Zhu Fen and Zhu Zai immediately turned into two streaks of scarlet light and rushed into the volcanic lake, diving into the magma deep underground.
The elegant man from the “divine wutong tree” did not stop them. He even ignored their furious and resentful gazes. Instead, his gaze landed on Li Qingshan; he felt a hint of intimacy. He could not help but become intrigued, pausing on Li Qingshan for a little longer.
Without any hesitation, Li Qingshan flapped his wings and dove down in pursuit.
The elegant man produced a gentle gasp of surprise. The wings were not just intimate anymore. He could not be any more familiar with them. “Hold on…”
Li Qingshan brushed past him, too busy to befriend this “divine wutong tree”. Such a great opportunity had presented itself for once, so he had to kill Zhu Fen and Zhu Zai for good, just in case it led to endless future problems.
Swimming through the boiling lake water and plunging head-first into the scorching magma, a fiery-red world unfolded before his eyes. His eyes narrowed, having locked onto Zhu Fen and Zhu Zai’s aura already.
“King Fen, he’s coming. Should we…” Zhu Zai made a gesture to kill with a face filled with viciousness.
“We’re heavily poisoned. Let’s not become entangled with him. Keep diving down!” Zhu Fen said as he dove deeper into the magma. Zhu Zai could only give up on that idea.
Li Qingshan did not want to directly clash with them either, or it was very likely for him to die with them. When the hunter chased down injured prey, the emphasis was on “chasing down”, to give the prey no time to rest or recover, so their wounds constantly bled until they became utterly exhausted. Currently, he played the exact role of hunter. He could not give the two of them any opportunity to catch their breaths, to eliminate or suppress the poison within their bodies. He had to chase them until they died from the poison.
In the turbulent sea of magma, the two fire devourers fled as he pursued, rapidly diving deeper.
Even in the sea abyss, there had been tremendous pressure, let alone now when they were in the heavy magma. The pressure would multiply every three meters they sank.
Gradually, large burns began appearing on Li Qingshan. Even when he possessed a fraction of the phoenix’s bloodline, he struggled to hold back the fire poison. The flames burned his body, causing him indescribable agony. However, his gaze did not waver at all, as he believed that Zhu Yan and Zhu Fen were suffering too.
“King Fen, he’s still right behind us! He wants us to die!” Zhu Zai’s lips turned green as she ground her teeth. She was riddled with wounds that were similar to Li Qingshan’s. Even as natural spirits of fire, there was a limit to their resistance, and up until now, she had yet to find an opportunity to purge the poison. She had just been using the environment of the magma to suppress it.
“Keep going down. I’d like to see how much longer he can follow us for!” Zhu Fen said furiously.
Li Qingshan pursued relentlessly. Even when his skin was burnt, his flesh was cooked, his eyes were reduced to two sunken holes, and his consciousness blurred, he refused to give up.
After who knew how long, the world seemed to vanish. All that remained were the escapees and the chaser, struggling as they trudged through the endless sea of magma. They had already slowed down to the same speed as mortals, basically shifting forwards slowly through the magma.
This was no longer due to the heavy weight of the magma alone anymore, but also because of the underground magnetic field. All techniques had been rendered useless, and even Li Qingshan’s innate abilities began losing their effects. He held on through his body and willpower alone.
The invisible force even seemed to be trying to shatter and disintegrate his soul!
“King Fen… I can’t last any longer… You go!”
Zhu Fen stopped. She could sense her body was already on the brink of collapse, ready to be crushed by the magma, disintegrated by the underground magnetic field, and devoured by the poison at any moment.
“Don’t give in… We have to survive… for revenge!” Zhu Fen’s situation was only slightly better than hers. Even his message was all broken up. He was extremely feeble.
“This kid… really is anything but ordinary… When you… avenge us… you have to be careful… As long as one still remains… the fire devourers… aren’t extinct!” Zhu Zai handed the Fire Tablet of Earth to Zhu Fen with a lot of difficulty. “Go… I’ll… stop him!”
Zhu Fen was overcome with utter fury and hatred. He gripped the Fire Tablet of Earth firmly and left resolutely without even looking back. If he did not purge the poison as quickly as possible, then the fire devourers would truly go extinct.
Li Qingshan also stopped, confronting Zhu Zai from afar. A while later, he suddenly turned around and rose up as quickly as he could.
Zhu Zai remained standing there, without budging at all, just like a statue. She was frozen in this sea of magma.
In the distance, an earth bubble burst. By the time the shockwave reached here, it had already been reduced to a weak ripple, but her body silently shattered, only leaving behind a heart. The flames and the underground magnetic field purged the poison. Finally, the heart became bright-red like fire before melding away into the sea of fire.
Fire Melt mountain suddenly fell quiet following the battle. After the storm had passed by, the sky became an unbelievable azure-blue, so clear that it seemed like it had just been washed.
Gong Yuan and the others gathered on the main peak again, overcome with a multitude of emotions. For a moment, they all said nothing.
Although they all knew the battle would be intense, only when they went through it personally did they truly understand. They all stood at the apex of the nine provinces in terms of cultivation, but when they became involved in a great battle like this, they had almost lost their lives. At a time like this, they all felt like lucky survivors.
Compared to this, the clashes between the South Sea Sword pavilion and the Myriad Poison cult can really only be considered as small bickerings. Ye Duanhai felt slightly emotional inside. He could not help but reconsider whether to board the King of Southern Yue’s war chariot or not. Once the two provinces waged war, the scale would definitely be even larger than this.
“Master.” Yu Wufeng made his way over and bowed towards Ye Duanhai. His clothes were burned and in tatters, and the Fogbow sword in his hand had melted and twisted.
“As long as you’re fine!” Ye Duanhai revealed a hint of a smile for once.
“It’s all thanks to the Sea-splitting sword qi that you planted in me, master, that I was able to survive. It’s a pity that the Fogbow sword has been destroyed,” Yu Wufeng said regretfully.
Even when he thought about it now, it still left him shaken. When they attacked the main peak from the north, they experienced a counterattack from the formation, and only that one time too. The counterattack had been carried out rather hurriedly and casually, like shooing away some annoying flies.
However, it was exactly that counterattack that claimed the lives of six cave masters. They had all been reduced to ash immediately. Let alone escape, they almost did not even have the opportunity to react.
The formation around the main peak had always been capable of both offence and defence, and its offensive power was extremely great. However, it had to keep its powers focused when it was faced with the powerful attacks of the three Merfolk Kings, only able to defend one-sidedly.
However, killing these cave masters was relatively easy, but it was very evident that the three Fire Devouring Kings were not particularly interested in killing them. Just chasing them away was enough. They still had to devote their efforts to the main battle. If they had fought back another one or two times with the formation, all ten cave masters would have died there.
“As long as you’re still around. Swords can be reforged. Go meditate and purge the fire poison. Be sure to not leave behind too many future problems.”
“Yes. Wufeng takes his leave!” Yu Wufeng bowed and took his leave, but he could not help but glance at the crater of the volcano, as well as the elegant man in silent thought under the divine wutong tree and the Fire Tablet of Man he fiddled around with in his hand.
Gong Yuan and the others were originally supposed to return to the South sea immediately. The reason why they remained behind was to wait for Li Qingshan to return. Without him, it would have been almost impossible for them to emerge victoriously. His strength went without saying, and Ye Duanhai and the Myriad Poison Ancestor had both come because of him. The Divine Nun of the South Sea had fought due to the good graces of Xiao An. Without the support of these three great cultivators, they would have been digging their graves if they came to Fire Melt mountain. Now that the battle was over, they obviously could not leave like that.
Ji Changfeng’s face was filled with the joy of getting revenge, but he was also rather worried. “Surely nothing will happen to the King of Savages, right?”
“Don’t worry. His life is very tough.” Gong Yuan stared straight at the bubbling volcanic lake below. From the corner of her eye, she was fixated on the divine wutong tree. A short moment earlier, she had also wanted to take down Fire Melt mountain and chop down the divine wutong tree, but now, she felt relieved. Fortunately, the divine wutong tree did not stand on the fire devourers’ side, or they really would be in danger of total annihilation this time.
It was not because of her carelessness. The divine wutong tree just had absolutely no sense of presence at all. He was not even a part of the Seventy-two Daemon Kings of the past. It was as if he had devoted himself entirely to being a tree, a spiritual plant without any self-consciousness at all, to serve as the phoenix’s nest.
And because of the strength and viciousness he had demonstrated earlier, no one dared to go up and talk to him.
The volcanic crater sprayed with white steam. Under the sunny sky, it was like a lone dragon, soaring into the distant, clear sky. As it seemed, the volcanic lake would vanish before long and turn back into a lake of magma. Following the phoenix and the fire devourers, would he become the new master of this place?
Gong Yuan thought about that when she heard a splash. A figure flew out from the volcanic lake. Apart from the wings on his back that were as magnificent as before and the horns on his head that were sharp like hooks, he was covered in horrific burn wounds.
“Amitābha. Blessed by the buddha,” the Divine Nun of the South Sea uttered the buddha’s name, while Ji Changfeng smiled. “Sure enough, the heaven rewards the good.”
“I’d be surprised if he died.” Gong Yuan asked loudly, “Little Li the second, did you stop them?”
“I stopped one of them. It’s a pity that I let Zhu Fen get away.” Li Qingshan smiled. He was about to fly over to heal when a figure suddenly flashed before him, gripping him by the wrist. “Are you called Li Qingshan?”
“That’s correct. Is there something you wish to advise me about, fellow?”
“I wouldn’t dare to call it advice. I am Feng Xiwu. I do have something small that I’d like to request of you.”
Note: Feng Xiwu’s name is quite interesting. The first word, so the surname, “feng”, means phoenix. The second word, “xi”, means to perch or to roost. The last word, “wu”, is the same wu in wutong. In other words, his name means “The wu(tong) where the phoenix roosts”.
Feng Xiwu released Li Qingshan’s hand and tidied his clothes, bowing towards Li Qingshan. His appearance and gestures were noble and refined, utterly immaculate, but it also made him give off a cold, distant feeling. He seemed very proud and thus a little haughty.
Li Qingshan could sense that he behaved like this because of the haughtiness and aloofness in his nature, not because of any other reason. “Then… what’s your request, fellow?”
“Do you have the bloodline of the phoenix?”
“A little bit.”
“Very good.” Feng Xiwu smiled.
“You’ve defeated the fire devourers. Are you planning on occupying these mountains for cultivation?”
“That’s correct!”
“I have an important duty to hand over to you!”
“Huh?” Li Qingshan was surprised. They seemed to have just met. He never realised this “divine wutong tree” was so friendly and easygoing. Originally, he was still thinking of how he would befriend this “divine wutong tree” and hopefully obtain the phoenix’s legacy as well, but he never expected everything to unfold so smoothly.
“However, the sense of vulgarity about you is a little too heavy. Perhaps you’re not qualified.” Feng Xiwu furrowed his eyebrows slightly and studied Li Qingshan in a picky manner.
“I haven’t even agreed to it yet!”
“So be it. The bloodline of the phoenix is far too difficult to find. I can only make ends meet given the current situation,” Feng Xiwu let out a long sigh.
“Did you hear what I said?” Li Qingshan yelled.
“Go deal with them first. We’ll talk in detail later!” Feng Xiwu turned around and made his way towards the wutong tree, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
