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The Soul Gu Toad shot out like a cannonball. At the same time, the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall relentlessly launched secret attacks while the toad kept Qian Renhan occupied. Each move was vicious, targeting Qian Renhan's vital points.
Facing the combined assault of man and beast, Qian Renhan was forced to switch from offense to defense. Bit by bit, he began to fall into a disadvantageous position.
"Hun Moqian! You dare to wreak such havoc in Sacred Pill City—are you not afraid of enraging the Old Ancestor upon his return?"
High above the city, the Grand Elder of the Little Pill Tower, guardian of the entire Sacred Pill City, bellowed at the Soul Hall's Vice Hall Master. Hun Moqian—his name now spoken aloud—snorted coldly in reply.
"That traitor slaughtered many of our Soul Hall disciples and destroyed two of our branch halls. Even if your Pill Tower's Old Ancestor were here himself, I would still kill him!" Hun Moqian growled.
Hearing this, the Grand Elder clenched his teeth. Soul Hall had a justifiable pretext, and if he were to intervene now and assist Qian Renhan, it could ignite a full-scale war between the two factions. He knew all too well that the Soul Hall had long coveted the soul bodies of Pill Tower's alchemists. They had only held back thus far because neither side had made the first move.
But the Grand Elder was a seasoned veteran, shrewd and experienced in navigating such delicate matters. Amplifying his voice with Dou Qi, he declared:
"All alchemists, listen closely! That blood-colored toad is called a Soul Gu Toad. Once refined, it can not only fight alongside its master but, at a crucial moment, sacrifice its own body to transform into energy and greatly enhance its master's power. Its weakness lies in the human face embedded on its skin. Slice it open, and the soul bodies within will escape, thereby weakening its strength!"
Upon hearing this, the alchemists below were filled with disgust and fear. The Grand Elder wasn't worried that anyone among them would attempt to refine such a creature—it required materials far beyond the reach of ordinary factions. More importantly, it demanded a vast number of soul bodies. Outside of Soul Hall, no power in the world could gather that many souls; even capturing them was nearly impossible.
"Grand Elder, you're courting death! Is Pill Tower truly prepared to become enemies with Soul Hall?" Hun Moqian roared, clearly aware of the Grand Elder's intent.
The Grand Elder scoffed. "I'm merely educating the younger generation about the Soul Gu Toad. What does that have to do with declaring war on Soul Hall?"
Just as Qian Renhan prepared to target the human face on the toad's skin, a deafening dragon roar shook the sky. The surrounding space suddenly turned scorching hot, distorting violently. A massive dragon—nearly ten thousand meters in length—burst forth, its entire body wrapped in purple-black flames. It was the Three Thousand Burning Flame!
Xuan Yizi exclaimed in confusion, "The Three Thousand Burning Flame? How did it break free from its seal? And it's grown so large!"
Xuan Kongzi's expression darkened. "I understand now. That beast must have taken advantage of the shockwaves from the fight between our elder and Hun Moqian. Those ripples reached the sealed area through chaotic void currents, giving it the chance to break out!"
Down below, Little Doctor Fairy nearly fainted with anxiety. Xiao Yan had gone to subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame—if the battle's aftermath had shaken the sealed realm, what had become of him?
Without hesitation, she soared into the sky, diving into the starry rift torn open by the battle between Qian Renhan and Hun Moqian, searching for Xiao Yan.
"Come back!" Xuan Kongzi instantly reached out to grab her. "Do you have a death wish?"
"Let me go! I'm going to find Xiao Yan!" she screamed in rage, as a wave of jet-black, venomous Dou Qi burst from her body.
"It's the Calamity Poison Body!" Xuan Kongzi gasped in shock—but he still held her back from charging in.
Within the starry domain, both Qian Renhan and Hun Moqian paused momentarily, startled by the sudden appearance of the Three Thousand Burning Flame.
"I'm finally free! Damn humans!"
The Three Thousand Burning Flame swept its gaze over the many powerful beings present and turned to flee without hesitation. Though it had accumulated enough energy to reach the half-saint level, it lacked the actual combat power of a true half-saint. Its potential had long been capped—hence its ranking only ninth on the Heavenly Flame List.
At that moment, Zi Yan's consciousness transmitted into Qian Renhan's mind from the Qiankun Bag:
"Qian Renhan, this Three Thousand Burning Flame belongs to my clan. Long, long ago—likely when it was still in its infancy—an elder of my tribe discovered it. It was too weak to be of any use then, so that elder left a dragon seal within its body."
"I can plant a dragon seal on your hand. Try to subdue it using that mark. Use the Three Thousand Burning Flame to counter the Soul Gu Toad. Heavenly flames are natural nemeses of all evil things."
"Alright."
Qian Renhan twisted his left hand. His storage ring glowed, and a jade bottle appeared in his palm. Crushing it, he released a drop of Zi Yan's dark-gold blood, which spread across his hand and formed a strange rune that affixed itself to his palm.
Zi Yan's voice echoed again:
"Use this rune to smear that drop of blood on the Three Thousand Burning Flame's forehead. Once done, the hidden dragon seal will be activated. With your soul power, suppressing the flame shouldn't be a problem. After that, you'll have full control of the Three Thousand Burning Flame."
Qian Renhan diverted a portion of his focus to listen to Zi Yan, but Hun Moqian wasn't idle either. He immediately ordered the Soul Gu Toad to target the Three Thousand Burning Flame. With its Dou Saint-level strength, even if the toad was somewhat countered by the flame's nature, subduing a mere Dou Zun-ranked Heavenly Flame was hardly a challenge.
As the Vice Hall Master of Soul Hall, Hun Moqian couldn't walk away empty-handed. He knew killing Qian Renhan would be difficult due to the latter's adept control of spatial power. In that case, he would instead take the Three Thousand Burning Flame back to Soul Hall.
But this played right into Qian Renhan's hands. He had been looking for an opportunity to shake off Hun Moqian and capture the flame himself. Unexpectedly, Hun Moqian had sent the Soul Gu Toad away—greatly reducing the pressure on him.
Using his mastery over space and superior flight speed, Qian Renhan quickly widened the gap between himself and Hun Moqian. Raising the Asura Sword high in his hand, killing intent surged forth as he unleashed his self-created Dou Technique—Blood Angel Asura.
This was the only self-developed technique Qian Renhan could execute in an instant.
"That power… a quasi-Heaven Rank Dou Technique? And with such a short activation time!"
Hun Moqian's pupils shrank. Without hesitation, he recalled the Soul Gu Toad and simultaneously activated an Earth Rank Dou Technique of his own. Black mist surged from his palm as he joined forces with the Soul Gu Toad to strike at the massive sword aura descending from the heavens.
The two terrifying attacks clashed violently, producing an earth-shattering explosion. The shockwaves engulfed all three combatants.
The very moment the sword aura descended, Qian Renhan used spatial traversal to instantly appear in front of the fleeing Three Thousand Burning Flame. Without giving it time to react, he pressed his rune-etched left palm against its forehead.
As the drop of dark-golden blood smeared onto the flame's brow, its enormous body suddenly stiffened mid-flight. The light in its eyes dulled, and a strange mark began to faintly emerge on its forehead—identical in shape and design to the dragon seal etched on Qian Renhan's palm!
(End of Chapter)