Chapter 512: Xiao Yan: You want to run?!

"God-Slaying Triple Axe!"

Three consecutive axe blades, their power and speed increasing in turn, merged into one halfway through, easily tearing through the space along their path; vast, wide fissures opened up, and they arrived in an instant.

"Exotic Fire Eternal Ruler!"

The brilliant, colorful giant ruler collided with the axe shadow,

"Boom!"

The aftermath of the battle forcefully dissipated the surrounding spatial turbulence, and the brilliant light of the giant ruler dimmed significantly. New wounds were added to Xiao Yan's bare upper body, but they were then burned by a liquid-like green flame and restored to their original state, his entire person becoming full of vigor once again. Such a scene made the Man Zun in the distance twitch his brow, his large face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

It's this again!

"What on earth is this flame of yours?"

Man Zun was already exasperated. The brat opposite him had combat power far inferior to his own, yet he possessed a strange, fused flame. Every time they clashed, he could inflict a certain degree of injury on the brat, but it would soon be healed by that strange green flame. Since the battle began, the vitality within the brat's body had actually grown increasingly vigorous!

Besides that, there was also a bizarre, colorless flame. Every time he was touched by that colorless flame, he couldn't help but feel irritable, and by the time he regained his senses, he would see a large ruler or a pile of gorgeous fire lotuses smashing toward his face.

The powerful recovery ability and the capacity to affect the mind were only the most prominent aspects. In just a quarter-hour of fighting, the opponent's flame had transformed into over ten forms and colors, summoning Magic Beast phantoms, poison gas, burning away Evil Qi, and purifying—the functions were strange and varied. They weren't very powerful, but they were infuriating, far more troublesome than the divine fires of the Da Qian World!

"And that fire spirit..."

Damn it, there are only a few people in the Da Qian World who possess such a thing!

What kind of place is this Dou Qi Continent, so blessed by nature and full of outstanding people, that it could actually give birth to a fire spirit? A spirit..."

Man Zun recalled the flame doll that had stayed inseparable from Xiao Yan throughout the battle. With a wave of those small hands, a pile of fire lotuses would come smashing down on his head and face, making him shudder just looking at it.

"Emperor Flame!"

After slightly soothing Xiao Yi, who had hidden behind him because of Man Zun's gaze, Xiao Yan acted uncharacteristically; instead of fighting head-on, he actually stopped to answer Man Zun's question.

It was not that Xiao Yan felt exhausted; in fact, he currently appeared full of spirit. Whenever his Dou Qi showed signs of depletion, a force would suddenly enter his body, turning into pure Dou Qi while simultaneously eliminating his fatigue, keeping him in a peak state at all times.

The real reason Xiao Yan stopped was that he had noticed the stealthy movements of several seniors, and he happened to be stalling for time to coordinate with them.

"Junior, submit to my Evil Clan, and both you and the living beings of this continent can be spared from death."

"You, too, can receive the heavy trust of my clan."

Man Zun's original intention in coming here was to provide a guarantee for the conquest of the Dou Qi Continent: wipe out the vast majority of the Dou Qi Continent's living beings, send a small portion of the "essence" back for experiments, and keep the relatives and friends of that Langya Palace Master to use as leverage against them.

But now, his intention had changed.

People didn't have to be killed; they could even be kept entirely intact. They only needed to occupy this land.

Xiao Yan's strength and performance were worthy of his conditions. Of course, this could also be considered a final attempt, even if the hope was slim.

Sure enough, Xiao Yan gave his answer with his twenty-two-colored Destruction Fire Lotus.

"My Dou Qi Continent has no precedent for being a dog to invaders."

"Since you lot are unwilling to leave voluntarily, we will sweep you out."

"Huang Quan Heavenly Wrath!"

Seeing this familiar soul giant, Man Zun subconsciously shrank his pupils, and the Huan Mo Axe shield was activated to block in front of him, preparing to withstand this wave of soul impact.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan sneered, and the giant vanished instantly. Behind him, Xiao Yi's innocent, round little face wore the same smile as Xiao Yan's, his body reflecting the brilliance of the flames, and another patch of fire lotuses came whistling over.

"Hmph, petty tricks."

A mocking smile appeared on the corner of Man Zun's mouth, and he danced his giant axe so tightly that not even wind could pass through, blasting all the incoming fire lotuses to pieces, blooming into a gorgeous sea of fire across the battlefield.

As the sea of fire subsided, Man Zun stood holding the axe with one hand.

"Hmph! How about..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a wave of intense irritability surged into his heart. Before his eyes, it seemed as if the ghosts of his former subordinates had appeared, looking at him with unwillingness, hatred, and venom, casting the most vicious curses in the world, as endless ghosts bared their fangs and lunged at him.

"Kill!"

Unable to help himself, Man Zun swung the Huan Mo Axe. A group of former defeated foes he had never taken to heart—trapped in the illusion, his only thought was to send these ghosts back to the graveyard.

"Did it work?"

Man Zun suddenly stood motionless on the spot. Xiao Yan, who had been waiting for this, discovered it immediately; or rather, this was the result he had personally plotted.

During the battle with Man Zun, Xiao Yan frequently used the high-power Dou Technique of the twenty-two-colored fire lotus, making the former feel a certain threat while still being able to handle it with ease. As time passed, through familiarity, a sense of contempt for the fire lotus would subconsciously arise in his heart.

Sure enough, when he "repeated his old trick" once more, Man Zun's subconscious response was to casually blast it away. However, this time, what he blasted away was not just the Destruction Fire Lotus, but also several colorless versions of the "Fallen Heart Lotus" that Xiao Yan had specially modified!

In the decades since ascending to Dou Di, Xiao Yan's cultivation growth could not be considered fast, but his development of abilities was incomparable to before. The greatest harvest among them was achieving the free transformation of the Emperor Flame's forms.

In a single thought, the Emperor Flame could be the Xuwu Swallowing Flame, the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame...

Just imagine, what would it be like when a certain Exotic Fire received the full power of the Emperor Flame?

Going a step further, Xiao Yan had developed various fire lotuses that were primarily based on the characteristics of a certain flame while also possessing the power of fused Exotic Fires.

And this time, it was the "Fallen Heart Lotus" with the Fallen Heart Flame as the main body. Once caught unprepared by the explosion of the Fallen Heart Lotus, one would inevitably fall into the heart-illusion ignited by the heart-fire, becoming cattle and sheep to be slaughtered.

Clearly, Man Zun had been careless and fallen into Xiao Yan's trap.

Even so, facing such an Imperial-level being as Man Zun, Xiao Yan remained cautious. Waving his hand, the flames within his body surged out again, and the Destruction Fire Lotus underwent a "version update" at a staggering speed, including but not limited to the Xuwu Swallowing Flame version, the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame version, the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame version...

Over a hundred fire lotuses of various colors were thrown at Man Zun without pause, until Xiao Yan sensed that the Dou Qi in his body was almost bottomed out, only then did he stop. The fire spirit Xiao Yi behind him was so tired she was almost collapsing to the ground; after all, over a hundred Destruction Fire Lotuses were still too much for a child of only a few decades old!

"That should be about enough, right?"

Staring unblinkingly at the sea of fire that was still burning fiercely in the spatial turbulence, Xiao Yan panted, the Dou Qi in his body recovering at a speed he had never experienced before.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, Xiao Yan's pupils shrank violently. The sea of fire churned incessantly, and a phantom of a demon god tens of thousands of feet tall rose from the ground, tearing the sea of fire apart with one axe, and slowly walked out from within, as if a demon had returned from the karmic fire of hell.

Man Zun dragged the Huan Mo Axe, the blade facing down, leaving traces as he walked through the void step by step. His pace was composed, and every time he appeared, he was a thousand paces away.

Having been caught unprepared and subjected to a relentless bombardment of over a hundred Destruction Fire Lotuses, Man Zun's current appearance could hardly be called majestic.

His once-mighty armor had long since shattered into who knows where, large patches of flesh had sloughed off, two-thirds of his skin remained scarred from the Exotic Fire burns that were difficult to heal, and his entire body emitted the scent of roasted meat, making him almost unrecognizable as a person, his aura even more withered to the extreme.

He couldn't be called a defeated soldier, but he could certainly be called a beggar or a hooligan.

However, in complete contrast to his physical state, Xiao Yan's gaze locked onto those thoroughly burning pupils. From the opponent's gaze, Xiao Yan felt an unprecedented sense of oppression—was it anger, killing intent, or perhaps surprise and joy?

Man Zun spoke, his tone calm and weathered, as if he were recounting his own life.

"For so many years, I have killed quite a few powerhouses of the Da Qian World. I had thought that, apart from those peak existences at the Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign level, no one else in this world could pose a threat to me."

"You are the first!"

"Therefore, I will use my full strength to finish you!"

Xiao Yan's heart sank. Behind him, Xiao Yi, who shared a telepathic connection with him, had already begun to condense a fire lotus. The Exotic Fire Eternal Ruler in his palm radiated a brilliance it had never shown before, and his vast Soul Power poured out, firmly locking onto every inch of Man Zun's body and every movement, waiting in full battle array.

Man Zun was seen raising his giant axe high with both hands, a soul-snatching and spirit-stealing power hidden and ready to be unleashed upon the Huan Mo Axe.

"Slash!"

The black axe shadow fluidly sliced through space. As the distance closed, the axe shadow expanded further, as if it intended to cleave the world into two halves. It arrived in an instant. In Xiao Yan's field of vision, he felt as if he were placed on a battlefield, with a demon god roaring as it charged toward him.

"Flame Emperor Body!"

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed as he shouted loudly.

As Xiao Yan's voice fell, the earth suddenly split open with massive fissures. Scorching magma surged endlessly from the center of the earth, transforming into rolling red flames that poured into Xiao Yan's body. In a short time, a giant tens of thousands of feet tall took shape, and the Exotic Fire Eternal Ruler struck out.

"Boom!"

After the earth-shattering explosion, Xiao Yan expanded his Soul Power once more, carefully guarding against the next round of attacks. However, the next moment, Xiao Yan was dumbfounded, and without a second thought, he shouted out,

"You want to run?!"