Chapter 619

Hearing Xun Er's words, Xiao Yan's heart leapt with joy—indeed, the Pure Lotus Demon Saint's map didn't mark the location of the Pure Lotus Demon Fire; instead, every time the demon fire descended, it made such a massive commotion, as if announcing itself to everyone—wasn't this plainly inviting people into the Demon Fire Space?

The white-robed man on the magma pillar glanced coldly at the Lord of the Soul Hall and others, ignoring them entirely; his gaze locked directly onto Xiao Yan, who remained silent. After a moment, a chilling voice slowly echoed: "You managed to break my Nightmare Veil?"

Xiao Yan, suddenly called out, was instantly startled.

"I just happened to read some books on illusion arrays, so don't stay cooped up here—come out, see the world, read more books, come with your uncle." Xiao Yan spread his hands and smiled.

From this exchange, it seemed the Pure Lotus Demon Fire didn't even qualify as a beginner in Nightmare Veil—it didn't even know what happened inside the Nightmare Veil.

The Demon Fire Space was riddled with strangeness, and the Pure Lotus Demon Fire was clearly an extremely dangerous entity; he had no confidence whatsoever in subduing it now. The four Residual Maps and Swallowing Flame he'd obtained were his only hope—he naturally wouldn't reveal them.

"This brat broke the illusion?"

Above them, the figures in the sky turned astonished gazes toward Xiao Yan, clearly unable to believe that someone with only Three-Star Dou Saint cultivation could be the first to shatter the illusion the Pure Lotus Demon Fire had cultivated for a thousand years.

Even Hun Mie Sheng showed surprise—wait, are you taking me on a dungeon run or am I taking you? How did you crack it first?!

"Brother Xiao Yan truly has remarkable skill—ha! It seems everyone here owes you a favor." Huo Xuan, not far away, also laughed.

Hearing his laughter, Hun Feng and the Yao Clan members merely sneered—they would never accept Xiao Yan's "kindness"; he was merely trying to save his own life.

The white-robed man's cold gaze fixed on Xiao Yan—he didn't believe this excuse for a second. If reading books could break an illusion, then all his years cultivating Nightmare Veil would be a joke—what was the point of the Pure Lotus Demon Saint creating Nightmare Veil at all?

"Forget it. Once I turn you into my Fire Slave, you'll tell me everything in detail. You escaping the illusion was unexpected, but the final outcome will remain the same." The white-robed man waved his hand; an invisible ripple spread outward, and the milky-white ring in the distant sky slowly dissipated.

Seeing this, everyone was startled—the Pure Lotus Demon Fire had sealed off the Space Channel; clearly, it intended to exterminate them all!

Just as the Pure Lotus Demon Fire prepared to strike, Xiao Yan and Xun Er exchanged a silent nod, then quietly retreated behind the others.

The Residual Maps might require entering the Demon Fire Space and activating them with the Pure Lotus Demon Fire.

Cai Lin and the others, observing Xiao Yan's slow retreat, were tactful enough not to speak up; instead, they quietly activated their inner Dou Qi, and Nine-Colored Light, purple Void light, Qi San Hua Tong, Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, and the Crimson Dou Qi of Xiao Chen, the Ancestor, slowly rose.

These lights didn't just block the rays—due to their overwhelming energy, they also masked perception, making it appear as though they were ready to launch an immediate attack on the Pure Lotus Demon Fire.

Meow!

"Shh, quiet!" Xiao Yan quickly covered Mao Wu's mouth.

Meow~

"Did you just swallow a bit of the Pure Lotus Demon Fire?" Xiao Yan asked via Soul Connection.

The tiny cat's head nodded slightly, then slowly opened its mouth, revealing a small milky-white flame—no bigger than the lowest setting on a lighter.

But this was all the flame Mao Wu had consumed using its Soul Fire Dou Technique; yet even this tiny flame could engulf Wutan City in a Sea of Fire.

Xiao Yan pulled out the four Residual Maps and pieced them together. Carefully, he brought one corner close to the Pure Lotus Demon Fire's flame. The instant the corner touched it, the flame seemed to gain awareness—it didn't burn the paper, but instead rapidly spread along the map's patterns.

"So the truth of the Residual Maps lies in these patterns that look like a map! This isn't a map at all!" Xiao Yan's heart jolted. As the Pure Lotus Demon Fire spread like it was guided, the once-brown lines seemed painted over, finally revealing their true form.

"This looks like a Sealing Array's layout!"

Xiao Yan hadn't lied to the Pure Lotus Demon Fire—he really had read some Sealing Array diagrams. He'd purchased and studied the Heavenly Rank Array Scroll at the Space Trade Fair, giving him a basic foundation in arrays.

But Xiao Yan was certain this wasn't a complete array diagram—it resembled more a key or a core node.

Though it seemed slow, the Pure Lotus Demon Fire's spread was swift—within seconds, the entire map absorbed the flame. Whoosh—the Residual Map instantly turned to ash, and the white lines shot into Xiao Yan's body, drilling into his mind.

"What the hell?!" Xiao Yan cried out—his Heaven Realm Great Perfection Soul Force couldn't even stop it!

The only explanation: this was Imperial Soul Force—it was the Pure Lotus Demon Saint!

Xiao Yan's cry drew others' attention. He chuckled, then shouted at the Pure Lotus Demon Fire: "Watch out!"

"Demon Fire Refines Heaven!"

The Space Channel vanished. Instantly, roaring milky-white flames erupted from the white-robed man's body, spreading rapidly—within a blink, they engulfed the entire sky and earth, forming a fiery prison that enclosed Xiao Yan and the others.

Four massive milky-white flame curtains poured down from the horizon, connecting to the Magma Sea below—seen from afar, they formed a square prison linking heaven and earth.

Xiao Yan and the others huddled together, faces grim, watching their surroundings. They could feel that as the prison formed, an infernal heat—so terrifying it even made him flinch—was rapidly spreading.

"He wants to refine us all," Zi Yan tried to tear open the Void with Ancient Dragon power, but the Void Passage hadn't even formed before it was purified by the Pure Lotus Demon Fire's cleansing force. Her face darkened.

"The Pure Lotus Demon Saint's power is terrifying. Right now, it's equivalent to a Five-Star Peak Dou Saint. Combined with the demon fire's peculiar abilities, it could fight even a Six-Star Dou Saint. None here can surpass it." Xiao Chen, who had remained silent until now, spoke slowly—he understood the Pure Lotus Demon Fire intimately and knew its true strength.

"Five-Star Peak."

Hearing this, even Cai Lin's expression shifted slightly. Between Dou Saints, each level held immense gaps—especially since the opponent's true form was the third-ranked Soul Fire, the Pure Lotus Demon Fire. Dealing with it was extraordinarily difficult.

Although Cai Lin possessed a secret technique to temporarily borrow the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent's soul power and boost her cultivation to Five-Star level, the duration was extremely short.

Winning with this technique was impossible.

Boom! Boom!

As everyone remained on guard, sudden low explosions erupted from behind. Xiao Yan and the others turned quickly—dozens of figures suddenly exploded into clumps of blood mist, which vanished instantly under the terrifying heat.

This sudden, inexplicable self-destruction immediately sparked panic. They hadn't seen any attack launched, yet these people—

Yet as their panic grew, more and more figures exploded out of thin air—the dull, thudding sounds made their scalps tingle. This method of killing was utterly invisible and intangible.

"Watch out! The Pure Lotus Demon Fire is extremely treacherous—it uses emotions as fuel to ignite the body. If you don't want to die, don't let your thoughts wander!" Someone with broad experience finally shouted amid the chaos.

Xiao Yan suddenly frowned—wasn't this just a supercharged version of the Falling Heart Flame? Now, even Xiao Yan's own Falling Heart Flame Dou Technique could ignite Heart Fire inside others—but Heart Fire only burned Dou Qi, essentially the same as in the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta: it merely refined Dou Qi.

Heart Fire was hard to kill with—it could only create fleeting openings during battle.

"If Falling Heart Flame and Pure Lotus Demon Fire fused, the resulting Soul Fire power would be overwhelming." Xiao Yan's eyes gleamed with greed.

"Brother Xiao Yan!" Xun Er suddenly used Soul Resonance to shout.

"Huh?" Xiao Yan's heart jolted—he'd just thought that, and now a wisp of demon fire had spontaneously formed inside him!

Xiao Yan immediately suppressed his emotional fluctuations, forcing himself to remain calm, and gave Xun Er a silent nod. The Pure Lotus Demon Fire was too treacherous—he'd merely thought about it, and nearly fell for it!

"These people don't even qualify to become my Fire Slaves."

The white-robed man lifted his eyes indifferently, his voice cold and eerie: "Below Dou Saint—ignite!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The instant he finished speaking, the entire sky erupted into chaos. Over eighty percent of the Dou Zun cultivators exploded in bizarre fashion—just as if explosives had been planted inside them.

"This guy's technique is terrifying."

Watching the sky now half-empty after just a blink, Xiao Yan and the others felt cold sweat prickling their heels. Thank heavens no other Yan Alliance elites had been brought in—if they had, half of them would've died the moment the white-robed man spoke.

"Hmm, only those left can qualify to become Fire Slaves."

Gazing at the now greatly emptied Sky, the white-robed man's handsome face finally broke into a smile; he waved his hand, and ten pillars of magma surged up from the Magma Sea, then exploded apart—ten figures clad in milky-white fire armor appeared around him.

"They're all Dou Saints!"

Gazing at the ten hollow-eyed figures, Huo Xuan, Yao Tian, and others drew in a sharp breath—these ten figures were clearly Fire Slaves, but what stunned them was that not one of them was below the Dou Saint realm; the strongest among them even possessed the power of Three-Star Dou Saint late stage!

Faced with this grand display by Pure Lotus Demonic Fire, everyone present hesitated slightly—even the Lord of the Soul Sect and Gu Nanhai slowly furrowed their brows.

Did all the powerful ones who died last time get forged into Fire Slaves? Then doesn't that mean he grows stronger every thousand years!

"Each time I tear open the Flame Sealing, many overconfident fools rush in—but sadly, in the end, they all become my most obedient Fire Slaves," the white-robed man smiled gently at them and said softly: "This time, my collection is destined to grow even richer."

"Tsk, this won't be easy."

Xiao Yan's gaze locked onto the distant formation: Pure Lotus Demonic Fire's power neared Six-Star Dou Saint, and there were ten other Dou Saints ranging from One-Star to Three-Star—this kind of force? Even the Soul Sect plus the Dan Tower couldn't muster it!

If Pure Lotus Demonic Fire truly broke free, he could even create his own Demonic Fire Clan.

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled and said: "Friends, no matter what grudges we hold among ourselves, if we wish to survive and crush Pure Lotus Demonic Fire, we must unite."

Xiao Yan's gaze first flicked to the Lord of the Soul Sect farthest away, then to Gu Nanhai, Huo Yao, and other powerful figures from the Ancient Dou Emperor Families—these were the strongest here; if they refused to unite, things would become far more troublesome.

"Hmm, that does make sense." The first to agree to Xiao Yan's words was none other than the Lord of the Soul Sect, Hun Mie Sheng!

Hearing Hun Mie Sheng agree to ally with Xiao Yan, the Young Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan, elders from the Yan Clan, Lei Clan, and Yao Wan Gui—all ancient beings who had lived a thousand years—each wore a strange expression.

But they clearly didn't dwell on it; they merely thought that if even the Lord of the Soul Sect agreed, then an alliance was acceptable.

Seeing the silence, Xiao Yan was unsurprised; he said coolly: "Hurry and decide. I know your Dou Emperor Families claim you don't want Pure Lotus Demonic Fire—that you wish to keep it ownerless—but you're all hypocrites."

Exposed mercilessly by Xiao Yan, Huo Yao, Yao Wan Gui, and others flushed red with shame—who doesn't want Pure Lotus Demonic Fire!

"Hmm, you're not wrong. And it seems Pure Lotus Demonic Fire has no intention of letting us leave easily," said Huo Yao, the Elder of the Yan Clan, after a pause—he was the first to speak; the situation demanded it.

Seeing the Yan Clan agree, the Elders of the Yao Clan, Lei Clan, and Stone Clan fell into thought, then nodded as well.

At this moment, Hun Zhu, the Deputy Lord of the Soul Sect, stood silently behind Hun Mie Sheng, watching the coordinated performance between the Ten Heavenly Kings and the Lord, his heart growing ever stranger.

The water here is deep indeed!

Supplement

(End of Chapter)