot burning sensation; wherever they passed, even the rolling magma seemed to dim for a moment.

"Fire Fiend…" Wang Ping's eyes narrowed; he recognized this as the dangerous entity marked prominently on the mission jade slip.

They are aberrant entities formed from the mixture of earth‑core poison fire and the lingering resentment and grudges of countless fallen beings here; formless and substanceless, they specialize in damaging the soul and are extremely hard to slay. The several clusters appearing before us have condensed energy and surging resentment, and indeed each possesses the power of a Golden Core cultivator!

One of them was the largest, almost taking the size of a house—a huge, twisted‑blur ghost‑head fire fiend; it was the first to detect Wang Ping, this 'anomaly' exuding vigorous vitality.

It emitted a silent yet soul‑piercing keen wail, accompanied by several slightly smaller fire fiends, like sharks scenting blood, bearing surging resentful fire and poisonous gas as they lunged forward!

Wang Ping's thoughts flashed; his Azure Mist Sword leapt from its sheath, transforming into nine piercing, unmatched azure sword rainbows that wove into an impenetrable death‑sword net, thrusting to strangle those clusters of fire fiends.

However, the sharp sword light slicing into the fire fiends was like a blade cutting through thick smoke—though it could temporarily disperse their forms, the energy containing resentment and poison fire did not vanish; instead, it clung to the sword light like a bone‑deep maggot, eroding their spirituality.

Yet within a breath, the dispersed fire fiends re‑condensed not far away; their aura was slightly weakened but appeared even more ferocious! Conversely, the spirit light on the Azure Mist Sword visibly dimmed a fraction.

The ghost‑head fire fiend let out a mocking silent shriek, its speed surging; its massive ghostly maw gaped open, as if trying to swallow him whole together with his protective spirit light; that soul‑targeting yin‑poison burning sensation instantly intensified severalfold, causing ripples to appear in Wang Ping's sea of consciousness.

"Physical attacks have little effect; indeed, it's troublesome." Wang Ping felt a jolt of alarm. The Yin Wood Divine Thunder, utmost yang and utmost firm, is the supreme divine power for subduing demons and dispelling evil—most suited to counter this.

But the Wood Divine Thunder is one of his important trump cards, and it's too conspicuous; his identity may already have been known by many.

In the depths of this perilous, unfathomable Blazing Flame Valley, it's easy to attract even more terrifying existences; unless absolutely necessary, he does not want to reveal his identity.

In an instant, he had made his decision.

Only seeing him pinch a profound hand seal, within his dantian the power representing the earthly origin burst forth explosively. A warm, heavy, all-bearing yellow divine light shot up from his celestial palace, its radiance flowing, the Dao taking form.

. In the center of this yellow divine light, an ancient, unadorned great seal, containing the weighty intent to suppress mountains and rivers, floated uncertainly—this is precisely the treasure that has always followed him, the Overturn Heaven Seal!

The Earth Divine Light and the Overturn Heaven Seal's aura perfectly merged, becoming a seamless whole.

The Overturn Heaven Seal spun round and round, hovering three feet above his head, dropping myriad strands of condensed, substance-like pale yellow divine light garlands, like a jeweled canopy and pagoda, firmly enveloping and protecting the area within a radius of about a zhang around him.

"Boom!"

The Ghost Head Fire Fiend, carrying monstrous resentful fire, fiercely struck the pale yellow divine light barrier. There was no earth-shaking roar, only a grating sound like cold water dripping into hot oil, a series of 'hiss' noises.

The Overturn Heaven Seal's heavy, bearing, suppressing characteristics were pushed to the extreme; the resentful toxic gas containing the power to erode divine souls, upon striking the divine light, was like an egg hitting a stone, turning into scattered crimson-red vapors.

The Fire Fiend's intangible divine-soul attack was also firmly blocked outside by this thick, steady divine light barrier, making it unable to affect Wang Ping in the slightest.

"Indeed, the Earth Divine Light combined with the Overturn Heaven Seal grants defensive power far exceeding expectations, especially against such evil spirit divine-soul attacks." Wang Ping felt certain in his heart, his understanding of his own methods deepened further.

But defense is ultimately just a temporary measure. These Fire Fiends are ever-changing; if their resentment is not extinguished, they are hard to kill completely. A prolonged stalemate would only waste magical power, and the Overturn Heaven Seal is not suited for this combat environment.

A cold light flashed in Wang Ping's eyes, no longer hesitating. He opened his mouth and gently exhaled.

A dazzling gold-red spark, containing the boundless origin of light and heat, slowly flew out from his mouth. At first it was only the size of a bean, inconspicuous. Yet the instant this spark left his body, it seemed to break free of some restraint and swell with the storm!

In an instant, it turned into a blazing golden flame the size of a human head! This flame was pure, noble, and domineering, as if it were the source of all light and heat in heaven and earth. Deep within the flame's core, an extremely blurry three-legged golden crow phantom flickered, as if about to spread its wings and fly, emitting a silent yet awe-inspiring clear cry that shook all fires.

Sun True Fire!

This wisp of great opportunity obtained from the lower realm, whose innate true fire embryonic form had long since deeply merged with his Red Divine Light, was now offered up by him.

Utmost yang and utmost rigid, illuminating the myriad worlds, burning away all worldly filth, evil, and yin poison! This is the absolute nemesis of entities like the Fire Fiends, born of resentful toxic fire!

The golden flames, as if endowed with their own spirituality, needed no deliberate urging from Wang Ping; they turned into a flowing golden river and surged forward to meet the several clusters of fire fiends that the earth-traveling divine light had blocked outside, which continued to madly charge and bite.

There was no explosion, no roar.

Only the purest, most thorough purification and annihilation.

「Sizzle—! 」

Like a red-hot blade cutting into solidified butter, the strongest of the ghost-head fire fiends, upon being touched by the true sun fire, emitted an unprecedented sharp wail filled with utter terror and agony; the sound directly affected the soul, enough to make an ordinary Golden Core cultivator lose composure.

Its massive body of resentful fire twisted and contracted wildly, trying to flee, but the true sun fire, utterly pure and clean, possessed an innate restraining and adhesive force against such filth; the golden flames instantly spread, completely enveloping it.

The dark red, filthy resentful fire and poisonous gas, upon encountering the pure golden flames, were like meeting their nemesis—quickly decomposed, purified, and evaporated, emitting a hissing sound and belching forth great clouds of foul black smoke.

In the blink of an eye, that ghost-head fire fiend, whose strength rivaled late Golden Core, completely dissipated between heaven and earth, leaving no trace.

The remaining clusters of fire fiends, seeing this, let out terrified, desperate howls, no longer bothering to attack; they turned and tried to merge into the surrounding violent fire-spirit environment to escape.

But the true sun fire was faster, flexibly splitting into several slender yet more condensed golden fire lines, like living chains, arriving ahead despite coming later, precisely catching up to them one by one, piercing and igniting each.

「Sizzle… 」

After a few soft sounds, the several clusters of Golden Core-stage fire fiends utterly vanished, leaving only a few wisps of fire-origin energy that had been purified, extremely pure, devoid of any impurity, like ownerless things, floating in the air.

Wang Ping circulated the crimson divine light, took a slight inhale, and those few wisps of pure fire source, like swallows returning to their nest, flowed into his body, where they were swiftly refined and absorbed, actually replenishing the minor expenditure he had just incurred from activating his treasure and true fire.

This area of the Blazing Flame Valley temporarily returned to deathly silence, save for the distant, muffled rumbling of the rolling magma sea.

Wang Ping's expression remained unchanged, as if he had merely brushed away a few specks of dust. He put away the Heaven-Overturning Seal, and that strand of true sun fire obediently turned into a golden speck, entering his mouth and disappearing.

However, his gaze grew deeper and more vigilant. The appearance of the fire fiends signified that he had stepped into a truly dangerous zone.

The tragedy of the total annihilation of the Flaming Blade Squad mentioned in the mission jade slip likely occurred in places like this.

He raised his head, gazing toward the farthest point of his vision, where the sky was darkest, as if connecting to the depths of the Nine Netherworlds; there, the space was slightly warped and sunken by the extreme heat.

«Pale golden flame-stone… and perhaps that flame spirit said to exist…» he murmured to himself, his eyes showing no fear, but instead igniting a spark of challenge.

His figure once again turned into a fleeting streak of light, and without hesitation he shot toward the perilous core where even divine sense felt sluggish, as if it could devour everything, racing away.

Not long after he left, deep within the magma sea that had been purified by the true sun fire, a thread of extremely ancient, extremely obscure will, carrying the anger and greed provoked by the disturbance, like a slumbering beast, faintly awakened.

An aura far purer, vaster, and a hundred times hotter than that of the fire fiends, like an undercurrent, silently spread beneath the scorching magma.