Chapter 188: Karma Fire

Watching Baili Changfeng turn into a human-shaped stone statue in the blink of an eye, Hua Changxi was deeply shaken. Before she could react, the woman in white struck again.

Eight fox tails emerged from behind her, then grew larger in the wind, simultaneously attacking the other eight human-shaped stone statues.

Seeing this, the young cultivator, who was being held back by the three other demon clan attendants, glared with fury and roared, "Bai Li, the Artifact Saint Palace and your Nine-tailed Celestial Fox clan are irreconcilable! We will fight to the death!"

Bai Li gave a contemptuous smile. Just as her fox tails were about to lash onto the human-shaped stone statues, a scorching heat that seemed capable of refining heaven and earth itself blanketed the boundary stone.

The next moment, a white sword light descended from the sky, slashing like lightning toward the back of the woman in white.

Bai Li sensed a fatal danger and looked horrified. Abandoning the destruction of the array eye, she turned to flee. But the sword light was already upon her. Unable to defend against it, she could only hastily dodge.

"Ah~"

A piercing scream rang out again in the Tang Valley. This time, four fox tails were severed cleanly, and the pain made Bai Li unable to maintain her human form, forcing her back into her true body.

It was a white fox with sleek, glossy fur and not a single stray hair.

Bai Li looked in terror at the cyan figure hovering beyond the boundary stone. The burning pain at the base of her tail made her instantly realize that this person was the Tang Valley powerhouse she had awakened.

Without even a direct confrontation, she had already lost five tails. If she actually fought him head-on, she would likely have no chance of survival.

Knowing she could not defeat him, Bai Li made a ruthless decision. She bit off one of her own fox tails and flung it into the air, manipulating the tail to grow longer and larger as it attacked the array eye to distract the cyan-clad expert. At the same time, she transformed into a beam of white light and flew rapidly toward the crater of the Tang Valley volcano.

"Not good, she's trying to escape!"

The young cultivator, entangled by the three demon clan attendants, noticed Bai Li's strange behavior and quickly called out a warning.

Hua Changxi had noticed when the white fox bit off its own tail. She struck the severed tail away with spiritual power, then watched as the white fox leaped a few times and reached the crater.

"Space teleportation?"

Remembering how one of the demon clan attendants had earlier used a spatial compression divine ability to instantly transport from above the stone statue formation to the crater, Hua Changxi’s right hand blazed with spiritual light. In the next moment, a fiery palm rose into the sky, visibly growing larger as it swiftly grabbed toward the white fox.

Outside Qianmen Fort, the crowd once again heard the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s piercing scream. Just as they were curious about what was happening in the Tang Valley, the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s figure appeared again at the crater.

Last time, the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox had eight tails. This time—good heavens—only three tails remained.

As everyone speculated about which expert had severed six of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s tails, a huge fiery palm burst out of the Tang Valley.

Seeing the fiery palm chasing after her, Bai Li’s face was full of terror. She swung her remaining three fox tails, frantically striking the void, causing space to tremble and distort. Soon, a spatial rift appeared in the void.

As soon as the spatial rift opened, Bai Li rushed toward it. At the same time, the fiery palm also grabbed at her.

Bai Li could only dodge hastily, struggling to squeeze between the fiery palm's fingers while frantically slapping the space with her fox tails, trying to create more spatial rifts to use their tearing and cutting power to shatter the fiery palm.

Under Bai Li’s all-out assault, many spatial rifts did appear above the crater.

The tearing and cutting force around the spatial rifts made the fiery palm less stable; its index and middle fingers were even severed by the rifts.

With the fiery palm unstable, its attack on Bai Li naturally weakened.

Taking this opportunity, Bai Li rushed madly toward the nearest spatial rift.

The fiery palm could no longer catch Bai Li, but as she fled, it ignited one of her fox tails.

Seeing the burning tail, Bai Li tried to extinguish the flame with demonic power, but it was useless. As the fire rapidly spread toward her body, Bai Li had no choice but to bite off the burning tail.

After severing the tail, Bai Li swiftly plunged into the spatial rift.

Watching this, the cultivators gathered outside Qianmen Fort all showed expressions of regret.

"That Nine-tailed Celestial Fox is going to escape!"

Yet, the next moment, a bewildering scene unfolded.

The Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, which had already squeezed most of its body into the spatial rift, had flames rekindle at the site of its severed tail!!!

"What's going on?"

"Didn't she bite off the tail? Why isn't the flame extinguished?"

Not only the cultivators were puzzled; even Bai Li was utterly confused. At this moment, busy squeezing into the spatial rift, she had no time to worry about other matters, planning to extinguish the flame only after she was fully inside the rift and had completely escaped the fiery palm's attack.

When Bai Li had completely entered the spatial rift, everyone thought she had escaped.

However, not long after, an even more piercing scream echoed through the void.

"Ah~"

[]

The space above the volcanic crater was shattered and unstable from the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s slapping. Through some spatial fissures, everyone vaguely saw the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, engulfed in red flames, rolling wildly inside.

"What kind of flame is that on the fire palm? It won’t go out even after cutting off its tails?"

The cultivators murmured among themselves. In the crowd, Gu Jinfan’s eyes flickered unceasingly. The flames on that Nine-tailed Celestial Fox were bright red, shaped like lotuses...

Is it Red Lotus Karmic Flame?

Gu Jinfan’s heart shook, and he swallowed his saliva.

Karmic Flame uses karma as fuel. As long as one carries karma, once ignited by Red Lotus Karmic Flame, there is no hope of extinguishing it. Even if that Nine-tailed Celestial Fox cuts off its tails, it cannot put out the Red Lotus Karmic Flame.

Just like the Two Principles Divine Lamp, which uses the seven emotions and six desires as fuel. As long as there are emotions and desires, once the Yang Flame and Yin Flame are lit, there is no hope of extinguishing them.

In her previous life, people from the Qian Yuan Realm manipulated the Two Principles Divine Lamp to control countless cultivators in the Four Spirits Realm, leaving the Four Spirits Realm utterly powerless to fight back.

Now, someone in the Four Spirits Realm has cultivated the Red Lotus Karmic Flame, finally giving them a means to counterbalance the Two Principles Divine Lamp.

In the void, the screams of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox continued. Everyone listened with numbed scalps, then saw that enormous fire palm silently retreat back into Tang Valley.

"Jing Liao, I kind of feel that fire palm resembles our Buddhist Divine Kingdom in the Palm technique?"

In a corner west of Qianmen Fort, several monks gathered together, watching the retreating fire palm and discussing in low voices.

Jing Liao said nothing, staring straight at the volcanic crater, recalling in his mind the female cultivator who had intervened to save them when they encountered danger at Kunmen Pass.

When that female cultivator led them across the Styx River and dealt with the Styx Dragon blocking their way, she had used a fire palm.

Was it her?

Was the one who struck the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox in Tang Valley that female cultivator?

At the center of Tang Valley, Hua Changxi withdrew her Divine Hand technique, but in the palm of her right hand appeared two jade lotus petals, one black and one white.

These two jade lotus petals had fallen from the spatial fissures; they should belong to that white fox.

The flame she had condensed now had immense power; even Nascent Soul cultivators could be burned to ashes, yet these two jade lotus petals showed no trace of being burned.

"Divine Lamp fragments..."

Hua Changxi examined the two jade lotus petals. She had encountered the black jade lotus petal before, but this white jade lotus petal was her first time seeing it.

"How do you ignite the Yang Flame with a white jade lotus petal?"

Below, on the Realm Boundary Stone Platform, the battle was still ongoing. Hua Changxi couldn’t investigate the white jade lotus petal at this moment. She put away the two jade lotus petals and flew down to the Realm Boundary Stone Platform.

The young cultivator fighting the three demonic attendants was very powerful. His cultivation base had reached the early Nascent Soul stage, and his physique was formidable—clearly a body cultivator with a considerable level of body refinement.

That young cultivator had likely been fighting for too long, his spiritual power nearly exhausted. Now he was relying entirely on his strong body to continue the battle.

Hua Changxi arrived at the Realm Boundary Stone Platform and directly sent out three fire lotuses. The three demonic attendants had no way to evade. After being struck by the fire lotuses, they were quickly burned to ashes.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for your help. I am Tong Yao, an eighty-first generation disciple of the Artifact Saint Palace. If there is ever anything I can do for you in the future, please command me."

The young cultivator stepped forward, cupping his fist in thanks.

Hua Changxi nodded: "My surname is Hua." After saying this, she quickly walked over to Xia Yang and Xia Xue, who were lying on the platform, barely alive.

Both had suffered severe injuries, were already unconscious, and had exhausted their spiritual power.

Hua Changxi gave them healing pills and pills to replenish spiritual power. After confirming the two were temporarily out of danger, her gaze fell on the humanoid stone statue that had been transformed from Bai Li Changfeng.

"Tong Fellow Daoist, are you and Bai Li Fellow Daoist...?"

Looking at Bai Li Changfeng’s stone statue, Tong Yao’s face showed pain and self-blame: "He is my senior martial brother, the chief first disciple of the eight-first generation of the Artifact Saint Palace."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi looked somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected Bai Li Changfeng to hold such a high status in the Artifact Saint Palace. To be honest, when she saw Bai Li Changfeng resolutely use his own body to seal the rift, she had been deeply shaken.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Li... why did it have to come to this?"

"Even if demonic energy leaks out, there might still be other solutions."

Hearing Hua Changxi’s soft sigh, Tong Yao gave a bitter smile: "Senior martial brother has always taken it as his duty to safeguard the Artifact Saint Palace and the stability of the formation eye. If demonic energy were allowed to spread into the human world, causing a catastrophe, senior martial brother would never forgive himself."

"Moreover, the reason the demons were able to infiltrate Tang Valley this time was, after all, because of internal problems within the Artifact Saint Palace. As the person in charge of the Artifact Saint Palace, senior martial brother must feel very guilty in his heart."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi thought of Lu Yan. It was precisely Lu Yan who had brought the demons in.

"Are the other humanoid stone statues also formed from petrified people?"

Hua Changxi's gaze fell upon the other seventeen human-shaped stone carvings.

Tong Yao's expression was somewhat somber as he nodded: "These are all disciples of the Artifact Sage Palace who gave their bodies to suppress the prison through the generations."

Hua Changxi: "Through the generations? Has this array eye always been unstable? Has the cultivation of your Artifact Sage Palace never ceased?"

Tong Yao explained: "After the Great Extinction, the Demon Prison was also dormant, but after spiritual energy began to recover, the seal of the Demon Prison also loosened, and the four array eyes became unstable accordingly."

"The holy lands suppressing the four array eyes are in a dormant state, so other forces are needed to suppress the array eyes."

Hearing this explanation, Hua Changxi thought of the Alchemy Saint Hall.

Does the center of the Alchemy Saint Hall's array eye also have such human-shaped stone carvings?

Looking at the eighteen human-shaped stone carvings before her, Hua Changxi's mood was somewhat complicated, somewhat admiring, but mostly resistant.

Previously, she had the idea of taking over the Alchemy Saint Hall and becoming its master, but now that she knew all four holy lands had to bear such great responsibilities, she directly suppressed that thought deep in her heart.