Li Qingshan could not help but recall what the Great Banyan Tree King had said, Even if you gather everyone’s power, the possibility of taking down Fire Melt mountain is almost non-existent, unless you completely infuriate the fire devourers and make them give up their natural geographic advantage to fight you elsewhere.
He did not take that too seriously back then. Having gathered so many powerful cultivators, coupled with his combined efforts with Gong Yuan, why would they be unable to take down a mere Fire Melt mountain?
Only now did he realise that the Great Banyan Tree King was right. He had still ended up underestimating the power of the Divine Fire tablets. These were divine heirlooms passed down from the ancient times. Once they unleashed their power with a geographic advantage like Fire Melt mountain, it was enough to strike despair into the hearts of people.
The three Fire Devouring Kings said nothing at all, doing their best to recover a bit of strength. However, their hearts leapt with the flames of delight and revenge, silently waiting for an opportunity. Once they completely erupted, they would definitely be able to incinerate all enemies.
At this moment, the glorious light suddenly arrived. Over their head was a circular, azure-blue sky while drizzle continued to drift through the air. A rainbow crossed through the sky, so dazzling that no one could look at it directly, but it cast a shadow in everyone’s heart.
Fire Melt mountain was still standing, like a single flame in the ocean that would never extinguish. In the centre of the fire, a wutong tree extended its branches with vigour.
“If you want to retreat, do it now!” Ye Duanhai said. He had already used his full strength and upheld his promise to Li Qingshan. Even to a great sword cultivator like him, it was no longer possible for them to emerge victoriously from this battle.
“Sensibly said, fellow Ye.” The Divine Nun of the South Sea expressed her agreement.
“The divine nun is wrong! We still haven’t lost yet!”
“Granny” suddenly stopped the technique, and the flood immediately collapsed, having lost its support. The Merfolk Kings to the left and right gazed at her in surprise. They seemed to realise something, making them frown heavily.
“Even the fire devourers have the courage to perish with their enemies. Does that necessarily mean the Merfolk don’t?”
“Granny” took off her sumeru ring and tossed it into the air gently.
“Granny!” Gong Yan caught the sumeru ring, and her expression changed.
“Yuan’er, I’ve often told you to think for the clansmen, to think for the bigger picture. You’ve always found it very annoying, thinking that I’m boasting.” After a slight pause, she said, “Actually, I’m not.”
With that, “granny” threw herself towards Fire Melt mountain, casting aside all her worries and pressing forward in an unstoppable manner.
The main peak of Fire Melt mountain filled her face. She revealed a smile.
“Quick! Stop her!” Zhu Yan’s expression changed drastically as he called out.
However, it was already too late. Her slightly hunched-over figure produced a ring of blinding, blue light, even outshining the resplendent sunlight.
A very long time seemed to pass before the rumble arrived, shaking up the world!
The terrifying force slammed against the main peak, like the countless impacts of the flood cascaded together. The formation that had only just stabilised lasted for a mere moment before shattering. The explosion even swallowed a part of the mountain, revealing a huge gap.
This was the force of a king detonating several thousand years of cultivation in a single instant!
“Amitābha,” the Divine Nun of the South Sea uttered the buddha’s name.
Under the shine of the sun, within the tranquil eye of the storm, the main peak of Fire Melt mountain where the royal court of the fire devourers stood was exposed before everyone for the first time.
A moment of peace appeared on the battlefield…
“Granny,” Gong Yuan murmured. She had never imagined she would have such resolve either. After all, Merfolk were not violent and belligerent like fire devourers. Having reached her level of cultivation, she only valued her life even more. She would never consider something like that unless she was in dire straits, all just for the sake of her pursuit of longevity.
Even if Gong Yuan had thought of something like that to take down Fire Melt mountain, she would never do it. The greater good was important, but it was not necessarily more important than the path of longevity. This was something that everyone remained honest to.
Even the three Fire Devouring Kings had never imagined that “granny” would do something like this, which was why they had not guarded against it. Even if they did guard against it, it would be absolutely useless. It was not like the mountain could grow legs and run away. They were powerless over such a move.
The storm moved extremely quickly. The eye of the storm only remained there for a short moment, and the torrential rain arrived once more, pouring into the crater of the volcano.
Without any hesitation, Li Qingshan immediately rushed towards the crater with his blade in hand. The magnificent palace carved from fiery-red crystal and the obvious, serene divine wutong tree appeared before his eyes once more.
Gong Yuan followed close behind, while Ji Changfeng, Ye Duanhai, the Myriad Poison Ancestor, and even the Divine Nun of the South Sea appeared directly above the crater, forming an encirclement. The two other Merfolk Kings used the last bit of strength left in them to usher the water, pouring it straight into the crater.
The flood rushed into the crater, destroying buildings upon buildings. White steam hissed and rose when it came into contact with the scorching magma. However, the wind and rain was persistent, and the water was endless, forcefully suppressing even the flames of the earth.
To a very great extent, the “geographic advantage” came from using the power of formations, which allowed them to fend off the enemy with ease and rapidly recover their strength. Once the formation fell, half of their geographic advantage immediately vanished. Coupled with the suppression from the storm and the pouring water, their advantage virtually vanished.
The three Fire Devouring Kings were astounded. In such a short amount of time, they had not even recovered thirty percent of their strength, and they had now lost their geographic advantage on top of that. Even with the Divine Fire tablets in hand, they could not withstand such an encirclement. Even if Li Qingshan and the others were even more exhausted than them, their tremendous advantage in numbers was enough to make up for their disadvantage.
Seeing the situation, Li Qingshan was in no hurry to strike either. He waited for a volcanic lake to form first. Their side possessed the advantage now, so there was no reason for them to be in such a hurry. However, his eyebrows remained furrowed. They did not relax.
Now, it was up to how the three Fire Devouring Kings would respond. If they chose to fight, then the end result would definitely be mutual destruction, an attempt to drag everyone down with them. Unless they completely refused to face them in battle, no one was confident enough to escape from this alive.
The other choice was to flee. Whether it was opening a Gate of Divine Fire or directly diving into the depths of the magma, it would all be difficult to stop. Gong Yuan no longer possessed the strength to cast the Icebound Domain and seal off this region of space anymore.
They had won this battle, but it had been much more difficult than they had ever imagined, and the end result would either be almost death or endless future problems.
It was no wonder the King of Yue built a Silver Dragon King. Something like sieging a mountain really was not a job for humans. They had so many powerful cultivators working together and had even lost one during the process, yet it had even almost ended in failure. Even if they achieved victory, they had no idea whether it would be a brutal one or if they would let the enemy get away.
The three fire devourers glanced at one another and countless thoughts crossed through their minds in that instant. What they were thinking about was these two exact situations. However, they discovered in sorrow that regardless of their choice, the fire devourers would struggle to escape the fate of annihilation. Even if they escaped, only the three of them could get out of here alive.
The rain poured heavily, and the water level constantly rose, swallowing the pavilions, buildings, and towering halls. All that remained was the divine wutong tree emitting a red glow, holding off the rain and flood.
The thick clouds seemed to weigh on the peak of the mountain. The fierce winds whistled, and the lightning criss-crossed. Everything before their eyes seemed like the end of the world.
“Kings, go! Avenge us!” The great shaman priest threw himself on the ground before the divine wutong tree. There were no tears in his eyes, only flames.
The three Fire Devouring Kings raised their heads and looked around. The pairs of fiery-red eyes gazed at them. There was no blame or hatred in them. All of the remaining fire devourers stood in the rain, refusing to set foot in this holy land even in their final moments.
“Go?” Zhu Fen laughed. Zhu Zai laughed as well. Zhu Yan said, “Don’t worry, we’ll avenge you right now!”
“Kings!” the great shaman priest cried out, and the fire devourers all became sombre, but none of them said anything to convince them otherwise.
“There are only fire devourers that die in battle! There are no fire devourers that flee from home!” the three Fire Devouring Kings said at the same time. They brought the tips of their Divine Fire tablets together and rose up into the air slowly. They were not fast, but they possessed an insurmountable pressure. It was even greater than at the beginning of the battle, when the giant god of fire stood on the Fire Dragon of the Land and rushed out of the sea of flames.
It was a symbolic and sombre gesture, to perish with the enemy!
Ji Changfeng and Ye Duanhai immediately prepared themselves to pull back, not because their hatred was not deep enough or their courage was insufficient. There were no cultivators that did not treasure their lives, let alone cultivators like them who had reached their current realm of cultivation. It had just been far too difficult. They could die in battle against their enemies and foes, but they refused to be dragged down by others and die a pointless death.
The Divine Nun of the South Sea directly retreated to five kilometers away, returning to Xiao An’s side and grabbing her hand.
Li Qingshan let out a deep sigh. “You’ll be fooled if that’s what you do!”
The three fire devourers possessed the resolve to perish with their enemies, but they would not mindlessly rush over and blow themselves up. Instead, they wanted to use this method to pressure them bit by bit. A great scheme was hiding behind it all. Once their encirclement collapsed, they might even be in danger of being defeated one by one.
They clearly knew their scheme, but everyone, including Li Qingshan, had to back away. They did not dare to not back away!
If they did not back away, then that would be exactly what the three fire devourers wished for. They would pour their strength together and blow themselves up at the same time. Anyone caught up in it, no matter who, would die.
The three fire devourers continued to rise. Even when they intentionally maintained a slow speed, they crossed over three thousand meters in only a few seconds.
“What do we do?” Gong Yuan asked Li Qingshan beside her in an almost instinctive manner.
At that moment, only he remained standing firmly with absolutely no intentions of backing away.
“Kill them!”
Li Qingshan stood with his arms crossed and glanced at the Myriad Poison Ancestor. A hint of struggle appeared on the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s face, but under Li Qingshan’s gaze, it was immediately subdued. After breaking through to the fifth layer of the tiger demon, the Nightmare Tiger’s Demonic Eye had become much stronger too.
On the side, Gong Yan had noticed it too. She found that his gaze had become cold and desolate, filled with supreme dignity, actually even making her feel a hint of fear. She could not help but take a step back, rejecting it instinctively. Compared to the Li Qingshan right now, even the normal Li Qingshan who forced a kiss on her while she was vulnerable seemed much cuter.
That was truly looking down on everything, true mercilessness and heartlessness!
The world was large, but only he alone existed. He even treated himself as a mortal enemy, so he slaughtered everything and fought the very world.
With a flash of green light, the Myriad Poison Ancestor flew down, which made the three fire devourers beam with joy. The injured Myriad Poison Ancestor was not their opponent at all. Without any support from anyone else, he might not necessarily be even able to withstand a single blow from them. Right when they were about to kill him with the Divine Fire tablets, a great sense of terror overcame them.
In the blink of an eye, the Myriad Poison Ancestor arrived before them. They were unable to describe whether his expression was indifferent or determined. Before they could even attack or dodge, a brutal green light had already filled their eyes.
Detonation of the soul nascence!
