Chapter 599: Endless Lava
The scorching hot air above the Death Sea was even more terrifying than the Xuan flame released by an ordinary Overlord Emperor at full power. The fire spirits roaming above all exuded the aura of the Overlord Xuan Realm. It was said that deep within the Death Sea, fire spirits of the Lord Xuan Realm were nurtured.
Watching helplessly as Yun Che and Xiao Yaohou fell into the Death Sea, their figures came to a stop. Ming Wang waved his long sleeve, bringing Huai Wang through space, retreating from above the Death Sea to its edge almost in an instant. Because if they stayed too long, even as strong as Huai Wang, it would be hard to bear.
"Hmph! Letting them die like this... it's too good for them!" Falling into the Death Sea was already certain death, absolutely without even the slightest chance of survival. Because even his father, Ming Wang, if he fell into it, would be melted to ashes within ten breaths at most. But Huai Wang did not feel much satisfaction; instead, he gnashed his teeth in unwillingness!
"When you failed to kill them just now, I already knew they would choose this kind of death," Ming Wang said indifferently.
"It is your son's incompetence," Huai Wang bowed his head.
"Forget it." Ming Wang's eyes stared coldly at the eternally boiling Death Sea, then he slowly sneered: "Today's grand ceremony ended in total defeat, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise! The return of the Demon Emperor Seal made Xiao Yaohou gift-wrap an opportunity for us to kill her! Yun Che's intrusion was an extra bonus! Dying in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, perishing in the Death Sea, without leaving a single trace behind. Even if he really had a powerful master or a powerful force behind him, they will never be able to trace it back to us."
"This is heaven's will... heaven blesses our clan!"
"That's right, it's all heaven's will!" Huai Wang laughed loudly: "With Xiao Yaohou dead, there is no longer any bloodline of the Demon Emperor in this world! From now on, this Huan Yao Realm will be our world! Congratulations, Father King... no, congratulations to our clan for finally following heaven's will and getting what we wished, from now on holding the Huan Yao Realm in one hand!"
"Don't celebrate too early," Ming Wang said slowly. "The death of Xiao Yaohou is merely the end of the Demon Emperor's era. Your path to becoming emperor still has many stumbling blocks! Those Guardian Clans and prince mansions that are loyal to the Demon Emperor Clan to the death are all great obstacles. Especially the Yun and Mu clans. According to what Yun Che said earlier, they have already suspected my existence."
"Father, rest assured." Huai Wang looked confident: "When Xiao Yaohou was alive, they were suppressed so much that they didn't even dare to act rashly. Now that Xiao Yaohou is dead, they have lost their backbone and are even more scattered like a heap of sand. They might even fall over each other to pledge allegiance to our Huai Manor... As for obstacles worth worrying about, humph, with a revived Yun Qinghong, he won't amount to much!"
Ming Wang was expressionless, nodding slowly: "I, your father, still cannot show my face in the short term. The path has been smoothly paved. How to kick away the final stumbling blocks depends on you. If you can't even do this..."
"I will not let Father down!" Huai Wang interrupted, full of pride and resolute.
At this moment, Ming Wang suddenly turned around, indifferently looking south, and said in a low voice: "The people from the Yun and Mu families have already entered... twelve in total. Hmph, sufficient lineup, but unfortunately, too late!"
"What do we do now? Avoid them?" Huai Wang asked, with no hint of surprise or panic in his expression.
"No need." Ming Wang raised his arm, holding up the Demon Emperor Seal: "Do you know why, when I was absolutely certain to put Xiao Yaohou to death, I still went through the trouble of snatching this Demon Emperor Seal?"
Huai Wang answered: "Father has said that when a person of the Demon Emperor Clan carries the Demon Emperor Seal, if they encounter life-threatening danger, the Demon Emperor Seal will automatically drink the Demon Emperor's blood to activate a blood escape. And this blood escape power can make one escape outside the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley... Additionally, if Xiao Yaohou found an opportunity to escape to the location where she entered the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, she could use the Demon Emperor Seal to directly leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley..."
When he said this, Huai Wang suddenly had a realization: "Father, could it be that..."
"Correct." Ming Wang grabbed the Demon Emperor Seal: "To use it to leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley requires the Demon Emperor bloodline. But the Little Demon Emperor's memories clearly record that royal clan members with diluted Demon Emperor bloodline can also do it! It just requires a bit more blood."
"However, this secret is now known only to us father and son in this world. The common understanding is that to leave this Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, one must wait for the seal to regenerate and then be forcibly expelled. Aside from that, there is no other way!"
"Since that is the case, we father and son will directly leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley using the Demon Emperor Seal. Afterwards, when you appear at Yao Huang City, everyone will know that you were never inside the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley during this time! After the news of Xiao Yaohou's disappearance in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley spreads, if the Yun and Mu families dare to target you, you can use this to silence them, or even turn the tables on them!"
Huai Wang's eyes suddenly lit up; he could almost already see the extremely ugly expression on Yun Qinghong's face at that moment: "Father King is wise!"
"Wait for half an hour." Ming Wang's gaze returned to the Death Sea, speaking indifferently.
Huai Wang was startled: "Could it be that Father is worried... But falling into the Death Sea, there is absolutely no possibility of survival. Even Father..."
"Hmph!" Ming Wang gave a light snort. "That Yun Che has many strange things about him. Even with your full force, you couldn't kill him, making me feel that this person cannot be judged by common sense... it even gave me a momentary sense of crisis!"
"Even if Xiao Yaohou doesn't die, he must die!" Ming Wang said coldly. "This Death Sea is the Golden Crow lava that has churned for ten thousand years! Even a legendary Xuan God, falling into it, absolutely could not last a quarter of an hour! I will wait for half an hour!"
"Consider it a reward for being able to give me a momentary sense of crisis!"
"Yes." Although he felt that Ming Wang's caution was too exaggerated, even absurd, Huai Wang did not dare to disobey. And half an hour's time was still far from enough for the Yun and Mu families, who had entered the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, to arrive at this place.
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Falling into the Death Sea, the only result was turning to ashes—no matter who.
Xiao Yaohou closed her eyes... Disappearing in the Death Sea was at least far better than dying at the hands of Ming Wang and Huai Wang. But this sky-covering hatred was destined to never be avenged. Even the truth would forever remain unknown. Even the entire Huan Yao Realm would fall into the hands of the Huai Manor.
She had endless unwillingness, but at this moment, she was incomparably calm. She didn't know if it was because death was so near, or... because of the man beside her who was tightly embracing her.
She felt her body completely submerge into the rolling lava. Scorching heat surged from all directions, and more terrifying than the heat was the aura of death. But as time passed breath by breath, she did not feel her life fading, did not lose consciousness. The sensation of sinking was exceptionally clear. The scorching heat around her always existed, but it never became intense. Even with her heavily injured body, she could fully bear it.
Xiao Yaohou opened her eyes in confusion, only to find a pair of bright eyes looking at her.
Yun Che grinned. "Heh... you... didn't... think... you were... already... dead?"
In her sight, besides Yun Che... there was only a deep blood-red color! No matter front, back, above, below... it was all slowly rolling lava!! They were in a world of lava, but these lavas were not touching their bodies. Around them, there was a layer of crimson flame about one zhang in diameter. This layer of crimson flame was very thin, yet it completely isolated the endless lava around... even the scorching heat of the lava was greatly isolated!
How terrifying the lava of the Death Sea was, how could Xiao Yaohou not know. Even if it was said to be the most terrifying thing in the world, no one in the Huan Yao Realm would deny it. Isolating lava in the Death Sea... not to mention her, even if her father were reborn, it would be absolutely impossible. But that layer of flame... the crimson flame from Yun Che, had done it.
"What... is this?" Xiao Yaohou's voice was dreamlike, still unable to believe her eyes.
Yun Che gritted his teeth tightly. He possessed the Evil God's power; even if the lava of the Death Sea were ten times more terrifying, it couldn't harm him. But he had to use all his strength to isolate the lava and the terrible heat to protect Xiao Yaohou. Although he had unparalleled fire control ability, this was after all the Golden Crow fire from a divine spirit, and the surrounding lava stretched for thousands of miles, ceaselessly; achieving complete isolation was no easy task.
Even the few short words Yun Che said to Xiao Yaohou were extremely taxing. Faced with Xiao Yaohou's question, he was already too weak to explain, but gritted his teeth and said with difficulty: "I don't know... how long... this state can last... Ming Wang's temperament is much more cautious than Huai Wang's... now... he must still be waiting outside... so we cannot leave... for a short time..."
"Right now... I cannot spare attention to care for you... if you want to personally kill Ming Wang for revenge... then desperately hold onto your vital energy... at least until I can't hold on... you absolutely must not die!"
With the life vein severed, an ordinary person would have long since died. Even an Overlord Emperor, with his life vein severed, could at most linger on for a few hours before dying a violent death. An Emperor Lord with his life vein severed is also certainly doomed, but if he supports with all his might, with a Xuan body far beyond ordinary humans and powerful Xuan power, he might live for several more days, or even ten-odd days!
"…………" Xiao Yaohou stared blankly at Yun Che, looked for a long while. When she closed her eyes, the word "death" had completely vanished from her mind, replaced by a strong, deeply complex, emotionally charged will to live. She no longer perceived the surrounding environment, forgetting where she was. All her remaining Xuan power was mobilized, all used to lock in her last life vitality... She had to live, if not for revenge, then for the hope that Yun Che had fought with everything to obtain for her.
"You idiot, why haven't you activated the Great Dao Pagoda Art immediately!" Mo Li said somewhat exasperatedly. "This lava environment, the activity level of elements is no less than the spatial storms of the Primordial Mystic Ark! With the Great Dao Pagoda Art, every breath you absorb the power of heaven and earth here will be dozens of times that of the outside! Not only will it allow your injuries to heal quickly, but your recovery ability will far exceed consumption... and you're still doubting how long you can hold out!"
"Of course you can hold out as long as you want!"
Yun Che's eyes widened... when he realized, he almost wanted to slap himself... He had been thinking too much under Ming Wang's shadow, and actually overlooked that this Death Sea was an extreme elemental environment! Back then in the extreme spatial environment of the Primordial Mystic Ark, his Great Dao Pagoda Art absorbed dozens of times the power of heaven and earth, allowing his body, which was being wantonly destroyed by spatial storms, to remain undying... here of course it could even more so!!
Yun Che briefly focused his mind, and a pale golden pagoda appeared spinning above his head. Instantly, pure heaven and earth energy like a stream slowly poured into his body... and in just one breath, this stream had swollen into a torrent, surging toward his entire body with an almost maddening intensity... Yun Che's mind instantly became clear, the fatigue in his body rapidly diminished, external injuries healed at a visible speed, and even his severed meridians were healing at a speed that ordinary people simply could not believe.