Chapter 468: Three-Colored Lotus Flame

In the Ghost Domain's forbidden lands, the heavenly punishment clouds had long since vanished without a trace; above Nanxiang County, the weather had returned to gentle breezes and bright sunshine.

Just as everyone believed the heavenly punishment had passed, a life-and-death struggle of terrifying intensity was unfolding within the dantian of Hua Changxi, who lay unconscious at the mouth of the Ghost Fire Well.

"Crack~"

Piercing sounds of electrical discharges rang out above the Qi Sea.

An electric dragon, condensed from the power of heavenly punishment, was rampaging wildly across the Qi Sea.

The dragon's body was silver-white, its scales flashing with blinding lightning, its eyes filled with violent and destructive will.

This was the imprint left by the heavenly punishment within Hua Changxi's body; if the electric dragon could not be refined or dispersed, her dantian would sooner or later be completely destroyed.

"Boom!"

The electric dragon suddenly lashed its tail, causing the lightning around it to flare intensely as it locked onto its first target—the Nascent Soul floating above the Qi Sea.

"Whoosh~"

Sensing the danger, the Nascent Soul abruptly opened its eyes, the black flames upon its heart surging upward instantly; then, swift as a meteor, it darted into the depths of the dantian.

At this moment, the advantage of having a vast dantian became apparent.

Had the dantian been too small, the electric dragon would have easily locked onto the Nascent Soul, but Hua Changxi's dantian was as vast as the ocean, while the dragon was merely a thin strand of heavenly punishment force that had penetrated her flesh to enter the dantian, its body not particularly thick.

Amidst such a boundless sea, it was no easy task for the electric dragon to accurately locate and lock onto the Nascent Soul.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The electric dragon attacked the Nascent Soul repeatedly, yet each strike missed.

"Boom~"

After several attempts, the electric dragon seemed to lose patience; no longer fixated on pursuing the Nascent Soul, it shifted its target to the Qi Sea itself.

The Qi Sea could not dodge!

"Crack!"

The electric dragon lashed its tail fiercely, sending forth thick bolts of lightning from its rear that continuously struck down upon the Qi Sea.

The Qi Sea, already dried up from the exhaustion of spiritual power, now suffered yet another blow.

The Qi Sea should have been a gathering place for spiritual energy, like a vast ocean with shimmering waves and rolling tides.

For most of a cultivator's life, they spend their time accumulating energy in the Qi Sea, making it ever broader and ever deeper.

But now, Hua Changxi's Qi Sea had a cracked seabed, its spiritual energy utterly depleted, unable to凝聚 even a shred of defensive power.

Without the Qi Sea's resistance, every attack from the electric dragon landed directly upon the dantian.

"Crackle-pop~"

Bolts of lightning rained down frantically, like a torrential downpour.

Seeming to sense Hua Changxi's weakness, the electric dragon intensified its assault.

"Hum~"

The dantian's defenses reached their limit and began to vibrate violently; each strike from the electric dragon left deeper marks upon the dantian walls.

"Crack~"

Sensing the dantian was on the verge of collapse, the electric dragon opened its bloody maw wide and spewed forth an even thicker pillar of electricity, striking directly at the dantian's weakest point.

"Whoosh~"

The Nascent Soul, hiding in the depths of the dantian, suddenly rushed forward and forcibly blocked this strike.

In an instant, the Nascent Soul, once exquisite as jade, turned into a tiny black figure resembling charcoal.

Upon closer inspection, a faint layer of black flames still swirled around the little black figure, and within those black flames, white specks like fireflies flickered on and off.

With the appearance of the Nascent Soul, the electric dragon grew even more frenzied.

After enduring the electric dragon's third attack, the charred Nascent Soul, its aura萎靡 from the lightning strike, suddenly blazed with intense red light.

Under the crisis of life and death, the Zhu Que spiritual form was passively activated.

"Whoosh~"

A ball of crimson fire rose from the depths of the dantian, quickly condensing into a spiritual shadow of Zhu Que.

The Zhu Que spiritual shadow spread its wings, surrounded by a sacred halo; like an impregnable barrier, it enveloped both the Nascent Soul and the entire dantian, blocking all attacks from the electric dragon.

Unfortunately, the Zhu Que spiritual shadow could only passively endure the attacks and could not counterattack; every strike from the electric dragon made the spiritual shadow tremble violently.

As the electric dragon continued its assault, the Zhu Que spiritual shadow began to falter; its edges started to blur, and its flame light gradually dimmed.

If this continued, the Zhu Que spiritual shadow would sooner or later dissipate.

Once the spiritual shadow shattered, Hua Changxi's dantian would be completely exposed to the electric dragon's attacks, and death would be inevitable.

Just as the Zhu Que spiritual shadow was about to collapse, "Splash~", external force began pouring into the dried-up dantian.

In the moment before falling unconscious, Hua Changxi, gathering the last thread of her consciousness, released most of her cultivation resources.

In that instant, fire spiritual energy, ghost qi, ghost fire, soul power... various forms of energy filled the bottom of the Nine-Layer Prison Tower and, flowing through her pores, surged wildly into her body.

"Whoosh~"

A stream of scorching fire spiritual energy injected into the dantian first; like timely rain after a long drought, it caused ripples to rise in the dried-up Qi Sea.

Immediately afterward, ghost qi as dark as ink surged in as well.

Finally came the eerie green ghost fire.

Ghost qi and ghost fire possessed strong corrosive effects on the dantian and should never have remained within it, but at this moment, there was no time to worry about such things.

The Nascent Soul formed hand seals and, with the desperation of trying to cure a dead horse as if it were alive, activated the divine ability 'Myriad Fires Pay Homage'.

Once the divine ability began to circulate, a vortex appeared above the dantian, devouring the fire spiritual energy, ghost qi, and ghost fire, then refining and fusing them until they transformed into a stream of pure fire spiritual energy that poured into the Qi Sea.

Success!

The Qi Sea began to revive.

The once-cracked seabed gradually became full again.

With the supplement of fire spiritual power, the Zhu Que spirit shadow's originally dim flame light reignited.

Sensing the threat, the Electric Dragon intensified its assault.

Pillars of lightning poured down like a torrential rain; upon striking the Zhu Que spirit shadow, they sparked countless bolts of thunder-fire.

Falling into the Qi Sea, this thunder-fire instantly became fuel, absorbed by the vortex at the center of the dantian.

Afterward, the Electric Dragon and the Zhu Que spirit shadow became locked in a stalemate!

Yet, before long, the Zhu Que spirit shadow began to falter once more.

For no other reason than that although Hua Changxi had produced no small amount of resources, they were ultimately limited and had to be shared with Song Weimin and his group; thus, the 'fire spiritual energy, ghost energy, and ghost fire' injected into the dantian soon began to diminish.

As the injection of 'external force' decreased, the fire spiritual power sustaining the Zhu Que spirit shadow likewise dwindled.

However, this problem was resolved very quickly!

The place where Hua Changxi stood was connected to the Ghost Fire Well linking to the Ghost Realm; the moment her Nascent Soul consciousness stirred, the Ghost Fire Token on her person suddenly vibrated at the mouth of the well.

In the next instant, emerald-green ghost fire shot forth from the mouth of the Ghost Fire Well.

Immediately following, the green ghost fire surged toward Hua Changxi like a flowing stream, continuously pouring into her body.

Once the ghost fire entered the dantian, it was immediately absorbed by the vortex and transformed into pure fire spiritual power.

As the Qi Sea grew increasingly full, the momentum of the Zhu Que spirit shadow climbed step by step.

"Jiu~"

After an unknown amount of time, the Zhu Que spirit shadow suddenly lifted its head and emitted a clear, resonant cry.

This cry carried endless majesty and sanctity.

In the next moment, the Zhu Que spirit shadow spread its wings and soared high, charging at the Electric Dragon.

"Hong~"

The Zhu Que and the Electric Dragon collided, bursting forth with sky-filling flames, lightning, and electric sparks.

The Electric Dragon, formed from the power of Heavenly Punishment, was ultimately a source without roots; amidst the impact from the Zhu Que spirit shadow, its dragon body immediately faded several degrees.

The Zhu Que spirit shadow, however, could continuously draw fire spiritual power from the Qi Sea to replenish its energy.

Once, twice, three times...

When the Zhu Que spirit shadow crashed into the Electric Dragon for the ninth time, the Electric Dragon collapsed and disintegrated, turning into a sky-filling rain of electricity that fell only to be entirely absorbed by the vortex above the Qi Sea.

After these points of light entered the vortex, undergoing refinement and fusion, they ultimately transformed into a stream of pure lightning power that injected itself into the Qi Sea.

"Zizi~"

On the surface of the Qi Sea, spiritual waves churned while electric light flashed.

At this moment, the color of the Qi Sea was no longer purely fiery red but mixed with a trace of silver-white, the hallmark of lightning power having merged within.

At the mouth of the Ghost Fire Well, the aura surrounding Hua Changxi was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.

The aura, originally so faint it was nearly imperceptible, now began to rise steadily, and that aura... was extremely peculiar.

It possessed both the scorching heat of Zhu Que fire and the gloom of ghost fire, along with the ferocity of Heavenly Punishment thunder-fire.

Three completely different forces were actually coexisting harmoniously within her body!

Simultaneously, Song Weimin and his group discovered with shock that the vivid fire lotus totem at Hua Changxi's brow was shifting colors—sometimes crimson red like soaring flames, sometimes dark green like flickering ghost fire, and sometimes silver-white like sudden lightning.

The three colors interwove and circulated, sketching a bizarre yet magnificent scroll between her eyebrows.