Chapter 275: Battle of Flames [Four Thousand]

Two incredibly terrifying Spiritual Flames collided—one blood-red, one azure—generating intense heat waves that scattered the clouds above.

Neither Spiritual Flame gained any advantage; they remained sharply divided, locked in fierce struggle.

"Such terrifying Fire Control Power and Soul Force!"

"Xiao Yan is too powerful! His Fire Control Power can match that of a Six-Grade Peak Alchemist!"

Those in the Black Horn Region who understood Han Feng's strength turned pale, for they knew Han Feng had a success rate in refining Seven-Grade Pills and his Soul Force had reached Common Realm Perfection.

Yet Han Feng, who possessed a Spiritual Flame and had Soul Force at Common Realm Perfection, was evenly matched with a child barely twenty-one or twenty-two!

Seeing his Sea Heart Flame unable to burn away Xiao Yan's Beast Soul Flame, Han Feng gritted his teeth in rage.

He had higher cultivation, a stronger Spiritual Flame, and superior Alchemy skills—yet he could do nothing against Xiao Yan's Beast Soul Flame.

"Cultivation Method!"

Xiao Yan, enveloped by Beast Soul Flame, manipulated it to counter Sea Heart Flame; their battle of flames was a back-and-forth struggle with neither yielding.

"Why don't you give me your Sea Heart Flame? I'll give you an Earth Rank Advanced Grade fire attribute Cultivation Method. Your method is terrible," Xiao Yan said via Soul Resonance, still taunting his 'senior brother.'

Han Feng's Cultivation Method was extremely poor—even worse than those of the top ten in the Inner Court.

It wasn't because Han Feng practiced a corrupted version of the Burnt Scripture; the Burnt Scripture itself was garbage. Even after refining the fifteenth-ranked Sea Heart Flame, its evolution could barely reach Arcane-Rank High-Level.

Imagine: after risking death nine times to obtain a Spiritual Flame, the Burnt Scripture's evolution barely reaches Arcane Rank, struggling to reach Earth Rank—this is not worth it at all.

If not for the Bone Spirit Cold Fire in his Mysterious Ring, Xiao Yan would never have practiced the Burnt Scripture.

Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Han Feng unleashed Battle Qi furiously—but the Burnt Scripture, evolved only to Arcane-Rank High-Level, provided insufficient Battle Qi; for a Dou Huang Peak like Han Feng, his Cultivation Method was extremely low-grade.

"He's refined more than one Spiritual Flame!" Han Feng, sensing Xiao Yan's pure and powerful Battle Qi, quickly deduced it.

"Could it be… he also took the Bone Spirit Cold Fire from that old bastard?" Thinking this, Han Feng hated his teacher even more.

"Let me teach you—controlling flame isn't just about your Cultivation Method!"

With a sharp cry, Han Feng thrust both palms forward; the intensely condensed deep-blue flame in his palms erupted with the roar of crashing ocean waves, roaring toward Xiao Yan—boom, boom, boom!

He unleashed his true killing technique at once; clearly, to save time, Han Feng had abandoned any thought of holding back.

"Spiritual Flame Manifestation! He's formed a physical shape of his Spiritual Flame! Han Feng has reached this level!" cried the Fire Elder, his face darkening with grave shock.

Xiao Yan's expression darkened as he gazed at the overwhelming deep-blue flame wave; beneath this tide of fire, he felt like a lone boat adrift in an endless sea.

"Is Spiritual Flame Manifestation hard? Dou Technique—Beast Soul Descent!"

As Beast Soul Flame continuously surged forth, in the blink of an eye, a deafening tiger roar erupted from the flames; the Beast Soul Flame transformed into a demonic tiger with eight wings, its entire body wreathed in fire.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, watching the astonishment in Han Feng's eyes mere feet away, then swept his sleeve—the eight-winged flame demon tiger, radiating true Beast King authority, slammed directly into Han Feng's crushing wave of flames.

Boom! The instant they collided, the entire space fell silent—then, a thunderous explosion, like a furious storm, erupted violently across the sky!

Red and blue flames intertwined and tangled; Sea Heart Flame surged forward, while the eight-winged demon tiger slashed its claws into the sea of fire, sending waves of flame blasting in all directions—wherever the flame waves passed, even the high clouds shattered into specks of white, scattering across the heavens.

The sudden eruption of terrifying energy in the sky caused the chaotic Battlefield to fall momentarily silent; many, sensing the terrifying power within the flame waves, silently gasped.

"Is this the destructive force when Spiritual Flame users clash? Indeed terrifying."

"The power of Spiritual Flames is this horrifying!"

Alchemists are generally weak in combat, Han Feng included. And Han Feng's Cultivation Method is so low-grade—but no one dares underestimate him because of the miraculous effects and terrifying heat of his Spiritual Flame.

As the flame waves gradually receded, two figures, blasted back nearly dozens of meters by the fierce force, slowly emerged in the sight of all—when they saw both men's disheveled forms, everyone's expressions shifted.

Xiao Yan shook his wrist; his sleeves were completely shredded, his palms covered in large patches of charred black.

Though Xiao Yan looked battered, Han Feng far from fared better—his robes torn, hair wild, breathing ragged—he never imagined that a Dou Huang Peak like himself would be evenly matched with a Dou Wang who used a Secret Technique to boost his cultivation!

"Damn it! Even dead, you still hinder me!!"

Han Feng had long lost his former calm and elegance, as if Xiao Yan had touched the reality he most dreaded. After roaring to the heavens, he clenched his fist—the deep-blue flame rapidly condensed onto the trident in his hand.

Gripping the flame trident, over two zhang wide, Han Feng's confidence surged again; his cold gaze fixed on Xiao Yan.

"Sea Flame Trident!!"

Instantly, Heavenly Energy surged wildly, gathering into terrifying force upon Han Feng's trident.

As a Six-Grade Peak Alchemist who had long operated in the Black Horn Region, Han Feng possessed no shortage of Earth Rank Dou Techniques—but what surprised Xiao Yan was that Han Feng's Earth Rank Dou Technique was water attribute!

"Dual attribute? Is this a special power of Sea Heart Flame!?" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly; Han Feng was clearly fire attribute Battle Qi, yet now he could use water attribute Dou Techniques!

This reminded Xiao Yan of Bone Spirit Cold Fire—this Spiritual Flame also had dual attributes. But he hadn't expected that, because of a Spiritual Flame, a person could even gain a second Battle Qi attribute!

Remember, Alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent are rare precisely because they require dual attribute Battle Qi—fire attribute with a touch of wood attribute—which defies logic, hence their scarcity.

Spiritual Flames can even break this logic!

After a moment, Xiao Yan smirked coldly, opened his arms, then clapped his palms together with a sharp snap—wild fire attribute energy surged violently from his palms.

His left hand glowed red; his right hand—unexpectedly—spewed deep-white flame!

Bone Spirit Cold Fire surged out from Xiao Yan's Mysterious Ring!

Xiao Yan did not use the Spiritual Flame's origin to fuse; instead, he extracted massive amounts of flame from the ring to merge.

Beast Soul Flame and Bone Spirit Cold Fire fused together!

If you play dual attribute, I'll play along—ice and fire!

Common Realm Perfection Soul Force, combined with Burnt Scripture's Fire Control Power evolved four times—this combination was utterly invincible!

Instantly, Xiao Yan slowly opened his clasped hands; brilliant light erupted from within, like a blazing sun, drawing all eyes. The sudden brilliance caused many to turn their gazes toward him; after a moment, the light dimmed, revealing the scene within clearly.

In the sky, Xiao Yan hovered in midair; before him, a red-and-white lotus, two chi wide, slowly floated.

This red-and-white lotus was unremarkable—far less impressive than the Flame Division and Devouring Wave Ruler—and appeared far more restrained, with no energy leaking out. But sharp-eyed observers noticed that as the red-and-white lotus slowly rotated, the space around it twisted strangely.

While ordinary people might not sense the lotus's terror, Su Qian, the Gold and Silver Elders, locked in fierce battle high above, suddenly halted their fight simultaneously, turned their heads, and fixed their eyes on the red-and-white lotus in Xiao Yan's palm—each gaze filled with unmistakable shock.

This power—even they—felt a deep, primal fear!

The red-and-white lotus, like jade forged, translucent and dazzlingly beautiful, yet beneath such beauty lay power that even Su Qian, a warrior of his caliber, feared.

Xiao Yan gently cradled the lotus in both hands; it rotated slowly. Gazing at this exquisite, flawless lotus, as perfect as a crafted artifact, his eyes gleamed with quiet pride.

Xiao Yan glanced at Han Feng, whose eyes were frozen in stunned silence, and smiled: "Stop staring—this isn't a technique from my Mysterious Ring. I created it myself."

"Infernal Flames merging—Infernal Flames merging—it's the Burnt Scripture, it must be the Burnt Scripture!" Han Feng glared at Xiao Yan with venomous hatred, not sure whether he was staring at Xiao Yan or his own master.

Han Feng blamed everything on not having obtained the complete Burnt Scripture.

As an Alchemist, Han Feng naturally knew that if two flames fused, their power would multiply exponentially.

But flames are inherently wild and hard to control, each with its own temperament, and their compatibility is extremely low—if forced to merge, the first to be consumed by backlash would surely be oneself, let alone using Infernal Flames!

Xiao Yan ignored Han Feng's venomous, hateful gaze, flicked his fingers, and the Fire Lotus instantly transformed into a thread of fire racing toward Han Feng.

"Go to hell with that old bastard!!" Seeing the red-and-white Fire Lotus hurtling toward him, Han Feng let out a sharp roar, slammed his palm forward, and instantly, the massive three-pronged flame spear spanning the Sky shot forth, becoming a blazing beam like a fire dragon, crashing straight into the red-and-white Fire Lotus!

At the moment Xiao Yan launched the Fire Lotus, Su Qian's face changed—he struck the Golden and Silver Elders with one palm, sending them reeling backward with pale faces, then spun and roared toward the chaotic battle circle not far from Xiao Yan and Han Feng: "All Inner Court Elders, move!"

Hearing Su Qian's sudden roar, though the Elders were puzzled, they immediately shifted their forms, abandoned their opponents, and shot downward like lightning toward the ground.

Seeing the Inner Court Elders suddenly flee, the Black Horn Region's powerful figures froze—before they could ask what was happening, the Fire Lotus and the massive three-pronged spear collided above them like meteorites crashing together—with a thunderous boom!

BOOM! Two terrifying energies erupted violently in the Sky; the entire space twisted grotesquely, as if twisted like a wrung-out towel, deep creases forming everywhere.

The Energy Collision unleashed a rapid storm of Energy, laced with the Three Infernal Flames, sweeping outward from the center—this Flame Storm moved with blinding speed, and in the blink of an eye, it descended upon the still-dazed warriors of the Black Horn Region.

Where the storm swept, the stronger warriors could barely escape, battered and scorched, but the weaker ones spewed blood the moment they touched the flames, their clothes instantly reduced to powder; had they not desperately used Dou Qi to protect their bodies, their very flesh would have been turned to ash in the Flame Storm!

This terrifying collision of Infernal Flames even engulfed Xiao Yan and Han Feng themselves.

"Oh my god, it's the move that defeated that mysterious Dou Huang!"

"Damn, up close it's this terrifying?!"

BOOM!! The explosion, shaped like a mushroom cloud, blasted a deep crater into the Inner Court's ground.

Just as everyone wondered who had won, a streak of lightning flashed, followed by a CLANG—a figure flew backward, spewing blood, struck hard.

"It's Han Feng!!"

BOOM! Han Feng was directly struck by Xiao Yan's Xuan Heavy Ruler, flung like a tennis ball—he rolled hundreds of meters before stopping.

"This guy… actually defeated Han Feng?"

The crowd murmured in awe, their shock unmistakable—they even felt the world had changed!

Han Feng's strength had long reached Dou Huang Peak, and with the aid of an Infernal Flame, even though Alchemists are inherently weak, he never lost to ordinary Dou Huang Peaks; across the entire Black Horn Region, only the combined Golden and Silver Elders could match him.

Yet today, this revered "Pharmaceutical Emperor" of the Black Horn Region was defeated so disgracefully by a youth who looked barely twenty.

Even the Elders, Vice Dean Hu Qian, Su Qian, and others of Jia Nan Academy stared in stunned silence.

"This guy—in just one year… Xiao Yan now might even be stronger than my grandfather." Hu Jia stared, dumbfounded, at Xiao Yan in midair; though her grandfather Hu Qian was stronger than Han Feng, she felt her grandfather couldn't beat Xiao Yan.

The Golden and Silver Elders lifted Han Feng, covered in blood; sensing he still breathed, they sighed in relief—he still owed them Elixirs.

"What do we do now?"

"What do we do? Run! Without Han Feng's Infernal Flame, who's going to reclaim it?"

Without another word, the Golden and Silver Elders flew off with Han Feng; the other Black Horn Region Dou Wangs and Dou Huangs, sensing the danger, hurriedly tried to flee.

For a while, due to certain reasons, all works on Qidian couldn't post comments; posts and comments from that period didn't display, and neither did mine. Now it's unblocked.

This month, I added 26 chapters—I'll add one extra chapter daily until the 26th. Today's 8,000 characters completed.

(End of Chapter)