Chapter 197

"This voice is..."

Everyone on the peak had their eardrums buzzing from this shout.

Even the white, misty water vapor that permeated the mountaintop, obscuring people beyond three steps, was directly shattered by this sound wave, revealing the scarred ruins and the wounded lying all over the ground.

Immediately following, a figure wreathed in flames broke through the night sky, like a flaming spear thrown by a god, dragging a long, crimson tail of fire that illuminated the entire night sky into a scorched, dark red.

"Liu Fengzhu?!"

Jiang Ye's pupils shrank violently.

Although he had felt a sense of familiarity when he heard that rough, resonant shout.

Yet when he saw with his own eyes the withered, bark-like old face of Luo Song emerge from the firelight, he still couldn't help but feel a flash of hidden shock in the depths of his eyes.

Wasn't this old man supposed to be lying by the cauldron, prolonging his life after a relapse of an old illness...

Qin Lie said he had slept for over two months last time and this time would be even longer; how did he wake up so quickly?

"Old Luo?!"

Liu Qingyu's star-like eyes also shrank sharply, and a trace of relaxation finally appeared on her perpetually tense, beautiful face.

She knew Luo Song's strength better than anyone.

With her and Luo Song joining forces, plus an equally unfathomable Jiang Ye, the three of them working together—

Not to mention defeating this black-robed Primordial martial artist.

But, to maneuver around him, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Come to think of it, she had truly believed just now that Jiang Ye had also been severely wounded by the black-robed man's blade and was lying motionless in the pile of rubble.

After all, the aftermath of that blade light had nearly caused her own protective true qi to collapse, Zhao Jing had been knocked unconscious, and Zhou Yufeng had also fallen, severely wounded.

She hadn't expected that this old man Jiang Ye was actually faking it.

Launching a sneak attack at the critical moment, the timing of that fire seal was so precise and its power so fierce that it could even scorch the robes of a Primordial martial artist.

"This Elder Jiang is truly..."

Liu Qingyu's peripheral vision swept covertly over Jiang Ye's calm, old face, and the complex curiosity in her heart grew a little deeper.

This person possessed both the ferocity to confront everything head-on and the shrewdness to hide his skills for a sneak attack; at times he was like a second Luo Song, and at other times he was completely unlike him.

This old man was becoming more and more mysterious in her heart.

"It's Liu Fengzhu Luo of Tianyangfeng..."

The few Embracing the Pill Realm elders and Zhou Yufeng, who were lying in the rubble behind, all struggled to open their eyes, looking on in shock as the flaming figure approached from afar.

Zhou Yufeng felt his spirits lift.

As the Sect Master's personal disciple.

He knew the true worth of this Tianyang Liu Fengzhu better than anyone present.

Pei Yunchuan had once told him in private that if Luo Song hadn't forcibly drawn two wisps of Primordial Qi into his body back then, he would have been the person in the Profound Heaven Sect with the most hope of stepping into the Primordial Realm.

Even though the breakthrough failed, this tiger was still the fiercest one among the five peaks.

Even the black-robed Primordial martial artist couldn't help but pause, turning his head back abruptly.

He saw that the newcomer was radiating dark red fire qi.

The color of that fire qi was deeper and thicker than ordinary fire-attribute true qi, like magma surging from the depths of the earth, flowing slowly across his skin.

The scorching high temperature emitted caused the surrounding air to distort violently.

He actually sensed a trace of Primordial Qi from the opponent.

Extremely faint, yet truly and genuinely present.

"This Profound Heaven Sect has a Primordial martial artist?!"

The scarlet pupils in the black-robed man's eyes shrank slightly, but he quickly returned to his cold demeanor.

No.

Although he could vaguely detect a trace of Primordial Qi from within the opponent's body, the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy had not been stirred.

Looking more closely, he saw the clue in the chaotic and impure aura within Luo Song's body.

"So it's just a poor wretch who failed to break through to the Primordial Realm."

A cold sneer curled the corner of the black-robed man's mouth.

His insight was extraordinary; in an instant, he guessed that the trace of Primordial Qi in Luo Song's body was a remnant from a previous attempt to draw qi into the body that had failed.

Boom!

Accompanied by a wave of heat.

Luo Song's figure had already arrived right in front of him.

He didn't waste time greeting Jiang Ye and Liu Qingyu.

"So what if you are Primordial! I'll kill you all the same!"

As soon as he landed, he roared, and the dark red true qi in his hand condensed directly into a flaming long blade nearly a zhang long. Flames surged on the blade, carrying a violent momentum that would incinerate everything, and he slashed fiercely at the black-robed man's head.

"Without entering the Primordial Realm, you are ultimately just ants..."

The black-robed man swept a cold glance, and the pitch-black long blade in his hand, wrapped in pale blue Primordial Qi and evil killing intent, met the attack without retreating.

One blue and one red, two completely different forces drew two eye-piercing arcs in the night, then collided fiercely.

Clang—!!!

A chest-tightening sound of metal clashing exploded.

The air wave raised at the center of the collision spread violently like a hurricane, sweeping away all the scattered rubble and debris on the ground.

The next instant.

The black-robed man's expression changed for the first time, and a flash of hidden shock crossed his scarlet pupils, "This fire qi... how can it have such..."

Logically speaking, with his Primordial Qi, it should be an easy suppression of ordinary qi.

However, the fire-attribute true qi in the hands of this burning old man was as refined as surging magma.

This quality completely exceeded the scope of ordinary qi.

Vaguely, the opponent's fire qi was actually holding off his Primordial Qi.

Jiang Ye and Liu Qingyu were also stunned by this scene.

"Is the Liu Fengzhu this fierce?!"

Jiang Ye felt both surprised and delighted.

This old man usually lay by the cauldron napping, looking like he was about to breathe his last at any moment, yet now he could actually confront a Primordial martial artist head-on.

Liu Qingyu's expression was much more solemn than Jiang Ye's.

She had known Luo Song for many years and knew his strength better than anyone.

Luo Song was indeed strong, but he definitely shouldn't be strong enough to clash head-on with a Primordial martial artist.

Her gaze fell on the layer of dark red light, which was almost unnaturally bright, around Luo Song's body, and her heart trembled violently: "Could it be that Old Luo..."

She didn't dare to think further.

But now was not the time to investigate this; Jiang Ye and Liu Qingyu erupted at almost the same instant.

Taking advantage of the moment the black-robed man was entangled by Luo Song, they launched a pincer attack from both sides.

Jiang Ye formed a Tiger-Form Fist, and the red-gold true qi on his fist condensed into a phantom of a fierce tiger, rushing straight toward the black-robed man's ribs with a deafening tiger roar.

Liu Qingyu shot out a wisp of water-attribute true qi compressed into a needle from her fingertips; the needle tip sparkled with starlight, shooting silently toward the black-robed man's nape.

"Even if I have to deal with this poor wretch who failed to break through to the Primordial Realm with one hand, it is not something you small fry can sneak attack."

The black-robed man snorted coldly, actually slapping out with his backhand without even turning his head.

A wisp of pale blue Primordial Qi surged from his palm, turning into a thick wall of water that stood at his side, simultaneously blocking Jiang Ye's Tiger-Form Fist and Liu Qingyu's starlight water needle.

The moment the two attacks hit the water wall, they were like mud oxen entering the sea; although they stirred up layers of ripples, they could never penetrate that Primordial barrier.

Immediately following, he curled his fingers into a grip, and the water wall suddenly deformed, turning into a pale blue net that covered the two of them from above.

Fortunately, Jiang Ye stepped down, and the Bird-Form intent flowed instantly, his figure retreating like a feather lifted by the night wind.

Liu Qingyu also turned into a wisp of starlight and dissipated, narrowly escaping the coverage of the net.

Bang—!!!

The ground was directly shaken into powder by that pale blue Primordial Qi, leaving a deep pit a zhang in diameter and raising a sky full of dust.

Seeing Jiang Ye and Liu Qingyu nearly in danger, the anger between Luo Song's brows danced wildly like flames:

"You little brat!!! How dare you get distracted while fighting your Grandpa Luo Song!!!"

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, two clusters of dark red flames suddenly rose in his old eyes, burning brightly like two setting suns falling into the human world.

"Ugh..."

The moment the black-robed man looked directly into those fiery eyes, he felt as if his eyeballs had been pricked by a red-hot steel needle, and a sharp, burning pain shot straight to his brain.

He subconsciously closed his eyes for a moment.

It was at this instant that Luo Song raised his hand and threw a punch.

The dark red fire qi on his fist condensed into a scorching, cone-shaped edge, slamming fiercely into the black-robed man's heart like a volcanic eruption.

"Damn it..."

Even with his eyes closed, the black-robed man could clearly feel the approaching fatal crisis.

The Primordial Qi in his body surged from his upper body almost instinctively, hastily condensing into a pale blue barrier in front of his chest.

Boom—

Although Luo Song's punch failed to pierce his heart, it caused that layer of Primordial Qi to tremble violently. The force of the punch penetrated his body, shaking the black-robed man's internal organs and causing his blood to surge; he felt a sweetness in his throat and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn old thing!!!"

The black-robed man was, after all, a Primordial martial artist; his reactions were incredibly swift.

He swung a palm-blade with his backhand, the pale blue Primordial Qi mixed with cold killing intent, like an invisible sharp blade cutting through the night sky, directly breaking through the protective fire qi on Luo Song's body and leaving a wound deep enough to see bone on his chest.

From the collarbone diagonally down to the ribs, the skin and flesh curled back, and the blood was evaporated into dark red mist by that scorching fire qi before it could even flow out.

However, Luo Song laughed instead of getting angry.

"Hahahaha! You beasts of the Seven Kill Sect, is this all the strength you have!"

Suffering such a heavy blow, he was like a lit powder keg; before his laughter had even faded, he erupted again, condensing dark red true qi in his hand once more and slamming it toward the black-robed man's heart with even more ferocious momentum than before.

It was the same target, the same move, as if that knife wound on his chest was nothing more than a scratch to him.

"Does this old thing want to trade lives with me?!"

At this moment, the black-robed man finally realized that this old thing in front of him had likely used some kind of secret technique and wanted to trade lives with him.

He didn't dare to take Luo Song's punch head-on again; his internal force erupted, and the pitch-black long blade in his hand shook violently, deflecting Luo Song's flaming long blade by half an inch, and he used the force to retreat rapidly.

"You little brat of the Seven Kill Sect!!! Are you all such cowards!!!"

Luo Song let out a long howl, his figure flying out like a flaming spear, pursuing relentlessly.

He fought more fiercely the longer he fought, the dark red fire qi dragging a long tail of flame in the night like a meteor falling to earth, every punch and every strike carrying the ferocity of mutual destruction.

The black-robed man retreated as he fought.

It wasn't that he didn't want to counterattack, but every time he did, he would leave a wound on the opponent, yet this old thing wouldn't even frown, instead using the gap in his counterattack to press the offensive even more fiercely and ruthlessly.

The two's qi collided violently on the top of Thick Earth Peak, one red and one blue, like two violent torrents repeatedly clashing in the night sky.

Every clash caused the mountain to tremble slightly, and the remaining rubble in the ruins was swept up by the air waves, then melted by the high temperature, falling down like dark red fire rain.

The roaring sound of the qi collision echoed endlessly in the valley.

The two fought from the ruins to the edge of the cliff, and back from the cliff to the center of the ruins; wherever they passed, the ground cracked and rocks melted, and the entire Thick Earth Peak trembled and groaned in their slaughter.

For a time, even Jiang Ye and Liu Qingyu found it difficult to intervene.

Luo Song's offensive was too ferocious, like a prairie fire, not distinguishing between friend and foe; approaching rashly would only result in being wounded by the aftermath of their qi.

Bang, bang, bang...

Luo Song's moves became faster and faster, and the temperature around him became higher and higher, until even his sparse hair seemed about to burn, standing on end in the heat wave and emitting a dark red glow.

He clearly had a withered, pine-like figure, yet at this moment he was like a fire god descended to earth, every punch he threw carrying the overbearing power to incinerate all things.

"How can this Profound Heaven Sect's Qi Condensation Realm have such a monster..."

The black-robed man became more and more alarmed the more he fought.

Logically speaking, Qi Condensation Realm martial artists were just a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered in front of him, but this old thing in front of him had completely shattered his understanding.

What made him even more fearful was the opponent's madness of burning together with the enemy.

When he fought Pei Yunchuan at Jiding Peak, although the Sect Master was tenacious, with his three-colored true qi capable of both offense and defense, he had primarily focused on stalling.

But this old thing in front of him hadn't thought about defending from the very first breath of the fight; every move was a gamble with his life, every strike was for mutual destruction.

The black-robed man already had several scorched knife marks on his body, the deepest one on his left rib; fire poison seeped into his meridians along the wound, and every time he mobilized his Primordial Qi, it was accompanied by a burning, stabbing pain.

The injuries on Luo Song's body were far heavier than those of the black-robed man.

There were several knife marks deep enough to see bone across his chest, the robe on his left arm was soaked through with blood, and every time he threw a punch, a mist of blood would spray from the wound on his arm.

That withered, bark-like old face was covered in his own blood and the enemy's, and it was impossible to tell which was his and which was the opponent's.

The dark red fire light around him not only didn't weaken in the slightest, but burned hotter and more fiercely.

"Liu Fengzhu..."

Jiang Ye stood at the edge of the ruins, his aged eyes following the flaming figure dancing wildly in the night.

He understood Luo Song's intention.

No wonder Luo Song had woken up early...

The Liu Fengzhu had sealed off all paths of retreat from the very beginning and ignited all his remaining vitality.

He had seen the back of Liu Qingshi gritting his teeth to hold on for his wife and daughter, he had seen the stubbornness of Shi Lei, who refused to give up while sweating like rain in the corner of the martial arts academy, but he had never seen a powerhouse who would sacrifice his life so thoroughly for the people behind him.

This old man would lie quietly by the cauldron napping when asleep, but when he woke up, he silently lit himself like a torch burning to its end, just to hold on for one more moment for this precarious Profound Heaven Sect.

It wasn't just him.

Those Embracing the Pill Realm elders lying in the rubble all struggled to prop up their bodies, looking at the flaming figure dancing wildly in the night, their faces full of shock and grief.

Even Zhao Jing, who had fainted on the ground, was awakened by this earth-shattering qi collision.

He struggled to open his eyelids, and when his vision refocused, seeing the night sky torn apart by red and blue light, seeing the withered figure bathed in blood yet still attacking wildly, those usually cold and hard eyes paused abruptly.

"Old Ghost Luo... you..."

His voice was so hoarse it was almost unintelligible, his Adam's apple rolled violently, but the words that followed couldn't be spoken.

He wasn't a fool; no one present was a fool.

Everyone could see that the dark red flames burning brighter and brighter were not killing the enemy, but burning himself.

On Zhao Jing's usually cold and hard face, for the first time, a look of near-collapse appeared.

Not long ago, he had still been grinding his teeth in hatred for Luo Song and Jiang Ye.

But at this moment, it was this person he hated most who was standing in front of the Primordial martial artist for him.

"Liu Fengzhu Luo..."

Zhou Yufeng's expression was nearly frozen, his eyes full of respectful sorrow.

"Old Luo..."

Liu Qingyu's star-like eyes were dim and slightly red.

She was the first to notice Luo Song's intention.

This madman had turned himself into the Profound Heaven Sect's last line of defense.

Just at this moment.

Rumble—

A muffled, thunderous explosion came from the direction of Jiding Peak.