Chapter 62: Appearing

As soon as Lu Fan finished speaking, the three of Zu Qingtian were stunned, somewhat confused, and subconsciously looked in the direction of his gaze.

Instantly, spatial fluctuations rose, and three figures appeared slowly, two men and one woman. In the middle was an old man with a crane's hair and a child's face, high-spirited, wearing a golden rune robe, it was the head of the royal Art Refining Corps, Huang Haiming.

Another man had a square face, looking forty or fifty years old, imposing without anger. Everyone looked at his eyes, implicitly with a trace of respect and humility, it was the Mingyue Empire Emperor Yang Yetian.

As for the other woman, she was covered with a light veil, although she couldn't see her face clearly, her figure was graceful, her temperament was outstanding, and she implicitly gave people a feeling of misty shadows.

"Your Majesty, Master Huang, you finally came!" Xiao Bugui saw the three, his face happy, and stepped forward quickly. The current situation was complicated, Longxiang Nie family, Sacred Martial Hall, and even the Mingyue Empire Rune Master Guild were involved, it was truly tricky.

"Hmm!" Yang Yetian nodded at Xiao Bugui, then looked at Lu Fan with great interest, looking surprised, and laughed: "Not bad! My Mingyue Empire has many heroes, didn't expect this kid from the Lu family to be so outstanding!"

Everyone heard this, and also looked at Lu Fan with deep meaning. Nie Xing and the Sacred Martial Hall were still trapped in the fire array, involved in a big matter, but the Emperor showed appreciation for the culprit. The meaning was worth pondering.

"Hmph! Less nonsense!" Lu Fan's face sank, and he said coldly to the ruler of the Mingyue Empire: "Yang Yetian, I ask you, how should today's matter be settled?"

He actually called the Mingyue Empire Emperor's name directly, everyone was sweating, even the old Prime Minister Xiao Bugui was nervous. Imperial Guard Commander Wu Qingzhong immediately stood out, pointing at Lu Fan and shouting: "Bold kid, you dare to call the Emperor's holy name, courting death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a line of black iron armored soldiers drilled out, with strong bows and hard crossbows, swords and guns. In an instant, coldness permeated the surroundings.

Lu Fan snorted coldly, calm and composed, actually not even looking at Wu Qingzhong. Zu Qingtian and Zhao Zhenchuan walked to Lu Fan's side, glaring at everyone around.

Yang Yetian's smile didn't dissipate, his joy and anger didn't show, saying: "Kid, today's matter was caused by you, I should be the one asking you how to settle it!"

Longxiang Nie family, Sacred Martial Hall, Rune Master Guild, three forces involved. Not to mention the Lu family, Yang Yetian, who had controlled the Mingyue Empire for decades, also felt tricky, and could only push the ball to Lu Fan.

Lu Fan chuckled and said indifferently: "Those who provoke me must die! Wait for me to refine them into ashes with rune fire, and it will be settled once and for all!" 【62

Just as his voice fell, Zuo Lao, who was fighting Yu Chi Zhengrong, could no longer hold back and said fiercely: "If anything happens to my young master today, everyone present here will die."

It was a naked threat, laced with a hint of helplessness. It was clearly the act of a dog jumping over a wall in desperation, a move of someone at the end of their rope.

Lu Fan didn't care, but the others on the side couldn't sit still. The Longxiang Nie Family was a behemoth; a vassal state like the Mingyue Empire could not withstand their fury. They all looked fearful and wary, shouting loudly toward Lu Fan.

"Lu Fan, stop immediately! You cannot afford to provoke the Longxiang Nie Family!"

"Damn it! If this kid causes a huge disaster and implicates us, that would be terrible!"

"Young man, calm down. Things can be discussed; don't be impulsive!"

Lu Fan remained indifferent, not hearing a word of it. He was very patient and did not answer, instead watching Nie Xing and the others inside the Desolate Fire Array with great interest. They were all scorched, their clothes charred, their hair and eyebrows mostly burned off, while the phantom image of the protective light array on the side flickered, looking as if it were about to collapse!

"This young friend, it is better to be forgiving when you can. You should withdraw this array! It would be bad if you hurt the harmony!"

Yang Yetian's expression gradually turned gloomy, and Huang Haiming, the head of the Royal Art Refiner Corps, walked over with a persuasive look!

"Hurt the harmony?" Lu Fan frowned. Things had reached this point, yet this old man was still using such empty words to deceive him. He said without the slightest courtesy: "There is no harmony to speak of. If I let them go today, I don't know how much trouble they will bring me in the future. As for withdrawing the array, forget it!"

As soon as his voice fell, he pinched an incantation seal, and the Desolate Fire Array suddenly shone brilliantly, its power erupting. The scorching heat actually leaked out, causing everyone around to retreat simultaneously.

The light array around Nie Xing and the others shattered in an instant. The armored soldiers of the Sacred Martial Hall could no longer hold on, their bodies bursting into flames and turning to ash in a moment.

As for Nie Xing, Lu Ran, and Li Qingshan, they joined forces, relying on a silver array disk in Li Qingshan's hand to condense a small array and struggle to hold on!

The surrounding crowd was terrified, and even Zu Qing Tan and Zhao Zhenchuan had their expressions change. They had thought Lu Fan was just talking tough, but looking at this, it seemed he really intended to refine Nie Xing and the others!

"Hmph! Arrogant and ignorant! How dare you show off such mere talisman fire in front of my mentor? You are courting death!"

The woman beside Huang Haiming gave a cold snort and stepped out. With a flip of her slender hand, a short white jade staff appeared. She pointed it toward the void and shouted softly: "Boundless fallen wood rustles down, the endless Yangtze River rolls in!"

In an instant, ripples appeared around the Desolate Fire Array, and countless water vapors emerged, instantly turning into a pool of liquid that gathered toward the center.

"Word Curse Technique!"

Lu Fan was slightly stunned and looked at the veiled woman with some suspicion. The method she used showed no mystery; it was neither a martial secret technique nor a talisman incantation. Just by shouting a phrase, mystery suddenly emerged.

The veiled woman was also surprised, her beautiful eyes full of astonishment; she had not expected Lu Fan to see through her method.

"Since Lady Nalan has taken action, I don't need to worry!"

Yang Yetian breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile. The liquid had already turned into a pool of water, surrounding the fire array. Water should extinguish fire; it should be enough to destroy it in the blink of an eye.

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd seemed to guess the veiled woman's identity. Nalan Qiusha, the closed-door disciple of Huang Haiming, was the most mysterious woman in the entire empire, even more mysterious than her teacher, the head of the Royal Art Refiner Corps, Huang Haiming.

"Hmph! How dare you show off such a low-level Word Curse Technique in front of me? Truly arrogant and ignorant!" Lu Fan gave a cold snort, returning Nalan Qiusha's words exactly. Then, he waved his hand in the air, the Art Refining Crystal Furnace hovered before him, and another incantation seal was cast, vanishing into the Desolate Fire Array.

The next moment, the appearance of the Desolate Fire Array changed drastically, spreading out and burning toward the surrounding water.

An incredible scene occurred: the fire actually attached itself to the water flow and began to burn violently.

"Crackle!" There were even faint sounds of explosions. Nie Xing and the others in the center of the Desolate Fire Array felt their pressure greatly reduced, but the sight of water and fire merging was beyond common sense, and they were terrified.

"How is this possible?" Nalan Qiusha was incredulous. The water flow summoned by her Word Curse Technique was no ordinary liquid; it was mixed with water-attribute Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. Mere talisman fire should have been suppressed long ago.

"What kind of fire is this?" Huang Haiming was also shocked. His eyes finally showed movement as he stared at the Desolate Fire, saying in disbelief: "It clearly has the form of talisman fire, yet it possesses the momentum of Heaven and Earth True Fire. It burns everything—how is this possible?"

What kind of person was he? The head of the Royal Art Refiner Corps, the only Opening Origin Realm Rune King in the entire Mingyue Empire. Seeing him show such astonishment, others felt dizzy, staring at Lu Fan in disbelief.

Zu Qing Tan and Zhao Zhenchuan also came to their senses. They had been very confident in Lu Fan before and hadn't paid much attention to the fire. Now, hearing Huang Haiming's words, they subconsciously probed it, and their expressions changed even more drastically.

This fire was similar to the Raging Fire True Flame that Lu Fan had displayed that day; its form and momentum were not much different, but its power was unimaginably fierce.

"Damn it!"

Hearing this, Zuo Lao could no longer endure it. The powerful strength of a Qi Refining Realm Martial Venerable erupted to the limit in an instant, blasting Yu Chi Zhengrong away and pouncing toward the fire array.

"Hmph! You want to take action only now? Don't you think it's too late?"

Lu Fan gave a cold snort. This Zuo Lao was a Sixth-Tier Rune Venerable, one rank higher than Yu Chi Zhengrong. It had seemed like they were evenly matched before, but in reality, the other party had been holding back. Now that there was no retreat and no way to avoid it, he was finally jumping over the wall like a dog in desperation.

Before his voice had even faded, Zuo Lao had already dived into the fire. The aura of a Qi Refining Realm Rune Venerable erupted, and with a wave of his hand, a gale arose, attempting to fan the surrounding flames away.

Lu Fan gave a cold smile, while the two masters Zhao and Zu, as well as Huang Haiming and Nalan Qiusha, had their expressions change. Wind aids fire; Zuo Lao's actions, while seemingly majestic and fierce, were actually unreachable.

Sure enough, the fire surged and suddenly expanded, then contracted sharply, instantly wrapping Zuo Lao within it.

The raging fire burned, but the flames that Lu Ran, Li Qingshan, and the others were struggling to resist posed no great obstacle to Zuo Lao. After all, he was a Qi Refining Realm Martial Venerable; although Lu Fan's talisman fire was enhanced by the Desolate Seal, its power was still lacking.

Even so, Zuo Lao was helpless, tumbling several times in the sea of fire with no way out. Finally, he had no choice but to expand his True Qi protective shield, wrap Nie Xing and the others inside it, and barely escape.

But the fire was still rolling and burning, and everyone present was terrified and incredulous. A sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth had such incredible methods. Even a Qi Refining Realm Martial Venerable was helpless; this was truly inconceivable.

"This fire is suspicious; it's not Heaven and Earth True Fire at all. It must be the problem with that incantation seal!"

Nalan Qiusha finally realized this and coldly questioned Lu Fan.

Lu Fan gave a faint smile and did not answer. He looked at the lovely Xiao Ling'er beside him, changed the subject, and said to the old Prime Minister Xiao Bugui: "To think such trash wants to marry Lady Ling'er; Prime Minister, your heart is truly ruthless!"