Chapter 502 - 137: The Opponent Retreats
"Old bald donkey, now is not the time for jokes. Do you really want to perish here?"
Rongyang Monarch’s expression was now grave, lacking his earlier boldness and swagger. As he spoke, He Feng Taoist landed beside him.
He Feng Taoist gazed nonchalantly at Master Kaiyun and said coldly, "Do you wish to feel the warmth of the sun?"
Faced with two Fire Cultivators who had been in the Fourth Realm for over a thousand years, Master Kaiyun, a Gold Cultivator, had no choice but to consider his options carefully. In the next instant, however, his expression hardened with resolve. He clasped his hands in prayer and said, "Such is my fate. Even if my body perishes, I must do this!"
The moment his voice fell, it was He Feng Taoist who made the first move.
He directly summoned the Sunflower from within his body. A wave of scorching heat engulfed a vast expanse of the sky. The blistering flames instantly ignited the Spiritual Qi in the air and, by the principle of ’fire overcomes metal,’ began to relentlessly suppress the space for the Metal Spirit Aura to exist.
As Master Kaiyun felt the heat wave wash over him, the Spiritual Qi in the air had already been completely ignited. He was forced to draw upon the Metal Spirit True Essence in his Qi Sea. His gaze fixed on Xiao Shan Lord, who was communing with the Heaven-Stealing Talisman through a gap in the flames, and he considered using the same method as before: injuring himself to break through the fiery encirclement.
His projected Primordial Spirit transformed into the shape of a Gouniu, creating a collapsing space of metal element to act as a defensive barrier. He intended to use this collapsing space as cover to charge through the sea of flames, but his body suddenly froze. The flames, like maggots clinging to bone, followed the aura released by the Metal Spirit True Essence in his Qi Sea and spread deep into his Spirit Veins.
"Fellow Daoist, this is not like before. I warned you, this is no time for jokes!"
Rongyang Monarch’s voice rang out, his demeanor growing even colder. He was now in a ’Flame Transformation’ state. In his version of ’Flame Transformation’, even his Spiritual Body was burning, unlike Third Realm Cultivators, who merely enveloped their Spiritual Bodies within flames.
Furthermore, Rongyang Monarch’s flames moved according to his will. The flames of a Third Realm Cultivator could only burn over a large area. When attacking, they mostly had to use their own Spirit Veins as a power source to move the flames, causing their consumption of energy in battle to be several times that of other cultivators.
The flames of a Third Realm Cultivator adhered to certain phenomenal rules, but the flames wielded by a Fourth Realm Cultivator could already create rules.
DONG.
A distant, resonant bell toll echoed.
Master Kaiyun summoned a Bronze Bell to hover above his head. The vibrations from its tolling extinguished the flames clinging to his Spirit Veins.
"Extinguish!"
He Feng Taoist uttered an Imperial Decree. His Primordial Spirit Consciousness suddenly became savage and terrifying, like a ferocious, ancient bird whose spreading wings illuminated the dim Inspiration Realm, though its specific form remained blurry.
After the Imperial Decree was issued, the area around Master Kaiyun was engulfed by a blinding Fire Spirit Array. The intense heat generated by the array distorted space itself. The Bronze Grand Clock above Master Kaiyun’s head lasted for less than a breath before turning into molten slag, followed by Master Kaiyun’s Spiritual Body.
"What potent Heart Fire!"
Master Kaiyun’s Primordial Spirit Consciousness materialized. Protected by a brilliant golden Kasaya, it transformed into a streak of light and rapidly retreated toward the western sky, leaving his Spiritual Body to burn to ash in the flames.
Neither Rongyang Monarch nor He Feng Taoist gave chase. He Feng Taoist immediately returned his Primordial Spirit to its humanoid form, then reached out his left hand into the void. A yellow, irregularly shaped stone flew out from Master Kaiyun’s burning Spiritual Body and landed in his hand.
"A Golden Vein Crystal! What a treasure!"
There was a hint of envy in Rongyang Monarch’s voice, his eyes fixed on the yellow crystal.
He Feng Taoist flipped his hand, storing the crystal in his pouch, and gazed westward. "He lost to us on purpose!"
Rongyang Monarch did not respond, instead shifting his gaze to Cang Ji. Cang Ji was emanating a black-purple halo, a glow caused by the arrays carved into his arms. He had Yin Thunder arrays drawn on both arms, and with every swing, a bolt of Yin Thunder would descend from the sky.
The moment Cang Ji noticed Master Kaiyun’s situation, he chose to retreat. When Rongyang Monarch and He Feng Taoist turned to look at him, he immediately flew off toward the eastern horizon.
The fierce battle stopped in an instant, and everything returned to calm. The only trace of the fight was the billowing smoke under the azure sky, left by flames that had yet to dissipate.
Wan Zhi Daoist did not pursue Cang Ji either. She immediately turned her head toward Xiao Shan Lord, then transformed into a streak of light and landed near him. Rongyang Monarch and He Feng Taoist also turned their gazes in his direction.
Xiao Shan Lord was as still as a statue, but the constantly pulsing Wood Spirit Aura around him, along with the terrifying energy that occasionally radiated from his body, indicated that he was not merely standing motionless.
The silent atmosphere lasted for about a quarter of an hour. It seemed no one else would come to disturb Xiao Shan Lord.
The billowing smoke gradually dispersed, revealing a clean, azure sky. It was a beautiful day; the warm sun illuminated the devastated land.
Suddenly, dense Spirit Grass sprouted from the ruined earth. The crystals formed by the intense heat were enveloped by the grass and began to disintegrate and oxidize at a speed visible to the naked eye, before being pulled underground by the roots.
A dozen or so breaths later, the endless sea of Spirit Grass withered just as quickly. The Spiritual Qi it released nourished the ravaged land, and in the blink of an eye, all that remained was a vast expanse of barrenness.
Xiao Shan Lord, who had been motionless, suddenly erupted with a dense Wood Spirit Aura. He then projected his Primordial Spirit, which instantly began to merge with the Heaven-Stealing Talisman. Moments later, the Primordial Spirit returned to his Spiritual Body.
"Hm?"
Wan Zhi Daoist, standing nearby, suddenly felt her own Spirit Veins rapidly withering.
The Wood Spirit Aura was invading her Spirit Veins!
Realizing what was happening, Wan Zhi Daoist immediately summoned four tall towers to suppress the Wood Spirit Qi that had appeared in her body, but it seemed to have little effect. In that fleeting moment, she felt as if decades had been stripped from her lifespan!
"Fall back! We are no longer needed here!"
Rongyang Monarch’s voice came from a distance. As soon as he finished speaking, he took the lead and flew toward the faraway horizon.
He Feng Taoist frowned in Xiao Shan Lord’s direction. It seemed he had yet to collect his payment for acting as their ’hired muscle’.
Min You landed beside Wan Zhi Daoist and erected a barrier to help her resist the invasion of Wood Spirit Qi. "Fellow Daoist Rongyang is right," he said. "There’s no point in us staying here."
Wan Zhi Daoist looked up at the sky and said softly, "All the scheming ends here. What happens next is up to Heaven’s will, and..."
Without finishing her sentence, she transformed into a streak of light and flew south. Min You naturally followed behind her.
After they left, on the land covered in withered grass, countless locust tree saplings burst from the soil. In the blink of an eye, they grew into a dense Locust Tree Forest, with Xiao Shan Lord at its center, covering the land for hundreds of miles in every direction.
As for Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body, it was ’melting’ as if it were a candle exposed to high heat. The substance from his ’molten’ Spiritual Body dripped, drop by drop, onto the forest below.