Chapter 850
Chapter 850
Just as Xiao Xuan's vast aura of a peak nine-star Dou Sheng erupted, causing a surge of fire-attribute energy in the heavens and earth, Xiao Ling slightly shifted his body, lightly stepped into the void, and his spiritual power at the half-step Divine Palace realm swept out like a tide.
Invisible soul power flowed and intertwined at his fingertips, and layers of spatial patterns rapidly spread out from the two of them. In the blink of an eye, a thick and solid spatial barrier, concealing aura and energy fluctuations, was completely formed, covering the core area where Xiao Xuan had made his move.
The inner walls of the barrier shimmered with spiritual light, not only isolating it from outside observation but also firmly locking the violent power and sound of the fist's energy shattering the sky and shaking the earth within a small area. Only the ancient primordial vein outside the barrier remained peaceful and tranquil, with not a single earth-shattering movement leaking out.
This action was not superfluous.
With Xiao Xuan's current cultivation at the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm, dealing with the already damaged and collapsing Demon Flame Space Restriction is not exactly troublesome, but it still requires him to use all his means and exert all his strength to forcibly break through it.
The Pure Lotus Demon Saint was once an unparalleled powerhouse at the level of a half-emperor. Even though he was severely injured, the array restrictions he left behind were far beyond what ordinary Dou Sheng could easily shake. Xiao Xuan's move this time will surely be grand and powerful.
If such a sensational event were to spread without any concealment, it would instantly alarm the top forces in Zhongzhou and even the entire Dou Qi Continent, attracting countless covetous individuals to spy on it.
Xiao Ling had no intention of deliberately concealing the news that the Pure Lotus Demon Flame was about to appear in the world. After all, the descent of such a supreme strange flame, which was ranked among the top three on the Strange Flame Ranking, would inevitably be accompanied by strange phenomena that swept across the world, and no one could forcibly cover it up.
However, he absolutely did not want the outside world to know that the Demon Flame Space was forcibly opened by Xiao Xuan and the other two. Instead, he wanted everyone to believe that it was a natural opening of the Demon Flame Space after a thousand years of silence and the accumulation of energy to the extreme. In this way, he could hide the earth-shattering secret that Xiao Xuan had been resurrected and avoid attracting the suspicion and encirclement of the Soul Emperor and various forces too early.
As Xiao Ling had expected, even with Xiao Xuan's peak nine-star Dou Sheng cultivation, he was unable to break through the demonic fire spatial restriction left behind by the Pure Lotus Demon Saint in one fell swoop.
The relentless, ferocious attacks were like raging waves, repeatedly eroding the spatial barrier hidden deep within the void. After a full hour of unleashing the offensive, the fire-attribute energy in the world was almost completely drained. Xiao Xuan's robes fluttered in the wind, and a barely perceptible wisp of heat rose from his forehead.
At this moment, the demonic fire spatial barrier, which had been stable for thousands of years, finally succumbed to the continuous bombardment and emitted a faint cracking sound. A narrow, thread-like spatial rift slowly appeared in the void, and a wisp of demonic fire that could burn everything surged out from the depths of the rift.
Seeing this, Xiao Xuan's tense expression finally relaxed slightly, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes, and he sighed inwardly.
As expected of the Pure Lotus Demon Saint who was once a half-emperor, the spatial restrictions he set up are still extremely difficult to deal with, even after a thousand years of wear and tear and on the verge of collapse. Even with his cultivation level, he found it quite troublesome.
Fortunately, this demonic fire space was already close to its automatic manifestation, and its spatial barrier was already extremely fragile, with its internal energy constantly fluctuating. If it were in a stable and intact state, even if he used all his means, he might not be able to break it easily.
Thinking of this, Xiao Xuan's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He no longer held back his strength. He joined his right fingers into a sword shape, and a wisp of battle qi, refined to the extreme, condensed at his fingertips. The sword qi was sharp and unparalleled, carrying the power to tear the sky apart, and slashed straight down at the spatial rift that had just appeared.
"Shoot-"
A piercing sound of space tearing suddenly rang out. As the sword fell, the already fragile spatial barrier collapsed. The tiny crack was forcibly expanded to several meters wide in an instant. Within the dark spatial rift, terrifying raging flames surged and churned. The true face of the demonic fire space was finally revealed at this moment.
"Xiao Ling, come inside immediately!"
Xiao Xuan stared at the spatial rift, which was several feet long and was constantly spewing out eerie flames, and shouted in a deep voice, his tone urgent and not allowing any delay.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ling nodded heavily without a word of hesitation or reluctance. He concealed his aura and transformed into a sharp, incomparable stream of azure light, shooting straight into the rift and instantly disappearing into the dark, surging space of demonic fire.
After Xiao Ling's figure completely disappeared into the depths of the rift, Xiao Xuan lightly touched the void with his toes, his figure soaring through the air like a startled swan, and followed closely behind, leaping into the space. The two figures, one in front of the other, both stepped into that demonic fire space that had been silent for thousands of years.
After the two entered, the spatial rift did not close. Instead, it expanded and spread at a visible speed, like a torn curtain in the sky. Within the dark rift, the demonic fire aura that could scorch the heavens and boil the seas grew increasingly violent and intense.
It is obvious that the spatial seal surrounding this demonic fire space has been completely broken. Before long, this demonic fire space will break free from its constraints and appear in the human world.
This earth-shattering phenomenon, capable of shaking the entire Dou Qi Continent, will spread rapidly to every corner of Zhongzhou along with the fluctuations of the energy of heaven and earth, attracting countless powerful figures to flock here.
……
Upon entering the spatial rift, a halo of pure white, lustrous light appeared directly before Xiao Ling's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he darted straight into it.
The moment his body passed through the halo, Xiao Ling's skin suddenly tightened, and a burning sensation originating from the depths of his soul instantly swept over his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, the light before my eyes suddenly blurred, and when I opened them again, the surrounding space had completely changed.
The first feeling brought about by the spatial transformation is as if one has fallen into an extreme furnace that burns the heavens and refines the sun.
Xiao Ling's gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings, and he was shocked to find himself in a strange space completely filled with milky white flames.
The entire world was shrouded in this strange fire, which was as white as a sea of fire. Even though he had already devoured several kinds of strange fire and his resistance to fire was far beyond that of ordinary people, he could clearly feel a heat that penetrated his bones. This terrifying temperature was the source of the milky white pure lotus demon fire that was everywhere in this space.
Sensing the wisps of flame silently seeping into his body, and a strange, illusory fluctuation rippling deep within his soul, Xiao Ling's lips curled slightly, and he chuckled softly:
"Hmm, it's all just an illusion, but it's rather interesting."
Instead of resisting, his mind stirred slightly, and in an instant, a vast and terrifying devouring power erupted from his body, surging out wildly.
All the milky-white Pure Lotus Demon Flame that seeped into his body was firmly locked and absorbed by this power, transformed into pure fire attribute energy, which he steadily refined within his body.
As the remaining Pure Lotus Demon Flame within his body was completely devoured, the illusionary space before Xiao Ling suddenly collapsed and reassembled.
The boundless, soul-scorching sea of milky-white fire vanished with a roar, replaced by a soft, ethereal milky-white mist, roughly several tens of feet in size, slowly spreading and swirling around him, creating a tranquil yet eerie atmosphere.
Xiao Ling focused his mind again and slowly extended his mental energy to the surroundings, but suddenly found that his mental energy was inexplicably suppressed in this space, and his perception range was greatly weakened. He could no longer extend and explore as freely as he could in the outside world.
He raised an eyebrow and quickly scanned the entire misty space, but he still couldn't detect even the slightest trace of Xiao Xuan's aura or figure. It seemed that the two were not currently in the same area, or perhaps Xiao Xuan had already gone ahead.
After all, Xiao Chen, a close relative of the Xiao clan, is still trapped in this demonic fire space. Given Xiao Xuan's emphasis on his clansmen, he will definitely follow the subtle connection between bloodlines and head straight to the place where Xiao Chen is trapped to carry out a rescue as soon as he enters the demonic fire space.
Xiao Ling's prediction was absolutely correct.
As soon as Xiao Xuan stepped into the Demon Flame Space, the deep sense of connection to his kinship became clearer and stronger. It was the throbbing of the Xiao clan's orthodox bloodline, with countless threads pointing directly to the location where Xiao Chen was trapped.
He had no time to care about anything else, nor did he have the heart to wait for Xiao Ling. With a swift movement, he transformed into a streak of crimson light, following the guidance of that bloodline, and sped straight toward the direction where Xiao Chen was.
With his thoughts settled, Xiao Ling did not linger in place for a moment. He stretched out his body and flew straight towards the edge of the milky white mist.
As the body passed through the boundary shrouded in mist, a sense of lightness instantly spread throughout the body, as if an invisible constraint had been removed.
Looking up, a colossal stone platform floated in mid-air ahead, and at the end of the platform stood a simple and heavy white gate, exuding an air of mystery.
At that moment, the entire space suddenly trembled violently, and a terrifyingly high temperature, like scorching the sky and boiling the sea, slowly spread from all directions, making the air sizzle and twist.
"Boom boom boom—!"
The spatial distortion became increasingly violent. Finally, one after another, pitch-black cracks burst open with a roar. A surging, milky-white flame swept and spewed wildly from the cracks. Then, one after another, fiery figures, their bodies engulfed in the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, burst forth from the cracks like a tidal wave.
In the blink of an eye, the entire sky outside the stone platform was completely occupied by these eerie fiery figures, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see.
These figures were surrounded by raging, milky-white pure lotus demonic flames, their palms tightly gripping incredibly solid flaming spears, and their empty, emotionless eyes were fixed on Xiao Ling's figure.
They remained completely silent throughout, yet their combined terrifying aura pressed down like a mountain and a sea, merging into a colossal fiery dragon that stretched across the sky, circling and roaring above the fire figures, its ferocious killing intent filling the entire space.
Despite the tense and desperate situation, Xiao Ling's steps did not falter in the slightest.
His expression was calm. With a casual wave of his hand, his spiritual power at the half-step Divine Palace realm surged out like a tsunami. The chilling and piercing power of the origin spread out along with his soul power, and the ice crystal patterns spread wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even within this scorching, fiery space, the extreme cold power remained undiminished. Instead, it swiftly and decisively froze all the fiery figures in the entire airspace into crystal-clear ice sculptures.
The next moment, Xiao Ling slightly bent his fingertips and gently twisted them.
A crisp cracking sound resounded throughout the heavens and earth. The frozen fiery figures instantly disintegrated into countless tiny ice shards and fire mist, turning into scattered fragments that drifted lightly into the void and vanished without a trace in an instant.
Xiao Ling's figure had already calmly passed through the fragments of the fiery figures and stepped directly into the white giant gate guarding behind them.
As the heavy door slowly closed, his figure disappeared completely into the darkness behind it, leaving no trace.
After that, Xiao Ling's journey through the Demon Flame Space followed the same path as before.
A series of similarly shaped white giant gates stood atop the spatial node, each guarded by a varying number of fiery figures, their bodies ablaze with pure lotus demonic fire, wielding flaming spears, fearless in the face of death.
However, facing Xiao Ling, whose spiritual power has now reached the half-step Divine Palace Realm, these guardian shadows were no match for him. Xiao Ling either froze them, shattered the space, or directly erased them with his soul power. He easily broke through the situation and calmly resolved the problems. His steps never stopped for a moment, and he steadily advanced into the depths of the demon fire space.
Just as Xiao Ling ventured alone into the Demon Flame Space, breaking through all obstacles along the way, two figures stood side by side amidst the raging sea of fire deep within this space.
The leader was Xiao Xuan, who had entered the place with Xiao Ling, and the person next to him was naturally Xiao Chen, who had just been rescued and had just figured out the current situation.
At this moment, Xiao Chen had already recovered from the shock and sorrow of the Xiao clan's decline. His gaze was fixed on the tall, swift figure rushing through the void below, his eyes filled with astonishment and doubt. He turned to look at Xiao Xuan beside him and spoke in a deep voice.
“Brother, is our junior really alright? Although his soul power has reached the Divine Realm, his cultivation is only a three-star Dou Sheng. His opponent is the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, which is among the top three on the Strange Flame Ranking. It is not comparable to an ordinary Strange Flame. Letting him explore alone might cause him to suffer.”
After all, Xiao Chen had personally experienced the terrifying power of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, and he knew it all too well.
If it weren't for the overwhelming ferocity of this supreme strange fire and the unpredictable and difficult-to-break spatial formation, he, the pride of the Xiao clan and a dignified five-star Dou Sheng expert, wouldn't have been trapped in this demonic fire space for thousands of years, only to be rescued by Xiao Xuan not long ago.
It was precisely because he had personally experienced such dire circumstances that he understood better than anyone the terrifying dangers of facing the Pure Lotus Demon Flame alone.
"Don't worry, this kid's strength is far more than you think."
Xiao Xuan stroked his beard and chuckled, his face full of confidence, his eyes filled with absolute trust in Xiao Ling.
"Subduing the Pure Lotus Demon Flame was his main plan for this trip."
Xiao Xuan gazed into the depths of space and spoke softly.
"As elders, we should just observe from the sidelines and only step in when absolutely necessary. For now, let him take the plunge."
Although he said that, Xiao Xuan didn't think Xiao Ling would encounter any danger at all. After all, he had personally witnessed Xiao Ling's true combat power.
Although the Pure Lotus Demon Flame is strong, it is currently only at the peak of the five-star Dou Sheng level. With the help of the advantageous terrain of the Demon Flame Space, its methods are unpredictable and its combat power is comparable to that of a six-star Dou Sheng. It is indeed not to be underestimated.
However, Xiao Ling could easily defeat an eight-star Dou Sheng with his spiritual power alone, and even fight a nine-star Dou Sheng head-on. Dealing with the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame would be more than enough for him. Not to mention the danger, in Xiao Xuan's opinion, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame might not even last three moves. (End of this chapter)