Volume 5 Chapter 7

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Volume 5 Chapter 7: The Fire Prison

Feng Qingtian’s face was slightly pale. It seemed that during the recent attack by Xu Qingfan and his two "avatars," he had also sustained some injuries.

Xu Qingfan naturally sensed that dozens of elders were already heading toward the front mountains and would arrive in less than the time it takes to finish a cup of tea. Hearing Feng Qingtian’s whispered words, it seemed he was confident in killing Xu Qingfan before the elders arrived and then claiming it was an accident during a duel. Xu Qingfan was about to argue but saw Feng Qingtian’s eyes, burning like flames, which gave him a sudden shock.

If anyone in the world understood the Feng family’s cultivation methods best, apart from Feng Qingtian himself, it would likely be Xu Qingfan, who had accidentally obtained all of the Feng family’s cultivation techniques and possessed the Phoenix aura within him.

The Feng family was most famous for their "Three Great Secret Techniques," and among them, the hardest to master yet most powerful was the third secret technique, the "Art of Fire Hell"!

As Xu Qingfan knew, once this secret technique was mastered, wherever one’s gaze fell would instantly burst into fierce flames, not only incredibly powerful but also hard to defend against.

The most apparent feature when this mystical technique is successfully cultivated is that, during its use, the eyes turn fiery red and flicker continuously, like burning flames.

Just like the characteristics of Feng Qingtian’s eyes at this moment.

Could it be that Feng Qingtian has already mastered this mystical technique? It’s known that in a thousand years, no more than five people in the Feng family have successfully cultivated this mystical technique…

But no matter what, Xu Qingfan absolutely couldn’t allow Feng Qingtian to use the "Art of Fire Hell."

As soon as Xu Qingfan noticed the strange look in Feng Qingtian’s eyes, he immediately ordered Little Black, Xu Zhiyuan, and Xu Ying to attack, aiming to interrupt Feng Qingtian’s spellcasting.

The moment Xu Qingfan gave the order, the fastest of them, Xu Zhiyuan, became a blur and appeared next to Feng Qingtian in an instant. He conjured a frosty long sword and fiercely aimed it at Feng Qingtian’s throat.

Although Little Black was slightly slower, he charged at Feng Qingtian like a streak of black lightning. A red glow seeped from the crack on his forehead, which then widened, resembling a third blood-red eye. This was Little Black’s special ability—the "Eye of the Death God."

As for Xu Ying, the slowest, he was still on his way to Feng Qingtian.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingfan enveloped his body in a dense gray mist of "Withered Qi," hoping its powerful corrosive force could fend off the "Art of Fire Hell." Simultaneously, he incessantly struck the "Five Spirit Bell" with his right index finger, hoping the sound would disrupt Feng Qingtian’s spellcasting.

As the bell rang, Feng Qingtian’s face grew paler, and he involuntarily took a step back. However, the flames in his eyes burned even more fiercely, causing the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly. Under the intense heat, the rock beneath Feng Qingtian’s feet crystallized.

Just as Xu Zhiyuan’s ice sword was about to pierce Feng Qingtian’s throat, Feng Qingtian suddenly looked up at Xu Zhiyuan. In that instant, Xu Zhiyuan’s body erupted in flames, astonishing Xu Qingfan. Though Xu Zhiyuan’s body was made of Spirit Qi and generally immune to fire, the intense flames surrounding him rapidly melted his Spirit Qi like snow under a blazing sun. His body was overwhelmed by fire Spirit Qi, destabilizing his internal balance.

Xu Zhiyuan’s ice sword, aimed at Feng Qingtian, instantly turned to vapor and vanished into the air.

Xu Zhiyuan, now a ball of fire, fell from the sky and lay motionless on the ground. Feng Qingtian then looked up even higher into the sky, where Little Black was diving swiftly towards him.

In an instant, Feng Qingtian’s intense yet icy eyes locked with Little Black’s cold, blood-red gaze.

A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Feng Qingtian’s face, for in that brief moment of eye contact with Little Black, he instantly felt the rapid draining of his vitality. He had fallen to Little Black’s "Eye of the Death God." Meanwhile, flames erupted from Little Black, who let out a startled cry, and quickly descended to the ground, rolling around to extinguish the blaze. However, much of his black feathers had already been charred.

At the moment when Little Black’s "Eye of the Death God" and Feng Qingtian’s "Eye of Hellfire" met, both were struck by each other’s attack. But because they both quickly broke eye contact, Feng Qingtian’s vitality was draining yet not life-threatening, and though flames engulfed Little Black, they did not transform into the kind of fire that could burn Spirit Qi like what had happened to Xu Zhiyuan before, sparing him narrowly.

Even so, Little Black was severely burned and, though his life wasn’t in danger, he was barely clinging on, unable to help Xu Qingfan any longer.

Then, even though Xu Qingfan ordered Xu Ying to dodge, how could Xu Ying outpace a glance? In the blink of an eye, Xu Ying turned into a blazing fireball, with the earthly Spirit Qi that made up his form rapidly dissolving and collapsing under the flames.

The power of the "Art of Fire Hell" was astonishingly strong! Once unleashed, it changed the battle instantly!

However, after Feng Qingtian’s three uses of the "Art of Fire Hell," and through his mental connection with Xu Ying, Xu Zhiyuan, and Little Black, Xu Qingfan roughly understood its principle. The caster could manipulate all the fiery Spirit Qi within sight, even from within the opponent’s body, either channeling it inside them or turning it into roaring flames, attacking the enemy directly and leaving them defenseless.

But although Xu Qingfan understood this, he couldn’t immediately think of an effective way to counter it.

What Xu Qingfan pondered now was, since the "Art of Fire Hell" was so powerful, and Feng Qingtian intended to kill Xu Qingfan, why had he waited until now to use it? Could there be some flaw in the "Art of Fire Hell"?

But Feng Qingtian no longer gave Xu Qingfan time to think.

After dealing with Xu Ying, Xu Zhiyuan, and Little Black, Feng Qingtian’s fiery eyes finally turned to Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan originally thought that with all the Jiuhua elders rushing over, he could hold out for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. But now, only a tenth of that time had passed.

However, just as Xu Qingfan anticipated, the powerful corrosive force contained in the "Withered Qi" could withstand Feng Qingtian’s "Art of Fire Hell".

At the moment Feng Qingtian’s gaze landed on him, Xu Qingfan felt the fiery Spirit Qi in the area rushing into his body. But under the corrosion of the surrounding "Withered Qi", this fiery Spirit Qi could no longer threaten him. Meanwhile, Feng Qingtian’s face grew paler as Xu Qingfan repeatedly struck the "Five Spirit Bell", feeling his own fiery Spirit Qi continuously trying to penetrate Xu Qingfan, only to vanish as it entered the grey mist, completely corroded. And with each strike on the "Five Spirit Bell", the damage between Feng Qingtian’s Divine Sense and Original Soul worsened.

In this deadlock, time slipped away, and the approaching Jiuhua elders were drawing ever nearer.

In fact, although it seemed like Xu Qingfan had entirely blocked Feng Qingtian’s attack, the pressure was immense.

One must know that while the corrosive power of "Withered Qi" is strong, there is a limit to how much other Spirit Qi it can erode. Feng Qingtian’s strength was already far superior to Xu Qingfan’s, so as the fiery Spirit Qi from Feng Qingtian’s "Art of Fire Hell" was poured into the "Withered Qi" faster and in greater amounts, Xu Qingfan could clearly feel the limit of the "Withered Qi" nearing.

However, Feng Qingtian was unaware of this; he only knew that half the time had passed and the Jiuhua elders from the mountain would soon arrive. By then, he would no longer be able to use the duel as a pretext to kill Xu Qingfan.

The next thing he had to do was eliminate Xu Qingfan; otherwise, due to the mysterious connection between them, where they could read each other’s thoughts, his actions would definitely be exposed.

With this in mind, Feng Qingtian gritted his teeth and stabbed himself forcefully. His body, now like rotten leather, was pierced easily, but before the blood could flow, his body suddenly turned into a blazing fireball and exploded.

Then, the strands of flame that Feng Qingtian’s body had become swiftly shot toward where Xu Qingfan was.

This time was different from before. The strands of flame were pure Phoenix Spirit Fire, with power not inferior to Xu Qingfan’s "Withered qi." As they drilled into Xu Qingfan’s body, the "Withered qi" that was already nearing its limit couldn’t corrode much of the fire.

Finally, the strands of Phoenix Spirit Fire broke through the barriers of "Withered qi" and entered Xu Qingfan’s body. They gathered together inside him and started burning fiercely.

"Ah…"

The intense pain, like that of burning flames, instantly spread throughout Xu Qingfan’s body. Even though he had endured the agony of secretive transformations before, he couldn’t help but cry out miserably this time.

A human-shaped fireball was burning fiercely on the mountainside.

…

When Gongsun Huasa, Jin Qinghan, and the other Jiuhua elders arrived, they found the back mountain in chaos, with trees reduced to ashes, the ground cracked and sunken, and a scorching smell hanging in the air.

Feng Qingtian stood there, pale and seemingly gravely injured, silently watching the charred body at his feet.

"Did I finally kill him?" Feng Qingtian thought quietly as he gazed at the burnt corpse before him.

Even though he had resolved himself long ago, when it finally came to pass, Feng Qingtian felt no joy or guilt, but instead a growing sense of bewilderment.

In the battle with Xu Qingfan, Feng Qingtian endured severe injuries from repeated attacks, both internal and to his Original Soul. In the end, he transformed into the Phoenix Spirit Fire and entered Xu Qingfan’s body, burning him to death. Yet, just before Xu Qingfan’s demise, he recalled the Withered qi, trying to resist the fire. Though he failed, the Withered qi invaded Feng Qingtian’s body.

To heal these injuries and expel the invading Withered qi, Feng Qingtian would likely be unable to fight anyone for twenty years.

Yet, Feng Qingtian paid no mind to that now, only staring blankly at Xu Qingfan’s body.

Unconsciously, Feng Qingtian recalled everything between him and Xu Qingfan: Xu Qingfan’s determined defeat during the sect competition, their mutual aid against Deng Tianao in the Newcomer Comparison, and the mysterious bond they formed during Jiuhua’s calamity.

All these memories surged from the depths of Feng Qingtian’s heart in an instant.

If Feng Qingtian, who had always been aloof, could have a friend in his life, it would undoubtedly be Xu Qingfan. Yet now, Feng Qingtian had personally killed him.

"For the sake of family vengeance, it’s all worth it," Feng Qingtian suddenly clenched his fists, thinking silently, as if trying to convince himself.

"Feng Qingtian, what happened here? Even if it’s a friendly match, it shouldn’t cause such a scene! Where’s Xu Qingfan? Wasn’t he just sparring with you? Where is he now?"

Gongsun Huasa landed and immediately scolded.

Hearing Gongsun Huasa’s words, a complex expression flashed across Feng Qingtian’s eyes, but he then turned his gaze back to the burnt body at his feet.

Following Feng Qingtian’s gaze, the elders finally saw the charred corpse at Feng Qingtian’s feet, and realizing something, their expressions changed drastically.

After a long silence, Feng Qingtian seemed to have calmed his emotions and slowly said, "Just now, in my duel with Xu Qingfan, the fight got too intense. I didn’t expect his Spirit Qi to suddenly lose control, and before I could stop, he was killed."

As Feng Qingtian’s words fell, Jin Qinghan, who had been wearing a cold expression, trembled, and after a long time seemed to understand Feng Qingtian’s words. Infuriated, his eyes turned blood red, seeming to lose all reason. The Golden Spirit Qi around him fluctuated chaotically.

Dongfang Qingling, on the other hand, felt a wave of dizziness, and if not for the support of others, she seemed about to collapse to the ground.

Noticing Jin Qinghan’s odd behavior, Feng Qingtian didn’t offer any explanation, though in his current state he couldn’t even withstand a single blow from Jin Qinghan.

A deep weariness suddenly flashed across his eyes.

Just as Jin Qinghan was about to charge at Feng Qingtian, Lv Qingshang suddenly shouted from the side, "Junior Brother Xu still has Spirit Qi fluctuations!"

As if to confirm Lv Qingshang’s words, at almost the same moment he shouted, a powerful wave of Spirit Qi suddenly emanated from Xu Qingfan’s charred body!