Chapter 625

Two soft hums sounded; the moment two spiritual soul marks appeared, a soul power so chilling it made the Soul Sovereign tremble in dread, and so heart-wrenching it brought Xiao Chen to tears, surged forth.

"Xiao Xuan's power!" Gu Nanhai's heart jolted as he sharply turned to Mao Wu—he, like Hei Qing, had lived in the same era as Xiao Xuan.

"H-how is this possible? Xiao Xuan's soul power!" Yao Wan Gui's scalp went numb with terror—he had not forgotten being brutally beaten by Xiao Xuan.

"Xiao Xuan! You—it's you, Xiao Yan!" At that moment, Huo Yao's gaze snapped to Xiao Yan, who was struggling against the Pure Lotus Demon Saint; now everyone understood—this strange black cat, suspected to be Void Devouring Flame, was actually Xiao Yan's Strange Fire!

Although Huo Yao could not see Xiao Yan's face, he knew without looking that Xiao Yan was smiling right now.

He had long prepared a countermeasure against the Yan Clan!

The moment Xiao Xuan's Strange Fire soul mark appeared, Eight Wilderness Annihilating Flame and Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire began violently trembling, and chains clinking echoed from within the Strange Fires.

Gu Nanhai and the others were not surprised by the sound of the sealing weakening—they all knew what Xiao Xuan's Strange Fire was, for they had lived in his era, even fought him multiple times; the final battle between Xiao Xuan and Hun Tian Di had been fought right before the Gu Clan's eyes, in the Heavenly Tomb.

Though only three clans participated in that battle, every Dou Emperor Family had been watching.

After Xiao Xuan's death, the Yan Clan soon acquired Eight Wilderness Annihilating Flame and Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, and publicly claimed they had inherited Strange Fires passed down for a thousand years—they weren't wrong, for indeed a millennium had passed.

Yet every Dou Emperor Family silently kept quiet—they too had picked up gold coins scattered by the Xiao Clan, so they could hardly blame the Yan Clan.

No one had expected that the Xiao Clan's Young Clan Leader had still found time to scheme against the Yan Clan!!

This move sent the three Yao Clan members' scalps prickling—was their own clan's Strange Fire also being manipulated?!

"Quick! Use the Fire Emperor's Mystic Scripture to reclaim the Strange Fires!" Huo Yao shouted urgently—if they failed to seize the Pure Lotus Demon Saint and lost Eight Wilderness Annihilating Flame and Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire too, it would be total disaster.

"Elder Huo Yao, the Strange Fires are slipping out of control!" Huo Zhi gritted her teeth; beneath her veil, her face had paled—how could she have imagined this would happen?!

Huo Xuan immediately activated his Cultivation Method to reclaim Eight Wilderness Annihilating Flame, but even though Xiao Yan was occupied, Mao Wu's devouring power combined with Xiao Xuan's ancestral Strange Fire mark was already enough to subdue these three refined Strange Fires.

The master and servant, one ahead and one behind, were both racing to seize the Strange Fires—truly wasting not a single moment or opportunity.

At this moment, Xiao Yan seemed to control the entire situation, but he knew there was still a long road ahead—he had not taken his eyes off the Pure Lotus Demon Saint; he knew the Pure Lotus Demon Saint still had a trump card, and so did he.

This game of cards—neither the Big Joker nor the Little Joker has been played yet.

"Brat! Don't think possessing these Strange Fires can trap me!!"

The Pure Lotus Demon Saint, tightly bound by Strange Fire threads, suddenly roared.

"I am the one and only Strange Fire in heaven and earth! Do you lowly Strange Fires truly think you can oppose me? Dream on!!"

"Refining Heaven Ancient Formation—manifest!"

At that moment, the Pure Lotus Demon Saint's origin suddenly unleashed countless milky-white fire threads, spreading across the sky and earth, finally piercing deep into the entire Demon Fire Space.

As the fire threads shot into the depths of the space, the Pure Lotus Demon Saint roared aloud; a thunderous boom echoed through the space, and then, in horrified awe, all witnessed a colossal fire array nearly ten thousand zhang wide slowly emerging from the Space itself.

"What?!"

"What kind of array is this?!"

The thunderous boom echoed; as the array appeared in the sky, the boundless Magma Sea churned violently, and then, before their stunned gazes, another supermassive fire array slowly rose from the sea.

The instant the fire arrays appeared, the milky-white fire threads slashed like blades, severing the sealing threads of the twelve Strange Fires and releasing the Pure Lotus Demon Saint.

When these two fire arrays—one above, one below—appeared and Xiao Yan's Flame Sealing was shattered, Cai Lin and the others' faces darkened instantly.

"Hahaha, brat, you never expected this, did you? The Sealing Grand Array set by the Pure Lotus Demon Saint himself—now it serves me! For thousands of years, I've unraveled its secrets; in this Demon Fire Space, who can stand against me?!" The ancient array, covering heaven and earth, slowly rotated as the Pure Lotus Demon Saint laughed triumphantly.

All who witnessed this drew a sharp breath—this terrifying array was incomparably stronger than the Great Luo Sealing Demon Array previously unleashed by the Soul Sovereign's leader.

Gu Nanhai stared grimly at the colossal arrays in sky and sea, his heart churning like a storm-tossed ocean—he could feel that even a trickle of energy leaking from this array could easily slaughter them all.

"This is the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation—the Pure Lotus Demon Saint's ultimate killing technique. Legend says that whoever wields this array gains power nearly equal to a Dou Emperor—that's why he was called the one closest to a Dou Emperor."

This was a quasi-Emperor-level array!

The instant the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation appeared, Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly—he sensed that the reason the Pure Lotus Demon Saint could control this array was because it was itself a part of the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation.

"No wonder this array went unnoticed—the Pure Lotus Demon Saint must have known it was his own weakness, so he hid it all along." Xiao Yan sneered inwardly—the Pure Lotus Demon Saint was indeed cautious.

When the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation appeared, Xiao Yan faintly sensed the special soul power within his body stirring, boiling as if about to awaken.

Xiao Yan did not rush into the ancient array to fight the Pure Lotus Demon Saint; instead, he turned toward the Yan Clan's direction—Mao Wu was still battling the three Yan Clan members, but it seemed they would soon swallow the three Strange Fires into their Spirit Vessels.

The instant Huo Yao saw Xiao Yan's gaze, his heart lurched and his scalp prickled; he gritted his teeth, formed a hand seal, and growled: "Detonate!"

A soft hum—then the azure, mist-like Fire Cloud Water Flame exploded before everyone's eyes; seizing the moment of chaos from the Strange Fire's explosion, Huo Yao instantly acted, helping Huo Xuan and Huo Zhi reclaim Eight Wilderness Annihilating Flame and Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, then retreated with them to the side of the Lei, Yao, and Shi clans, watching Xiao Yan with extreme wariness.

"Cutting off the tail to survive—quite decisive."

Xiao Yan sighed helplessly; the Fire Emperor's Mystic Scripture truly had substance—likely created by the Fire Emperor himself, for how else could Xiao Xuan's imperial-level soul force and Nine Star Peak cultivation have set soul marks so easily suppressed, rendering Yin-Yang Twin Flames utterly unable to locate them?

"Meow~~~" Mao Wu returned, looking dejected; though he had subdued Fire Cloud Water Flame and sealed it in his Spirit Vessel, failing to reclaim the two strongest Strange Fires was a great loss.

"This can't be rushed—we have no need to fight among the four clans now; the Pure Lotus Demon Saint is waiting for us to turn on each other." Xiao Yan no longer lingered with the Yan Clan—now the Pure Lotus Demon Saint was the priority.

Seeing Xiao Yan's group did not turn on each other, the Pure Lotus Demon Saint narrowed his eyes.

Without waiting for Xiao Yan and the others to recover, the sky-obscuring fire array began to rotate—two colossal fire discs, one above and one below, engulfing the entire space, while Xiao Yan and the others appeared like ants caught between the two giant plates, utterly insignificant.

"He can control the array set by the Pure Lotus Demon Saint…"

Hun Mo Lao Ren stared in disbelief at this turn of events; after a moment, he snapped back to himself and urgently turned his gaze to the slowly rotating Space Channel in the distance—the path to Zhong Zhou.

"Retreat quickly!"

Eyes flashing, Hun Mo Lao Ren did not hesitate—he shot forward toward the Space Channel first; this array was set by the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, a supreme being who had once been deemed invincible even by the Soul Sovereign's former Clan Leader. Though he had perished countless eons ago, his legendary reputation remained deeply etched in the minds of all who had heard his deeds—unforgettable.

Seeing Hun Mo Lao Ren flee, the three Soul Sovereign leaders hesitated, then gritted their teeth and reluctantly followed.

Even if Hun Tian Di had ordered it, one must still assess one's strength—such suicidal actions were unthinkable.

Hun Mo Lao Ren's sudden flight sent shockwaves through many; even elders from other ancient races paled, hesitated briefly, then gritted their teeth and followed—though the Pure Lotus Demon Saint's temptation was great, one must have the life to enjoy it.

Xiao Yan glanced helplessly at the fleeing Soul Sovereigns—indeed, the Soul Sovereign could never be relied upon; one must rely on oneself.

"Brother Xiao Yan?" Seeing Xiao Yan's expression, Xun Er's face changed instantly; she cried out urgently.

"You all return first." Xiao Yan stepped slowly forward, returning the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame and the Nether Poison Flame to Xun Er and Xiao Yixian.

"Xiao Yan!"

Before he could explain to the others, except for the unrefined Fire Cloud Water Flame, Xiao Yan fused the eleven Strange Fires once more into one—Eleven-Color Fire Lotus slowly rotated beneath his feet, rising to the center of the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, facing the Pure Lotus Demon Saint eye to eye.

"Hahahaha! So you can fuse Strange Fires? So what? Lowly Strange Fires are still lowly! Too late to run now—I'll refine every last one of you into my Fire Slaves!"

The hand seals changed, and the great array that enveloped heaven and earth began to slowly rotate like a grinding stone, rumbling loudly.

As the two great arrays rotated slowly, the energy within this realm instantly became wildly chaotic; several experts who had reached Half-Sage level turned pale on the spot, and some even spat out blood—this great array had not even launched an attack, yet already someone could not bear it; the Pure Lotus Demon Saint was truly worthy of its reputation.

"Refining Heaven Ancient Formation—Refining Heaven as Slave!"

The Pure Lotus Demon Flame hung in the sky, and vast, milky-white flames erupted from its body, pouring entirely into the great array—without doubt, this was the Pure Lotus Demon Flame's final reservoir of energy.

Yet, just as the Pure Lotus Demon Flame grew overconfident, Xiao Yan calmly watched his performance, utterly unruffled; then Xiao Yan released his own Soul Force, gathered his spirit, and with a hum, an immensely powerful Soul Power erupted from his body.

Then, all saw Xiao Yan point one finger toward the sky—the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, which had been slowly rotating, suddenly stopped!!

"You…!! You! What have you done!!" The Pure Lotus Demon Flame stared at Xiao Yan in terror; for some reason, he sensed from Xiao Yan's body a presence he longed to forget but could never forget.

"This is…"

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, clearly unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Brother Xiao Yan?!"

Yet, as everyone stood bewildered, Xun Er suddenly screamed; all turned their gazes swiftly—and saw Xiao Yan now seemingly in a coma, his body emitting a faint glow that slowly coalesced upon his surface, finally forming a somewhat ethereal human silhouette.

"Pure Lotus Demon Saint?!"

As soon as the silhouette appeared, everyone was horrified and hastily retreated, for the silhouette's appearance was identical to that of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame in the sky!

"No, not the Pure Lotus Demon Flame—it's the Pure Lotus Demon Sage!" Xiao Chen's heart trembled; he knew the Pure Lotus Demon Flame's form was modeled after the Pure Lotus Demon Sage!

Xun Er and Cai Lin exchanged a startled glance and instantly understood—it was the Ancient Maps!

"Are the patterns on that Residual Map a Sealing Array?!"

Xiao Yixian gazed at the unconscious Xiao Yan, her beautiful eyes filled with worry, and asked: "What do we do now?"

After a moment of silence, Cai Lin said: "Leave first. Xiao Yan is not the kind of reckless fool—he must have known all along, which is why he had me leave beforehand, to avoid being caught in the crossfire when fighting for the Ancient Array and dragging him down."

Hearing Cai Lin's words, everyone nodded; even Xiao Chen was now a liability—this level of battle was beyond their capacity to join.

While everyone's minds churned with different thoughts, the Xiao Yan possessed by the Pure Lotus Demon Sage slowly raised his head, his pair of white pupils fixed on the Pure Lotus Demon Flame in the sky.

"Pure Lotus Demon Sage? How is this possible?! How could you still be alive?!"

The Pure Lotus Demon Flame stared at Xiao Yan in shock; when his gaze fell upon the silhouette forming on Xiao Yan's body, a storm of terror surged within him, and an incredulous roar of utter disbelief echoed across the sky.

"Thousands of years of Flame Sealing have clearly failed to extinguish your inner savagery. Alas, had you been allowed to grow further, the entire Dou Qi Continent would have been destroyed."

"Xiao Yan" stared at the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, and a faint voice, distant yet near, slowly emerged from his lips, echoing throughout this realm, faintly radiating a pressure that made heaven and earth tremble.

"Filth! Pure Lotus Demon Sage, you ungrateful bastard! Without me, how could you have achieved such greatness? I helped you so much, yet you sealed me away for thousands of years!" The Pure Lotus Demon Flame glared at "Xiao Yan" with a grotesque expression, laughing maniacally, as if determined to unleash all the boundless hatred within his heart.

(End of Chapter)