Chapter 1642: Devouring Growth

"Fine then!" Ye Liuyun also agreed with Qiong Qi's suggestion. Otherwise, at this speed, who knows how long they'd have to keep going!

So everyone paused their cultivation and rushed forward at full speed. When they encountered blocking Fire Spirits, Ye Liuyun, his clone, and Qiong Qi cleared the way, destroying them.

Man Shu and the others, positioned in the middle of the formation, when Fire Spirits leapt from the ground, froze them outright with Ice Power and then shattered them.

The Fire Spirits that surrounded them were being slaughtered, and their numbers kept dwindling.

"Ha ha, it's better to be many! These Fire Spirits are scared of us now!" Qiong Qi laughed loudly.

"Don't get too happy yet! From what I see, the number of Fire Spirits doesn't look insufficient; they might be brewing a bigger attack."

Before Ye Liuyun finished speaking, Qiong Qi looked ahead and shouted excitedly.

"Magma Pool!"

"What Magma Pool?" Ye Liuyun's Divine Sense had yet to detect anything.

Only after they sprinted forward for a while did Ye Liuyun notice a massive Magma Pool ahead.

The Magma Pool was surrounded by raging flames. The scene resembled the Purgatory of the Nether Realm.

They hadn't seen any Fire Spirits yet and didn't know what powerful beings might be inside.

"Impressive! Your Divine Soul Power is actually a bit stronger than mine!" Ye Liuyun exclaimed.

At the same time, he knew that some of his forces had reached the Divine Realm, yet could still be further improved.

"When we get back, I'll find a chance to ask Qiong Qi how strength above the Divine Realm is divided!"

As he was thinking, countless Fire Spirits surged up from the Magma Pool ahead.

These Fire Spirits varied in size; after emerging, they didn't charge at them. Instead, the larger ones grabbed the smaller ones and began devouring them.

Each time they devoured a smaller Fire Spirit, their size grew a notch, with no energy wasted.

"Everyone, pay attention, form a formation and prepare to attack the large Fire Spirits. Man Shu, Wu Qingcheng, Yu Er, Xiao Lan Bing, keep the ground beneath everyone's feet ice‑sealed in case of sudden attacks from below."

Ye Liuyun immediately reminded everyone, and readied a Formation Plate in his hand, ready to deploy at any moment.

If those Fire Spirits kept devouring, they'd become colossal behemoths. Any one of them would be hard to handle; they'd need everyone's combined effort.

As the group pressed on, the others soon also spotted the Fire Spirits ahead.

However, they only saw five massive Fire Spirits, each three or four times larger than a normal person, continuously devouring nearby smaller Fire Spirits.

Only after they had devoured all the surrounding Fire Spirits did they roar in unison and charge at Ye Liuyun and his companions.

Ye Liuyun waved his hand, halting everyone and preparing for battle. He also deployed the Formation Plate.

These five behemoths had already reached the Heavenly Patriarch Peak or the Divine Realm in strength, and Ye Liuyun dared not be careless.

Qiong Qi watched the behemoths greedily, pondering how to absorb their power.

"Seal their legs with Ice Power, then we charge straight into their bodies with our armor to absorb their energy," Qiong Qi suggested.

"Hmm, we can give it a try!" Ye Liuyun sensed the Fire Flame Power of the five behemoths; it didn't seem stronger than his own, so he should be able to endure it.

"Wu Qingcheng, Man Shu, seal the legs of those big guys! Don't let them get near the Formation Plate!" Ye Liuyun ordered immediately.

"A thousand‑mile ice seal!"

"Ice Power!"

Wu Qingcheng and Man Shu, together with all Ice‑affinity Martial Cultivators, applied Ice Power onto the legs of those five behemoths.

They were instantly frozen in place.

Ye Liuyun, his clone, and Qiong Qi—three figures—rushed out, directly selecting the three nearest behemoths.

Using Ice Power to freeze Fire Flame Power pits their strengths against each other. Those five behemoths were already near the Divine Realm, but Man Shu's side had a numerical advantage, so even if they broke the ice seal, it wouldn't happen quickly.

The three nearest behemoths, seeing Ye Liuyun and the others charge, strained to resist the ice seal while also confronting the attackers, roaring anxiously.

Ye Liuyun and his group met the attack head‑on, not dodging at all, plunging straight into their bodies to begin absorption.

Their own Fire Flame Power was already strong, and with armor protection, they dared to charge in; otherwise the disparity in Fire Flame Power would have melted them outright.

Flame Lion, seeing this, also rushed into a Fire Spirit's body.

Huo Wu was more cautious, feeling his strength insufficient, and did not attempt it.

As Flame Lion plunged into a Fire Spirit, those Fire Spirits also realized that the three Fire Spirits were painfully shrinking.

They immediately understood that Ye Liuyun and his companions were siphoning their energy.

Consequently, the behemoth that Flame Lion had entered ripped off the arm of a neighboring behemoth and devoured it outright, then proceeded to consume that behemoth piece by piece until it was completely devoured.

At this point, the ice seal from Man Shu's side gradually lost effect, only barely freezing its legs.

The behemoth tried to reach for Ye Liuyun and the others, but couldn't quite grasp them.

"Focus all attacks on the biggest one; don't let it move!"

Man Shu immediately urged everyone to attack that massive chunk.

At that moment, the Fire Spirit that Ye Liuyun and his two companions occupied had shrunk to half its size and could no longer trouble Ye Liuyun and the others.

"Retreat quickly!"

Wu Qingcheng also reminded Ye Liuyun and the others.

"Withdraw!"

With a single shout, Ye Liuyun smashed the Fire Spirit enveloping him with a punch, then inhaled, grabbing the remaining flame in his palm and sprinted back.

His clone and Qiong Qi did the same.

Even though that massive chunk launched ranged Fire Flame attacks at them, they were unfazed.

"Flame Lion was devoured by that giant beast!" Huo Wu immediately told Ye Liuyun.

"Got it! It's already dead!" Ye Liuyun said regretfully.

Originally, Flame Lion was the most likely to accompany him to the Divine Realm, but luck turned, and it was directly devoured by a Fire Spirit.

Ye Liuyun and Flame Lion had a Divine Soul Contract. The moment the contract vanished, he knew Flame Lion had met disaster!

And at that moment, the behemoth began to absorb Flame Lion's power, swelling its size by another large notch.

The ice seal of Wu Qingcheng, Man Shu, and the others could no longer hold it; it shot straight toward the Formation Plate.

"How do we fight this?" Ye Liuyun also felt a bit dazed, could only ask Qiong Qi.

That Fire Spirit was already strong, it also absorbed a giant, and it also absorbed the power of the Flame Lion; now its Fire Flame Power, even Ye Liuyun felt threatened.

"There's only one way, charge into its interior!" Qiong Qi said.