Chapter 615

Nirvana fire almost ignited every corner of Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān.

Zhúyōu sàn rén reacted extremely quickly; the moment the Nirvana fire surged past, the whisk in his hand had already been flung, raising a great gust of Yīnfēng to block it for a moment, and he back-flipped to open distance.

After steadying himself, his first reaction was to look toward the giant stone outside Sānshēng Diàn.

At this moment the giant stone had been engulfed by the Nirvana fire, the whole stone burned into a ball of fire, but the sound of a heart beating continuously remained.

The ridge of Sānshēng Diàn was flung open by me from above, revealing a large expanse of iron cables beneath the roof, as well as the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ hidden among the cables.

The Nirvana fire surged past, the beams caught fire first, then the iron cables.

Soon, the flames swept over the old peach tree below.

The moment the old peach tree was ignited, a wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves burst forth, crying miserably.

But I know, these petals on the old peach tree are not the souls of couples and lovers seeking the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ; what Zhúyōu sàn rén wants is only their faith in marital bonds and their longing for descendants' affinity.

Their souls had long since dispersed.

Under the old peach tree lay two corpses, two of Zhúyōu sàn rén's three disciples.

One remained, entangled by a white flood dragon's tail, his face purple from suffocation, his whole body covered by the tail, unable to struggle at all.

Liu Junyan perhaps did not intend to torment this guy like this; it was just that our Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ had been scorched by the Nirvana fire, causing him great pain.

The torment of flesh and blood and even soul being scorched from inside out made him urgently need an outlet to vent.

Probably, this is also the karmic retribution for this person following Zhúyōu sàn rén in doing evil.

The drawback of Dao arts lies here: they require setting up formations or pinching seals to cast signs, and even when one's Xiūwéi is insufficiently strong, there is a cooldown between seals.

The Dao arts of these few disciples were still somewhat lacking in strength before a sturdy flood dragon's tail.

I hovered above the roof of Sānshēng Diàn on beating wings, looking down on all this.

With the passage of time, Sānshēng Diàn first could not hold up and collapsed with a roar.

The iron cables on the beams were melted into scraps; the already-melted Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ formed fist-sized stone chunks, which were actually sucked one by one by the giant stone.

When this scene unfolded, the dodging Zhúyōu sàn rén, struggling to survive in the crevices, suddenly turned and lifted his leg to charge toward the giant stone.

It must be said, this old Daoist still possesses considerable ability.

From the start he used his whisk to emit Yīnfēng to block the Nirvana fire momentarily, then quickly pinched a seal, a surge of strong qi protecting his whole body, and so far he remains unscathed.

Perhaps the time was too short, or perhaps the scene was too chaotic, but I failed to discover the secret hidden by Zhúyōu sàn rén.

But his movement caused my gaze to instantly follow him toward that giant stone.

At this moment the giant stone had been burned into a near-translucent red; faintly, I saw that inside the stone there seemed to be a heart beating continuously.

I had no time to ponder, I drew my bow and shot an arrow.

Shooting arrows from a drawn bow has greater targeting.

This time I condensed my whole body's inner strength, infused it into the arrow, with a swoosh the arrow pierced the strong qi and penetrated Zhúyōu sàn rén's body in one go.

Normally in such a case, even if Zhúyōu sàn rén is not shot dead, the Nirvana fire carried by the arrow will ignite and he cannot escape.

But strangely, the arrow has returned to my hand, yet Zhúyōu sàn rén is still moving.

He moved while pinching seals, pressing three fingers on the wound to staunch the bleeding.

I clearly saw Nirvana flame ignite in the wound, but the next moment it vanished.

It was as if it had been instantly transferred.

Strange.

If Zhúyōu sàn rén could extinguish the Nirvana fire, he wouldn't need to dodge about in this expanse of Nirvana flames.

Where exactly does the problem lie?

Just then, a shaft of Golden Light shone down from above, and a tall figure strode forward across the Tiěsuǒ Qiáo from above.

He walked very steadily, utterly lacking the embarrassment we had when climbing the Tiěsuǒ Qiáo.

At the moment Zhúyōu sàn rén saw the newcomer, his expression shifted several times, finally looking as if he were about to cry… aggrieved.

"Ā Chén, Ā Chén, quickly save your master!"

"Master, to accumulate incense and Merit for you, to heal your wounds, to lift you back to the Chenghuang Temple, he hastily returned from his wandering, not knowing where he offended the Nirvana Phoenix; she… she actually wants to destroy our Chenghuang Temple."

I looked at Zhúyōu sàn rén in astonishment, how dare he, how could he have the face to say such things?

My appearance here, my fixation on him, fundamentally are all thanks to Wang Fanchen.

Zhúyōu sàn rén clearly knows his little disciple is opposing him, yet he dares to complain to Wang Fanchen at this moment, truly overturning my understanding.

As he spoke, Wang Fanchen had already jumped down from the Tiěsuǒ Qiáo.

He did not speak to Zhúyōu sàn rén, but first glanced at the giant stone, then looked at Zhúyōu sàn rén and said, "Why is she here? You know full well, isn't that right, Uncle-master?"

The two words "Uncle-master" came out, and I was stunned.

Isn't Zhúyōu sàn rén Wang Fanchen's master?

How did he become an Uncle-master again?

Looking again at Zhúyōu sàn rén's expression, after a brief moment of astonishment he had already regained composure.

He calmly asked, "When did you discover it?"

"Many years, perhaps." Wang Fanchen said, "After I again encountered Yu Nian by the Wangchuan River, I began to suspect… you… are not like the master I remember."

"My master is very carefree, without great ambition, and never excessively interferes with my choices."

"I am with Yu Nian; he never obstructed me; when I seek to pass the love tribulation, possibly missing the chance to become a City God, he told me to let things take their natural course."

"He said that given my cultivation talent and my comprehension of the Dao, even if I fail the love tribulation, at most I would need to devote myself to cultivation for another ten or twenty years, and there would surely still be an opportunity."

"He also said that if I succeed in the love tribulation, being together with the ferryman's daughter would also be considered a suitable match."

"That is truly my master: as long as I walk the righteous path, as long as I make my choices, he will surely guide and encourage me in a positive direction, he respects my life and will never forcibly intrude upon my Karma, nor will he, for his own selfishness, pull up seedlings to help them grow."

Wang Fanchen paused, then stared fixedly at the old Daoist and said, "All those years, your wandering about under the pretense of accumulating merit for me were just excuses, weren't you? You were afraid, afraid that each time you appeared before me I would discover your flaws, afraid to lose what you had painstakingly gained, right, Uncle-master?"

The old Daoist suddenly flared: "Given the chance, why shouldn't you strive and seize?! Your cultivation—what is it really for? For the sake of love and affection you painfully lost the opportunity to become a City God, you truly won't regret it? Wang Fanchen, everything you now possess is what I fought for you! It's all I gave you!"