Of the forty-seven cultivators under Yan Huoling's command, only nineteen had survived. The others had been consumed by the flames and the heat in order to fuel the Solar-Orchid Flame. Some had voluntarily given their lives but others had simply been consumed. Indeed, this wild fire didn't care about friends or foes, it simply consumed for the sake of consuming. Even with Yan Huoling's expertise, she couldn't perfectly control it, merely channel its strength in her attacks. Moreover, the nineteen cultivators left alive were all severely injured and burned all over their bodies. However, their survival was a testimony to their strength.

Seeing Cao Yun trying to wrestle with the seed of the Solar-Orchid Flame, they immediately knew that it was the perfect time to strike him down. Unfortunately for them, the hailstorm unleashed by his 'Dragon General of the South Obeys the Celestial Mandate' was still raging all over the battlefield. Black clouds were looming over their heads, crisscrossed by terrifying blue lightning arcs. Each time a bolt of lightning crossed the black clouds, they could all hear the screams of a mighty dragon. From time to time, they even thought they could see its red gaze behind the clouds. Those were dim lights coming from the seven Piercing Stars.

Beneath the clouds, the winds were so violent they could have ripped any tree from the ground had there been any left. Any mortal would have been frozen to death in a matter of seconds by the intense coldness carried by those brutal currents. Even within the confines of the blazing flower still levitating in the air, the remaining Orchid's Ashes could feel that its heat was subsiding. The most astute among them could tell that this sensation didn't come from their bodies but from their souls. The heat had not actually decreased, it had merely stopped rising, which in itself was quite frightening considering the nature of this flame. However, a coldness had spread through their very souls and no heat or fire could bring them comfort.

Cao Yun was being burned alive by the seed he was attempting to subdue. The arm holding the seed had already turned black as charcoal with colorful embers here and there. Despite his best efforts, the flames were indeed spreading within his flesh, his meridians, and his veins. His Qi was sustaining the heat but it was getting harder and harder to control it. On the other hand, his very blood was boiling while some of it had quite literally been vaporized by the flames. And those flames were traveling farther and farther, going straight for Cao Yun's heart. No matter his cultivation, he knew that he wouldn't survive the flame assaulting his heart. Of course, his Soul Embryo would survive his physical death but then he would just have to wait for his soul to slowly dissipate over the decades and centuries without being able to raise his cultivation. At his current level, Cao Yun still required a body of flesh and blood.

Within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, the giant figure of Axiu Qian was trying to suppress the blooming orchid. At the moment, his six arms were grabbing onto the flower before its petals could even begin to open. The smell of burning flesh had spread in Cao Yun's sea of consciousness and was completely overtaking his sense of smell. Axiu Qian's body was quite literally sizzling as his flesh was being burned by the orchid. Within the red body of Axiu Qian, Cao Yun was trying to focus on the Rune of Fire but it didn't respond at all. It was completely terrified and was hiding from the Solar-Orchid Flame as much as it could.

Only the flames of Shen the Fire Spirit and of the Black Heart Flame were supporting Axiu Qian. Those two fires were coiled around Axiu Qian's body trying to suppress the wild fire. Although Cao Yun wasn't able to completely rule over the Solar-Orchid Flame, he was trying to buy as much time as he could. Even now, he had several ideas on how to escape alive. He had no doubt that he would be severely injured if he ran away now, but he still believed he could stay alive. As time passed by though, his certainty began to dwindle. Indeed, suppressing this blazing orchid meant that the explosion that would occur when he let go would be even more devastating.

Within Yan Huoling's sea of consciousness, a similar scene was happening in a sense. Yan Huoling had resolved herself to her fate. With her experience, she knew that she couldn't stop Dian Mo. In fact, even the seals that were protecting her, or trying to erase her to protect her secrets, wouldn't be able to resist him. However, she could stall for time. She refused to accept that anyone on the Piaolu planet could suppress the Solar-Orchid Flame. Despite everything she knew about the flame and the secret techniques taught to her, she had never been able to fully control it. There was no way Cao Yun could put it under control. The longer he stayed, the more assured his death was. Considering how dangerous he was, she had to do everything she could in order to kill him now. At the very least, she hoped to injure him enough so that Emperor Weide would easily dispose of him.

The Palace of Supreme Wisdom was getting increasingly bigger. With Cao Yun's blood runes forming a barrier all around the center of Yan Huoling's sea of consciousness and with the intense flames outside of it, the pressure within this enclosure was getting higher and higher. Space itself was being torn asunder. Larger and larger cracks were appearing. At the same time, golden characters appeared out of the blue.

'Annihilate'!

A voice from outside of the world echoed throughout the vastness of Yan Huoling's sea of consciousness. Dian Mo himself was stunned for a moment. Indeed, this voice wasn't Emperor Weide's as he had expected, it was literally Emperor Nuwa's voice. The very foundation of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom began to shake. Cracks spread through the palace as Dian Mo was experiencing intense pain. The seals weren't just trying to obliterate Yan Huoling's memories, they were trying to annihilate her very sea of consciousness and anyone in it. Under such an assault, Dian Mo could very well die completely.

'Surrender'!

Several columns exploded into dust. From the depths of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, a profound darkness spread. It didn't swallow anything, it just spread outward and light disappeared on its path. However, it was excessively slow. This was the true essence of Dian Mo, his actual spirit, not just a manifestation of it. In a sense, it was like his spiritual senses, his soul spreading outward in every direction.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

'Break'!

More and more golden characters were appearing. With each new character, Emperor Nuwa's voice echoed. Worse than that, the different characters were resonating with each other. The vibrations were so intense Dian Mo's entire structure was about to fall apart. Among Cao Yun's blood runes, several had exploded into crimson clouds before being devoured by the Solar-Orchid Flame. The fires seemed to grow more and more intense alongside Emperor Nuwa's voice. In a way, the flames were responding to her and it didn't surprise Dian Mo at all. Although he had never personally encountered this wild fire, he knew of it through Demon God Da Mo.

Knowing he couldn't go on forever, Dian Mo used a smart strategy. Cao Yun only wanted Yan Huoling's memories, so Dian Mo didn't need to salvage all of her sea of consciousness, just enough to make her memories make sense. So he limited himself to a small part of her soul he was trying to protect from those seals until he was done. From the darkness that was him, several characters appeared as well. They all flew toward the golden characters. Dian Mo was an expert in seals. Although they had the voice of Emperor Nuwa backing them up, they had not been crafted by an actual Immortal. Clearly, only late Spirit Warriors had worked on them. That meant that, despite the intimidation, Dian Mo was confident he could break them apart. Obviously, his main concern was time. If it took him too long, it would be pointless.

On the outside, the nineteen cultivators finally acted. They all took out their weapons, swords, halberds, spears, sabers, bows. As one man, they all flew toward Cao Yun from many different directions. Only a handful of them stayed within the blazing flower with their bows aiming at completely random targets. The next instant, they all released arrows made out of fire. Some arrows took on the shape of the burning orchid, others looked like fiery birds while one arrow had the shape of a tree branch. Although they had been shot everywhere except toward Cao Yun, the air currents were altering their course. They were clearly not traveling in any form of straight line.

At this moment, a dozen cultivators attacked Cao Yun. Most of his mind was busy dealing with the seed in his hand, but he was still aware of what was going on around him.

'Crafty Harassment'.

His body literally turned into lightning as he moved toward one of the lightning spears that had appeared in the storm. When he touched it, it froze in his hand and turned into a spear. Without a moment's delay, he put that spear in his back just as a halberd struck him there. The halberd shattered most of the icy spear but didn't go all the way through. In response, Cao Yun sent his burned arm toward the enemy. The very seed he was trying to control burned a hole through the poor woman who had just attacked. In an instant, her head was reduced to mere ashes along with her very soul. Nothing remained of her Upper Dantian and the flames even began to consume the rest of her body as Cao Yun was moving somewhere else.

Finally, Cao Yun grabbed his actual 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. With his physical weapon back in hand, Cao Yun's aura changed completely. His Spear Heart was resonating with the weapon and spreading his killing intent more intensely. Before Cao Yun could react though, a tree branch stabbed his chest. It was going straight for his heart. Time slowed down in Cao Yun's mind. One of the archers had been able to time it perfectly alongside his brothers and sisters. In a fraction of a second, Cao Yun realized that the way they were all positioned, and the way this woman had attacked him, had all been in order to force him along a very specific path. However, he wouldn't die so easily. His Chamber of Heavenly Court allowed him to increase the speed of his decision-making. At the same time, it made him feel every small movement of the arrow as it was piercing through his flesh. Of course, the pain was intense.

As the tree branch was piercing his flesh, Cao Yun could feel it spreading tiny branches all around his cells. This was worse than any kind of poison, the tree branch was sucking Cao Yun's strength to use it to strengthen itself. There was no way to stop the movement of the arrow through his body. Even if it had missed his heart, the arrow could spread its branches to get to it anyway.

Shifting his body, Cao Yun was able to alter the target of the arrow, it would miss his heart by a small margin, but it was still incredibly dangerous. Without much consideration, Cao Yun tried to grab the arrow with his charred hand. Upon contact with the orchid seed, the shaft of the arrow turned to ashes. Unfortunately, the flames of the orchid tried to spread into the arrow itself and then into Cao Yun's heart. From within his own chest, Cao Yun summoned part of his Black Heart Flame, which devoured the arrow from the tip and spread outward. When the Black Heart Flame collided with the Solar-Orchid Flame, they exploded and pushed Cao Yun backward while leaving a deep hole in his flesh exposing his sternum.

'Wrathful Asura's Chest'!

This time, Cao Yun didn't wait for the next attack, he immediately surrounded himself in a thick layer of Wei Qi that took on the shape of an armor of dragon scales. Fortunately, he was fast enough as two more cultivators attacked him with a saber and a sword. They both collided with his armor while a third cultivator was stabbing with a spear directly into Cao Yun's neck.

'Asura God Bathes the World in Blood'!

A powerful sweeping motion bathed the world in blood as Cao Yun's 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' literally burst open the three cultivators around him. Only fifteen cultivators remained. Each one was too weak to face Cao Yun alone, but their teamwork was the main concern. Even now, Cao Yun wasn't sure whether he was following exactly what they had planned for him. Unfortunately, his mind wasn't free to think too much about the matter. Right now, he was mostly fighting out of instinct and this wasn't very good. Thankfully, his opponents were almost as injured as he was.

Had he had the time, Cao Yun would have gulped down another pill. Eight cultivators attacked him with slightly different rhythms to throw him off. Cao Yun's spear collided with most of the weapons, pushing back against all the attackers but one whom he evaded at the very last moment. Their weapons clashed again and again as they were flying all over the place. The winds were also making their movements more difficult and adding randomness everywhere. Even they couldn't perfectly control their trajectories. An arrow whistled near Cao Yun. His spear struck it and the arrow went into the shoulder of another cultivator. Before he could register the pain, Cao Yun struck him with his charred palm and the seed devoured the poor cultivator. That seed was quite useful but Cao Yun was also forced to hold his spear with one hand. Once again, he was thankful for Chief Instructor Peng who had taught him how important one's physique was.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.