Chapter 845: Brilliant Fire
Under the cover of Feng Xue'er's Phoenix Flame, the women of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and Xiao Yun and the others retreated at full speed. Amidst high-pitched cries that nearly tore the sky apart, the furious Xiao Yaohou unleashed hundreds of Golden Crow Blazing Flames, blasting Xuanyuan Wentian back for dozens of li. Ten thousand years of ice and snow in a vast surrounding area were mercilessly incinerated, and the entire sky was burned into a sheet of gold.
"Hahahahaha..." Standing amidst the sea of Golden Crow flames, Xuanyuan Wentian laughed arrogantly. Black aura coiled around his body, and the surrounding Golden Crow flames incinerated everything, yet they could not penetrate the black mist around him. "Do you see this? This is my current power! This is the legendary Golden Crow Divine Flame. Those trash like Huangji Wuyu were burned like bereaved dogs, but they couldn't harm me at all!"
"As expected of the power belonging to the Demon God!!"
"Xuanyuan Wentian!" Xiao Yaohou's golden eyes burned with deep-seated hatred. "My Illusion Demon Royal Clan had no enmity with you, yet for your own selfish desires, you killed my father, killed my royal brother... and nearly brought disaster upon the entire Illusion Demon Realm!"
"That traitor Ming Wang has been crippled by me, suffering daily the pain of a thousand cuts, unable to live or die, yet it still cannot vent the hatred in my heart. And you... today, even if I must fall into the Nine Nether Yellow Springs, I will take your bones with me!"
"Hahaha, what is that Ming Wang to be compared with me?" Xuanyuan Wentian laughed wildly. "Now, even if the Phoenix God of the Fenghuang God Sect were alive, they would have to bow in submission. You want to kill me... that's just wishful thinking!"
The black aura on Xuanyuan Wentian's body burst forth, expanding into a gigantic dark demon shadow that almost blotted out the sky. In an instant, the sky turned completely dark, all light between heaven and earth was swallowed. Above, black clouds roiled as if from the demon realm; at a glance, it looked like doomsday had arrived.
"I already possess the strongest Demon God power in the world. Even the Golden Crow Divine Flame can only tremble before me! Hahahahaha..."
Xuanyuan Wentian's laughter shook the heavens. In his wild laughter, all the black clouds and mists, as if swept by a hurricane, struck toward Xiao Yaohou with rolling thunder. From afar, it looked like a black sun descending upon the world, devouring the ant-like Xiao Yaohou.
Xiao Yaohou's expression was terrifyingly calm. Behind her, a shadow of Golden Crow flame shot into the sky, instantly sweeping up a vast sea of crimson-gold fire, re-illuminating the darkened sky into a dazzling gold.
The Golden Crow flame shadow let out a long cry, suddenly accelerating. Like a golden blade, it fiercely cut into the black mist, violently tearing apart the surging dark clouds. Behind it, the Golden Crow Blazing Flame, carrying heaven-burning power, charged into the black clouds, burning wantonly.
Boom boom boom boom...
The darkness and gloom brought by the black clouds were devoured by the flames, and the flames were also dyed black. Heaven and earth completely changed color. The Ice Extreme Snow Domain trembled. The void, like fragile ice crystals, was burned through layer by layer, collapsing in large areas.
"Oh? You actually blocked my Demon God power?" A trace of surprise flashed in Xuanyuan Wentian's eyes, but he immediately laughed wildly again. "Hahaha... not bad. You have indeed barely stepped into the divine path. But a mere mortal like you, how can you compare with me, who has become a Demon God!"
Xuanyuan Wentian changed his hand gestures, striking out repeatedly. In an instant, he unleashed thousands of dark profound seals, all blasting into the black mist. Instantly, the sky-covering black mist twisted, emitting demonic roars, and violently pressed down onto the boiling Golden Crow sea of fire.
The sky suddenly darkened sharply, and the Golden Crow flame was violently suppressed.
The pressure on Xiao Yaohou surged. Her long hair floated and swayed in the burning golden flame. Her rainbow-colored dress was also subdued in hue by the fire. Bathed in the golden flame, she was breathtakingly beautiful beyond description, yet carried an untouchable sacredness.
Her eyes closed gently, then snapped open. In that instant, a long, piercing cry drowned out all sounds in the world. Golden wings slowly spread behind her back... as if a true Golden Crow had suddenly awakened within her.
"Pur...gatory... Red... Lotus..."
She chanted softly. A crimson flame flower proudly bloomed in the dark sky.
"Aoooohhhh—"
The rampaging black mist paused for an instant under the Purgatory Red Lotus, then was mercilessly pierced by countless beams of flame light. Painful roars filled heaven and earth, like a frenzied magical beast pierced by ten thousand arrows.
"Waaahhhh..."
In the distance, almost all the Bing Yun maidens cried out in terror. They saw glaciers and ice rocks melting wildly, the ground sinking subtly. Though they were already far north of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, their bodies still burned as if about to catch fire.
"Don't panic! Immediately use the Ice Cloud Art to protect yourselves!" Murong Qianxue called out, forcing herself to stay calm. She looked back, and her face instantly turned pale.
In the southern sky, black clouds churned and seas of fire boiled... It was a terrifying scene she couldn't have even imagined. Even as it unfolded before her eyes, she couldn't believe it was caused by human power. But what made her heart tremble was...
"The Bing Yun Fairy Palace... has disappeared..."
As if her soul had been ripped away in an instant, she stopped in her tracks, staring blankly to the north...
"Senior Sister! You... ah!" Mu Lanyi, noticing Murong Qianxue had suddenly stopped, hurriedly ran up to pull her. But as soon as she called out three words, the rest of her sentence got stuck in her throat. She froze like stone, just like Murong Qianxue.
The women of Bing Yun Fairy Palace stopped one after another. They stared dazedly at the place where their palace once stood. In that moment, tears welled up in all their eyes, crystal teardrops sliding coldly down their snow-like faces.
"Our... Bing Yun Fairy Palace... has disappeared..." Murong Qianxue murmured, pain like a knife twisting in her heart.
With the catastrophic power generated by the battle between Xiao Yaohou and Xuanyuan Wentian, let alone one Bing Yun Fairy Palace, even a hundred would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
Feng Xue'er's eyes glistened with tears. She could feel their heart-wrenching pain and helplessness... because that was their home, the place they had devoted their lives to, yet it had vanished forever, never to return.
Feng Xue'er bit her lip, struggling to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. She said softly, "All you elders and sisters, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace has not disappeared. Only its outer shell has vanished... As long as we live, we can rebuild it anywhere. Moreover... moreover, the remains of the Bing Yun ancestors lie in a secret place over ten li underground; they must be unharmed. In their eternal sleep, they will watch over and bless us as we rebuild the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, even better than before."
Murong Qianxue turned around. She wiped away her tears and smiled gently at Feng Xue'er. "Snow Princess, thank you for your comfort. Rest assured, we have survived countless life-and-death tribulations. How could we be so easily defeated? You are right. What disappeared was merely its former shell. What we must do now is protect our Palace Master and protect ourselves... As long as we live, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace will never disappear."
"Lanyi, Lianqie, protect the Palace Master. Yueli, Hanyue, Hanxue, take care of the disciples with lower cultivation levels... No one is to look back! Hurry!"
Fleeing was the only thing they could do, and must do, at this moment.
Although they had already fled very far, the residual power waves coming from afar were still terrifying. Xiao Yun, Tianxia Diyi, and Tianxia Diqi did their best to protect Xiao Lie, Cang Yue, and Xiao Lingxi. Yun Che was held in Murong Qianxue's arms, with Jun Lianqie and Mu Lanyi also protecting him with all their might... because in Yun Che's current state, he could not withstand the slightest injury.
Feng Xue'er was at the very rear. When the excessively strong residual waves surged, she was the one who blocked them.
"Eh... why!? Impossible!"
Watching his own power being suppressed by the Golden Crow flame instead, the dark profound force he thought would easily swallow the Golden Crow flame being continuously incinerated and pierced, Xuanyuan Wentian's expression finally changed for the first time. This was the Demon God power he had obtained after countless twists and turns, even abandoning his original body! How could it be suppressed!
Ten days ago, while Fen Juechen was unconscious, the demon soul within the sword had urged his demonic blood to successfully activate the "Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice", devouring Xuanyuan Wentian's physical body and all his power, as well as absorbing his soul.
Although erasing Fen Juechen's soul had cost far more effort than he imagined, the final result was as perfect as expected. He had possessed Fen Juechen's body after it had devoured 'his own' former body, and then spent several days fusing the powers of Fen Juechen and Xuanyuan Wentian.
No, to be more precise, it was fusing the powers of Xuanyuan Wentian, Fen Juechen, and Ye Mufeng!
Because Fen Juechen had originally devoured Ye Mufeng's demon soul. All the power he had before his demon blood awakened came from Ye Mufeng, but even by the time he fought Xuanyuan Wentian, he still hadn't fully absorbed Ye Mufeng's power.
Xuanyuan Wentian's own strength was already at the peak. Now, having fused the powers of Fen Juechen and Ye Mufeng, and with the yet-fully-awakened demon blood flowing in his body, and the demon soul in the sword that could maximize the power of the demon blood, in the following days, he felt his power skyrocketing crazily every single day.
Surged to a level he, who had been a sacred lord for a thousand years, could not even imagine.
Though it was only ten days, and the power had not fully merged, and the demon blood was far from fully awakened, the incredibly powerful force within him made him utterly convinced that he was now unmatched by anyone... not even Xiao Yaohou, whose power in the Illusion Demon Realm had surged and seemed to have touched the divine path.
Therefore, when he found out that both Xiao Yaohou and Feng Xue'er were in the Ice Extreme Snow Domain, he personally came here.
Given Xuanyuan Wentian's original nature, he would never act without absolute certainty. This was evident from how he endured a thousand years for the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, insisting on waiting for the 'Thirteen Stars Align' day.
If it were the original Xuanyuan Wentian, he would have chosen to fully merge his power and awaken the demon blood before acting on his ambitions. But under the influence of the dark profound force on his temperament, just ten days after obtaining the Demon God power, he had already come impatiently.
He himself had clearly noticed this change in temperament, but instead of controlling it, he reveled in it.
"But even though he had overestimated Xiao Yaohou's strength, he still vastly underestimated her."
"I am now a Demon God... How could I possibly lose to a mere mortal!"
Xuanyuan Wentian's face twisted in rage. Black light swelled on his body, and dozens of pitch-black sword lights silently materialized behind him... Under the influence of the dark profound force, his originally colorless sword lights had also turned black.
The sinister sharpness instantly pricked Xiao Yaohou's spiritual senses. Her gaze shifted, and the sea of fire suddenly pressed down violently. The black light that had been wrestling with the flame for so long was torn apart like a black curtain. The vast sea of fire poured down over Xuanyuan Wentian's head.
"Wh... what!?"
Though he had been suppressed, Xuanyuan Wentian never expected his power to be suddenly torn apart. The sword lights that had not yet been shot were instantly swallowed by the sea of fire, and he himself was swept into the Golden Crow sea of flames.
"Aaaahhh!"
Xuanyuan Wentian let out an angry roar, opening a huge black barrier around his body to firmly isolate the Golden Crow flames. But in the next instant, he heard a long cry that made his soul tremble. A Golden Crow flame shadow trailing a long tail of fire pierced through layers of fire sea and struck his dark barrier.
Boom!!
A pillar of fire shot into the sky. The dark barrier blocked the golden flame shadow, but it was thinning rapidly. Xuanyuan Wentian's eyes widened in disbelief. Just as his eyes reached their widest, his dark barrier was forcefully melted through. The golden flame shadow violently slammed into his body, and the surrounding flames surged in, completely engulfing him in the sea of fire.
"Aaaah!"
Xuanyuan Wentian screamed in agony, his entire body engulfed by the Golden Crow flame, turning into a human torch and flying sideways with great force!
Boom!!
Xuanyuan Wentian shot straight to ten li away. The terrifying impact completely destroyed tens of li of ice. Xiao Yaohou appeared in a flash, her two jade hands waving lightly like dancing. One after another, Golden Crow fire lotuses, like falling golden meteors, mercilessly rained down on the deep pit that buried Xuanyuan Wentian.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom...