“Appraiser Lin has outstanding abilities after all,” praised Yan Shenjun in a more courteous tone than before. Then, as if he sensed something, he froze up.
A second later, he said, “Now is not the time to talk. Please come with me, Appraiser Lin. We shall talk elsewhere.”
He flung his sleeve and a gust of black wind swept up. This ability was much more profound than any wind manipulation skill Lin Jin had seen before.
They rose into the sky and sped toward the horizon.
Old Monster Xu detected something and left as well. Flames engulfed Inferno Monk’s kasaya again, and he too flew out.
“I never expected the Mystery Dao Sect to act so quickly. We’re not kidnapping their custodian disciple, why do they have to be so nervous?” complained Inferno Monk. He was aware of Lin Jin’s abduction from the Mystery Dao Sect.
Old Monster Xu responded, “You may not know this, Venerable One, but this Lin Jin is quite skilled and rumored to be able to treat their sect’s Qirin. If I were Miao Yan Zhenren, I’d give my all to rescue this Lin Jin too.
“I didn’t know that!” Inferno Monk was shocked. Then, he said, “Wouldn’t we have offended the Mystery Dao Sect this way? Miao Yan Zhenren would never give up so easily.”
“Keke!” Old Monster Xu cackled. “Venerable One, you’re afraid of offending the Mystery Dao Sect?”
He meant it as a compliment.
Sure enough, Inferno Monk laughed. “Miao Yan Zhenren may be strong but I don’t fear him. I, Inferno Monk, have always been a free soul and I do whatever I want. I’ve lost count of the many profound immortals I offended over the years. Adding Miao Yan Zhenren to the list makes no difference.”
“As expected of Master Inferno, I’m deeply impressed!”
Old Monster Xu did what he did best, bootlicking.
Shortly after Old Monster Xu and Inferno Monk left, a flash of light arrived at where they once stood before it took the shape of a human.
Outstanding as a sage and overflowing with immortal aura, it was the Mystery Dao Sect’s Miao Yan Zhenren.
“There are still remnants of their aura here! They’ve just left this place.” Miao Yan Zhenren’s brows furrowed tightly. He quickly found his direction and turned into a flash of light to pursue his targets.
Moments later, Inferno Monk and Old Monster suddenly tensed up, despite how much land they had covered.
Old Monster Xu wasn’t very strong so Inferno Monk immediately swung the crescent-edged shovel in his hand to send forth a fireball toward a certain direction.
Almost simultaneously, a Dharma voice called out, “Set!”
Boom!
Layers of golden thread appeared everywhere as if a spider web was falling from the sky. The barely visible thread formed a ring with a thousand-foot radius, trapping Inferno Monk and Old Monster Xu in the middle.
Old Monster Xu wasn’t strong enough so he couldn’t move at all; the only thing he could do was to wait for someone to save him. Boasting much stronger cultivation, Inferno Monk was only stunned for a moment before he struggled out of the web.
However, that was enough time for Miao Yan Zhenren to catch up to them.
It took mere seconds for Miao Yan Zhenren to reach them, and now, his robes and beard swayed in the air as his body glowed with golden light.
“M-Miao Yan Zhenren!” Old Monster Xu was still immobilized. Although he was one of the scarce few immortal physicians, he was only a half immortal. He couldn’t compare to a profound immortal like Miao Yan Zhenren at all. Only Inferno Monk could break free from Miao Yan Zhenren’s restriction spell.
Simply put, without Inferno Monk, Old Monster Xu couldn’t have withstood even one swing from Miao Yan Zhenren.
With a solemn look on his face, the flames on Inferno Monk’s kasaya burned fiercer. Strangely enough, Inferno Monk was unaffected by neither the heat nor the flames. Or rather, he was already immune to it.
Miao Yan Zhenren froze at the sight of Inferno Monk before a look of surprise came over him.
“You’re Inferno Monk of the Flowing Fire Temple?” asked, Miao Yan Zhenren, to which Inferno Monk laughed in response.
“I didn’t think Miao Yan Zhenren would know an old monk like me.”
Miao Yan Zhenren’s expression dimmed. “The Flowing Fire Temple is also an immortal sect, and you are a fire attribute profound immortal. Abducting the guest of other sects is a despicable act so why have you committed such a wicked deed?”
Inferno Monk lashed out upon hearing this, “What a load of bull! What immortal sect? Did they all not crumble and die in the end? Besides an immortal like yourself, who else remembers the Flowing Fire Sect today?”
“If that fatuous Immortal Emperor wasn’t delusional enough to attempt to conquer heaven, a catastrophe wouldn’t have been triggered, and we wouldn’t have been killed. What did our Flowing Fire Sect do wrong? Our abbot and elders, each one of them sowed righteous seeds and helped others. And yet, everyone was killed by that savage beast in the end. An orthodox sect? Hmph! To hell with it all!”
Something seemed to have struck Inferno Monk’s nerve. Perhaps his mental state had always been a little unstable. For Miao Yan Zhenren to speak of righteousness at such a moment only provoked him further.
Right after Inferno Monk had spoken, the flames around his body exploded and it rose to a hundred feet tall. Then, with a swing of his magic treasure, the raging fire charged at Miao Yan Zhenren.
From the front, one could see a sea of flames that stretched over a thousand feet surging over like water being released from a damn.
These weren’t usual flames but soul-scorching fire crafted by a profound immortal. A half immortal would be charred instantly if they came in contact with the fire. Unsurprisingly, this was one of Inferno Monk’s killer moves.
Miao Yan Zhenren wasn’t fazed by it.
Profound immortals were also separated into different levels. Miao Yan Zhenren was above average, even among profound immortals.
He could be heard chanting in his Dharma voice.
“Water Wall Fountain!”
He pushed his palm forward. While it appeared to be a relatively simple gesture, it seemed to have summoned an ocean as layers of water walls were erected within seconds. It truly was a miraculous sight.
Water and fire clashed and the ground beneath their feet rocked from the impact. A cloud of steam rose, spreading far and wide. Old Monster Xu who remained immobilized was scalded by the steam, which made him shriek in pain.
While he couldn’t move his body, he was still able to speak.
Old Monster Xu’s cultivation was average and his physical body wasn’t that strong either. He ended up being hurt due to his inability to utilize his immortality to protect himself.
Fortunately, he was still a half immortal so he didn’t fall dead. Still, he had to suffer from being steamed alive like a crab.
At present, neither Miao Yan Zhenren nor Inferno Monk had time for Old Monster Xu. Both men focused on their duel. Since both of them were profound immortals, they could not afford to be careless.
“Fire Buddha!”
“Crushing Mountain!”
Both immortals continued unleashing an array of spells. Flames engulfed the area as a one thousand-foot-tall Buddha made of fire materialized. At the same time, Inferno Monk felt the weight of a mountain crashing down on him, driving his body hundreds of feet underground.
