Chapter 358

Chapter 358: A Battle of Wits and Courage

Fang Lie knew that this situation could not continue; he must force Jie Yan Chan Master to use over fifty percent of his magic. The old bird calculated that Jie Yan Chan Master had consumed at least thirty percent of his magic to perform a distant escape technique based on the recent change in his aura. After all, he was only in the Golden Pool realm, making such a powerful teleportation technique a significant burden for him.

In other words, after deducting the thirty percent used and the thirty percent used to suppress Fang Lie, Jie Yan Chan Master actually had forty percent of his magic remaining. Fang Lie needed to force him to use at least twenty percent more magic to prevent him from using the teleportation technique to evade.

At that moment, using the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning Pearls to attack would drive him to a dead end—he could either hold on or be forced to unleash strength beyond the Golden Pool level. Both options would bring him devastating disaster. This was Fang Lie’s only path to victory.

To achieve this, Fang Lie began a sharp counterattack while still defending himself, using his one sure divine skill, the Past King Fist. Thus, Fang Lie struggled to fend off the fierce attacks of several shadows while periodically swinging his arms. Each swing produced a crisp sound on Jie Yan Chan Master’s face.

Jie Yan Chan Master proved to have remarkable restraint; after being slapped three times by Fang Lie, he remained unfazed and only responded with disdain, saying, "Do you think you can anger me into using more magic this way? Young man, you are still too inexperienced! Provocation has no effect on me. Even if you tear my face apart today, I will not give in. I will play with you slowly until your magic is exhausted, and then, Junior, you will know regret!"

"Tch~" Fang Lie immediately retorted scornfully, "What a big talker! You are just a scoundrel, cowardly as a mouse! A mighty Fire Tribulation Immortal like you can endure being slapped without retaliating? How dishonorable! You are truly embarrassing the Great Thunder Sound Temple!"

"Your tongue is not as effective as your hands; don’t make yourself look foolish with such a low-level provocation!" Jie Yan Chan Master replied flatly.

Although he said that, the fury in his almost blazing eyes revealed how angry he truly was. Jie Yan Chan Master was cunning and knew that Fang Lie was of great worth; supported by the higher-ups of the Mo Sect, he surely possessed terrifying disposable treasures. If they were outside, he would not be afraid. However, in this place, where he could not unleash strength beyond the Golden Pool realm, he dared not be careless.

Thus, even while being slapped repeatedly by Fang Lie, even with anger burning inside, he held back, refusing to act recklessly! Facing someone as stubborn as Fang Lie, another might have had no way to deal with him. But Fang Lie did not care; he was not using underhanded tricks but rather straightforward tactics.

At the moment the slap landed on Jie Yan Chan Master’s face, he had already fallen into the trap. For hidden in Fang Lie’s palm was the Blood Ink used to unleash the Ever-Burning Flame. While Jie Yan Chan Master endured the slaps, he remained unaware that his face was covered in Blood Ink.

At this point, Fang Lie was nearing his limit, on the verge of collapse. Jie Yan Chan Master, in a state of high tension and rage, watched Fang Lie’s condition, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of his defeat.

Just when Fang Lie’s defense was about to crack, he suddenly wore a determined expression, stopped manipulating the five Elemental Shields, and pressed his palms together while forming a secret technique. He shouted, "Ignite!"

As Fang Lie’s voice fell, a terrifying flame erupted on Jie Yan Chan Master’s face, soaring to three feet high! The roaring flames burned his skin and even scorched his eyes, causing him to lose his sight instantly!

The suddenness of the event caught Jie Yan Chan Master completely off guard, leaving him in a flurry. He could hardly believe why flames would suddenly erupt on his face.

In reality, he did not have the opportunity to think carefully. As flames targeted his cheeks and especially his eyes, panic overcame him. His instinctual reaction was to force his magic to suppress the fire on his face.

In that moment of chaos, Jie Yan Chan Master naturally forgot to conserve his magic, channeling it to extinguish the flames. Although it was effective and extinguished the fire immediately, he used more than twenty percent of his magic, leaving him with only twenty percent remaining, making it impossible to execute an escape technique for now.

After extinguishing the flames, Jie Yan Chan Master immediately sensed something was wrong. He quickly opened his eyes and released his divine sense, scanning the battlefield ahead.

But upon doing so, he was horrified. The first thing he saw was not Fang Lie, who had been hit and sent flying, but a bright red pearl emanating a terrifying aura!

Clearly, this pearl is the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning given by Huo Wufang. As soon as Fang Lie ignited the Ever-Burning Flame, he immediately unleashed this item.

At that moment, Jie Yan Chan Master’s eyes were obscured by flames, and he could not see anything. Even his divine sense was disrupted by the waves emitted by the Ever-Burning Flame, so he completely failed to notice the approach of the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning.

By the time he saw it, it was already too late to react.

Although he still had forty percent of his magic power inside his body, two-tenths of it was focused on his face to suppress the Ever-Burning Flame.

In his dantian’s Golden Pool, he had only twenty percent of his magic power left, which was insufficient to activate Teleportation techniques instantly, unless other magic power returned to the Golden Pool.

However, the problem was that the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning was about to hit his face. How could he have time to pull back his magic power?

In this situation, Jie Yan Chan Master faced a difficult choice: either bear the Divine Lightning with his face or open the sealed Purple Palace to use its power to activate divine skills!

Without any hesitation, Jie Yan Chan Master chose the second option to escape.

There was no other choice; the wave of power from the Divine Lightning was terrifying. Even with thick skin, he couldn’t withstand it. If the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning directly exploded on his face, he would likely leave no trace behind.

With no alternatives, Jie Yan Chan Master opened the sealed Purple Palace, activated the primordial purple energy inside, and instantly teleported thousands of miles away.

The Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning then exploded with a loud bang, creating a scorching fireball that spanned a hundred feet. Oddly, the fireball did not expand but was confined by a terrifying force, so it remained that size.

Inside, thunderous explosions and crimson lightning crackled!

The massive fireball persisted for several breaths before slowly fading away, leaving only a smooth, colorful bottomless pit.

The ordinary soil had been burned into shimmering glass, and the large trees were nowhere to be found, completely reduced to ashes.

Witnessing this terrifying scene, Fang Lie, lying on the ground, was astonished and speechless. Although he already knew the power of the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning, he had not expected it to be this frightening.

However, even though such a terrifying Divine Lightning almost hit him, it still could not harm a single hair of Jie Yan Chan Master, who managed to escape in such a perilous moment. It was truly frightening.

This made Fang Lie fully feel the strength of the Fire Tribulation Immortal.

At that moment, Fang Lie had several broken bones and multiple transparent holes all over his body. These injuries occurred while he had given up resistance and fully attacked Jie Yan Chan Master, getting hurt by the opponent’s Shadow.

Although his injuries looked severe, with the Healing Art at his disposal, Fang Lie didn’t care.

He immediately wanted to activate the Healing Art to heal himself. However, just then, he suddenly noticed that a strange black cloud had appeared in the sky above him, he didn’t know when it had come.

This black cloud spanned hundreds of miles, swirling to form a large vortex with a dark gaping hole in the center, leading who knows where.

Occasionally, bolts of lightning flashed within the black cloud, and the terrifying thunder rolled from a distance, growing closer and closer.

At the same time, Fang Lie felt as if he was being watched by some frightening existence, an overwhelming sense of danger filled his body, causing goosebumps to rise all over him!

At that moment, the voice of the old bird echoed, "You have used powers beyond the Golden Pool and have attracted the attention of the Heavenly Dao laws of this place. Hurry and kill yourself; if you die, it will dissipate!"

"A real man would never easily commit suicide!" Fang Lie replied proudly, "Isn’t it just a mere Thunder Tribulation? I can face it! If I perish, it’s better than dying without a fight!"

"Fine, you have spirit!" the old bird replied irritably. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you! You haven’t been struck yet; it has only locked onto you. As long as you die, it will completely lose your scent, and everything will be fine. But if it kills you, it will remember your scent forever. Even if you are reborn, it will strike you down again! From now on, as long as you appear here, you will definitely attract Heavenly Tribulations!"

"Wait! I still have things to do! How can I take those little demons away like this?" Fang Lie said urgently. "Alright, I admit I’m afraid of it; I’ll kill myself!"

Saying this, Fang Lie raised his hand and struck down on his own celestial spirit, turning his body into flames, disappearing completely!

With Fang Lie’s death, the Heavenly Tribulation lost its target. After swirling for a moment, the black cloud gradually dispersed, and the world returned to clarity.

Not long after the Heavenly Tribulation faded, at the place where Fang Lie had died, a loud explosion erupted, and a towering flame surged forth. Within the flames, a figure gradually appeared, revealing Fang Lie, who had used the Nirvana Fire Seed to complete his Nirvana Rebirth.