Chapter 35: Chaotic Battle!
Mo Tianxing stared at Han Feng and Fang Yan with a dark, venomous expression. Both of these two were peak Dou Huangs. Han Feng, furthermore, had a Heavenly Flame assisting him—even against a Dou Zong, he could hold his own for a time.
Let alone the presence of Old Man Ying Shan, a 4-star Dou Zong. Mo Tianxing swept a solemn, grave glance over this old man who had yet to utter a single word. His heart grew several degrees more serious.
Also present were the Gold and Silver Elders, Fan Lao, Su Mei, and a host of other experts. The Black Emperor Sect simply could not withstand the combined assault of so many.
"Rumble—"
And just as everyone present was locked in this standoff, the stone platform suddenly began to quake and tremble violently, as if something were about to burst forth from the earth. The Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, in turn, erupted with a powerful surge of pure, clear energy. In this very instant, everyone felt a wave of utter refreshment and spiritual clarity, as if their very souls had been elevated and sublimed.
"Strike!"
No one knew who shouted that fierce command, but it instantly shattered the delicate, subtle atmosphere in the arena.
Countless greedy Dou Wangs and Dou Huangs struck out one after another. In the face of such a heaven-sent, colossal temptation, no one could be spared or exempt.
Han Feng's expression darkened. A deep blue flame, resembling liquid water, violently surged and blazed up from within his body. A searing, scorching high heat slowly radiated outward.
"A Heavenly Flame!"
The moment that deep blue flame appeared, cries of shock and astonishment rang out across the entire sky. Rumors had long circulated that the Alchemy Emperor Han Feng had seized and mastered a Heavenly Flame—only, no one knew whether it was true or false.
Never had anyone imagined they'd be fortunate enough to witness it today. And judging by its form, it was the Sea Heart Flame, ranked fifteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!
The moment Han Feng's Sea Heart Flame emerged, it transformed into a giant flaming beast and roared, lunging toward the surging crowd around him.
"Whoever dares contend with me—perhaps they ought to weigh the consequences first!"
Han Feng's voice rang out. Some of those with insufficient strength saw the greed in their eyes fade, replaced by a flash of fear and dread.
The Alchemy Emperor Han Feng was renowned not only for his alchemy, but also for his infamous, ruthless cruelty. Small fry like them absolutely could not afford to offend him. This very moment of hesitation actually cowed a full eighty percent of the crowd.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed into slits. He swept his gaze over Mo Tianxing and the crowd. Abruptly, a terrifying, dreadful wave of soul power erupted, blasting toward the masses.
"Ah—"
"Han Feng! Damn you!"
"Han Feng, you little—"
Han Feng's soul power had long since reached the tier 7 level, approaching the peak of the Mortal Realm. To these Dou Huangs, it was a dimensionality-reducing strike. Even a Dou Zong could be affected, if only slightly.
"You are mine!"
Seizing this chance, Han Feng erupted with explosive speed. He shot directly toward the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva. Watching that viscous substance draw ever closer, the blazing heat in his heart grew increasingly fiery and intense.
Just as he seized the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, a bizarre, peculiar ripple was transmitted deep underground. Yet at this moment, everyone's attention was utterly riveted by the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva. No one noticed anything amiss.
Han Feng, for his part, rapidly produced a jade box and stored the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva safely inside. Just then, a particular aura drew his gaze. As his eyes swept over that fragmentary map, his expression briefly froze and faltered.
"A Heavenly Flame?"
"Han Feng! Die!"
Just then, several furious, raging roars erupted. A lethal, fatal sense of crisis crashed over him. He could not afford to concern himself with anything further. His figure twisted and dodged in wretched, battered disarray.
"Bang—"
In the next instant, several terrifying Dou Techniques came crashing down. The stone platform was utterly, completely demolished. That black token and the fragmentary map were cast aside, lost amidst the rubble and ruins.
"Han Feng! Hand over the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva!" Mo Tianxing's sinister, chilling voice rang out. His eyes were still tinged bloodshot. He stared at Han Feng, murderous intent overflowing.
"Han Feng, this thing is not something you can hold onto. Hand it over!" Old Man Ying Shan similarly closed in. The aura of a 4-star Dou Zong erupted violently from his body, locking squarely onto Han Feng.
Locked onto by two Dou Zongs, even Han Feng couldn't help but feel the hairs on his body stand on end. Yet to force him to spit out the meat already in his mouth—that was utterly, absolutely impossible!
"Sir Gold! Sir Silver! Help me hold off Old Man Ying Shan! After this matter is settled, two Sect-Breaking Pills will be gifted in gratitude!" Han Feng's words instantly made the two men's expressions shift. Han Feng was a tier 6 alchemist. His rallying power—the rallying power of a tier 6 alchemist—was terrifying beyond measure.
"Strike!" Mo Tianxing made a snap decision. He violently erupted. The aura of a 3-star Dou Zong was unleashed without any reservation, making everyone present struggle to breathe.
"Bang—" Han Feng rapidly condensed his flame to counter. Yet someone was even faster than him—the Gold and Silver Elders!
"Gold and Silver Elders! Do you truly mean to make enemies of this Sect Leader?!" Mo Tianxing's expression was now profoundly ugly. The Gold and Silver Elders were peak Dou Huangs. Twin brothers, their minds linked as one—joining hands, they could battle even an ordinary low-tier Dou Zong.
With their assistance, Han Feng truly had a chance to escape unscathed.
What's more...
"Sect Leader Su Mei! Sect Leader Fan Lao! Sect Leader Yuan Yi! Brother Tianxing! Grand Elder Fang Yan! If you assist me in breaking free of this siege—Emperor Pill, Sect-Breaking Pill—Han Feng offers them with both hands!"
Han Feng began scattering money with a great, generous hand, pulling in and recruiting the Dou Huangs present. Among them were even the three great elders of the Demon Flame Valley—peak Dou Huangs all.
If these individuals formed an alliance, even Mo Tianxing and Old Man Ying Shan joining forces would have to think twice.
"Hmph— Han Feng! This old man has no need of your Sect-Breaking Pills! Hand over the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva! Otherwise, when the Valley Master arrives in person, that will be the day of your death!"
Su Mei, Yuan Yi, and the others had already been seduced and enticed by Han Feng's terms. By now, they too had cooled their heads. They understood the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva was beyond their reach. In that case, they had to grab whatever benefits they could, and quickly. Otherwise, hadn't this trip been a complete and utter loss?!
Yet there were always those who wouldn't play along. The Demon Flame Valley's Grand Elder spoke coldly. Beside him, the Second and Third Elders stood opposite.
Hearing Fang Yan's words, Han Feng's expression immediately soured several degrees. He still deeply feared and dreaded the Earth Demon Old Ghost's strength. Yet this was still not enough to make him retreat and back down.
"You all, just hold off Old Man Ying Shan and Mo Tianxing for me! Once I break out of this encirclement, the pills will be delivered immediately!" Han Feng spoke to the Dou Huangs and Dou Wangs gathered by his side. This time, he was truly bleeding out. So many pills—working without sleep or rest, he would still need an entire year!
"Strike—"
In an instant, the great battle erupted!
Mo Tianxing was blocked by the Gold and Silver Elders. Old Man Ying Shan was held back by Su Mei, Yuan Yi, and three other Dou Huangs—five in total. The subordinates of the Black Emperor Sect were also intercepted by the followers under Su Mei and the others. The chaotic melee between the three factions' experts began!
Han Feng, just as he was about to break through the encirclement, was cut off by the three great elders of the Demon Flame Valley, led by Fang Yan.
A surge of majestic, powerful energy, rippling with spatial fluctuations, erupted from Mo Tianxing's body in a sky-blanketing, heaven-covering torrent. His figure blurred. In the very next instant, he appeared directly before the Gold and Silver Elders, like a drifting ghost or phantom.
A scorching, violent gale—like a volcanic eruption—carried terrifying explosive force, aimed at the chests of these two with cunning, ruthless precision.
Upon the bodies of the Gold and Silver Elders, rings of golden and silver light intertwined and interlaced. The two seemed as a single entity. The aura upon them shifted with profound, mysterious transformations. Even Mo Tianxing could not break through for a time.
The Gold and Silver Elders' silhouettes flickered and darted. Once again, like fierce tigers descending the mountain, they fiercely, savagely lunged at Mo Tianxing. The three tangled and entwined, erupting with wave after wave of shocking, astonishing gusts of force and resounding, explosive blasts of energy.
On the other side, facing the combined assault of five Dou Huangs—among them one peak Dou Huang—Old Man Ying Shan, too, found himself unable to break free for a time.
"Today, let us witness and experience the methods and skill of the Alchemy Emperor firsthand!"
Watching Han Feng, now a 'turtle trapped in a jar,' Fang Yan grinned a sinister, savage grin. Immediately, the hand seals in his grasp abruptly shifted. A faint, pale gray flame suddenly curled and wafted upward from within his body.
The Second Elder and Third Elder did the same. Three streams of pale gray flame echoed and resonated with each other. Moments later, they actually directly detached from their bodies, darted out, and converged together in the midair above Han Feng's head.
The moment this mass of grayish-brown flame appeared, the temperature of this stretch of sky soared abruptly. Even the space around the flame began to warp and distort slightly. The temperature of this flame seemed already very close to the level of a Heavenly Flame.
"The Demon Flame Valley's unique, unparalleled skill is indeed extraordinary. But... mortal flame is, in the end, still mortal flame."
The instant the three's Manifestation Flame appeared, a flicker of surprise and secret, hidden delight flashed through Han Feng's eyes. The impulse within his body told him—this flame, though not a Heavenly Flame, still far surpassed ordinary beast flames. It would be of immense benefit to his incomplete Flame Mantra fragment!
Back then, for the sake of the Flame Mantra, he had betrayed Yao Chen. Though he had followed his memory and cultivated the crippled, incomplete version of the Flame Mantra, devoured the Sea Heart Flame, and added to that the many beast flames he had collected over the years...
His Flame Mantra was still only at Mysterious Class High-tier. It had not broken through to Earth Class. For someone like him—the Alchemy Emperor roaming the Black-Corner Region—a Mysterious Class High-tier cultivation art was holding him back, dragging him down. It could no longer provide much benefit to his current cultivation. Yet ordinary beast flames simply could not trigger a qualitative transformation.
Unable to advance to Earth Class for so long, he had also been stuck at the peak of Dou Huang for a very, very long time because of it.
He knew—only by devouring a second Heavenly Flame could he smoothly shatter his shackles and break through his bindings.
Now, there was still no news of a second Heavenly Flame. Although Jia Nan Academy was suspected of possessing one, it had yet to be confirmed. At this moment, the Demon Flame Valley's bizarre, peculiar flame offered him an entirely new direction.
What a pity—now was not the time to tarry or delay. He needed to break out of the encirclement as quickly as possible!
The grayish-brown flame—resembling a mass of gray sun—continuously radiated a terrifying, dreadful heat that caused even the surrounding space to warp and distort. In terms of temperature alone, it was already very close to an authentic Heavenly Flame.
"Whether or not it's mortal flame—the Alchemy Emperor will know once he's tasted it!" Fang Yan sneered coldly. He held considerable confidence in his unique, unparalleled skill. As for this grayish-brown 'false Heavenly Flame,' born from the fusion of all the Dou Qi within all three of them—
Over the years, quite a few opponents had met their end at their hands. Among them were no small number of peak experts of the Black-Corner Region.
As the three's hand seals shifted and transformed, that grayish-brown flame abruptly transformed into a half-foot-large flame bird. Beating its fiery wings, its sharp, pointed flame beak darted and attacked toward Han Feng with lightning, thunderous speed.
"Raging Sea, Surging Waves!"
Facing the three's assault, a cautious, solemn look rose in Han Feng's eyes. Though inwardly he did not believe their flame could compare to a Heavenly Flame, all three were peak Dou Huang experts. Joining hands, even he dared not underestimate them.
The Sea Heart Flame in his hand expanded with explosive speed, transforming into a sky-blanketing sea of flame that surged toward the flame bird. In the blink of an eye, it closed in on the bird. Before it could even beat its wings again, the lake-blue sea of flame eerily, bizarrely extended outward and engulfed, drowned that grayish-brown flame bird.
The flame bird now trapped, Fang Yan's gaze turned ice-cold. With a motion of his hand seals, the flame bird immediately began rapidly expanding, like an over-inflated balloon. The grayish-brown flame ceaselessly seared and scorched the lake-blue ocean, galloping and rampaging through the great sea.
"I said it before. Mortal flame is, in the end, mortal flame!" Han Feng was somewhat surprised by the Manifestation Flame's power—his Sea Heart Flame actually couldn't completely suppress it?!
Yet he still sneered coldly with considerable confidence. His palm abruptly clenched. That sea, which had enveloped and trapped the flame bird, instantly erupted with violent, intense, blazing radiance!
In that very instant, the three—Fang Yan and his companions—felt their forms falter. Their Dou Qi suffered a momentary, fleeting pause.
And in this very moment of pause, a sizzling, hissing sound rang out. The flame bird, which had just moments ago still been churning and rampaging, was instantly crushed and squeezed by the sea into scattered motes, specks of flame light.
Finally, like countless, innumerable bees, it came blotting out the sky and surging into the bodies of the three—Fang Yan and his companions.
"Ugh—"
As the flame returned to their bodies, a low, muffled groan sounded from the throats of Fang Yan and the others. In that earlier clash of flame against flame, they had suffered some minor, slight injuries.
"When the Heavenly Flame appears, ten thousand flames bow and submit!" Fang Yan stared at Han Feng, his expression rather ugly. He had originally believed that the Manifestation Flame of the three of them was not far off from an authentic Heavenly Flame. He never imagined the gap would actually be so vast.
All four were seasoned experts at playing with fire. Yet Han Feng, aided by a Heavenly Flame, naturally suppressed the three of them by a full tier.
"Second Brother! Third Brother! Don't compete with him in flames any longer! Together! Take him down!" Fang Yan barked sharply. The other two elders of the Demon Flame Valley froze briefly, exchanged a glance, then nodded. The Dou Qi wings on their backs vibrated, and they shot straight toward Han Feng.
Han Feng's expression immediately shifted slightly. He was not afraid of the three competing with him in flame control. But if the three unleashed their Dou Techniques and besieged him together, he would have to fight three peak Dou Huangs simultaneously. Under ordinary circumstances, it wasn't impossible—but right now, he absolutely could not afford to be tied down!
And what was more, his cultivation art could not withstand delays either!
"Sea Flame Halberd!" Han Feng roared furiously. His palm clenched. Deep blue flame rapidly condensed and coalesced, finally solidifying into what seemed a tangible, material deep-blue trident.
Majestic, surging Sea Heart Flame poured in, causing that flaming trident to instantly swell and expand several zhang in length. Searing, scorching deep blue flames churned and roiled unceasingly upon it. The booming, thundering crash of sea waves battering and pounding was endless and unceasing.
"Go die!" Watching the three close in, Han Feng barked savagely. Instantly, that vast, enormous flaming trident erupted and shot forth, transforming into a blazing streak of fiery light, like a fire dragon, hurtling straight toward the three.
"Scarlet Heaven Palm!" The three each erupted with furious roars. The Dou Techniques in their hands were hurled at Han Feng as if they cost nothing.
"Rumble—"
Within the ruins, deafening explosions and roars were endless and unceasing. Countless streams of searing, scorching flame cascaded down toward the ground. As the flames fell, faint, subtle ripples pulsed through the surrounding space. Searing, scorching gales howled and thundered across this pitch-black, dark world.
"Run! Run for your lives!"
As the great experts clashed in chaotic combat, the Dou Lings and Da Dou Shis who had entered together suffered absolute calamity. At this very moment, a single stray blast of force could cost them their lives!
Right now, they wished they had grown two extra legs. Why hadn't they listened to reason?! With these titans present—was the good stuff something you could even get close to?!
As fast as they had rushed in, now they fled just as fast—even faster by thirty percent.
"Pah, pah, pah— These bastards! Someday, I'll make sure to beat them all up, good and proper!"
In a remote, secluded corner of the collapsed stone platform, Jiang Yun and Zi Yan silently, quietly emerged. Jiang Yun had set up an array in the surroundings, causing people to subconsciously overlook and ignore the two of them. Coupled with the fact that the highest-tier cultivators present had no attention to spare, this had afforded him a perfect opening.
Zi Yan glared fiercely, fixedly at the several people locked in combat in the air, as if memorizing their faces for future reckoning.
Jiang Yun stowed away that fragmentary map. He never imagined it would be this easy to get his hands on. One could only say—the impact and shock brought by the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva was indeed on an entirely different level.
"Alright, stop grumbling. It's almost over!" Jiang Yun smiled as he helped Zi Yan brush the dust and debris from her clothes and spoke with a chuckle.
(End of Chapter)